Japanese Kit-Kats And Trader Joe’s Nitro Cold Brew

by Emily

Highlights from the week included…

Trader Joe’s nitrogen-infused cold brew, my new favorite bottled coffee. It was so creamy and velvety!

Check out that head (photo taken after I added cream).

Yogurt bowls at work. Plain Siggi’s with maple quinoa granola, chia seeds, brown sugar, and homemade raisins. <– if I had included three favorites in my title this bowl would have been #3! P.S. the raisins were much improved by a night in the fridge.

Banana Chobani with Heritage Flakes and a piñata apple on the side.

Snack attack. There were curly fries in the cafeteria this week!

I finally got my hands on some crazy-flavors Japanese Kit-Kats – butter cookie and pudding. I would have liked both better with milk chocolate versus white but they were fun to try.

Iced chai latte (that was way too spicy for me and ended up going in the garbage) and yummy honey caramel candies.

I made a big batch of pesto and it was the cornerstone of most of our adult dinners last week. Failed adulting dinners were cheese and crackers eaten in bed. Pesto = basil, garlic, salt, olive oil, pine nuts, and parmesan. Most of it went into pasta bowls – whole wheat shells with shredded chicken and roasted zucchini, topped with more cheese and pine nuts and fried garlic panko bread crumbs for crunch.

I also set aside some pesto for some truly epic egg sandwiches.

Brioche bun / with pesto on one side / and gojuchang mayo on the other / with two fried eggs with a slice of fontina cheese melting in between. <– ridiculously good and loosely inspired by the egg sandwich at Santina.

With roasted green beans with more garlic panko.

Saturday after work I met Adam for Southern fare at Pretty Southern. We ordered both sherry drinks because cocktails with sherry are wonderful. Carlita’s Colada – Palo cortado sherry, coconut cream, pineapple, and lime and Sunshine Way – Fino sherry, blackberry, pineapple, lime, and mint. The coconut one was the best.

We shared all of the things for dinner. Chicken strips with the most amazing housemade pickles.

Bourbon butter biscuit. <– this was soggy and meh

Fantastic mac and cheese with crispy fried onions on top.

And a griddled sandwich with pimento cheese, tomato, and pickled jalapeño.

I’ve got a busy but fun week ahead, please think calm thoughts for me!

30May2017

Llamas, And Pigs, and Humans, Oh My!

by Emily

Three-day weekend highlights, including lots of new “bests”…

Unicorn smoothie! The layers were acai and pitaya with coconut water and plain Greek yogurt.

Bananarama smoothie. Frozen banana, plain Greek yogurt, a hot chocolate packet, and Banana Wave Banana Milk. <– free product review alert: the banana milk is a vegan milk made of banana puree, soy, oats, and other ingredients. One serving contains as much potassium as a small banana as well as 29 vitamins and minerals and 1200 mg of omega-3 fatty acids. One cup has 150 calories, 4 grams of protein, and 5 grams of added sugar.

Black bear, aka Otha‘s coffee concentrate with housemade chocolate milk. This shop was adorable and we want to go back immediately.

Du’s Donuts. Adam’s all time favorites.

Lunch at Llama Inn.

I had soft-boiled eggs with delicata squash, charred scallions, pumpkin seeds, and chimichurri sauce.

We got our own desserts, flan for Adam and key lime pie for me. Best key lime pie of the decade, it was enrobed in toasted meringue!

Lunch at Pig Bleeker. We had a Salty Spritz – vodka, St. Germain, and apricot, with a salty white wine rinse, and a Champagne Sherry Cobbler that was the all-time best drink we’ve ever had – Fino sherry, fresh citrus, and champagne.

I got a fried chicken thigh sandwich with Pig Beach mustard sauce, house pickles, mayo, and hot sauce. The meat was smoked before it was fried and it was by far the best fried chicken I’ve ever tasted.

Durian mochi.

Malter Chronkite from Mister Dips, a malty chocolate-dipped cone.

Spicy crunchy tuna sushi bowl. Brown rice with ginger, rice vinegar, seaweed, and black sesame seeds / canned tuna fish and smoked trout with Sriracha and mayo / quick pickled cucumbers / fresh avocado / panko and fried garlic toasted in butter / Sriracha on top.

