New York, New York

by Emily

Adam and I drove to New York for a fantastic weekend visit!

We did tons of city walking punctuated by coffees and ice creams // Brunched with friends at Vinegar Hill House // Tried a new place for dinner on Saturday that was just terrible and ended up having the best night ever getting a variety of things from DeKalb Market and eating in bed in front of Chopped // Bought coffee and halvah to bring home to Charlottesville…

Also, I didn’t snap a picture, but we shared a a baklava croissant from Cafe D’Avignon that was the best thing I ate the whole ~~trip~~ month!

Here were five highlights…

{1} Maple Shay from Brooklyn Roasting Co. Espresso (four shots for me!) with ice, milk, and maple syrup.

{2} An iced latte from Terremoto, with housemade rose syrup.

{3} Drinks from Ramona in Greenpoint. We had a frozen mango Thai iced tea with coconut whipped cream and “The Harpooned Heart” – vodka, coconut, almond, vanilla, mint, lime, pineapple, and peppercorn bitters.

{4} Big Gay Ice Cream. I got vanilla soft serve, in a cone lined with Biscoff, topped with dulce de leche, and coated in sprinkles. It was out of this world. The sprinkles were the best part, the best I’ve ever tasted.

{5} The Little Mule combo from Chef’s Club Counter. It was white american cheese, cotija cheese, pickled jalopenos, fried egg, and chipotle mayo. Served on an Impossible Burger. We kind of swooned over it.

3Sep2018

Salty Dog

by Emily

Highlights from the weekend…

A milkshake loaded with doughnut and sprinkles.

It’s apple month now!

I had an exciting apples and honey road trip snack – honey energy drink and crispy -freeze-dried apples – while we drove up to my aunt and uncle’s cabin in Solomons Island, Maryland.

We had a fantastic weekend hanging with my family that included drinking homemade bourbon slushies down on the dock.

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And crabs, and soft-shelled crabs, and my uncle’s best-ever crab cakes. Plus loads of delicious grilled veggies.

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And Webster came with us and got to go on a boat ride!!!

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He loved it and was so adorable and wonderful!

31Aug2018

Okonomiyaki And Almost Green Papaya Salad

by Emily

Loves of late – “Making It” (again), I am sad this season is almost over. Also “Stan Against Evil;” I just learned that the 3rd season premiers on Halloween and I could not be more excited.

Flavor themes this week – cream cheese, salmon, bacon, cabbage, coffee (always)

Here were the highlights…

Coffee = cold pressed Brooklyn Roasting Company.

On the snack front, the hospital cafeteria stocks a big variety of yummy trail mixes and I am obsessed with them.

And this month’s Snack Crate was from Japan and it was super exciting.

Jalopeno popper chicken. Chicken baked with a topping of cream cheese, jalopeno, cheddar, and turkey bacon. Plus roasted green beans.

Salmon strata. This recipe, but I subbed in cream cheese for cheddar and added dill. Also I added an extra egg and used fat-free half and half in place of a 1/2 cup of milk which made the custard extra creamy. Pro tip – we used Trader Joe’s white whole wheat and it was perfect. Plus cherry tomatoes and roasted zucchini.

Frozen salmon burgers (which frankly weren’t that good) on a delicious slaw. I made green papaya salad but with cabbage.

Americanized okonomiyaki, I used russet potato with turkey bacon and sharp cheddar.

28Aug2018

Weekend Things

by Emily

4 things I loved this weekend that weren’t food:

{1} Clothing – the anthropomorphic pizza t-shirt from Roberta’s that is officially my favorite thing I’ve ever owned.

{2} TV show – “Making It,” aka the best reality show ever created. It’s super talented crafters making amazing projects that are rife with puns and have a million creative details plus unscripted Nick Offerman and Amy Poehler saying hilarious and supportive things.

{3} Buds – these splendid flowers from Trader Joe’s. I don’t even like roses but these take my breath away.

{4} Movie – Crazy Rich Asians. This film was stunningly gorgeous, uproariously funny, and so darn touching that a moment towards the end brought the whole theater – including Adam and I – to tears. Go see it!

4 edible things I loved this weekend:

{1} A two-tone vanilla rose smoothie. Banana, Greek yogurt, coconut milk, and vanilla bean // with strawberries, plums, and rosewater.

{2} Coffee themed snacks. Chocolate-covered beans from Shenandoah Joe’s. <– I am obsessed

A quad iced latte with a truffle.

Kung Fu Tea oreo slush with tapioca and coffee flavored popping boba.

{3} Tacos from Brazos. We shared grilled tilapia with red cabbage slaw, avocado sauce, radish, and lime / mashed potato, yam, mushrooms, cilantro, spicy honey, and jalopenos / and chicken with black beans, roasted corn, avocado, and jack cheese.

{4} Brunch at Fry’s Spring Station. They improved upon fried chicken and waffles with smokey pimento cheese and candied pepper honey.

24Aug2018

Buchi, Boba, Bacon

by Emily

Highlights from a yummy week…

Coffee combo = Brooklyn Roasting Co with sweetened condensed milk, shakerato style.

This pineapple + mint Buchi is my new favorite kombucha.

Kung Fu Tea served me a fantastic bubble tea, rosehip milk tea with coconut jelly and boba.

