Burgers And Breweries

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Highlights from the weekend included…

New coffees.  Shenandoah Joe was perfectly roasty.

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I got a nitro nom nom cold brew from Snowing in Space.

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And this can of cold brew was delicious (there’s skim milk in there too, it was frothy but not as much as the picture looks).

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Brunch at Maya.  I had a Hurricane with Cruzan rum in it!

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And a super Southern plate of chicken and waffles.  House-fried chicken thigh, caramelized onion and cheddar biscuit waffle, hot honey, and maple syrup.

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Snacks of note – Virginia peanuts.

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Voges caramel marshmallows with roasted walnut and pecan.

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Friday night we met up with my cousin for dinner and drinks.  I got a vegetarian chili and a mound of fried cheese curds at South Street Brewery.

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And a yummy flight at Three Notch’d including passion fruit and watermelon goses.

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Saturday night Adam and I tried out Citizen Burger.  More passion fruit, in a lackluster cider.

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I had a turkey burger topped with white onion, pickles, mayo, and pimento cheese.  Plus so many fries.

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Sunday night I finally cooked in our new kitchen!

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Homemade turkey burgers / on sweet potato buns / topped with ketchup and mayo / turkey bacon / and Kerrygold Dubliner cheddar.  Plus roasted green beans.

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Have a nice week!

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Brigadero, Beer, BBQ

I had a good New York weekend, one of a dwindling few remaining before the move!  Saturday, a girlfriend and I met near South Street Seaport for croissants, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, then spent the afternoon in Brooklyn for drinks and dinner.

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Here were my top nine, three per day for a three day weekend…

{1}  Iced latte from Everyman Espresso.  I walked down from Penn Station to the Seaport and the iced beverage was sooo necessary.

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{2}  It kind of makes me feel like an asshole, but the frozen coffee from Stew Leonard’s is one of my very favorite things.

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{3}  Croissants from Cafe Patoro.  Mine was stuffed with brigadero, aka condensed milk chocolate.

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{4}  Dessert bars from Hometown Bake Shop.  Key lime pie and s’mores.

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{5}  Cocktails at Grand Army.  The specialty drink menu is currently My Little Pony themed!!

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We decided I ordered the best two things on the menu.  Scootaloo – amburana cachaca, passionfruit, cardamom, lime, and orange.

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Pinky Pie – blanco tequila, escubac, aperol, lime, and salt.

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{6}  Pasta at Colonie.  Fazzoletti with blue crab, burrata, sorrel, and serrano chile.

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{7}  BBQ at Old Fields.  I had smoked chicken with smokey bbq sauce, pulled chicken, cole slaw, and a lot of Adam’s corn bread.

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{8}  I made a take on the creamy rice casserole from Eat, Live, Run.  Double the bell pepper, fire roasted ro-tel, and I swapped out shrimp for turkey sausage and red kidney beans.  It was delicious.  Topped with Sriracha and sour cream.

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{9}  Trader Joe’s sour grapefruit ale.

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Have a great week!

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Broccoli And Cake

Highlights from the week…

Coffee coffee!  Irving Farms Blackstrap Espresso with half and half.

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Things that taste like cake!  Hot chocolate that was pretty good and a candy bar that was pretty meh.

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Blackberry yogurt bowl with chopped plums and Flax Plus Multibran Flakes.

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Plain Greek yogurt with black sesame halvah from Seed + Mill and an envy apple on the side.

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Dinners this week were easy (and very chip forward) but good.  The best night I ate a crappy sandwich on the train because… I went to the ballet!  My aunt brought me along with her to see Misty Copeland in Giselle.  It was beautiful and fantastic!

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Chips and dip.  I made homemade onion dip – sauteed sweet onion and green onions, turkey bacon, fresh chives, sour cream, and kewpie mayo.  Dipped with gojuchang kettle chips, baby carrots, and bell pepper.  It turned out very well and I definitely went back for more chips to keep scooping.

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Nachos!  Toasted tortilla chips / homemade nacho cheese sauce (you literally just melt together mild cheddar and sour cream, it was crazy easy) / ground turkey sauteed with taco seasoning and onion and bell pepper / green onion on top.

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Warm broccoli salad.  Roasted broccoli / turkey bacon / chives / raisins / blistered peanuts / sour cream, sugar, smoked paprika, and rice vinegar.

