Maple x2

by Emily

Highlights from this week…

This week’s coffee combo. Trader Joe’s knocked both of these items out of the park.

Fancy yogurt bowl. Plain skyr, cinnamon granola, yellow dragonfruit, and persimmon.

New new-to-me pear. This wasn’t as good as the last two but still not bad.

A dips/dippers situation. Little Sesame Herby Jalapeno hummus and Red Clay pimento cheese (hands down the best pimento spread we’ve ever tasted!) with bell peppers, baby carrots, and Crunch Master pimento cheese rice crackers.

Warm salads. Sauteed Trader Joe’s Cruciferous Crunch topped with dressing (maple syrup, Dijon mustard, vinegar, and sesame oil), lamb sausage, and roasted honeynut and delicata squash.

Tofu salads. Romaine / Trader Joe’s mano vinaigrette / cucumber / extra-sharp cheddar / crispy broad beans / and tofu (marinated, dredged in a flour, cornstarch, salt, white pepper, Sichuan peppercorn, and toasted rice powder mix, then stir-fried).

A very, very loose take on the Very Fresh Noodles Dan Dan noodles. Buckwheat soba / dinosaur kale, baby bok choy, and scallions sauteed with fish sauce and rice vinegar / ground turkey sauteed with hoisin, dark soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, and five spice powder / crunched up crispy broad beans / sauce – peanut butter, garlic, onion chili crisp, chili oil, soy sauce, sugar, five spice powder, Sichuan peppercorn, and chicken broth.

P.S. I put pecan pie chocolate chip cookies into the oven as I wrote this post!

31Oct2025

Spooky Snacks

by Emily

Things from the week before Halloween…

On-theme candy, obviously.

And pumpkin beers! Southern Tier’s Maple Warlock imperial pumpkin stout and Caramel Pumpkin imperial pumpkin ale were both excellent.

Pumpkin smoothie. Canned pumpkin puree, frozen banana, brown sugar, vanilla protein powder, and water.

Boo-berry smoothie. Frozen blueberries, cherries, and strawberries with vanilla protein powder and water (with a marshmallow ghost!).

Halloween candy week seemed like a fitting time to open this Bonne Maman chocolate peanut spread. I enjoyed it in a few iced coffees and am eagerly anticipating a yogurt bowl.

Another new to me pear – Gem. It was delicious, but I prefer the Happis.

This Wella Crispy Treat did not taste like ube to me but it was yummy; good salty-sweet balance. Adam hated it, however, so your milage may vary.

Oyakadon-inspired dinner. Eggs soft-scrambled in leftover Rose Marie whipped garlic parsley butter / roasted broccoli / Bell and Evans breaded chicken patties / horseradish Sriracha aioli / leftover Rose Marie sourdough.

Pumpkin chili. Ground turkey, Whole Food’s canned bean trio, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, canned pumpkin puree, fish sauce, yellow onion, red bell pepper, poblano pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, urfa chili, and salt and pepper. Plus leftover Rose Marie cheese curds and Trader Joe’s pumpkin tortilla chips.

Two types of leftover pizza reheated in a skillet with leftover butter and an egg cooked on top.

These crispy roasted beans were the best dinner of the week. Labne / roasted shredded brussels sprouts / Great Northern beans tossed with evoo, cornstarch, panko, gochugaru, and furikake and roasted / Roland’s spicy chili onion crisp / crispy numbing broad beans I found at 99 Ranch but can’t read the label for.

24Oct2025

Crab Rangoon Casserole

by Emily

Things from the week…

I’m not usually a big pear person but these Happi one’s are divine.

My best souvenirs from Scotland were Haribo gummies.

Crusted tofu – super-firm tofu baked coated in egg wash and food-processed kettle chips, seaweed, and gochugaru / broccoli salad – roasted and tossed in a sauce of food-processed roasted garlic and green onion, parsley, evoo, gochugaru, walnuts, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, and maple syrup.

Tuna cakes – canned tuna, panade, Kewpie, egg, and crunchy chili flakes; baked. With leftover broccoli salad.

Gooey grilled cheese – stuffed with a mix of cream cheese, blueberry preserves, gochujang, and smoked cheddar / with green beans that were steamed and then sauteed with soy sauce, maple syrup, and gochugaru.

Crab rangoon casserole (how have I never seen someone else make this yet?!) – Sauteed green onion with ginger, sugar, white pepper, soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, and a mix of real crab meat and imitation crab; mixed with Goodle’s Loopdy-Loos; topped with panko bread crumbs toasted with crunchy chili flakes, and butter; and baked / roasted brussels sprouts sauteed with peanut butter, gochujang, sugar, and lime juice.

