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!).
My other song title option was “Like It Was 1980,” and if you don’t get that reference you are sorely missing out! This week’s dinner theme was Americana/nostalgia. We made Salisbury steak, tuna pasta salad, macaroni and cheese, and chili and grilled cheese sandwiches!
Highlights from the past four days include…
After-school snacks. Apple + peanut butter (I didn’t have mini marshmallows to make smiles!). This was a Sugar Bee apple and it was wonderfully crisp and sweet.
Important note – the Whole Foods unsweetened crunchy peanut butter is wonderful. It is some of the best I’ve ever had and certainly outranks the other options at this price point. Just peanuts and salt.
This week’s yogurt bowl combo was plain skry, blackberries, peanut butter, and Nature’s Path honey almond granola.
Love Corn bbq corn nuts. These have a very satisfying consistency.
Junior Mints minis are fantastic. They are like the popping boba of chocolate candies.
Fun in sparkling waters – Target caffeinated cherry cola and Ruby tart hibiscus. Both were an 8/10.
I had never actually tried Salisbury steak before but I loved it. We loosely followed this recipe but I used ground turkey and way more mushrooms. Plus roasted purple and Japanese sweet potato and zucchini.
I did not use Italian dressing in my tuna pasta though that is how I grew up eating it. Whole-wheat macaroni, canned tuna, roasted zucchini, edamame, extra-sharp cheddar, and balsamic vinegar. Maybe Italian is the way to go though? Adam and I both went back and topped our bowls with hot sauce.
Macaroni and cheese muffins. I used extra-sharp cheddar instead of parmesan and added mustard powder. Plus roasted broccoli.
Plus we had bbq Wilde chicken chips.
Chili = ground turkey, celery, white onion, fire-roasted tomatoes, fire-roasted green chiles, kidney beans, chicken broth, evoo, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. I topped my bowl with plain yogurt and hot sauce. Plus I made amazing grilled cheese sandwiches; the filling was a mixture of extra-sharp cheddar, marinated artichoke hearts, mayo, white pepper, mustard powder, and a pinch of sugar.
Highlights from the weekend (including some highlights of the whole damn year!)…
Eggnog dalgona iced coffee – after driving around with cocoa and the dog to look at lights this is our favorite holiday tradition.
Peppermint white mocha iced latte from Buzzed. We also shared an eggnog cold foam cold brew and were pleased with both. I wouldn’t go back all the time but I will definitely check out their next seasonal specials.
I’Milky oat milk iced matcha with chestnut creme. I was mostly getting this to be seasonal but we ended up both loving it – super balanced and satisfying.
Petit Chou tropical tres leches cake with a layer of jammy pineapple. I need to try more things from this spot.
Spudsy sweet potato snacks. I thought these would be like Chex Mix but they were actually the size of a small clementine.
Comfortland frozen eggnog (15/10) and a chocolate, coconut, marshmallow doughnut. This was the best doughnut I’ve ever eaten; the outside was sugary and crispy.
We also got the Everything Everywhere Tots at Once special – with cheddar, hot honey, marinated ribeye, gochujang aioli, ranch, chives, and everything bagel seasoning.
Brunch at Madre. This spot deserves the hype – the space was beautiful, the service was great, the food was all wonderful. We shared a Granddaddy Purp – sake, lavender, plum, cereal milk, and egg white. Gorgeous and delicious.
El Sancho – mezcal, apricot, campari, habenero, and cinnamon.
Jalapeño cornbread madelines with whipped honey butter.
The burger with gruyere and fennel slaw (didn’t make my top five but definitely in the top ten and Adam loved it).
And the brown butter french toast with caramel and roasted banana.
Scooping/dipping dinner. Baked wontons with togarashi / roasted broccoli / blended tuna salad – with smoked trout, mayo, and capers / pimento cheese dip – warm with honey and spiced pecans on top.
P.S. We checked out the Rockefellers tree and it was totally stunning and worth the crowd!
Peppermint coffee – candy cane cold brew from Blank Street.
This week’s home coffee combo wasn’t my best. I did not care for the Browny cold brew, too sour. The Ronnybrook egg nog was crazy thick, almost too thick, so it was good but not my favorite.
Peppermint breakfast – a chocolate mint Perfect Bar and a peppermint mocha La Colombe can.
