Souvenir Tastes

Highlights from this week include…

We were missing vacation and immediately ate all of our Hawaiian goodies.

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Taro macadamia shortbread / passion fruit gummies / li hing gummy pineapples.

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Also Hawaiian-inspired goodies, dried baby pineapple and tropical punch kombucha.

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We went to brunch at Comfortland and loved it x10,000.  The space was super cute and I wanted everything on the menu!

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We had a doughnut milk latte!  Plus a nutella creme brulee doughnut.  And a giant bbq fried chicken biscuit that I got too excited to photograph.

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Dinners were awesome thanks to some great H-Mart finds – jumbo puff tofu and Korean rice cakes.

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Stir-fry with tofu, baby bok choy, mushroom, green onion, and cherry tomato.  Sauce = soy sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar, sriracha, sugar.

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Stir-fry with chicken, egg, rice cake, cabbage, and onion.  Sauce = gojuchang, soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, lime, canola oil, brown sugar.

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Oahu Part III, Fun Places We Ate

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We were blown away by how good everything we ate on this trip was!  Hawaiian chefs are absolutely killing it.  The next time we go back to Hawaii I would strongly consider returning to Oahu just to revisit some of these spots!

I really tried to limit my picture taking and this post will be a million pages long if I list out every single thing we ate so this will just be the highlights of the highlights…

** Kona Coffee Purveyors.

Nitro Kona coffee with a black sesame kougan amann (not shown).  Affogato.

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** Leonard’s Bakery.

This malasada (Portuguese doughnut) stuffed with guava cream was my favorite bite of the entire trip.

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** Matsumoto Shave Ice.

This was my favorite shave ice of the trip; the flavors were spot on and the ice cream was wonderfully chewy and a great foil to the ice.  Guava, passion fruit, and strawberry on top of vanilla ice cream and topped with condensed milk.

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** O’Kims.

Dumplings stuffed with king oyster mushroom, button ear wood, yellow squash, zucchini, and truffle paste, topped shoyu jelly and pickled dikon.

 

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Korean fried chicken with gochujang, housemade gnocchi, brussel sprouts, purple rice, and kimchi.

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** The Pig and the Lady.

Midday Run – mezcal, passion fruit, vanilla, habanero, and lemon (not shown).  Le Swoon – Kohana rum agricole, Okinawan sweet potato, pandan, coconut milk, cinnamon, lime, and aphrodite bitters.

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Chocolate banana tart with Valrhona dark chocolate cremeux, chocolate cookie crust, fresh banana and banana marmalade, toasted hazelnuts, and tamarind caramel.

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** Piggy Smalls.

This was hands down our best meal of the trip!  We ordered all the things.  Brussel sprouts with makrut lime, peanut, fried shallots, cabbage slaw, and pickled red onions.

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Stir-fried ramen noodles with aged garlic shoyu, Chinese chives, pickled fresno chile, and shrimp.

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Lychee infused milk cake with blueberry compote, lychee chantilly cream, and lemon citrus streusel.

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Hanoi egg coffee, Kona dark roast poured on whipped egg yolk and vanilla bean.

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** The Surfing Pig.

Best cocktails of the trip.  I drank way too much prior to our 10 hour red-eye flight.  The bartender was crazy talented and also maybe my new favorite person – she hugged us on our way out.  Smoked rosemary mezcal margarita.  I also had a spicy paloma with mezcal (not shown).

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** Waiola Shave Ice.

Guava and passion fruit with vanilla ice cream, condensed milk, and housemade mochi.

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Waffley Glad

We had a really amazing time in Hawaii (several posts are coming soon!) but I am awfully glad to be back home with Webster!

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I didn’t make it the grocery until Sunday afternoon but we still managed to eat some yummy things this weekend.  Highlights include…

My new favorite yogurt bowl = Trader Joe’s plain Skyr yogurt with maple syrup, blueberries, banana, and blistered peanuts.

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Extra spicy, extra veggies hand-pulled noodles from our mall’s fancy food court.

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A perfect snack.

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Costa Nova made me a fantastic quad iced latte!  Plus a waffle with marshmallow and cookie butter!

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We thought this frozen kunefe from Trader Joe’s was fantastic.  Highly recommend buying if you spot it.

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Waffle flavored chicken bites with baby carrots and maple sriracha aioli.

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My new favorite veggies bowl = a base of cauliflower rice with soft scrambled eggs, sauteed baby tomatoes, and avocado (topped with Cholula).

