All Hallows’ Eats

by Emily

It was a yummy Halloween week!

Highlights…

You already know I had a cache of on-theme snacks.

Dunkin Donuts’ potion macchiato is marshmallow and ube flavored; obviously a great idea but unfortunately it was fairly underwhelming.

Skyr bowl with Cara Cara orange and double chocolate granola.

Pumpkin smoothie. Pumpkin puree, cottage cheese, frozen banana, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla bean powder, and water and ice.

I saved my best pumpkin beers for last. Blue Point Big Mother Pumpkin (10/10) / Fat Orange Cat Pumpkin Patch Kittens (9.5/10) / Abomination Forbidden Pumpkin (10/10).

Served with a brown sugar cinnamon rim!

Veggie rice bowls. Jasberry rice and riced cauliflower / Whole Food’s sesame seaweed cashews / avocado / chopped kimchi crisped up with a bit of butter and sugar.

Mac and three cheese muffins with baked chicken and roasted brussels sprouts.

Pumpkin pasta. Whole-wheat rotini topped with ground turkey sauteed with pumpkin puree, chili crisp, and cream cheese. Plus roasted orange cauliflower.

Black and orange big salads! Local lettuce / cucumber / homemade dressing – pumpkin butter, brown sugar, evoo, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and fish sauce / roasted kabocha squash / crispy rice – leftover rice tossed with chili crisp and black sesame paste and baked. We loved this.

18Oct2024

Falling For Fall

by Emily

Things from the week, mostly pumpkin…

Yummy, on-theme coffees. Vanilla cardamom cold brew with salted caramel and pumpkin butter.

Phin brew with pumpkin butter and marshmallow cream.

Siggi’s pumpkin skyr with blueberries, blackberries, and Nature’s Path blueberry cinnamon flax cereal.

Plan skyr with berries, Purely Elizabeth double chocolate cookie granola, and butter mochi.

Whole Food’s prepared foods section is nice for snack options. This week I bought kimchi dumplings and their Sonoma chicken salad.

Crunchy snacks. Everything bagel protein pretzels and Korean BBQ crunchy chickpeas.

These gummy bears from Buck Naked Bears are the perfect consistency, so firm without being overly chewy.

Hummingbird High’s pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are the best cookies – pumpkin, chocolate chip, or otherwise – you’ll ever make. They are chewy – NOT cakey or crispy – and almost taste like butterscotch.

Open face chicken sandwich melts. Toasted bread with pumpkin butter and sharp cheddar / baked chicken marinated with Greek yogurt and tons of garlic / homemade chicken gravy. Plus roasted broccoli.

Pumpkin chili. With ground turkey, pinto beans, canned pumpkin, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, chicken stock, yellow onion, poblano pepper, zucchini, spices, and one tablespoon of dark soy sauce. Topped with plain skyr, extra-sharp cheddar, and Caribbean hot sauce and served with Trader Joe’s pumpkin tortilla chips.

Big salads. Kale massaged with evoo, lemon juice, and salt and pepper / homemade dressing with tahini, pumpkin butter, maple syrup, evoo, and vinegar / crispy roasted chickpeas with Sichuan pepper salt, smoked paprika, cinnamon, and sugar / extra-sharp cheddar / dried cherries. Plus roasted honeynut squash and carnival squash, both of which were delicious!

14Oct2024

Blaze, Bread, Ben

by Emily

Five things from the weekend…

We went to the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze and LOVED IT. It is a self-guided tour through a field with thousands of hand-carved lit-up pumpkins.

We made a pumpkin bread inspired frozen coffee – with coffee, ice, half and half, cinnamon, maple syrup, pumpkin butter, and vanilla granola butter.

We had a lackluster dinner at a fancy sushi spot and got a garlic sauteed Chinese broccoli side that was just delightful.

We made and loved another recipe from Recipe Tin Eats – Spicy Korean Noodle Soup. I used ramen instead of egg noodles. Plus Trader Joe’s frozen tofu kimbap.

We embraced the season/theme and bought Ben & Jerry’s pumpkin cheesecake ice cream (9.5/10).

11Oct2024

Cardamom, Maple, Pumpkin

by Emily

Things from this week…

This maple chocolate instant coffee did not have nearly enough flavor (maple nor coffee) but it did mix instantly.

This new Trader Joe’s vanilla cardamom cold brew was more successful.

Pumpkin Noosa (best in the game) topped with blueberries, blackberries, and Purely Elizabeth double chocolate cookie granola.

Pumpkin beers! Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin was one of our favorites years past but it was too syrupy for us this year. Meanwhile, Great South Bay’s Baked pumpkin pie ale was a new hit; it was very well balanced between beer, pumpkin, and pie.

This isn’t a flattering picture but it serves as a reminder PSA – if you live near a Nuts Factory you NEED to go get their viral Dubai pistachio chocolate bar.

Peanut butter noodles. Udon stir-fried with eggs, peanut sauce (chunky peanut butter, brown sugar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, Sriracha, sesame oil, and water) and sesame seeds. Plus spicy green beans – steamed and then sauteed with honey, rice vinegar, yellow mustard, and chili crisp.

Thai basil chicken. I used chicken breasts instead of thighs and added red bell pepper and baby corn. Served on a bed of roasted riced cauliflower.

