Pecking Order

by Emily

Adam and I were both on vacation last week and we went home to St. Thomas for Carnival! It was a perfect week – we had time with family, went on my favorite runs, ate my favorite foods (highlights included soursop shaved ice and a dark rum and coke), and went to the beach every day. It’s hard to beat a morning walk in the sand with an iced coffee!

We went right back to work when we got home (seriously, I was at my desk less than 10 hours after we left the airport!) and I didn’t get to go grocery shopping until yesterday but thankfully I had left myself a well-stocked freezer and pantry. Highlights from the week included…

This week’s coffee combo.

Beautiful smoothies. Frozen spinach, banana, and blueberries with honey, water, and key lime juice.

Frozen soursop, banana, and strawberries with vanilla almond milk, cinnamon, and plain Greek yogurt.

Trader Joe’s crispy apple chips.

These s’mores Ben and Jerry’s bites are hands-down my favorite thing.

Leftover chicken soup I made and froze a few weeks before vacation; this reheated really well.

“Freshly made” soup with this trio. Trader Joe’s ginger miso broth and garlicky cabbage plus ginger chicken dumplings.

Farro / furikake, kelp granules, black garlic, gochugaru / canned salmon and smoked trout with mayo, rice vinegar, and Sriracha / zoodles and celery / fried egg. I actually decided I didn’t like this and abandoned it halfway through for ramen but Adam liked it and I still think it was a good idea.

I work this weekend so I was off on Thursday and I went into the city for a haircut and a fun Brooklyn date. I have wanted to go to Pecking House for more than a year and it more than exceeded my high expectations! We shared fries with chicken seasoning.

Cornbread. Charred turnips with miso and almonds.

Fried chicken with salted egg sauce.

And the fantastic spicy chicken sandwich with Fuqi chili sauce, Oaxaca cheese, and pickled jalapenos on a brioche bun.

Plus gelato for dessert. A butter and salt scoop and a scoop of a cannolo flavor with candied fruits that blew my mind.

24Mar2023

Roll With It

by Emily

I was off of work yesterday because I work both days this weekend. We are still hoping to to have some evening Long Island fun though. Highlights from this past week…

I took myself on a fantastic car picnic in Huntington for my day off! Vanilla bean iced latte from Southdown Coffee and the best cinnamon roll of my life from Duck Island Bread Company.

Sparkling watermelon waters. The watermelon flavored Liquid Death is a 10/10. We also really like this passionfruit watermelon Mela; typically we don’t buy sugar-sweetened drinks for home but this stuff is delicious (especially with tequilla!).

Crunchy things – honey roasted chickpeas and crunchy lentils.

These Blue Pearl blueberries are great; so big and sweet.

Big fan of these brown sugar boba popsicles. I have no idea how they get the frozen tapioca to stay so soft/chewy.

Leftover sheet-pan hash. We were getting sick of it at this point so I topped mine with a Sriracha honey mustard sauce.

Delicious Mediterranean-ish bowls. Farro mixed with pesto / canned artichoke hearts sauteed in evoo and then cooked with a mix of tomato sauce and harissa / roasted zucchini / canned tuna / chopped olives.

15Aug2022

Saucy, Spicy, Stupendous

by Emily

I’m late on this post but we had too many wonderful things last week not to share! Mostly lots of very (very, very, very) good restaurant meals. Three different days I got to take a super-long city walk (including a Central Park date with the husband!). Highlights include…

Coffees with brown sugar syrup.

A tamarind Americano from Le Phin.

Breakfast at Ursula. We shared a strawberry chamoy pastry.

And a sopaipilla with grassfed beef, green chile, refried pinto beans, and cheddar.

Breakfast at the Blue Light Speaky Cheesy pop-up. The workers could not have been more wonderful here and everything was fantastic! We shared a sandwich with pesto scrambled eggs, goat cheese, blueberry jam, and arugula; a maple lavender latte (<– topped with orange zest, which apparently is my new favorite thing); and an iced Getaway Latte with sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon, and vanilla.

Malted berry smoothie. Frozen cherries and strawberries with Greek yogurt, chocolate almond milk, and malted milk powder.

Yogurt bowl – vanilla skyr, pecan granola, chia seeds, blueberries, and cherry plums (<– both Adam’s and my new favorite fruit).

Cookie dough granola (<– amazing, the flavor is spot on!) with blueberries and chocolate almond milk.

