Lunch N Oats

breakfast

This week’s coffee (a mix of Community Coffee and Brooklyn Roasting Co) was iced with milk (a mix of vanilla almond milk and skim).  Sweetened with honey – meh.

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And maple – yum!

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And paired with watermelon juice.

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And an apple.

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lunch

2% Lingonberry Strawberry Siggi’s with chopped apricot and plum and Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes.

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The rest of the week was all about the oats.

Chocolate chip oats with peanut butter and diced apricot stirred in.  Plus goats milk maple caramels on the side.

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Coconut maple oats with purple rose plums(!!) and chocolate pumpkin seeds.

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And oats from home.  With freeze-dried strawberries, chia seeds, chocolate covered cocoa nibs, and chocolate chunks.

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snack

Delicious nougat bar my parents bought me at BRKLYN Larder.  Adam bought me Luxardo cherries for my birthday there too and I am so excited to start using them.

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Iced Americano with cream.

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Herbed turkey and Havarti roll-up.

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I ate several handfuls of prunes this week.  The snack situation was getting pretty bleak.

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But then we bought the new Reuben lays.

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It was amazing, if you were blindfolded you still would totally taste rye bread and thousand island dressing.  If they were kettle chips instead of the flimsy regular kind they’d be my new favorite.

dinner

Leftovers from Sunday.  Whole-wheat penne topped with sautéed turkey, mushrooms, and onions in marinara sauce.

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Eaten cold, out of the Tupperware, in front of the open fridge.  It’s kind of crazy how classy I am.

The next night really was pretty snazzy though.

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Lemon Pepper Baked Shrimp with shredded Brussels sprouts and barely.

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Recipe HERE, this cooks in less than 30 minutes.

Then we had big salads with red curry turkey burgers on top.

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Arugula blend topped with TJ’s Asian Sesame Vinaigrette, sliced cucumber, and baked shredded Brussels sprouts and broccoli.  Two notes – 1) baking the shredded B sprouts is my new favorite thing; 2) I bought TJ’s Thai-style chili and lime cashews to put on the salads and they were so spicy even I couldn’t eat them.

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The patties were lean ground turkey with tons of parsley and green onions, soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, red curry paste, and ground ginger.  Cooked in coconut oil.

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We were supposed to have this meal two nights in a row but we snacked on the 1st round of patties while we assembled the salads (and the dog ate an entire patty that fell on the ground!) and there ended up only being enough leftovers for one.  Really I won out though because this chile rellano from TJ’s was darn good.

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Best frozen meal ever.

Finish this thought – this weekend I am excited to…

Birthday Weekend Wrap-Up {I’m 30!}

My parents came to visit last weekend and Adam had two full days off so we were able to have lots of family fun.  My mom and dad technically didn’t come for my birthday, the dates just worked out, but we spent the weekend doing all of my favorite city things – walking, and eating, and eating while walking! – and hanging out with good childhood friends so it was pretty perfect.  And I’m 30 now, whomp, whomp.

Here are some highlights of the best places we walked and things we ate from the weekend…

Thursday night we walked around Williamsburg and had dinner at Pies ‘n Thighs.  I had hibiscus iced tea.

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And a chicken biscuit with hot sauce and honey butter.

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Instead of pie we did dessert at Milk Bar.

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Cereal milk soft-serve with cornflakes and hot fudge.

Friday we drove up to Montauk to explore.  We checked out the beachfront towns and hiked along this very cool stone pathway near the lighthouse.

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We stopped at the Long Island Levain and fell in love with the giant walnut chocolate chip cookies.

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And had lunch at Lunch.

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The seafood bisque was good.

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But lobster rolls were better.  They give you a big pile of buttered hot lobster meat and let you assemble your sandwich yourself.

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We stopped at a random restaurant late that night on our drive back and ended up having an amazing meal but I have no pictures because I wrongly assumed it would be terrible.  Adam and I plan on going back very soon for the flourless chocolate cake (though next time it won’t come with a birthday candle!).

