Tahini Frozen Cold Brew

Highlights from a weekend with a lot of Brooklyn walking (Prospect Heights to Cobble Hill // Greenpoint to Williamsburg) – – –

Coffee from home – iced phin-brew with ube and chocolate milk.

Edith’s has a brick-and-mortar now and their tahini and oat milk frozen cold brew officially made it into my top five lifetime favorite coffees!

Our spicy everything bagel with smoked mackerel salad and labneh was not bad either.

A very summery sandwich and seltzer from Campbell’s. Smoked chicken, pimento cheese, green apples, pickled onions, mayo, and arugula on sourdough + hibiscus and rose.

We went big for our last Smorgasburg visit of the season. Cookies and cream ice cream with toasted Italian meringue.

Duck Season royal poutine – duck fat fries, duck bacon, cheese curds, and duck gravy!!

This frozen daiquiri from Elsa is my new favorite cocktail. I would like all of my drinks to be served with butterscotch and date molasses from now on!

And this was my newest favorite bubble tea combo – peppermint tea with herbal jelly and strawberry hearts.

Gooey peanut butter cookie.

Dinner at Pinto Thai. We loved the assemble your Thai iced tea.

Chicken satay.

Green papaya salad.

Crispy chicken with walnut, almond, peanut, cashew, and pumpkin seeds.

Candy Corn – Love Or Hate?

Highlights from this week include – – –

Pumpkin Noosa + candy corn and Halloween mellow creams (I am very pro candy corn, by the way! I also like black licorice and mint candies)

I didn’t like this yogurt but I did quite enjoy the Jones bar.

Still very into these vegan pork rinds. Adam brought some into a work meeting and his coworkers were largely fans.

I scooped homemade caramelized onion, cheddar, and sour cream dip with these chips and that was obviously the best thing I ate all week!

I’d probably buy any Ben & Jerry’s new release but coffee with marshmallow was a no-brainer.

This week’s pumpkin booze was all from Shipyard. I shocked myself with how much I liked that seltzer.

I actually didn’t love this hatch chili mac and cheese and am posting to remind myself not to buy it again.

Whole Foods hot bar. Mac and cheese, green beans, buffalo cauliflower, and curried cauliflower.

Passionfruit vinegar chicken from the crock pot (extremely loosely based on this recipe). With roasted broccoli.

California bowls! Imitation crab sticks with cucumber and avocado / dressed with Kewpie, chili oil, and rice vinegar / and topped with furikake.

Spooky Season

It was a nice, Long Island weekend! We tried several new-to-us spots and went to Farmer’s Markets in Huntington and Port Jefferson.

I kicked off Pumpkin Month with a pumpkin pie soda taste-test at work! We were split 50/50 on liking it or not (not for me but it was fun to try, fyi).

Also new cookies and scream m&m’s. Again, split, my coworkers who really like m&m’s at baseline thought they were great.

And Adam and I kicked off spooky season with a trip to GHOST brewing.

Bougie green juice – pineapple, ginger, lemon, cucumber, kale, and mint.

We made a baby iced matcha with salted maple cold foam.

Blackberry jam stuffed doughnut.

Yogurt bowl with honey, jumbo blueberries, coconut, and sweet and spicy pecans.

Tiny cucumbers with buffalo chicken dip.

Macarons from Crave – Oreo and peanut butter cup.

Ridiculous scrambled eggs with butter, cheddar, gouda, leftover roasted squash, urfa chili, and gochugaru.

Whole Foods hot bar – salmon, cauliflower, broccoli, mac and cheese, and roasted butternut squash.

Chicago dog from Rock City Dogs, with crispy fries.

Plus I got a pumpkin ale with an amazing cinnamon sugar rim.

Best meal of the weekend goes to dinner at Ella’s. Great pizza! Tell All Your Friends – roasted Japanese eggplant, marinara, ricotta, garlic confit, mozzarella, and pickled fennel // Dark Side of the Moon – smoked duck, brie cream, caramelized onions, and mozzarella.

Plus inventive cocktails, I had a cherry coke with vodka, bitters, and fernet and a smoked tequila with coffee and grapefruit.

Big Happy

Adam was free on vacation last week – and I managed a few overlapping days off as well! – and we had a wonderful time. Tons of dinners out, tons of time together (but never enough!), we walked from Williamsburg across the bridge to Koreatown and back, took a long stroll eating around Ridgewood/Bushwick, and spent some time at Rockaway Beach. A great week!

Highlights include —

Breakfast on the beach boardwalk. Nutella iced latte from Rockaway Roaster and an amazing guava cheese danish from Rockaway Bakery (they also have croissant bread loaves and I’m dying to go back!).

Maple oat-milk matcha lattes.

Freeze-dried honeycrisps with a seed bar.

Boozy apple pie milkshakes!

This double IPA from Stone was very drinkable.

Chips with what ended up being the best jarred salsa I’ve ever eaten.

Mochi things from Mochii, mochi stuffed with cookies and cream ice cream and mochi balls with toasted rice powder and peanuts.

Chamoyada from Maya’s Snack Bar – tamarind ice cream with fresh mango and tons of chamoy and tajin.

Leftovers from Mud Club in Woodstock were still great.

Delicious birria burrito and quesadilla from Nene’s Deli Taquiera.

Omakase at Shinn East. Every single bite was perfectly composed and it was so fun to watch the chef up close.

We had one of the best dinners of our lives at Little Mad.

I didn’t take many pictures because I was too busy swooning. Favorites were fried maitake mushrooms with sour cream and onion dip served in an onion(!!).

And this insane, upscale take on corn and cheese – baby corn, fried corn silk, caramel popcorn, and comte cheese fondue.

