Reunited And It Feels So Good

by Emily

I had an absolute blast in Buffalo but this past week I have been so freaking excited to be home with my boys. I usually miss them by the end of my workday so a long weekend away feels like an eternity. I am lucky to have a husband and dachshund who are both so great! {/sap}

breakfast

Black and white coffee.

Or Vanilla Chameleon Cold Brew with chocolate milk and an apple on the side.

Cereal with milk. And blueberries.

Plus Guava Mandarin Polar seltzer.

I lugged that back from Wegman’s in Buffalo and it was so worth it.

Coffee-eee-eee.

Always worth it. I’d be lying if I said my birthday drink freebie wasn’t bringing me a lot of anticipatory joy.

lunch

Asian-ish.

Microwave noodles and roasted seaweed.

Oatmeal bowl.

Chai-spiced oats from Target with maple almond butter on top and 2 black pluots on the side.

Yogurt bowl.

Vanilla Skyr Icelandic yogurt with blueberries, KIND peanut butter granola, and chia seeds. This was so tasty; I need more of that yogurt immediately.

dinner

Adam was at the hospital when I got home on Sunday so we had to turn Monday into date night. He picked me up at work and came bearing red velvet cupcakes.

We went to dinner at East Wind Snack Shop by Prospect Park.

We came in for the foie gras bao, which ended up being only ok. For the cheap price the amount of foie gras was very fair, but I would have rather paid a bit more and gotten a better meat-to-bun ratio.

But my Happy Buddha Vegetables were yummy.

They describe this dish as “jasmine rice, fermented tofu, seasoning, and all sorts of vegetables.” I’m not sure what the green sauce was but it was worth going back for. Then we walked to the theatre (our movie theatre) to see “Ant-Man.” The character development was weak but the movie was still hilarious so we’re glad we went.

I didn’t have time to do a real grocery trip this week so the following two nights were admittedly a little weak. This meal was fine but it’s not winning any prizes.

Cheez-its, leftover roasted veggies that Adam made last week, and a turkey and Havarti cheese sandwich.

This meal was a bit better. It definitely tasted good.

We needed a carbohydrate side so we had beer! Tusker is one of my all-time favorite beers, and pretty much the only lager I enjoy.

With roasted veggies – asparagus, okra, and zucchini – with Applegate chicken nuggets.

A copious amount of ketchup was added after I took that picture.

My parents come to visit tomorrow. And Friday is my birthday. I’m old, but excited!

30Jun2015

Random Ruminations

by Emily

giveaway winner {congrats!}

And the cookbook giveaway winner is… Brittney. Brittney, e-mail me with your mailing info so you can enjoy making your ice creams!

{yummy} weekend eats

Friday breakfast: Americano with milk, string cheese, and an Enzo Bar from Lola Granola.

The bar was amazing; honey, vanilla, and cinnamon oats.

Saturday was a similar deal: Clif dark chocolate peanut butter bar with a clover brew of Starbuck’s Italian roast.

Friday’s dinner – the only dinner I managed to photograph – was boring but good.

Spinach salad with pepitas and roasted green beans dressed with evoo, honey, and lavender salt.

Toasted sourdough turkey sandwich with pepperjack and strawberry jam.

Spicy and sweet always makes the best sandwich.

Stumptown cold brew and fresh cherries for an afternoon snack.

We spotted this Sour Patch slurpee and bought one immediately. It was sour! Neither of us wanted more than a few sips but it was fun to try.

We did a similar maneuver the next day with frozen yogurt.

The salted chocolate chip cookie dough was fantastic! I topped mine with cookie dough (duh!), blondie, mochi, and Nutella.

We ventured into Astoria on Sunday; Sugar Freak for a Louisiana brunch.

That’s a “swamp juice” and it was exactly as disgusting as you’d expect. Maybe even more so actually, you guys know how much I love things that are over the top sweet and even I couldn’t bring myself to take a third sip.