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I work the next five days but I hope everyone else has a fun weekend!

My New Favorite Thing

This weekend was all about fancy coffees, restaurant brunches, and yummy home-cooked dinners.

I took a vacation day on Friday – just for funsies – and had lunch with one of my favorite former co-workers and her new baby!  Plus I took myself on a long walk: Penn Station down to Chelsea Market, over to Gramercy Park, and back up to Penn Station.  Saturday I had a literal every cloud has a silver lining situation – the gloomy weather gave me an excuse to wear my snazzy new rain boots!

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Here were the highlights…

Fancy coffees –  Iced latte from Seven Point Espresso.

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Rose iced latte from Terremoto.  <– best coffee of the weekend

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Crack pie latte from Milk Bar.

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Restaurant brunches – MeMe’s Diner.

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The O.C. = cara cara and blood orange, tequila, and Tang.

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I ordered the greens with chili oil and a fried chicken biscuit sandwich with spicy maple syrup and root vegetable slaw.  The picture does not do justice to just how gigantic that sandwich is.

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Cake!  I wish I had more photos because this cake is officially my new favorite thing I’ve ever eaten.  Vietnamese iced coffee cake with condensed milk frosting and cocoa cardamom fudge.  Moist cake, fluffy icing, perfectly balanced.

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Midwinter Kitchen.  I had a salad with pistachio crusted goat cheese, frisée, watercress, a sunny side up egg, and sherry vinaigrette.  Those goat cheese balls were out of this world.

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Home-cooked dinners –  Trout salad melts.  Trader Joe’s canned smoked trout with mayo and gojuchang on toast with sharp cheddar.  Plus roasted zucchini with sumac.

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And I had this killer drink line-up while I cooked – creamy mango soda and key lime pie gose.

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Eat Live Run’s green chile crock pot chicken.  I subbed in cauliflower rice to get some more veggies in there.

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Gojuchang turkey burgers on toast, smothered in a tasty sauce – kewpie mayonnaise, honey, dijon, and miso.  With a side of pear slices and chips – gojuchang kettle chips from Whole Foods and kettle popcorn chips from Trader Joe’s.

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Have a great work-week, guys!

 

Three Things

Three things I liked this week:

{1}  Mint iced coffee!  Irving Farms espresso roast / half and half / homemade vanilla mint simple syrup.

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{2}  Kefir and apple work snacks.

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{3}  Starbucks’ prepared sandwiches that I’m weirdly obsessed with.  Chicken and artichoke flatbread with provolone and sun-dried tomato pesto.

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Three things I loved this week:

{1}  Homemade turkey cheeseburger fried rice.

Leftover brown rice stir-fried with soy sauce and liquid smoke / sauteed onions / roasted cherry tomatoes / ground turkey sauteed with fish sauce, ketchup, and mayo / eggs / cheddar cheese.

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{2}  Dinner at Pig and Khao.  I went with a girlfriend for her first visit and she loved it!

I ordered not one, but two, new to me dishes that were amazing.  Mushroom salad with shrimp and fried garlic and green papaya salad with chicken and crispy taro.

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{3}  Dinner at Freeks Mill that knocked our socks off.

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We started with roasted baby carrots with marcona almonds and herbed goat cheese.

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And we ordered all the poultry on the menu for dinner.  Chicken for Adam, smoked Poulet Rouge with wild mushrooms and spinach.

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Duck for me, dry aged duck with fried cranberry beans, fennel, and rosemary honey.  <– this was the singe best thing I've ever eaten!

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Three things I’m obsessing about that you don’t know about yet:

{1}  Nonfat quad iced lattes from Hungry Ghost.  There are three HGs on my walk to work and it is becoming a problem.

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{2}  Stolen Dance by Milky Chance.  This song is basically magic – I listened to it on a run and I swear my legs moved 50% more quickly than usual.

{3}  Moving??!  I’m not sure how I haven’t blogged about this yet, but yes, we’re moving!  Adam is doing his Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at UVA next year.  So we’re moving to Charlottesville.  In 50 days.  !!!

Sandwich x4

I don’t have much to share this week, when your vacation is unexpectedly extended by two days your return home plan for a massive grocery haul turns into a five item mini trip and then you end up eating sandwiches two meals a day for two days straight.

