There is a new coffee spot near us with Jamaican Blue Mountain.
The homemade Snickers are definitely one of the best things I’ve ever made. And so quick and easy too.
I mostly drink IPAs but I do really love this key lime pie sour.
Multiple theme snacks! We ate these orange slices with orange slices.
And drank a variety of Mountain Dew and then rewatched the Slurm episode of Futurama.
Egg salad dinner plate. Six minute eggs with Greek yogurt, mayo, mustard, pickle juice, dill, pickles, and red bell pepper. Plus pickled red onion, crackers, and roasted purple cauliflower.
Cheeseburger-inspired salads. Romaine / special sauce dressing – 1 Tbsp each mayo, yellow mustard, olive oil, and vinegar, plus 1/2 Tbsp ketchup and a pinch of salt and white pepper / pickles / tomato / quick pickled chopped white onion / mini turkey patties topped with sharp cheddar / dill / sesame seeds.
This past weekend Adam and I… lost our minds over the beautiful flowers all over Park Slope / went to a Filipino/JapanFest street fair / checked off two restauarants on my “lauded cheeseburgers” list. Highlights included…
Birthday cake smoothie bowl from Juice Press. I kept seeing the advertisement for this and I couldn’t help myself! The smoothie was meh but the Out Haus birthday cake granola butter was perfection.
Ice cream from Teo’s – coffee crunch and sprinkles. Great texture, I love an egg-heavy ice cream base.
Street fair finds. Ube and calmansi juice was a surprisingly sucessful combo.
Okonomiyaki.
Mini twinkie with jackfruit and Frooty Pebbles.
Drinks at The Warren. I loved my Madame Brown with bourbon, passionfruit, sour, and egg whites. We also had the best (unphotographed) deviled eggs I’ve ever eaten; I want to come back here for dinner immediately.
Dinner at Red Paper Clip. My drink was the best of the weekend, College Drop Out – a whiskey sour with passionfruit.
Roasted cauliflower with yuzu agro dulce, shiso, and sunflower seeds.
The everything brioche with cured trout, miso egg yolk, and trout roe was a showstopper; this was stunningly good.
We got the cavetalli with nori, parmesan, and bonito.
Lobster three ways, fried salt and pepper claws / fried rice / and in a miso beurre blanc.
The burger – double patties, lettuce, special sauce, and yellow cheese.
I love this sort of spicy ginger and meyer lemon seltzer from Aura Bora.
Red bean stuffed, sesame coated mochi from Lucky King Bakery are a can’t miss.
Cola-flavored Chupa Chups!!
Lunch at Tanoreen. Za’atar mezcal margarita (mezcal, house made za’atar shrub, and fresh lime) — the best cocktail of the weekend.
Falafel. Plus we had the complimentary bread basket with great za’atar crusted crisps.
I got the baked eggplant with tomato, almonds, and ground lamb.
Knafeh – crispy filo dough with sweet cheese and orange blossom syrup.
Dinner at Virginia’s. Spicy Marg 2.0 – tequilla, passion fruit, lime, Thai chili oil, and spicy salt.
A mojito that reminded me of a julep.
Fantastic hamachi crudo.
French onion and crème fraîche dip with potato chips and trout roe.
Roasted carrots with almond romanesco and goat cheese.
THE burger with cheddar and onion marmalade. This was so good that I loved it even though it was vastly overcooked.
Plus the best shoestring fries.
We got the “banana pudding” for dessert; bananas with cookie crunch and whipped cream. Adam liked it because it tasted good and I hated it because there was not even a hint of pudding.
Other things — Amazing/sweet/perfect summer berries are back! I had great yogurt bowls this week. This one was vanilla bean skyr, blueberries, blackberries, and chocolate chip cookie dough granola from Safe + Fair.
I am definitely smitten with these new Layers Perfect Bars; the bit of crunch is nice and the sweet-salty balance is spot on.
My best lunch of the week was obviously this comically large container of Whole Foods’ hot bar. Garlic green beans, sweet and spicy chicken, vegan meatballs, hard-boiled egg, lemon and peanut celery salad, two types of tortellini salad, mac and cheese, and scalloped potatoes.
We loved this Le Chocolat des Francias bar, definitely one of the creamiest milk chocolates we’ve tried.
I am not a big m&m person but I tried these new caramel cold brew ones at work and they were so good I had to go buy Adam and myself a bag.
I made a nice mule with this Trader Joe’s ginger beer; it is a little sweet and not too spicy and honestly wouldn’t be a bad ginger ale substitute.
Pizza things — Nostalgic – Pizza Hut. With mushrooms, olives, and beef. This was only fine.
P.S. Pizza Hut will sell you a 2 Tbsp container of cream cheese frosting for 84 cents. I stirred it into a yogurt bowl because I’m a genius.
Roman-style/local – Nadya’s and Taglio. Chicken parmesan, grandma, pesto, and roasted potato. These were wonderful.
