Tofu And Fries

We had a wonderful NYC weekend; including walks around Manhattan (Fidi and East Village) and Brooklyn (Fort Greene and Prospect Heights)! And so much good food! Highlights…

I am a sucker for limited edition fun drinks (see below!). I thought the coffee was too milky but I would buy the creamy coconut Dr. Pepper again!

Cafe Patoro brigiadeiro iced latte. Always delicious, their latte is nice and roasty.

Fasan Coffee red bean iced latte. We had also had a fantastic yuzu cold brew.

Honey’s Bistro coconut cold brew.

Chim Chim matcha banoffee pie.

Treats at Saint Street. This spot is exceptional. We had a cup of chocolate cake.

And a meringue.

DSK chicken brat on a pretzel roll with crispy onions, pickle relish, German mustard, and ketchup. Plus great fries.

Lunch at 886. This was some of the very best food we’ve eaten in 2026. My drink (sour plum highball). was only ok though.

Shaky fries with Taiwan Dust.

Crispy silken tofu with chili oil vinaigrette (1000/10).

Dry beef noodles with spicy beef fat butter, shredded beef shank, and a sunny side up egg.

Wildly good tomato with egg.

Dinner at Authentic Thai. We decided this is the best Thai we’ve had in Long Island. I had roti with peanut sauce.

And drunken noodles. I asked for them to be made spicy and they delivered – I drank all of Adam’s Thai iced tea and was in heaven.

P.S. I’ve since eaten both restaurant meals as leftovers and they remained excellent!

Miso Mango

Weekend things…

This mango gel snack was quite nice in the bottom of an iced matcha spritzer.

Birthday cake iced latte from Small Batch Coffee.

Lunch at Honey’s Bistro. Honey mustard chicken tenders and beef fat fries.

Plus a salted caramel Spanish iced latte.

Guac Shop loaded rice bowl – brown and white rice, tofu, sweet potato, cabbage, mango salsa, cheese, and cilantro aioli. Their bowls are huge; this made two giant servings. Plus tortilla chips and guacamole.

Not good in execution but would be good to try again in theory – eggs scrambled with parmesan cheese and roasted zucchini. Plus dill pickle kettle chips.

Miso chicken salad. Shredded chicken with roasted seaweed, furikake, green onion, edamame, mayo, Greek yogurt, Dijon, and white miso. Plus roasted broccoli and cauliflower.

Chopped Cheese, Peanut Butter Tofu

Highlights from a yummy week…

Equator remains some of the best bottled cold brew I’ve tried.

Ube and pandan simple syrups. They were good-not-great in iced coffees but nice in Diet Cokes.

The best yogurt bowls = plain skyr with tons of blueberries and chopped marzipan.

Durian ice creams. These were both so flavorful and the Mavens was some of the creamiest ice cream I’ve ever tried.

I went to Duck Island Bread Company for bread and ended up with a great pistachio croissant.

We used the bread to make wonderful sandwiches. Sourdough pullman / ginger miso mayo / shredded, baked super-firm tofu tossed with peanut butter, gochujang, lime juice, brown sugar, and veggie broth / sliced baby cucumbers marinated in white sugar, Sichuan peppercorn, Milu everything spice, and rice vinegar. Plus roasted baby broccoli.

For Five‘s chopped cheese sandwich was surprisingly good. Even these leftovers were delicious.

Congee bowls. Brown rice slow-cooked with chicken stock / mustard greens and scallion sauteed with soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, and pepper / ground turkey sauteed with peanut butter, lime, brown sugar, Sriracha, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, and chicken broth / chili crisp.

Tuna noodle casserole. This came out so well! Brami radiatori protein pasta, canned tuna, and canned trout / mushrooms, leek, and red scallions sautéed with flour, corn starch, veggie broth, gochujang, fish sauce, and sesame oil / baked topped with a mix of crushed honey butter chips and seaweed chips. Plus roasted broccoli.

My Rex Manning day tradition is rewatching Empire Records with pizza and brownies and this was our best year yet! Brownies = Hummingbird High’s small batch brownies. These are even better than my go-to brownie recipe (I did add a bit of espresso powder and topped them with cinnamon maple pretzels).

Pizza = a variety of slices from Tori T’s. This is some of the best pizza I’ve eaten; the crust is perfect.

Marsh Madness

Highlights from the week…

Easter candy, obviously. My favorites were the Trader Joe’s marshmallow eggs, which were, in fact, the best marshmallows I’ve ever eaten.

Adam and I are both head over heels for these dried kiwis from Target.

My parents sent me these *guava* Oreos. I don’t love golden Oreos but the guava flavor was spot on.

A tasty take on eggs in purgatory. Eggs cooked in a mix of sauteed roasted cherry tomatoes, canned diced tomatoes, scallion, garlic, gochugaru, and gochujang. We topped our bowls with pimento cheese. Eaten alongside roasted cauliflower.

Baked tacos. The filling was a food processed mix of sauteed mushrooms, poblano peppers, scallions, black beans, sesame seeds, and taco seasoning. Plus tons of cheese.

I used the leftovers to bulk up turkey meatballs. <– We will be doing this again. Plus roasted zucchini and Trader Joe’s cheddar and jalapeño biscuit bites. We burned the bites but they would have been a hit otherwise.

