Tag Archives: grapes

Apples And Marshmallows

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Highlights from the weekend include – amazing coffees, gooey marshmallow desserts, and some of the best Vietnamese food we’ve ever eaten. Also we – went to a Farmers’ Market on the water in Garvies Point, drove up to the tip of the North Fork for a picnic at Orient Point, stopped at several farm stands, walked around an apple orchard, visited a few LI craft breweries, took strolls around Greenport and Greenpoint…

Freddo cappuccino from 99 Franklin.

Quad iced latte from Aldo’s. <– this was hands down the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had and my favorite thing I ate all weekend!

Rice Krispies Treat iced latte from Coffee Booths.

Frozen apple cider in an apple orchard.

A flight of IPAs (plus a pumpkin ale!) from North Fork Brewing. We also tried some great things at Uber Geek.

S’mores babka from Spilt Milk Bakes.

We took Korean fried rice with duck (from Ellen’s) on a picnic at Orient Point.

An Apple Month toasted cheese sandwich – sharp cheddar, smoked turkey, and tons of apple butter on sourdough. With cotton candy grapes and roasted broccoli.

Best dinner of the month at Falansai – a great Vietnamese spot with a koi pond in the back garden! Beef dumplings.

Eggplant with fermented tofu bbq sauce and crispy shallots. Plus a housemade salted plum drink and Vietnamese iced coffee.

Spicy green curry with seasonal veggies and silken tofu. Broken rice on the side.

Coconut chia pudding with plums, peanuts, and hibiscus ice.

You Can’t Make Friends With Salad

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Highlights from this week…

20/10 coffee combo. We brought back several bags of Trager Brothers coffee from our Charlottesville visit.

Snack loves. BBQ Love Corn.

Very fancy chocolates.

The world’s most satisfying snack = apple slices dipped in peanut butter.

It is actually my birthday today(!) so obviously I’ve been excitedly saving these themed items for months.

A week of exciting salads! A new take on our favorite bean salad – black beans with green and yellow bell pepper, Dubliner cheese, peanuts, and green Tabasco.

BBQ inspired – Local greens with pulled chicken with bbq sauce / cheddar / grapes / black beans / corn nuts / esquites-style corn.

Caribbean inspired – spinach/arugula blend with roasted romanesco / shrimp / sunflower seeds / coconut chips / homemade creamy passionfruit vinaigrette.

Greek inspired – bell peppers, baby tomatoes, cucumber, TJ’s Greek feta dressing, and roasted chickpeas.

Plus chili oil pizza from a new restaurant that is dangerously close to our apartment.

P.S. Adam and I are both off for a few days next week and we’re going on a little trip upstate-ish to the Hudson Valley! I am not packing a camera but I’m sure I’ll be posting a ton on instagram.

Food In Bowls

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Highlights from the past week include…

S’mores iced coffee! I blended coffee with ice, cold brew powder, chocolate milk, vanilla bean powder, and toasted marshmallows.

Yogurt bowl set up – vanilla skyr with Made Good chocolate granola and Jelly Berry grapes.

I quite liked these crispy onion chips from Trader Joe’s.

Toasted turkey and cheddar sandwich. On sprouted wheat sourdough with mayo and pickled jalapeños.

Mexican-ish vegetarian bowls. Brown rice, cauliflower rice roasted with green onion and poblano pepper, Trader Joe’s soyrizo, cojita cheese, and orange Soss.

Crab fried rice. Leftover brown rice stir-fried (with soy sauce, rice vinegar, and fish sauce) with blue crab, eggs, green onion, peas, and carrot.

Dinner inspired by a dish we loved recently at Llama Inn – sautéed bok choy with grapes, sunflower seeds, and black garlic vinaigrette. Plus tuna cakes made with soyrizo.

Chocolate Cherry And Hoppy Guava

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I work all this weekend so clearly I jumped right back into my non-vacation life.  It was actually a really busy work-week for me, I’ve been updating the hospital’s parenteral nutrition guidelines which is a fun but time-consuming project (in addition to my patient load).  I am already quite excited for the next weekend – – in 8 days!

Highlights from this week include…

Espresso roast coffee with vanilla oat milk.

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Sweet and jammy jelly berry grapes.

