Valentine’s Weekend

by Emily

Did everyone have a good Valentine’s Day? I hope you got a kiss from your sweetheart, or even better – ate some chocolate kisses and conversation hearts!

Adam and I had a fabulous weekend. Thank goodness for Presidents’ Day off, even though he worked a 30-hour shift on Sunday – and I spent the day sans pants, in bed, eating Thai take-out – we still had two days to have fun in the city. The best part of the weekend was probably Monday night though, we cuddled on the couch eating Chipotle and watching the SNL 40th anniversary show. I’m typing this post up while we watch but so far I am in absolute nostalgia heaven! Here are some of the weekend highlights…

We were not grumpy about getting coffee.

Adam is obsessed with their flat whites.

We made pink Valentine’s Day smoothies.

Frozen raspberries, plain Greek yogurt, fresh dates, and Hint of Honey Almond Breeze. Perfect blend (get it?? blend) of sweet and sour.

We checked out the Cupcake ATM from Sprinkles.

So cool, Adam loooved it. We tried the Cuban Coffee, “Belgian light chocolate cake topped with powerful dark roast coffee frosting and subtle notes of cinnamon and cocoa.”

I didn’t care for the cake but the frosting was wonderful.

We went out for a very romantic Valentine’s dinner of beer and Thai food. First Left Hand Milk Stout on draft.

Then we checked out the highly recommended Pure Thai Cookhouse. My Pad See Ew was tasty,

but for “Thai spicy” it could have packed a lot more heat. I did not even need this Thai iced tea.

We did try to get ice cream afterwards though.

Try being the operative word. I had such high expectations for Ben & Jerry’s new Speculoos (aka Biscoff!) flavor but it ended up being inedible; terribly ginger-spicy. Instead we made amazing sundaes at home.

Talenti cookie dough gelato, Girl & the Fig salted fig caramel, and chocolate-covered cocoa nibs.

We went to Serendipity.

I’ve never strayed, I always order the Summer Bries sandwich which comes with turkey, apple, sprouts, brie, and Russian dressing on raisin pumpernickel.

We tried something new for dessert, the Insanity Sundae.

Pecan pie, butter pecan ice cream, wet walnuts, whipped cream, and hot fudge. It was insane, we could barely make a dent in it.

Speaking of sweets and love – check back in this afternoon, I’ve got a giveaway coming!

2Feb2015

Weekend Wrap-Up; My Camera Went MIA

by Emily

Moving to Long Island has done something to my brain! <– real talk, please let’s just pretend that this problem is a LI thing and not the fact that I turn 30 this year

Prior to 2013, I had lost/seriously misplaced one item in my entire life: a pair of flip-flops at a party in high school. Also I had to have my dorm keys replaced in college after Adam kicked them into a lake, but those weren’t technically missing, they just weren’t accessible. But lately? I’m an absentminded disaster. Last year, on my very first day at the hospital, I lost a brand-new scarf. This December, I lost a brand-newish i-pod somewhere between my apartment and the gym. And this weekend I misplaced my camera. Not lost, thankfully, because it turned out that I had just left it in the husband’s car, but since he then drove that car to 30 hour shift this is my long-winded way of telling you that I don’t have a ton of pictures from this weekend. I am missing a lot, especially since I didn’t deem things like the four slices of cinnamon toast I ate for dinner on Saturday instagram-worthy.

How often do you lose track of your stuff? Someone tell me they left their baby on the bus so I’ll feel better!

breakfasts and lunches

Coffee! This was a freebie so I went a bit crazy – a large iced latte with extra espresso.

Those Starbucks workers get very snarky once you start asking for that much espresso.

Yet another good reason to have coffee at home instead.

Starbucks iced (but from home!) with Hint of Honey Almond Breeze and fat-free half and half.

Fruit and yogurt bowls ruled my work lunches. Grape Chobani with pomegranate and a Zing Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip bar on the side.

Stonyfield Chia and Red Berry Greek Yogurt with fresh strawberries and the last of the TJ’s Pumpkin O’s.

Several coworkers commented on this lunch; I guess they aren’t used to chia?!

The best was clearly brunch at Rabbit Hole with a girl friend. I got the Eggs Norwegian, aka a Benedict but with lox instead of bacon and served on a biscuit.

Sooo good. But the drink in the background was even better – Champagne, St. Germaine, and grapefruit. We both got one and thought that they were just great.

snacks

We tried some fun drinks while we were in Chinatown.

