Tag Archives: sweet

S’more Years Older

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It was a fun week! Monday my parents were still in town and we took the day off to do Manhattan things with them. P.S. NY readers – we went to Lido Kosher Deli for their last dinner and the food was so good I got too excited to take a photo; you should go immediately.

Wednesday was my birthday and Adam and I took a long walk and got a giant ice cream (with BYOB sprinkles!). Plus I started my day with my free birthday Starbucks (with BYOB sprinkles).

Thursday we went to a bachelorette party and I had a margarita and discovered that the Trader Joe’s watermelon cucumber juice is the best mixer on the planet.

Friday we had reservations at Silver Apricot and did more fun Manhattan stuff. P.S. NY readers – they make some of the best Chinese food in the city and unfortunately are closing on August 11th so get a reservation ASAP.

Some highlights from the week included…

Joe Coffee yuzu elderflower coffee spritzer. The whole family thought this was delicious.

Donut Pub marble cruller. Stopping here after Strand book store is a great date.

Russ & Daughters + Morgenstern’s collab chocolate-covered halvah ice cream bar.

Glace by Noglu‘s Rockefeller Center truck has the same menu as their storefront with half of the line. Classic s’mores – frozen hot chocolate, marshmallow hallo, whipped cream, and chocolate drizzle.

Indoor s’mores bowl. I broiled marshmallows and chocolate chips on top of Heritage Flakes. Served with plain skry.

You know I had a cache of birthday cake snacks. Premier Protein protein shake (7/10), Made Good granola bar (9/10), Pop Art kettle corn (9/10), Sprinkles cupcake cups (11/10).

Chimango chili pineapple wedges have a wonderfully satisfying balance of savory-sweet and a great chewy texture.

This Wild Twist apple was Adam’s and my new favorite variety; crisp, juicy, and sweet.

All the leftovers. This bowl was pasta and harissa chicken from Sonder, pasta and garlicy greens from Rolos, and evoo and cheese from home.

My favorite sheet-pan hash. Roasted purple sweet potatoes and baby bok choy with smoked sockeye salmon and smoked salmon candy. Plus a sauce – plain Greek yogurt, mayo, Sriracha, honey, and rice vinegar – and furikake.

Spinach and artichoke gnocchi bake. This dip-lasagna-gnocchi abomination made a great casserole. Baked Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocchi; shredded chicken breast; spinach and artichoke sauteed with evoo, garlic, gochugaru, and salt and pepper; ricotta cheese, plain skyr, lemon juice, nutmeg, eggs, and extra-sharp cheddar; baked with mozzarella on top.

Silver Apricot. We shared and loved a ton of dishes. Adam had a great orange wine and I got an apricot spritzer.

Deviled tea eggs with pickled mustard seeds, chili-garlic aioli.

Crispy turnip cakes with scallion chili crisp, pickled radish, and garlic crunch.

Grilled summer squash with cashew chili crisp, cultured cashew cream, and coriander / rice rolls with celtuce, kohlrabi, and hoisin sauce / grilled hen of the woods mushrooms, pickled wood ear mushrooms, and salted egg yolk.

Mille-feuille with caramel / ridiculously good sesame panna cotta with grape granita.

Evil King

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My parents are here visiting for the weekend and we had a wonderful time! We got to explore Kingston, Ridgewood, and had a perfect visit to Untermyer Gardens.

Some of our best stops included…

Orwashers. Adam and I split an everything bagel with fried egg, cheddar, and beef bacon.

Plus a tahini coffee slushie.

Evil Twin. Their beers are always great but my favorite thing this visit was the frozen cola old fasioned.

Salty Lunch Lady is definitely my current favorite NYC restaurant. We had a peanut butter banana cream pie and an Elton Mess that blew everyone’s minds. Plus Adam and I shared a sandwich on the best seeded bread with smashed chicken meatball, feta, and smoked paprika mayo.

Kingston Bread. I had an iced latte with roasted corn syrup and a marbled black and white cookie.

Boice Bros Ice Cream. My black cherry scoop – with marshmallow – was perfect.

Kingston Standard Brewing for pizza. Their crust is great. This was Margherita with pesto and arugula.

Sonder. Best meal of the weekend! Some of my favorites were the house sesame bread with honey butter and grilled ramp butter.

Pickled jammy eggs with good olive oil and crispy shallots.

Roasted squash.

The burger with pickles, American, and special sauce. Plus the crispiest tater tots.

Rolos. Second best meal of the weekend. I only took two photos but they ended up being my favorite things! Pandan colada.

House polenta bread and stracciatella cheese with silk chili and sumac.

Pastabilities

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Highlights from the week…

Yogurt bowl. Plain skyr with butterscotch syrup, blueberries and blackberries, Heritage Flakes, and peanut butter.

I tried my first yellow dragon fruit and it was delicious; way more flavorful than the pink ones.