Lunch at Bahn (<– best meal of the whole week!). Iced Vietnamese egg coffee.

Summer rolls with shrimp and mung bean sauce.

Rolls with crispy shrimp, beef jerky, green mango, Sriracha, and egg yolk cream.

Noodle salad with sizzling butter beef.

Dumplings from Mimi Cheng. Their monthly special is a collab with Pecking House and is stuffed with buttermilk twice-fried chicken and topped with the best chili crisp I’ve ever tasted.

Homemade(!) grain bowls. Farro with pesto, chicken pesto sausage, fennel greens, and sauteed celery and baby orange tomatoes.

Adam forgot his credit card at BKNY Thai so we went back sooner than we were expecting to. A serendipitous mistake because our take-out was 11/10. Fish cakes / dumplings with ground chicken, shallot, peanut, and preserved radish / beef Pad See Ew with extra Chinese broccoli.

Omekase at the Chemisty Room at Sushi Lab. We ate at the counter and the service was impecable. I only took a few photos but everything was delicious and gorgeous.

Dinner at Wen Wen. My daiquiri with rum, Cachaça, and birds eye chili was perfect and balanced.

We had numbing celtuce salad with garlic, red vinegar, and Sichuan pepper.

Hot honey popcorn chicken.

Cold sesame noodles with cucumbers and egg ribbons.

Beef noodle soup with pickled mustard greens and a 16-hour oxtail broth.

14Apr2022

Crumbs

by Emily

This is an early post because it’s a short week – I am heading to Ohio today to visit my grandma! And my mom will be there too!

Pre-vacation highlights included…

This week’s coffee combo.

We brought home brigadero balls from Cafe Patoro and they were great. The caramel was my favorite.

I made a batch of milk crumbs and obviously put them on everything. Like an ice cream sundae with the last brownie.

And an insane yogurt bowl sundae with vanilla bean Greek yogurt, nut butter, and chocolate peanut butter granola.

Simple but great dinners this week. From the Trader Joe’s freezer section – veggie and sunflower seed bites and turkey corn dogs. Plus roasted baby cauliflower.

Faro / sriracha mayo salmon / spiralized zucchini / furikake / kimchi.

Homemade butter chicken. With roasted cauliflower rice and I added toasted cashews after I took that photo.

10Dec2021

Peppermint > Wintergreen > Spearmint

by Emily

Favorites from this week included – tons of peppermint, eggnog flavored drinks, citrus, Asian-inspired dinner bowls…

Peppermint mochas with Copper Cow.

Eggnog Nutrament and a Lady Alice apple. This is such a childhood throw-back treat for me.

Still loving the Kishu mandarins and also this satsuma was juicy and seed-free.

Sesame seaweed sheets.

Milk Bar candy cane ice cream. You’ll never go wrong adding marshmallow to peppermint.

Very surprised by how good these seasonal white chocolate pretzel m&m’s were. I shared them at work and my coworkers were all also impressed.

My mother-in-law bought us chocolate covered pretzel sticks that are also dipped in caramel!

This egg nog beer was obviously the most “me” booze I’ve ever purchased, but also one of the best beers I’ve had all year! Abomination Brewing‘s Fog Nog – a double IPA brewed with lactose and spices.

Trader Joe’s sriracha shrimp bowl frozen meal. Topped with tons of extra sriracha, Kewpie mayo, and maple almonds.

Salmon roll inspired bowls. Farro topped with spicy salmon salad (canned fish with mayo, sriracha, and rice vinegar), sautéed zucchini spirals, chili flakes, and furikake.

Udon noodles // sautéed celery, bok choy, and green onion // sautéed ground turkey // stir-fried with egg and a homemade sauce including tomato paste and spicy bean paste.

A take on this cheesy rice porridge. We added extra broth and shredded chicken and topped it with urfa chili paste.

Trader Joe’s spicy Mexican-style riced cauliflower stir-fried with eggs and garlic olive oil. Plus roasted green beans and garlic knots.

12Mar2021

Chili Crisp Galore

by Emily

This was an exceptionally tasty week! My snacks were on point, we tried a fantastic new restaurant, and the dinners we cooked were total successes. Highlights include…

Brunch at Xilonen, a new vegetarian Mexican spot in Greenpoint. We were blown away by the scrambled egg tostada with salsa mache, queso, and a crispy blue corn tortilla.

Heirloom corn tamal, stuffed with sweet potato al pastor, and topped with smoked crema and poblano rajas.

