Comfy And Cozy

Five best things I ate this weekend…

{1} Mint iced coffee from Project Cozy.

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{2} Pastries at Supermoon.

Chocolate doughnut with salted caramel and a ferrero rocher croissant.  Both with meringue on top!

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{3} Macrons from Laudrée.

Wow, so these were by far the best macarons we’d ever tasted.  We got strawberry candy with marshmallow and chestnut, both of which were fantastic.

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{4} Brunch at Mother’s Ruin.

I got a fantastically spicy Bloody Mary.

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And the best chicken and waffles on Earth.  They have a cholula honey glaze that is everything.

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{5} Crab grilled cheese at home.

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Shredded crab meat, mayonnaise, Old Bay, and extra sharp cheddar, toasted in butter on white whole wheat bread.

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With Trader Joe’s cruciferous veggie blend with kale, brussels sprouts, broccoli, and green and red cabbage sauteed with honey and soy sauce.

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And a really delicious beer – a sour with Italian plum.

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‘Twas a great weekend!

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Well There Goes Your Social Life

Another New York snowstorm?!  Can it be Spring already??!  I shouldn’t complain, Adam and I both were off from work on Wednesday and I already drink enough coffee to power a small city so it’s not like the few minutes I had to wake up earlier on Thursday to deal with the snow were a big deal. <– I should note that I literally mean that I only need a few extra minutes, I don’t have to dig out my own car because I’m married to the kindest man on earth!

Highlight bites this week…

Coffee, coffee!  Cafe Bustelo.

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Cold brew with coconut palm sugar (and skim milk).

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Protein cookie and a sumo.

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Coffee Greek yogurt with coconut butter, red walnuts, and granola, plus a Pink Lady apple on the side.  The coconut/coffee combo is 10/10.

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These 7-11 bites are super cute, and I love anything that tastes like cake batter.

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It seemed like half of Queens had closed up shop on Wednesday but Adam and I still managed to find a good lunch.  Chicken and udon soup.

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With an Oreo milk tea with pudding.

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Plus we went to Coffee Factory for a ridiculously adorned coffee shave ice.

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It’s a testament to how good Stumptown is that I was equally excited about my iced latte.

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Do you remember last year when I declared that the spring holidays deserve theme flavors too?  Easter gets lemon, coconut, and anything in the shape of an egg!

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I snacked on coconut shortbread cookies and candied lemon slices to welcome the first day of Spring.

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The Trader Joe’s eggs were cute, but the chocolate to caramel ratio was too large for my liking.  I much prefer a thinner, softer shell, so the Godiva eggs were absolutely perfect.

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Godiva actually sent me the eggstra special chocolates to review on the blog {I received no additional compensation / all opinions are my own}.  The box includes solid milk chocolate, dark chocolate ganache (3rd favorite), dark chocolate with raspberry, milk chocolate with almond butter (my favorite), and milk chocolate caramel (2nd favorite).  There’s 60 calories per egg, which feels more than fair because these are definitely a two-to-three-bite candy.

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Important note – Godiva also has an assorted gift-box special for Spring that includes both cookie dough truffles and white chocolate pralines – among other flavors – and I’m having a very hard time not buying it immediately.

My dinners were darn impressive this week.  Spicy Cajun shrimp pasta bowls on whole wheat linguine with tons of roasted zucchini and sun-dried tomato.

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Homemade turkey Reuben burgers / roasted green beans / french fries / with ketchup and thousand island.

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Chicken sandwiches.  Boneless skinless breasts marinated in lemon juice, soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, Sriracha, fish sauce, and ginger; breaded in panko; and baked / on brioche buns / with mayo and provolone.

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Plus we had sauteed bok choy and leeks on the side.

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And buttermilk and chive chips while I cooked.

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Last night a girlfriend and I went on a balls tasting tour of the Lower East Side for dinner.  Boba Guys for Hong Kong milk tea with tapioca balls and almond jelly.

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Meatball Shop for chicken meatballs with pesto.  Plus a Dead Flowers & Red Bottoms cocktail – mezcal, tequila, lime, honey, and hibiscus.

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p.s. who is 1990’s enough to get the joke in my title??

Green With Fun

We had a great weekend!  My aunt and uncle came into the city and we had a wonderful time showing them around.  I even caught some of the parade.

Top three best things I ate…

{1} local beers

Greenpoint Brewery.