Chipotle salads are possibly one of my top five favorite foods. Romaine, chicken, fajita veggies, pinto beans, hot salsa, corn salsa, sour cream, cheese.

Homemade green curry. Chicken sausage and zucchini / on cauliflower rice / with green curry paste, coconut milk, fish sauce, brown sugar, and lime.

Tasty egg sandwiches. Seeded challah rolls with fried eggs, sharp cheddar, turkey bacon, and mayo and gojuchang. Plus the simplest salads – romaine with ranch.

Dinner out at Bebedero.

We had great drinks – a paloma with mezcal, rosemary, and black sea salt and tepache, a fermented pineapple drink.

And I had nachos with cheese sauce and house-pickled jalopenos.

17Aug2018

Pizza Pizza

by Emily

Flavor themes from the week – cherries and cheese. These were the highlights…

Brooklyn Roasting Co coffee. After this I have one last tin left from NY… guess we need to take another trip soon!

It was a good week in snacks, thanks in part to a fun package full of goodies from my parents. Including cherry cola Mike & Ikes and delicious chocolate-covered dried cherries.

Two new to us snacks, salted caramel Somersaults (<– best flavor yet!) and Sweet Sapphire grapes.

Another new flavor, sesame bbq chicken Epic bar.

I cooked salmon for dinner one night. Roasted coho topped with a vegan scallion pesto – food-processed pine nuts, parsley, sauteed green onions, and evoo. Plus homemade cole slaw. The sauce was great, but sadly the salmon was fairly flavorless without it.

The rest of the week dinners were all about pizza! I loosely followed this recipe for pepperoni pizza macaroni and cheese. Whole wheat shell pasta > macaroni pasta. Pro tip – any time I make macaroni and cheese (or any roux thickened sauce) I always substitute low-fat condensed milk for the recommended liquid. The results always taste fantastic and it means we don’t have an open container of whole milk in the house which is great because both Adam and I dislike it. Plus roasted zucchini.

Meat lovers pizza. Frozen crust from Trader Joe’s / we added tomato paste while we sauteed some chicken sausage and added that to our marinara sauce / topped with turkey pepperoni and turkey bacon / plus mozzarella and cheddar. With roasted green beans.

What is your favorite pizza topping? Apparently mine is bacon!

13Aug2018

Dachshund Diaries

by Emily

Top five from this weekend…

{1} It was the seventh anniversary of Webster’s buyday! <– click that link for some amazing baby dachshund photos

We ate some bacon-flavored wet food.

And frolicked in the dog park. There were no other dogs there, so it was basically Webster’s ideal afternoon

{2} We found our new pizza spot – Dr. Ho’s Humble Pie.

Such tasty crust! We had the Annie Oakley – spicy buffalo chicken breast, pineapple, pickled jalapeno, mozarella, and cheddar. I did not know that spicy pizza was what was missing from my life! Plus we had a pink lemonade sour.

{3} Wegman’s bakery bar now has caramel stuffed brownies and cookie dough stuffed brownies and they are damn good.

{4} We also loved this caramel pecan ice cream.

{5} Simple salad dinner. Sweet baby lettuce / baby carrots / pine nuts / ranch / herbed turkey. With homemade cheesy garlic bread.

3Aug2018

Hell Of A Halvah

by Emily

Highlights from this week…

It’s really lovely to have a husband who arranges me flowers and buys me cupcakes when I’m cranky! Related note – it’s also really nice to live walking distance from Sweethaus because apparently they are our favorite cupcakes on the planet.

Random drink assortment from work, the lemon rose blossom water was surprisingly delicious.

Weirdest/most exciting snack award goes to – this Japanese candy we brought home from NY. It was like a fun dip but with a cola flavored lollipop and fizzy milk powder.

Fantastic product sample – Absolutely Gluten Free sent me their newest snack item: TahiniBARs. Halvah is a candy made of sesame paste and it is both Adam’s and my very favorite treat.

The TahiniBARS come in vanilla, pistachio, and cocoa nibs. They are certified kosher, dairy free, and gluten free. Each serving has 100 calories.

We LOVED them! They absolutely stacked up to the halvah I grew up eating and the artisinal varieties we’ve had in NY.

One of my favorite ways to eat halvah is crumbled up in yogurt, so one day I made an absolutely ridiculous snack – plain Greek yogurt / vanilla TahiniBAR / Soom chocolate tahini spread / red plum and green pluot. Delicious.

We had some tasty dinner too. Like bbq chicken fried rice. Fried rice / carmelized red onion / shredded rotisserie chicken / fresh corn / collard greens cooked with rice vinegar / bbq sauce / eggs.

Jalopeno popper pasta, loosely inspired by this recipe. We used whole-wheat shells, turkey bacon, no cream, and less cheese; plus I topped mine with panko. With roasted zucchini.

Leftovers with an assortment of baby wines. I do NOT recommend the rose.

Homemade buffalo chicken dip / scooped with baby carrots and potato chips / celery sauteed with butter, salt, pepper, and celery seed.

I’m trying out a recipe that sounds super fun this weekend, so please cross your fingers for me that it turns out!

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: sweet

New York, New York

Salty Dog

Okonomiyaki And Almost Green Papaya Salad

Weekend Things

Buchi, Boba, Bacon

Pizza Pizza

Dachshund Diaries

Hell Of A Halvah