Weekend Wrap-Up; We Loved – {fill in the blank}

I’m behind on my posts because I’ve been playing hostess for my parents.  We were quite sad to see them go Tuesday morning, but we did manage to fit a TON into their five-night visit.  We made it to SoHo, Tribeca, Park Slope, Williamsburg, Huntington, and Port Jefferson, among other places.  And we ate and ate and ate.  Rather than a full recap, I want to share some of the things we loved this weekend…

(1) – Cheeeeese

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The four of us were very impressed with this cheese plate from C’est Cheese.

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The Taleggio and Comte were the group favorites.

We went to Luigi’s – to celebrate my parents’ last night and Adam’s last day as an intern! – and I ordered eggplant parmesan and the three of them ordered chicken parm.

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My sautéed spinach totally beat their house-made spaghetti, in my opinion.

(2) – Ice Cream

Every single day, at least one of us had ice cream.  <– the perfect way to vacation

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Grasshopper frozen yogurt from Emack and Bolios.

Ample Hills knocked everyone’s socks off because it is the best ice cream in the city.

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I got Peppermint Patty and Snap, Mallow, Pop.  {thank you, Jenna, for letting me know that those two flavors would work wonderfully together}

(3) – Ethnic Food

We did lunch at Katz’s Deli on Friday.

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Broccoli knish and with pickles for me.

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The counter system and Katz’s gives me serious anxiety, but the food is totally worth it in the end.  My parents loved their matzo ball soups.

Lunch at Smorgasburg on Saturday.

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You cannot go wrong with the duck bun – with sweet and spicy chili sauce – from Bite Size Kitchen.

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They are my very favorite thing from Smorgasburg.

The Halo Halo from Lumpia Shack is a close second though.

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What???

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Pip Snack kettle corn / ube foam / leche flan / shaved ice / ube (purple yam) / green market strawberries / coconut jelly / coconut strips / palm seeds / sweet bananas.

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It was just so ridiculous and wonderful.  Apparently palm seeds are delicious.

(4) – Seafood

We were pretty pleased with Schafer’s in Port Jeff.

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I had fantabulous lobster mac and cheese.

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My big chunks of fresh lobster were in a brie and mozzarella sauce, so this one probably could get filled under “Cheeeeese” too.  With shaved Brussels sprouts.

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The sprouts were raw, served with dried cranberries, green apple, candied walnuts, crumbled blue cheese, and lemon vinaigrette.

That meal was great, but it could barely compete with Luke’s Lobster.

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Ahhh!

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Extra vinegary cole slaw,

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and a 1/2 crab roll, lobster roll, and shrimp roll for each of us.

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We were all swooning over the lobster.  Do you see that claw?!

(5) – How Flipping Awesome My City Is

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I New York!

Weekly Wrap-Up; Chocolate And Coffee

Forget Friday, TGIS! {thank god it’s Saturday}  This felt like the week that would never end – I had an allergic reaction to an allergy medicine, Adam and the dog both got food poisoning, and we had plumbing issue that flooded the entire apartment.  Yuck, yuck, and yuck.

I would have more pictures to share – we might have drowned our sorrows in melted cheese – but we hadn’t done any dishes for a solid week and a half so I’ve been buying lunch at work and we have been eating lots of take-out off of paper plates.  In bed.  <– we’re disgusting.

We are getting it together (finally) though.  Friday night, just before I wrote this post, Adam did a big load of dishes while I cooked us a tasty, healthy dinner.  And with any luck, by the time this scheduled post goes live I will have made it to the gym.  Cross your sneakers for me?

breakfast/snacks

An apple and a coffee on the way to work, both fabulous.  Sonya apple.

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Bananas Foster cappuccino from 7-11.

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The banana coffee was surprisingly delicious.  But the Dream caramel almond milk latte I had the next day was even better.

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This Extra cinnamon roll gum is so tasty.  I’ve enjoyed the other Dessert Delights but tire of them quickly, but this flavor is enjoyable to the end.

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Peppermint candy my parents sent me from STT’s food fair for Carnival.  It is basically sugar and peppermint oil smashed together – eating one is like chomping your teeth together during a cleaning at the dentist – and it’s one of my favorite things.

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Venti iced non-fat latte with my rewards freebie.  4 shots of espresso / 2 shots of white mocha / one very judgy look shot my way when the barista repeated back my order.

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Cheese and chocolate.  A mix of what you’ll see below.

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Adam and I checked out the gorgeous Whole Foods on 3rd Ave in Brooklyn and came away with a couple of treats to share.  Iced coffee.

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And a honey nougat chocolate bar.

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I’m not sure you can really call something a “turtle” without caramel, but this new Uber Larabar was good.

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What is this?

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Iced coffee + lavender simple syrup + chocolate milk

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= lavender iced mocha {for the win}.

lunch

Last Sunday, a girlfriend and I went to Smorgasburg in DUMBO.

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It was even better than Saturday’s in Williamsburg.  It is right on the water and there is a wonderful walking path.

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My friend and I were food twins all day and we both quite enjoyed everything we chose.  Coffee, obvs.

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A duck bun that had the most succulent meat I’ve ever tasted.

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And bubble tea.  Honey and lavender tea with boba and lychee jelly.

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Cheese plate.  Pear / apple / Chocolove Dark Chocolate Coffee Crunch / Kerrygold Dubliner Cheese.

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The only lunch I managed to pack for work.

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Passion fruit Chobani.

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Plus a Blueberry Oat Almond Thin and a few dates.

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Supplemented with a guava cheese empanada from the truck near my work.

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Oh. My. God.  The empanada was too fabulous.  I grew up loving guava paste, but I’ve never had it paired with cheese before.  The sweet and savory combo was insane.

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I ended up buying an empanada for my train-ride home the next two days in a row.

dinner

From the sea.

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I made fish salad out of leftover baked tilapia; shredded fish, Miracle Whip, relish, fresh dill, and Old Bay.  On a pretzel roll, topped with roasted spring onions.

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Plus roasted green beans with Old Bay on the side.

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And a Southern Tier milk stout for sipping.

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Adam had the day off on Monday so he picked me up at work and we walked over to Fletcher’s BBQ for an awesome dinner.

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They had Genesse Cream Ale.

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And this tray was the best bbq I’ve ever had, including what we’ve tried in the south.

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We split mac and cheese,

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and fridge pickles,

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and each got a chopped chicken sandwich with slaw on top.

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We smothered our sandwiches in bbq sauce and were absolutely swooning.  And one of the men behind the counter saw how thrilled we were and sent us home with a container of sauce to go!

We topped off our night by moseying next door for pie.

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A rosemary shoefly slice that was interesting but not quite sweet enough for our tastes.

My healthy/easy/tasty Friday dinner.

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Roasted broccoli.

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And ridiculous melts.

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A maple French toast bagel topped with sweet and spicy pepper jam, smoked turkey, sliced Brie, and Hickory and Sage Smoked Seitan Bacon.

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The “bacon” was part of a sample I received from Sweet Earth.  This vegan, non-gmo, no nitrate bacon has 10 grams of protein, 90 calories, and 0.5 grams of saturated fat per serving.  The ingredients were all things I could recognize, like buckwheat groats, coconut, and maple.  We were big fans.

Hope everyone’s having a great weekend!