Chopped romaine salad with honey mustard dressing, dill, sautéed mushrooms with garlic, shredded chicken, crumbled blue cheese, and homemade raisins.

I am on Saturday/Sunday so I’ve only got two days of work before a day off, woo-hoo!

15May2017

Salmon Cream Cheese Wontons

by Emily

I had to work this weekend but somehow I ended up with a bunch of eats that were super good. Because they all included sugar and/or cheese? Probably! Here were the highlights…

Three fun new coffee cups. Halvah cotton candy on top.

Chocolate milk ice cubes.

Starbuck’s nitro cold brew. I loved the velvety texture but was not a fan of it being served without ice.

Pickings are slim at the cafeteria on the weekends but I put together a pretty good lunch plate. BBQ wings, veggie lo mein, roasted baby carrots, and cherry tomatoes with blue cheese dressing.

Mango yogurt with fresh mango on top. Guys, fresh mangos are so flipping good, how did I forget about them all winter??

Cookie and coffee break. From Bittersweet (a hopping Fort Greene coffee spot with no less than 7 cute doggies waiting in line when I walked in).

Another sweet snack, vanilla yogurt with chocolate peanut butter stirred in and mini chocolate chips on top.

Cinnamon dusted apple slices with sharp cheddar squares and chocolate peanut butter sticks.

Whole Foods hot bar dinner on an after-work shopping trip. Crispy potatoes, vegan meat balls, roasted zucchini, tabbouleh, and pasta salad.

Best meal of the week was this quick and easy dinner I threw together Friday night.

Salmon cream cheese wontons! I stuffed wonton skins with a mix of canned salmon, cream cheese, brown sugar, fish sauce, and minced ginger. Baked at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes.

They were creamy and crispy and delicious. Served with roasted green beans.

A close 2nd for best meal was our dinner at Lady’s, a newish Italian spot in Brooklyn.

The food was all fantastic – so fresh, and perfectly seasoned. Like this amazing salad with snow peas, sunflower seeds, and pickled radish. <– 2nd best salad of my entire life

We also started with hummus with crispy chickpeas, charred cucumber, lemon, and focaccia.

With a yummy local watermelon ale.

And for our entrée we shared pasta with crab,

and honey butter pizza dough with sea salt and Calabrian chili. The spicy-salty-sweet contrast was perfection. I had a glass of prosecco with that course and the pairing was wonderful.

I got a giant scoop of the new cheesecake flavor at Ample Hills for dessert. It was a tasty weekend!

30Apr2017

Smorgasburg, Greenport, And The Weekend’s Top Five

by Emily

{1} A day trip to Greenport.

Greenport is one of Adam’s favorite Long Island areas and we finally had a Sunday together to go explore.

We walked on the pier, walked on the beach, ate a kind of meh breakfast in town, plus got a great iced latte and an almond croissant.

Aaaand a toasted marshmallow iced latte that knocked our socks off.

{2} Our 1st kolache experience.

So exciting!

I’ve been dying to try one ever since I started following Kylie and Brooklyn Kolache did not disappoint.

We did one sweet and one savory – poppy seed and turkey, egg, and cheese – plus a delicious brown sugar iced latte.

{3} Our 1st Smorgasburg visit of the season.

It was a good one! We hit up Duck Season for duck fat fries with confit and a sandwich with confit, pickled cabbage, gojuchang, and craklins.

Ube Kitchen for Halo Halo. It was a nice dessert, but not Halo Halo – there was no nata de coco, no palm seeds, plus it had granola in it, and almond milk instead of condensed milk.

Plus we got impossibly smooth coffee from Ministry of Kaapi.

{4} BBQ chicken salad.

Baby romaine dressed in yogurt ranch, shredded chicken in Korean bbq sauce, cucumber, sharp cheddar, and smoked paprika.

This was actually the appetizer course for a meal that included cheese fries and buffalo chicken wings!

{5} A toasted marshmallow smoothie/shake.

Toasted marshmallows, Greek yogurt, vanilla extract, and vanilla hemp milk.

