Tag Archives: fruit

Passion, Peach, Persimmon

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Things from this week…

Yogurt bowls of note – Plain skyr with passionfruit syrup, white chocolate passionfruit truffle, blackberries, blueberries, and maple pecan granola.

Plain skyr with granola, strawberries, and persimmon.

Iced matcha with condensed milk and plum seltzer.

These Kodiak s’mores bars taste exactly like the Chewy bars from your childhood.

Abomination Brewery’s Fogsicle is obviously our new favorite summer beer – sour double IPA with peach, vanilla, and marshmallow.

I liked the flavor of this maple cardamom candied pecan ice cream but the texture was a little funky.

I finally hopped on the TikTok smashburger taco trend and it was worth the hype. With ground turkey, extra-sharp cheddar, and a house sauce on the side. Plus roasted cauliflower.

Dinner inspired by my favorite dish from Very Fresh Noodles. Buckwheat soba / quick cucumber salad with sugar and rice vinegar / in the food processor – crumbled super-firm tofu baked until crispy, roasted serrano pepper and green onion, basil, Sichuan peppercorn, extra-virgin olive oil, crunchy yellow peas / topped later with chili crisp.

Winner Winner…

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… Chicken dinner(s)! I made a big batch of crockpot chicken (50:50 breasts and thighs) that was the base of our dinners this week and they all were winners! P.S. We also got Wing Stop take-out one night and the new hot honey dry rub was a 10/10 on the boneless wings.

Things from the week…

Adam and I laughed the other day that we don’t think we will ever get tired of blueberry yogurt bowls.

This one was plain skyr, 88 Acres cinnamon vanilla sunflower butter, Bear Naked maple pecan crumble granola, blueberries, and blackberries.

Trader Joe’s chicken tikka samosas dipped in caramelized onion Bitchin’ Sauce; a match made in heaven.

We tried two new beers – a Swedish fish inspired sour and a creamy IPA from Lagunitas. Both 8.5/10s, I’d drink them again at a bar but probably wouldn’t repurchase for home.

I wanted this new-release watermelon lime PowerAde to be even more sour but it was pretty good.

Passionfruit things. A white chocolate truffle bar and lilikoi Hi-Chew.

Paired with a sparkling iced matcha with passionfruit syrup.

We also really liked these hibiscus-raspberry gummies.

Chicken chilaquiles. I made homemade tortilla chips with lime and Sichuan pepper salt and sauteed them with white onion, poblano, yellow bell pepper, chicken, salsa, chicken broth, and sharp cheddar. Topped with a fried egg.

Buffalo chicken bites (inspired by this recipe). With roasted white onion, buffalo sauce, and sharp cheddar. Plus roasted yellow and green cauliflower and a homemade honey mustard dipping sauce.

Crispy bbq chicken baked tacos – hands down the best meal of the week. Tortillas baked until crispy with tons of sharp cheddar and chicken tossed with Stubbs bbq sauce and roasted white onion and poblano. Plus roasted Brussels sprouts and an avocado crema (mashed avocado with plain skyr, lemon juice, chipotle Cholula, salt, and smoked paprika).

Hometown Advantage

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The title is a quadruple threat pun – I had things from my current hometown in Long Island, things that remind me of my original hometown in the Caribbean, things made at home, and things from a place called Hometown! Some highlights from the weekend…

Breakfast at Hometown Bakeshop. Tres leches iced latte!

Plus I got an insane build-your-own breakfast sandwich – cheddar biscuit, over easy egg, turkey bacon, caramelized onion, pickled beet, white cheddar, and smoked aioli.

And I brought home scones too! Cinnamon roll-style and pistachio.

Cheesecake smoothie. Frozen strawberries and pineapple with water and cottage cheese.

Tony’s Lil’ Bits s’mores chocolates are great, a good combination of crunchy and chewy.

Takeout dinner from Coco’s Cuisine, a Jamaican place near us that we will be going back to ASAP. We shared stewed oxtail with sauteed cabbage and candied yam.

Fantastic jerk chicken with cabbage and perfect rice and beans.

Baked macaroni and cheese.

And Jamaican black cake (good, but we prefer the other style of Caribbean rum cakes).

Saturday night Adam and I went all out making dinner. Mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, roasted broccoli, and baked chicken with bbq sauce (a homemade Mediterranean bbq sauce with pomegranate and sumac!).

P.S. I wrote this post Sunday evening and we are about to head to a fancy Long Island dinner at the new(ish) Oak and Vine.