Yeeech! The sugar cane was terrible. But we only spent $1 so it was worth a shot.

Adam bought Gushers!!

They weren’t as good as I remembered, but it was still a fun throwback.

Coffee is always good.

The Blue Bottle in Williamsburg made me my New Orleans with skim milk. Frankly, I would have accepted almost anything at that point though – first my friend and I stopped at one coffee shop that was out of ice and another that poured me a giant glass of whole milk with a smidge of coffee in it.

dinner

I made us great pasta bowls one night. Box mac and cheese gussied up with canned smoked trout, chopped spinach, sautéed bell peppers and garlic, and tons of caramelized onions.

I doused my bowl in green Tabasco.

Adam and I finally got to try Pies and Thighs for dinner.

I got the Chicken Biscuit.

Fried cutlet with honey butter and hot sauce on a biscuit.

Plus a really amazing salad.

Collard greens with avocado, pickled red onions, and smoked coconut. Adam and I could not get over how delicious it was; I really want to remake it at home.

With banana cream pie on Nilla Wafer crust for dessert.

Yum. ♥

12Jan2015

Weekend Wrap-Up; Good Eats

by Emily

So much good food this weekend! I’m only sharing my top five since I didn’t do a great job of photo-taking…

{1} On Sunday, we had an amazing brunch at Russ and Daughters.

My parents are obsessed with the store, and Adam and I checked out their newish cafe this weekend and fell in love.

Best Bloody Mary of my life!

Made with caraway-infused vodka. It had a sludge of caraway and horseradish on the bottom and I know that sounds terrible to some of you but it was wonderful.

We got pickled veggies to start.

They were great, especially those whitish sticks, which turned out to be fennel.

Adam got a bowl of tasty whitefish chowder (with toasted matzah!).

And the Pastrami Russ – pastrami-cured salmon, muenster cheese, sauerkraut, mustard, and pickle on a pretzel roll.

We adored it, but my Super Heebster Bagel Toast stole the show.

Whitefish and baked salmon salad, wasabi-infused fish roe, and horseradish dill cream cheese on a thinly sliced bagel. We were swooning… especially once we ordered a second round of drinks!

Best brunch of the year.

{2} I normally try not to drink coffee after 3 pm, but on Friday I caffeinated on the train and actually managed to cook a real dinner.

A pumpkin and sausage dish from Rachel Ray.

Instead of pasta I served ours on top of rice cooked in chicken broth, which was delicious.

With asparagus baked with pecans and blue cheese.

Adam was swooning.

{3} I am pretty proud of Saturday night too (particularly because I might have eaten Chipotle take-out for not one but two of my other meals this weekend!).

I had defrosted some nice shrimp for a recipe I changed my mind about, when I decided to combine a few recipes for Bang Bang shrimp.

The shrimp were tossed in cornstarch and salt and pepper and cooked in canola oil, then served on top of whole wheat mac and cheese, and under a sauce of mayo, Sriracha, honey, and rice vinegar.

{4} We made the most of our trip to the city with stops for coffee and cupcakes.

Adam’s favorite coffee is Cafe Grumpy.

I ordered him a flat white and he pretty much lost his mind over it.

We both think Sugar Sweet Sunshine has the best cupcakes in the city.

Mocha and Oreo, yum

{5} The best moment of the weekend was getting Adam to try Snowdays Shavery… and having him admit that it’s amazing.

Their shaved ice is like no other. It’s shaved instead of crushed and rather having the flavor poured on top the big blocks are already flavored so every bite is fluffy and infused with goodness.

We got toasted sesame with sweetened condensed milk, mochi, and Fruity Pebbles. Fellow NYCers, now that it’s warmed up to a balmy 30 degrees this weekend, go get yourself some shaved ice!

31Dec2014

Goodbye, 2014! Weekly Wrap-Up

by Emily

I cannot believe that it is almost 2015! Doesn’t it sometimes feel like life is flying by? I hate the idea of waking up late and tired in a new year, so our big plans for NYE consist of cuddling on the couch and trying to get in bed extra early.

Posting my recap a few days ahead of schedule so I can feel like I wrapped up one final thing…

breakfast

Yummy hot chocolate and an apple.

After coffee, obviously. Per usual, I was all about the coffee.

This giant (I had a freebie) was an iced vanilla latte with extra espresso.