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The night before we left for Hawaii we celebrated our anniversary at Bowery Meat Company and the night we returned we feasted on leftover duck lasagna.

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Coffee Shops And Christmas Pop Ups

Adam and I had such a fun weekend!  We ate all of the things and saw a million twinkly lights.  Sooooooo many holiday pop up bars and holiday themed coffees!!

Holiday things – – –

Ample Hills‘ chocolate peppermint ice cream with white chocolate peppermint bark.  It was insane topped with marshmallow fluff!

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Maman‘s holiday cookie latte with eggnog ganache.

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Stumptown‘s rum raisin latte.  <– most exciting latte of the weekend

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Leyenda‘s Sleyenda pop up.  They have by far the most exciting and intentional pop up menu but unfortunately it was slammed while we were there and we only wanted to hang for one drink.  I had a delicious coquito with espolon reposado tequila, oloroso sherry, Braulio, coconut liqueur, coconut, cinnamon, and egg.

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Loreley Beer Garden‘s Winter Wonderland pop up.  Spiked eggnog with Captain Morgan, whipped cream, nutmeg, and caramel + boozy black and white hot chocolate with bourbon and toasted marshmallows.  <– best holiday cocktails of the weekend

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The Springs‘ Ho Ho Holiday Lounge pop up.  Nog Yourself Out – Mt Gay black barrel aged rum, eggnog, oregeat, and nutmeg + Hot Springs – Cruzan blackstrap rum, hot chocolate, malt, and mini marshmallows.

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The lights in Dyker Heights were so wonderful!

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But the decorations at Chelsea Market remain my favorite New York holiday thing!

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Things that aren’t festive but were still fun – – –

A trip to White Noise‘s Brooklyn location.  We had a scrambled egg sandwich on brioche with cheddar, sun-dried tomato, and plum mayo.

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Rose Wolf in Williamsburg is the cutest newish coffee shop.  And we had the best cake and coffee.  An extremely caffeinated and sugared cold brew with espresso, maple, caramel, cinnamon, and foamed milk + a chocolate funfetti cake.

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A cute and yummy sparkling lime hibiscus tea.

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Cookies and cream cookie with caramelized white chocolate from Mah Ze Dahr.

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Sour cream and brown sugar strawberry ice cream with lemon jam and black walnuts from Morganstern’s.

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Ramona is our favorite cocktail bar at the moment!  Vivian Darkbloom – charcoal mezcal, pineapple, mint, lime, Falernum, and lime bitters + Cloudbursting Daiquiri – Flor de Caña 4 year rum, passionfruit, lime, and grated cinnamon.

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New Yorkers, Chuko makes the best ramen in the city!  And their chili oil is amazing.

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The veggie dumplings at East Wind Snack Shop are next level delicious.  Crispy, chewy, plump, and topped with a ginger scallion sauce.

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I love NY – – – 

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Hot Sauce And Cinnamon Gum

Flavor themes from this week include – hot sauce, coffee, chocolate.

Highlights…

Fun in coffee.  Iced with fancy egg nog.

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I had forgotten how much fun it is to have a milk frother!

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This bottled New Orleans coffee was delicious and contained 10 grams of protein.

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Seasonal fun at Doughnut Plant – a marzipan star and a mint tree filled with chocolate pudding.

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Still obsessed with these cookie dough Perfect Bars.

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Plain2% Greek yogurt bowl with chocolate sunflower seed butter and fresh blueberries.

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Just before I left VA one of my officemates got me hooked on cinnamon gum and lately I have been loving this version from Mentos.

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It was Adam’s birthday this week!  He got multiple cakes at work and brought me home a delicious slice of s’mores cheesecake.

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Amy’s tortilla casserole with black beans frozen meal.  Topped with copious amounts of Cholula.

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Shredded potatoes with smoked mackerel salad and soft scrambled eggs.  Topped with furikake.

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Breakfast cheese fries.  Sweet potato waffle fries with cheddar, eggs, maple chicken sausage, broccoli, and shishito peppers.  Topped later with Kewpie and Sriracha.

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My current favorite sheet-pan hash is Japanese sweet potato + bok choy + green onions.  Plus salmon candy and cashews on top.  Topped with furikake, Kewpie, and Sriracha.

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I made a yummy version of this baked Spanish rice recipe.  I added fish sauce and green olives and subbed in vegan soyrizo for chorizo.  Topped later with Cholula.

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FYI – there will be no post this weekend for the best reason ever: I am going home for a few days with a couple of NY friends!  Ocean, rum, and warm weather, here we come!

