Boozy And Frothy

An eclectic but wonderful line up of things from the past week…

Late July street corn seasoned tortilla chips. Good but not great, I would buy them again but definitely wouldn’t eat them with salsa.

I am glad I bought these mini bottles of insanely flavored whiskeys from Skatter Brain because the resulting cocktails were perfect. Sidenote – I learned while writing this post that that is how you pluralize whiskey.

Birthday Cake Shake – Vanilla cake whiskey vigorously shaken with amaretto, fresh orange juice, sugar, and an egg white.

P.S. I used my egg yolk to make a fantastic mug brownie. I topped it with Ben & Jerry’s newest flavor (vanilla ice cream with salted caramel, graham cracker swirl, and cookie dough) and swooned.

Peanut Butter and Jellies – Peanut butter whiskey (plus a bit of vodka for balance) with blueberry jam, Luxardo cherry, and strawberry seltzer.

Related – I love passionfruit and this Truly hard seltzer was just great.

Roast take-out sandwich (bbq brisket with onion rings and jalopeno slaw on a pretzel roll!!) with a mountain of roasted green beans.

Spicy salmon sushi bake that we adored. With leftover brown rice and a blend of canned and hot smoked salmon. Plus a cucumber salad.

Best meal of the week – Trader Joe’s Thai Vegetable Gyoza (yum!) / sauteed bok choy / homemade turkey meatballs with panade, hoisin, and gojuchang / homemade Sriracha mayo and dumpling sauce (yum!).

Fellow Northeasterners, stay warm this weekend!

Sunday Sips

Things from the weekend…

Sparkling coffee soda (4/10).

Orange Squeeze Ollipop (5/10).

Arizona Lemon Hard Iced Tea (8/10).

Delicious crab dip with baby cucumbers. Also chips and bell pepper.

Veggie bowls. Roasted Trader Joe’s Cruciferous Crunch mix and red onion / red bell pepper, chopped baby cucumber, and edamame / chopped smoked almonds / sauce – crunchy peanut butter, miso paste, soy sauce, maple, lemon juice.

See also – leftovers stir-fried with ramen, eggs, sesame seeds, and Sriracha.

Merry And Bright

Highlights from a very festive Christmas weekend…

Peppermint pour-over coffee with egg nog cold foam.

Dalgona iced coffee with eggnog.

Red and green yogurt bowl. Trader Joe’s eggnog Greek yogurt with kiwi, raspberries, and vanilla granola.

Holiday special scoops from Odd Fellows Ice Cream. Buddi’s Spaghetti Sundae – maple ice cream, chocoalte cookie crumbs, mini marshmallows, m&m’s, sno caps, and corn nuts / Moose Nog – egg nog ice cream with fudge swirls and peanut butter cups.

Seasonal brews from Ardent Brewing. The gingerbread was perfect, not too spicy at all, and the Fog Nog is truly my all-time favorite beer/alcoholic beverage/beverage in general. 15/10.

A very close 2nd all-time-favorite is Leyenda’s Candy Striper – a frozen delight with cachaca, coconut, vanilla, lemon, peppermint, maple, and cardamom.

We went to their Sleyenda holiday pop-up for seasonal drinks and a wonderful dinner (it was too dark for photos but my shrimp arepas were amazing). I also had a Reindeer Games with tequilla, cachaca, banana, honey, maple, lemon, pine, and bitters.

Chinese take-out from Blue Wave. I got fantastic veggie stir-fried udon. Also the best scallion pancakes I’ve ever eaten.

Red and green salads. Red leaf lettuce with homemade ranch, red bell pepper, fresh mint, a soft-boiled egg, and a garlic and herb lobster cake (frozen, from Luke’s via Whole Foods).

Red and green rice bowls. Brown rice / sauted bok choy / sourkraut sauted with gojuchang and sugar / soy marinated eggs.

P.S. I am off of work most of this week, which is just lovely! I sipped a fancy coffee while I wrote this post!

It’s Starting To Taste Like Winter

Highlights from this week…

Wonderful yogurt bowl – plain skyr with granola and persimmon.

Milk Bar birthday cake iced latte.

Great horchatta with espresso at For All Things Good.

I pulled pumpkin chocolate chip cookies out of the freezer and they were even more amazing than I remembered.

I’m not ready for eggnog yet (make that – I am always ready for nog but I am not releasing the eggnog floodgate yet) but I have fully embraced peppermint! Like the limited release Wendy’s peppermint frosty.

Or Minter Wonderland ice cream.

Brooklyn Cupcake! Cojito, tiramisu, and guava cheese.

