Butterscotch instant coffee! I liked this better than their maple flavor but still wanted it to have more roasty oomph.
It was perfect in my fluffernutter coffee shake. With ice, skim milk, additional cold brew powder, vanilla protein powder, peanut butter, marshmallow fluff, and frozen banana.
I know I’m repetitive but this combination is perfect – plain skyr with blueberries, blackberries, and chocolate cookie granola.
Pumpkin pie Perfect Bar. I prefer the chocolate flavors but these are always good.
This minty chocolate Barebells bar was a 10/10. I love the layer of gooey mint; this is fully like eating a candy bar (with zero grams of added sugar).
Spinach and artichoke casserole. Sauteed frozen artichokes and chopped spinach with garlic and gochugaru, eggs, plain Greek yogurt, shredded chicken breast, lemon juice, cheese, and Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocchi.
Chicken congee. Brown rice slow-cooked with vegetable broth, white pepper, ginger, fish sauce, and shredded chicken. Topped with chopped boy choy and Trader Joe’s Cruciferous Crunch veggies sauteed with garlic, dark soy sauce, and rice vinegar. Plus tons of chili crisp. The veggie broth (which gave this its orange hue) worked great in here and I would use it again.
We went to the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze and LOVED IT. It is a self-guided tour through a field with thousands of hand-carved lit-up pumpkins.
We made a pumpkin bread inspired frozen coffee – with coffee, ice, half and half, cinnamon, maple syrup, pumpkin butter, and vanilla granola butter.
We had a lackluster dinner at a fancy sushi spot and got a garlic sauteed Chinese broccoli side that was just delightful.
We made and loved another recipe from Recipe Tin Eats – Spicy Korean Noodle Soup. I used ramen instead of egg noodles. Plus Trader Joe’s frozen tofu kimbap.
We embraced the season/theme and bought Ben & Jerry’s pumpkin cheesecake ice cream (9.5/10).
This week marked Webster’s thirteenth Buyday! We celebrated with a walk at Edgewood Oak Brush Plains Preserve.
Plus smashburgers from Paper Plate. The dog and I shared a double 🙂
The human family members also enjoyed some fries.
Also we checked out Kismet Coffee and had a honey vanilla latte. They were out of skim milk and the pistachio milk was surprisingly pleasant.
Snacks this week were most bougie/international candies. The last of my Bon Bon stash.
Blueberry and sour passionfruit gummies (both 9.5/10’s!).
Colombian guava caramel candies.
My parents sent me this hibiscus sugar for my birthday so I tried it in some fun drinks.
Like a smoothie with frozen blueberries, vanilla protein powder, and water.
And in cold foam on an iced matcha.
One of my favorite dinner combinations is cole slaw with baked chicken. This bowl was Bang Bang inspired! Cabbage slaw with plain skyr, sweet chili sauce, honey, rice vinegar, Sriracha, mayo, and dijon mustard and baked chicken that was marinated in skyr, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, sesame oil, oyster sauce, and sweet chili sauce.
Turkey Laab. Paired with roasted zucchini and a mix of brown rice and roasted riced cauliflower.
Leftover cauliflower/rice with marinated kale (basically this recipe) and cheesy scrambled eggs.
Tofu – baked shredded super firm tofu that I tossed in a skillet with Trader Joe’s yuzu green tea jelly, gochujang, rice vinegar, and sesame oil / sauteed baby bok choy with ginger and sesame seeds / radish cakes from the 99 Ranch freezer section.
This was easily one of our best weekends! I say that every weekend I get to spend with Adam, but still! We got to eat a thousand tasty things and admire a thousand beautiful things in Long Island, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. And our fridge is full of the most exciting leftovers! Highlights…
Amano Cafe Rocket Fuel, cold brew with maple and oat milk.
Strawberry smoothie. Frozen strawberries and cherries with water and vanilla protein powder. You can’t tell that those gummies were strawberry cake-shaped but I had a whole theme going.
Something & Nothing seltzer’s new flavor – pineapple and pink grapefruit – was a hit
This Hubba Bubba/Skittles min gum is an 11/10 and I recommend purchasing it. And it’s sugar-free!
Postcard Bakery 100% lived up to the hype. We had raspberry mochi donuts (best donut of my life), a lemon roll, and a sesame chocolate chip cookie.
Sea Cliff shave ice. We got cola and butter pecan with vanilla ice cream (they have the best, chewy ice cream) and mochi.
Thick ice cream. They were out of the chocolate cola flavor (so they will be seeing me again) but we did get to try buttered cherry pie.