Our favorite meal of the week was these tofu wraps. Tortilla / Kewpie / baked super-firm tofu marinated in gochujang, pickle juice, soy sauce, sugar, garlic powder, and onion powder / thinly sliced cucumbers tossed with sugar, salt, Milu everything spice, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and rice vinegar. Plus baked brussels sprouts sauteed with soy sauce, brown sugar, and chili crisp.

Hot Honey Butter Crunch

‘Twas a yummy week! Some highlights…

Cottage cheese with cinnamon, vanilla bean powder, granola, and pineberries.

A savory cottage cheese bowl dinner with sauteed zucchini and green onion, a fried egg, sunflower seeds, Milu everything spice, and chili crisp.

Something I will be making again – crispy baked butter beans and shredded super-firm tofu tossed with honey, butter, chili oil, and gochugaru. Served on top of sauteed shredded brussels sprouts.

We ate the leftovers (still great!) on salads with romaine and chicory blend lettuce, cilantro salad dressing, sauteed baby broccoli with garlic, and Dubliner cheese.

A loose take on callaloo with yellow onion, red jalapeño, frozen chopped spinach and kale, ginger, urfa, coconut milk, and tons of crab. Plus homemade dumb bread.

No S’more Snow

The three best things I ate this weekend…

1) Peanut butter and jelly dessert-y yogurt bowl. Plain skyr with chocolate honey crunch peanut butter, Crofter’s blueberry jam, a Michigan whiskey cherry, and honey granola.

2) Mez S’mores Cups are a 10/10. Perfect texture and not too sweet.

3) An easy roasted dinner. Brussel sprouts and super firm tofu with blue cheese, dried cranberries, and Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy pecans.

Chopped Sandwich Dip

Are my fellow New Yorkers ready for the weekend weather? I am not. But the highlights from my last week included two winner recipes!…

These Rolling Pin chocolates had a good filling but not enough of it; I thought the chocolate was too thick.

Obviously the fanciest thing I ate this week was this bowl of four types (pineberries, Sweetest Batch strawberries, Sweetest Batch blueberries, and super jumbo blueberries) of berries!

This brown sugar clementine Polar seltzer is nice, but some sips taste like pancake syrup in a disquieting way. P.S. I am drinking a Nixie black cherry lime sparkling water while I type and it is a 10/10!

Take-out tacos. Guac shop soft tacos with tofu, sweet potato, cabbage, cheese, and spicy aioli.

Chili when it’s chilly. We used ground turkey, sweet onion, poblano pepper, orange and yellow bell pepper, dark red kidney beans, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, tomato paste, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, salt and pepper, gochugaru, and smoked paprika. I topped mine with extra-sharp cheddar, plain skyr, and sweet and spicy jalapeños. Served with roasted broccoli and a toasted English muffin with blueberry jam.

See also – chili cheese potatoes. Baked potatoes and leftover broccoli with butter, chili, cheese, and zhoug.

Buffalo chicken twice baked potatoes! I re-baked them stuffed with mashed potato, baked chicken, cheddar, blue cheese, green onion, salt and pepper, butter, and Frank’s hot sauce. These were great. Plus baked zucchini, which is always great.

I bought special sauce Kettle chips, so obviously I had to plan a meal around them.

Chopped Sandwich Dip! The dip was far better than the chips. Diced baked chicken, dill pickles, sweet heat bread and butter pickles, garlic sauteed baby broccoli, cheddar, Milu Everything Spice, white pepper, Dijon, Dijonayo, Duke’s, and plain skyr. Scooped with the chips and baby carrots.

Eggs In The Second Week Of January

Things from the 2nd week of the year…

Skyr bowl. With blueberries, and Cascadian Farm oats and honey granola.

These Haribo Soda Sours are my new favorite gummy. They remind me a lot of the Sodalicious fruit snacks from back in the 90’s (which were my very favorite — when our island got a K-Mart when I was a kid it was a big deal and I was allowed to choose one snack for fun, these were it).

Another throwback – these fruit and cream Quaker oatmeal packets are pretty darn good.

The prettiest sundae of all time. Frutero soursop ice cream topped with dulce de leche, sweetened condensed milk, sprinkles, and edible flowers.

Chips lentil puffs and salsa.

Dipping dinner – taquitos and roasted baby broccoli with salsa and homemade guacamole.

I made Korean marinated eggs and tossed super-firm tofu in the marinade and it turned out great. Served on savory oatmeal with kale (sauteed with gochujang, maple, rice vinegar, and lemon) and chili crisp.

Baked turkey meatballs, roasted cauliflower, and honey butter baby carrots (baked with evoo, salt, pepper, and gochugaru) topped with Trader Joe’s Zhoug and cilantro salad dressing.

This dinner was loosely inspired by shakshuka and eggs in purgatory. Eggs, extra-sharp cheddar, and parmesan cheese cooked on a tomato-y sauce (roasted Bahama Bomb tomatoes sauteed with fire-roasted diced canned tomatoes, garlic, shallot, yellow bell pepper, urfa, smoked paprika, and salt and pepper). I topped mine with Zhoug and cilantro dressing and scooped it with sweet and spicy jalapeno kettle chips.