A Menagerie Of Markets

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Adam and I went to four different holiday markets/festivals/fairs this weekend.  We didn’t actually purchase anything (other than food!) but it was fun to window shop.

Bryant Park Winter Village.

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Union Square Holiday Market.  <– this one was the best

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Holiday Fair at Grand Central.

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And Urban Space – Vanderbilt.  <– this one was just a food court

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We also had double pizza and hot chocolate!  Here is some of the other good stuff…

lunch

Hospital cafeteria – fish taco salad.

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Greens with ranch, guacamole, corn and tomato salsa, cheddar, and a piece of white fish and a hard-boiled egg.

Urban Space: Asia Dog.  We got the Ginny – kimchi and seaweed flakes – on top of an amazingly smoky chicken dog.  With a Genny cream ale!

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We also got pizza from Roberta’s.

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Cheesus Christ = mozzarella, taleggio, parmigano, black pepper, and cream = my favorite pizza.

Root & Bone – Mascato and macaroni and cheese with a biscuit and thyme crust.

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The sweet wine went very well with the cheese.

dessert

Froyo.  They had Nutella crunch.

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With all of the sprinkles.

Boba Guys’ NYC pop up.  Boba Guys is a San Francisco company that uses loose leaf teas and local milks.  We loved them on our SF visit last fall.

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We got Horchata and Thai Tea.

Hot Chocolate with a ginormous marshmallow from City Bakery.

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The chocolate is very dark and the marshmallow is very sweet so together they are perfect.  However, this couldn’t hold a candle to…

Max Brenner‘s drinking chocolate.

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Best drink, best dessert, best chocolate item of all time.  I can barely drink it because I have to stop and die of happiness after every sip.  It is sooooo thick, and sweet but not too sweet.

dinner

Milkflower – more pizza.

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S.T. the Ghost = Grafton cheddar, mozzarella, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and burnt honey.  This sounds like it should be my favorite pizza, but sadly it wasn’t.

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We also had lackluster pasta; bucatini with tomatoes, chili, olive oil, and stracciatella cheese.

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We loved the look of Milkflower but the meal just wasn’t as fantastic as it sounded.  Dessert was on point though.

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Chocolate budino (pudding) with espresso cream and Maldon sea salt.  The components went together amazingly; the salt took the pudding over the top.

Sandwich night – roasted turkey and avocado on a brioche bun (toasty baked with Smart Balance) with Sriracha mayo.

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Plus apple and baby carrots on the side.

Partial Thanksgiving dinner – another easy night, thanks to cranberry sauce and chicken sausage and cornbread stuffing from Trader Joe’s.

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Plus great salads.  Arugula / maple pumpkin seeds and rosemary sunflower seeds / dried cranberries and fresh pomegranate / cheddar / honey, evoo, balsamic, and lavender salt.

NYC friends – are there any other hot chocolates I need to check out??

BEC, FTW

Big life change alert – I have a new job.  As of Monday this week I officially transferred over to the inpatient nutrition team full-team.  I am very sad to no longer be working with prenatal clients on an outpatient basis but the job opened up I knew that it was time for me to get back to my roots with acute care.  My new job lets me work with and learn from other Dietitians on a daily basis and gives me exposure to a much greater scope of practice.  I’m excited about it.

My new job comes with a nice perk – free meals from the cafeteria, so you are going to see some big changes in my weekly lunches.  And this transition week was unbelievably busy so there were a lot of bites that missed the camera.  You’ll just have to picture a lot of snacking, both candy at my desk and copious taste-testing while preparing dinners.  Plus a lot more coffee, of course.  Here the bites I did capture…

breakfast

Coffee!  With a SweeTango apple.

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Or a Nonni’s caramel apple biscotti and a persimmon.

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Or a Fiber One cheesecake strawberry bar and a persimmon.

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This week’s coffee masterpiece was Grady’s Cold Brew with skim & vanilla almond milks.

lunch

My old team brought in a giant cake on my last day.  So sweet!

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I ate a serious amount of frosting.

Now that I’m “buying” lunch instead of packing my yogurt bowls {tear!} you’re going to see a lot of salads and sandwiches.  Romaine / ranch / cheddar / chickpeas / veggies / cole slaw.

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Romaine / ranch / corn salsa / peppers / maple pumpkin seeds.

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Plus chocolate a new coworker brought me.