99 Ranch snacks. The seaweed crisps were actually too spicy for me but Calbee honey butter chips are always a hit.

They clearly have a lot going on but these grape green tea and cheese ice cream bars are possibly the most satisfying frozen dessert I’ve ever eaten. The mix of creamy and chewy is perfection.

Leftover turkey lasagna with roasted broccoli.

I used leftover lasagna noodles to make (otherwise authentic) chicken pad see ew. This recipe (sidenote, I adore Recipe Tin Eats, everything we’ve tried from her site has been perfect) but I used chicken breasts instead of thighs and six-times more Chinese broccoli.

Mandu bulgogi chicken frozen dumplings – delicious – pan-fried with tons of sharp cheddar plus chili crisp and leftover sauteed Chinese broccoli.

Roast‘s weekly special was lobster rolls so we obviously had to get them. We shared a Maine and a Connecticut-style.

Plus fries and an Abomination Brewing double IPA brewed with lobster! We did not taste any crustaceans but it was a great IPA.

I Don’t Hate Mondays

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Highlights from the weekend…

Fluffernutter frozen iced coffee. With half and half, cold brew powder, roasted marshmallows, vanilla protein powder, frozen banana, and chunky peanut butter.

Summer fruit! This bowl was blueberries and Rainier cherries.

Chip City did a blueberry Eggo Waffle cookie special with maple icing and it was devine.

Chocolate snacks I loved. Tru Fru dried strawberries with dark and white chocolate.

This brownie Perfect Bar was lovely. The level of salt was a pleasant surprise.

We are really enjoying this (giant bin of) Spanish cocktail mix. It has the best crunchy chickpeas I’ve ever tasted.

I picked up this frozen vegan kimchi kimpap at 99 Ranch and was blown away but how well it reheated.

Friday night we had late errands and ate a mall food court dinner (bourbon chicken, duh) so we pregamed with a green smoothie. Frozen spinach, mango, pineapple, banana, lime juice, vanilla protein powder, and water.

Breakfast patty melts for brinner. Whole-wheat bread with dijon mustard / turkey patties seasoned with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, gochugaru, and maple syrup / sliced Dubliner cheese. Plus green beans – steamed then sauteed with honey, German mustard, yellow mustard, Sriracha, and water.

P.S. I will show a picture next post but I currently have a HOMEMADE LASAGNA in the oven. I am so excited for dinner! Layers of lasagna noodles / equal parts ricotta, cottage cheese, and mozzarella cheese with eggs, salt, and pepper / sauce = sauteed ground turkey and yellow onion with Fresno chili pepper, fresh tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and gochugaru / mozzarella on top.

Royale with Cheese

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Things from this week…

Yogurt bowl. Plain skyr with blueberries, blackberries, Love Crunch espresso vanilla granola, and Oat Haus brownie batter granola butter.

Loved this new pb&j trail mix Larabar. It had the perfect amount of savory to balance the sweet.

These Better Sours were a bit too healthy/fruit leather tasting for me but the calamansi flavor was so yummy I would probably buy them again.

An 11/10 snack plate. Peanut butter sandwich crackers, pimento cheese dip, leftover Nowon pizza, leftover broccoli, baby carrots, and amazing Rainier cherries.

July 11th aka 7-11 day aka free slurpee day is my favorite summer holiday. I got cola and blue raspberry.

I found pickle crisps so obviously I had to plan a whole cheeseburger-theme dinner week.

Listed from good to great. Fried rice. Leftover white rice stir-fried with soy sauce and rice vinegar / Sugar Bomb grape tomatoes / green onion / ground turkey / pickle crisps / egg / sharp cheddar / sesame seeds. Plus eggplant that I roasted and then sauteed with a spicy sesame honey mustard sauce (1 Tbsp each German mustard, goguchang, honey, rice vinegar, tahini, and water ) and topped with Kewpie and sesame seeds.

Salad. Shredded romaine lettuce / roasted broccoli / special sauce dressing (for two big servings – 3 Tbsp Greek yogurt, 1 Tbsp mayo, 1 Tbsp yellow mustard, 1 Tbsp ketchup, 1 Tbsp vinegar, 1 tsp sesame oil) / sauteed ground turkey and white onion / bread and butter pickles / Sugar Bomb grape tomatoes / pickle crisps / sharp cheddar / sesame seeds.

Cheese fries. Waffle fries / sharp cheddar / ground turkey sauteed with ketchup and mustard / diced green onion, heirloom tomato, and bread and butter pickles / special sauce (for three servings – 2 Tbsp Greek yogurt and 1 Tbsp each mayo, German mustard, yellow mustard, ketchup, and honey / side of roasted purple cauliflower.

Nom Win

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This weekend included some fun Long Island stops as well as a trip to Bushwick for dinner and my favorite street art in the city.

Some highlights…

Brunch at Orwasher’s. We shared an Edith’s tahini frozen iced coffee.

