Plus a sour IPA with milk sugar, peach, hibiscus, and lemon peel.
Tuna pita melts. Tuna salad with pickled red onions and sharp cheddar in the whole-wheat pita that I practically deep-fried in butter. Plus roasted zucchini with sumac.
I worked all weekend – crazy busy but super interesting days; we’ve had a ton of micronutrient deficiencies lately and I’ve really gotten to flex my nutrition-focused physical exam skills – but Adam and I managed to have some excellent date nights.
Eggnog punch bubble tea from Lazy Sundaes. I have been wondering for years why no one was doing the egg nog and boba combo and it was just as tasty as I had anticipated.
Homemade fish taco bowls. Roasted cabbage with lime Sriracha crema and beer-battered cod.
The new best dinner of the year from Canary Club. We ate in the frigid wind on the stoop (it could not have been any more safely socially distanced nor any more cold) so I couldn’t take photos but the the meal was a 10/10. Spicy mezcal cocktail with genepy, lime, pineapple, and pink peppercorn plus a berry rickey with cinnamon cachaça and citrus wild berry cider // black sesame tempura carrots with chili tahini and dill // smoked delicata squash with pecorino, creole butter, and Malaysian peanuts // duck fat broccoli and cauliflower with cilantro and toasted almonds // hanger steak with olive relish, crispy corn cakes, and French onion sauce.
An epic take-out spread from Birds of a Feather. We piled giant plates with numbing-spicy goodness!
We ordered a million things so we could try everything that sounded good and have leftovers for dinners next week: steamed curry chicken dumplings // chive pancakes with egg and dried shrimp // poached wood ear mushrooms with pickled peppers and cucumbers in a vinegar sauce // sautéed Chinese broccoli with soy sauce and scallions // string beans in ginger sauce // spicy and sour tofu pudding // shredded chicken with sesame and chili oil // spicy cumin lamb with bell peppers and miso // cold Sichuan noodles with peanut paste, chili oil, and peppercorns // fried rice with mustard green shoots // fried rice with shredded duck.
It’s beginning to taste a lot like Christmas! Very excited about this year’s ridiculous line-up on on-theme items.
Highlights from this past week include…
Eggnog + Trager Brothers Coffee (<– the stuff from the hospital coffee shop in Virginia that I was obsessed with).
Plus I made an eggnog dalgona coffee!
A very pepperminty breakfast. I was expecting the peanut butter/mint combo to be strange but that Perfect bar was actually amazing.
Greek yogurt bowl with cranberry sauce, cinnamon, and butter rum trail mix.
Still really loving these cocktail hour truffles from Trader Joe’s.
We are even more excited about these buttermints that my parents HANDMADE!?!
Turkey taco night. Corn tortilla with homemade chipotle salsa / sautéed white onion, yellow and orange bell pepper, and poblano pepper / ground turkey / shredded cheese / sour cream / hot sauce. Plus a taco-less pile fillings on the side.
Taco bowl night. Everything from the previous meal plus cranberry sauce and minus the tortilla.
We took a break from tacos with take-out from our favorite Japanese place. Garlic sautéed veggies, tempura veggies and chicken, seaweed salad, edamame, and tofu.
I hope all of my American readers had a safe but satisfying Thanksgiving. Adam and I both worked the holiday but were able to continue our tradition of Thanksgiving night nachos! And thankfully our days ended early enough that we had time to chat with my parents while taking the dog on a cocktail walk and Zoom conference with all of my in-laws in the evening.
We spent a little time talking about things we are thankful for which was an easy assignment for me because I feel like thankful is actually my primary state of being – at least five times a day I thank my lucky stars that I just get to know Adam and Webster, let alone have them both love me back.
By the way, even my non-holiday eats were still pretty much on-theme because the short list of superficial things I’m thankful for definitely includes coffee, boba, sprinkles, ice cream, and pizza! Highlights from the past week include…
Thompson Square Bagels (my favorite in the city) poppy seed with birthday cake cream cheese.
Yogurt bowl win. Plain Greek with peanut butter, cranberry dressing, and granola. Trader Joe’s cranberry dressing (the stuff in the refrigerated section, not the canned one) is the best in the game.
This s’mores kefir was good but not as exciting as I wanted it to be.
Whole Foods has a whole line of specialty holiday ice cream flavors so I am obviously going to be eating ice cream every day for the next month.
Thanksgiving nachos. This year we did Trader Joe’s horseradish and chives potato chips / shredded cheese / duck fennel sausage / shishito peppers / cranberry dressing. Plus roasted brussel sprouts on the side.
And we stayed on theme with maple margaritas.
No pie for dessert, but we did have these festive truffles.
Roasted broccoli and cabbage with spicy cashew sauce and rolled tofu.
We lucked out that Taglio is so close to our apartment because they are currently my favorite pizza in the city. This roasted potato and vodka slice were both 10/10. Plus they have given a ton of food to the workers at Adam’s hospital throughout the pandemic so I am thrilled to support them (multiple times a week!).
