Tag Archives: pasta

Not Bitter

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Highlights from a LOVELY weekend…

Our 1st trip to Utopia Bagel in Manhattan. Everything with scallion cream cheese. <– worth the hype but still not as good as La Bagel Delight

Blended iced coffee. With vanilla protein powder, half and half, and black sesame paste.

The Freshly Durian iced latte from Not as Bitter stole my heart. Fresh durian with coconut milk and espresso. This was my first time trying actual durian and I loved it as much as much as I expected.

Brunch at Potluck Club. I got a green tea with citron honey, soda, and lime.

We shared too much food and had a wonderful time. French toast stuffed with salted egg yolk and topped with with condensed milk and salted butter.

Radish cakes with arugula and sunny side up eggs.

Chow Mein with hanger steak and chili oil.

Gotham Burger Social Club. We split a double smash burger, fried pickles, and perfectly crispy tater tots.

Cava takeout. My bowl was giant so I don’t remember it all but I got honey harissa chicken, roasted veggies, crazy feta, date vinaigrette, and more.

Pride Month special multi-layered cake from Red Gate Bakery. Per their Instagram – “naturally dyed vanilla bean layers with fillings that include strawberry, raspberry, clementine, mango, passionfruit, matcha, pistachio, blueberry, and cherry just to name a few.” We loved it.

Passionately Crabby

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Good things from this week…

Yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with blueberries, passionfruit, and chocolate cookie granola.

Cookie dough protein yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with peanut butter, brown sugar, vanilla bean powder, vanilla protein powder, and chocolate chips. Blueberries on the side, of course.

Hojicha tea with yuzu curd and passionfruit syrup.

Bougie candies. Candy Kitten raspberry + guava (7/10) and Jom cola (10/10).

I really enjoyed this Buldak cheese spicy chicken ramen. This flavor wasn’t too spicy and the noodles were so bouncy! I added an egg and a slice of cheese to my bowl and it was great.

A take on callaloo. Frozen spinach cooked down with light coconut milk, yellow onion, habanero pepper, ginger, urfa pepper, salt, pepper, turkey bacon, and crab.

I topped my bowl with soursop hot sauce and paired it with hot mustard Doritos.

Sushi roll bowls. Brown rice and roasted riced cauliflower with furikake, white sugar, and rice vinegar / imitation crab with green onion, Greek yogurt, mayo, soy sauce, and Sriracha / cucumbers tossed with white pepper, Sichuan pepper, and rice vinegar / avocado / pickled ginger / seaweed snacks on the side.

Crab fried rice. Leftover cauliflower/rice stir-fried with soy sauce, fish sauce, ginger, green onion, crab meat, and eggs. Plus fairytale eggplants that I roasted and then sauteed with gojuchang, tahini, and sesame oil. We want to remake this eggplant immediately.

WBEC

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Things from the weekend…

I had a free drink at Starbucks so I took a chance on a Neapolitan-style cold brew and it ended up working out. Vanilla cold foam, mocha sauce, and raspberry popping boba. It was a bit too sweet but I thought the fruity boba paired nicely with coffee (the baristas were horrified).

Buzz’d Coffee‘s monthly special was a cake batter iced latte so of course I drove over.

I made brownies for a work party so of course I put one on a yogurt bowl. With plain skyr, plucot, and blueberries. P.S. My brownies always get rave reviews and they are just the Baker’s recipe using salted butter and adding a Tbsp of espresso powder and a cup of chocolate chips.

A more traditional yogurt bowl – pb&j. Plain skyr, fruit, peanut butter, and Chia Smash concord grape jam.

Lavash wrap with yellow mustard, bread and butter pickles, cheese, and leftover turkey meatballs.

Lunch at Honey’s Bistro, a cute spot in Glen Head. I had the “Eat a Jerk Don’t Be One” bowl and it was super satisfying and delicious. Jerk chicken, sweet plantains, mac salad, grilled zucchini, spicy corn, coleslaw, cilantro aioli, and white rice. P.S. The menu is rife with puns (Harissa Explains it All bowl!!).

Also a guava bomboloni.

And a coconut brown sugar cold foam cold brew.

