National Doughnut Day

Here’s a random and horrifying fact – I turn 30 next month.  What?!  How is that even possible when it feels like 1990 was only 10 years ago.  (<– it wasn’t.  it was 25 years ago.  like I said, horrifying.)

As I move my way up the hill at what feels like breakneck speed – next stop: over it – our summer is off to a pretty great start.  It’s hard to do things like maintain a weekly brunch and farmer’s market tradition with someone who works 25+ hour shifts on the weekends, but Adam is a total trooper and we still manage to have a good time.  Plus, the day I was alone I did errands at three different grocery stores so, you know, I lead an exciting life.

breakfast

Did you all celebrate National Doughnut Day?  I woke up an hour early so I could hit up Doughnut Plant on my way to work.

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They were giving away a mini cake doughnut (with sprinkles!) with all purchases.  It was delicious.

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I also got a skim iced matcha and a strawberry and cream doughseed.

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The strawberry glaze was tart and juicy and the filling was vanilla bean pastry cream, all together it was the best doughnut I’ve ever eaten.

During my never-ending errands I ate a protein bar,

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and a clover-brewed West Java roast with ice and skim milk.

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Plus, you know, you another coffee at my next stop.

lunch

I spent my workday on Friday in a breastfeeding education conference.  There wasn’t as much information about maternal intake and milk composition/supply as I had hoped, but the information about the benefits of breastfeeding, particularly in premature and small for gestational age infants, was quite interesting.  Plus, they provided lunch.

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Marinated veggie sandwich.  And I brought my own Mentos for dessert.

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The candy, plus lots of coffee, were essential; even if the material is of interest to me I have a very hard time sitting still to listen for hours in a row.

On Sunday, we brought the puppy into DUMBO.

DSC07838We got coffees at Brooklyn Roasting Company – skim Maple Shay for me.

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And then walked over to Smorgasburg for lunch.  The three of us shared duck buns.

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And an arepa.

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Aka acorn cake topped with Oaxaca cheese, chipotle mayo, and cilantro salsa.  Good, but I think I like pupusas better.

snack

Do you remember Slush Puppies?  So much better than Slurpees.

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This was horrible, but it was fun to try the throwback snack, even if I did have to carry around that burning cold packet for the rest of our walk.

We are both impressed with Angry Orchard’s seasonal summer honey cider.

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Impulse buy much?

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Lindt’s Hello line is on point.  Both bars were amazing; the pink one really did pop!

Coffee and a cookie.

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Molly’s Milk Truck coffee with almond milk and cinnamon plus a sticky strawberry jam sandwich cookie from Whole Foods.

dinner

Chicken and veggie soup.

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Every piece of this minus the broth came from our freezer but it was still flavorful and yummy.

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Chicken broth // TJ’s chicken and vegetable goyza // rotisserie chicken // bok choy, shitake mushroom, red pepper, and green onions.

Spicy eggs for my single lady dinner.

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Scrambled with collard greens and sweet corn plus shredded cheese, smoked paprika, and tons of sweet chili sauce.

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And crispy peas on the side.

Who’s surprised that we ate Chipotle for dinner last night?  No one?  Good.  🙂

Top Three Weekly Wrap-Up {And A Giveaway!}

My favorites from the past week…

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Top 3 Breakfasts

(1) Mango coconut biscotti* with my coffee.

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*free sample courtesy of Nonni’s, scroll down to the last section for more info

(2) Smoothie.  Hint of Honey almond milk with frozen blackberries, raspberries, and dates.

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(3) Cold brew.  Coffee concentrate cut with skim milk and maple water.

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Tops 3 Lunches

(1) Thanks, Starbucks.  A cherry, granola, and yogurt bowl that was quite tasty.

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Plus a Almond Coconut KIND bar.  An Airhead might have snuck in there too!

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(2) Starbucks again.  <– I didn’t have it super together this week.  But their kale chicken Caesar salad is damn good.

