Convenience Foods And Cocktails

by Emily

It was not a super exciting weekend for me – Adam was out of town and I worked on Sunday. I spent my single day off on errands and chores around the house. On the meal front I was all about snacks, convenience foods, and cocktails.

Highlights…

Iced coffee with vanilla bean powder.

Perfect Bar comes in cookie dough flavor!! <– I’m not sure if this flavor is very old or very new but oddly I cannot find a single mention of it on their site or the internet in general

Polar unicorn kisses seltzer. I am obsessed with these fantasy-themed mini cans.

Am I determined to try every existing variety of pimento cheese before I leave the South? Yes. Northerners, take note – this variety from Trader Joe’s is not very good; pimento dip should not be homogeneous but should have individual shreds of cheese.

On the other hand, these (vegan!) mini marshmallows are vanilla-y perfection.

Still in love with these chicken and waffle chips.

Spicy ramen + agua fresca cerveza.

A not very good frozen meal + a quite good rum and coke (with Vitae golden rum and tons of fresh lime).

12Jul2019

Local Love

by Emily

Highlights from this week – my in-laws are in town and we had fun showing them Charlottseville one last time // we had some great dinners out, including a new spot that’s a new favorite // Wissotzky Tea Company – an international, family-owned tea company based in Israel with offices in London and the United States – sent me some of their inventive flavors to try…

Coffee for the week: Trader Joe’s espresso blend with sweetened condensed milk.

Tea samples; their four newest, spiciest flavors: Ginger and Turmeric Spiced Chai, Pumpkin Spiced Chai, Salted Caramel Chai, Spiced Nana Mint Chai. I cold-brewed my cups per the company’s instructions – a ratio of 4 cups cold water to 5 tea bags, covered in the fridge for 15-36 hours.

Salted Caramel Chai with a splash half and half (added post picture).

Spiced Nana Mint Chai with sugar and fresh lime. <– fair warning, this flavor was too peppery for Adam’s tastes

Tropical flavors from the Mexican ice cream place down the street: passionfruit, guava, and mamey!

Plus I picked up these super interesting gummy candies. They have milk in them and the texture is extra soft and very unique.

Roasted green beans and TJ’s turkey corn dogs. Apparently I love corn dogs, I couldn’t stop raving about how tasty these were!

Sheet pan hash: potatoes, onion, bell pepper, shredded brussel sprouts, and maple chicken breakfast sausage.

Smoked Kitchen and Tap: a bbq spot we love in Crozet. I had smoked turkey, cole slaw, and creamed corn with smoked jalopeno.

The Local: an amazing spot in Bellmont. I had the best, most Southern plate – buttermilk-brined fried chicken with pimento cheese mac and cheese, collard greens, and house made hot sauce and a buttermilk-chive drizzle.

Modern Nosh: a newish, super cute deli (which means I finally have a deli in Charlottesville!).

I had a half turkey reuben and soup with the best matzoh ball of my life.

Plus we split latkes that were wonderfully full of garlic. Yum!

6Jun2019

Weekend Warrior

by Emily

Last weekend we visited my family at their cabin in Solomon Island Maryland. We got to see my dad, Webster went swimming, we ate crab cakes and rum and cokes… it was a perfect visit.

This weekend I’ll be taking another trip. I’m working a half day today and then heading to Charlotte, North Carolina for a nutrition support conference.

Five highlights from this week…

{1} Coffees in cans. All three were good but the Madrinas vanilla cappuccino was my favorite.

{2} Pie mixed in yogurt is my favorite dessert iteration. And this combo was such a winner – Siggi’s guava and leftover key lime pie from the weekend.

{3} Snow Cone Pouch! In birthday cake! The texture and flavor were both great, I highly recommend snagging one of these if you spot them.

{4} Whole Foods hot bar dinner. Thai green bean salad // baked beans // macaroni and cheese // steamed broccoli // tofu // orange chicken // Asian cabbage salad.

{5} Chicken and rice soup.

31May2019

Berries In My Sandwich And My Beer

by Emily

Five fun things from this week…

{1} Blanchard’s holiday blend coffee with sweetened condensed milk. And the next day I made a shakerato!

{2} A duo of fruity ales. I did not care for the tea taste of the Suncrush but the Troegs bosenberry tart ale was super interesting and packed with flavor.

{3} A toasted pb&j with this winning combo. FYI: toasting your peanut butter sandwiches is the way to go.

Served with the classic pb&j sides – baby carrots and apple slices.

Plus a new favorite – chicken and waffle chicken chips.

{4} Dinner from Got Dumplings. Tofu dumplings, kimchi, and peanut noodles. Plus guava and mango tea with boba and lyche jelly.

{5} I made tom kha gai. And it was good!

8Apr2019

Party Peeps

by Emily

7 highlights from the last 7 days…

Chocolate chip banana bar. I found it in our hospital’s cafeteria but apparently it’s such a new product it hasn’t made it to the website yet.

Crazy freeze-dried fruits from Trader Joe’s. The dragonfruit wasn’t a fit for my tastes but the grapes were sweet and amazing.

Birthday cake Peeps! Look at their adorable sprinkled butts!

