I work all this weekend but we do have some fun Long Island dinners planned. Highlights from this past week included – lots of take-out and homecooked meals better suited for fall!
Smoothie time – plain Greek yogurt, frozen strawberries, chocolate almond milk, and taro powder.
I made beer bread, which meant I spent the week very happily snacking on beer bread with cheese.
Adam and I were both fans of this kettle corn.
Chinese take-out leftovers – sesame noodles and fried tofu.
Wednesday Adam and I both worked exceptionally long days and we salvaged the evening with a cocktail walk and an agressive amount of Mighty Quinn take-out. The leftovers made a great lunch. Burnt end fries, corn fritters, and mac and cheese fritters.
Homemade soup. Chicken, broth, tomato paste, urfa chili paste, diced tomatoes, kidney beans, and zucchini.
Sheet pan hash. Japanese sweet potato, zucchini, fennel bulb, sweet onion, chicken kale pesto sausage, sharp cheddar, and pesto.
It was a very tasty week! Adam and I had a weekday off and a few evenings together (woo-hoo!) and we made the most of them. Some of the best highlights included…
Very surprised by how good these seasonal white chocolate pretzel m&m’s were. I shared them at work and my coworkers were all also impressed.
My mother-in-law bought us chocolate covered pretzel sticks that are also dipped in caramel!
This egg nog beer was obviously the most “me” booze I’ve ever purchased, but also one of the best beers I’ve had all year! Abomination Brewing‘s Fog Nog – a double IPA brewed with lactose and spices.
Trader Joe’s sriracha shrimp bowl frozen meal. Topped with tons of extra sriracha, Kewpie mayo, and maple almonds.
Salmon roll inspired bowls. Farro topped with spicy salmon salad (canned fish with mayo, sriracha, and rice vinegar), sautéed zucchini spirals, chili flakes, and furikake.
Udon noodles // sautéed celery, bok choy, and green onion // sautéed ground turkey // stir-fried with egg and a homemade sauce including tomato paste and spicy bean paste.
A take on this cheesy rice porridge. We added extra broth and shredded chicken and topped it with urfa chili paste.
Trader Joe’s spicy Mexican-style riced cauliflower stir-fried with eggs and garlic olive oil. Plus roasted green beans and garlic knots.
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 hope all of my American readers had a safe but satisfying Thanksgiving. Adam and I both worked the holiday but were able to continue our tradition of Thanksgiving night nachos! And thankfully our days ended early enough that we had time to chat with my parents while taking the dog on a cocktail walk and Zoom conference with all of my in-laws in the evening.
We spent a little time talking about things we are thankful for which was an easy assignment for me because I feel like thankful is actually my primary state of being – at least five times a day I thank my lucky stars that I just get to know Adam and Webster, let alone have them both love me back.
By the way, even my non-holiday eats were still pretty much on-theme because the short list of superficial things I’m thankful for definitely includes coffee, boba, sprinkles, ice cream, and pizza! Highlights from the past week include…
Thompson Square Bagels (my favorite in the city) poppy seed with birthday cake cream cheese.
Yogurt bowl win. Plain Greek with peanut butter, cranberry dressing, and granola. Trader Joe’s cranberry dressing (the stuff in the refrigerated section, not the canned one) is the best in the game.
This s’mores kefir was good but not as exciting as I wanted it to be.
Whole Foods has a whole line of specialty holiday ice cream flavors so I am obviously going to be eating ice cream every day for the next month.
Thanksgiving nachos. This year we did Trader Joe’s horseradish and chives potato chips / shredded cheese / duck fennel sausage / shishito peppers / cranberry dressing. Plus roasted brussel sprouts on the side.
And we stayed on theme with maple margaritas.
No pie for dessert, but we did have these festive truffles.
Roasted broccoli and cabbage with spicy cashew sauce and rolled tofu.
We lucked out that Taglio is so close to our apartment because they are currently my favorite pizza in the city. This roasted potato and vodka slice were both 10/10. Plus they have given a ton of food to the workers at Adam’s hospital throughout the pandemic so I am thrilled to support them (multiple times a week!).
Homemade chili topped with sour cream, jalopenos, and pimento cheese. I used duck sausage, black beans, orange bell pepper, poblano pepper, sweet onion, diced tomato, spices, and beer.
We were easing ourselves back to work so we kept my birthday weekend pretty low-key. Adam and I made super exciting, sprinkle-packed coffees and walked around Cold Spring Harbor admiring the flowers in the morning and then got sushi take-out for dinner and I video-chatted with my parents while opening presents. And the next night we met up with friends for drinks/dinner/a long walk around Park Slope. It was perfect!
An epic yogurt bowl – – plain Greek yogurt with cashew butter, plum, plucot, apricot, and Bueno Bar.
I left key lime pie off of my list of favorite foods the other day, but it’s definitely in the top fifteen! Westbrook’s Key Lime Pie Gose is fantastic. I also made a wonderful key lime pie cocktail with lime juice, vodka, sweetened condensed milk, and key lime seltzer.
Birthday sushi. I got seaweed salad, a roll with egg and pickled vegetables, and a roll with king crab, crunch, avocado, and spicy mayo.
Chuko Ramen. I got the kimchi ramen with soy eggs. It was so great to see friends for the first time in months… we were sitting outside and only took our masks off to eat and we all felt pretty safe about it.
Cross your fingers for me that it’s an easy transition back to work, please!
Adam was on vacation this weekend and since we couldn’t travel anywhere we did all of the fun, social-distancing things in New York! Highlights include…
Breakfast from Sweetie Pies on Main in Cold Springs Harbor. We got a cookies and cream scone
and a quad, non-fat, iced latte with toasted marshmallow syrup
and ate while walking around and admiring the water.
Lunch from Lunch Lobster Roll in Montauk. We got lobster rolls for take-out and ate near the beach. They gave us so much lobster!
Drinks from Sweet Polly in Park Slope. The fact that social distancing rules have pretty much killed open container laws in NYC is a giant silver lining. This pina colada was perfect for enjoying on a long stroll.
Dinner from Takumen in Long Island City. We got take-out and ate on the water!! <– best ambiance of the weekend
Hoji-cha bubble tea with oat milk.
Karaage fried chicken.
Ban ban chicken ramen for me. Topped with chili oil and a soft-boiled egg.
Eating Chalk 