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Double cherry truffle ice cream.  I have been more than a little obsessed with these Magnum tubs throughout quarantine and cherry was my favorite variety yet!

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These Slush Puppie ice pops fill me with an unfathomable amount of joy.  They’re a total childhood favorite throwback and delicious to boot.

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Orange soda beer float!

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Local guava IPA.

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Roasted zucchini with roasted chickpeas, baby tomatoes, kalamata olives, and crispy cheese bites.

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Spring mix and herbs lettuce mix with Asian ginger salad dressing, Guara almonds, tomatoes, and peppered smoked salmon.

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Salad with homemade honey mustard dressing, honey butter almonds, and a fried egg.

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Deep Dish And Blue Berries

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Biggest event from this week – I left the house to donate blood.  Guys, things in NYC are bleak.  If you are able to donate blood please consider it (we are facing a critical supply shortage because so many planned blood drives were canceled) and otherwise please stay home if you can!

Biggest culinary discoveries this week – 1) I love cinnamon in yogurt. 2) I love mint in smoothies.

Homebound food highlights this week include…

A tasty smoothie made with nectarine, grapes, blackberries, yogurt, honey, and fresh mint leaves.

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My favorite coffee (Grady’s) with my favorite coffee accouterment (sweetened condensed milk).

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Plain Greek yogurt with cinnamon, maple, blueberries, and cacao & cashew butter granola.

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Plain Greek yogurt with cinnamon, honey, TJ’s mixed nut butter, and granola.

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It feels weird to be obsessed with a low-calorie ice cream but this mocha fudge brownie flavor from Ben & Jerry’s moophoria line is kind of the best.  Especially topped with hot fudge!

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We are also very into these new peanut butter cup options from Theo.

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I made deep dish pizza with TJ’s dough (loosely based on this method) with turkey pepperoni.  Plus roasted veggies.

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I topped my leftovers with copious amounts of honey, Cholula, and chili flakes because the only benefit to eating all your meals at home is easy access to your condiments.

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TJ’s cauliflower gnocchi with pepperoni and pizza sauce.

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Leftover smoked salmon / roasted brussel sprouts with lemon zest, pepper, and parmesan / homemade garlic knots.

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Ciao, February

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Highlights from this week…

Brunch in Brooklyn at Otway, which is gorgeous and amazing.

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I had a soft-scrambled egg sandwich with gruyere, scallion, and green garlic.

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Plus crispy potatoes.

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And a bloody mary.

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Treats at Ciao, Gloria.  Adam and I shared a cortado and a cinnamon roll.

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Snacks this week were all about Trader Joe’s garlic naan and artichoke and jalopeno dip.

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Asian Kit-Kats!  Purple sweet potato and cookies and creme flavored.

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Adam’s work gave him nice champagne around the holidays and we finally drank it in cocktails with mango smoothie.

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Big salad bowls with romaine, Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing, sumac, cucumber, tomato, zhoug, fresh mint, and roasted chickpeas.

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One of my best sheet-pan hash dinners to date – brussel sprouts, grapes, turkey andouille sausage, and gorganzola.

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Freeze Dried

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How did my short three-day week feel soooo long?!  I am off again today because I’m actually heading to Traverse City, Michigan for the weekend to visit one of my best friends from when I was a kid.  So excited!  I will not be taking pictures though – I got such a cheap ticket that I don’t even get a carry-on, just a purse, so I won’t be spending space on a camera.

This week my snacks heavily featured super random dried / freeze-dried / turned-into-chips things.  Highlights include…

Freeze-dried fuji apples from Trader Joe’s + chicken chips.

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Trader Joe’s crispy broccoli.

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Trader Joe’s freeze-dried grapes + seaweed chips + chicken jerky.

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Also plain Siggi’s with fresh blueberries and Wild Friends chocolate peanut butter.

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And I ate the rest of my leftovers from last week (sheet pan hash + tabbouleh + zhoug) and immediately added more zhoug to my grocery list for next week!

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Party Peeps

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7 highlights from the last 7 days…

Chocolate chip banana bar.  I found it in our hospital’s cafeteria but apparently it’s such a new product it hasn’t made it to the website yet.

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Crazy freeze-dried fruits from Trader Joe’s.  The dragonfruit wasn’t a fit for my tastes but the grapes were sweet and amazing.