Saturday was spent in Park Slope and Midtown.  We started with Doughnut Plant.

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Everyone loved their doughnuts (minus the beignets which just aren’t up to Plant standards) but tres leches are clearly the best.

Then trained to Grand Central Station.

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Cold brew from Café Grumpy.

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We shopped a bit, then explored Chelsea Market and The Highline.

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Watermelon juice from Num Pang was refreshing.

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And so was the mint seltzer from Brooklyn Soda Works.

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We headed back to Brooklyn for dinner.  Drinks at Pork Slope, aka my favorite bar.  And hibiscus vodka is definitely a favorite drink option.

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We got tater tots and spicy chicken nuggets – meh and yum! respectively – for appetizers which was good because I actually hadn’t tried any of the food at PS prior to that.

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Dinner was Luke’s for round 2 of lobster rolls.

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Best in the city, I think.  And they had cans of Downeats, the tasty cider I tried last weekend in Buffalo.

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I didn’t take a photo of the maple soft-serve at Corner of Vermont but it was worth a mention.

Sunday was our SoHo/Lower East Side Day.

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We started in DUMBO to park near the F train.

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And had to get coffees at Brooklyn Roasting Co.

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Then we had amazing brunch at Russ & Daughter’s.

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My “Lower Sunny Side” came with sunny side up eggs, Nova lox, and latkes.

Ice cream at Morganstern’s.

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Omg.  Vietnamese coffee and raw milk ice creams topped with fudge sauce and double Luxardo cherries.  I assumed everyone would share with me and they did not but I still managed to take this down.

We ended our weekend with dinner at The Smith.  The drink menu was on point; my “East Village Passion” had rum, lime, passionfruit, and fresh mint.

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We had ridiculously good fried green beans to start.

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I saw photos of the mac and cheese on instagram and had no choice to order that for my meal.

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With a watermelon and feta salad.

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So good.  We ordered the s’mores jar for dessert, obviously.

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Sadly I didn’t love it, but Adam was more than happy to eat my share.  Since he did not eat a giant ice cream after lunch that’s probably fair!  We will definitely go back again.

I left some things out because this post is already a bit lengthy, but I seriously did almost everything I love.  With the people I love.  <– aww!

I’d Have To Say April 25th

This was the most boring week of the month (July includes my trip to Maryland, a trip to Buffalo, a visit from my parents, and my 30th birthday!) but Adam and I kept things fun with lots of little dates.  Honestly, I have more fun going to the grocery store with my husband than I would have doing almost anything with someone else, so grabbing donuts before work with him is pretty thrilling.

breakfast

Breakfast note 1 – I stuck with a coffee combo that worked: Dark Roast Community Coffee with skim milk and fat-free half and half.  The coffee bag says to use 2 Tbsp grounds to 6 oz water and I use 3 Tbsp and my crappy coffee machine and it comes out perfect for my tastes.

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Breakfast note 2 – the GoMacro bars in this post are another former freebie.  The flavors I had this week were my new favorites, they had a lot more texture than the previous ones I tried.

Coffee, cinnamon applesauce, and GoMacro apples + walnuts (morning harvest).  They should have just called this flavor “apple pie” because that’s what it tasted like.

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An aprium – apricot-plum hybrid like a pluot but more apricot than plum – and GoMacro sesame butter + dates (sweet revival).  Sesame butter is a bit sweeter than other nut butters naturally; I’m having a hard time explaining the flavor of sesame butter but it is what this bar tastes like.

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Doughnut Plant date before work.  The fresh lavender flower flavor was tasty but the yeasted doughnut was too big for me for breakfast, I’ll have to stick to the cake varieties unless another really fun flavor pops up.  Adam had the chocolate chip cookie special and was basically swooning.

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Freeze-dried Fuji apple slices and GoMaco granola and coconut (balanced goodness).  The oats gave this a great consistency.

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That pop of pink is a new notebook from Target.  I’m obsessed.  I also bought a new day planner.

lunch

I was all about the sandwiches this week.  Caprese sandwich from the cafeteria.  Tomato, basil, mozzarella, and spinach.

