Triple Chocolate, White Chocolate Peppermint

Highlights from a festive week…

Holiday Jenni’s flavors are some of the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted. Boozy eggnog and white chocolate peppermint are both divine!

Ground Up salted eggnog cashew butter is delicious in yogurt or just on a spoon.

Adam’s birthday request was zucchini bread. We adored this recipe (with Ghirardelli’s unbelievably good milk chocolate chips).

Somedays Bakery new Manhattan location is knocking it out of the park. Black sesame tahini croissant and a triple chocolate pastry.

Brunch at Dante’s West Village. I had the steak and scrambled egg burrito and a boozy affogato.

Monday’s dinner was some of our (many) leftovers from wonderful dinners with my parents. We had a fantastic time while they were here! Broccoli rabe, woodfired honeynut squash, and stracciatella cheese from Rolo’s / woodfired pita bread and roast chicken from Sunday in Brooklyn / Pizza, chicken parm, broccoli rabe, and salmon from Il Gufo / also unphotographed tater tots from Sonder.

Umami baked turkey meatballs with roasted cauliflower. Ground turkey, salt, tons of pepper, urfa chili, panko bread crumbs, and mushrooms (sauteed with green onions and butter then food-processed).

Cold egg tofu and roasted broccoli with a spicy sauce (soy sauce, sesame oil, chili onion crunch, sugar, garlic, and rice vinegar).

Marshmallow Snowman

This week’s coffee combo was a winner.

This week’s yogurt bowels were dessert-y. Trader Joe’s eggnog Greek yogurt with creme brulee granola and persimmon.

Plain skyr with chopped egg yolk nougat (it was amazing, like a marzipan cake) and blueberries.

Giant mango peelable gummy. 100/10. This was a perfect mango representation in gummy form.

Tuna salad. Canned tuna with bell pepper, water chestnuts, peanuts, ginger, Duke’s mayo, plain skyr, red curry paste, and lemon juice. Plus roasted cauliflower with a labne hot honey dipping sauce (labne, chili oil, gochugaru, and honey).

Pasta salad. Brami Protein Pasta curly mac / sharp cheddar / smoked turkey / roasted Bahama Bomb tomatoes and zucchini with evoo, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder.

Creamy tomato pasta. My sauce was blended then cooked sweet canned tomatoes, tomato paste, pepper, gochugaru, roasted garlic, evoo, fish sauce, dark soy sauce, parmesan cheese, and silken tofu. Plus sauteed asparagus with bell pepper, water chestnuts, and sweet and spicy pecans.

P.S. My post is a day early because my work-week is ending a day early; I am off tomorrow to show my parents all of the NYC seasonal fun!

Cranberry, Sweet Potato, Sage

I have so much to be thankful for, the least of which is a very exciting cache of Thanksgiving-themed foods! All were great but the stand-out was the sweet potato peeling candy; it was delightfully strange!

See also – cranberry hot sauce my parents sent me from home. I added this to every plate this week.

And hot honey flavored Uglies sweet potato chips. These were surprisingly great, definitely the best sweet potato chips I’ve ever tried.

One of the best yogurt bowls of the year – plain skyr with cranberry sauce and Tom’s Perfect 10 creme brulee granola. Plus a very exciting bowl of berries – Super Jumbo and Sweetest Batch blueberries and Lolliberry strawberries.

Chicken salad with miso honey sweet potatoes. Shredded baked chicken tossed with celery, green onions, diced cucumber, Sichuan pepper salt, white sugar, minced garlic, onion chili crunch, peanuts, and sesame seeds. The potatoes were roasted then sauteed with honey, white miso, gochugang, and rice vinegar.

Stuffing-style fried rice. Brown rice seasoned with rice vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil / roasted riced cauliflower / sauteed mushrooms with butter and smoked paprika / sauteed yellow onion and celery with salt, pepper, and celery seed / sage / Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy pecans / dried cranberries / maple pecan smoked turkey / stir-fried with egg.

Roast‘s Thanksgiving crunchwrap is one of their best specials – with roasted turkey, white cheddar, cranberry jam, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, and crispy onions. Plus a French onion grilled cheese for good measure – sourdough with short rib, gruyere, caramelized onions, mustard aioli, and garlic butter. And fries and wonderful homemade green beans – steamed then sauteed with toasted pecans, rice vinegar, brown sugar, horseradish, onion chili crunch, and cranberry sauce.

