Tag Archives: greens

12/31/21

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Last week of 2021! Here were some highlights…

The week after Christmas is still an acceptable time for eggnog coffee.

See also – I made a chestnut iced latte. Strong espresso plus half and half with chestnut paste, sugar, vanilla bean, cinnamon, and mace.

This grape kombucha was wonderfully juicy.

See also – rainbow sherbet Hi-Chews.

Whole Food’s peanut butter and jelly bites plus mandarins.

Christmas dinner leftovers – roasted brussel sprouts with duck sausage, sharp cheddar, and chili flakes.

We might actually be addicted to Roast Sandwiches. I’ve been getting take-out from them at least once a week the past month and I think about their roast beef sandwiches constantly. This was a bbq chicken crunch wrap.

Sautéed maple sriracha kale with an herby bean salad. Great Northern beans with green onion, turkey bacon, garlic oil, Sichuan pepper salt, and tons of fresh mint and cilantro.

An even fancier salad. Sautéed kale with garlic and balsamic vinaigrette topped with roasted beets, deglet dates, pomegranate, honey goat cheese, and crumbled beef bacon.

P.S. Starting tomorrow Adam and I are both on vacation together for a week!

Peppermint > Wintergreen > Spearmint

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

Peppermint mochas with Copper Cow.

See also – La Colombe peppermint mocha latte with a chocolate mint Perfect bar.

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.

With Cranberry On Top

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What an odd-feeling week; Adam and I came back from vacation and then immediately both went to work on Saturday, then it was a holiday week which always feels special even though we both worked, and tomorrow we are heading to Pennsylvania for a belated holiday celebration with all of my in-laws. But first, tonight we are meeting out of town friends for Her Name is Han, which should be quite fun.

Highlights from the week include – mostly things that were on-theme!

I want to say I don’t have a limited/seasonal release item problem but this year I stockpiled things that were on-theme for Thanksgiving, so you tell me. My Christmas collection is also pretty robust.

I needed special coffee to ease back into work so I pulled out Hudson Opera House Espresso beans from our last trip to Hudson Roastery.

Perfect Bar’s new chocolate toffee flavor was yummy (still can’t compete with the cookie dough one though).

See also – I liked Barebell’s holiday crisp even better. I couldn’t totally identify the flavor profile – coconut? – but it was creamy and delicious.

Yogurt bowl. With pumpkin seed butter, cranberry sauce, and maple and almond butter granola.

Peanut brittle Reese’s?! I actually loved these (still not as good as the pretzel cups!).

Homemade bbq turkey and black bean chili. Topped with cheese, cranberry sauce, and Trader Joe’s hot and sweet jalapenos.

Plus herbed stuffing veggie chips.

Salads. Sweet baby lettuce with black garlic balsamic vinaigrette, Trader Joe’s maple roasted almonds, smoked turkey, and roasted butternut squash.

Plus a mix of stuffing chips; we much preferred Trader Joe’s to the Whole Foods version.

Nachos! Stuffing chips with cheese, cranberry sauce, and smoked turkey.

Calamansi, Chestnut, Coconut, Cookie

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Highlights from this past workweek – – –

Yogurt bowl with blackberries and a salted caramel cookie.

Best (non-coffee) drinks of the week – calamansi sparking water (7/10) / lemon rose sparkling tonic (9/10) / imperial IPA (8/10)

A new-to-me apple variety – Senecacrisp.

I had an evening appointment in the city and I got to check out Marvelous by Fred and their Merveilleux (aka floofy piles of whipped cream and meringues). I tried coffee and seasonal chestnut.

I enjoyed these vegan ice cream bites even more than I was expecting to; something about the chocolate was very satisfying.

These smoky, crunchy yellow peas are also pretty addictive.

BBQ rice bowls – brown basmati rice / sautéed kale with yellow onion and passionfruit vinegar / roasted zucchini / ground turkey with bbq sauce, Korean chili flake, and brown sugar / avocado.

Leftover rice stir-fried with garlic, evoo, fish sauce, rice vinegar, and Sichuan pepper salt / with turkey summer sausage / green onion / a gourmet mushroom blend / kumato tomatoes / and egg.

P.S. By the time you read this we will be on vacation! Adam and I have seven straight days off together!! Woo-hoo!

Peanut Butter, Pretzel, Pumpkin

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Highlights from the past week – – –

Pumpkin spice latte smoothie! Canned pumpkin, plain skyr, coffee, cold brew powder, ice, cinnamon, maple, and brown sugar.

This week’s coffee joy.

Pumpkin spice Chobani with s’more granola.

Plan Siggi’s with pumpkin seed butter. Plus an apple and a pumpkin spice chocolate cookie. P.S. This recipe made some of my favorite cookies of all time, so butterscotchy!

I am 100% obsessed with these pretzel-stuffed peanut butter cups. I bought bags of minis for work and home.

I saved the best pumpkin beers for last – Abomination Brewing’s Forbidden Pumpkin pumpkin milkshake IPA and Schlafly’s pumpkin ale.

Trader Joe’s Turkey Day quesadilla.

This is to remind me to get takeout from Roast more often! Adam and I split cheesy turkey and roast beef sandwiches, plus fries.

My favorite sheet pan hash combo – roasted bok choy and sweet potato plus smoked salmons (hot smoked Atlantic and salmon candy).

Pumpkin pasta. Whole-wheat rotini with ground turkey cooked with pumpkin puree, sour cream, and chili oil. Plus roasted baby cauliflower.