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The plainest sandwich ever, also from the cafeteria.  Turkey, cheese, and mayo on a white roll.  I didn’t even have a fruit, vegetable, or whole grain on the side.  I badly sunburned my knees last weekend, long story, and I was feeling a little under the weather that day.

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Starbuck’s Thai-style peanut chicken wrap.  I was impressed with this, all of the fancy new foods looks pretty good.

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Lunch date at La Bagel Delight.  We spit a poppy seed bagel with lox and dill cream cheese.

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On Friday I did get back to my yogurt bowl roots.  2% Lingonberry & Strawberry Siggi’s with chopped aprium and pluot and KIND peanut butter granola.

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Kids, that granola is ridiculous – somehow it tastes like cookie dough?!

snack

Saturday – July 11th or 7/11 – was 7-11 Day so I got a free small slurpee.  Sour Patch watermelon and Coke were amazing together.  Also, I eat my fair share of sugar but half of a small slurpee kind of makes me want to die so I’m horrified by the existence of that extra-large cup.

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Guava cheese empanada.  I will be so sad if this food truck moves away from my LIRR station.

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Ice cream date.  We got raw egg topped with salted caramel, sesame honeycomb, and Luxardo cherries.

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Morganstern’s ice cream is indescribably chewy, it is truly some of the best I’ve ever tasted.  And I cannot get over those cherries.

Have you seen this cute iced drink promotion at Starbucks yet?  Those ice cube stickers kill me.

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Maple latte.  With a sky-blue straw that made me so happy!

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I took a girlfriend to Nunu so I could try that spicy beer again.  And I forgot to write down the name for a 2nd time.  I enjoyed it, but not as much as I did when it was paired with chocolate; a full pint by itself was a bit much to get through.

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A chocolate chip cookie and a GoMacro cherries + berries (sunny uplift).  I was expecting to hate that flavor but it was actually yummy, the cherries were nice and tart and it had some oat texture.

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That cookie was totally not homemade.

dinner

My family sent me home from Solomon’s with some of my uncle’s amazing crab cakes.

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Best meal of the week.

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We sautéed the crab in a mix of melted butter and evoo.

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Served with a caprese-style salad on the side.

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Red and green lettuce mix dressed with truffle salt, evoo, and balsamic vinegar and topped with Kumato tomato and mozzarella.

Date night in the Lower East Side.  We got bowls at Korilla and they were so freaking good!  Sticky rice, gojuchang chicken, red kimchi, cucumber kimchi, monterey jack cheese, and a fried egg.  Plus Korean bbq and hot sauces.  My mouth was on fire and I was in heaven.

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We cooled down at Snowdays.  Black sesame shaved ice with sweetened condense milk, mochi, and Fruity Pebbles.

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We had parked in DUMBO so we got to walk home over the bridge.  It was so hot and sticky but still super fun.

Another day, another bowl, this time a Chipotle date on our couch.

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I got salad with peppers and onions, chicken, mild salsa, green salsa, sour cream, and cheese.  Plus chips and a giant diet coke on the side.  We go to Chipotle so often that the counter staff recognizes us, which is the most embarrassing thing on earth, but we can’t stop!

The opposite of date night, I made this dinner by myself while Adam worked a 30 hour shift.

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My Cheesy Eggplant Bake with diced yellow onion and light Havarti added in so I could use up some leftovers.

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Plus a great salad.

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Red and green lettuce // dressed with lavender salt, evoo, honey, and balsamic vinegar // topped with sweet and spicy pecans, dried bing cherries, and chia seeds.

Any other drink freebie deals I should know about for this summer?

July Fourth 2015 At Solomen’s

I had an absolutely amazing Independence Day with my family down on the river.  It was a complete joy to catch up with my loved ones!  My cousins both brought a ton of their college friends down with them so we had a bustling, entertaining crowd.