Peppermint watermelon is my favorite Aura Bora seltzer flavor.
Peppermint booze – Smirnoff peppermint vodka with lime and club soda (and food coloring!).
Six Point Bone Chill pear and spruce double IPA (8.5/10).
Peppermint mini meringues – from Trader Joes.
Peppermint ice cream – with candy cane bits, fudge, and cookies.
I had the day off on Thursday and spent the afternoon admiring decorations in the city and got lunch at Chelsea Market. Very Fresh Noodles‘ very spicy vegan dan dan mian. These were super spicy and numbing and wonderful and topped with crunchy soybeans and cucumber salad that were the perfect foils.
It was Adam’s birthday on Monday and his dinner choice was Subway. I got a tuna salad sub with mustard, pickles, banana peppers, and cheese. Plus leftovers from Sunday in Brooklyn – brussel sprouts and the amazing roast chicken.
And I made him his favorite cinnamon brownies – just the Bakers Chocolate one-bowl recipe with 1 cup of chocolate chips instead of nuts and 2 tsp of cinnamon extract instead of vanilla.
Salad #1 – romaine / homemade ranch dressing – sour cream, dijon mustard, ranch seasoning / red bell pepper / pickled banana peppers / homemade croutons / baked chicken – marinated in Greek yogurt and banana pepper juice.
We made scones! Chocolate chip and dried cherry. They were yummy and so easy.
Brunch at Agi’s Counter in Brooklyn. Dirty Ovaltine was a hit.
We were head over heels for these palacsinta – Hungarian crepes layered with honey butter and wine poached figs.
We also shared the hashbrown with trout roe and scallion sour cream.
And the confit tuna melt sandwich. It came with great house-made pickles.
Sugar Hill Creamery. We tried a split scoop of the Unicorn (vanilla with birthday cake and sprinkles) and the Don Cartagnea (cream cheese ice cream with guava and croissant).
But really we were there for the hot chocolate! Topped with torched marshmallow fluff!! This couldn’t compare with drinking chocolate but it was definitely the best hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted. It was dark and bitter in a way that really complemented the fluff.
See also – I ended my weekend with a scoop of this dark chocolate and mint Ben & Jerry’s topped with fluff at home.
Chopped turkey sandwiches in nacho form – one of my best dinner ideas yet. A mix of smoked turkey, honey maple turkey, sharp cheddar, garlic sauteed baby broccoli, pepperoncinis, smoked paprika, salt and pepper, mayo, and yellow mustard; chopped and baked on top of Kettle pepperoncini chips.
Leftover rice casserole and broccoli salad plus Whole Foods’ pimento mac and cheese balls. This plate got doused with Cholula and honey.
Take-out from Datz Deli for some 10/10 Caribbean food. Wonderfully spicy jerk chicken and the best baked mac and cheese I’ve gotten in NY (mind you, not as good as my favorite from Pueblo back home). Plus we shared one of the sandwiches they are famous for – stewed oxtail and mac and cheese stuffed into a chicken patty stuffed into a coconut bread. Every component was perfect and together it was a dream! Plus roasted romanesco on the side.
We visited Fern and Aurora – a newish Filipino bakery – and got an assortment of fun treats. Including a solid halo halo and a calamansi meringue that was one of the best desserts of this year.
Fat Witch mint brownie. This is our favorite of their flavors.
10/10 beer line up. Abomination Brewing Ice Cream Sandwiches in Space milkshake-style double IPA (P.S. I also tried their pumpkin milkshake IPA at a bar this week – we went out to do poorly at trivia – and was a fan) / Blue Point Apple Pie Crumb Sour.
Homemade callaloo with spinach, crab, and turkey bacon. Plus leftover teff biscuits and blue cornbread from Hav & Mar (the bread basket was the highlight of that meal!).
Tuna pasta. Whole-wheat spaghetti with roasted zuccini and romanesco, pine nuts, canned yellowfin tuna packed in olive oil, lemon juice and zest, gochugaru, and urfa chile pepper.
Beans and rice (kidney beans and brown rice cooked with onion, hot pepper, ginger, and coconut milk) / tuna cakes with Jamaican curry powder and red curry paste / roasted zucchini / hot pepper jelly.
Eating Chalk 