Homemade chili topped with sour cream, jalopenos, and pimento cheese. I used duck sausage, black beans, orange bell pepper, poblano pepper, sweet onion, diced tomato, spices, and beer.
Cold weather definitely hit NYC this week. Thankfully it looks like this weekend will be a little more long walk outdoors friendly. But you wouldn’t guess how cold our apartment is by my recent snack choices – popsicles galore! Highlights include…
I worked (long days!) Friday, Saturday, Sunday but we still had a fun weekend with amazing date nights! Five favorites were – –
Mekelburg’s rose black halva latte – an oat milk iced iced latte with rose halvah syrup, topped with rose petals and sesame seeds.
Westbrook Brewings‘ lemon meringue pie gose might be even better than their key lime pie gose!
Friday night we cuddled on the couch with nachos and ice cream and (re)watched “Love and Basketball” and it was kind of the best. Chipotle nacho hack – order chips and a rice bowl without rice (this one had chicken, fajita veggies, corn salsa, and cheese (and guacamole on the side!)) and bake.
We got three -epic – sandwiches from Mekelburg’s and had a picnic down by the water near Domino Park. Waygu roast beef for Adam / a bahn mi with Peking duck, duck rillettes, and sambal hoisin mayo for me / a Mekelburger with dry-aged beef, American cheese, grilled onions, fried onions, and tarragon mustard on Hawaiian bun to share.
Chinese take-out to finish the weekend. I got chili oil tofu with cabbage, celery and white rice.
Today is my 1st day back in at the hospital after a day off and a two-day stint of project days at home. I had to recertify in ServSafe and I had a big task to work on (updating the Nutrition Department’s Clinical Practice Guidelines to be more current/evidence-based) so my boss let me work from home, which was lovely. I got to leisurely brew Phin coffee and sip while I worked! Plus I ate a million snacks. <– Normally I sit in the ICUs and wear an N-95 for most of the day so I took full advantage of having a free face!
Highlights included…
The company that makes the instant espresso we love for Dalgona coffees also makes a really good espresso roast.
Plain Greek yogurt bowl with blackberries, peach, cashew butter, and a chopped up Bueno Bar. <– I realize it is ridiculous to stir a candy bar into your lunch but this was breath-takingly good and I’m glad I did it!
Vanilla skyr yogurt bowl with blackberries, black plum, cashew butter, coconut chips, and starry sprinkles.
Adam and I had to go into Manhattan for a doctor’s appointment so we stopped by Bibble and Sip for a cream puff. A cream puff topped with crème brûlée and filled with milk tea cream and boba!
Still obsessed with Hal’s caffeinated cola seltzer.
Adam and are both head over heels for these dinner mints. We made it through 12 years of marriage before we realized we are both fans of these guys!
This soursop ice cream was possibly the very best packaged ice cream I’ve ever tasted.
I topped this cheese enchilada meal with more cheese, sour cream, and Crystal hot sauce and it was 10/10. P.S. I highly recommend Amy’s frozen meal options, this one is good even if you aren’t over the top about it.
There’s a newish poke place in our neighborhood that lets you add a thousand toppings. This was white rice with crabcake, tofu, eel sauce, spicy mayo, cucumber, shiitakes, shredded carrot, string bean, green onion, tamago (shredded egg omelet), oshinko (pickled veggies), inari (tofu skin), garlic crisps, and lotus chips.
Blistered green beans – sauteed with garlic, ginger, and chili oil – with Trader Joe’s mini chicken and cilantro wontons.
It was a very good week in fruits and vegetables here! We went to Whole Foods on Saturday to stock up. With our new, pandemic-induced, bimonthly grocery schedule our first week of dinners/snacks always feels a lot fresher than the second week.
Highlights include…
Could Perfect Bars be any more perfect? They are the optimal balance of sweet and savory. I loved this trail mix flavor.
My parents sent us a box of tamarinds and I found these strawberry cherries at Whole Foods.
I also snagged a bag of genips (<– Caribbean fruit that I grew up picking from a tree near my house but have had an impossible time finding in New York) on the street corner near my hospital!
Watermelon-themed things since it’s almost July 4th. The winner of the bunch was definitely the Hal’s Seltzer.
This dinner was brought to you by the color orange! Salmon/trout salad bagel melts / local heirloom tomatoes with a bit of salt and pepper / roasted gold zucchini.
We have been loving this black-eyed pea salad combo for almost a decade. This batch was actually made with fancy heirloom yellow eyed beans since BEP were sold out at the store. Beans, green pepper, smoked almonds, sharp cheddar, and green Tabasco. It is such a simple combination but super satisfying.
Roasted green zucchini topped with Moroccan tofu cubes and a simple yogurt sauce (plain skyr, mayo, olive oil, sumac, paprika, salt, and a little water).
Our best meal of the week was this trio – baked tofu (cooked with a mix of soy sauce, rice vinegar, fish sauce, Sriracha, and honey) / Chinese smashed cucumber salad / fancy mushroom medley sauteed with salt, pepper, and butter.
Eating Chalk 