Hello, Pumpkin

I didn’t buy that many Pumpkin Month goodies this year but I am excited about my stash. The Whole Food’s seasonal soaps smell so good!

This week I enjoyed the 7-11 pumpkin spice cheesecake bites and a pumpkin pie Perfect Bar. P.S. I also started my October 1st with a Starbucks iced espresso with pumpkin cold foam. P.P.S. I also tried their banana protein cold foam this week and was a big fan.

Other highlights from this week included… This espresso roast cold brew from Equator is the best bottled coffee I’ve ever tried. It was smooth, not sour, and contained 250 mg of caffeine.

Passionfruit Konjac jelly drink in a strawberry green tea. The texture was everything I was hoping for but this gave me the worst stomachache.

We did Soup Week for dinners this week! I loosely followed the recipe for Recipe Tin Eat’s Korean Noodle Soup. This has the perfect amount of spice for soup. We added egg tofu and extra bok choy.

Butternut squash and sweet potato soup. I blended together roasted butternut squash, orange yam, and sweet onion with miso, salt, white pepper, and chicken broth. We loved this. I topped my with chili crisp and paired it with roasted green beans and some Duck Island Bread Company sourdough.

Meatball soup. Baked turkey meatballs (ground turkey, panko panade, egg, and hoisin sauce), chicken broth, salt, pepper, gochujang, garlic, scallions, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, and roasted zucchini. Plus super decadent apricot grilled cheese sandwiches – sourdough with apricot preserves and a filling of Duke’s mayo, Sriracha, smoked paprika, and two types of sharp cheddar.

P.S. We are doing something super fun today!

Goodbye, Apple

Highlights from the past week…

Saturday breakfast in Huntington. I got a maple spiced iced latte at Southdown. Reminder to me for next year — I don’t like this; one of the spices is cardamom which I don’t care for in coffee.

And a cinnamon sugar morning bun from Duck Island Bread Company.

For the last week of Apple Month I got my hands on the – delicious – Trader Joe’s juicy apple gummies.

See also – we made fall dirt cups! Chocolate pudding, toasted Reese’s Oreo crumbs, and mellowcreme leaves.

Other snacks of note were all from 99 Ranch. The best egg yolk rice crackers.

And 10/10 mochi, x2.

I also grabbed some hot food at the food court while I was at 99 Ranch. Beef rice rolls and a purple yam salted egg yolk mochi from Shanghai You Garden.

Black bean tacos. The filling was sauteed mushrooms, scallion, poblano pepper, and taco seasoning food processed with with walnuts and black beans. Baked in tortillas with tons of sharp cheddar. Plus roasted cauliflower and broccoli and homemade guacamole. We loved these.

Chicken kimchi quesadillas. I chopped together baked chicken breast, cabbage kimchi, Sriracha, and honey. Cooked on the stove with butter and evoo (and tons of sharp cheddar!).

Salmon and tofu veggie bowls. Bok choy sauteed with ginger and scallion / roasted white sweet potatoes / baked super-firm tofu / ACME salmon candy crisped up on the stove. This is our new favorite iteration of the sheet-pan hash I used to make often.

Swooning

We had a perfect weekend! Tons of great food, several good walks (a part of Brooklyn we don’t usually explore, Astoria, Manhattan, and our neighborhood back home), and a run on the boardwalk! Here were five food highlights…

1) Between the Bagel. Bulgolgi egg and cheese bagel heaven. And the owner is the nicest man.

2) Somedays Bakery. I fully get the hype. Pistachio lattice, chocolate chunk cookie, and a crab and cheese pastry.

3) Treats on the Lower East Side. We didn’t think that the Papa D’Amour Hokkaido milk soft serve with a French butter shell was that exciting.

But I thought the croissant bao with butter, red bean, and granulated sugar was fantastic. Plus yuzu lemonade + pear green iced tea.

And Adam adored the scallion and Thai basil pesto scallion blossom.

Noonas is my favorite ice cream in the city. We shared ube Vietnamese coffee latte and pandan ice creams with mochi and black sesame jam.

4) Brunch at Naks. Para Sa Paborito Kong Apo cocktail – dry gin, mezcal, campari, ginger, citrus sherbet, and chile; served in a toasted frozen grapefruit.

The Filipino platter was my favorite. Short rib with garlic rice, fried egg, bone broth, fried tofu, salad, and pickled veggies. Adam loved the (pork) bone broth and I thought the rice and fried tofu were perfect.

The salted egg pancake with citrus butter and salted egg cream was Adam’s favorite thing he’s ever eaten.

Plus flan for dessert.