Beautiful Things, Berries, Bowls

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Things from this week – Doing: I had a good treadmill run, 3.25 miles at a 7:49 pace. I recently set a lofty goal of 2 miles at a 7-minute pace and I am having fun trying to work towards it. // Listening: Adam and I are obsessed with Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things.” I also recently fell head over heels for Milky Chance’s “Flashed Junk Mind.” I adore that whole album actually. // Eating: Highlights below…

Fruit-forward yogurt bowls this week (I need to stop, these yogurts were both good but I always prefer plain skyr best). Elleno’s pink guava Greek yogurt with blackberries, blueberries, and Nature’s Path honey almond granola.

Painterland Sisters’ meadow berry 6% skyr with berries, 88 Acres’ cinnamon vanilla sunflower butter (9.5/10), and Made Good’s cocoa crunch granola (9.5/10).

Little Sesame caramelized onion hummus with Simple Mills everything seed flour crackers.

Served with baby carrots, of course. The crackers were a 9.5/10 but the hummus was too lemon-forward for my tastes.

Summer-y strawberry sparkling beverages.

Hawaiian/Li Hing Mui seasoned candies we brought home from Vegas.

It was Carnival back home last week and my parents sent me some goodies from Food Fair.

The banana coquito I blended with espresso, half and half, brown sugar, and frozen banana and it was delicious. Topped with sprinkles and nutmeg.

I am a fan of Yasso’s chocolate-covered Greek yogurt bites. Coffee was good but not as good as salted caramel.

Dinners in bowls are the best kind. Brown Jasmine rice / celery and scallion sauteed with ginger / roasted zucchini / Gyeran-jjim – Korean steamed egg, I make mine with just a bit of water with white miso paste and fish sauce / chili crisp.

Rice / zucchini / sauteed spinach with green onion, sesame oil, and sesame seeds / Trader Joe’s beefless bulgogi (high in sodium but delicious) / soy marinated egg.

Cottage cheese / soy marinated eggs / heirloom tomato / sliced cucumber – I let them sit in the leftover egg marinade for 20 minutes and they were great / North River crunchy yellow peas.

Not a bowl – I am going to finish out Thursday with nachos when I finish this post!

Coffee And Doughnuts

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Adam and I spent at least six hours holding hands the past few days so obviously it was a great weekend! Also we walked around the city a ton and had a thousand treats! Highlights…

Enly‘s tiramisu iced latte is 100% worth the hype (WTH) and worth the line. Hands-down the best thing we had all weekend.

Pandan iced latte from Humble Cafe, a new spot in Long Island we are now smitten with.

Maple Shay iced latte. There is a Brooklyn Roasting Company inside Strand Books and it is super cute.

Burly Coffee served us the best frozen coffee of the past five years (it comes with oat milk and cane sugar).

Text Book‘s frozen tahini iced coffee was less successful but still good.

Soursop and seamoss find from Whole Foods.

Lime Cardamom is my favorite Aura Bora seltzer flavor.

Glazed marble cake doughnut from Donut Pub. We had never been to this NYC institution before but now we want to come back quickly.

We also tried Cloudy Donut for the first time, at their new Manhattan location. Strawberry passionfruit and brown butter pecan.

From Lucie‘s vanilla cake with buttercream and strawberry-rose jam was dreamy (WTH).

Brunch at Au Cheval. I had a lackluster Bloody Mary that was topped with the best bread and butter pickles I’ve ever tasted.

We shared a griddled blueberry muffin with strawberries, butter, and chocolate sauce.

Plus the double cheeseburger with sharp American cheddar, pickles, onions, and dijonnaise.

Lunch at Fat Fowl in Dekalb Market Hall. We shared an oxtail grilled cheese with the best fried plantains I’ve ever eaten (WTH).

Spring, Sprang, Sprung

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NYC is warm approaching hot and positively bursting with beautiful flowers. Of course my highlights from the week include an array of spring-y foodstuffs.

I enjoyed this passion fruit & hibiscus simple syrup in a variety of applications – diet coke (7/10), iced matcha (7.5/10), iced coffee (8.5/10), plain skyr (9/10).

Plan skyr bowl with blueberries, lolliberry strawberries, yuzu curd, honey almond granola, and edible flowers.

Whole-wheat bread with vanilla granola butter and strawberry guava jam. This was actually the best snack of the week.

These jalapeño cheddar Corn Nuts were delicious and almost too spicy for me.

Hu dark chocolate with vanilla crunch. It’s rare to find a vanilla chocolate though I wish the flavor was a little more prominent here (honestly the bar was a bit salty).

