Two Holidays In One Week

Highlights include…

Two holidays, two celebratory beers – one for Pi(e) Day (cherry pie fruited pastry sour) and one for Fr(y)day – aka cheese fry night aka technically St. Patrick’s day – ($60 nachos – double IPA).

New York Beanery went all in for St. Patrick’s day, this week’s special was a green mint mocha.

I also had a green kombucha.

Portuguese egg tart from a local bakery.

We made a batch of beer bread and now I can’t believe it’s been so long since our last loaf.

A Pi Day celebration from Four & Twenty Blackbirds. We had salty honey, black bottom oat, and hojicha custard.

I was off Wednesday from working the weekend and got take-out from Roast for lunch! A corned beef reuben with swiss, cole slaw, and thousand island on a marble rye roll.

It was a week of very good dinners. Like menemen with beer bread.

Vegan nuggets with roasted broccoli and orange cauliflower and honey mustard.

Turkey reuben inspired sandwiches. Sourdough (I went to the store mid-week and there was no rye to be found), smoked turkey, sharp cheddar, kimchi, and homemade 1001 island dressing (Kewpie, Sriracha, ketchup, fish sauce, smoked paprika, and gochugaru). Plus leftover veggies.

More of the same, in cheese fry form! Plus roasted shishitos.

Two Kinds Of Cola Cocktails

I worked all weekend but we still managed to make/go out for some amazing food in the evenings! It was so cold Sunday night that we refused to walk more than a few blocks but Saturday we had a great time wandering around the Lower East Side and across the Williamsburg Bridge. Highlights include…

A fantastic latte with a giant iced cube from Kodawari.

A vegan chocolate chip sandwich cookie from formerly Babycakes.

I made a frozen rum and coke. This was actually the best frozen cocktail I’ve ever had, the texture was perfection. I blended golden rum, amaretto, key lime juice, and frozen coke ice cubes.

We made hedgehog tofu aka crispy pull-apart baked tofu. With this sauce and sautéed celery and bok choy.

Dinner on the Lower East Side. We did veggies/appetizers at one stop and entrees at another! First Fat Choy for baby bok choy and rice rolls with charred scallion, black vinegar, and Chinese broccoli. <– the rice rolls were the best thing we have eaten so far in 2022!

Then Bronson’s Burgers. I went with cheddar, pickles, and crispy onions.

And we got a toasted marshmallow shake.

Dinner at Chela in Park Slope. I quite liked the food and was head over heels for the cocktails. Like the Cosita – mezcal, tequila reposado, guava, grapefruit, lemon, and a spicy rim.

And the Mojito De Mata with white rum, fresh tamarind, lime, saline solution, and burlesque bitters. All mojitos should have tamarind, apparently. We also tried a Movie Night with buttered popcorn fat washed rum, homemade cola syrup, and fresh lime and a margarita with fresh passionfruit!

I got a salad for dinner — watermelon, baby arugula, onions, jicama, queso fresco, peanuts, cilantro vinaigrette, and beef barbacoa.

And we got fantastic churros for dessert.

Strawberry, Soursop, Taro, Pine

Highlights from this week include – coffee, pastel-colored foods, breakfast for dinner, my favorite Caribbean fruit…

This week’s coffee combo was beans from India with Chobani brown sugar creamer.

See also – espresso with strawberry milk.

I made a smoothie with soursop nectar. Plus Greek yogurt and frozen grapes.

See also – creamy soursop cocktails with rum, amaretto, and brown sugar coffee creamer.

I really loved this Blue Point pine needle IPA. It was interesting without being overwhelming.

Taro milk chia pudding with honey Chobani yogurt and jumbo blueberries.

Take-out Philly cheesesteak with roasted yellow French beans.

Seemore’s chicken, kale, and pesto sausage / jumbo blueberries / hash with shredded potato, leek, red pepper, and kimchi / ketchup + Sriracha.

Of Champions

Breakfast highlights from a lovely weekend…

Homemade maple vanilla matcha latte.

Hometown Bakeshop. We shared a great egg sandwich – over-medium eggs on a cheddar biscuit with cheddar, turkey bacon, and smoked aioli.

Plus a funfetti scone.

Pilar Cuban Eatery.

I had a cafe con leche with condensed milk! Plus a pink flamingo – mezcal with guava and lime.