I got a grilled chicken Po’Boy to eat. That, I could finish!

The side salad came with pecan vinaigrette that was the best part of the meal.

Afterwards we stopped by Kinship for coffees like we were just the coolest.

Two thumbs up for the cold brew, Stumptown again.

random facts {about me}

We were glad to have a low-key, boring weekend because 3 out of 4 in July include major plans (including my 30th birthday).

I am so excited about the SCOTUS marriage equality ruling. I got all teary-eyed on the train reading the news. This is definitely the proudest moment America has had so far this decade.

We only have a few old Criminal Minds left and we are pretty devastated about it. But…

Rookie Blues is back!!! My Canadian cop show is the best thing on summer television. I haven’t watched the first episode yet because I’m hoping if I save it for an elliptical session it will lure me back to the gym after a lazy week off.

I finally started reading Tina Fey’s Bossypants and it is just as hilarious and wonderful as I had expected.

I am obsessed with advice columns (Dear Prudence is my favorite!) so I read Dear Abby every morning but I think I need to stop because most of her advice is so terrible that it makes me huffy with anger on my way to work.

Sunday afternoon we went on a date to the Queens County Farm Museum and it was pretty much the best thing ever.

I got to pet the pigs!!! Animals – mostly French Bulldogs and Dachshunds but sometimes pigs – seem to sense my intense, unhealthy love for them and give me lots of petting time. The piggies laid up against the fence so I could really go to town patting their flanks and scratching behind their ears.

Yay! So much fun.

Which farm animal do you most want to cuddle?

22Jun2015

Williamsburg To Washington Square Park

by Emily

Oh my goodness, what a great weekend! Adam and I have been making the most of the summer days, and then some. This weekend we walked around Williamsburg, across the bridge, up to and around Washington Square Park, and back, to the tune of 10+ miles in one afternoon!

When we weren’t moving this weekend, we were eating. Here are some of the highlights…

A fancy-schmancy yogurt bowl. 2% Plum Chobani with two varieties of pluot and a dollop of fresh whipped cream.

The cream was part of a homemade ice cream undertaking (look for more details – and a giveaway! – on Wednesday).

Coffee at Sweetleaf, a Rocket Fuel.

Aka cold brew with milk, maple, and chicory. Chicory blended iced coffees are definitely going to play a big role in my summer.

Espresso and macarons at Bakeshop by Woops.

Kids, this place was so freaking cute. And our cookies were amazing, chocolate and lavender chocolate.

Honey sesame soy milk box.

Adam and I tried to split this but the minute I handed it over to him he guzzled the rest of it down!

Cherry Cola Tic-Tacs.

I am incapable of turning down a cherry cola flavored item. Fun fact – the last two photos were not actually taken in front of the same wall, I just seek out brick whenever I have the option for a photo.

Rice bowls at Korilla. Korilla is basically an Asian Chipotle, but it is at least fifteen times more fantastic.

My bowl had sticky rice, the most amazing gochujang marinated chicken, sweet corn and snap peas, cheese, tons of red kimchi, and spicy but sweet Korean BBQ sauce. Adam’s rice had bacon and kimchi in it and we were both swooning.

We tried the new limited-time offerings at Ample Hills.

The pride month flavor was yummy but we had to throw out the sandwich. I think that Ample Hills generally makes the best ice cream on Earth but those soggy cookies were truly inedible.

A cone from Sundaes and Cones.

Lavender and black sesame were both great; those are flavors that could be kind of overwhelming but they were sweet and light yet still identifiable.

A quick red curry at home.

Rice noodles on the bottom // sautéed bok choy, white mushrooms and straw mushrooms, sweet onion and green onion, and sweet red pepper // sprouted tofu cubes roasted with lime, sugar, Sriracha, and liquid smoke // and red curry sauce with lime, light coconut milk, fish sauce, and minced garlic and ginger.

We both typically say that we don’t like red curries but we loved this so we should give the real version another chance.