Pizza salad! Romaine with ranch / Sugar Bomb grape tomatoes / Applegate Farms turkey pepperoni that I crisped up in the oven / four cheese cheese crisps.
Pizza bites with olives and pepperoni / homemade baked garlic turkey meatballs / a mountain of roasted green beans / a trio of dipping sauces (homemade honey mustard, ranch, and marinara).
I worked this weekend and things were pretty hectic but thankfully I finally made it to the grocery from vacation and we were able to enjoy some great dinners. Highlights from the past three days include…
I tried and loved the new layers Perfect Bars. The oat crisps on top were perfect.
Chewy doughnuts from Paris Baguette – mochi, lemon cronut, and cream cheese filled mochi. We have been very impressed by every item we have tried from PB.
A former intern brought us in goodies including baklava and halvah.
Onda‘s canned tequilla seltzers are solid, this strawberry flavor is quite drinkable.
I 12/10 loved this Social Hour Sunkissed Fizz canned cocktail with vodka, yuzu, peach, key lime, and jasmine. I carted this home from a liquor store in Midtown and it exceeded my expectations. Very smooth, very boozy, not too sweet.
I turned my leftover Pecking House chicken-seasoned fries into something amazing. Leftover fries crisped under the broiler / Kewpie mayo / baby broccoli sauted with tons of garlic / Trader Joe’s teriyaki baked tofu / chili crisp.
Cuban sandwich inspired salads. Romaine / leftover garlic broccoli / homemade yellow mustard vinaigrette (equal parts mustard, mayo, vinegar, olive oil, and lemon juice, plus a pinch of salt) / homemade croutons / Jarlsberg cheese and sliced pork for Adam and smoked turkey for me. I forgot the chopped pickles, which is devestating, but this was still a fantastic salad.
Reuben sandwich inspired okonomiyaki. Shredded yellow potato (squeezed as dry as possible and microwaved for three minutes) / shredded cabbage and chopped green onion (baked for 20 minutes) / in a batter with minced ginger, white pepper, salt, gochugaru, eggs, flour, and ginger seltzer / stuffed with sliced roast beef and Jarlsberg / then cooked in a wide pan in canola oil / topped with homemade Russian dressing.
Adam and I were both on vacation last week and we went home to St. Thomas for Carnival! It was a perfect week – we had time with family, went on my favorite runs, ate my favorite foods (highlights included soursop shaved ice and a dark rum and coke), and went to the beach every day. It’s hard to beat a morning walk in the sand with an iced coffee!
We went right back to work when we got home (seriously, I was at my desk less than 10 hours after we left the airport!) and I didn’t get to go grocery shopping until yesterday but thankfully I had left myself a well-stocked freezer and pantry. Highlights from the week included…
This week’s coffee combo.
Beautiful smoothies. Frozen spinach, banana, and blueberries with honey, water, and key lime juice.
Frozen soursop, banana, and strawberries with vanilla almond milk, cinnamon, and plain Greek yogurt.
Trader Joe’s crispy apple chips.
These s’mores Ben and Jerry’s bites are hands-down my favorite thing.
Leftover chicken soup I made and froze a few weeks before vacation; this reheated really well.
“Freshly made” soup with this trio. Trader Joe’s ginger miso broth and garlicky cabbage plus ginger chicken dumplings.
Farro / furikake, kelp granules, black garlic, gochugaru / canned salmon and smoked trout with mayo, rice vinegar, and Sriracha / zoodles and celery / fried egg. I actually decided I didn’t like this and abandoned it halfway through for ramen but Adam liked it and I still think it was a good idea.
I work this weekend so I was off on Thursday and I went into the city for a haircut and a fun Brooklyn date. I have wanted to go to Pecking House for more than a year and it more than exceeded my high expectations! We shared fries with chicken seasoning.
Cornbread. Charred turnips with miso and almonds.
Fried chicken with salted egg sauce.
And the fantastic spicy chicken sandwich with Fuqi chili sauce, Oaxaca cheese, and pickled jalapenos on a brioche bun.
Plus gelato for dessert. A butter and salt scoop and a scoop of a cannolo flavor with candied fruits that blew my mind.
Whole Foods’ Spring latte special is brown butter cookie – good but not excellent.
Meanwhile, Partners‘ Spring latte special is mojito and it is a 10/10.
I added butterfly peaflower tea to this smoothie (with frozen peaches, banana, soursop, and vanilla almond milk) to make it pretty and ended up with greige.
I was much more successful with frozen blueberries, banana, almond milk, and butterfly peaflower tea.
BelliWelli birthday cake flavored probiotic bar.
I feel like I should give another shout-out to this rapidly dwindling bag of Zapp’s Voodoo seasoned pretzels.
Passion fruit sips; hard seltzer and kombucha.
