Birthday Week

by Emily

Today is my birthday! Woo-hoo to getting another year older!!

We were supposed to be home in St. Thomas to celebrate so Adam and I have actually been on ~~vacation~~ staycation this week. A tropical island is obviously always the preferred option but social-distancing fun in the best city isn’t a bad second choice. We’ve taken several long walks, had lots of cuddling time with Webster, and watched a ton of Seinfeld and The Office. Plus we’ve eaten so many good things! If I was going to name ten of my top favorite foods I’d say Diet Cherry Coke Zero, vodka, espresso, sweetened condensed milk, soursop, nachos, cheeseburgers, ice cream, roasted green beans, and Pad See Ew and I’ve eaten all but three of those things in the past week.

Highlights include…

A ton of yummy things from Win Son Bakery. The standouts were the mochi doughnut and the Fan Tuan (rice roll) with egg and Chinese cruller.

A fancy picnic (from Ellen’s) in our car at the end of the North Fork.

We had a lobster roll and duck fried rice.

Plus a local passionfruit IPA.

Soursop ice creams. I’ve been wanting to go to Taste of the Tropics for a decade and their soursop ice cream did not disappoint.

I actually preferred Island Pops though. Soursop + nutmeg.

IPAs at Greenpoint Harbor Brewing.

Tamarind + mango + tequila = our new all-time favorite homemade cocktail.

East Wind Snack Shop makes our favorite dumplings in the city. Dry-aged beef potstickers // Shanghai vegetable steamed dumplings with ginger scallion sauce // veggie noodles.

Happy birthday to me! 🙂

17Jul2020

Soursop And Szechuan Peppers

by Emily

Today is my 1st day back in at the hospital after a day off and a two-day stint of project days at home. I had to recertify in ServSafe and I had a big task to work on (updating the Nutrition Department’s Clinical Practice Guidelines to be more current/evidence-based) so my boss let me work from home, which was lovely. I got to leisurely brew Phin coffee and sip while I worked! Plus I ate a million snacks. <– Normally I sit in the ICUs and wear an N-95 for most of the day so I took full advantage of having a free face!

Highlights included…

The company that makes the instant espresso we love for Dalgona coffees also makes a really good espresso roast.

Plain Greek yogurt bowl with blackberries, peach, cashew butter, and a chopped up Bueno Bar. <– I realize it is ridiculous to stir a candy bar into your lunch but this was breath-takingly good and I’m glad I did it!

Vanilla skyr yogurt bowl with blackberries, black plum, cashew butter, coconut chips, and starry sprinkles.

Adam and I had to go into Manhattan for a doctor’s appointment so we stopped by Bibble and Sip for a cream puff. A cream puff topped with crème brûlée and filled with milk tea cream and boba!

I snacked on nuts every day this week. These sweet Thai chili almonds were a favorite.

Still obsessed with Hal’s caffeinated cola seltzer.

Adam and are both head over heels for these dinner mints. We made it through 12 years of marriage before we realized we are both fans of these guys!

This soursop ice cream was possibly the very best packaged ice cream I’ve ever tasted.

I topped this cheese enchilada meal with more cheese, sour cream, and Crystal hot sauce and it was 10/10. P.S. I highly recommend Amy’s frozen meal options, this one is good even if you aren’t over the top about it.

There’s a newish poke place in our neighborhood that lets you add a thousand toppings. This was white rice with crabcake, tofu, eel sauce, spicy mayo, cucumber, shiitakes, shredded carrot, string bean, green onion, tamago (shredded egg omelet), oshinko (pickled veggies), inari (tofu skin), garlic crisps, and lotus chips.

Blistered green beans – sauteed with garlic, ginger, and chili oil – with Trader Joe’s mini chicken and cilantro wontons.

Have a great – safe, distanced – weekend!

13Jul2020

Boots On The Moon

by Emily

Five things from the past week —

{1} I really enjoyed these two cans from Nitro Coffee Company. The nitro gives them a super velvet-y mouthfeel.