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Yesterday I had a simple sandwich.  Toasted wheat bread, mayo, turkey, pepperjack.  Plus a carton of chocolate milk.

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Apparently I’m six.

dinner

In spite of the fact that Adam and I both had crazy weeks, our dinners were all winners.  We let the crockpot help out one night.  Chicken breasts topped with bbq sauce and fresh cranberries and set on low for 8 hours.

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We’ve made this dish three winters in a row now and it is always wonderful.  Served with roasted green beans and TJ’s sprouted California rice.  And a Warlock pumpkin stout.

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We used leftovers in our BECFR, aka Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Fried Rice.

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Rice stir-fried in olive oil with turkey bacon and chunks of cheddar and eggs.  Roasted cruciferous veggies on the side.

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I’ll toot my own horn – cheese in fried rice is freaking genius.  We tried to watch “Fresh Off the Boat” while we ate but I was mmmning so loudly that we kept having to pause.

Finally, a quick salad.

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Baby spinach / feta dressing / cucumber / pumpkin seeds / roasted coconut chips / avocado / turkey bacon / and goat’s milk Brie.

It’s been an exciting work-week but I am feeling ready for the weekend!

Weekend’s Best…

{Brunch} Adam and I had a great meal at Burnside Biscuits.

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A great, giant meal.  The Full Ration = 2 pieces of black tea, lemon, and thyme brined fried chicken; pimento cheese biscuits; and sunny side up eggs.

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Plus a salty dog.

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Everything was yummy, the chicken was both succulent and crispy.

{Lunch} Yogurt bowl.  Honey Greek yogurt with pumpkin puree and maple pecan granola.

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Plus a persimmon.  Plus an apple and a cup of earl grey moonlight as a snack.

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{Dessert} Birthday cake frozen yogurt with Nutella sauce.

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Plus mochi and Reese’s cup.

{Dinner} Cheeseburger fried rice.

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This was a homemade success.  Brown jasmine rice stir-fried with eggs, tomato, basil, onion, cheddar cheese, and lean ground turkey.

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Broccoli on the side.

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The addition of cheese to the fried rice was a good one.  We have a similar meal planned for next week now.

Last Week’s Top Five

{1}  Time with my husband.

Adam has been on his break for the past two weeks and we have had the absolute best time going out on date nights after my work days.  I love every single minute with him!

We loved the minutes so much that I couldn’t be bothered to take out my camera most of the time.  We ate some really fantastic meals over the past week and this post only has photos of three of them.  Plus an Instagram shot of the best ice cream of all time –

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Ice & Vice rocked our freaking faces off.  We got a fantastic trio: Milk Money = toasted milk, sea salt, dark chocolate ganache; Splinters = smoked whiskey barrel wood, cracker jack brittle; 9 am = vietnamese coffee, doughnut truffle.    All three were amazing (Milk Money was best) and they went together perfectly.

{2}  An eggcellent meal at Egg Shop.

I got the drink special – Vodka, St. Germain, fresh lemon juice, watermelon, mint, and a prosecco float.

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And we started with the poached burrata -yolk stuffed burrata cheese, crispy chickpeas, tomato agrodolce, and truffle toast.  This was our first time trying burrata and it was wonderful.

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For dinner I got roasted Brussel sprouts with lemon vinaigrette and two poached eggs.

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This dish was so simple, just veggies with eggs, and so delicious, one of my favorite restaurant plates of all time.  I was literally shoveling it into my mouth.

{3}  Emily loves pizza at Pizza Loves Emily.

<– actually our meal was only ok, but the wordplay was too great to pass up.  Our Modern (double sauce, mixed herbs, garlic, basil, double pecorino, onion, and Sichuan oil) was light on cheese and a little burnt.

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My drink was great though.

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Dune Deck – Rum, Luxardo Maraschino, lime, and spiced grenadine.  I’ll love you if you stick a Luxardo cherry in my drink.

{4}  Dinner at home.

I’ll pat myself on the back, this was one of the best meals of the week.

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Roasted green beans and Naan from La Brea Bakery.

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Scrambled eggs with shredded chicken breast and sharp cheddar.

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I cooked the eggs on high heat so they were almost burnt and we loved them.

{5}  Yogurt bowls for lunch.

Strawberry Fage with pumpkin o’s, pecans, blackberries, and pomegranate.

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A very spring-y blackberry and lemon mix.

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And then it was back to fall with pomegranate, chia seeds, pecans, and maple pumpkin seeds.