We visited the Deep Roots farmers’ market (which is lovely and right on the water in Garvey’s Point) and had several treats. Jerk chicken empanadas.
S’mores cookie.
Homemade garlic bread chicken sandwiches. These were insane. Ciabatta baked with a mixture of butter, garlic, sugar, smoked paprika, gochugaru, and mozzarella cheese / baked chicken marinated in yogurt, lemon, and tons of garlic. Plus roasted broccoli.
And split a bowl with jerk chicken, sweet plantains, macaroni salad, grilled zucchini, spicy corn, coleslaw, cilantro aioli, and white rice.
Noreetuh. The lighting at this cute/cozy Hawaiian spot was abysmal but I am going to share my unattractive photos because the food was so great. They were doing a pre-fix menu for Restaurant Week so I got to try a ton of stuff. Bigeye tuna poke with macadamia nuts. Plus an amaretto Colada with dark rum, pineapple, and coconut. I also had an unphotographed Mai Tai – best I’ve ever tasted – with dark rum, pineapple, apricot brandy, and orgeat syrup.
Garlic butter shrimp bowl with pineapple, chili, macaroni salad, and steamed rice.
Sundae with chocolate haupia, graham crackers, almonds, Hawaiian black salt, and coconut ice cream.
Super Bueno. These were some of the very best cocktails we’ve ever tasted (and we tried most of the menu!). Salted Plum and Tamarind Milk Punch – charanda, ayuuk, salted plum & tamarind, lojana tea, and milk + Roasted Corn Sour – corn whiskey, reposado tequila, roasted corn, guajillo, lemon, and egg white.
Vodka Y Soda – vodka, guava, pasilla, and soda. This is hands-down my favorite drink I’ve ever tasted.
We got nachos as an afterthought and they ended up being the best nachos I’ve ever bought. With mushroom carnitas, poblano, pickled jalapeño, red onion, crema, Mexican cheese blend, cilantro, and mole negro. Now we need to go back again for a full meal!
Win Son. This was my favorite meal of the year (Adam chooses Noreetuh). Plant Daddy cocktail – cilantro-mint tequila, matcha, lemon, simple syrup, and egg white. I also had an unphotographed Breakfast of Champions with almond milk, roasted black sesame, El Dorado 5 year rum, rum cream, and toasted coconut.
Pea shoots with yun hai bean paste, sesame, and fried garlic.
Fried eggplant with black vinegar, labne, and spiced cashews.
Beef roll with garlic-ginger cucumbers and tons of herbs.
Sesame noodles with roasted oyster mushrooms, snow pea leaves, and peanuts.
Wavy noodles with lamb and fermented bean sauce.
Sundae with fried sweet dough, golden sesame ice cream, and red rice condensed milk plus we added butter fried peanuts and cilantro and made it a 15/10.
Fluffernutter frozen iced coffee. With half and half, cold brew powder, roasted marshmallows, vanilla protein powder, frozen banana, and chunky peanut butter.
Summer fruit! This bowl was blueberries and Rainier cherries.
Chip City did a blueberry Eggo Waffle cookie special with maple icing and it was devine.
Chocolate snacks I loved. Tru Fru dried strawberries with dark and white chocolate.
This brownie Perfect Bar was lovely. The level of salt was a pleasant surprise.
We are really enjoying this (giant bin of) Spanish cocktail mix. It has the best crunchy chickpeas I’ve ever tasted.
I picked up this frozen vegan kimchi kimpap at 99 Ranch and was blown away but how well it reheated.
Friday night we had late errands and ate a mall food court dinner (bourbon chicken, duh) so we pregamed with a green smoothie. Frozen spinach, mango, pineapple, banana, lime juice, vanilla protein powder, and water.
Breakfast patty melts for brinner. Whole-wheat bread with dijon mustard / turkey patties seasoned with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, gochugaru, and maple syrup / sliced Dubliner cheese. Plus green beans – steamed then sauteed with honey, German mustard, yellow mustard, Sriracha, and water.
P.S. I will show a picture next post but I currently have a HOMEMADE LASAGNA in the oven. I am so excited for dinner! Layers of lasagna noodles / equal parts ricotta, cottage cheese, and mozzarella cheese with eggs, salt, and pepper / sauce = sauteed ground turkey and yellow onion with Fresno chili pepper, fresh tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and gochugaru / mozzarella on top.
July 11th aka 7-11 day aka free slurpee day is my favorite summer holiday. I got cola and blue raspberry.
I found pickle crisps so obviously I had to plan a whole cheeseburger-theme dinner week.