I have been weirdly obsessed with vanilla all week and it’s making me kind of crazy; I don’t even like vanilla! You’ll see Greek and frozen vanilla yogurts below, and I’m pretty much going to die if I don’t find pudding this weekend. Hopefully this craving will pass soon.

lunch

Salted caramel Greek yogurt with coconut butter and an apple on the side.

Plus a vegan monster cookie sandwich from Babycakes. <– amaze!

And some jerky while I did my charting.

Tuesday I got lunch from the cafeteria that tasted better than it looked.

A strange Caesar pasta salad (it was chicken and dressing with pasta AND croutons?!) topped with mushrooms and broccoli from the salad bar.

Another day I brought in dinner leftovers.

Apple on the side; I had SweeTango and Kiku this week and both were great.

snacks

Chocolate! Some nice (this Coffee & Cream bar from Theo is gritty good),

and some inedible.

Sorry, Mom, this Christmas gift was too spicy.

Adam is now as obsessed with this fruit mix as I am.

But no one is as obsessed with vanilla as I am currently! Vanilla bean yogurt with some candy cane Oreos crushed in it.

And vanilla frozen yogurt with sprinkles.

This was literally the first time I’ve even ever tasted vanilla froyo. Who orders vanilla?! But today I looooved it.

dinner

A dinner in three parts – (1) Leftover, cold, spicy cashew chicken straight from the container.

(2) A tray of roasted green beans with truffle salt. I have been finding green beans to be particularly buttery tasting lately.

And finally, (3) a chile relleno from Trader Joe’s.

The chile looks a little rough but it was so yummy; cheesy without being too heavy.

We went with the TJ’s freezer section the next night as well.

Pad See Ew and orange chicken with broccoli.

We wouldn’t get the chicken again, but years ago we had the vegan version of it and loved it.

Tonight we were supposed to eat lentils with broccoli and coconut rice.

That bowl is in the garbage. Apparently I have forgotten how to cook lentils that don’t taste like dirt. It looks like I’ll be ending the year with take-out instead.

Happy New Year’s Eve!!

27Dec2014

Season’s Eatings; Christmas Wrap-Up

by Emily

Merriment and good cheer all around! I hope my readers who celebrate had a merry Christmas. Adam, Webster, and I cuddled around the fireplace (Netflix had a fireplace video complete with crackles!) and had a grand time.

It’s been a busy week of eating, so instead of the typical wrap-up I’m just going to share some of the amazing seasonal goodies I enjoyed…

Lump of Coal dark holiday stout. So good, we were impressed.

Yes, you see crackers in the background. We made a cheese plate for Christmas dinner and it was just wonderful.

Stumptown Winter Cheer Cold Brew split with the husband on Christmas morning. Also so good, festive but not too spicy.

A big batch of cold brew which I mixed with low-fat eggnog for ahh-mazing breakfast coffees all week.

Paired with holiday bars.

Mint sparkling water from Whole Foods that rocked my face off. Not as good as the strawberry variety, but a close second, especially when paired with a candy cane that my coworker delivered.

Gingerbread Greek yogurt for lunch. I enjoyed this even more than I was expecting to because it was sooo thick.

Awesome pasta. Leftover snow-shape pasta tossed with turkey bacon, sautéed mushrooms, onion, and kale, and hunks of creamy blue cheese Cambozola.

Egg ‘n’ Grog pie from Four and Twenty Blackbirds. Basically creamy, sweet rum in a gingersnap crust. Heavenly.

Growing up, for as long as I can remember, my family would open stockings and then eat scrambled eggs with red and green peppers before opening Christmas presents, so you know what we ate for brunch on Thursday.

Bonus – two off-theme snacks that were too good not to share. The juice bar at Whole Foods is great, unsurprisingly, but the make-your-own option was surprisingly cheap. I recommend this combo.

This Crispy, Crunchy, Mixed Fruit – coconut, pineapple, mango, and jackfruit – is fan-freaking-tastic! I seriously could not stop eating it. Crunch City.

Does your family have a Christmas food tradition?

22Dec2014

Weekend Wrap-Up; Coffees and Burgers

by Emily

Hooray for low-key weekends with lots of dog snuggles! We spent lots of time on the couch, but I did manage to pre-prepare dinner for the next few nights (go me!).

coffees

We went to a new coffee spot in Great Neck to get me a Christmallow latte.

