A yogurt bowl with Trader Joe’s honeycrisp apple cinnamon Greek yogurt. Plus granola nut butter, granola, and fresh bluberries.
My mom sent me a giant box of apple cider caramels for Apple Month! The spiced apple pie and apple brandy flavors were my favorite. I brought in a bunch for my coworkers and they loved them too. (Sidenote – they had no idea what Apple Month was. And when I brought in brownies for Rex Manning Day they had never heard of Empire Records, so they’re on thin ice!)
We finally got to try the much-lauded chocolate-stuff croissant from Lafayette Bakery.
Also treats from La Cabra. A rye and lemon tart and a cardamom twist.
And we had a fantastic lunch date at Yellow Rose. We shared chips and salsa.
A mezal margarita.
Sherry Cherry Coke, coca cola with sherry and jammy sour cherries.
Beef tacos.
Buttermilk chicken salad with Ruby Frost apples, pecans, and celery on Texas toast.
Our first trip (of hopefully many!) to Lady Wong. We loved the coconut pandan steamed rainbow cake.
More rainbow – I added sprinkles to my epic Hanoi Dessert Shop sundae. Bright Eyes: vanilla soft serve, hot fudge, egg custard, chocolate sesame crunch, and Vietnamese coffee over crushed ice.
Cheese plate dinner! Mini brie / bell pepper / feta dip / cheddar crisps / seasoned pretzels / chocolate sea salt almonds / beef bacon / apple pie rice cakes / extra-sharp cheddar / smoked almonds / crackers / dried apples.
A feast at Au Za’atar. We shared fried halloum with garlic, honey, and olive oil.
Plus Dalaa Mahshi, braised lamb shoulder with seasoned rice. The meat was amazing, particularly when paired with the complimentary pickles and garlic tahini.
Highlights from the past week were… mostly coffees! Adam was out of town all week (he was in Ireland with his brother and they had a FANTASTIC time) and when no one is around to watch me adult I exclusively eat take-out in bed with the dog while watching cartoons. I also had a few really good Long Island outings, some Apple Month treats, and a wonderful Sunday with the husband when he was back in town.
Highlights include…
Starbucks’ apple crisp macchiato.
Pink Lady apple kombucha (I did not care for those oats).
I did not care for this cold brew made according to their directions but brewed double strength and not watered down it was delicious. Chocolate milk is always a win.
I haven’t blogged them in awhile so I just wanted to reiterate that I am still completely obsessed with these pretzel and potato chip peanut butter cups. Head over heels.
Brunch with Adam at Flora (plus a Park Slope walking date!). We had wonderful coffees, a macchiato for me.
Buffalo chicken salad. Shredded chicken (breasts and thighs cooked in the crockpot – this is our favorite method, especially because it creates a no-salt-added broth for Webster!), mayo, Frank’s, green onion, and celery on an everything ciabatta roll. Plus roasted baby cauliflower.
Crab rangoon grilled cheese. Sourdough bread, sharp cheddar, and a blend of blue crab claw meat, Kewpie, cream cheese, sugar, Sriracha, green onion, and Swiss and Gruyere. Plus roasted purple cauliflower.
Bagel and lox inspired. Everything ciabatta, homemixed scallion cream cheese, heirloom tomato, smoked sockeye salmon. Plus leftover cauliflower sauted with honey, horseradish, and honey dijon.
Chicken biscuit-inspired. Sourdough, breaded chicken patties, sharp cheddar, and a maple butter spread. Next to homemade biscuits which ended up being too crumbly to serve chicken on. Plus roasted brussel green beans.
Paired with a peach tea IPA to drive home the Southern theme. We liked this in theory and complexity but it was way too sour for us. The key lime blonde was much more our speed!
Sweet and spicy. Sourdough, turkey, sharp cheddar, blueberry jam, and pickled jalpenos.
See also – pb&j yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with peanut butter, fancy blueberry jam, and fresh blueberries.
I’m late on this post but we had too many wonderful things last week not to share! Mostly lots of very (very, very, very) good restaurant meals. Three different days I got to take a super-long city walk (including a Central Park date with the husband!). Highlights include…
Breakfast at Ursula. We shared a strawberry chamoy pastry.
And a sopaipilla with grassfed beef, green chile, refried pinto beans, and cheddar.
Breakfast at the Blue Light Speaky Cheesy pop-up. The workers could not have been more wonderful here and everything was fantastic! We shared a sandwich with pesto scrambled eggs, goat cheese, blueberry jam, and arugula; a maple lavender latte (<– topped with orange zest, which apparently is my new favorite thing); and an iced Getaway Latte with sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon, and vanilla.