Highlights From The Hudson Valley

Adam and I just spent an absolutely fantastic weekend in the Hudson Valley. We did a day and a half in Hudson followed by a day exploring Tivoli and Woodstock. We had a million coffees and desserts, explored cute downtowns, hiked a bit at the High Falls Conservation Area, and took a quick walk at the Tivoli Bay.

Food and drink highlights include…

Perfectly roasty iced lattes at Hudson Roastery. This was how we started both mornings in Hudson.

Inventive, extra-flakey pastries from Breadfolks in Hudson. This was a lemon meringue danish and a baklava croissant(?!!).

A freshly fried doughnut at Kitty’s Marketplace in Hudson.

We are obsessed with this seltzer, that I have been sadly unable to find back in the city.

Halo halo at Harana Market in Woodstock.

Concord grape sorbet and peanut butter swirl ice cream at Fortunes in Tivoli. This is quite possibly the best ice cream I have ever eaten.

Pupusas with queso and loroco at Casa Latina in Hudson.

Lunch outside at the food truck at Phoenicia Diner in Phoenicia. Sourdough toast with mashed avocado, sweet corn, heirloom tomato, poached egg, lime tofu, and farmers cheese // tuna salad sandwich with line-caught tuna, mayo, herbs, and wasabi tobiko.

A pimento cheese smothered hot dog at The Maker in Hudson.

Woodfired sourdough pizzas at The Mud Club in Woodstock. Bianca Rustica – mozzarella di bufala, vesuvian semi-dry red and yellow tomatoes, and evoo + hot honey // Mellanza de Pesto – tomatoes, roasted eggplant, mozzarella, aged gouda, and house-made pesto.

A terrific dinner at Lil’ Deb’s Oasis in Hudson. Maiden Voyage – rum, spicy vermouth, soursop, tajin salt rim.

Tuna crudo with mango-habanero water, plum, husk cherry, and kohlrabi // sweet plantains with cilantro yogurt.

Crispy potatoes with lime pickle aioli, curry leaf, and pickled chilis.

Bok choy and endive salad with caesar-poblano dressing, pistachios, and anchovy.

Plato tropical – rice, black beans, and garlicy greens.

Fermented lentil dosa with marinated shiitakes, radish, and herbs. I am a sucker for mint in savory dishes and this ended up being one of my favorite things I’ve ever eaten!

All in all, a wonderful weekend!

Sour Apple

Highlights from this week included – Trader Joe’s sourdough sliced bread, Apple Month stuff, vegan junk food, end of summer veggies…

Cinnamon apple chia oats. <– I also had a(n unphotographed) bar with chia seeds this week, I need to remember to eat more chia, it’s delicious!

Cinnamon apple Over Easy bar.

Zestar apple with a salted caramel Noosa yogurt.

Salted maple kettle corn and freeze-dried fuji apples. P.S. The Trader Joe’s freeze-dried fruits are superior to all others.

Not apple-themed but still amazing – these Snacklins vegan pork rinds. I scooped crab dip with them and it was my favorite snack of the week!

Bacon egg and cheese sandwich for brinner. Toasted sourdough with mayo, yellow mustard, honey-maple sliced turkey, sharp cheddar, turkey bacon, and a fried egg. Plus yellow peach and heirloom tomatoes. Plus on-theme chocolates.

This was supposed to be a roast beef sandwich but our stores were all out?! Sourdough with pastrami-style turkey (probably better than my original plan!), black garlic and horseradish mayo, and sharp cheddar. With roasted orange and purple cauliflower.

Vegan chicken nuggets and roasted zucchini and yellow squash dipped in Bitchin’ Sauce.

A take on callaloo with turkey bacon and crab.

Ube, Inari, Cheese

Highlights from a very tasty weekend…

Fresh soursop juice!!

Lunch at Kabiesera. Rice with amazing adobo chicken. Ube iced latte. Ube pastry.

Giant inari (tofu skin stuffed with rice and meat) from Yubu. We got salmon, crab, and spicy tuna.

Chai tow kueh (fried radish cakes) from Queens Night Market.

Mochi dango with red bean and condensed milk.

An epic homemade cheese plate. Smoked goat cheese / red plum / bucheron / whole-wheat matzoh / roasted purple cauliflower / 2 year aged cheddar / espresso-infused dark chocolate / mixed nuts / dried apricots.

We made the best pizza. Trader Joes crust / marinara sauce that we jazzed up with sardines, urfa pepper, gojuchang, chili oil, and tons of garlic / sautéed oyster mushrooms / chicken and wild mushroom sausage / cheese. Plus roasted green beans.

You Can’t Make Friends With Salad

Highlights from this week…

20/10 coffee combo. We brought back several bags of Trager Brothers coffee from our Charlottesville visit.

Snack loves. BBQ Love Corn.

Very fancy chocolates.

The world’s most satisfying snack = apple slices dipped in peanut butter.

It is actually my birthday today(!) so obviously I’ve been excitedly saving these themed items for months.

A week of exciting salads! A new take on our favorite bean salad – black beans with green and yellow bell pepper, Dubliner cheese, peanuts, and green Tabasco.

BBQ inspired – Local greens with pulled chicken with bbq sauce / cheddar / grapes / black beans / corn nuts / esquites-style corn.

Caribbean inspired – spinach/arugula blend with roasted romanesco / shrimp / sunflower seeds / coconut chips / homemade creamy passionfruit vinaigrette.

Greek inspired – bell peppers, baby tomatoes, cucumber, TJ’s Greek feta dressing, and roasted chickpeas.

Plus chili oil pizza from a new restaurant that is dangerously close to our apartment.

P.S. Adam and I are both off for a few days next week and we’re going on a little trip upstate-ish to the Hudson Valley! I am not packing a camera but I’m sure I’ll be posting a ton on instagram.