Thanksgiving nachos are our favorite holiday tradition! This year we did Trader Joe’s stuffing seasoned kettle chips / extra-sharp white cheddar / smoked turkey / green onion / sweet and spicy pecans / topped with cranberry sauce (and cranberry hot sauce!) / and fried sage. Plus sauteed brussels sprouts with a spicy fish sauce caramel (brown sugar, Sriracha, soy sauce, fish sauce, water, and cornstarch).

Wouldn’t It Be Rice

Things from the week…

Horchata-ish iced latte. I blended leftover brown rice, milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla bean powder in the blender. Unstrained, with ice, half and half, and espresso.

Berry smoothie. Frozen strawberries and blueberries, with chocolate protein powder, milk, and water. And a strawberry gummy.

These Kissabel apples have rose colored flesh.

I enjoyed these Quin maple almond butter filled pretzels much more than I was expecting to.

Chip City’s caramel apple cider donut cookie is hands-down the best thing they make. The cookie has the perfect amount of apple tang and the cider donut cinnamon sugar spice rub is divine.

10/10 dessert skyr bowl. Plain skyr, salty peanuts, leftover pecan pie toffee candy, and TWO KINDS of blueberries (Sweetest Batch and Super Jumbo!).

Braised tofu bowls. Brown rice with roasted cauliflower rice / sauteed bok choy with green onion / firm tofu cooked in butter and braised in chicken broth, rice vinegar, gochujang, gochugaru, Sichuan pepper, sugar, and sesame seeds / cashews.

Greek-ish salad. Romaine, Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing, baby tomatoes, roasted zucchini, and roasted chickpeas (baked until crispy with evoo, salt, pepper, sumac, onion powder, and garlic powder). Plus Trader Joe’s dolmas.

Crispy rice omelet. Eggs steamed on top of crisped-up leftover brown rice, kimchi, and extra-sharp cheddar. Plus roasted broccoli and baked chicken on the side.

I can’t skip a seasonal special; even if it’s from Arby’s. Their Gobbler sandwich was great though – deep-fried turkey, crispy onion, Swiss, stuffing, cranberry spread, and mayo on a toasted sub.

For The Graham

It was a nice fall weekend! Some highlights…

Homemade s’mores iced latte. Marshmallow creme / Trader Joe’s chocolate shell / Trader Joe’s maple pecan cold brew concentrate / milk infused with graham cracker, cinnamon, vanilla bean powder, and salt.

I had the graham crackers in the house for the fantastic pecan pie cookies I made. Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies but with chopped up homemade chocolate pecan graham cracker toffee candy in place of chips.

The best dessert of the weekend was hands-down Librae‘s halvah chocolate croissant.

I am not a big juice person but I very much enjoyed this Alldae passionfruit and guava cascara drink.

The perfect walking snack from an Asian grocery in Manhattan – spicy tuna onigiri and crab meat inari.

Mimi Cheng‘s makes my current favorite dumplings in the city and their seasonal/collaborative options are always awesome. Three cup chicken scallion pancake melt with mozzarella and fresno peppers.

Thanksgiving dinner dumplings with local turkey, cranberry herb stuffing, housemade gravy, thyme, and a side of housemade cranberry sauce.

Dinner at The Cuban. I couldn’t take pictures because the lighting was insane but we had an excellent meal. That drink was a coquito mojito!!

Kitchen sink salads. Romaine with Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing, jalapeno hummus, cucumber, raisins, walnuts, crispy broad beans, extra-sharp cheddar, and baked sprouted tofu.

Maple x2

Highlights from this week…

This week’s coffee combo. Trader Joe’s knocked both of these items out of the park.

Fancy yogurt bowl. Plain skyr, cinnamon granola, yellow dragonfruit, and persimmon.

New new-to-me pear. This wasn’t as good as the last two but still not bad.

A dips/dippers situation. Little Sesame Herby Jalapeno hummus and Red Clay pimento cheese (hands down the best pimento spread we’ve ever tasted!) with bell peppers, baby carrots, and Crunch Master pimento cheese rice crackers.

Warm salads. Sauteed Trader Joe’s Cruciferous Crunch topped with dressing (maple syrup, Dijon mustard, vinegar, and sesame oil), lamb sausage, and roasted honeynut and delicata squash.