Best iteration yet of the butternut squash we make every year. This year we served it as a warm salad. Roasted butternut squash and shredded brussel sprouts, Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy pecans, dried cherries, and homemade dressing (3 T lemon juice, 3 T maple syrup, 2 T stone ground mustard, 1 T Kewpie, 1 T crystal hot sauce.

A meta dinner win – cobb salad egg salad in endive lettuce cups. Eggs with mayo and mustard, chives, avocado, turkey bacon, and blue cheese.

Buffalo chicken salad (shredded chicken with mayo, Franks, vinegar, blue cheese, and chives) with roasted broccoli and Japanese sweet potato.

Boo-zy

Highlights from last week included…

Chameleon cinnamon vanilla cold brew.

Is it supposed to be a balanced breakfast or a gourd-based breakfast? La Colombe pumpkin spice canned coffee plus Perfect Bar’s pumpkin pie seasonal flavor.

Lifeway pumpkin spice kefir. I am on a years’ long hunt for the eggnog version.

Trader Joe’s pumpkin Greek yogurt with plucot, chia seeds, and granola.

We liked but didn’t love Elysian’s Night Owl pumpkin ale.

Trader Joe’s Howling Gourds pumpkin ale makes it into Adam’s top five favorite beers.

And Southern Tier’s canned craft cocktail of their Pumpking whiskey and cola is officially in both of our top five for all-time-favorite beverages. I bought this months ago and squirreled it away and devestatingly I have been unable to find it again.

The nights we didn’t get take-out (we’ve had kind of crazy work weeks) we hit it out of the park with what we cooked for dinners. Super salad night – local lettuce with miso caesar dressing, bacon-flavored crunchy mung beans, Gardein vegan crab cakes, red bell pepper, and avocado.

Broiled salmon with a miso glaze plus baked green beans. Adam had his with rice but I went with bbq potato chips.

Emily Mariko style salmon bowls! Plus a side of smashed cucumber salad.

Maple Ice Cream

I hope all of my readers and safe and not having horrible weather! If the rain isn’t too terrible in NYC this weekend Adam and I have some fun plans for tomorrow.

Highlights from this week included…

Greek yogurt bowl with chia, maple syrup, granola, plucot, and blueberries.

Apple snack plate. Apple pie rice cakes, dried apples, apple cider caramels, and smoked almonds.

Butterfly pea tea and matcha iced latte.

I impulse-bought some very fun desserts for the week. Refridgerated creme brulee! It came with little packets of crunchy sugar for the topping.

This Trader Joe’s salted maple ice cream was great; wonderful consistency.

Yummy homemade chicken congee. With brown rice, chicken thighs, and vinegary greens (kale and red chard sauteed with soy sauce, gojuchang, and rice vinegar). Topped with crushed peanuts and tons of chili crisp.

Buffalo chicken pasta salad. Whole-wheat pasta / chicken sausage / blue cheese / sauteed carrot, celery, and green onion / sauce made out of mayo, vinegar, and Frank’s buffalo sauce.

Honey Pie, Sugar Baby

Highlights from a yummy week…

Lots of Apple Month wins. Like caramel apple candies! Sugar babies and adorable/delicious mellowcremes.

Adam’s favorite apples are Gingergolds but he concedes that this Cripps Pink would be a close second.

Apple pie rice cakes and a fresh honeycrisp.

Snack mix with dried apple rings, smoked almonds, and cheddar cheese crisps.

Yogurt bowl with vanilla bean skyr, black plums, cinnamon, chia seeds, and Oaty Nut Butter.

An amazing sundae – warm banana bread with Ben & Jerry’s Phish food and sprinkles.

Dinners this week were all greatly enjoyed. Scrambled eggs with sliced turkey, sharp cheddar, garlic, and baby arugula.

Saucy chickpeas (sauted with butter, fire roasted diced tomatoes, and harissa) with feta dip and roasted baby cauliflower.

Patty melts. Toasted sourdough, Whole Foods plant-based burgers, sharp cheddar, and Emmy sauce. Plus roasted green beans.

Warm kale salads. Sauted lacinato kale with rice vinegar, onion, dried apple, smoked almonds, and beef bacon.

A Is For

A few highlights from the weekend…

Apple snacks at work. Freeze-dried Fuiji apples and an apple ginger bar. Both were wins.

Apple pie matcha! I will definitely make this combination again.

We finally made it to Zaab Zaab, a very well-loved Isaan Thai spot in Elmhurst. Everything we got was fantastic. The spice level was exactly to my liking and I was glad I ordered the creamy cold brew with condensed milk. Green papaya salad.

Prawn Pad Thai.

Rib eye Pad Krapow.

I made the world’s most decadent bowl of leftovers. Basil beef / shredded duck (leftovers from a fun meal Adam had without me) / sauteed spinach and onion / fried egg / smashed avocado.