Easter Weekend

by Emily

I have an odd smattering of things to share this post. Mostly because the weekend was a little all over the place – Saturday we had friends visiting from DC and Sunday I had to work. The weekend coverage shifts here are actually kind of fun because I am responsible all of the nutrition support consults and I get to see surgical/trauma patients that are usually covered by a different team. This weekend I had a ton of complicated TPNs to keep me on my toes!

Three fun things…

{1} On theme beverages. I actually hated both of these a lot, but they were fun to try!

{2} Beer flights at local breweries. Pro Re Nata is always our favorite and their hazy IPA was my favorite taste of the day!

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{3} Dinner at Sultan Kebab. We went with my cousin and we all were raving by the end. I had my first knafeh experience (layers of shredded phyllo baked with fresh mozarella cheese drizzled with lemony sugar syrup) and it was life changing. Plus, how amazing is their presentation of Turkish coffee with Turkish delight??

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15Apr2019

Bowls On Bowls

by Emily

Seven wins from the past seven days…

{1} Peeps coffee creamer!! It tastes like vanilla marshmallow!!! But they should have made it pink.

{2} Speaking of marshmallow, I made cereal bars with Trader Joe’s neapolitan cereal. I brought them to a work event and they were a hit. I used my go-to recipe but took things up a notch with the addition of vanilla bean paste.

{3} I placed a super exciting order with the Mexican Candy Lady. The standout so far has been these flan gummies.

{4} Berry breakfast bowls. Liebe strawberry quark (<– this was 10/10, btw, super creamy and delicious!) / fresh blackberries / granola / cacao bliss.

{5} Cava bowls are currently our favorite take-out, there are a ton of toppings to choose from. This was greens / tzatziki / crazy feta spread / harissa / roasted vegetables / grilled chicken / pickled onion / cabbage slaw / chopped cucumber / kalamata olives / and green harissa dressing. Plus a side of really yummy house-made pita chips.

{6} I made my own bowls too. Roasted sweet potato / bok choy sauteed with garlic and green onion / candy salmon / fried egg.

{7} A take on okonomiyaki – pancakes stuffed with roasted cabbage and corn. Topped with mayo and Sriracha.

8Apr2019

Party Peeps

by Emily

7 highlights from the last 7 days…

Chocolate chip banana bar. I found it in our hospital’s cafeteria but apparently it’s such a new product it hasn’t made it to the website yet.

Crazy freeze-dried fruits from Trader Joe’s. The dragonfruit wasn’t a fit for my tastes but the grapes were sweet and amazing.

Birthday cake Peeps! Look at their adorable sprinkled butts!

Kung Fu Tea. Almond milk tea (half sweet, extra ice) with Oreo and aloe jelly.

Squid ink pasta with tahini sauce, 5 spice tofu, roasted zucchini, and chili oil.

Slow-cooked parmesan garlic chicken and potatoes + broccoli. We didn’t brown our chicken and it still came out great.

Greek salad – romaine and cucumber with TJ’s Greek feta dressing, green olives, crispy cheese bites, and roasted chickpeas.

Have a great week!

2Apr2019

Peanut Butter, Chocolate, And Coffee

by Emily

I took a long weekend, hence the extra-late post. Adam takes attending call in a nearby town once a month and this time I tagged along! I went out for lattes at an adorable coffee shop, had truly fantastic Thai food, and got a flight at a local brewery (complete with a margarita flavored Radler served with lime and a sugar rim!), but mostly I hung out at the hotel room so I had to pack the essentials.

You know, “the essentials,” peanut butter, chocolate, and coffee.

More on that peanut butter – B.Nutty offered to send me some samples and I jumped at the opportunity because, holy crap, white chocolate pretzel peanut butter!! They also sent me Totally Toffee – made with honey roasted peanuts, toffee, milk chocolate, and almonds – and Blissful Blueberry – with blueberry and milk chocolate. I haven’t opened the berry one yet but the toffee and pretzel flavors are both 10/10 delicious.

All flavors are gluten-free (including the pretzel one) and trans fat-free. I can’t stop eating them by the spoonful!

Also they’ve made great additions to snack plates and yogurt bowls. Honeycrisp apple / cucumber / baby carrot / B.Nutty irresistible pretzel.

Plain greek yogurt / blackberries / granola / B.Nutty totally toffee. That’s Thai tea in the back.

Other snack wins include… mocktails with club soda and bitters.

This Peeps cereal that tastes like a bowl of straight up marshmallows.

I don’t usually photograph the stuff I eat at work but I made an exception because this bbq Love Corn was so tasty.

A whole set of Trader Joe’s wins – vegan jackfruit crabless cakes and bbq popped chips with roasted broccoli and homemade chili oil aioli.

Have a great week!