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Now it’s back to work.  I hope everyone has a nice week!

Last Week’s Top Five

{1} Date night in Chelsea.

Last Friday we went on a fabulous Manhattan date after work.  The High Line at sunset.

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Gansevoort Market for an Oreo whoopie pie(at The Bruffin).

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Chelsea Market for Ramen (at Mok Bar).  Vegan miso ramen – Kombu shiitake doenjang broth / tofu / triple seasonal vegetable / crispy potato.  Made un-vegan with a poached egg on top.

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And finally a trip through the Whitney Museum.

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The 6th floor was my favorite.

{2} City desserts.

The Fat Witch is making sparkly green Emerald City Witches, aka mint chip brownies.

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And Brooklyn Cupcake‘s cakes are on point.

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We tried french toast, tres leches, and guava cheese!!

{3} Pota-topia potato bowls.

I got waffle fries with all of the veggies, smoked gouda, and truffle aioli.

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We were very impressed.  Our mall’s food court has gotten downright fancy.

{4} Pumpkin yogurt bowl lunch.

Whole Foods pumpkin spice yogurt, chia seeds, maple pumpkin seeds, and TJ’s pumpkin o’s.

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Fun, but I pretty much hate the texture of regular (not Greek) yogurt.

{5} Pumpkin beer on Halloween.

We spent Halloween afternoon in Williamsburg checking out the fantastic hipster costumes.  We enjoyed mead and a Chelsea Brewing Company pumpkin pie beer while playing games at Barcade.

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Plus we had a very taste lunch at Sugarburg.  <– we will be back!

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St. Thomas, October 2015

Adam and I took a long weekend and went home to visit my parents last Friday.  It was great!  We hit the beach, tried some new restaurants and ate at old favorites, caught up with family, and just had a fabulous time.

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Here were some of the highlights…

Lots of fancy coffee.

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Including an almond joy iced latte from Barefoot Buddha.  Alongside a Bigfoot Bagel Sandwich, aka the – egg frittata, smoked turkey, turkey bacon, cream cheese, sharp cheddar cheese, chipotle aioli, tomoto-onion coulis, fresh spinach – sandwich I ate on my wedding day!

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Bailey’s Delight milkshake from Udder Delight.

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Rum and cokes from Woody’s happy hour.

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Maple shortbread cookies my mom makes every year.

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Pumpkin Chobani with homemade chocolate chip cookie and candied walnuts and ground flax.

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Fish tacos on the beach at Iggy’s.

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Quick dinner at home for board game night.

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Turkey Reuben with smoked turkey, gouda, and cole slaw on rye.  Plus green beans sautéed with almonds.  And we had locally made chocolates for dessert.

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A delicious dinner at The Long Board in St. John.  The Carib Sour = Bullet bourbon, Luxardo amaretto, lemon juice, honey, egg white, and whiskey barrel aged bitters.

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We started with fried plantains and chicken wings with mango glaze and garlic-lemon aioli.

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And my dinner was a salad with romaine, red cabbage, shredded carrot, wakame seaweed, sriracha, crispy wonton, ginger mandarin vinaigrette, and Korean bbq chicken.

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Everything was wonderful, just like our trip!

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This Week’s Top Five {Giveaway}

{1} Dates with old friends

A doctor friend from Buffalo came into the city for an interview so we gave him the quick New York experience – hand-pulled noodles from Xi’an Famous Foods eaten picnic-style in Bryant Park.

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I got the spicy hot oil noodles, extra spicy, and they were brutal and delicious.  Then we walked 10 blocks down to The Ginger Man to drink all of the beers.

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The Ninkasi Noir was the best, a super roasty coffee milk stout.  We also had mead!

My bff from 2nd grade lives here in Brooklyn, and this week her mom (aka my part-time mom my whole childhood) was visiting.

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Not only did I get to catch up with good people, we ate delicious bibimbap.

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We went to Dobeki, a Korean bbq spot in Williamsburg.

{2} Yogurt bowls

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Pumpkin featured heavily, of course.

{3} Taco salad

We made homemade Chipotle bowls.  Not to worry though, we also ate Chipotle!

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Sweet romaine base + sauteed onions and peppers + ground turkey sauteed with shallots, garlic, lime, and spices + cheese and sour cream.  Plus an assortment of pumpkin flavored beverages.

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They were very good!

{4} Nonni’s new seasonal biscotti

Nonni’s sent me a very exciting box, featuring their (new)holiday biscotti flavors.

