Tag Archives: meat

Best Ever Broccoli Salad

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Highlights from such a yummy week…

I enjoyed the (new?) chocolate and cherry 88 Acres bar.

These 12 Tides kelp chips are perfect; great crunch and very garlicy and savory.

I’m holding out on eggnog and peppermint until after Thanksgiving, but a winter-themed beer felt appropriate for November! Abomination Brewing’s Wandering in the Snow – double dry hopped IPA with lactose and marshmallow.

The Roast special this week was a shortrib smashburger with pickles, roasted mushrooms, caramelized onions, arugula, white cheddar, and aioli on a potato bun – we obviously had to try it. Plus fries and amazing homemade green beans (sauteed with butter, garlic, and honey dijon).

Cajun-ish rice casserole. I baked brown rice with Trader Joe’s turkey summer sausage, red kidney beans, cream of mushroom and roasted garlic condensed soup, fire-roasted Rotel, red bell pepper, yellow onion, salt, pepper, and paprika. Topped with Cholula and Greek yogurt and served with a side of garlic sauteed broccoli rabe.

A new variation on a broccoli salad we made almost one year ago that I’ve thought about ever since. Roasted broccoli, roasted red onion, roasted cannellini beans, dried cherries, and the sauce (in the food processor – cilantro, roasted jalapeno, garlic, white cheddar, smoked sardines, pine nuts, honey, salt, paprika, gochugaru, evoo, and water). I topped my serving with Trader Joe’s hot and sweet pickled jalapenos. Plus a side of roasted honeynut squash that we also swooned over.

One of the best salads we’ve ever made at home. Romaine and chicory blend lettuce / charred asparagus / strawberries / white cheddar / Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy candied pecans / Greek yogurt marinated baked chicken / homemade honey mustard vinaigrette (equal parts mayo, honey dijon, yellow mustard, honey, lemon juice, and vinegar).

Staycation 2023 [part 2]

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Highlights from the second half of our staycation, which ended up being one of the best vacations!

We did so many fun things! Like checking out the Halloween-themed spot Haunted House of Hamburgers to grab a drink and admire decorations.

Spending a beyond lovely morning exploring the Avalon Nature Preserve and communing with nature.

And roadtripping to Connecticut for coffees and booze. Food hightlights included…

Aldo’s Coffee. This spot in Greenport makes the most perfectly roasty espresso.

Druthers Coffee. This burnt caramel latte was amazing

Perkatory Coffee [CT]. I loved this spot, especially their monthly special – cold brew with vanilla and strawberry, topped with condensed milk cold foam and Fruity Pebbles.

Yellow King Brews [CT]. Cold brew flight??!! My favorite was the fantastically blue one – cold brew shaken with cookie butter sauce and topped with cookie cold foam.

12% Beer Project [CT]. They had taps from Evil Twin, Abomination Brewing, and Fat Orange Cat. Also really good housemade thin crust pizza.

Evil Twin taproom. Always a favorite.

Whole Food’s pumpkin pie cookie.

Alligator Pear for a New Orlean’s lunch. We had (a lot) drinks and started with the wonderful cornbread with sweet brown butter and the blue crab beignets.

We shared the summer salad – baby kale with strawberries, goat cheese, candied pecans, and a honey mustard vinaigrette – and a po’boy with grilled shrimp.

Kappo Counter at Okonomi Market for a lovingly currated multi-course tasting menu. Some of my favorites included the tilefish and cucumber with yuzu and coconut.

Roasted Japanese sweet potato with salmon roe and toasted tahini.

And the frangipane with toasted rice ice cream and pickled strawberries.

Rolo’s for the best lunch of the vacation/the best meal of 2023! Spicy mezcal bloody mary.

Beet salad with concord grape vinaigrette and castelrosso cheese // grilled oyster mushrooms with pine nut miso.

Double cheeseburger with grilled onions and dijonnaise // malted waffles with plum compote and ricotta. We also had the super crispy potatoes topped with Kewpie and a spicy peanut sauce.

Staycation 2023

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I am off of work for one week! What I wanted out of vacation was good walks, great food, and Webster cuddles so I stayed (mostly) in NYC for a staycation and have checked every box! Some food highlights – mostly coffee and desserts! – from the first half…

Wired Coffee. Cold brew with marshmallow cold foam.

Coffee Grind. A newish spot in Massapequa with a fun menu. This was a quad latte with marshmallow, chocolate, and whipped cream.

Uluhuluh. Extra-creamy iced latte with an egg on top (some kind of citrus and maybe cream cheese? I am not actually sure what this was but it tasted good).

Rockaway Beach Bakery. This may actually be my favorite bakery in NY. We had a cheesy scone and a guava cream cheese croissant.