26Mar2019

Little Star = Big Star

by Emily

We ate some really yummy things last week! Here were the highlights…

{1} Canned coffees that I schlepped back from New York.

{2} Lemon meringue macarons at the farmers’ market at IX Park.

{3} A Trader Joe’s shaped meal that was both quick and delicious. Cauliflower gnocchi + turkey summer sausage + pizza sauce + broccoli rabe. You can bake the gnocchi (425 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes) and it comes out great.

{4} A Korean feast at Maru on the downtown mall. I had the spicy chicken and cheese plate – spicy gojuchang marinated chicken served with rice cakes and Korean sweet potato and topped with melted cheese.

It was spicy, and smoky, and kind of amazing. The portion was gigantic and my leftovers – which I stir-fried with eggs and roasted broccoli – were kind of amazing as well.

We also had pat bing soo – shaved ice with red bean, mochi, and milk powder.

{5} Dinner with my cousin at Little Star, a newish, supremely gorgeous, tapas spot. The space and the tableware – which was thrifted and eclectic – were beautiful.

We ordered all the things and loved every single bite and sip. All three of us agreed it was one of the best meals we had eaten all year. Agave Angel – mezcal, lime juice, and cream.

3 month aged manchego with apricot honey preserves.

Charred shishito peppers with romesco and pasilla de Oaxaca chile.

Sunny side up eggs with salsa negra, green onion, sesame seeds, grilled bread, and hickory sauce. <– this was the top dish of the night, the contrast of the sweet hickory sauce with the eggs and salsa was divine

Shrimp and grapes with garlic, leeks, tequilla, and pickled chiles. We went right ahead and sipped that sauce.

Seared tuna with rendered foie gras, salsa molcajete, cilantro oil, and charred onion. <– 2nd best dish of the night, which is unsurprising when you consider the words “rendered foie gras”

Coffee service.

Crumb cake with meyer lemon curd, ear gray cream, and mezcal caramel.

Creme carmel flan with peaches.

*swoon*

19Mar2019

Insta Vacation Highlights

by Emily

Last week was perfectly relaxing bliss, I could not have asked for a better vacation! Adam and I were thrilled to get to go home [St. Thomas, USVI]. I had time with the husband, friends, and family / I watched some of my favorite people get married on a beach in St. John / I ate tasty things / I stuck my toes in the sand and swam in the ocean!

We flew in and out of JFK to get home which meant sneaking in a little NYC visit as well – we had just enough time for two fancy dinners and brunch with city friends.

The fun is fairly well-documented on my instagram but here are some highlights of the highlights…

If I had to pick my top three sips/bites they’d be…

{1} Roasted baby carrots with harissa hot honey, peanut dukka, and hibiscus yogurt from Freek’s Mill.

{2} A snow cone with tamarind and dulce de leche.

{3} A salmon patty from the spot near the airport.

Back to the grind.

8Mar2019

Let Them Eat Cake

by Emily

I am going on vacation next week and I definitely already have vacation brain! The past 7 days I’ve done barely any cooking and taken barely any photographs of what I have been eating.

Here were five great highlights…

{1} Cake in all forms! Billy Idol Cake from Paradox, aka white wedding cake with lemon curd.

{2} Cake ice cream > ice cream cake.

{3} I have come around to Adam’s point of view that Sicily Rose makes the best lattes in Charlottesville. Their fancy espresso machine is key. Four shots on ice with skim milk in a small cup is 100% perfect.

{4} Poblano x2 pasta bowls. Trader Joe’s creamy chicken poblano ravioli with celery, poblano pepper, and TJ’s turkey summer sausage sauteed in a butter.

{5} We finally made it to Lampo and it lived up to the hype. The Fungi pizza was downright decadent; Sharondale Farm pioppini and oyster mushrooms, thyme, onion, garlic, panna, aged provolone, grana padano.

Adam and I shared two amazing salads. Cavoletti di Bruxelles – shaved brussel sprouts, chives, fennel, hazelnuts, maple garum vinaigrette, pecorino.

Cavolo Nero – Tuscan kale, candied almonds, ricotta salata, golden raisins, pickled mustard seed, apple cider vinaigrette, crispy parsnip. This was the best dish of the meal.

Plus I had the Hell and Honey cocktail; Del Maguey Vida mezcal, Espolon, aperol, grapefruit, scorpion pepper honey.

And we had the budino for dessert; chocolate pudding, sweet cream, olive oil, salted hazelnut brittle.

P.S. I will not be blogging from vacation – though I will share some fun on instagram – so I’ll see you guys after St. Patrick’s Day!

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: sweet

Easter Weekend

Bowls On Bowls

Party Peeps

Peanut Butter, Chocolate, And Coffee

Little Star = Big Star

Insta Vacation Highlights

Let Them Eat Cake