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.

Epsilon Alpha Tau

No post from me last week because we were on vacation in Texas! We went to Meow Wolf in Dallas and Houston and also visited Austin. It was a fabulous time and we ate some of the best food of my life (including the best bbq, the best burrito, and two Michelin starred meals!).

Some highlight since we’ve been home…

This week’s coffee. I am picky about bottled coffee but this Nescafe espresso concentrate is pretty solid.

One morning I paired it with a Barebells Vanilla Milk Drink; good but not great, it was better than the soda but too sweet (7/10).

Good loaded skyr bowls this week. This one was plain skyr with blueberries, blackberries, pineberries, and Oat Haus cookie dough granola, and edible flowers.

This one was plain skyr, vanilla bean powder, vanilla protein powder, maple syrup, and all the berries.

I got my hands on the cherry float Coke Zero so of course I made a float with vanilla ice cream and whiskey cherries. P.S. My current soda ranking is cherry Coke Zero > cherry Diet Coke > cherry float Coke Zero > Diet Coke.

Paired with cherry cola Squashies!

Dinners this week were all (loosely) Greek-inspired. Meatballs (ground turkey baked with panko, baba gannouj, tabbouleh, salt, pepper, and egg) / asparagus sauteed with lemon, dried basil, salt, and pepper / potato salad (peewee potatoes with sauteed celery and red onion, feta, lemon zest and juice, evoo, skyr, mayo, smoked paprika, and white pepper).

Baked eggs with feta plus sauteed zucchini, Bahama Bomb tomato, and red onion with salt, pepper, and dried basil. Scooped with pita chips.

Salads. Spring mix, Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing, roasted chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, feta, baba gannouj, roasted garlic hummus, and Trader Joe’s dolmas.

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.

Glowy Day

The three best things from the weekend…

A nice IPA at Formosa Dumpling.

Brunch at Roberta’s. I had a solid Bloody Mary.

We loved the marinated cucumber with garlic, chili, chrysanthemum greens, and spicy seeds.

Buttermilk pancake with butter and syrup.

The burger (made from a house-blend of meat) didn’t make my top five but was good. Plus it came with crispy potatoes.

The best coffees of 2026 so far at Dayglow. A Warhol (orange and cream with espresso) and a coquito latte. We also had a fantastic cocktail.

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.

Coffees And Doughnuts

Despite the weather this weekend we enjoyed a walking day in Manhattan! Highlights…

We didn’t enjoy this marzipan cap iced latte from Smiley Coffee (they don’t have skim so I used macadamia milk and it felt greasy) but we LOVED the experience of getting it.

On the other hand this coquito iced latte from Cafe Colmado was delicious.

I get the hype around the newly opened Homie’s doughnuts, our maple glazed was solid.

They can’t compete with the crueler though. The monthly special is lemon poppy.

Deux Luxe does make a delicious burger. We got ours with pickle and a side of fries.

Mimi Cheng‘s current dumpling collaboration is with Katz’s Deli and it’s fantastic. Dumplings filled with hand-carved pastrami, Swiss cheese, house-cured sauerkraut, and Reuben dressing.

Our favorite meal of the weekend was this dinner at home. My personal best egg sandwich – Stone and Skillet roasted herb and garlic English muffin toasted with butter / tangy dijonayo / sharp cheddar omelet. Plus steamed green beans sauteed with Milu Everything Spice, chili crisp, honey, and rice vinegar.

I bought the sando sauce almost entirely because of how it looks but it turned out to be delicious!

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.

Dinner By Diner

Three things I loved this weekend —

Frozen banana protein coffees. Coffee blended with frozen banana, skim milk, vanilla protein powder, cinnamon, vanilla bean powder, and the last of the Trick Pony maple crunch peanut butter (we both ate it pretty much every day until it was gone!). I drank mine in almost empty marshmallow fluff container for a fluffernutter vibe.

Barebells Coco-Caramel Almond. The coconut was in the form of a cream layer and it was delicious!

A fantastic dinner at Laurel Diner. Adam generously shared chocolate egg cream and matzoh ball soup.

I got the Goldburger – double smash patties with smoked gouda, crispy onion strings, fire-roasted peppers, and hot honey truffle sauce on a dark pumpernickel bun. I loved it; doesn’t make my top five list but definitely top ten. With solid but not perfect waffle fries.