I made patty melts. Turkey burgers, swiss cheese, and Emmy sauce on toasted rye. Plus roasted broccoli and cauliflower tossed in scallion peanut sauce.
Super savory umami bowls of sautéed cabbage, ground turkey cooked in shallot oil with gojuchang, toasted peanuts, and chili crisp.
Turkey reuben sandwiches for St. Patrick’s day. Rye, swiss, smoked turkey, tons of sourkraut, and homemade thousand island sauce.
We had a great time this weekend visiting some of our favorite spots and discovering some new favorites! Highlights include…
High Low Beverage Company. Vietnamese-influenced with a gorgeous backyard. Cherry and lime leaf jelly doughnut.
Tiki New Fashioned – banana-infused Four Roses bourbon, Plantation pineapple dark rum, pandan syrup, tiki bitters / HiLo Hello – Thai chili-infused mezcal with lime, passionfruit, and cane syrup.
Papaya salad with sambal beef jerky, cabbage, herbs, peanuts, fried shallots, fresno chili, and plum vinaigrette.
Double Chicken, Please. Draft cocktails, massive sandwiches, and clever desserts! #2 – Teeling small batch whiskey, brown butter, black raisin, honey, verjus (warm) / #9 Barcardi Cuatro rum, St. Germain, verjus, amontilado sherry, banana, walnut.
Five spice and plum salt sweet potato chips.
Hen of the woods mushroom sandwich with seaweed and bamboo / fried chicken sandwich with shrimp, brioche, and salted duck yolk sauce.
Shot – mezcal with plum and shiso / ice ice weenie – chocolate ice cream on a potato bun with salted duck egg sauce, hot honey, and whiskey cream.
We found fresh soursop juice at the Dominican place in Essex Market.
All the beers (truly, almost all of the beers) at Evil Twin. My three favorites were the ET Stay Home 6 Royal Treatment – sour ale with peaches, papaya, pineapple, passion fruit, coconut, marshmallow, vanilla, and cacao / This Deli Needs a Bigger Double Kiwi Lime Coconut Muffin Lassi Gose / Luxurious Luxury – imperial Berliner gose with grapefruit, tart raspberry candy, coconut, and marshmallow.
We also finally checked out (and loved!) Bridge and Tunnel Brewery just down the street. Everything we tried was great but the standout was the F**k the Virus coconut New England IPA.
Super Moon Bakehouse. Epic baked goods. I loved this cookie butter, dulce de leche crunch cookie with my whole heart.
I also brought home a square of sourdough focaccia and made an insane turkey and cheddar sandwich.
I couldn’t contain myself but this terrible picture is to serve as a placeholder to remind Adam and I that we want takeout from The Meat Hook again immediately. We had several sandwiches and the best french onion dip I’ve ever tasted.
Adam and I had a ton of time together this week, which is just the best. We both had time off in the day on Monday and Wednesday and we liked our date so much on Monday – breakfast at Winner, a walk through Prospect Park, and lunch at Ix Restaurant – that we did the exact same things in reverse on Wednesday!
Prospect Park was an iced-over death trap but it was my absolute favorite activity of the week because we got to see swans.
Highlights from the week include…
Lots of fun in coffee. I enjoyed these new Cokes with coffee exactly as much as I thought I would.
This Trader Joe’s instant cold brew is weak on it’s own but it can total save a not-great cup of coffee.
Coffee-flavored Nutrament with a canned Stumptown.
Fancy lattes from Brooklyn Perk, mine was made with rose.
Winner’s sourdough croissant was a total win.
Meal 1 at Ix. Corn thickened Champurrado hot chocolate.
I had the kimchi soup with chicken, noodles, and poached eggs.
Meal 2 at Ix. Hot chocolate with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Chips with bean dip and crazy-good housemade hot sauce.
Corn with cotija cheese, sour cream, cilantro, and chile.
Caldo Tlalpeno Rojo – soup with chicken, tomato, garlic, onion, peas, chickpeas, corn, achiote, chipotle, Oaxaca cheese, and tortilla strips.
Ciao, Gloria blew our minds with their lemoncello pistachio bars. Also we had an unphotographed housemade Oreo that was the best cookie I’ve ever eaten.
Trader Joe’s smoked salmon dip is a household favorite.
Leftover Thai green beans with soft-scrambled eggs, vegetarian pork floss, and chili oil.
Homemade taco bowls. Brown basmati rice / ground turkey / sharp cheddar / sautéed orange and yellow bell pepper and onion.
Loxchos(!!) with roasted brussel sprouts. Trader Joe’s everything bagel seasoning chips with swiss and Gruyere, hot-smoked salmon, and green onion.
Take-out dinner from Winner, plus roasted zucchini. We split a smoked chicken salad sandwich and a grilled cheese with cheddar, provolone, and romesco sauce on sourdough.
I was off on Wednesday (I work the weekend again) and I took myself into the city for Dough Doughnuts. This key lime pie doughnut – enrobed in toasted marshmallow!! – was 100% worth braving the cold.
We’ve been in a pandemic for more than a year now and Winter 2021 already feels too long so I am looking to maximize the joy in my life wherever I can; hence, I declared chocolate-covered cherry the official theme flavor of Valentine’s week and I have been eating the combo left and right!