Tofu salads. Romaine / Trader Joe’s mano vinaigrette / cucumber / extra-sharp cheddar / crispy broad beans / and tofu (marinated, dredged in a flour, cornstarch, salt, white pepper, Sichuan peppercorn, and toasted rice powder mix, then stir-fried).

A very, very loose take on the Very Fresh Noodles Dan Dan noodles. Buckwheat soba / dinosaur kale, baby bok choy, and scallions sauteed with fish sauce and rice vinegar / ground turkey sauteed with hoisin, dark soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, and five spice powder / crunched up crispy broad beans / sauce – peanut butter, garlic, onion chili crisp, chili oil, soy sauce, sugar, five spice powder, Sichuan peppercorn, and chicken broth.

P.S. I put pecan pie chocolate chip cookies into the oven as I wrote this post!

Spooky Snacks

Things from the week before Halloween…

On-theme candy, obviously.

And pumpkin beers! Southern Tier’s Maple Warlock imperial pumpkin stout and Caramel Pumpkin imperial pumpkin ale were both excellent.

Pumpkin smoothie. Canned pumpkin puree, frozen banana, brown sugar, vanilla protein powder, and water.

Boo-berry smoothie. Frozen blueberries, cherries, and strawberries with vanilla protein powder and water (with a marshmallow ghost!).

Halloween candy week seemed like a fitting time to open this Bonne Maman chocolate peanut spread. I enjoyed it in a few iced coffees and am eagerly anticipating a yogurt bowl.

Another new to me pear – Gem. It was delicious, but I prefer the Happis.

This Wella Crispy Treat did not taste like ube to me but it was yummy; good salty-sweet balance. Adam hated it, however, so your milage may vary.

Oyakadon-inspired dinner. Eggs soft-scrambled in leftover Rose Marie whipped garlic parsley butter / roasted broccoli / Bell and Evans breaded chicken patties / horseradish Sriracha aioli / leftover Rose Marie sourdough.

Pumpkin chili. Ground turkey, Whole Food’s canned bean trio, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, canned pumpkin puree, fish sauce, yellow onion, red bell pepper, poblano pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, urfa chili, and salt and pepper. Plus leftover Rose Marie cheese curds and Trader Joe’s pumpkin tortilla chips.

Two types of leftover pizza reheated in a skillet with leftover butter and an egg cooked on top.

These crispy roasted beans were the best dinner of the week. Labne / roasted shredded brussels sprouts / Great Northern beans tossed with evoo, cornstarch, panko, gochugaru, and furikake and roasted / Roland’s spicy chili onion crisp / crispy numbing broad beans I found at 99 Ranch but can’t read the label for.

Hello, Pumpkin

I didn’t buy that many Pumpkin Month goodies this year but I am excited about my stash. The Whole Food’s seasonal soaps smell so good!

This week I enjoyed the 7-11 pumpkin spice cheesecake bites and a pumpkin pie Perfect Bar. P.S. I also started my October 1st with a Starbucks iced espresso with pumpkin cold foam. P.P.S. I also tried their banana protein cold foam this week and was a big fan.

Other highlights from this week included… This espresso roast cold brew from Equator is the best bottled coffee I’ve ever tried. It was smooth, not sour, and contained 250 mg of caffeine.

Passionfruit Konjac jelly drink in a strawberry green tea. The texture was everything I was hoping for but this gave me the worst stomachache.

We did Soup Week for dinners this week! I loosely followed the recipe for Recipe Tin Eat’s Korean Noodle Soup. This has the perfect amount of spice for soup. We added egg tofu and extra bok choy.

Butternut squash and sweet potato soup. I blended together roasted butternut squash, orange yam, and sweet onion with miso, salt, white pepper, and chicken broth. We loved this. I topped my with chili crisp and paired it with roasted green beans and some Duck Island Bread Company sourdough.

Meatball soup. Baked turkey meatballs (ground turkey, panko panade, egg, and hoisin sauce), chicken broth, salt, pepper, gochujang, garlic, scallions, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, and roasted zucchini. Plus super decadent apricot grilled cheese sandwiches – sourdough with apricot preserves and a filling of Duke’s mayo, Sriracha, smoked paprika, and two types of sharp cheddar.

P.S. We are doing something super fun today!