It was only ok, not as exciting as it looked, but I had practically been having a heart attack about getting one so at least I can shut up now.

Much better was the espresso I mixed with eggnog at home.

That ‘nog is low-fat but it is damn good, super creamy.

burgers

We ate burgers for dinner and brunch on Sunday. Bareburger for a classic first.

Turkey on a bun with grilled onions, mustard, ketchup, and tons of pickles.

Plus a smokey bloody mary made with bbq sauce.

And I stole many bites of Adam’s fried extravaganza chicken and waffle plate.

The balls towards the back were banana fritters.

Dinner was homemade round 2.

My Jalopeno Popper Turkey Burgers (one of my best recipes!) with cheddar on top.

Plus roasted broccoli.

And fries from Trader Joe’s.

So good!

also

The above wasn’t everything I ate this weekend, obviously, but there wasn’t much else worth mentioning. I will brag about getting dinner on the table like a boss on Saturday though.

We had a party to go to with Adam’s friends and I managed to get us fed by 6 pm versus the usual 9. And that was with a dinner-prep drink!

I made a dish from Cooking Light with some snowman pasta.

And roasted up these cool kale-brussels hybrids.

We thought they were quite tasty.

Hope everyone has a great, festive week!

20Dec2014

Five Things – Weekly Wrap Up

by Emily

five things i ate last week

{1} Really great breakfasts.

I killed it on the breakfast front this week. Two different days I managed to bring in yogurt (TJ’s strawberry and then 2% plain Fage) with tons of pomegranate and blackberries for topping.

Plus I had cold-brew coffee with soy nog for the train.

Another day I did toast, followed by a juicy apple, and caramel hot chocolate to spruce up my coffee at work.

{2} Party food!

My lunches were a bit ridiculous this week, lots of work parties to attend. First, the Dietitian party.

My profession always has the best food. Salad, fruit salad, glass noodles with shrimp, and chicken Pad Thai.

Plus lots of dessert.

And later in the week there was a hospital wide celebration.

Salad, green beans, jerk chicken, eggroll, macaroni. Plus a chocolate fountain.

{3} Sandwiches, still.

The days without parties, I was still loving the cafeteria sandwiches. Jerk sliced chicken with mayo, mustard, provolone, and lettuce.

Plus a similar ‘wich with seaweed and a tangerine from home on the side.

{4} Dinner at Whole Foods.

We went on the first night of Hannukah hoping to find lattkes on the hot bar. No such luck, but we did make super tasty giant salad bowls. P.S. That seltzer was so good that I went back and bought a case of them!

Salad base with yummy chipotle almond dressing, tons of shredded veggies, roasted veggies, and a big scoop of mac and cheese.

And we stopped at Ample Hills to check out the seasonal flavor on the way home.

Did not disappoint.

{5} Super thick hot chocolate.

I made my own (super thick) hot chocolate. But I messed up the proportion of things a bit so the recipe is still not ready to share.

It looked good though!

five things i read/watched/listened to

{1} “Take Me to Church” from Hozier. I am still obsessed.

{2} “Snowfall” from Ingrid Michelson. This is my all-time favorite “Christmas song.”

{3} Blood, Bones, & Butter, Chef Gabrielle Hamilton of Prune’s memoir. <– do not recommend. Parts of the story were great, but I wasn’t a fan over her writing style and by the end I wasn’t a fan of her either.

{4} The mid-season finale of “Brooklyn-99.” Loooove.

{5} “Rick and Morty,” an amazingly smart and funny cartoon that we just discovered.

five things from instagram

{1} My new favorite top ever, a sweater my parents sent me with a giant icebear.

{2} I’m super proud of this wrapping job I did on my in-laws’ Christmas present… working a toy store over the holiday season in Buffalo definitely taught me a few things.

{3} Another shot of that tasty marshmallow I ate in the Bryant Park Winter Village.

{4} I like this drawing, but I took this photo back in November, before Thanksgiving! Slow down!

{5} Puppy love. His fat little arms slay me.

Have a great weekend!

15Dec2014

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas! Weekend Wrap-Up

by Emily

It’s only 10 days ’til Christmas! And Hannukah starts tomorrow! And it was Adam’s 29th birthday on Thursday! We had a lot to celebrate this weekend. The last three days have been fabulous. Lots of great meals, several at fancy restaurants, and they were usually followed by dessert!