IMG_4283Birthday cake Peeps!  Look at their adorable sprinkled butts!

 

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Kung Fu Tea.  Almond milk tea (half sweet, extra ice) with Oreo and aloe jelly.

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Squid ink pasta with tahini sauce, 5 spice tofu, roasted zucchini, and chili oil.

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Slow-cooked parmesan garlic chicken and potatoes + broccoli.  We didn’t brown our chicken and it still came out great.

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Greek salad – romaine and cucumber with TJ’s Greek feta dressing, green olives, crispy cheese bites, and roasted chickpeas.

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Have a great week!

Little Star = Big Star

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We ate some really yummy things last week!  Here were the highlights…

{1} Canned coffees that I schlepped back from New York.

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{2} Lemon meringue macarons at the farmers’ market at IX Park.

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{3} A Trader Joe’s shaped meal that was both quick and delicious.  Cauliflower gnocchi + turkey summer sausage + pizza sauce + broccoli rabe.  You can bake the gnocchi (425 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes) and it comes out great.

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{4} A Korean feast at Maru on the downtown mall.  I had the spicy chicken and cheese plate – spicy gojuchang marinated chicken served with rice cakes and Korean sweet potato and topped with melted cheese.

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It was spicy, and smoky, and kind of amazing.  The portion was gigantic and my leftovers – which I stir-fried with eggs and roasted broccoli – were kind of amazing as well.

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We also had pat bing soo – shaved ice with red bean, mochi, and milk powder.

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{5} Dinner with my cousin at Little Star, a newish, supremely gorgeous, tapas spot.  The space and the tableware – which was thrifted and eclectic – were beautiful.

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We ordered all the things and loved every single bite and sip.  All three of us agreed it was one of the best meals we had eaten all year.  Agave Angel – mezcal, lime juice, and cream.

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3 month aged manchego with apricot honey preserves.

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Charred shishito peppers with romesco and pasilla de Oaxaca chile.

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Sunny side up eggs with salsa negra, green onion, sesame seeds, grilled bread, and hickory sauce.  <– this was the top dish of the night, the contrast of the sweet hickory sauce with the eggs and salsa was divine

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Shrimp and grapes with garlic, leeks, tequilla, and pickled chiles.  We went right ahead and sipped that sauce.

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Seared tuna with rendered foie gras, salsa molcajete, cilantro oil, and charred onion.  <– 2nd best dish of the night, which is unsurprising when you consider the words “rendered foie gras”

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Coffee service.

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Crumb cake with meyer lemon curd, ear gray cream, and mezcal caramel.

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Creme carmel flan with peaches.

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*swoon*

Pizza Pizza

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Flavor themes from the week – cherries and cheese.  These were the highlights…

Brooklyn Roasting Co coffee.  After this I have one last tin left from NY… guess we need to take another trip soon!

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It was a good week in snacks, thanks in part to a fun package full of goodies from my parents.  Including cherry cola Mike & Ikes and delicious chocolate-covered dried cherries.

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Two new to us snacks, salted caramel Somersaults (<– best flavor yet!) and Sweet Sapphire grapes.

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Another new flavor, sesame bbq chicken Epic bar.

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I cooked salmon for dinner one night.  Roasted coho topped with a vegan scallion pesto – food-processed pine nuts, parsley, sauteed green onions, and evoo.  Plus homemade cole slaw.  The sauce was great, but sadly the salmon was fairly flavorless without it.

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The rest of the week dinners were all about pizza!  I loosely followed this recipe for pepperoni pizza macaroni and cheese.  Whole wheat shell pasta > macaroni pasta.  Pro tip – any time I make macaroni and cheese (or any roux thickened sauce) I always substitute low-fat condensed milk for the recommended liquid.  The results always taste fantastic and it means we don’t have an open container of whole milk in the house which is great because both Adam and I dislike it.  Plus roasted zucchini.

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Meat lovers pizza.  Frozen crust from Trader Joe’s / we added tomato paste while we sauteed some chicken sausage and added that to our marinara sauce / topped with turkey pepperoni and turkey bacon / plus mozzarella and cheddar.  With roasted green beans.

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What is your favorite pizza topping?  Apparently mine is bacon!