I was way too busy to take good pictures, but my aunt and uncle are both fantastic cooks and we ate like Kings all weekend.  Think crab cakes, cheese plates, bourbon slushies, and key lime pie.  90% of what passed my lips was either crab, booze, or fresh-picked berries so you know I had a great time!

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P.S. I was so freaking brave and I ate my first-ever soft-shell crab this weekend in Adam’s honor.

It’s The Weekend And I’m Not Crabby

That title is a play on words referencing a tasty casserole I made this week, but real talk – I was super cranky this week and I only have a few snippets to share…

breakfast

Coffee and a watermelon Greek yogurt.

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I was hoping that the cafeteria would have fresh watermelon on hand to pair with it but honestly that flavor is pretty delicious on its own.

Iced Americano with skim milk and a splash of half and half.

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I asked for Americano with “light water” which seems to be my perfect order; mostly espresso without being just espresso.

Cherries and a cheese stick.

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Yum!

lunch

Tropical chia pudding.

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Chia seeds soaked in canned coconut milk with honey and vanilla bean paste with a smashed banana stirred in the next day.

Cafeteria sandwich.

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Tuna salad on multigrain with veggies and muenster.

Cafeteria Inception-style salad.

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Greens with oil and balsamic vinegar topped with shredded cheddar and cucumber and carrot salads.

snack

Self-explanatory…

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Most of our snacks revolved around our homemade no-churn vanilla bean ice cream. <— have you commented on the cookbook giveaway post yet??

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Topped with melted dulce de leche and Valencia peanut butter.

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And whirled into ridiculous milk shakes with Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

dinner

Last night we went on a date to the mall to buy Adam sneakers and me bras and underwear because apparently we have a serious case of the olds.  We did keep things young and fresh by getting a fancy dinner at the food court.

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That’s “Drunken Noodles” from the new Thai spot, I guess.  The veggies were tasty (there were amazing pieces of eggplant) but it was a pretty poor representation of the dish.

The rest of our nights centered around this Cheesy Crab Pasta Bake.

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You see the creeper in that photo?  That’s how you know it’s good!

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Cheesy Crab Pasta Bake; serves 6-8

  • 8 oz dry bow-tie pasta
  • 1 Tbsp salted butter
  • 1 heaping Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1.5 cups milk
  • 4 oz shredded sharp cheddar
  • 4 oz shredded pepperjack
  • 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
  • 2 tsp fish sauce
  • juice from 1 lemon
  • 1 Tbsp minced garlic
  • 4 sliced green onions (green and white parts)
  • (2) 6 oz cans crab meat, drained and picked through if needed
  • 3 oz crab seasoned chips, crushed
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and prep an 8×8 inch casserole dish with baking spray.
  2. Cook al dente pasta according to manufacture’s instructions then rinse and set aside.
  3. In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter.  Whisk flour into butter to form a roux and cook 1-2 more minutes until it has slightly darkened.  Whisk milk into roux and cook 3-4 more minutes until thickened, stirring out any lumps as needed.  Working in batches, stir cheeses into sauce.
  4. Reduce heat to low and stir Old Bay, fish sauce, lemon, and garlic into sauce.
  5. Remove pan from heat and stir in pasta, green onions, and crab, tossing until mixture is well-combined.  Pour into prepared casserole dish and top evenly with crushed chips.
  6. Bake 23 – 25 minutes.

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Served with spinach salad with champagne vinaigrette, pepitas, and roasted broccoli.

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Have a great weekend!

Seoul Food Style

We got to spend time with several Buffalo friends, we went on some great walks, the puppy seems to be feeling a little better, and all in all it was a great weekend.  I’m missing a few shots, but here are most of my favorite eats…

breakfast

Giant iced coffee, always.

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That one has fat-free sweetened condensed milk and skim milk.  The SCM is leftover from a failed recipe trial, but Vietnamese-ish iced coffees are better than hot fudge root beer float popsicles (good in theory but I can’t make it work!) any day.

I tried the milk bread from TOUS les JOUR.

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Nice and vanilla-bean-y.

Another day, another coffee.