Malted berry smoothie. Frozen cherries and strawberries with Greek yogurt, chocolate almond milk, and malted milk powder.
Yogurt bowl – vanilla skyr, pecan granola, chia seeds, blueberries, and cherry plums (<– both Adam’s and my new favorite fruit).
Cookie dough granola (<– amazing, the flavor is spot on!) with blueberries and chocolate almond milk.
Lunch at Bahn (<– best meal of the whole week!). Iced Vietnamese egg coffee.
Summer rolls with shrimp and mung bean sauce.
Rolls with crispy shrimp, beef jerky, green mango, Sriracha, and egg yolk cream.
Noodle salad with sizzling butter beef.
Dumplings from Mimi Cheng. Their monthly special is a collab with Pecking House and is stuffed with buttermilk twice-fried chicken and topped with the best chili crisp I’ve ever tasted.
Homemade(!) grain bowls. Farro with pesto, chicken pesto sausage, fennel greens, and sauteed celery and baby orange tomatoes.
Adam forgot his credit card at BKNY Thai so we went back sooner than we were expecting to. A serendipitous mistake because our take-out was 11/10. Fish cakes / dumplings with ground chicken, shallot, peanut, and preserved radish / beef Pad See Ew with extra Chinese broccoli.
Omekase at the Chemisty Room at Sushi Lab. We ate at the counter and the service was impecable. I only took a few photos but everything was delicious and gorgeous.
Dinner at Wen Wen. My daiquiri with rum, Cachaça, and birds eye chili was perfect and balanced.
We had numbing celtuce salad with garlic, red vinegar, and Sichuan pepper.
Hot honey popcorn chicken.
Cold sesame noodles with cucumbers and egg ribbons.
Beef noodle soup with pickled mustard greens and a 16-hour oxtail broth.
We had crazy work-weekends but did manage to have a lot of fun in our evenings – exploring some new-to-us restaurants in Long Island and Queens and getting some great treats. Our favorite dish from each stop was…
Yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with maple, chia, praline pecan granola, and chopped aprium.
10/10 loved this new flavor from Over Easy.
On the other hand, this is a reminder for myself to stop buying this Oreo coffee because I do not like it. It tastes like a watery Oreo with no coffee whatsoever.
This Whole Foods almond milk ice cream was pretty good but not as good as non-vegan ice cream.
A breakfast bowl cheese fry situation. Trader Joe’s seasoned fries with mozarella, soft-scrambled eggs, roasted zucchini, and chicken breakfast sausage.
Chinese take-out!
So much Chinese take-out. Bok choy and mushrooms, fried tofu, sesame noodles, and a cheeseburger egg roll.
We did not enjoy this key lime sour, but I am posting a photo as a reminder to Adam and myself because it so seems like something we would like.
On the other hand, we loved the flavor profile and political stance of this Greenpoint IPA.
Typically I don’t buy vegan ice creams but these bites are pretty satisfying.
Our favorite sheetpan hash – roasted Japanese sweet potato, bok choy, and green onion; topped with smoked salmon candy and roasted Norwegian salmon. I also added tons of Kewpie, Sriracha, and furikake.
Big summer salads. Local lettuce, honey mustard dressing, baby tomatoes, roasted corn, baked tofu, and homemade croutons.
Best bowl of the week – sauteed cabbage, snap peas, baby tomato, and green onions, with chicken maple breakfast sausage, peanuts, Korean chili flake, Sichuan pepper salt, and a nuoc cham inspired sauce.
Tons of Roast take-out – chicken taco sandwich, fries, buffalo-style roasted potatoes – plus roasted purple cauliflower.
My birthday was yesterday and Adam and I were both off Saturday and Sunday which meant I got to celebrate a birthday weekend! We tried to do/eat all of my favorite things which meant we spent a ton of time walking around the city and ate a metric-ton of sugar and caffeine. It was perfect!
We did almost all of my favorite things, including – a birthday morning run, time with Adam and Webster, a long city walk, a bridge walk, drinks at Evil Twin, and watching The Office (I only missed walking on a beach and having a drink in the ocean).
And we ate almost all of my favorie things, including – coffee, vodka, Diet Coke, Roast sandwiches, cheeseburgers, ice cream, sprinkles, halo halo, and brigadero (I only missed nachos and roasted green beans)!
Highlights included…
In addition to my free birthday Starbucks I had my two current favorite city coffees – a quad iced latte from Kodawari.
Eating Chalk 