{2} A very hydrating cocktail. Vodka with lime, watermelon juice, and watermelon seltzer.

{3} We made twice-baked potatoes that were delicious. Stuffed with butter, sharp cheddar, turkey bacon, green onion, Kewpie, and fish sauce.

{4} A very loose take on homemade okonomiyaki. Made with shredded brussel sprouts!

{5} Did I mention yet that we adored Space Force? We also loved the new SF-themed ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s.

29Jun2020

Sweet Polly, Sweetie Pies

by Emily

Adam was on vacation this weekend and since we couldn’t travel anywhere we did all of the fun, social-distancing things in New York! Highlights include…

Breakfast from Sweetie Pies on Main in Cold Springs Harbor. We got a cookies and cream scone

and a quad, non-fat, iced latte with toasted marshmallow syrup

and ate while walking around and admiring the water.

Lunch from Lunch Lobster Roll in Montauk. We got lobster rolls for take-out and ate near the beach. They gave us so much lobster!

Drinks from Sweet Polly in Park Slope. The fact that social distancing rules have pretty much killed open container laws in NYC is a giant silver lining. This pina colada was perfect for enjoying on a long stroll.

Dinner from Takumen in Long Island City. We got take-out and ate on the water!! <– best ambiance of the weekend

Hoji-cha bubble tea with oat milk.

Karaage fried chicken.

Ban ban chicken ramen for me. Topped with chili oil and a soft-boiled egg.

5Jun2020

Brinner Tacos

by Emily

This week’s best:

{Coffee} Trader Joe’s cold brew with cookies and cream milk.

{Lunch} Leftover buffalo chicken pizza with roasted zucchini.

{Snack} Coca-Cola Tic-Tacs. How did they get the flavor so spot-on??!

{Dinner} Egg tacos. These are amazing; I’ve been eating them all week and I’m still not sick of them! Pan-warmed tortillas // sauteed corn and kale with paprika and TJ’s umami powder // soft-scrambled eggs with gouda // homemade salsa (I made a big batch loosely based on this recipe).

1Jun2020

Kimchi In My Ramen And My Burger

by Emily

Real Stuff — This was a hard weekend in the United States. I don’t think my voice adds anything to the discussion but I do want to use my (small) platform share some posts with my white readers: A Guide to White Privilege // How to be Actively Anti-Racist // 10 Steps to Non-Optical Allyship.

Fluff — Some highlights from the past few days…

We took a social distancing walk across the Williamsburg Bridge to get take-out to eat in Thompkin’s Square Park and I must have said four-thousand times how much I love NYC.

Nowon was ridiculously fantastic. I had charred broccoli with sesame caesar, perilla, anchovy, parmesan, and seaweed and a double cheeseburger with american cheese and kimchi mayo.

Still loving making Phin coffee.

This new Chobani chocolate oat milk is insane. It tastes like chocolate marshmallows!

This yogurt bowl tasted like summer. Plain Greek, honey, cinnamon, and fresh mango.

Chicken and kimchi ramen with brown sugar milk tea with boba.

The best thing I ate all weekend = this taco. Stuffed with Kewpie, Crystal hot sauce, and soft-scrambled eggs with gouda.

25May2020

Soda In My Beer

by Emily

Three things from the weekend –

{1} Is it even a work-day (Friday) if I don’t eat a giant yogurt bowl?

This one had honey vanilla Greek yogurt, espresso vanilla granola, and fresh blueberries.

{2} We got our most exciting beer delivery from Evil Twin yet.

Sour ale brewed with milk sugar, caramelized barley, vanilla, dark cherry, and cola syrup // sour ale brewed with milk sugar, vanilla, and orange soda syrup // sour IPA brewed with raspberries.

{3} We got curbside take-out from Comfortland and it was everything I’ve ever dreamed of.

I got a biscuit sandwich with egg, cheddar, and turkey bacon. Plus a pineapple guava doughnut that knocked my socks off! And we had frozen painkillers and frozen New Orleans iced coffee with oat milk.