It was wonderful.

P.S. This is currently the view when I step out my front door!!

24Apr2017

I Can’t Choose A Favorite!

by Emily

This is a longer wrap-up (Monday through Sunday) and I ate too many yummy things to chose a single favorite for my post title. I’ve got my top three – 1) Thai-style crab fried rice, 2) roasted garlic bread, and 3) black sesame shaved ice.

Here were the highlights…

Killer coffee combo – Volcanic roast with chocolate milk.

Usually I just have coffee for breakfast or eat something on my train, but this week the cafeteria sounded amazing first thing in the morning. Eggs and hashbrowns, with humus.

Cafeteria lunch, a spicy chicken sandwich on ridiculously cheesy bread with mustard, lettuce, and bell pepper.

Last weekend I spent forever trying to make coconut curd. I didn’t make jam, but I did filthy every last inch of my stovetop. My experiment didn’t work, at all, but I did kind of like the end result – a vaguely sweet, egg, cake.

I enjoyed my “jam” in lunches all week. Like with vanilla bean yogurt and blackberries.

And plain yogurt, berries, maple quinoa granola, and black sesame seeds.

Whole Foods hot bar lunch.

Sesame broccoli, turkey salad, and cole slaw.

Plus a maple soda that was not as exciting as I was expecting it to be; it had an off-putting aftertaste.

Snack time. Ice cream = maple walnut and a white chocolate vanilla marshmallow flavor.

Milk bun.

Crème brulee milk stout.

My workweek dinners were on point! Like crab fried rice with roasted broccoli and sliced cucumber.

I loosely followed this recipe, except I used brown rice and waaaay more crab. It was fantastic.

Vampire killer, I roasted three whole heads of garlic for this recipe.

Garlic turkey meatballs with red sauce and roasted zucchini.

And amazing homemade garlic bread – I mashed butter and roasted garlic and then slathered it on sliced sourdough and baked until delicious.

Even our leftovers meal was tasty. Cheese tortellini with meatballs, peas, roasted garlic, and red sauce.

One night I had dinner out with a coworker. We checked out the new Brooklyn MŏkBar location. They have a liquor license now, and I got a yummy vodka “cloudsicle.”

Plus chicken ramen with kimchi and poached egg.

And the new Brooklyn Snowdays location was right next door! Black sesame shaved ice with oreo, mochi, and condensed milk.

Plus a dinner date with the husband. Brinkley’s has Genesee Cream Ale on draught!

We got pimento cheese dip and duck fat fries to start and I dipped my fries in the pimento cheese and pretty much died of ~~heart failure~~ happiness.

Plus fish tacos with mahi, guacamole, and pineapple salsa.

The other two dinners were decidedly less exciting. Like Chipotle take out. And more hot bar. Yes, I went to Whole Foods two different days, it was an exciting week. I was too busy at work yesterday to break for lunch so by the time I got dinner I ate a giant plate of all of the things.

Now it’s two days of work before a break on Wednesday.

Have a great week!

10Apr2017

Pastrami Smoked Salmon On Sourdough

by Emily

Once again, this title reflects the most exciting thing I ate in this post. Honestly though, everything I ate this weekend was pretty darn tasty!

Iced coffee with cake popsicle used for ice. <– gaaaaah! so swoontastic!

Perfectly sweet just enough sour smoothie – passionfruit sorbet / plain Greek yogurt / frozen blueberries / princess flavoring / water.

Snacky lunch at work. Mandarin, uncured turkey pepperoni, yummy cinnamon roll Chobani.

Cafeteria sandwich. Spicy chicken, pesto, red pepper, and tomato, on an insanely cheesy roll.

Mr. Flip sandwich from Flip Bird – pulled rotisserie chicken, harissa honey, pickled coleslaw, sambal mayo, and a piece of crispy skin. It was a 10/10.

Dinner from the freezer – ice cream and a naan pizza.

The cilantro pesto pizza – which I got with a free coupon given to me for review – was delicious, the flavor was a bit spicy, which was a nice surprise.

Lox and cream cheese on ~~a bagel~~ sourdough toast.