And lox toast with goat cheese and capers.

Instant coffee I carried home from Denver.

Summer fruit.

Gong Cha‘s cream brulee series has my heart. With strawberry milk and pudding.

S’mores! My sister-in-law got us a mini fire pit kit so we took Webster on a mini picnic.

I used peanut butter sandwich crackers, milk chocolate, and vegan marshmallows.

Whole Foods’ pineapple pie cookie with sprinkles!

Reminder to myself that the Whole Foods hot bar has great options when you go at lunch time. Spicy cucumber sesame salad, hard-boiled egg, sauteed veggies.

Salmon salad rolls. Canned sockeye salmon with mayo, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, celery seed, smoked paprika, and scallions on brioche hot dog rolls. Plus sauteed asparagus with lemon, pepper, and garlic.

Nowon – best dinner of the summer so far. We tried and loved their wood-fired margherita pizza with gojuchang marinara, mozzarella, basil, and chili oil.

Horchata with hibiscus, pineapple citrus, almond, and cinnamon / Smoke & Mirrors – spicy mezcal, amaretto, and pineapple / seasonal cocktail with cherry, sour plum, yuzu, and soju.

The best drink of the night was the Dew Drop with added Tito’s; lavender, yuzu, and juniper.

We shared the seven-course “Mix Tape” pre-fixe and every dish was a showstopper. Whipped ricotta toast with homemade focaccia, citrus jam, and chili oil. I was expecting not to care for this but it ended up being my second favorite dish of the night!

Broccolini a la Caesar with black sesame, parmesan, and candied anchovies.

Spicy gojuchang fried chicken.

Chopped cheese rice cakes.

Honey garlic butter tater tots. <– my favorite dish. These guys are so perfectly crunchy!

Legendary cheeseburger = double smashed patties, kimchi special sauce, roasted kimchi, pickles, onion, and American cheese. After Elder Greene, I think this is the 3rd best cheeseburger in NYC.

Plus dessert I didn’t capture – honeydew panna cotta with mint and lime.

Red, White, And Blueberry

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Things from the 1st week of July…

Peanut butter iced latte! I shook warm espresso in the last of a jar of peanut butter. Plus brown sugar and skim milk.

Yogurt bowls. Plain skyr with plucot, passionfruit, and chocolate cookie granola.

Skyr, plucot, blackberries, Fix and Fogg super crunchy peanut butter, and Love Crunch espresso vanilla cream granola.

PB&J with whole wheat bread and blueberry jam.

I didn’t eat anything red-white-and-blue this week but we did enjoy some fair-inspired foods. Dirt Cake ice cream. P.S. I put mini Jr Mints on this and the combination was delightful

Cotton candy.

An easy dinner. Trader Joe’s frozen nuggets + roasted broccoli and cauliflower + homemade Greek yogurt honey mustard sauce.

BBQ plate. Baked chicken breast that I tossed in Stubbs bbq sauce and chili crisp / roasted zucchini / esquites – fresh corn off the cob sauteed with green onion, fresno chili, and cojita cheese, tossed with mayo, Greek yogurt, lime juice, and smoked paprika, gochugaru.

Hash. Roasted purple sweet potato and brussels sprouts / sauteed yellow onion, orange bell pepper, and poblano pepper / cojita cheese / Seemore chili verde chicken sausage / fried egg.

Fourth of July. Chicken sausage on a brioche bun with mustard and ketchup / fresh watermelon / homemade cole slaw (shredded cabbage with Greek yogurt, mayo, dijon mustard, lemon juice, vinegar, sugar, and celery seed).

Not Bitter

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Highlights from a LOVELY weekend…

Our 1st trip to Utopia Bagel in Manhattan. Everything with scallion cream cheese. <– worth the hype but still not as good as La Bagel Delight

Blended iced coffee. With vanilla protein powder, half and half, and black sesame paste.

The Freshly Durian iced latte from Not as Bitter stole my heart. Fresh durian with coconut milk and espresso. This was my first time trying actual durian and I loved it as much as much as I expected.

Brunch at Potluck Club. I got a green tea with citron honey, soda, and lime.

We shared too much food and had a wonderful time. French toast stuffed with salted egg yolk and topped with with condensed milk and salted butter.

Radish cakes with arugula and sunny side up eggs.

Chow Mein with hanger steak and chili oil.

Gotham Burger Social Club. We split a double smash burger, fried pickles, and perfectly crispy tater tots.

Cava takeout. My bowl was giant so I don’t remember it all but I got honey harissa chicken, roasted veggies, crazy feta, date vinaigrette, and more.

Pride Month special multi-layered cake from Red Gate Bakery. Per their Instagram – “naturally dyed vanilla bean layers with fillings that include strawberry, raspberry, clementine, mango, passionfruit, matcha, pistachio, blueberry, and cherry just to name a few.” We loved it.