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(3) Apples and oats.  Quaker Apple Walnut Oatmeal topped with Justin’s Vanilla Almond Butter with TJ’s freeze-dried Fuji apples on the side.

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Top 3 Desserts

(1) Better than a brownie.  Lindt’s caramel brownie bar.

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(2) Hot fudge root beer floats.

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(3) Shake, shake, shake.  We had a tub of vanilla ice cream in the freezer and we weren’t afraid to use it.

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Bourbon In My Coffee Breakfast Shake* = 1 cup vanilla ice cream, 2 oz maple bourbon, 2 oz iced coffee concentrate, 1 cup Frosted Flakes; serves 2.

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*not actually consumed at breakfast

Top 3 Dinners

(1) Chipotle.  My salad was on point – chicken, cheese, corn, sautéed veggies, mild salsa, green tomatillo salsa, and sour cream.

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(2) More “Mexican” food.

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Green chile and cheese pupusas.  Now I need to get my hands on my first fresh pupusa.

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Sautéed arugula tossed with avocado and crumbled kale chips.

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(3) Asian-inspired.  Every piece of this meal came out of our freezer but it was still one of the best of the week.

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TJ’s chicken and vegetable goyza.

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Frozen broccoli, celery, and spring onions that I cooked in canola oil then gussied up with a quick sauce (brown sugar, chicken broth, fish sauce, soy sauce, Sriracha, cornstarch) and some crushed peanuts.

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Plus 1 Giveaway!

As I mentioned above, I was sent a free sample of the newest flavor of Nonni’s THINaddictives – Mango Coconut.

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They are completely addictive – the perfect balance between chewy and crunchy and not too sweet to eat with breakfast (they have 100 calories per pack of three).  I ate them with pretty much every meal this week.

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Nonni’s gave me a chance to share the love with you guys too – Simply leave comment on this post before 10 am EST on Tuesday, June 9th for a chance to win your own box.

Not feeling lucky?  In celebration of the new flavor, Nonni’s THINaddictives is hosting Summer Giveaway on Facebook – 50 winners will be selected to receive a free box of the new Mango Coconut THINaddictives. There is also a $1 off coupon under their coupon tab.

It Was High Time To Hit The High Line

Five favorites from the weekend…

{1}  New yogurt flavors

Siggi’s never lets me down; the new whole milk mixed berries flavor tasted great paired with blackberries and bran flakes for work lunch.

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We also tried some goat’s milk yogurt from Coach Farm.

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The honey flavor was nice – not too sweet or sour – but I always miss the thicker texture of Greek.

{2}  Chipotle, always

Rice bowl with chicken.

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Enjoyed while watching “Criminal Minds.”  I think I’m finally getting Adam hooked on it too.

{3}  Green Juice

Spinach, watermelon, and lemon, from Juice Generation.  Yummy, though it was a little heavy on the fruit and light on the greens.

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The cashier was a boy from Puerto Rico (an island near St. Thomas), it was nice to reminisce with someone from (near) home.  We sipped while we shopped at the new Flying Tiger – so cool!

{4}  Dinner at the Green Table

A small farm to table spot in Chelsea Market.

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Drink: 77 Sour – Breuckelen ’77 whiskey, fresh lemon, local maple syrup, Hella citrus bitters.  It was delicious, the classiest whiskey sour of all time.

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Eat: Vegan “Pho” – napa cabbage, bok choy, tofu, mushrooms, lime, lemongrass, chili oil.  The flavors were great, but I was glad they put Pho in quotation marks because there was not a noodle to be found.  We totally got pizza once we were back in Brooklyn.

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Sweet: Chocolate Hibiscus Trifle – hibiscus Chantilly, pink peppercorn caramel.  The cake bites (which were gluten-free) were dry and terrible, but the hibiscus Chantilly cream was juicy and sweet, just like the apple ice wine I had with it.

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We probably won’t be back – based on the size for price of the entrées – but I’m quite glad that we got to enjoy the drinks and dessert.

