Super

by Emily

Did all my American readers eat wings and gauc and dip last night? I don’t even watch the Super Bowl but I try not to let that get in the way of my buffalo chicken consumption.

Weekend eats highlights –

We actually had dinner reservations at Evelina last night; a little Italian place with no tv, big screen or otherwise. I had a fun Cordelia cocktail – mezcal, malted banana, pressed lime, and Coco Lopez.

We shared two yummy salads to start. Italian radicchio with roasted grapes, almonds, Blue di bufala, and vin cotto.

Roasted beets with Fuji persimmon, house smoked ricotta, and hazelnut.

Sadly our entrees were disappointing. My cacio e pepe risotto with white shrimp was a major letdown.

But that meant that we ended up grabbing pizza on the way home; buffalo chicken is never a letdown!

I worked the weekend so most of my food was in snack form. Two superior combos of iced coffee and chocolate milk.

This citrus medley yogurt from Trader Joe’s is fantastically creamy and sweet, especially with sumo mandarin segments mixed in.

Potato wedges from the cafeteria – gotta get in that blue cheese.

And one morning Adam drove me into work and we went on a breakfast date at the Orwashers in the new Whole Foods 365. Best chocolate croissant of all time!

Random television musings –

My two favorite shows this season – The Good Place and Agents of Sheild
My least favorite new show – 9-1-1
The old show I am loving and tearing through seasons of at a disturbing clip – Cougar Town

Valentine’s freebie FYIs –

If you visit Godiva stores on Sunday, February 11th they’ll give you one free piece of chocolate while supplies last (no purchase required)
Aunt Annie’s is selling heart shaped pretzels buy-one-get-one-free on the 14th if you download their app
Not free and just for New Yorkers – FYI, Doughnut Plant is selling adorable rose shaped doughnuts right now and usually they have heart-shaped ones on Valentine’s

26Jan2018

Quesadillas, Chilaquiles, And Burritos, Oh My!

by Emily

As I flip from one classical musical references in my title to another in my opening line… This week these were a few of my favorite things –

Favorite breakfast – This incredibly excitingly pink coconut water.

One of my coffee combos – Birch Cold Brew roast with vanilla cashew milk. <– good idea in theory but the mouthfeel and taste were both sort of “empty” to me and I ended up having to add a splash of cow’s milk.

Favorite yogurt bowl – Vanilla & Cinnamon Chobani with Brown Sugar Cinnamon peanut butter. Plus a Kanzi apple.

Favorite snack – an assortment of nuts and dried fruits from Trader Joe’s.

Pears, persimmons, and sweetened dried lemons plus TJ’s nut and seed medley.

I can’t choose one favorite dessert, they were all so good! We were surprised by how tasty these TJ’s churro bites turned out to be.

I made a batch of snack attack brownies! This recipe, minus marshmallow, plus crushed potato chips, pretzels, and m&ms.

And I was killing it in the dinner department this week. Baked burritos – whole wheat tortillas / shredded chicken breast / sauteed onions and orange and yellow bell peppers cooked with cumin / shredded sharp cheddar cheese / TJ’s double roasted salsa.

Chilaquiles, mostly from scratch.

I made chips out of the whole wheat tortillas / cooked in salsa and diced tomatoes / with leftover onions and peppers / shredded chicken / lime / cheese / topped with a sunny side up egg and a dollop of plain Greek yogurt.

Egg and cheese sandwiches with homemade sausage.

Whole wheat hamburger buns toasted with mayonnaise / cheese / fried egg / turkey sausage made with smoked paprika, fresh sage, and maple syrup.

Plus roasted green beans.

And yesterday I had a late doctor’s appointment in the city so I grabbed dinner at La Esquina. I had a ridiculously delicious chicken quesadilla with salsa verde.

I am off of work today with a three-day weekend and we’ve got super fun dinner plans tonight, woo-hoo!

8Jan2018

Best Ever Iced Coffee

by Emily

I survived the less-than-zero-degree weather! My first winter in Buffalo I bought myself a pair of (children’s!) Sorrel snow-boots and they remain the single most essential item in my closet.