This pastrami-style smoked salmon from Trader Joe’s is my all-time favorite smoked salmon.

Served with a quick salad of tomato, cucumber, cilantro, green onion, olive oil, and Himalayan salt.

I made a recipe! Cheddar bbq turkey meatloaf.

I ate all of the crispy cheese bits that started to burn to the pan and was sooooo happy. Plus roasted broccoli.

Do you have a favorite type of smoked fish to recommend?

20Mar2017

Pie In The Sky

by Emily

This is a longer wrap-up (Monday through Sunday) but I’m missing a lot of photos because this week felt like the actual longest and I mostly just ate cheese on top of various things. Adam and I both have a week off coming up at the end of the month and man, oh man, do I need it! Three big complaints from this past week – 1. some horrible thing are happening in our department and my schedule/work-load is going to become ridiculous; 2. the “blizzard” killed my big Pi(e) Day plans; 3. I stood in front of an automatic door like an idiot and gouged my big toe and then bled all over the place in front of a bunch of cute doctors.

My schedule was all over the place last week so I was disoriented in addition to cranky. Thanks to the weather-related NYC shut down, a last minute schedule change for a lunch and learn, and weekend coverage, I was off on Wednesday, worked a half day on Tuesday and Thursday, and worked a full day Monday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. But now I’m off again on Wednesday which is pretty much a golden lining!

/end rant. Here were some of the yummy things that put a smile on my face last week…

Coffee combo on point. Chicory with sweet buttercream creamer.

I also had wonderful iced lattes from Butler and City of Saints.

Killer lunch components = California Grape kombucha. Peach and cloudberry(!) skyr yogurt with Heritage Flakes and a sumo mandarin.

Our lunch and learn was a Nestle presentation on perioperative nutrition. It was more product promotion than educational, unfortunately, and the research wasn’t as robust as I had hoped. My lunch was good though, grilled salmon and mixed veggies.

Fabulous lunch date at the White Oak Tavern.

I had a cocktail with whiskey, Kahlua, housemade butterscotch, espresso, and cream.

We split a salad and salmon for lunch. Chopped salad with cucumber, feta, olives, avocado, haricot vert, and tahini dressing.

Pan seared salmon with a smoked tomato and piquillo puree, plus crispy potatoes and cipollini onion.

We were pleasantly surprised by how good the food was because we definitely came for dessert – a dark chocolate brownie with butterscotch, walnuts, and toasted marshmallow.

Fruit and cheese plate, the cafeteria was feeling fancy.

Coffee break with a honey caramel chocolate bar.

Adam totally saved Pi(e) Day by offering to bake with me. We made S’mores Pie which is one of our favorites. Almost as good as going on a pie crawl in Brooklyn, almost.

The crust looks red because instead of graham crackers I made it out of Peeps flavored Oreos (<– which turned out to be freaking amazing).

P.S. on Monday night while the grocery store was packed with people filling carts with bread, canned goods, and bottled waters, I got in line with Oreos, chocolate bars, marshmallows, and a case of soda. I’d die first if the blizzard had been real but I’m still pretty sure I win.

Eggs for dinner that tasted far better than they looked. Scrambled with sharp cheddar and brown sugar and Sriracha shredded chicken.

When we were at the University of Miami I worked at an on-campus bar that served the yummiest pita tuna melts; it took me ten years, but I finally made them at home.

Curried tuna salad – canned tuna with mayo, green curry paste, curry powder, spring onion, and shallots – with sharp cheddar stuffed in a pita and cooked in a skillet with copious amounts of butter. They were 10/10 fantastic.

Plus roasted green beans with shallots.

Buffalo chicken and veggie bowls.

Roasted sweet potato and brussels sprouts, topped with shredded chicken breast in buffalo sauce, and a drizzle of blue cheese dressing.

Have a great week!

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: cucumber

Japanese Kit-Kats And Trader Joe’s Nitro Cold Brew

Llamas, And Pigs, and Humans, Oh My!

Salmon Cream Cheese Wontons

Smorgasburg, Greenport, And The Weekend’s Top Five

I Can’t Choose A Favorite!

Pastrami Smoked Salmon On Sourdough

Pie In The Sky