Listed from good to great. Fried rice. Leftover white rice stir-fried with soy sauce and rice vinegar / Sugar Bomb grape tomatoes / green onion / ground turkey / pickle crisps / egg / sharp cheddar / sesame seeds. Plus eggplant that I roasted and then sauteed with a spicy sesame honey mustard sauce (1 Tbsp each German mustard, goguchang, honey, rice vinegar, tahini, and water ) and topped with Kewpie and sesame seeds.
Cheese fries. Waffle fries / sharp cheddar / ground turkey sauteed with ketchup and mustard / diced green onion, heirloom tomato, and bread and butter pickles / special sauce (for three servings – 2 Tbsp Greek yogurt and 1 Tbsp each mayo, German mustard, yellow mustard, ketchup, and honey / side of roasted purple cauliflower.
This weekend included some fun Long Island stops as well as a trip to Bushwick for dinner and my favorite street art in the city.
Some highlights…
Brunch at Orwasher’s. We shared an Edith’s tahini frozen iced coffee.
And lox toast with goat cheese and capers.
Instant coffee I carried home from Denver.
Summer fruit.
Gong Cha‘s cream brulee series has my heart. With strawberry milk and pudding.
S’mores! My sister-in-law got us a mini fire pit kit so we took Webster on a mini picnic.
I used peanut butter sandwich crackers, milk chocolate, and vegan marshmallows.
Whole Foods’ pineapple pie cookie with sprinkles!
Reminder to myself that the Whole Foods hot bar has great options when you go at lunch time. Spicy cucumber sesame salad, hard-boiled egg, sauteed veggies.
Salmon salad rolls. Canned sockeye salmon with mayo, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, celery seed, smoked paprika, and scallions on brioche hot dog rolls. Plus sauteed asparagus with lemon, pepper, and garlic.
Nowon – best dinner of the summer so far. We tried and loved their wood-fired margherita pizza with gojuchang marinara, mozzarella, basil, and chili oil.
Horchata with hibiscus, pineapple citrus, almond, and cinnamon / Smoke & Mirrors – spicy mezcal, amaretto, and pineapple / seasonal cocktail with cherry, sour plum, yuzu, and soju.
The best drink of the night was the Dew Drop with added Tito’s; lavender, yuzu, and juniper.
We shared the seven-course “Mix Tape” pre-fixe and every dish was a showstopper. Whipped ricotta toast with homemade focaccia, citrus jam, and chili oil. I was expecting not to care for this but it ended up being my second favorite dish of the night!
Broccolini a la Caesar with black sesame, parmesan, and candied anchovies.
Spicy gojuchang fried chicken.
Chopped cheese rice cakes.
Honey garlic butter tater tots. <– my favorite dish. These guys are so perfectly crunchy!
Legendary cheeseburger = double smashed patties, kimchi special sauce, roasted kimchi, pickles, onion, and American cheese. After Elder Greene, I think this is the 3rd best cheeseburger in NYC.
Plus dessert I didn’t capture – honeydew panna cotta with mint and lime.
Yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with blueberries, passionfruit, and chocolate cookie granola.
Cookie dough protein yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with peanut butter, brown sugar, vanilla bean powder, vanilla protein powder, and chocolate chips. Blueberries on the side, of course.
Hojicha tea with yuzu curd and passionfruit syrup.
Bougie candies. Candy Kitten raspberry + guava (7/10) and Jom cola (10/10).
I really enjoyed this Buldak cheese spicy chicken ramen. This flavor wasn’t too spicy and the noodles were so bouncy! I added an egg and a slice of cheese to my bowl and it was great.
A take on callaloo. Frozen spinach cooked down with light coconut milk, yellow onion, habanero pepper, ginger, urfa pepper, salt, pepper, turkey bacon, and crab.
I topped my bowl with soursop hot sauce and paired it with hot mustard Doritos.
Sushi roll bowls. Brown rice and roasted riced cauliflower with furikake, white sugar, and rice vinegar / imitation crab with green onion, Greek yogurt, mayo, soy sauce, and Sriracha / cucumbers tossed with white pepper, Sichuan pepper, and rice vinegar / avocado / pickled ginger / seaweed snacks on the side.
Crab fried rice. Leftover cauliflower/rice stir-fried with soy sauce, fish sauce, ginger, green onion, crab meat, and eggs. Plus fairytale eggplants that I roasted and then sauteed with gojuchang, tahini, and sesame oil. We want to remake this eggplant immediately.
Eating Chalk 