I worked Friday, Saturday, Sunday, so my weekend eats weren’t all that exciting. Work was busy-busy so I mostly ate quick, snacky things. The highlights…

Iced coffee with a crispy Pacific Rose apple.

This New Orleans-style cold brew with sweetened condensed milk is officially my favorite coffee combo of all time. I love Grady’s in general and this was perfectly spiced so with the SCM it was insanely delicious.

Sooooo much hot chocolate.

A giant smoothie I shared with Adam – plain Greek yogurt, frozen soursop, mango, and grapes.

Toasted onion bagel with jalopeño-cheddar cream cheese. I ended up scraping off part of my mountain of cream cheese like some kind of tourist.

Watermelon / Sriracha chicken bar / vanilla crispy square.

Maple salmon bar / TJ’s dried chokanan mango / TJ’s seed & bean medley.

The first two nights of dinner I was thanking past Emily for leaving me yummy leftovers. Hot wing pasta.

Hot dish. With ketchup and Sriracha on top.

And Sunday night I finally got around to cooking the meal I had planned for the first night of Hannukah!

I had kind of a bad foodie/good foodie thing going on – my latkes were from a box but my matzoh brie was fried in duck fat.

I sprinkle sugar on mine because that’s how I grew up eating it. And that’s a blob of labne on my latkes that I wished was sour cream. Plus we had roasted broccoli with sumac.

I am off of work today! and we are going somewhere fun for lunch!!

8Dec2017

Use Your Noggin

by Emily

No full post this week – I’m feeling a bit under the weather – but I had to bop in and share the FANTABULOUS eggnog goodies I tried this week.

Eggnog in my coffee! Trader Joe’s light ‘nog with Starbucks’ Christmas blend espresso roast.

Eggnog Nutrament. Also worth noting – TJ’s starfruit seltzer is pretty fantastic.

Eggnog yogurt!! With persimmon and a gingerbread oat bar.

Eggnog ice cream. It was so creamy.

4Dec2017

Miracle On 9th Street

by Emily

New York City is the best place on Earth and that is doubly true around holidays! Adam and I had a lovely weekend with lots of walking and we explored Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan and saw and ate all sorts of fun holiday and city things.

Like lights in the Lower East Side.

And wild swans in Sheepshead Bay.

Coffees, specialty cocktails, pizza rolls, and other fantastic eats…

Mace’s Miracle Christmas Cocktail Pop-up is officially my new favorite holiday activity! I wish I had taken pictures inside because it was freaking magical.

The specialty cocktails were so fun! I had a Not Even a Mouse – pumpkin spice infused rye whiskey, Budweiser-marshmallow syrup, pumpkin puree, egg, and a marshmallow mouse.

And a Snowball Old Fashioned – gingerbread bourbon, sugar, and pecan bitters.

Iced latte love. Brooklyn Roasting Company.

Orso.

Yogurt bowl win. Plain Greek yogurt with maple jelly and vanilla bean powder with golden kiwi and granola on top.

Ice & Vice double scoop that was truly the best ice cream Adam or I have ever eaten. TBT – earl grey, dark chocolate, and speculoos chip and PSL – pecan, sorghum, and latte toffee.

The Nog at Sugar Sweet Sunshine, pumpkin cake layered with eggnog pudding and whipped cream.

Luda’s Dumplings.

We shared shrimp and loaded potato with garlic sour cream and mushrooms on top.

Brunch at Butter & Scotch, aka the restaurant that’s decorated like the inside of my heart.

I had biscuits with mushroom gravy and an egg on top.

The NameShake.

Birthday cake slice (the leftovers were still moist 24 hours+ later, fyi) and a Unicorn Treat – a brown butter cookie drenched in sprinkles!

The space was adorable, the music was wonderful, and as we were rolling ourselves to the door the waitress brought us a chocolate chip cookie to go since we had been so excited about everything.

Dinner at Thursday Kitchen.

You have to get a light-up booze-filled capri sun! I went with strawberry.