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Brooklyn Brewery.

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Iconyc‘s saison with soursop!

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{2} homemade turkey reuben cheese fries

Fries / swiss and gouda cheese blend / sliced smoked turkey / sauerkraut / 1000 island dressing / parsely.

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With broccoli on the side for green.

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{3} brunch at Sunday in Brooklyn

How adorable is my aunt’s cocktail?

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And my Care Bear Stare was one of the best drinks I’ve ever had.  With Aperol, cream sherry, redeemed fruit, and cinnamon.

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We shared the pancakes, which are a must-order if you visit SiB, but my flatbread was still my favorite.  Ramp kimchi, mushrooms, fried eggs, and toasted spices on top of the most wonderfully chewy flatbread.

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Have a great week!

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געשמאַק

Adam is post-call this morning and I am taking my weekend day off so we get to share the same space for a bit, woo-hoo!  We have some really exciting date options to chose from, like a grocery trip and maybe the gym.

I worked Saturday and Sunday – and was off on Friday but spent the entire day reading and/or watching tv – so I don’t have too much excitement to share this recap.  We did go on a very delicious dinner date Saturday night though.

weekend highlights…

Coffee coffee.

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Cinnamon chocolate pudding.

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Snowdays shaved ice!  Black sesame with grass jelly, mochi, and strawberry sauce.

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Yesterday I made a dish that was moussaka-adjacent.  No potatoes but the other layers were there.  Roasted eggplant / sauteed turkey with tons of onions, spices, and tomato / mornay sauce with parmesan.

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And Saturday we did an awesome Israeli dinner at Timna.  You select an entree and then the table gets all of the appetizers tapas-style.  Also we ordered two desserts because we just couldn’t choose!  It was one of our best meals to date.  Falafel with pickled mango.

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Kubneh bread baked in a flower pot served with crushed tomato, creme-fraiche, and jalapeño salsa.

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Grilled beet salad with beluga lentils // tuna sashimi with green tabouli, tatziki, and ponzu // grilled cauliflower and artichoke with curried yogurt, homemade raisins, and pickled onion // smoked eggplant with feta cheese and sumac.

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I had “the fish,” striped bass with cherry tomato confit, grilled zucchini, grilled fennel, fried eggplant, Greek yogurt, and bread crumbs.  We loved the meal from start to finish but the fried eggplant was my favorite bite of the night.

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Kubneh bread with creme patisserie, white chocolate, and honey and sage ice cream.

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Sicilian pistachio ice cream with tahini, silan, and shredded halva.  swoon 

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Back to the grind we go!

Popcorn And Poutine

Random updates…

Both sets of excisional biopsy stitches are out and today I am finally allowed to go to the gym, woo-hoo!  Also important – both biopsies came back clean.

We are finally catching up on Agents of Shield and LOVING it.  Hilarious as always and just crazy touching.  I’m not loving the “big bad” for this season but Fitz’s story-line is good enough that I don’t care.

I work this weekend but have super fun dinner date plans with the husband on Saturday.

Best bites from the week…

Coffee can and an Envy apple.

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Vanilla yogurt with nougat halva from Seed + Mill and a sumo on the side.  Halva mixed into yogurt is one of my favorite things.  I also really like key lime pie in yogurt.  Apparently I think you can improve dessert with Greek yogurt?!

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Tamarind my parents sent me from home.  I rode horses as a child and our stable had a patch of trees you could pluck tamarinds from and it’s one of my favorite memories.

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No photo because I ate it while sitting in traffic but I had the most deliciously meta thing from Schmackary’s – a chocolate chip cookie topped with chocolate chip cookie dough frosting!

Piles of popcorn.

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Spaghetti casserole with whole-wheat spaghetti, marinara, Trader Joe’s soy chorizo, and sharp cheddar.  Growing up, I hated spaghetti but adored this casserole.  This version was smokey and delicious.  With roasted broccoli on the side.

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Dinner at Mile End.  The poutine of the month is Nashville hot chicken, so obviously we ordered that.

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I also had a za’atar chicken salad with Boston lettuce, mint, Israeli salad, cucumber, and crispy chickpeas.  Fresh mint in salad is so good, it genuinely makes me smile.

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Happy almost weekend.

Charcoal And Cheez-its

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From this weekend I have some exceptional highlights and some cautionary tales…

I am a marketer’s dream – I’ll buy pretty much anything that says limited edition; it’s not a lifestyle I can really recommend, as both of these coffees were just terrible!

