3.1426

This week we were both getting over a cold and went to a mid-week work-night concert – Rainbow Kitten Surprise at Brooklyn Paramount, it was great! – so we did a lot of boring foods and take-out. Here were some of the fun highlights…

Good snacks. Passionfruit Peelerz.

Trader Joe’s black sesame mochi are perfectly done.

Lucky Ox’s mango toasted rice sparkler is objectively good and not too sweet but ultimately not for me.

Our version of the viral pickle dip is a scoopable dinner bowl situation. A mix of chopped baked chicken, dill pickles, spicy pickles, scallion, extra-sharp cheddar, mayo, plain skyr, sweet and spicy jalapeño pickle juice, and ranch seasoning. Scooped with bell pepper, baby carrots, and Nufs hot honey crackers.

I made a batch of gussied up red sauce – Trader Joe’s pizza sauce cooked down with evoo, tomato paste, gochugaru, dried basil, and tons of roasted garlic. Served once as a dip with sauteed ground turkey and crispy baked bow-tie pasta. Plus sauteed fennel, leek, red chard, and garlic (a 10/10 combo).

And once in meatball subs. With provolone cheese and baked turkey cheese meatballs (with panade, egg, hoisin sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and sharp cheddar in the middle). Plus sauteed asparagus with lemon, basil, and pepper.

Pizza pie for Pi Day. I also had a slice of pie from Milk Bar on the train!

Brunch at Naks. Our favorite dish was the vinegar fries.

I had the kare kare omelette with braised beef cheeks, peanut stew, eggplant, bok choy, and garlic toast. Plus bites of Adam’s Filipino platter and we shared a (spicy!) mushroom noodle.

They were out of the salted egg yolk pancake and as a consolation prize they sent out their ube cheesecake which ended up being fantastic.

P.S. We have fun dinner reservations we are jazzed about tonight at the new Third Times the Charm in Red Hook.

My Weekend

Things from the weekend…

Our grocery newly had three drinks from Lucky Ox so I, of course, bought them all. We liked but did not love the salted lemonade.

Black eyed pea salad is always a hit in our house. This iteration had BEP, yellow bell pepper, Kerrygold Dubliner cheese, pecans, and green pepper Cholula (10/10, I’d put this on anything).

The year we got engaged we watched so much Scrubs while eating pizza that I mentioned it in my wedding vows so when we started the new season/reboot (we loved it!) did so over pizza. I had a marinara/vodka sauce/pesto slice and a potato white slice.

Plus a warm ranch celery salad – sauteed celery and green onion dressed with plain skry, Kewpie mayo, brine from Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy jalapeños, Trader Joe’s ranch seasoning, and smoked paprika.

Tots Of Love

Highlights from the week…

On-theme Valentine’s snack wins. Alani Cherry Bomb (9.5/10).

Love Hearts Squashies (9.5/10).

Baked black bean tacos. Black beans (food-processed with walnuts and sauteed mushrooms, green bell pepper, green onion, and taco seasoning) baked in Mission flour tortillas with tons of sharp cheddar. Plus roasted broccoli and homemade ranch (plain skyr, Kewpie, Trader Joe’s ranch seasoning and hot and sweet jalapeno pickle juice).

Turkey Reuben totchos. Alexa potato puffs / Swiss and gruyere cheese / sauteed ground turkey with homemade Russian dressing / sauerkraut. Plus roasted zucchini.

Agi’s counter inspired tots. Potato puffs / roasted yellow cauliflower / canned smoked trout tossed with leftover ranch / chopped sweet dill pickles / Ayoh Tangy Dijonayo.

Chopped Sandwich Dip

Are my fellow New Yorkers ready for the weekend weather? I am not. But the highlights from my last week included two winner recipes!…

These Rolling Pin chocolates had a good filling but not enough of it; I thought the chocolate was too thick.

Obviously the fanciest thing I ate this week was this bowl of four types (pineberries, Sweetest Batch strawberries, Sweetest Batch blueberries, and super jumbo blueberries) of berries!

This brown sugar clementine Polar seltzer is nice, but some sips taste like pancake syrup in a disquieting way. P.S. I am drinking a Nixie black cherry lime sparkling water while I type and it is a 10/10!

Take-out tacos. Guac shop soft tacos with tofu, sweet potato, cabbage, cheese, and spicy aioli.

Chili when it’s chilly. We used ground turkey, sweet onion, poblano pepper, orange and yellow bell pepper, dark red kidney beans, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, tomato paste, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, salt and pepper, gochugaru, and smoked paprika. I topped mine with extra-sharp cheddar, plain skyr, and sweet and spicy jalapeños. Served with roasted broccoli and a toasted English muffin with blueberry jam.

See also – chili cheese potatoes. Baked potatoes and leftover broccoli with butter, chili, cheese, and zhoug.

Buffalo chicken twice baked potatoes! I re-baked them stuffed with mashed potato, baked chicken, cheddar, blue cheese, green onion, salt and pepper, butter, and Frank’s hot sauce. These were great. Plus baked zucchini, which is always great.