The menu is tapas style so we got to taste a lot. Everything was so interesting, and perfectly spiced. Pan-seared plantains with Korean chimichurri, honey ricotta, roasted pistachio, dried cranberry, and crispy plantain crumble.

Duck confit empanada with dill crème fraiche, cumin, and pickles.

Gnocchi with Korean chili pepper sauce, garlic aioli, parmesan, and crispy seaweed.

My homemade dinners weren’t bad either. I made vegetarian “rice” and beans casserole.

Riced cauliflower / pinquito beans / onion and bell peppers (yellow, orange, and green) baked in evoo / red enchilada sauce / sour cream / shredded cheese. I topped my bowl with more sour cream and some Cholula sauce plus beet and goat cheese cassava chips.

An epic take on cheeseburgers and fries.

Roasted green beans and butternut squash.

Cheeseburger roll ups! Crescent roll dough / ground turkey sautéed with chopped onion and pickle relish / mayo and ketchup / shredded cheese / brushed with garlic butter.

Happy 1st week of December!

2Dec2017

Winners And Losers

by Emily

I ate some really yummy prepared foods this week but I did not do so hot cooking my own meals. I had the day off on Wednesday and I spent most of the day cooking/baking and it did not go well.

I tried to make Oreo marshmallow peppermint magic bars. No. I ended up with a molten stew of brown gook.

I couldn’t feed this to anyone but it actually did taste delicious and I did scoop a serving into a jar to eat with yogurt.

I also spent several hours making brown stock and then lentil and tortellini soup. This venture at least looked like food but it tasted like… nothing. We ate Chipotle bowls for dinner.

Here were some of the things I ate that did work —

This work lunch looks unassuming but it was truly one of the best things I’ve eaten in months. Vanilla bean Greek yogurt with cranberry relish and maple + almond butter granola.

Plain Icelandic-style yogurt with cookie sludge, a SnapDragon apple, and La Colombe.

Cherry vanilla Chobani with golden kiwis and Heritage Flakes.

Some of my snacks were fairly fantastic as well. Seaweed salad.

Turkey jerky.

Carrots and garlic hummus.

Kombucha.

Coffee Chai tea. Good Earth offered to send me a sample and since chai is my favorite tea and I love coffee I accepted. It was delicious! Just a bit spicy and roasty. I drank a cup at work instead of a 2nd coffee a couple of days and did not resent it.

Hershey’s caramelized creme gold bar with peanuts and pretzels. It was so interesting and tasty, way more complex than a regular Hershey bar.

Treats at Vanilla Bean, our new favorite Long Island spot.

I had a Nutella-studded brownie and a delicious iced latte.

I may not have cook-cooked dinner but my throw-together dinners were good. Trader Joe’s frozen section did not let me down.

Fish sticks with roasted green beans and blue cheese and spicy cocktail sauce for dinner.

I also made great “Thanksgiving leftovers” baked sandwiches.

Sourdough, sliced smoked turkey, cranberry relish, mayo, and lots of Kerrygold Skellig sweet cheddar.

With burnt broccoli that still wasn’t terrible.

Please cross your fingers for no more kitchen disasters for me!

27Nov2017

Thanksgiving Week

by Emily

I always have a lot to feel thankful for and last week was no exception. With working two weekends in a row and Turkey Day my schedule worked out perfectly for lots of fun free time with the husband! We had a great time in the city on his post-call day and were able to drive to Pennsylvania Thursday evening to spend the holiday with his family.

Highlights…

Fancy coffees –

Noble Tree iced latte at Nickel and Diner.

Stumptown Winter Cheer.

Vietnamese cold brew.

Fun city restaurants –

Supermoon Bakehouse!

So cool. We tried a banana split sundae twice baked croissant – caramelized sous vide whole bananas, banana caramel sauce, creme patissiere, and chocolate almond creme, topped with chocolate fudge, banana caramel, dehydrated banana, gold leaf, and torched meringue.

And a Golden Boy Doughnut – golden turmeric brioche filled with mild chocolate salted caramel, rolled in sugar and topped with a chocolate shard – aka the best doughnut I’ve ever eaten.