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Please note: I was given these samples, plus another set of samples for a lucky reader, free of charge to review.  I was not provided with further compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own.

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New Seasonal Flavors:

  • Nonni’s Caramel Apple Biscotti are made with delicious apples, a blend of brown sugar and cinnamon, filled with caramel and delicately dipped in gourmet white icing.
  • Nonni’s Cranberry Cioccolati are made with sweet cranberries and delicately dipped in rich dark chocolate.

Seasonal Returning Favorites:

  • Nonni’s Pumpkin Spice Biscotti are made with real pumpkin, a blend of robust spices and delicately dipped in gourmet cinnamon icing.
  • Nonni’s Gingerbread Biscotti are made with real molasses, premium spices and delicately dipped in white icing.

I had Caramel Apple with an iced white chocolate coffee.

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Pumpkin Spice with pumpkin applesauce and an iced coffee.  <– I realize a pumpkin spice latte would have been on theme here but I’ve finally accepted that I think PSLs are disgusting.

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Gingerbread with a maple latte.

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And Cranberry Cioccolati with a hot chocolate.

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I loooooooooved them.  I’ve sampled Nonni’s stuff in the past and they really make the best biscotti I’ve ever had.  The texture is perfect, I am always expecting crumbly and hard and am pleasantly surprised by how easy they are to bite into.  I don’t think I could identify pumpkin and gingerbread in a blind taste-test, but they were yummy regardless and I was glad that they weren’t overly spicy.  The caramel apple was my favorite, it had pockets of chewy apple bits and caramel!  The icing on all of them was great, not too sweet and a nice complement to the rest of the bar.

{5} A giveaway!

Nonni’s said I could share the love with you guys.  One lucky (USA-based) reader will receive a box with all four holiday flavors.  To enter to win – simply leave a comment on this post telling me which flavor you are most interested in.  Comments must be received by midnight on Tuesday, October 27th.

***Update – Annamarie won the giveaway.  She has already been contacted.  Better luck next time 🙂

Weekend Wrap-Up

I know this post is running a bit late but it was a damn good weekend that was worth blogging.  We drank, we brunched, we explored – all of the important stuff!  Here are the highlights…

breakfast

7-11 iced coffee and a protein bar.

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Starbucks iced coffee and a doughnut.

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Doughnut Plant‘s pumpkin doughseed is a plain doughnut with pumpkin cream filling and super spicy cinnamon icing.  It was interesting.

The best breakfast of all was spread out to include some city time.  We got coffee in DUMBO.

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Took the train in to the LES and walked two miles west.

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To the gorgeous Brookfield place.

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Where we headed to famed Black Seed Bagels.

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Poppy with honey butter for me.  It was wildly disappointing – no chew.  But then we spent way too much money on candy at Le District.

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And after a quick train ride we had a great walk back to the car through Cobble Hill.  We got so lucky with the weather.

lunch

Yogurt bowl at work.

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Pumpkin Noosa with a TJ’s pumpkin bar and a snap dragon(!!) apple.

Yogurt bowl at home.

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Plain Fage with maple syrup, red grapes, granola, chia seeds, and maple pumpkin seeds.

The day I skipped the yogurt bowl I went big – lunch at Miriam in Park Slope.

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I had Burekas, or puffed pastry pocket stuffed with feta & olives, served with poached eggs, labneh cheese, Israeli salad and tahini sauce.  Everything was amazing, super fresh and flavorful.  We want to go back for dinner immediately.

With ridiculously giant froyo bowls for dessert.

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All of the toppings.

dinner

{Friday} Dinner appetizer – Kale chips.

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Dinner drink – Rogue Pumpkin Savior, best pumpkin beer so far this season!

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Dinner – roasted veggie fall forest gnome food.

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Browned mushrooms // shredded chicken // turkey bacon // shredded Brussels sprouts // roasted butternut squash // baby spinach // pecans.

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We make some iteration of this dish every fall, it’s one of our favorites.

{Saturday} Dinner appetizer – Shrimp, crab, salmon, and tofu skin fritters from Laverne.

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Dinner drink – yummy root beer beer.

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Dinner – turkey sandwich, red grapes, and fantastic seaweed salad.

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{Sunday} Dinner, drinks, and appetizer were all wrapped up in one – I had beer with chips and dip… while watching bad tv… in bed.  It was fabulous.

Enjoy the rest of your week!