Drowned Lands in Warwick.

Janie Bakes. Pie crust cookies; the guava cream cheese was an 11/10.

Gonggan. I loved everything about this spot, whose interior reminded me a bit of Meow Wolf.

We had an Americano with yuzu and an affagato with meringues on top.

The cheeseburger.

And the sweet potato cheese cake! It was encrusted in frosting, cake, and meringues. Not quite as delicious as it was stunning but it was tasty.

Ando Patisserie. Durian parfait and an earl grey tart with boba.

Wolfie’s in Warwick. We shared matzoh ball soup.

A sandwich with corned beef and pastrami on rye with mustard and swiss. <– 10/10

And chocolate cake with marscapone filling.

Bob White Counter. 2nd best fried chicken sandwich in NYC.

Dinner at The Tyger. It was too dark for photos but this was our favorite meal so far! Standouts include garlic stir-fried water spinach, red curry short ribs, and a creme brulee tart. Also my layered drink – Espolòn tequila, Shoumei white tea, peach, lemon, and smoke layered with tequila, mango, lemon, honey, and cardamom

Pie Not Spice

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It’s Pumpkin Month! Over the years I’ve accepted that I like pumpkin but not pumpkin spice. That said, with the numerous varieties of pumpkin beers that exist now I still had a pretty giant gourd cache this year.

P.S. Sunday night Adam and I went on a seasonal date to buy a big pumpkin and try the Wendy’s pumpkin spice frosty (the initial flavor was an 8/10 but the aftertaste was too much spice. I also tried the new nacho chicken sandwich – also only ok)

Highlights from the weekend included…

Green protein smoothie – frozen chopped spinach and banana blended with a Premier Protein cake batter.

This bar has been one of my top-three favorites for more than five years.

Spicy rice cake snack. These were almost too spicy and very satisfying.

These Trader Joe’s brigadeiros were good but not great.

This dirt cake Ben & Jerry’s was very good but not great.

Meanwhile, this ice cream cozy my mom bought me for my birthday is one of the best things we own!

Salad night. Romaine / baby bell peppers / Trader Joe’s strawberry basil vinaigrette / Beecher’s Flagship cheddar / dried cherries / bacon-seasoned crunchy mung beans / super-firm tofu that I shredded; tossed with canola oil, white pepper, and Sichuan pepper salt; and roasted.

Sandwich and salad night; Adam and I split two things from Roast. The weekly special – bbq brisket, cheddar, crispy onions, peach slaw, and a cherry pepper aioli on a brioche roll.

The bbq chicken salad with ranch, avocado, roasted corn, crispy tortilla strips, and pepperjack.

Chicken tacos from Burrito Blvd – with zucchini, tomato, roasted corn, cheese, and chipotle aioli.

Back To School Themed

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Highlights from a perfect weekend with my favorite boys! September 1st kicked off Apple Month. Here is my 2023 hual (I restrained myself) –

I started my Friday 9/1 with a Starbucks’ cold brew with cinnamon cold foam, apple syrup, and apple drizzle and it was pretty great. And Saturday Adam and I got a caramel apple iced latte from New York Beanery.

I made a yogurt bowl with vanilla skyr, aprium, and caramel apple granola.

Apple snacks. Caramel apple Sugar Babies – 8.5/10 / Apple harvest Sour Patch Kids – 12/10, the best gummy candy I’ve ever tasted / giant Rave apple – 8/10, juicy and crisp but a bit sour for our tastes.

We went glamping this weekend in a refurbished school bus!

With Webster!

It was great, mostly because it put us within walking distance of so many amazing restaurants. Saturday night we went to Elder Greene. “A quick one before the dinner,” Mezcal, orange, lime, and simple syrup with a Tajin rimmed glass.

Amazing crispy brussel sprouts with goat cheese and a walnut maple aioli.

The best, crispiest tater tots I’ve ever eaten. Plus we took burgers back to the bus for dinner! Elder Greene makes our favorite burgers in the city. Their classic is Pat LaFrieda short rib blend, cheddar, American, pickles, onion, and special sauce (#1) and they also make a Waygu burger with white cheddar, arugula, and lemon herb aioli on a brioche bun (#2). P.S. Nomwon is my #3.

Sunday morning we got goodies from Radio Bakery. Triple chocolate croissant and an earl grey morning bun.

Plus an everything focaccia sandwich with smoked salmon and cream cheese.

With a Voodoo Child Vietnamese iced coffee from Sweet Leaf.

We Had Fun-Fetti

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Highlights from a very wonderful weekend…

Cafe Grumpy iced latte with oatmilk and blackberry syrup.