Masa pancakes with maple and butter.

Chocolate cherry cold brew.

Dalgona iced coffee with black sesame vanilla bean milk.

An ideal snack array – sumo mandarin, salted peanuts, and lava cake kisses.

My parents sent us a box of St. Patrick’s Day goodies, including homemade clover sugar cookies.

Peanut butter chocolate chip Perfect Bar + boba milk tea mochi.

Boba-studded popsicles are currently my favorite snack category.

10/10 leftovers from The Meat Hook. The french onion dip was the best I’ve ever had.

Farro / glazed, baked tofu / sautéed bok choy and green onion / chili crisp / fried shallots (which we made in the microwave!!).

Soba noodles / peanut sauce (loosely based on this one) / cabbage / zucchini / ground turkey / chili crisp and smashed peanuts.

Oven-baked crispy chicken tenders (loosely inspired by this recipe) with brown sugar chili crisp sauce + roasted broccoli with fried shallots. I went back for thirds of that chicken!

24Jul2017

Freedom!

by Emily

I’m on vacation! Friday was my last day of work for 11 glorious days! I prepped for vacation by eating all of the ice cream last week 🙂

For a work-week this past week was not a bad one. Adam and I were off together on Wednesday and got do some Lower East Side wandering. And over the weekend we did some Long Island exploring. Plus I met with friends for brunch. And ate all the aforementioned ice cream.

Last week’s flavor themes: (Stumptown) coffee // ice cream // cheese // corn // egg. Highlights…

Brunch at The General Greene. I had the farro bowl with pesto, roasted sweet potato, avocado, and a poached egg.

Black Brick Coffee just might be our new favorite spot. It’s a neat space and my Stumptown latte was ridiculously good.

Trader Joe’s new coconut cold brew coffee is pretty tasty, especially with chocolate milk.

Vanilla bean yogurt with blackberries, granola, and chocolate tahini.

Plain Greek yogurt with black plum and Oreo cheesecake.

Sandwich with curly fries. Spicy chicken / mayo and mustard / lettuce / pickles.

Because I don’t eat enough nachos at home, they were a special in the cafeteria this week. Pinto beans and cheddar with olives, corn, bell pepper, and onion.

Our Long Island exploration took us to both Farmingdale and Babylon. We had a flight of craft beers at Lithology. My favorite was the honey rye with rosemary, followed closely by the sour farmhouse ale.

We also did lunch at Swell Taco.

My burrito was giant and packed with grilled chicken, refried pinto beans, rice, veggies, salsa fresca, sour cream, and Monterey jack.

I’ve seen multiple foodie instagrammers try to say that Ben’s compares with Levain <– NO. PSA – this was not good. These cookies were greasy and terrible and I threw mine out after two bites and still had a stomach ache.

We checked out the Filipino goodies at Johnny Air Mart and snacked on calamansi soda and Polvorón shortbread.

Bubble tea from Vivi. Grapefruit Yakult with crystal boba and coconut jelly.

Brigadeiro Bakery taught me that I actually don’t like ice cream as much as I think because apparently brigadeiros are my favorite dessert. <– they are a condensed milk candy so that’s not that surprising

Stumptown coffee soft serve with sprinkles and cookie dough at Scoops.

Birthday cake soft serve with sprinkles at Milk Bar.

Cookie dough with toasted coconut soft serve at Stew Leonard’s. This was both the best soft serve and the best edible cookie dough we’d ever tasted.

Sweet milk and browned butter pecan ice cream at Malai.

BBQ chicken salads. Baby romaine with ranch / cheddar / cucumbers / leftover cole slaw / shredded chicken with Korean bbq sauce.

Bean and chicken bowls. Sautéed onions and green pepper / cheddar / shredded chicken with cilantro sauce – cilantro, roasted jalapeño, canola oil, honey, and salt / pinquito beans from Susie Q.

The beans were a kit sent to me to review. They came with a premixed seasoning packet (mild red chili, onion, garlic, and select spices) so they were a snap to prepare, and much tastier than canned beans. They kept their shape after cooking and were firm but not chewy or mealy. <– I would buy these with my own money

I know these eggs look god-awful, but they were amazing. Scrambled with unsulfured chicken hot dogs / kimchi / and cheddar.

Dinner at Colonia Verde. This restaurant is insanely gorgeous, Adam and I were in heaven.