Crazy good ramen at Ganso. A girlfriend and I went after work one night and it was so fantastic that I went back with Adam the next day! The first time we shared blistered shishito peppers.

And I had triple shrimp ramen – with shrimp paste chicken broth, thick Sapporo noodles, chili-fried shrimp, dried shrimp, garlic chives, and moyashi sprouts.

The second time we had wings and beer.

And I had the Tori Shio – Japanese sea salt-chicken broth, toothsome Tokyo noodles, crispy chicken thigh chashu, ajitama egg, and greens.

On-theme eats –

Pumpkin yogurt with Heritage Flakes and a ~~mini pumpkin~~ persimmon.

Fruit and nut yogurt with toffee bits, pecans, and orange raisins.

A pre-holiday plate on Tuesday night.

Crock pot cooked turkey, Trader Joe’s cornbread stuffing, cranberry dressing, and roasted green beans.

Plus a cranberry beer!

Our Thanksgiving tradition…

Stuffing nachos! With turkey, cranberry, and lots of cheese.

Plus broccoli that I pretended was green beans.

My actual Thanksgiving plate.

Our contribution to the meal was peanut butter, butterscotch, toffee candy.

Have a great week!

17Nov2017

A Week Of Splendid Sandwiches

by Emily

Can I really use that title in a week without a single grilled cheese or lobster roll? I did have some exceptionally above-bar poultry-based sandwiches.

The winning ‘wiches…

Milk Bar‘s Thanksgiving croissant is the best sandwich of all time. Adam and I waited for it with baited breath this year.

The seasoned croissant is stuffed with turkey, cranberry sauce, and stuffing!

Flip Bird at the Ashland does a damn fine chicken sandwich – pulled chicken, harissa honey, pickled coleslaw, sambal mayo, and crispy skin.

And my homemade toasted sandwich dinner was nothing to sneeze at.

Sourdough / Applegate Farm smoked sliced turkey / 4 year aged cheddar / smoked maple mayo (olive oil based mayo, maple, liquid smoke, smoked paprika).

With roasted zucchini on the side.

Other fun stuff…

Vegan eggnogs in my coffee. Adam really enjoyed the TJ’s almond milk version but I remain loyal to Silk.

Here’s my current holiday stash, so exciting!

Amazin’ Raisin sent me some samples to review. The fruit-flavored raisins contain three ingredients – California raisins, citric acid, and natural fruit flavors – and are packed with flavor but no artificial sugar or sulfur dioxide. Adam and I have both been really enjoying them. So far his favorite flavor is pineapple and mine is watermelon.

Some key work eats included raisins and a Larabar.

And blackberry Siggi with holiday grapes and a maple maca bar.

Really, the best dinner of the week was movie theater pretzel bites with fake cheese. We went to see Thor: Ragnarok and split our sides laughing. Our AMC has extra-wide seats that fully recline so the whole experience was really nice.

We also went gaga for these scallion pancakes from Trader Joe’s.

They were crazy flavorful and satisfying. I topped mine with mayo and Sriracha.

With baby carrots and potato snacks for an appetizer for crunch.

A girlfriend and I met for a mid-week dinner at Bricolage and were both big fans. Sriracha butter wings to start.

And we both had pink drinks! She had the pink soda salted lemonade and I picked an option with a cute name that I can’t remember where you pick a spirit and let the bartender go crazy. I said “vodka, no ginger” and ended up with something delicious with raspberry and lime.

My caramelized shrimp claypot was 10/10. Georgia white shrimp, vidalia onions, cherry tomatoes, and chili paste with rice to soak up the sauce.

Enjoy your weekends!

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: fruit

Super

Weekend eats highlights –

Random television musings –

Valentine’s freebie FYIs –

Quesadillas, Chilaquiles, And Burritos, Oh My!

Best Ever Iced Coffee

Use Your Noggin

Miracle On 9th Street

Winners And Losers

Thanksgiving Week

A Week Of Splendid Sandwiches