{5}  Watching the sunset on the High Line

We got a plum jasmine shaved ice from people’s pops to crunch while we people and sky watched.

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Also juicy and sweet!  We need to get up there more often.

Seoul Food Style

We got to spend time with several Buffalo friends, we went on some great walks, the puppy seems to be feeling a little better, and all in all it was a great weekend.  I’m missing a few shots, but here are most of my favorite eats…

breakfast

Giant iced coffee, always.

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That one has fat-free sweetened condensed milk and skim milk.  The SCM is leftover from a failed recipe trial, but Vietnamese-ish iced coffees are better than hot fudge root beer float popsicles (good in theory but I can’t make it work!) any day.

I tried the milk bread from TOUS les JOUR.

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Nice and vanilla-bean-y.

Another day, another coffee.

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I asked Starbucks to put the marshmallow whipped cream and milk chocolate from the S’mores Frappuccino into my skim latte and they happily delivered.  The taste was good but I was unbelievably ill by the halfway mark, I cannot even imagine drinking a full Frappuccino.

Plus Adam and I split a Pulsin’ maple peanut bar.

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It was vegan and made with pea protein and the nutrition stats were pretty good – 12 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber with 11 grams of sugar.  Not a bad breakfast for a busy morning of errands.

lunch

Lunch in Koreatown.  I set my mouth on fire with a kimchi bun and cooled it down with a (pink!) Harmless Harvest coconut water.

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Afterwards we shared dessert at Grace Street, our new favorite snow spot.

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We shared a machta latte.

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And a black sesame shaved ice with scm, boba, and mini marshmallows.

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Between the tapioca balls and the partially frozen marshmallows, this had so much chew!

“Dinner” for lunch.  We almost never cook a full meal in the daytime so this felt pretty fancy.

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Roasted broccoli with truffle salt,

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and “Cooking Light’s” Farro with Honey-Garlic Roasted Tomatoes.

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We added chopped turkey bacon and rotisserie chicken to the farro to make it a little more substantial.  Also I skipped the thyme (the bacon made up for the flavor), used fat-free feta, and subbed sherry for sherry vinegar.

snack

21st Amendment brews at the Gotham West Market.

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The market space was gorgeous and we want to go back for ramen and/or tacos soon but guys, holy crap, we paid $17 for two cans of beer!!!  At least, after a lot of walking along the piers, they were refreshing.

Can cookies at Schmackary’s become an every weekend tradition?

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This time we split a giant, chewy funfetti cookie topped with cream cheese frosting and tons of sprinkles.

We’ve been loving fruit-infused water lately; having a big jug in the fridge makes me much more likely to pour a glass.

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This week was lime and mint and last week was mint and grapefruit, which was even better.

Corn was popped.

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Enjoyed while Netflixing approximately eight billion old episodes of “Criminal Minds.”

A girlfriend and I had planned on going to Rice to Riches ever since the first summer we moved here and Monday the time was finally right.  I got a cookie cream rice pudding with mocha crumbles.  We both liked the pudding but thought it would be more enjoyable served in a bowl instead of a trough.

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My fancy cup was a skim cortado from Happy Bones, so that was fun.  And we took a great walk across the Williamsburg Bridge.

dinner

Our friends’ adorable baby girl just turned one and they invited us to her Doljanchi, a Korean 1st birthday party tradition.

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The buffet was great,

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but the best thing ever was getting to catch up with all of the med school friends (and their babies!) that we’ve been missing.

Saturday night we had an absolutely amazing dinner at The Marshal, a Hell’s Kitchen farm-to-table spot that focuses on seasonal, local goodies.  Bonus – the waitstaff are all insanely cute!

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I got an Earl’s Tea to drink – chilled Earl Grey Tea, Peace Vodka, Catskills Provisions raw honey, lemon, and orange cream bitters.