Friday

Friday was a regular work day for me, but I had the excitement of knowing that the husband was coming to pick me up at the end of the day. The switch to an electronic medical record system has gone fairly well, by the way; fingers are still crossed.

I ran out the door late in a flurry so breakfast came from Starbucks.

Iced latte and a fruit pouch that was not great.

Lunch was pretty much the same thing, since I didn’t pack anything and made it down to the cafeteria late in the day.

Iced coffee + chocolate milk, an apple, and a Gingerbread Larabar.

Plus some of the RDs came up to visit me – they liked my tiny office! – and brought me candy.

I don’t know where my Russian coworker gets those caramels but they are great.

Adam met me after work and we spent the evening in the city. Our dinner reservations weren’t until 8:00 so we did dessert first on a visit to the Winter Village at Bryant – Brrrryant! – Park.

We got a dulce de leche cookie,

then warmed up with a lusciously thick drinking chocolate – and a marshmallow! – from the from the Max Brenner stand.

OMG. We have been buying and hating hot chocolate since San Francisco but this liquid gold was exactly what we’ve been searching for. Super thick and rich but not sickeningly sweet.

We had a mile-ish walk to dinner and I’m terribly sad that it was too cold for my camera because I was basically dying at the gorgeous lights along the way.

Tavern on the Green, Adam’s pick for his belated birthday dinner, was seasonally stunning as well.

I got a Queens cocktail – Bootlegger vodka, Velvet Falernum, sorrel hibiscus liquor, pomegranate molasses, and lemon juice. Yummy, and perfectly balanced.

We shared the scallops with citrus butter, capers, and fried shallots to start. I’ve been having a love affair with fried shallots lately.

None of the entrees jumped out at me so I ordered two veggie sides, crimini mushrooms with blue cheese and basil and broccoli rabe with lemon, garlic, and sea salt.

It was a great night.

Saturday

We had errands to run in SoHo on Saturday, so we parked in Brooklyn and took the train in and spent the day in the city.

There might have been booze in my coffee.

I bought a snickerdoodle lattee from Dunkin and added a healthy pour of Rumchata (aka the snickerdoodle shot) and it was damn good.

While we were in Brooklyn, we split a sardine Bahn Mi from Bahnmigos.

It was great! The little me who grew up in the Caribbean shunning seafood (whyyyy??) can’t believe I eat things like sardines and scallops now.

We did linner (super late lunch) at Freemans Restaurant.

Blue Ridge Fizz = apple brandy, maple, allspice, and champagne. Freemans is our favorite brunch spot in the city and their cocktails are always magnificent.

I got poached eggs with tomato stewed kale, crispy shallots(!!), and hollandaise on sourdough toast.

My eggs ended up being overdone but I forgave them because the kale was so good.

We went next door to Morganstern’s for dessert.

We shared a cup of American egg custard and durian banana ice cream. Soo creamy! And the flavors were very true to life.

After a bit more exploring, we did round 2 at Sugar Sweet Sunshine.

I got a shot of The Nog – pumpkin cake layered with eggnog pudding and whipped cream.

SSS never disappoints.

Sunday

Sunday was all about hanging out at home. We would have stayed in our pajamas all day, had my dinner plans gone better. We cuddled, watched tv, and got up some holiday decorations.

I woke up starving from our early dinner the night before so I made a big plate of eggs for breakfast.

Scrambled with chopped jalapeno, corn, sliced turkey, sour cream, and goat’s milk cheddar.

Plus Silk soy nog on the side.

Instead of toast, I snacked on a bag of salted caramel popcorn.

The plan for dinner was pasta with sun-dried tomato pesto but something went horribly wrong and my pesto was pretty much inedible.

Instead, we salvaged our veggie side,

and ventured out for Thai, stopping for mint chocolate froyo along the way.

Much better. Enjoyed in front of Scrubs – which we are rewatching for the millionth time – it was a great end to a great weekend.

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: pasta

Valentine’s Weekend

Weekend Wrap-Up; My Camera Went MIA

breakfasts and lunches

snacks

dinner

Weekend Wrap-Up; Good Eats

Goodbye, 2014! Weekly Wrap-Up

breakfast

lunch

snacks

dinner

Season’s Eatings; Christmas Wrap-Up

Weekend Wrap-Up; Coffees and Burgers

coffees

burgers

also

Five Things – Weekly Wrap Up

five things i ate last week

five things i read/watched/listened to

five things from instagram

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas! Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday

Saturday

Sunday