Noosa honey vanilla bean frozen yogurt gelato (so good!) with yuzu curd, strawberries, purple sprinkles, and edible flowers.

Important shout out – I am still completely head over heels for these Ben & Jerry’s s’mores bites.

This week’s dinner them was — SALAD. It was such a success, each night was better than the last! Potato salad. Baby potatoes that I boiled, smashed, topped with evoo and extra-sharp cheddar, and baked until crispy / celery / cucumber / smoked sockeye salmon and salmon candy / dressing – plain skyr, mayo, yellow mustard, dijon mustard, honey, vinegar, sesame oil, mustard powder, paprika, and celery seed.

Greek salad. Romaine / balsamic vinaigrette / celery / crispy-baked chickpeas / feta / Trader Joe’s tabbouli / TJ’s dolmas.

Fancy salad. Romaine / dressing – skyr, dijon mustard, yellow mustard, maple syrup, vinegar, and lemon juice / sugar bomb grape tomatoes / sauteed asparagus / Wildwood black truffle and sea salt baked tofu / extra-sharp cheddar / homemade pretzel bread croutons.

BBQ salad. Romaine / homemade ranch – skyr, mayo, dijon mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, ranch seasoning / tomatoes / orange bell pepper / fresh corn / Corn Nuts / cheddar / baked chicken breast tossed with Stubbs BBQ sauce. <– best of the week

Snap Crispy Pop

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Some highlights from the weekend…

Fruity boozy things. This Southern Tier orange twist ale had zero orange flavor but it did taste like a nice vanilla milkshake.

I have been considering a coconut water cocktail for months and it always sounds a bit gaggy but I think this combo worked – coconut water and limoncello plus vodka and yuzu seltzer.

My favorite popcorn combo – butter, salt, gochugaru, furikake, and a bit of sugar.

These Trader Joe’s jalapeño and cream cheese wontons were even better than expected. Decently spicy and cheesy and crispy.

Brooklyn Dip and Burger makes my favorite chicken in Long Island. These popcorn chicken tenders with Memphis dry rub are addictive.

“Oh chicken salad” <– Name that Scrubs scene! Shredded chicken breast and thighs with Greek yogurt, mayo, dijon mustard, paprika, celery seed, dried cherries, toasted pecans, celery, and green onion. Plus snap peas sauteed with lemon, butter, and togarashi and topped with edible flowers.

Mediterranean bowls. Roasted brussel sprouts / turkey meatballs with harissa and black olives / tabbouli / feta cheese / homemade pomegranate molasses.

Nood Beach

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Good things from the past week – noodles for dinners, an open can of sweetened condensed milk, the weather in NY finally feels like Spring and I went on my 1st outdoor run of the year! Highlights included…

Creamy lemonade iced matcha. Fresh lemon, lemon seltzer, and SCM.

Cheesecake smoothie – cottage cheese, water, and frozen cherries and strawberries. My smoothies got so much better once I realized I could use water as a mixing liquid.

Tropical smoothie – frozen mango and pineapple, coconut milk, vanilla protein powder.

Bars, in blue. The Bobos was only good, the Barebells was great.

This drink was root beer, vodka, and SCM; it’s kind of a choose your own adventure as to whether you think I’m a monster or a genius.

I love every IPA from Abomination Brewing and this candy-inspired Love Letters from Hell was obviously no exception.

These are the best tamarind balls Adam and I have ever tasted and I wish I could remember where I bought them.

It was weird being in Vegas because so many places were NYC-transplants (also Miami, honestly) but we also came across a few favorites from Hawaii too. I was very happy to come home with these Honolulu Cookie Company cookies (in java and guava).

Coconut curry chicken stoup. Brown rice noodles / a mix of shredded chicken breast and chicken thighs / collard greens sauteed with scallion, garlic, rice vinegar, fish sauce, and soy sauce / light coconut milk, red curry paste, chicken broth, and minced ginger.

Green(s) noodles with tofu. Rice noodles / extra-firm tofu baked crispy with pepper and Sichuan pepper salt / spinach sauteed with garlic and evoo food-processed with water, tahini, soy sauce, and gochugaru.

Veggie vermicelli (I know this looks horrible but it was actually the best meal of the week!). Whole-wheat vermicelli / roasted cabbage, red bell pepper, and scallion / nuoc cham / shredded chicken tossed in black sesame paste, peanut butter, brown sugar, and soy sauce / chili crisp.