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We started with scallops – bourbon planked herb crusted Massachusetts jumbo scallops with caramelized lemon and assorted local herbs.

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And Arcadian Pastures deviled eggs – ramps-infused yolks, micro-wasabi, and crispy duck prosciutto.

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None of the appetizers really knocked our socks off (good but not the best ever) but the duck prosciutto was definitely smoky and amazing.

Our meals, on the other hand, were mind-blowing.  Adam got a bacon-wrapped pork loin that he loved so much he didn’t speak for the rest of the meal and I did a trio of farm sides.

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Roasted Bulich Farm snow while mushrooms, herb butter, Upstate white wine // Sautéed Lancaster Farm dandelion greens, red pepper flakes, grapeseed oil, Finger Lakes white wine // Satur Farms sweet potato and kale au gratin.  The gratin was out of this word; it was so rich I couldn’t even finish it.

We were too stuffed to do more than pick at dessert, but we couldn’t skip it!

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Bittersweet chilled chocolate fudge in NYC honey with honey comb, bee pollen, and Blue Marble vanilla ice cream.

The Lower East Side has always been my Manhattan haunt of choice, but lately Hells Kitchen has been rocking our socks off!  NYC readers, what’s your favorite neighborhood?

Staycation 2015: NYC

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Once we got home from St. Thomas (a week ago now,) our vacation turned into a staycation and the fun continued.  We got in a bunch of cuddle time with Webster, caught up on tv, and spent three straight days walking and eating.  On Friday we walked 6+ miles around the Upper West Side in one afternoon.  I know this post is running late, but that is because it is GIANT.  By sharing everything, leaving lots of leftovers, and through sheer force of will, Adam and I managed to try a ton of the restaurants on our “to-eat” list during our last days spring vacation.  I know I say that 8 different things in this post are “the best,” but I’m not exaggerating, these spots were all really outstanding.

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BAOHAUS

Baohaus serves some of the most inventive buns in the city.  We’ve gotten the Coffin Bao with fried chicken and chili sweetened condensed milk in the past and it was on point.  This trip we stuck with the Birdhaus – All natural fried chicken brined 24 hours, served with Haus Seasoning Salt, lemon-garlic aioli, crushed peanuts, Taiwanese red sugar, and cilantro.

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Plus tea from the shop next door.

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My milk tea had boba, grass jelly, and pudding.

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Bibble & Sip

B&S is an adorable little llama-adorned coffee shop on 8th ave just south of the park.  The baked goods looked great but we honed in on the lavender latte.  The floral flavor was perfectly balanced by the (skim)milk, though I wish we had gotten iced.

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Chuko Ramen

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Chuko is a modern-looking ramen spot in Prospect Heights.  This was actually our first official ramen experience, but I’m still feeling pretty confident in saying that this is the best in Brooklyn.

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Every dish had such umami.  We started with a shrimp bun with garlic tartar sauce.

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And crispy Brussels sprouts with fish sauce, peanuts, and pickled jalopeños.  The crunchy leaves were to die for.

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I got the veggie miso ramen with chicken, though they had the option to go full vegetarian.

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It was ridiculous.  The noodles were chewy, the broth was robust (and vegetarian!), and the poached chicken was unbelievable soft.  It came topped with sweet corn, greens in truffle oil, mushrooms, a soft-boiled egg, and chili oil.  This bowl was one of the best things I’ve ever tasted so it tells you a lot about the generous portion size that I couldn’t finish it.

Corner of Vermont

Corner of Vermont is a little shop on 5th in Park Slope that is Buddy the Elf’s dream – everything they sell is laced with maple syrup.  Black Bear Sugarworks‘ divinely smoky and complex maple syrup.  We were swooning over everything we tried, even the little cups of straight syrup they hand you at the door.  Adam got an amazing maple soft-serve and I got a maple soda.

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Plus we had a maple bear, the single best piece of maple sugar candy I’ve ever tasted.  The fantastic syrup gave it a great start, but also because the candy was so fresh the mouthfeel was perfect – the candy held up to the bite and then melted in your mouth.