I bought special sauce Kettle chips, so obviously I had to plan a meal around them.

Chopped Sandwich Dip! The dip was far better than the chips. Diced baked chicken, dill pickles, sweet heat bread and butter pickles, garlic sauteed baby broccoli, cheddar, Milu Everything Spice, white pepper, Dijon, Dijonayo, Duke’s, and plain skyr. Scooped with the chips and baby carrots.

Eggs In The Second Week Of January

Things from the 2nd week of the year…

Skyr bowl. With blueberries, and Cascadian Farm oats and honey granola.

These Haribo Soda Sours are my new favorite gummy. They remind me a lot of the Sodalicious fruit snacks from back in the 90’s (which were my very favorite — when our island got a K-Mart when I was a kid it was a big deal and I was allowed to choose one snack for fun, these were it).

Another throwback – these fruit and cream Quaker oatmeal packets are pretty darn good.

The prettiest sundae of all time. Frutero soursop ice cream topped with dulce de leche, sweetened condensed milk, sprinkles, and edible flowers.

Chips lentil puffs and salsa.

Dipping dinner – taquitos and roasted baby broccoli with salsa and homemade guacamole.

I made Korean marinated eggs and tossed super-firm tofu in the marinade and it turned out great. Served on savory oatmeal with kale (sauteed with gochujang, maple, rice vinegar, and lemon) and chili crisp.

Baked turkey meatballs, roasted cauliflower, and honey butter baby carrots (baked with evoo, salt, pepper, and gochugaru) topped with Trader Joe’s Zhoug and cilantro salad dressing.

This dinner was loosely inspired by shakshuka and eggs in purgatory. Eggs, extra-sharp cheddar, and parmesan cheese cooked on a tomato-y sauce (roasted Bahama Bomb tomatoes sauteed with fire-roasted diced canned tomatoes, garlic, shallot, yellow bell pepper, urfa, smoked paprika, and salt and pepper). I topped mine with Zhoug and cilantro dressing and scooped it with sweet and spicy jalapeno kettle chips.

Peppermint To Be

I hope all my readers who celebrate had a Merry Christmas!

No post from me last week because we were on vacation back home in the VI! We had a fantastic week. Food highlights were my mom’s coffee cake, iced lattes consumed at the beach, and Gladys’ Cafe‘s soursop juice.

Things from the past week included lots of on-theme eats!…

Candy canes and other mint goodies. I was not a fan of the Hint, it wasn’t flavorless but the flavor (which I disliked) was not mint.

I also didn’t love these Hail Merry eggnog bites – too waxy/coconutty.

Last loser – I hated this Southern Tier eggnog so much that I threw it out and bought Ronnnybrook instead. <– warning to December 2026 Emily

It is Sumo season! Adam and I both think oranges are Christmas-y; thank you, Laura Ingalls Wilder.

We went on a fun seasonal date the Sunday we got home and shared a gingerbread scone from Hometown Bakeshop and an iced peppermint mocha from Sweetie Pies on Main.

Prost latkes (my favorite in the city) for the last night of Hannukah.

Kung Pow chicken salad. Baked chicken (marinated in skyr, rice vinegar, dark soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, sesame oil, Sriracha, and sugar) / sauce – skyr, mayo, minced ginger, sugar, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and dark soy sauce / roasted red bell pepper and green onion / peanuts. Plus roasted broccoli.

Turkey burger cheese fries. Trader Joe’s ketchup chips / Seriously Sharp cheddar / baked turkey meatballs (ground turkey with panko, mayo, white pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder) / chopped pickles and Sugar Bomb tomatoes / sesame seeds. Steamed green beans sauteed with dill pickle mustard, onion chili crisp, honey, and rice vinegar.

Red and green salads for Christmas! Baby spinach and arugula / Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing / tomatoes / red bell pepper / sauteed baby broccoli / baked tofu (marinated in warm water with baking soda and cornstarch / tossed in peanut butter, gochugang, sugar, and rice vinegar) / savory granola.

The (fantastic!) granola was this tteokbokki-inspired one I found at 99 Ranch.

Seaweed And Seitan

Three things from the weekend…

I am staunchly anti-carb-on-carb (i.e. I don’t want garlic bread next to mashed potatoes and I don’t like rice in burritos – fries are allowed though!) but this macaroni and cheese slice from Pizzaria G is the best pizza I have ever eaten.

Black eyed pea salad. BEP with baked super-firm tofu, orange bell pepper, poblano pepper, sharp cheddar, crispy broad beans, and Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing.

Plus seaweed potato chips for crunch.

Buffalo bowls. Cabbage (roasted with salt and pepper and then tossed with mayo, skyr, evoo, rice vinegar, ranch seasoning, celery seed, smoked paprika, and sugar) topped with Blackbird buffalo wing style seitan.

Maple x2

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!