Nacho Zip Code

My stuff, my husband, my dog, and I all finally live in the same place (New York) again!  What a surreal week!  I worked Monday-Tuesday, moved Wednesday, and unpacked Thursday-Friday.  I am thrilled to be with my amazing family and excited to be back in New York but am deeply mourning leaving Charlottesville, and my fantastic Virginia family and friends, and my unbelievably great job.  <– it’s an extremely good problem to have 🙂

My last Cville weekend was low-key because I was a bit under the weather.  I mostly watched tv in bed, drank Gatorade, and spent $8 on precut fruit.

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Before I knew it it was Tuesday and I was drinking my very last hospital coffee!  Sidenote – the coffee stands in the hospital served my favorite iced lattes in Virginia and I am going to miss them greatly.

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Also that afternoon coworkers took me out for coffee and then after work we went to Hardywood for a final round of marshmallow gingerbread stouts and by the time I packed my car I was a drunk, overly caffeinated mess.

My last night my family took me out for nachos – multiple plates! – and margaritas and I got to tell them how unbelievably grateful I am for their hospitality.  I lived with my cousin and her fiance for the last 4 months and they could not have made my life easier or more fun.  A lot of people thought I was insane for choosing to live apart from Adam and Webster for so long but one of the biggest silver linings of situation was the time I got with my Virginia family.

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And they would be thrilled to know that the very first thing I ate in New York was nachos!

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Once we got the car unpacked Adam and I headed to I am Nacho Mama for bbq chicken nachos and fancy honey coffee.

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I also had tacos – griddled cheese and salmon.

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Last night we had a fancy dinner at our local mall, Tom Colicchio’s restaurant Small Batch.

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Little gem lettuce with pecorino cheese, radishes, fried soft-boiled egg, and ceasar dressing.

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Local duck breast with honeynut squash, figs, and black garlic.

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Chocolate souffle cake with milk chocolate sauce, cookie crumbs, and bourbon-brown sugar ice cream.

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Good Tidings And Cheer

Is everything I have to share this week celebratory in nature?  Yes!  Thankfully I have a lot to celebrate.

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In ongoing goodbye festivities… Some coworkers and I went out for a very dietitian-y lunch at Roots.  I had a kale salad topped with miso chili tofu, eggs, and other goodies.

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And some coworkers and I went out for a much more on brand happy hour at Vitae – in addition to our cocktails we also got to taste-test some marshmallow simple syrup!

My cousin and her fiance hosted an absolutely fantastic Thanksgiving dinner.  There were 14 people in attendance but the platter of nachos I made for our appetizer was probably a still bit excessive!

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Most exciting morning of the week?  I had eggnog Greek yogurt, cranberry seltzer, and a peppermint mocha.

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In yogurt bowl fun… Vanilla bean Greek yogurt with cranberry sauce and granola.  And a holiday cheer kombucha on the side.

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Wegman’s eggnog Greek yogurt with cinnamon Chex and a banana.

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Cafe Con Leche, Cerveza Con Calabaza

Adam came to visit me last weekend, aka I had the best weekend ever!  He probably won’t be back in Virginia until my cousin’s wedding next year so we made the most of the visit.  We went to several old favorites and couple new favorites!

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Weekend highlights include…

Saturday was National Pumpkin Day and Tropical Smoothie Cafe sent me a free coupon to try their Pumpkin Pie Smoothie to celebrate.  Made with real pumpkin, Ghirardelli white chocolate, cinnamon, and non-fat yogurt.  It was very pumpkiny without being boring and just sweet enough.

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Drekker‘s Everybody Love Everybody is a rainbow sherbet sour and it’s PINK!

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Hardywood had a Halloween-themed black IPA on tap – the Heebie Jeebies!  Plus I had a None of This Makes Sense double IPA (my current favorite beer) and a soft prezel with cheese sauce.

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Gaujiros Miami Eatery is Charlottesville’s new Cuban spot and it is damn good!  I had eggs with beans and rice plus fried cheese.

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Plus a Cortadito that was so delicious I went back again the next day for another one!

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Quality Pie.  We split a Spanish Tortilla.

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And I had (super buttery, garlicy) foccacia with egg and cheese.

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Dinner at Comal with my cousin and her fiance.  I didn’t snap any photos but we had an absolutely amazing meal at this new Oaxacan spot in Belmont.

P.S. No more posts coming from me this week.  Tomorrow morning I’m on my way to Ohio to celebrate my grandma’s 90th birthday!

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