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I asked Starbucks to put the marshmallow whipped cream and milk chocolate from the S’mores Frappuccino into my skim latte and they happily delivered.  The taste was good but I was unbelievably ill by the halfway mark, I cannot even imagine drinking a full Frappuccino.

Plus Adam and I split a Pulsin’ maple peanut bar.

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It was vegan and made with pea protein and the nutrition stats were pretty good – 12 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber with 11 grams of sugar.  Not a bad breakfast for a busy morning of errands.

lunch

Lunch in Koreatown.  I set my mouth on fire with a kimchi bun and cooled it down with a (pink!) Harmless Harvest coconut water.

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Afterwards we shared dessert at Grace Street, our new favorite snow spot.

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We shared a machta latte.

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And a black sesame shaved ice with scm, boba, and mini marshmallows.

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Between the tapioca balls and the partially frozen marshmallows, this had so much chew!

“Dinner” for lunch.  We almost never cook a full meal in the daytime so this felt pretty fancy.

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Roasted broccoli with truffle salt,

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and “Cooking Light’s” Farro with Honey-Garlic Roasted Tomatoes.

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We added chopped turkey bacon and rotisserie chicken to the farro to make it a little more substantial.  Also I skipped the thyme (the bacon made up for the flavor), used fat-free feta, and subbed sherry for sherry vinegar.

snack

21st Amendment brews at the Gotham West Market.

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The market space was gorgeous and we want to go back for ramen and/or tacos soon but guys, holy crap, we paid $17 for two cans of beer!!!  At least, after a lot of walking along the piers, they were refreshing.

Can cookies at Schmackary’s become an every weekend tradition?

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This time we split a giant, chewy funfetti cookie topped with cream cheese frosting and tons of sprinkles.

We’ve been loving fruit-infused water lately; having a big jug in the fridge makes me much more likely to pour a glass.

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This week was lime and mint and last week was mint and grapefruit, which was even better.

Corn was popped.

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Enjoyed while Netflixing approximately eight billion old episodes of “Criminal Minds.”

A girlfriend and I had planned on going to Rice to Riches ever since the first summer we moved here and Monday the time was finally right.  I got a cookie cream rice pudding with mocha crumbles.  We both liked the pudding but thought it would be more enjoyable served in a bowl instead of a trough.

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My fancy cup was a skim cortado from Happy Bones, so that was fun.  And we took a great walk across the Williamsburg Bridge.

dinner

Our friends’ adorable baby girl just turned one and they invited us to her Doljanchi, a Korean 1st birthday party tradition.

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The buffet was great,

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but the best thing ever was getting to catch up with all of the med school friends (and their babies!) that we’ve been missing.

Saturday night we had an absolutely amazing dinner at The Marshal, a Hell’s Kitchen farm-to-table spot that focuses on seasonal, local goodies.  Bonus – the waitstaff are all insanely cute!

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I got an Earl’s Tea to drink – chilled Earl Grey Tea, Peace Vodka, Catskills Provisions raw honey, lemon, and orange cream bitters.

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We started with scallops – bourbon planked herb crusted Massachusetts jumbo scallops with caramelized lemon and assorted local herbs.

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And Arcadian Pastures deviled eggs – ramps-infused yolks, micro-wasabi, and crispy duck prosciutto.

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None of the appetizers really knocked our socks off (good but not the best ever) but the duck prosciutto was definitely smoky and amazing.

Our meals, on the other hand, were mind-blowing.  Adam got a bacon-wrapped pork loin that he loved so much he didn’t speak for the rest of the meal and I did a trio of farm sides.

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Roasted Bulich Farm snow while mushrooms, herb butter, Upstate white wine // Sautéed Lancaster Farm dandelion greens, red pepper flakes, grapeseed oil, Finger Lakes white wine // Satur Farms sweet potato and kale au gratin.  The gratin was out of this word; it was so rich I couldn’t even finish it.

We were too stuffed to do more than pick at dessert, but we couldn’t skip it!