This peanutty noodle bowl frozen meal from Trader Joe’s was edible but not enjoyable and I wouldn’t recommend it nor buy it again.

This dinner was simple but a total hit. Homemade coleslaw (shredded cabbage, Greek yogurt, mayo, Dijon mustard, rice vinegar, sugar, and celery seed) topped with buffalo chicken (baked chicken tossed in a skillet with butter, Franks, and ranch seasoning).

Waffle bacon egg and cheese, aka WBEC, aka the best meal of the weekend. Whole Foods buttermilk protein waffles as bread with sliced Kerrygold Dubliner cheese, soft-scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, and maple Sriracha sauce (with mayo and Dijon mustard). Plus roasted broccoli.

Staycation 2024

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We spent the second half of our vacation back home and had a fabulous time! The past four days were spent cuddling with the dog, catching up on errands, checking out new spots in Brooklyn, running on the Long Beach boardwalk, and spending a perfect day in Hudson.

Some highlights include…

Hudson Roasters. They have my favorite espresso in New York.

Blue Bottle. Vanilla Nola Cola. Also our favorite seltzer – Something & Nothing.

Mel the Bakery. We got a fantastic pistachio and almond twice-baked croissant (plus a chocolate chip cookie).

Bread and Butter. We got a key lime pie soft serve (a swirl of key lime and graham cracker).

And an insanely good ube roll.

Huckleberry gummy bears we brought home from Colorado.

Lady Moo Moo. Sprinkles ice cream with sprinkles.

Cafe Mutton. My “excessive garnish” Bloody Mary came with a lamb chop!

Plus we had an omelet with trout roe, creme fraiche, and potato chips and the best buttered toast of my life (and chicken congee).

Lido Kosher Deli. Love a deli with pickles! Plus pretty great cole slaw.

We had an outstanding brisket sandwich on a knish (and a bagel loaded with lox).

Hidden Gem Cafe. We shared a Knockout – shredded beef, caramelized onion, Swiss cheese, Hidden sauce, and hashbrowns on a garlic roll (also a smoked turkey with tomato, spinach, cheddar, and bbq Dijon on ciabatta bread).

Kitty’s. Toki Kollins – Suntory Toki whisky, yuzu juice, club soda, sea salt, and thyme.

Romaneso with green chickpea, puntarelle, broken parsley bay oil, and limequat young coconut sauce.

Spring lamb sugo with treccione, Kinderhook lamb shoulder, fennel, green garlic, and shaved Pecorino Romano.

Rotisserie chicken with roasted Yukons and sunchokes, citrus, date, and charred spring onion relish.

Salted devil’s food cake.

Miso butter bean dip with roasted broccoli, baby carrots, and Trader Joe’s chicken samosas.

Egg salad (shredded hard-boiled eggs / sauteed white onion, orange bell pepper, poblano pepper, and garlic / Greek yogurt, Dijon, mayo, rice vinegar, mustard powder, smoked paprika, celery seed, and salt and pepper) / baby zucchini sauteed with a tahini harissa honey sauce / chicken chips and 7-11 garlic bread chips.

Butterscotch, Coconut, Rye

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Some things from the week…

Inspired by the last weekend, I paired coconut water with sweetened condensed milk and strong iced coffee (Cafe du Monde with chicory).

Trader Joe’s new sourdough rye crisps are a top-tier snack, especially when paired with buffalo chicken dip.

Butterscotch Snickers! This tasted exactly like pecan pie.

Salmon sushi bake. I used brown rice and hot smoked sockeye salmon and canned sockeye salmon. Plus roasted broccoli with furikake.

Mac and cheese muffins / crispy baked super firm tofu / roasted zucchini / unseen side of Greek yogurt ranch dipping sauce.

Passion, Peach, Persimmon

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Things from this week…

Yogurt bowls of note – Plain skyr with passionfruit syrup, white chocolate passionfruit truffle, blackberries, blueberries, and maple pecan granola.

Plain skyr with granola, strawberries, and persimmon.

Iced matcha with condensed milk and plum seltzer.

These Kodiak s’mores bars taste exactly like the Chewy bars from your childhood.