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Dough

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These doughnuts are ubiquitous at this point – they sell them at Whole Foods and my hospital’s tiny coffee counter – but they are worth the treck to Fort Greene because they are a trillion times tastier straight from the source.  The dough is slightly sweet and not too dense and the glaze on my salted caramel chocolate was ridiculously chewy and deeply dark chocolate-y.

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Grand Central Station

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Café Grumpy makes us anything but grumpy, they have one of our all-time favorite expressos.  My skim macchiato was great.

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And the giant salted caramel macaron I paired with it also put a smile on my face.

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Hibino

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Hibino is a gorgeous sushi spot in Cobble Hill with a great selection of (many local varieties of) seafood and tofu that they make in-house.  I got an iced roasted barley tea which was unsweetened and very refreshing.

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We got seaweed salad which came with wakame and red and green seaweed.  Adam loved it but I could not do the unseasoned seaweed; there are very few vegetables I don’t like but red seaweed now tops the list.

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Of course we tried the the cold house-made tofu, which came with scallions, ginger, and dashi (a kombu, or kelp, broth).  The tofu was strangely flavorless and very creamy.

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And I went with the vegetable roll for dinner.

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The orange piece on the left was me being brave and trying uni – raw sea urchin!  It was good, very velvety.

Nunu Chocolates Café & Tap Room

Nunu is a Brooklyn-based chocolate company that makes a caramel bar I’ve been obsessed with for years.  Their newest location is Park Slope serves homemade chocolates, Blue Bottle coffee, and a pretty decent selection of draft beers.

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They also offer a chocolate and beer pairing, which is what we came in for.

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I am sad that I didn’t take notes because we loved every bite and sip but at this point I can’t remember what anything was.  Surprisingly, our favorite thing was a spicy beer that Nunu collaborated on with a local brewery.

Pure Thai Cookhouse

PTC is a Hell’s Kitchen spot with delicious, authentic Thai food.  Serious Eats raved about it and it’s been my Thai go-to since trip one.  The space is tiny but the vibe is casual and the service is crazy quick.  Their noodles are great, but I went with a rice-based special, Kao Ob Talay.

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Steamed jasmine rice with crabmeat, jumbo shrimp, taro root, shitake mushroom, onion, scallion, cilantro, ginger, and garlic soy sauce.

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The bites with sweet crabmeat and chewy shitake were take-your-breath-away good.

Schmackary’s

Schmackary’s is a cookie bakery and coffee shop in the Theatre District.  Their menu changes daily/seasonally and includes spectacular things like s’mores, sweet corn and bacon, and blueberry cobbler.  We got a butter pecan that was legit the best purchased cookie I’ve ever tasted – browned butter / toasted pecans / butterscotch.

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Weekly Wrap-Up; Back At It

I know this post is behind schedule (and I swear, I really am going to share all of the tasty things we ate at the end of our trip!) but the first week back at work after a vacation always feels so looooong.  It doesn’t help that the poor puppy is sick – and it really doesn’t help that he is on 2 weeks of a twice-daily medication, in addition to his twice daily seizure medication!  No matter, he has the fuzziest face on Earth and I wouldn’t trade him for the world.

Here are some of the eats from the week that I wouldn’t trade either…

Coffee, always

A double-strength batch of Community Coffee French Roast served over ice with Hint of Honey Almond Milk.

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Halvah yogurt bowls

Plain Greek yogurt with crumbled marble halvah mixed in and juicy summer fruit on the side.

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Spinach pesto on everything

Mixed with shredded chicken and bow tie pasta (my mom and aunt always serve pesto with bow ties so that’s how I do it too!).

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Next to really amazing salads topped with turkey bacon dressing and balsamic roasted grapes.

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And mixed with shredded chicken atop a truly epic toasted cheese sandwich.