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I also took myself on a fun breakfast date in Dekalb Market Hall, and enjoyed an everything bagel with scallion cream cheese and an amazing iced latte.

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I do have a few leftover island photos to share!

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P.S. I adored being home, but oh man, do I love Brooklyn.

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P.P.S. I am off from work today (all I could handle post-vacation was a two day work-week!) and I have exciting plans to eat all the things.

 

Pepperoni Pizza

The five best things I ate this week –

This week’s coffee combo.  Trader Joe’s espresso blend.

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A protein-packed yogurt bowl.  Plain Greek with vanilla protein almond butter and an apple on the side.

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A spring-y snack.  Candied lemon slices and dark chocolate violet marshmallows.

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Fancy toast.  Topped with strawberry jam, Kerrygold Dubliner cheese, and a hard-boiled egg.

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The highlight: pepperoni pizza with buttery roasted green beans on the side.

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Trader Joe’s garlic crust / cooked in a casserole dish with olive oil on the bottom / topped with sliced mozzarella / tomato sauce with anchovy / turkey pepperoni / and Parmesan cheese.

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Well There Goes Your Social Life

Another New York snowstorm?!  Can it be Spring already??!  I shouldn’t complain, Adam and I both were off from work on Wednesday and I already drink enough coffee to power a small city so it’s not like the few minutes I had to wake up earlier on Thursday to deal with the snow were a big deal. <– I should note that I literally mean that I only need a few extra minutes, I don’t have to dig out my own car because I’m married to the kindest man on earth!

Highlight bites this week…

Coffee, coffee!  Cafe Bustelo.

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Cold brew with coconut palm sugar (and skim milk).

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Protein cookie and a sumo.

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Coffee Greek yogurt with coconut butter, red walnuts, and granola, plus a Pink Lady apple on the side.  The coconut/coffee combo is 10/10.

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These 7-11 bites are super cute, and I love anything that tastes like cake batter.

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It seemed like half of Queens had closed up shop on Wednesday but Adam and I still managed to find a good lunch.  Chicken and udon soup.

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With an Oreo milk tea with pudding.

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Plus we went to Coffee Factory for a ridiculously adorned coffee shave ice.

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It’s a testament to how good Stumptown is that I was equally excited about my iced latte.

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Do you remember last year when I declared that the spring holidays deserve theme flavors too?  Easter gets lemon, coconut, and anything in the shape of an egg!

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I snacked on coconut shortbread cookies and candied lemon slices to welcome the first day of Spring.

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The Trader Joe’s eggs were cute, but the chocolate to caramel ratio was too large for my liking.  I much prefer a thinner, softer shell, so the Godiva eggs were absolutely perfect.

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Godiva actually sent me the eggstra special chocolates to review on the blog {I received no additional compensation / all opinions are my own}.  The box includes solid milk chocolate, dark chocolate ganache (3rd favorite), dark chocolate with raspberry, milk chocolate with almond butter (my favorite), and milk chocolate caramel (2nd favorite).  There’s 60 calories per egg, which feels more than fair because these are definitely a two-to-three-bite candy.

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Important note – Godiva also has an assorted gift-box special for Spring that includes both cookie dough truffles and white chocolate pralines – among other flavors – and I’m having a very hard time not buying it immediately.

My dinners were darn impressive this week.  Spicy Cajun shrimp pasta bowls on whole wheat linguine with tons of roasted zucchini and sun-dried tomato.

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Homemade turkey Reuben burgers / roasted green beans / french fries / with ketchup and thousand island.

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Chicken sandwiches.  Boneless skinless breasts marinated in lemon juice, soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, Sriracha, fish sauce, and ginger; breaded in panko; and baked / on brioche buns / with mayo and provolone.

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Plus we had sauteed bok choy and leeks on the side.

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And buttermilk and chive chips while I cooked.

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Last night a girlfriend and I went on a balls tasting tour of the Lower East Side for dinner.  Boba Guys for Hong Kong milk tea with tapioca balls and almond jelly.

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Meatball Shop for chicken meatballs with pesto.  Plus a Dead Flowers & Red Bottoms cocktail – mezcal, tequila, lime, honey, and hibiscus.

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p.s. who is 1990’s enough to get the joke in my title??