Are you admiring my sleeve? Last weekend Adam and I bought a $10 kit from Target and tie-dyed our own shirts!

Caffe Valencia Roosevelt – iced latte with frothed milk and vanilla and toasted marshmallow.

Green protein smoothie. Premiere Protein cake batter with frozen banana, grapes, and spinach.

Taiyaki. I got custard-filled, hojicha ice cream, condensed milk, and sprinkles.

Best cake ever from Butterfield. Super dense funfetti with two kinds of frosting; the cookies and cream layer was life-changing.

Lunch at Kayle.

Beef sliders on ube rolls.

Beef Tapa meal – seared tri-tip marinated with soy sauce and garlic with chili plus rice and a fried egg. And a side of roasted eggplant.

Plus, of course, halo halo. (10/10, best I’ve had in the city)

Dry-aged cheese burger from Mighties.

Spicy cumin lamb hand-torn noodles from Xi’an Famous Foods. These noodles are a large part of why I feel like I can never live outside of New York; 1,000/10.

Minnows And Salmon

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Highlights from the past week…

Blue Bottle‘s Nola Shakerato is a work of art.

Smoothie with cottage cheese, peaches, mixed berries, and water.

Sandwich on garlic naan with sliced turkey, cheddar, and soft-scrambled eggs.

We ordered a whole spread of treats at Patisserie Tomoko, our new favorite dessert spot in Williamsburg. Yuzu cheesecake / black sesame red bean mochi / pumpkin pie. All 10/10!

Plus their special, the yuzuchoco float – yuzu sorbet, yuzu ice cream, and yuzu seltzer with a salted chocolate popsicle.

We ended up with these Trader Joe’s chocolate-covered peanut butter pretzels by mistake (sorry, Dad, they didn’t fit in your birthday box!) but Adam and I both love them.

Dinner at Minnows. We got fun drinks including an old-school frozen grasshopper.

Adam and I adored everything we got here. We shared a smashburger with pimento cheese.

Hushpuppies with salted honey butter.

A “big salad” with corn, pepitas, fennel, cojita, and citrus thyme vinaigrette.

Collard greens.

Adam surprised me with a sourdough croissant from Winner (YUM) so I made breakfast tasting plates for dinner. With roasted asparagus, a medium-boiled egg, Trader Joe’s hot-smoked salmon, and a horseradish dipping sauce.

Creamy mushroom pasta. Whole-wheat spaghetti with crispy sauteed oyster mushrooms and maitake mushrooms and a sauce made with cream cheese, gojuchang, and lemon juice. I topped mine with kelp flakes.

Baked buffalo chicken meatballs (with blue cheese and cream cheese!) and roasted broccoli with a horseradish ranch dipping sauce.

Webster’s 12th Buyday

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Highlights from this week…

Yesterday was the 12th anniversary of Webster joining our family! He is the best. We spent the day hanging out and he celebrated with a peanut butter pup cup from Seacliff Shave Ice.

The humans shared one with cola and butterscotch, with vanilla ice cream, topped with condensed milk and mochi.

Southdown Coffee granita iced coffee.

I also had a variety of coffees from home this week.

We got a bunch of good snacks from Fine Fair Supermarket, including this great tres leches cake.

Trader Joe’s snacks. The ube mochi were fantastic, they were so marshmallow-y!

I loved these new Happy Hour tequilla seltzers.

This guava Mtn Dew was way too sweet but delicious mixed with golden rum.

Dinners this week – 1) Involved a lot of take-out (I was a bit under the weather and also take-out is great). 2) Involved a lot of cauliflower (I got excited about the options at Trader Joes and ended up buying three varieties. And also cauliflower is great).

Roast Korean BBQ French Dip special; shortrib, white cheddar, caramelized kimchi, crunchy onions, and spicy mayo on ciabatta. With roasted baby cauliflower.

Taco Bell came out with a birria taco (“grilled cheese dipping taco”) and I obviously had to try it. I also bought a back-up burrito in case it wasn’t good but I ended up really liking it; the red sauce was obviously not consume but the meat had a good texture and there was tons of cheese. Plus roasted cauliflower and broccoli.

Jalopeno popper turkey meatloaf (with Trader Joe’s hot and sweet pickled jalopenos and tons of sharp cheddar) plus roasted rainbow cauliflower.

Walking tacos (but Adam convinced me to serve them in bowls instead of out of the bag). I made mine with crumbled Fritos / plus ground turkey sauteed with red sauce, baby heirloom tomatoes, and white onion / cheddar / avocado.

Mac and three cheese muffins. With Goodle’s whole-wheat curveballs. I swapped parmesan for extra cheddar and added pickled jalopenos. Plus roasted zucchini.