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Chipotle, again, always

For dinner I improved the rice-veggie ratio by serving my bowl on a big bed of arugula dressed with bbq sauce.

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And the leftovers made for the most exciting lunch I’ve ever packed.

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I am so ready for the weekend!

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Spring Vacation 2015

Adam and I took advantage of our joint weeks off and flew home to St. Thomas for a quick visit.  The timing worked out perfectly so that we flew in on Mother’s Day and could celebrate with my mom in person.

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Our trip was short but wonderful!

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We saw some old friends, ate tons of good food, ran on the beach, and visited our favorite spots.  I am missing pictures of most of the action, but here are some of the highlights…

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St. Thomas now boasts several self-serve froyo places (and a Walgreens?!), a fact that seems insane to anyone who grew up in the VI.

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Zest, at the Ritz, also had yummy toddy-brewed VI Roasters coffee, so you know I had to make an affogato.

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With vanilla froyo with caramel and marshmallow.

Dinner at ITP, my family’s favorite pizza spot.

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We shared giant Greek salads and a bbq chicken pizza.

Brunch at Barefoot Buddha, my favorite restaurant on the island.

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I got a Vietnamese iced coffee, as well as a really amazing Cuban coffee to go.  Plus my standard order, the Bigfoot Bagel Sandwich.

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Egg frittata, smoked turkey, turkey bacon, cream cheese, sharp cheddar cheese, chipotle aioli, tomato-onion coulis and fresh spinach on an everything bagel.

Lunch on the water at Fat Turtle.

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The food was meh – we split a Cajun mahi mahi sandwich and a veggie pizza that Adam loved –  but the view was nice.

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And afterwards we got house-made salted caramel gelato from a pop-up booth in Yacht Haven.

My parents made Adam’s favorite dish one night for dinner, Bill Clinton’s Enchiladas.

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Plus key lime pie for dessert for me.

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I scooped a slice of pie onto Greek yogurt for breakfast the next day and it was delicious.

You can’t miss the local dishes at Victor’s.

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That is pan-fried Old Wife, a nice white fish that went well with the smoky creole sauce.  My plate also had veggies, fried plantains, and fungi – a cornmeal paste that has a texture like firm mashed potatoes.

Finally, fraccos, aka Caribbean shaved ice.

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I got soursop and passionfruit with condensed milk and it was one of the best things I ate all vacation!

It was a great trip, and now I’m excited for a three-day staycation in the city before we head back to work.

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Thirsty

As this post goes live, we will be setting off on a fun adventure! The best part of which is the fact that Adam and I are both on vacation and can spend every second of the next 7 days together.  <– squee!

I wanted to get in a quick post of highlights from the past few days, 90% of which are beverages…

Iced coffee and an apple for breakfast.

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Plus a cinnamon iced chai latte when I got to work.

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We threw a surprise wedding shower for one of my dietetic coworkers and that’s where Friday’s lunch came from.

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Plus an orange in my office.

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Yes, it took me less than 2 weeks to kill that plant!

More coffee. This caramel macchiato from Dunkin was not good.

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But this can of salted caramel cold brew was, especially paired with a chocolate pretzel bar for breakfast.

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Coffee yogurt topped with honey and salty peanuts is always good.

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As is coffee beer, like this yummy milk stout from Stone.

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Last night we celebrated the start of vacation with a delicious dinner at Brooklyn Star.

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That’s Dr Pepper with bourbon and bitters.

Spicy duck wings sauced with ground chili, honey, Coca Cola, and fried garlic.  We weren’t sure if it was Brooklyn Star’s superior frying technique or the fact that these were fatty, tasty duck instead of chicken, but these were the best wings we’ve ever had.

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And a smoked escarole salad.

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So smoky and good!  Jonah crab meat, pickled watermelon, Asian pear, heart of palm,  and parsnip chips.

Plus dessert at Milk Bar.

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Cold brew and a cornflake marshmallow cookie. A sweet start to a fun week.