And shredded beef for breakfast, with sweet plantains, avocado, and black beans and rice. This was almost as good as the Cuban food of our Miami days!

Ube, Dulce, Leche

Weekend highlights…

We were snowed in Friday and Saturday (and ate a million snacks and cuddled in bed catching up on The Great North!) but Sunday we were able to take a trip into Brooklyn to marvel at Industry City.

We made ube dalgona iced lattes.

And bought a dulce de leche iced latte from The Flour Shoppe.

Vanilla skyr with Trader Joe’s mixed nut butter, granola, and banana. Related note – I also had a yogurt bowl with nut butter and chopped up peanut butter cups and it was fantastic.

The very first thing I did in preparation for the winter storm was panic-buy my favorite ice cream.

Kinako mochi.

Cake in a jar (chocolate cake and 4 leches!) from Parva Bakeshop.

I tried all of the beef at Hometown BBQ. A smashed burger and a brisket taco!

Roasted zucchini with parmesan / soft-scrambled eggs / rye toast with strawberry jam.

Nut Butter Cups

Highlights from a low-key weekend…

I made a peanut butter iced latte!

Strawberry cheesecake oatmeal bowl with cream cheese and caramelized bananas.

Yogurt bowl with cinnamon, coffee cake, and blueberries.

Snack highlights; sweet.

And savory.

Our Whole Foods’ hot bar is rarely open so when it is I impulse buy all the things.

Two kinds of takeout sandwiches (brisket grilled cheese with mushrooms on sourdough // chicken panini with truffle artichoke spread) with two kinds of carrots (sautéed with celery // raw baby carrots).

‘Twas The Week Before Christmas…

…And we made the most of it with tons of decadent and/or on theme snacks! I worked the holiday weekend but Adam and I were both off Christmas Eve so we got to spend time cuddling the dog, took a trip into the city to enjoy the light display at Hudson Yards, and drove around our area in the evening admiring decorations. Highlights included…

Peppermint cold brew with eggnog.

Stumptown’s salted maple iced latte.

This layered red and green smoothie was more successful in flavor than artistry. Ube, strawberry, grape layered with matcha banana.

The fanciest yogurt bowl – plain skyr with cinnamon, chia seeds, strawberries, nougat halvah, and chestnut paste!

Green juice and a candy cane.

Mint sparkling matcha.

Eggnog iced matcha latte.

Is there anything more luxurious than freshly made fruit salad? This was golden pinepple, strawberries, and mandarins.

This crab dip was a 6.5/10 but these crackers were a 9.5/10.

Peppermint chocolate crinkle cookie from Chip.

Repeat of my two new favorite beers. Cinnamon marshmallow cola sour ale from Evil Twin and an eggnog double IPA from Abomination Brewing.

Lunch at Dante in the West Village. It was worth sitting outside on one of the coldest days of this month! We split steak with salbitxada and a baby kale salad with beats, butternut squash, goat cheese, and hazelnuts. Plus fancy cocktails.

Avocado toast plus a quick pickled cucumber salad. Toasted sourdough, mashed avocado, a fried egg, and chili flakes.

Sautéed cabbage with peanut lime sauce and five spice candied peanuts (very loosely based on this recipe).

Roasted brussel sprouts (with chili flakes and smoked paprika) plus Christmas nachos! Kettle chips with extra-sharp cheddar, green onion, and duck sausage.

Earl Grey Of Sandwich

Highlights from this weekend include…

Chia pudding with eggnog and cinnamon and fresh strawberries.

Comfortland‘s eggnog croissant. <– my favorite seasonal item of this year

Earl grey pour-over coffee.

Topped with cinnamon vanilla ube cold foam.

See also – a delicious slice of ube tres leches.

Fries with spicy tuna salad, chili flakes, green onion, and furikake.

We have a loaf of Trader Joe’s sliced sourdough in the house so I, of course, planned sandwiches for every dinner! Maple smoked turkey with cheddar and honey mustard. Plus lemon mustard roasted green beans (roasted green beans tossed in honey mustard, garlic oil, and lemon juice).

Roast beef with cheddar and horseradish mayo. Plus roasted zucchini and smashed potatoes with garlic oil, cheddar, and paprika.

I didn’t mean for this plate to be so yellow, but it was the best meal of the week! Golden pineapple / roasted orange cauliflower / soft scrambled egg sandwich with tons of smoked salmon salad.