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This coffee shop, on the other hand, was worth the hype.

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Saltwater Cafe gave me a very tasty charcoal vanilla chai latte.

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Other Lower East Side spots that redefine hypeworthy?  Ice & Vice and Baohaus.  I had an epic cup of Milk con Leche with goat milk cajeta and kaya jam.

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And an Uncle Jesse Bao and a Spiceland Bao – fried tofu and spicy fried chicken with pickled cabbage, crushed peanuts, Taiwanese red sugar, and cilantro.  Plus housemade lemonade.

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Representing from the frozen section, Trader Joe’s scallion pancakes are damn good.  With Sriracha on top and yellow bell pepper on the side.

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And one night I cooked a great plate of Cheez-it crusted chicken tenders with homemade cole slaw.

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P.S.  CW Pencil Enterprise looks like what the inside of my soul looks like.

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Hope everyone enjoys their week!

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Smoked Cheddar To Chocolate Almond

Flavor themes of the week: coffee, cauliflower, seltzer, croissants.

White Noise.  Iced latte and black sesame and milk frozen yogurt swirl fantasticness.

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Home coffee for the week.  Starbucks espresso roast with chocolate milk.

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Breads Bakery.  Smoked cheddar croissant.

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Orwashers.  Almond and chocolate croissant.

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Yogurt bowl.  2% Fage with pomegranate, golden raisins, and luxardo cherries.

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Snack time.  Soursop yogurt drink / red walnuts and marcona almonds with rosemary / pinata apple.

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Kakigōri from a pop-up at Canal Street Market.  Japanese-style shave ice with black currant chocolate sauce, smoked almonds, and torched meringue.  Toasted meringue is one of my all-time favorite flavors.

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Luke’s Lobster.  Lobster rolls taste like butter squared.

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Pelicana.  Korean fried chicken is the best fried chicken, period.

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Not a winner dinner.  Cauliflower rice / sauteed bok choy with rice vinegar / ground turkey sauteed with chopped kimchi and gojuchang / soft boiled egg.  This had so much potential but I ended up stopping halfway through and eating fried chicken leftovers instead.

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Another night we were supposed to have cauliflower soup for dinner but I couldn’t deal with the blender so at the last minute I ended up making… whatever the hell this is.  At least it was tasty!  Sauteed yellow onion and leeks with celery seed and smoked paprika / roasted cauliflower / turkey bacon / sharp cheddar.

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Have a great weekend!

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Fresh On The Blog

Gotta love a three day weekend!  I don’t work today (hence the late post) and my plans include the dog, my bed, and The Office, the end.

My Friday, Saturday, Sunday were all pretty great too.  Friday, Adam drove me into work so we had before-work breakfast date and after-work dinner date (plus we basically consider the time driving in the car to be a date too!).  Saturday, I met up with girlfriends for brunch and discovered that Bayside, Queens – which is about 10 minutes from my house – is actually kind of great.  And Sunday, we had friends in from out of town and we got to show them the magic of Grand Central Whispering Gallery; plus the magic of coffee from Cafe Grumpy!

highlights…

Apertif.  I had a croque canard sandwich with duck rillettes, apple, brie, and béchamel.

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F.O.B.  A newish Filipino spot in Cobble Hill people have been (rightly) raving about.

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We got so much good food!  Corn bibingka – rice cake with farmers cheese, kesong puti, and coconut butter.

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Overnight chicken adobo and pechay – sautéed Chinese cabbage with chili and garlic.

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And Halo Halo – shaved ice with nata de coco, red beans, tapioca, mango, jackfruit, and ube ice cream!

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French Workshop.  We split something with white chocolate mousse, and hazelnuts, and milk chocolate ganache but there were about a million other things that looked good too.

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Joyce Bakeshop.  We’ve decided that we don’t love their coffee, but their kouign amann is my all-time favorite pastry.  Seriously, I like it more than filled croissants from Union Fair and cronuts from Dominique Ansel, and that bar is set pretty damn high.

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Kame Ramen in Nomad.  I had spicy chicken miso with sesame oil and a soft boiled egg.

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I did manage to cook one meal at home – loaded baked potato casserole / shredded chicken with bbq sauce / spinach salad with pomegranate, marcona almonds, and Trader Joe’s cilantro salad dressing.

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Have a great week!

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