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Bittersweet chilled chocolate fudge in NYC honey with honey comb, bee pollen, and Blue Marble vanilla ice cream.

The Lower East Side has always been my Manhattan haunt of choice, but lately Hells Kitchen has been rocking our socks off!  NYC readers, what’s your favorite neighborhood?

Staycation 2015: NYC

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Once we got home from St. Thomas (a week ago now,) our vacation turned into a staycation and the fun continued.  We got in a bunch of cuddle time with Webster, caught up on tv, and spent three straight days walking and eating.  On Friday we walked 6+ miles around the Upper West Side in one afternoon.  I know this post is running late, but that is because it is GIANT.  By sharing everything, leaving lots of leftovers, and through sheer force of will, Adam and I managed to try a ton of the restaurants on our “to-eat” list during our last days spring vacation.  I know I say that 8 different things in this post are “the best,” but I’m not exaggerating, these spots were all really outstanding.

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BAOHAUS

Baohaus serves some of the most inventive buns in the city.  We’ve gotten the Coffin Bao with fried chicken and chili sweetened condensed milk in the past and it was on point.  This trip we stuck with the Birdhaus – All natural fried chicken brined 24 hours, served with Haus Seasoning Salt, lemon-garlic aioli, crushed peanuts, Taiwanese red sugar, and cilantro.

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Plus tea from the shop next door.

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My milk tea had boba, grass jelly, and pudding.

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Bibble & Sip

B&S is an adorable little llama-adorned coffee shop on 8th ave just south of the park.  The baked goods looked great but we honed in on the lavender latte.  The floral flavor was perfectly balanced by the (skim)milk, though I wish we had gotten iced.

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Chuko Ramen

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Chuko is a modern-looking ramen spot in Prospect Heights.  This was actually our first official ramen experience, but I’m still feeling pretty confident in saying that this is the best in Brooklyn.

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Every dish had such umami.  We started with a shrimp bun with garlic tartar sauce.

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And crispy Brussels sprouts with fish sauce, peanuts, and pickled jalopeños.  The crunchy leaves were to die for.

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I got the veggie miso ramen with chicken, though they had the option to go full vegetarian.

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It was ridiculous.  The noodles were chewy, the broth was robust (and vegetarian!), and the poached chicken was unbelievable soft.  It came topped with sweet corn, greens in truffle oil, mushrooms, a soft-boiled egg, and chili oil.  This bowl was one of the best things I’ve ever tasted so it tells you a lot about the generous portion size that I couldn’t finish it.

Corner of Vermont

Corner of Vermont is a little shop on 5th in Park Slope that is Buddy the Elf’s dream – everything they sell is laced with maple syrup.  Black Bear Sugarworks‘ divinely smoky and complex maple syrup.  We were swooning over everything we tried, even the little cups of straight syrup they hand you at the door.  Adam got an amazing maple soft-serve and I got a maple soda.

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Plus we had a maple bear, the single best piece of maple sugar candy I’ve ever tasted.  The fantastic syrup gave it a great start, but also because the candy was so fresh the mouthfeel was perfect – the candy held up to the bite and then melted in your mouth.

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Dough

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These doughnuts are ubiquitous at this point – they sell them at Whole Foods and my hospital’s tiny coffee counter – but they are worth the treck to Fort Greene because they are a trillion times tastier straight from the source.  The dough is slightly sweet and not too dense and the glaze on my salted caramel chocolate was ridiculously chewy and deeply dark chocolate-y.

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Grand Central Station

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Café Grumpy makes us anything but grumpy, they have one of our all-time favorite expressos.  My skim macchiato was great.

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And the giant salted caramel macaron I paired with it also put a smile on my face.

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Hibino

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Hibino is a gorgeous sushi spot in Cobble Hill with a great selection of (many local varieties of) seafood and tofu that they make in-house.  I got an iced roasted barley tea which was unsweetened and very refreshing.

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We got seaweed salad which came with wakame and red and green seaweed.  Adam loved it but I could not do the unseasoned seaweed; there are very few vegetables I don’t like but red seaweed now tops the list.