See also – vanilla milk and luxardo juice (plus a bit of red food coloring!) plus espresso blended with hot chocolate mix.
This chocolate cherry smoothie was hands-down the best smoothie I’ve ever made/consumed. TJ’s frozen sweet dark cherries, luxardo cherries, plain Greek yogurt, chocolate milk.
Ruby cacao covered cherries + strawberry and hibiscus chocolate.
Related note – I don’t even like Hershey’s Kisses but these lava cake ones are currently one of my top five favorite products.
All of our dinners this week were tasty and wonderful (and a snap to prepare!).
Meatball subs with roasted green beans. Turkey meatballs – stuffed with garlic, fish sauce, and urfa chili peppers – tossed in marinara sauce on a toasted hoagie roll with mozzarella. Our sandwiches were comically large but neither of us could stop from finishing them because they were so yummy!
Wild mushroom chicken sausages – topped with caramelized onion and yellow mustard / roasted broccoli / Lays chili chips.
Pizza casserole. I made a crust layer out of riced cauliflower (with spices, eggs, and cheese), topped with mozzarella, marinara sauce and caramelized onions, chicken sausage, and turkey pepperoni.
Plus a sour IPA with milk sugar, peach, hibiscus, and lemon peel.
Tuna pita melts. Tuna salad with pickled red onions and sharp cheddar in the whole-wheat pita that I practically deep-fried in butter. Plus roasted zucchini with sumac.
Goodbye 2020, hello 2021! Highlights from the last week/end of the year include…
It was our wedding anniversary on Monday and Adam knows me very well so he surprised me with flowers and ice creams. The coffee flavor had the best consistency, so chewy!
Local, NYE-themed beers. The Kills Boro was great, a sour with milk sugar, coconut, pineapple, and strawberry.
Pretzels with hummus + Whole foods chicken nuggets and honey mustard.
Trader Joe’s scallion pancakes topped with Kewpie, Sriracha, vegan pork floss, and furikake. <– reminder to myself to make this more often!
Smoked turkey sandwiches on pretzel rolls with strawberry jam, truffle mayo, and mozzarella. Plus potato chips and simple salads.
NYE cheese plates! Sharp cheddar / smoked almonds / blackberries and strawberries / Trader Joe’s gouda and cheddar cheese crisps / ruby cacao covered cherries.
The last week has been pretty wonderful; we made it through the first winter storm unscathed and I’ve officially eaten all of the on-theme holiday things I was excited about for this year!
Highlights included…
787‘s iced coquito latte won our hearts as our favorite coffee of the year! So thick and wonderfully spiced and just sweet enough! We also had a fantastic marzipan latte.
Strawberry jam filled / salted brown butter caramel glazed / pecan hawaij sticky bun.
Lunch at Nowon. I thought I didn’t like soju but this Tiger Bomb cocktail with jasmine, yuja citron, and mint syrup changed my mind.
I kept warm with Fire Chicken – spicy chicken with cabbage, rice cakes, and mozarella.
And lost my mind for the honey butter tater tots with labneh and seaweed.
Checking out Leyenda‘s Sleyenda decorations is our favorite holiday tradition and this year’s outdoor set up did not disappoint.
I had a Coquito Ho Ho – tequilla, sherry, coconut liquor, and coconut with cinnamon and egg.
And a Candy Striper which was hands-down our favorite cocktail/beverage of the year. I said at least ten times “this drink is making me so happy!” It’s a frozen blend of cachaça, coconut, vanilla, maple, lime, peppermint, and cardamom.
Hummus and pretzels with nougat and candied apricot candies my parents sent me.
Malai‘s toasted nutmeg ice cream basically tastes like eggnog! And the consistency is out of this world.
We made a batch of my Bahn Mi Chicken Salad and it was even better than I remembered. With roasted veggies and local sourdough.
Sourdough also made an appearance in great turkey sandwiches with cheddar, jam, and garlic mayo. Plus baby carrots and salted egg yolk chips.
Buffalo chicken meatball sandwiches. With sauteed carrot and celery in a mustard sauce.
The number one weekend highlight was walking around Bushwish for a bit; there is so much street art it is practically like visiting a museum!
Other highlights included…
On its own this Sleigh Ride coffee can was more ho-hum than ho-ho-ho, but mixed into eggnog it was wonderful. Who knew that pepperminty eggnog is what my life was missing?!
I had a black bean and pepperjack kolache and a soft taco with cheese, eggs, and hot sauce.
We went to L’imprimerie to get a loaf of bread for next week and ended up with a fantastic lunch. 10/10 sandwich with duck pate, cornichons, and arugula.
Poppy seed and marzipan croissant.
The whole family enjoyed a lovely afternoon at Evil Twin.
Best brews (in my opinion) were the “Sour Pepper Cherry Vanilla Float” soda-style sour ale / the “I always Look Forward to Outdoor Dining in My Snowsuit” triple IPA / and the “How Much Cheese is Even More Cheese” raspberry cheesecake sour ale.
Also we had the Sweet Revenge, the most “me” cocktail of all time – a frozen blend of vodka, aquavit, Aperol, pink guava, cinammon, citrus, and milk punch.
An easy homemade dinner. Trader Joe’s frozen kung pow chicken zhuzhed up with added celery and extra peanuts.
Eating Chalk 