Kung Fu Tea. Almond milk tea (half sweet, extra ice) with Oreo and aloe jelly.

Squid ink pasta with tahini sauce, 5 spice tofu, roasted zucchini, and chili oil.

Slow-cooked parmesan garlic chicken and potatoes + broccoli. We didn’t brown our chicken and it still came out great.

Greek salad – romaine and cucumber with TJ’s Greek feta dressing, green olives, crispy cheese bites, and roasted chickpeas.

Have a great week!

8Mar2019

Let Them Eat Cake

by Emily

I am going on vacation next week and I definitely already have vacation brain! The past 7 days I’ve done barely any cooking and taken barely any photographs of what I have been eating.

Here were five great highlights…

{1} Cake in all forms! Billy Idol Cake from Paradox, aka white wedding cake with lemon curd.

{2} Cake ice cream > ice cream cake.

{3} I have come around to Adam’s point of view that Sicily Rose makes the best lattes in Charlottesville. Their fancy espresso machine is key. Four shots on ice with skim milk in a small cup is 100% perfect.

{4} Poblano x2 pasta bowls. Trader Joe’s creamy chicken poblano ravioli with celery, poblano pepper, and TJ’s turkey summer sausage sauteed in a butter.

{5} We finally made it to Lampo and it lived up to the hype. The Fungi pizza was downright decadent; Sharondale Farm pioppini and oyster mushrooms, thyme, onion, garlic, panna, aged provolone, grana padano.

Adam and I shared two amazing salads. Cavoletti di Bruxelles – shaved brussel sprouts, chives, fennel, hazelnuts, maple garum vinaigrette, pecorino.

Cavolo Nero – Tuscan kale, candied almonds, ricotta salata, golden raisins, pickled mustard seed, apple cider vinaigrette, crispy parsnip. This was the best dish of the meal.

Plus I had the Hell and Honey cocktail; Del Maguey Vida mezcal, Espolon, aperol, grapefruit, scorpion pepper honey.

And we had the budino for dessert; chocolate pudding, sweet cream, olive oil, salted hazelnut brittle.

P.S. I will not be blogging from vacation – though I will share some fun on instagram – so I’ll see you guys after St. Patrick’s Day!

18Jan2019

Send Nood(le)s

by Emily

Dinners this week were all about the pastabilities! <– I’m done now, I swear

Homemade shrimp Pad Thai.

Buffalo chicken baked pasta. With ground chicken sauteed with buffalo sauce / riced cauliflower / celery and yellow onion / and sweet red cheddar, smoked cheddar, and blue stilton!

Pasta pie. A mix of TJ’s squid ink spaghetti and zucchini noodles baked with parsley, triple cream brie, and eggs, plus some panko on top.

Snack attack. The Chobani Gimmies line is still rocking my face off.

Do I have enough liquids within reach to get me through dinner prep? Sadly I found the milk stout to be too sweet for my tastes, but the can was just adorable.

Thai iced tea win. The tea drops were super easy/quick to use and the packets of sweetened condensed milk make my heart happy.Yogurt with sumo mandarin, honey mango, and candied walnuts.A “tasting plate” success – chicken nuggets, cheese, and baby carrots.

1Jan2019

Goodbye, 2018

by Emily

We finished out 2018 with some fun – a three-day weekend anniversary trip to NYC!

Favorite Friday activity = Checking out the holiday decorations at Chelsea Market.

Favorite Saturday activity = Meeting up with friends for lunch + dinner and a long walk through Brooklyn in between (Park Slope, Gowanus, Downtown Brooklyn, Cobble Hill, Dumbo).

Favorite coffee = Birthday cake iced latte at Milk Bar.

Favorite breakfast = Croissants at Cafe D’Avignon in Dekalb Market Hall. They are the best in the city and we’re obsessed. The coffee isn’t bad either.

Favorite lunch = Ramen at Chuko. I had the sesame garlic ramen with woodear mushroom, spicy mustard greens, and scallions topped with poached egg, fried tofu, and garlic chili oil.

Favorite drink = Frozen Painkiller at Ramona.

Favorite dinner = Oxomoco. We told the waitress to stop us if ordered too much – she didn’t but I’m not mad! The tamarind orange margarita was good.

The Rosita – mezcal, sherry, grapefruit, and hibiscus – was even better.

The caesar salad with wood fired romaine and cotija masa crunch was the best I’ve ever had.

Masa fried cauliflower with black mole, butternut squash crema, pepitas, and oregano.

Charred carrot tamal with green garlic and hoja santa mole.

Tlayuda Oxomoco – camote, quesillo, pipian, pomegranate, and brown butter. <– Adam’s favorite dish of the night

Chicken al pastor tacos with grilled pineapple, crispy skin, and salsa morita.

We powered through two desserts because we knew they’d be amazing. Oaxacan chocolate cake with coffee ice cream, cajeta, and walnut crumble and black sesame curd with black sesame crumble and pasionfruit raspado. <– my favorite dish of my life

Hi, 2019!

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: pasta

Convenience Foods And Cocktails

Local Love

Weekend Warrior

Berries In My Sandwich And My Beer

Party Peeps

Let Them Eat Cake

Send Nood(le)s

Goodbye, 2018