I drank the Patient Extra – Cachaca, Luxardo Maraschino, grapefruit, lime, and citrus bitters, which was fabulous.

And ate duck confit tacos and grilled sweet corn salad with carmelized pepitas, cotija cheese, and mint.

P.S. It’s my birthday today!!

8Feb2016

A Week Of Super Bowls

by Emily

I was a bit under the weather last week, nothing too bad, mostly a lot of coughing and headaches, but I just didn’t have it in me on Thursday to blog a recap. I was not too sick, however, to eat a bunch of yummy stuff that’s worth sharing. Last Monday through Sunday, here are the highlights*…

*highlights within the highlights, I obviously drank more coffee than this

coffee

Caramel-flavored Chameleon Cold Brew! With half & half. I adore CCB, it’s so smooth.

Served one day with citrus seltzer and a sumo mandarin.

This wins for my all-time preferred citrus, it is sweet and firm, and there are seeds but they are big enough to pop out easily.

oatmeal

In homemade instant bowls for work (just add hot water!).

Rolled oats, chia seeds, dry milk powder, freeze-dried raspberries, and toasted walnuts.

And smoothies.

Vanilla almond milk + chia seeds + oats + frozen banana + brown sugar + cocoa powder.

old-school-style cafeteria lunches

Sliced turkey and cheese with a less than healthy “veggie” side.

My school didn’t actually have a cafeteria (I graduated in a class of <40 and we had iguanas running the halls) but this is how I imagined the lunches would have been.

pepperoni-ish pizza

Oh. My. God. We sliced up a TJ’s turkey summer sausage and put it on the best homemade pizza we’ve ever had.

Usually I try to overdo it with pizza – lots of veggies, too much cheese – and the crust ends up soggy, but this was a crispy masterpiece. With a simple side salad.

sugar

Haribo salty licorice.

Cake pop flavored gum. There are sprinkles in it!

We finished this month’s Skoshbox the day it came.

Tj’s dark chocolate mini cookies.

These hearts were way better than I was expecting; usually I don’t buy boxed cookies because I’m a pretty great cookie baker myself but there is no way I could make chocolate shortbread this crunchy.

fancy booze in Brooklyn

Adam met me after work for a fantastic Friday night date in Boerum Hill. We started at Grand Army for cocktail hour.

My Alabaster Cavern – blended scotch, Lustau East India Solera, cinnamon, lime, coconut, pineapple, and bitters – tasted like a fancy painkiller. We liked the space and the vibe (they have a penciled drawing of ET as Mr. T on the wall) and will definitely be back.

The drink menu at Colonie was no slouch either. My Empire State Sour was American whiskey, NY apples, lemon, egg white, baked apple bitters, and cinnamon.

Best drink of 2016. That line of cinnamon stayed in place on top of the egg foam and made every sip smell delectable.

We shared two wonderful, duck-based dishes. Cavatelli with duck ham, béchamel, and soldier beans.

And wheatberries, mushrooms, and arugula with a duck egg on top.

I know the pictures are hard to see, but those black bits? Were crispy mushrooms. I don’t know how to describe the flavor (truffle? earthy?) but they were the single best thing I’ve ever tasted.

dinner bowls

I did not watch the game yesterday, but I have been eating some delicious bowls of dinner. All but one include broccoli because apparently it’s our favorite.

We made a variation of our black-eyed pea mix. Roasted broccoli, edamame, gochujang, smoked almonds, and cheddar.

A super bowl on Sunday. Orecchiette with roasted mushroom and baby zucchini, tossed with browned butter and Italian four cheese blend, topped with a sprinkle of smoked paprika. Served on a bed of roasted green beans.

Best bowl of the week – farro with ginger, garlic, lemon, gochujang, evoo, and salt and pepper / mackerel with stone ground mustard and a bit of mayo / roasted broccoli / toasted walnuts.

This was technically a lunch bowl. The cafeteria had a baked potato bar.

I swear there was a potato underneath all of that cheese and broccoli.

dog love

I feel like Webster’s adorable mug hasn’t been on the blog much lately, but I have been snapping pictures of him for Instagram. These are some of the best ones:

Related – a girlfriend surprised me with this darling dachshund scarf.

Here’s to a great week!

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: farro

Pecking Order

Roll With It

Saucy, Spicy, Stupendous

Crumbs

Peppermint > Wintergreen > Spearmint

Chili Crisp Galore

Freedom!

A Week Of Super Bowls