And Taho – sea buckthorn spirit, silken tofu-soya milk, burnt sugar syrup, and tapioca pearls.

5) Dinner at Swoony’s. The vibe is great and they have cute matchbooks. My Swoon Cycle cocktail was delightful and interesting – rum and amaretto with ginger, lime, and cucumber.

Tuna crudo with avocado, capers, scallions, and citrus vinaigrette with buttery brioche. We loved the diced avocado here.

Brussels sprouts with horseradish sauce, shallots, and toasted breadcrumbs. These were the best non-fried brussels spouts I’ve eaten in a restaurant.

Crab toast with jalapenos and tomato.

Swoony’s burger – double patty with thousand island and American cheese plus fries. Meant in the most complimentary way — this tasted exactly like an upscale McDonald’s burger and fries! It made my top five New York burgers list (Nomwon, Sonder, Rolo, Swoony’s, Rippers).

Chocolate mousse for dessert with vanilla cream and strawberry topping.

Pastabilities

Things from this week…

Yogurt bowl – plain Greek with Whole Food’s delicious cinnamon granola and blackberries.

Lucky Ox matcha lemonade sparkler (8/10 – we liked it but nowhere near as much as their pandan coconut sparkler).

Quinn peanut butter and honey filled pretzels (9.5/10).

Mellowcreme leaves in flavors such as maple, butterscotch, and caramel apple aka FALL CANDY (10/10).

Roast Sandwich House had two new seasonal specials so obviously we redid our dinner plans. Braised brisket grilled cheese with white cheddar, grilled red onion, hash brown, hot sauce aioli, and griddled sourdough and a chicken salad sandwich with cranberry jam and white cheddar on a croissant. Plus fries and veggies from home (cauliflower rice sauteed with spinach, minced garlic, garlic powder, onion, powder, gochugaru, and salt and pepper).

The rest of our dinners were all pasta salads! I made a box of sourdough fusilli and embraced a new theme. Chicken taco. Pasta / sauce – mashed avocado, mayo, Greek yogurt, lime juice, and taco seasoning / baked chicken / sauteed corn, scallion, and green bell pepper / sharp cheddar.

Bang bang shrimp. Pasta / sauce – mayo, Greek yogurt, sweet chili sauce, honey, and rice vinegar / quick-pickled cucumber / red bell pepper / scallion / shrimp.

Egg salad. Pasta / sauce – hard-boiled egg yolk, pickle juice, mayo, Greek yogurt, Dijon, and smoked paprika / hard-boiled egg white / scallion / poblano pepper / pickle. Plus green tomatoes as our veggie (dressed with TJ’s mango vinaigrette and chopped capers).

Kingston

The highlight of our weekend was a trip upstate to Kingston! We thrifted, admired the wildflowers, and ate some truly fantastic food…

Rough Draft. Adam got a delicious tea latte and my coffee was just perfect – iced espresso with housemade concord grape syrup and vanilla cold foam.

We found a new-to-us flavor of Something or Nothing.

Pinkerton’s. This was the best breakfast sandwich we’ve ever eaten. Scrambled eggs, sharp white Cabot cheddar, and herb and garlic mayo dressing on their exceptional housemade English muffin.

Plus a slice of passionfruit meringue pie.

Kingston Bread + Bar. Vanilla cake with blackberry buttercream, peach compote, and strusel.

Kingston Standard Brewing. They make good beers and very good wood-oven sourdough pizza. We got a Compost – crushed tomato, pesto, mozarella, parmesan, red onion, and arugula.

Sonder. This is my 2nd favorite restaurant in all of New York! Housemade za’atar bread with tomato butter and browned honey butter. Plus sweet potato bisque.

Golden beets with jalopeno cream cheese and pretzel bites.

Dry aged strip steak with sweet potatoes.

Sonder burger with cornichons, special sauce, and American cheese. Plus fries. This is my 2nd favorite burger in all of New York.

We finished the meal/day with the best dessert I’ve eaten this decade – flourless chocolate cake with toasted marshmallow.

Cinnamon, Five Spice, Old Bay

Things from the week…

Wild Cherry Barebells bar, better than the key lime one but I definitely prefer the milk chocolate flavors.

This week’s apple snacks – kombucha and pink lady apple chips.

Delicious cookies – I made these brown butter oatmeal cookies and stuffed them with chopped up matzoh toffee candy.

Vermicilli bowls. Topped with celery and baby bok choy sauteed with ginger and scallions / nuoc cham / and baked turkey meatballs (with panade, egg, fish sauce, hoisin, white pepper, and tons of five spice).