Peanut Butter, Pumpkin Butter

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Highlights from this past week include…

Iced latte with ube cold foam!

Very into these chocolate peanut butter squares at the moment.

I even put one in a yogurt bowl – with vanilla bean yogurt, cinnamon, banana, and plum.

Yogurt bowl with plain Greek, pumpkin seed butter, pumpkin spice granola, and gumdrop grapes.

This week’s sparkling matchas – yuzu and mango.

This week’s pumpkin beers – the seasonal ale and imperial stout from Southern Tier.

These veggie crisps are great at baseline and even better with homemade guacamole.

I had orange juice in the house for the first time in years so I took the opportunity to make creamsicle milkshakes.

I made an amazing sundae with the guava and soursop ice creams from this fantastic line. Plus sweetened condensed milk, multi-grain Cheerios, and Luxardo cherries.

Brussel sprouts roasted with grapes, turkey kielbasa, white cheddar, and sweet and spicy pecans.

This citrus rice – I skipped the carrots and subbed almonds for cashews – with sautéed fennel and kielbasa. This was our first time cooking fennel – I used the bulb and the fronds – and we loved it.

One-tray sheet-pan hash – potato, sweet potato, red onion, bell peppers, sharp cheddar, and pinto beans, topped with guacamole, sour cream, hot sauce, and heirloom baby tomatoes.

Spooky Season

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It was a nice, Long Island weekend! We tried several new-to-us spots and went to Farmer’s Markets in Huntington and Port Jefferson.

I kicked off Pumpkin Month with a pumpkin pie soda taste-test at work! We were split 50/50 on liking it or not (not for me but it was fun to try, fyi).

Also new cookies and scream m&m’s. Again, split, my coworkers who really like m&m’s at baseline thought they were great.

And Adam and I kicked off spooky season with a trip to GHOST brewing.

Bougie green juice – pineapple, ginger, lemon, cucumber, kale, and mint.

We made a baby iced matcha with salted maple cold foam.

Blackberry jam stuffed doughnut.

Yogurt bowl with honey, jumbo blueberries, coconut, and sweet and spicy pecans.

Tiny cucumbers with buffalo chicken dip.

Macarons from Crave – Oreo and peanut butter cup.

Ridiculous scrambled eggs with butter, cheddar, gouda, leftover roasted squash, urfa chili, and gochugaru.

Whole Foods hot bar – salmon, cauliflower, broccoli, mac and cheese, and roasted butternut squash.

Chicago dog from Rock City Dogs, with crispy fries.

Plus I got a pumpkin ale with an amazing cinnamon sugar rim.

Best meal of the weekend goes to dinner at Ella’s. Great pizza! Tell All Your Friends – roasted Japanese eggplant, marinara, ricotta, garlic confit, mozzarella, and pickled fennel // Dark Side of the Moon – smoked duck, brie cream, caramelized onions, and mozzarella.

Plus inventive cocktails, I had a cherry coke with vodka, bitters, and fernet and a smoked tequila with coffee and grapefruit.

Highlights From The Hudson Valley

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Adam and I just spent an absolutely fantastic weekend in the Hudson Valley. We did a day and a half in Hudson followed by a day exploring Tivoli and Woodstock. We had a million coffees and desserts, explored cute downtowns, hiked a bit at the High Falls Conservation Area, and took a quick walk at the Tivoli Bay.

Food and drink highlights include…

Perfectly roasty iced lattes at Hudson Roastery. This was how we started both mornings in Hudson.

Inventive, extra-flakey pastries from Breadfolks in Hudson. This was a lemon meringue danish and a baklava croissant(?!!).

A freshly fried doughnut at Kitty’s Marketplace in Hudson.

We are obsessed with this seltzer, that I have been sadly unable to find back in the city.

Halo halo at Harana Market in Woodstock.

Concord grape sorbet and peanut butter swirl ice cream at Fortunes in Tivoli. This is quite possibly the best ice cream I have ever eaten.

Pupusas with queso and loroco at Casa Latina in Hudson.

Lunch outside at the food truck at Phoenicia Diner in Phoenicia. Sourdough toast with mashed avocado, sweet corn, heirloom tomato, poached egg, lime tofu, and farmers cheese // tuna salad sandwich with line-caught tuna, mayo, herbs, and wasabi tobiko.

A pimento cheese smothered hot dog at The Maker in Hudson.

Woodfired sourdough pizzas at The Mud Club in Woodstock. Bianca Rustica – mozzarella di bufala, vesuvian semi-dry red and yellow tomatoes, and evoo + hot honey // Mellanza de Pesto – tomatoes, roasted eggplant, mozzarella, aged gouda, and house-made pesto.

A terrific dinner at Lil’ Deb’s Oasis in Hudson. Maiden Voyage – rum, spicy vermouth, soursop, tajin salt rim.

Tuna crudo with mango-habanero water, plum, husk cherry, and kohlrabi // sweet plantains with cilantro yogurt.

Crispy potatoes with lime pickle aioli, curry leaf, and pickled chilis.

Bok choy and endive salad with caesar-poblano dressing, pistachios, and anchovy.

Plato tropical – rice, black beans, and garlicy greens.

Fermented lentil dosa with marinated shiitakes, radish, and herbs. I am a sucker for mint in savory dishes and this ended up being one of my favorite things I’ve ever eaten!

All in all, a wonderful weekend!