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Of course we tried the the cold house-made tofu, which came with scallions, ginger, and dashi (a kombu, or kelp, broth).  The tofu was strangely flavorless and very creamy.

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And I went with the vegetable roll for dinner.

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The orange piece on the left was me being brave and trying uni – raw sea urchin!  It was good, very velvety.

Nunu Chocolates Café & Tap Room

Nunu is a Brooklyn-based chocolate company that makes a caramel bar I’ve been obsessed with for years.  Their newest location is Park Slope serves homemade chocolates, Blue Bottle coffee, and a pretty decent selection of draft beers.

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They also offer a chocolate and beer pairing, which is what we came in for.

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I am sad that I didn’t take notes because we loved every bite and sip but at this point I can’t remember what anything was.  Surprisingly, our favorite thing was a spicy beer that Nunu collaborated on with a local brewery.

Pure Thai Cookhouse

PTC is a Hell’s Kitchen spot with delicious, authentic Thai food.  Serious Eats raved about it and it’s been my Thai go-to since trip one.  The space is tiny but the vibe is casual and the service is crazy quick.  Their noodles are great, but I went with a rice-based special, Kao Ob Talay.

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Steamed jasmine rice with crabmeat, jumbo shrimp, taro root, shitake mushroom, onion, scallion, cilantro, ginger, and garlic soy sauce.

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The bites with sweet crabmeat and chewy shitake were take-your-breath-away good.

Schmackary’s

Schmackary’s is a cookie bakery and coffee shop in the Theatre District.  Their menu changes daily/seasonally and includes spectacular things like s’mores, sweet corn and bacon, and blueberry cobbler.  We got a butter pecan that was legit the best purchased cookie I’ve ever tasted – browned butter / toasted pecans / butterscotch.

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Spring Vacation 2015

Adam and I took advantage of our joint weeks off and flew home to St. Thomas for a quick visit.  The timing worked out perfectly so that we flew in on Mother’s Day and could celebrate with my mom in person.

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Our trip was short but wonderful!

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We saw some old friends, ate tons of good food, ran on the beach, and visited our favorite spots.  I am missing pictures of most of the action, but here are some of the highlights…

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St. Thomas now boasts several self-serve froyo places (and a Walgreens?!), a fact that seems insane to anyone who grew up in the VI.

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Zest, at the Ritz, also had yummy toddy-brewed VI Roasters coffee, so you know I had to make an affogato.

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With vanilla froyo with caramel and marshmallow.

Dinner at ITP, my family’s favorite pizza spot.

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We shared giant Greek salads and a bbq chicken pizza.

Brunch at Barefoot Buddha, my favorite restaurant on the island.

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I got a Vietnamese iced coffee, as well as a really amazing Cuban coffee to go.  Plus my standard order, the Bigfoot Bagel Sandwich.

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Egg frittata, smoked turkey, turkey bacon, cream cheese, sharp cheddar cheese, chipotle aioli, tomato-onion coulis and fresh spinach on an everything bagel.

Lunch on the water at Fat Turtle.

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The food was meh – we split a Cajun mahi mahi sandwich and a veggie pizza that Adam loved –  but the view was nice.

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And afterwards we got house-made salted caramel gelato from a pop-up booth in Yacht Haven.

My parents made Adam’s favorite dish one night for dinner, Bill Clinton’s Enchiladas.

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Plus key lime pie for dessert for me.

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I scooped a slice of pie onto Greek yogurt for breakfast the next day and it was delicious.

You can’t miss the local dishes at Victor’s.

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That is pan-fried Old Wife, a nice white fish that went well with the smoky creole sauce.  My plate also had veggies, fried plantains, and fungi – a cornmeal paste that has a texture like firm mashed potatoes.

Finally, fraccos, aka Caribbean shaved ice.

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I got soursop and passionfruit with condensed milk and it was one of the best things I ate all vacation!

It was a great trip, and now I’m excited for a three-day staycation in the city before we head back to work.

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