Korean-ish tofu plates. Shirakiku frozen kimchi pancake / super-firm tofu that I shredded, baked, then tossed in a skillet with Trader Joe’s green tea yuzu jelly, gochujang, sesame oil, and rice vinegar / bok choy, asparagus, and green onions sauteed with ginger and sesame seeds.

7Oct2024

Portland To Pickles

by Emily

We were on vacation for the past week and it was glorious! First we met up with my parents for a trip to Portland, Maine and next we did a little staycation with Webster.

I did not pack my camera to Portland but we had a fabulous time. Some highlights included… taking a ferry to and then golf-carting around Peaks Island / the Museum of Art / a toasted sesame bagel with horseradish cream cheese and white fish salad from Rose Foods / a kimchi cheddar scone from Tandem / the fried fish at Eventide / lobster rolls (<– hard note on the plural there) from Bite Into Maine / the spicy cabbage salad at Crispy Gai + their pandan margarita was the best drink of the trip / a cachaça, guanabana, cane sugar, mint, lime, and clarified yogurt cocktail at Papi

Some highlights from our time back at home…

A pistachio cold-foamed iced espresso at NY Caffeine.

We went to Edith’s for their frozen Diet Coke, obviously, and brought home a slice of their wonderfully chewy chocolate babka.

Cheesecake Factory sells a pumpkin cheesecake with pecan pie in it so I clearly had to try the most seasonal item on Earth.

Trader Joe’s strawberry jalapeño crisps with Whole Food’s caramelized onion dip is the perfect pairing.

Lunch at Greywind. I had a Greywind Collins with tea infused gin and lemonade.

We had their exceptional cornbread with sumac molasses butter.

I had the cheeseburger which came smothered in mayo, cheddar, and rosemary potato chips.

And for dessert we visited their bakery and brought home a wonderful black currant and pistachio brown butter cake.

Pickle chicken sandwiches. Baked chicken breasts that I marinated in Greek yogurt and pickle juice served on King’s Hawaiian rolls with Kewpie, pickles, sharp cheddar, and steakhouse onion Funyuns. Plus roasted cauliflower.

30Sep2024

Pita Pita

by Emily

Some things from the past week…

We had the best coffee of our entire lives at Caphe Den. A (thick, delicious) phin brew topped with egg cream.

Homemade iced coffee with rose vanilla syrup.

Chia Smash chocolate peanut butter and raspberry jam bites are wonderfully tasty and satisfying.

I didn’t really like this brownie batter Noosa. Will I accept that I don’t like sweet yogurts? Never.

Reese’s Big Cups with gooey chocolate are the best candy on Earth; amazingly, they are even better than the chip ones.

Mochi breads from Croffle House. These were great. We got sweet potato, chestnut (our favorite), and pumpkin.

Pita pocket dinners! Cheeseburger-inspired. Sauteed ground turkey with green onions, pickles, and ketchup/mayo/yellow mustard/Greek yogurt, plus sharp cheddar. With sauteed broccoli slaw.

Tuna melt. A mix of canned tuna and smoked trout with Greek yogurt, mayo, pickle juice, capers, and green onion. With sharp cheddar and fried in an egregious amount of butter. Plus steamed green beans sauteed with butter, lemon juice, and garlic.

Mediterranean salmon. Frozen salmon patties with a homemade tzatziki (yogurt with lemon, cucumber, and ranch seasoning). Plus sauteed baby zucchini with capers and roasted red pepper.

Homemade pita chips! With roasted broccoli, honey nut squash (our favorite), red kuri squash (not for us, apparently), and salmon candy spread.

Plus a perfect take-out dinner. Memphis bbq rub popcorn chicken and cajun fries with peanut sauce steamed rice rolls. I also had some leftover broccoli and baby carrots with my dipping sauces (bbq and Cane’s – we stopped in to buy a Diet Coke and I wisely also purchased a single sauce!).

P.S. It is Pumpkin Month tomorrow!!

13Sep2024

Salad, Candy Salad

by Emily

Things from the week…

New apple treats! My coffees this week were made with Califia Farms caramel apple crumble creamer.

See also – apple seltzer and caramel apple energy drink.

Loved these rosemary and herbs buckwheat crackers.

Trail mix blend – smoked almonds, dried fruit (apples, peaches, and persimmon), and Simple Mills Pop Mmms cheddar crackers.

Leftover blueberry cream pie in plain skyr with fresh blueberries. <– best bite of the week

We hopped on the candy salad trend and ended up with a pretty good mix – apple harvest Sour Patch Kids, grape strawberry Nerds gummy clusters, watermelon rings with Tajin, and Target sour gummy insects.

Big salads. Red leaf lettuce, balsamic dressing, smoked almonds, smoked tofu, sharp cheddar, and Oishii strawberries.

Pasta night. Basil peso plin pasta from Whole Foods with Rao’s marinara, duck fennel sausage, and parmesan cheese. Plus roasted purple cauliflower.

9Sep2024

Laminated And Caffeinated

by Emily

We had a fantastic weekend! Friday we watched Beetlejuice, Bettlejuice. Saturday we did a driving trip up the North Fork to Greenport. We kept seeing fields of wildflowers, it was amazing! Sunday we did a walking date through Greenpoint. [Yes, my alternative time was “From Port To Point”]