I had a day off this week and I walked 7 miles roundtrip from Penn Station to the Seaport for this burger and fries. The signature smashburger with gojuchang aioli, American, miso-caramelized onions, and garlic parmesan butter and waffle fries with red miso cheese sauce.
Monday I hadn’t gone to the grocery store for the week yet but we cobbled together a pretty good dinner. Chips and guacamole from our local burrito place.
Bitchin dip with mini sweet peppers (and cucumber slices).
And these Fillo’s walking tamales – Adam liked them, I thought they were underseasoned.
Tuesday I went to the fish counter and whipped up this Southern feast. Fried catfish (breaded in a mix of flour and cornmeal with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika); collard greens sauteed with green onion, lemon, and garlic; and hushpuppies. Then I doused my plate in honey, lemon, and Crystal hot sauce.
And Wednesday I made a giant batch of soup. With evoo, salt and pepper, garlic, yellow onion, celery, zucchini, carrot, potato, diced tomato, harissa, chicken broth, and chicken breast.
It was a wonderful weekend! Adam and I had a ton of time together, the weather was gorgeous, and we took some great walks around the Lower East Side and Williamsburg and admired the spring flowers. Also we went on a million and one dates; our fridge is stuffed to the brim with leftovers – a very good problem to have!
Some highlights include…
Iced coffee with ube cold foam.
Dalgona iced latte with strawberry milk and and a dreamy packet of peaflower and edible glitter!
Iced matcha with ginger sparkling water and fresh-squeezed orange juice.
Pazazz apple – a good spring choice, sweet and crispy.
Butterdose. Cream puffs – yuzu, ube coconut, and an Easter special with Cadbury eggs, Oreo, whipped cream frosting, and cream cheese filling.
Levain. This dark chocolate chocolate chip cookie tastes exactly like brownie batter and was the #1 best thing I ate all weekend.
Lindens. This meal was pretty unforgettable; the space was gorgeous and it was hands-down the best service I have ever experienced at a restaurant. We will be going back!
Lavender Daisy – pisco, gin, lavender, concord grape jam, lemon, club soda, and egg white.
Rosemary spiced margarita with mezcal, habanero, grapefruit, and agave.
Parker house rolls with grilled ramp butter. Tempura artichoke, maitake, and broccolini with chili oil and a cilantro yogurt sauce.
Herbed shoestring fries with a truffle aioli. 3rd best thing I ate this weekend and easily the best fries I’ve eaten the past 5 years.
Cheeseburger with grilled onion and cherry pepper relish.
Ocean Code. We had a highball with kyoho grape syrup.
Oden – beef, black fungus, daikon, tofu, and an inari-wrapped mochi ball in a super flavorful broth.
I had the spicy tuna rice bowl.
Okka. Very good cortado and Turkish coffee, plus baklava.
OTB. My favorite bar food in Brooklyn. The fantastic cup on the left was a frozen mojito.
Nuggets and chili cheese fries.
Rule of Thirds. Chiba Surf Club – yuzu sake, lillet, strawberry, sparkling wine, and fresh chives.
Douglas Fir-Banks – sesame shochu, gin, peach, vetiver, lime, umeboshi, and douglas fir. Plus a hojicha iced latte that was the 2nd best thing I ate this weekend.
Souffle pancake.
Japanese omelette sandwich on milk bread with miso mayo and yuzu cucumbers.
Smashed potatoes with mushrooms, hatcho miso, and a poached egg.
Some highlights from this tasty week include butterscotch, butterfingers, and butternut squash…
I bought this Monin butterscotch syrup for coffees (and ocassionally Diet Cokes!) and have really been enjoying it.
I also made an ube Vietnamese iced coffee one day.
Another fun beverage – sparkling pomelo iced matcha.
Creamy peach smoothie; frozen peaches and banana with plain skyr and cottage cheese. I will definitely be adding cottage cheese to my shopping list more often.
Voodoo-seasoned pretzel sticks.
We made Butterfinger-inspired no bakes and they were 11/10. Just crushed corn flakes with salt, peanut butter, melted butter, honey, and melted chocolate.
Many of this week’s dinners paired perfectly with dipping sauces. Baked french fries / buffalo chicken meatballs – ground chicken, egg, panko, a splash of half and half, buffalo sauce, shredded gouda, sliced green onions / roasted zucchini tossed in smoked paprika and Trader Joe’s ranch seasoning blend.
Oven-fried extra-firm tofu – marinated in pickle juice and breaded with crushed voodoo pretzels. Plus roasted baby cauliflower.
I had some leftover restaurant/take-out veggies saved in the freezer – spicy baby cauliflower from a Chinese place and garlic Chinese broccoli from a Thai place – which reheated quickly. With Trader Joe’s chicken and cilantro mini wontons.
Smoky broccoli salad – it was so good I gave it a recipe page! – with roasted butternut squash.
Eating Chalk 