23Oct2020

Pumpkin Spice And Everything Nice

by Emily

Highlights from this week include…

Phin-brewed Cafe Du Monde chicory coffee with sweetened condensed milk is obviously my new favorite thing of all time.

Pumpkin Noosa with papaya and cocoa granola. Was pleasantly surprised by how well these three flavors paired together.

Yummy candies my parents sent us from back home – tamarind balls and guava hard candies.

Be sure to grab yourself a bag of these cinnamon pretzels the next time you’re at a 7-11.

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale is one of our original pumpkin favorites.

And this limited release Stone double IPA was pretty great too.

Cheese plates for dinner! Bartlett pear / homemade spiced candied walnuts / maple-smoked cheddar / papaya / durian chocolate and milk chocolate / Manchego / garlic naan crackers from Trader Joe’s.

Egg casserole – with broccoli, green onion, shallot, TJ’s turkey summer sausage, and maple-smoked cheddar – plus beer cheese kettle chips. Inspired by this recipe.

Whole-wheat matzoh brei with roasted brussel sprouts.

A great take on sheet-pan fried rice (loosely based on this method) with cauliflower rice (seasoned with soy sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar, and gojuchang), peas, green onions, and sausage.

26Jan2018

Quesadillas, Chilaquiles, And Burritos, Oh My!

by Emily

As I flip from one classical musical references in my title to another in my opening line… This week these were a few of my favorite things –

Favorite breakfast – This incredibly excitingly pink coconut water.

One of my coffee combos – Birch Cold Brew roast with vanilla cashew milk. <– good idea in theory but the mouthfeel and taste were both sort of “empty” to me and I ended up having to add a splash of cow’s milk.

Favorite yogurt bowl – Vanilla & Cinnamon Chobani with Brown Sugar Cinnamon peanut butter. Plus a Kanzi apple.

Favorite snack – an assortment of nuts and dried fruits from Trader Joe’s.

Pears, persimmons, and sweetened dried lemons plus TJ’s nut and seed medley.

I can’t choose one favorite dessert, they were all so good! We were surprised by how tasty these TJ’s churro bites turned out to be.

I made a batch of snack attack brownies! This recipe, minus marshmallow, plus crushed potato chips, pretzels, and m&ms.

And I was killing it in the dinner department this week. Baked burritos – whole wheat tortillas / shredded chicken breast / sauteed onions and orange and yellow bell peppers cooked with cumin / shredded sharp cheddar cheese / TJ’s double roasted salsa.

Chilaquiles, mostly from scratch.

I made chips out of the whole wheat tortillas / cooked in salsa and diced tomatoes / with leftover onions and peppers / shredded chicken / lime / cheese / topped with a sunny side up egg and a dollop of plain Greek yogurt.

Egg and cheese sandwiches with homemade sausage.

Whole wheat hamburger buns toasted with mayonnaise / cheese / fried egg / turkey sausage made with smoked paprika, fresh sage, and maple syrup.

Plus roasted green beans.

And yesterday I had a late doctor’s appointment in the city so I grabbed dinner at La Esquina. I had a ridiculously delicious chicken quesadilla with salsa verde.

I am off of work today with a three-day weekend and we’ve got super fun dinner plans tonight, woo-hoo!

6Nov2017

Columbus Travels

by Emily

My weekend adventures in Ohio were absolutely fantastic! My cousin had a gorgeous wedding and it was beyond fabulous to get to spend time with my family.

I got into town two nights ahead of the wedding and had the opportunity to explore Columbus a bit, including Easton, North Market, and German Village.

Culinary highlights…

Flowers and Bread – Iced latte with local milk and a chocolate-stuffed roll with housemade apple butter.

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream – Boozy eggnog and Black Cat espresso.

Related: I had my first eggnog iced latte of the season on this trip and it made me blissfully happy.

Roosevelt Coffeehouse – Vietnamese iced coffee.

The Roost at North Market – I had a giant burrito with scrambled egg, housemade chicken sausage, cheese, black bean salsa, and sour cream. Plus tons of Franks.

Wolf’s Ridge Brewery – I had a a flight of three fun beers, Clear Sky Loops a cream ale with orange, lime, and vanilla / Gose brewed with freshly ground coriander and gourmet sea salt / Pi made with spices and local pumpkins.