Abomination Brewery’s Fogsicle is obviously our new favorite summer beer – sour double IPA with peach, vanilla, and marshmallow.

I liked the flavor of this maple cardamom candied pecan ice cream but the texture was a little funky.

I finally hopped on the TikTok smashburger taco trend and it was worth the hype. With ground turkey, extra-sharp cheddar, and a house sauce on the side. Plus roasted cauliflower.

Dinner inspired by my favorite dish from Very Fresh Noodles. Buckwheat soba / quick cucumber salad with sugar and rice vinegar / in the food processor – crumbled super-firm tofu baked until crispy, roasted serrano pepper and green onion, basil, Sichuan peppercorn, extra-virgin olive oil, crunchy yellow peas / topped later with chili crisp.

Hometown Advantage

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The title is a quadruple threat pun – I had things from my current hometown in Long Island, things that remind me of my original hometown in the Caribbean, things made at home, and things from a place called Hometown! Some highlights from the weekend…

Breakfast at Hometown Bakeshop. Tres leches iced latte!

Plus I got an insane build-your-own breakfast sandwich – cheddar biscuit, over easy egg, turkey bacon, caramelized onion, pickled beet, white cheddar, and smoked aioli.

And I brought home scones too! Cinnamon roll-style and pistachio.

Cheesecake smoothie. Frozen strawberries and pineapple with water and cottage cheese.

Tony’s Lil’ Bits s’mores chocolates are great, a good combination of crunchy and chewy.

Takeout dinner from Coco’s Cuisine, a Jamaican place near us that we will be going back to ASAP. We shared stewed oxtail with sauteed cabbage and candied yam.

Fantastic jerk chicken with cabbage and perfect rice and beans.

Baked macaroni and cheese.

And Jamaican black cake (good, but we prefer the other style of Caribbean rum cakes).

Saturday night Adam and I went all out making dinner. Mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, roasted broccoli, and baked chicken with bbq sauce (a homemade Mediterranean bbq sauce with pomegranate and sumac!).

P.S. I wrote this post Sunday evening and we are about to head to a fancy Long Island dinner at the new(ish) Oak and Vine.

Americana Idiot

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My other song title option was “Like It Was 1980,” and if you don’t get that reference you are sorely missing out! This week’s dinner theme was Americana/nostalgia. We made Salisbury steak, tuna pasta salad, macaroni and cheese, and chili and grilled cheese sandwiches!

Highlights from the past four days include…

After-school snacks. Apple + peanut butter (I didn’t have mini marshmallows to make smiles!). This was a Sugar Bee apple and it was wonderfully crisp and sweet.

Important note – the Whole Foods unsweetened crunchy peanut butter is wonderful. It is some of the best I’ve ever had and certainly outranks the other options at this price point. Just peanuts and salt.

This week’s yogurt bowl combo was plain skry, blackberries, peanut butter, and Nature’s Path honey almond granola.

Love Corn bbq corn nuts. These have a very satisfying consistency.

Junior Mints minis are fantastic. They are like the popping boba of chocolate candies.

Fun in sparkling waters – Target caffeinated cherry cola and Ruby tart hibiscus. Both were an 8/10.

I had never actually tried Salisbury steak before but I loved it. We loosely followed this recipe but I used ground turkey and way more mushrooms. Plus roasted purple and Japanese sweet potato and zucchini.

I did not use Italian dressing in my tuna pasta though that is how I grew up eating it. Whole-wheat macaroni, canned tuna, roasted zucchini, edamame, extra-sharp cheddar, and balsamic vinegar. Maybe Italian is the way to go though? Adam and I both went back and topped our bowls with hot sauce.

Macaroni and cheese muffins. I used extra-sharp cheddar instead of parmesan and added mustard powder. Plus roasted broccoli.

Plus we had bbq Wilde chicken chips.

Chili = ground turkey, celery, white onion, fire-roasted tomatoes, fire-roasted green chiles, kidney beans, chicken broth, evoo, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. I topped my bowl with plain yogurt and hot sauce. Plus I made amazing grilled cheese sandwiches; the filling was a mixture of extra-sharp cheddar, marinated artichoke hearts, mayo, white pepper, mustard powder, and a pinch of sugar.