Fish dip. Trader Joe’s canned smoked trout and canned tuna food-processed with plain skyr, Duke’s mayo, Dijon mustard, rice vinegar, celery seed, mustard powder, smoked paprika, and white pepper. Dipped with matzoh and cocktail sauce chips and served with green beans sauteed with mushrooms, butter, Dijon, lemon, and Old Bay.

We all know I planned the meal around this cute bag of chips.

Chicken salad. Chopped baked chicken, honeycrisp apple, Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy jalapenos, walnuts, and sharp cheddar dressed with skyr, Duke’s, honey, and lemon juice. Plus baked pretzel bites and roasted yellow and purple cauliflower with salt and pepper.

Matzoh brie with leftover cauliflower. I always top mine with salt and sugar.

Beaches

This weekend included a run on the Long Beach Boardwalk (one of my favorite weekend activities!), a long Manhattan walk, and some exploring in Brooklyn. It was a very tasty few days, here were the highlights…

Homemade iced coffees with banana cheesecake cold foam (in the blender – frozen banana, cream cheese, butter extract, vanilla bean powder, brown sugar, skim milk).

A wonderful smoothie – frozen banana and peaches, soursop juice, vanilla protein powder, and malted milk powder.

Delicious pandan coconut sparkler from Lucky Ox.

Other Half. We split a flight of mostly double IPAs but also their Mister Softee collab strawberry yuzu sour.

Saint Street Cakes. The hype about the chocolate chip cookie is real. We also really loved the miso peanut butter cookie and blackberry cornbread cake slice.

This mochi doughnut from Win Son‘s Manhattan location was probably the best thing we’ve eaten so far in 2025.

Post-run breakfast on the boardwalk! We split a turkey, egg, and cheese taco and a fresh juice with green apple, spinach, ginger, and lime. We probably wouldn’t get food from this spot again but I would definitely get another green juice.

An easy but exciting, mostly home-cooked dinner. Leftover brown rice reheated in the microwave with rice vinegar, furikake, and white sugar / mayak eggs (I also put some mini mozzarella balls down in the marinade! / broccoli roasted with evoo, five spice, and gochugaru / fried chicken tender from Dave’s Hot Chicken. P.S. I ate all of an order of fries on the drive home; they are fantastic.

Dinner at Kabawa. We had a great meal here – some of the best goat I’ve ever eaten. It wasn’t lit for photographs but I happened to get a shot of my two favorite dishes. The bread course with house-made roti and cassava dumplings and an assortment of sauces.

Birthday cake flan. This was the best flan I’ve ever eaten.

Dinner at The Long Island Bar. We loved it here!

Cheese curds.

Roasted beets with hazelnut dukkah, brandied cherries, ricotta salata, and creamy herbed vinaigrette and shocking good deviled crab toast with, roasted corn and herbs and black garlic mayonnaise on toasted sourdough.

A single patty L.I. burger – dry-aged beef patty, pickles, cheese, and fancy sauce. Plus a yummy side salad.

P.S. It’s Apple Month today!!

Drinks!

Taco Tour

This lovely weekend’s food themes were pastries and tacos. Some highlights…

Culture Espresso. Coffee granita with oat milk and agave topped with espresso whipped cream. Best frozen coffee we’ve had this summer.

Foreigner. Baklava iced latte.

Papa D’Amour. Chocolate brioche with marshmallow and a mochi doughnut with taro and guava strawberry jam.

Fan Fan Doughnuts. Passionfruit and guava cheese.

Dinner at Gertrude’s. I had a crisp diet coke but Adam had the best martini I’ve ever tasted. Latkes with celery creme fraiche and trout roe.

Whitefish toast – smoked whitefish salad (the best I’ve ever tasted; it was so vinegary!), pickled shallot, watercress, and herbs on rye.

I ordered the eponymous burger. It doesn’t make my top five but was objectively solid (comes with Swiss cheese, caramelized onion, lettuce, and special sauce, on a toasted milk bun). And it came with a mountain of perfectly crispy fries and dipping mustard.

Our favorite dish was dessert – seven layer cake.

We did a Manhattan walking taco tour – four stops and we shared a bunch of different things. All were great! Our first stop was actually a burrito joint – Son del North. Breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs, rajas, and pico de gallo. This was my favorite tortilla of the day.

Santo Taco. Chicken thigh with pineapple marinade, avocado salsa, and pickled red onions / shiitake and cremini mushrooms with squash blossom.

Tacos 1986. The combo came with red rice and pinto beans. Carne asada / mushroom. The mushrooms were my favorite filling of the day.

Taqueria by El Prieto. Chicken taco / nopal mulitas.

We also got carne asada fries with my favorite meat of the day.