The arugula salad with blue cheese, saison poached pear, dried cranberries, marcona almonds, and honey peppercorn dressing.

And the sweet corn gnocchi with arugula coulis, crispy bread, roasted garlic, and roasted acorn and butternut squash.

16Oct2017

White Gummi Slushie

by Emily

I worked the weekend (and had two weekdays off) so my schedule has been a bit out of whack. It is still basically summer temperatures here so we haven’t moved on to hot chocolate and soups but we have been loving the crap out of Pumpkin Month. Here were some highlights from the past 7 days…

Weekly coffee combo – Black Hand and chocolate milk.

This pumpkin spice kefir is super tasty.

Pumpkin Noosa with a TJ’s pumpkin cereal bar and a SweeTango apple.

TJ’s pumpkin yogurt with pumpkin spice Cheerios and Frosted Mini Wheats and a Starkrimson pear.

Key lime skyr with pomegranate and Heritage Flakes.

Adam and I got a midweek lunch at Sweet to Lick vegan cafe and we are completely in love. We had a terrific hero with bulgogi style setain, gochujang mayo, and pickled vegetables.

Plus the best chocolate chip cookies ever sandwiched around Oreo cream filling!

Detroit Friends potato chips (expo sample). These are some of the very best kettle chips we’ve ever tasted and their company is totally fantastic too – some of the potatoes are grown in a vacant lot in Detroit’s Hope District.

Orange slice candies. There’s a vitamin commercial where a woman squeezes an orange slice shaped gummy and it made Adam and I both immediately want to run out to the drugstore.

Campfire S’mores ice cream.

White gummi slushie from 7-11. We are obsessed, these are so good. I’m not sure what the actual flavor is (pineapple? or maybe white grape?) but they are juicy and delicious.

All-you-can-eat sushi buffet at Mizumi. We love it there, everything is super fresh and expertly prepared. I didn’t snap all of my plates but the highlights included crab cakes, inari, and seaweed salad.

Roasted squash and tuna quinoa cakes with cocktail sauce.

Veggie bowls. Shredded cabbage tossed in this sauce / roasted edamame / marinated hard-boiled eggs (marinated in gochujang, brown sugar, soy sauce, and rice vinegar).

Mexican food at Oak House in Floral Park.

I had a Mezcal mojito.

And veggie fajitas with carrots, onions, squash, peppers, and mushrooms. They had chipotle Cholula at the table and we doused everything with it.

Plus Adam and I split vanilla flan and tres leches cake for dessert.

Have a great week!

13Jan2017

Mid-January

by Emily

Tuesday night, I met up with my aunt in the Financial District for dinner and then coffees/cookies at the beautiful new 3rd story Eataly.

Wednesday, I was off from work and spent the entire day in bed, watching tv, eating pizza, and reading a Liane Moriarty book from start to finish.

Thursday, Adam and I went on a dinner date sans coats in 66 degree weather.

<– kind of a hard week to complain about, huh?

Here were my best bites…

New all-time favorite coffee combo: Texas pecan coffee concentrate with sweet buttercream creamer. Swoontastic.

I also tried the new Starbucks Cascara latte. It was meh, too sweet but not in a brown sugar way as promised.

Chilaquiles!

Kinda, sorta. I cooked thick tortilla chips in salsa and leftover spicy pepper sauce from my shakshuka. Topped with black beans, shredded cheese, and fried eggs.

Piñata apple with a spicy chicken epic bar. I’ve really been enjoying these meat-based bar options.

Yogurt bowl lunch. Siggi’s with granola and chocolate tahini. Plus pears.

I made cheesy turkey sloppy joes. Turkey breast sautéed with onion and green bell pepper and tomato paste, stirred into a sharp cheddar mornay sauce, and served on a brioche bun. It was pretty damn good.

With leftover bok choy salad and roasted broccoli.

Our date night was a pizza date at Paulie Gee’s.

It was our first time and we loved it. I had a Milk and Honey Ale and a pizza with fresh mozzarella, baby spinach, olive oil, and garlic.

Dessert at Ample Hills. A new flavor, The View – chocolate marshmallow ice cream with ooey gooey butter cake pieces, brownies, and crack cookie; plus fantasmic dark hot chocolate.

Looking forward a long weekend!

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: pear

Maple x2

Spooky Snacks

Crab Rangoon Casserole

Pumpkin Spice And Everything Nice

Quesadillas, Chilaquiles, And Burritos, Oh My!

Columbus Travels

White Gummi Slushie

Mid-January