Sandwich night on my lonesome while Adam was at work.

I toasted sourdough slices in the oven with Smart Balance Light and pepperjack and sharp cheddar cheese then sandwiched them around canola oil mayo and Applegate Smoked Sliced Turkey.

With roasted green beans on the side.

How are green beans – roasted with cooking spray and salt – so flipping buttery?!

Dinner at The Smoke Joint, our new favorite bbq spot.

They have Mother’s Milk at the bar, which wins them points. Adam’s strawberry vanilla bourbon limeade wasn’t bad either.

Their juicy, tender, chopped bbq chicken comes with a side of pickles and spicy cole slaw.

And their smoky collard greens are meatless, so I got to try real bbq collards for the first time in my life.

I loved them!

If this upcoming week is half as good as my weekend I’ll be all set 🙂

19Jun2015

Criminally Good

by Emily

Is there some kind of “Criminal Minds” rerun support group out there? I am a woman obsessed. I need to finish the old seasons in a hurry so I can start going to bed at a reasonable hour again.

I’ll let the pictures (mostly) speak for themselves…

breakfast

My coffee combo for the week was on point.

Community Coffee’s Dark Roast (part of a set of free samples that I have continued to love) brewed double strength with low-fat milk, ice, and a scoop of dulce de leche!

One day I even paired my brew with a KIND salted caramel Popped Bar.

It’s obviously no fun that my husband regularly works nights and weekends, but it is nice that his schedule allows us to occasionally go on mid-week breakfast dates.

We enjoyed doughnuts – and matcha – and a walk before I had to go to work.

lunch

This week I was all about the sandwiches and I didn’t have many of my usual yogurt bowls so I had to make this one count. Plum on plum!

Chobani’s new 2% Plum Greek Yogurt with chopped up pluots and KIND maple chia granola. The yogurt wasn’t bad, but wasn’t as special as I had hoped; a pretty plain base with chunks of plum throughout.

I got an okay sandwich in the cafeteria.

Sliced turkey and muenster cheese with mustard, lettuce, tomato, and peppers on an onion roll.

And brought a fantastic sandwich from home. TJ’s sliced sourdough with Applegate smoked turkey, haloumi cheese, and olive oil mayo.

Plus an apple and sliced Persian cucumbers on the side for crunch.

The cafeteria came through on salad day. Romaine topped with black beans, black olives, peppers, sliced carrots, cheddar cheese, tabouli, and ranch.

With pita chips from the hummus bar (where I found the tabouli) on the side.

snack

Polar’s peach seltzer is amazing, practically juicy. I’ve got two of the summer flavors waiting in my fridge too and I’m pretty excited about it.

Pb&j.

Guava cheese empanada on the train.

Latte from Café Dada.

Let’s be real, this was one of many coffee snacks this week but the pictures were getting repetitive so I’m only sharing the pretty one.

dinner

A kitchen-sink leftovers salad whose components ended up pairing together perfectly. A big bowl of lettuce topped with TJ’s sesame soy ginger vinaigrette, Applegate chicken hot dogs, peanuts, edamame, and Persian cucumbers.

With cinnamon toast on the side.

Seriously, how good is cinnamon toast??

This meal was super simple but it was the tastiest of the week.

TJ’s frozen gnocchi with tomato sauce and mozzarella didn’t knock our socks off, but for frozen gnocchi that comes together in 7 minutes it was certainly fine.

But this spinach is one of the best damn things I’ve ever made. Fresh baby spinach (8 cups worth that cooked down into practically nothing!) steam-sautéed with salt and evoo with low-fat sour cream, minced garlic, raisins, and toasted pine nuts tossed in for the last few minutes of cooking.

I seriously would not shut up about how yummy this was – I even paused “Criminal Minds” to rave about it!

Have a great weekend.

26May2015

Seoul Food Style

by Emily

We got to spend time with several Buffalo friends, we went on some great walks, the puppy seems to be feeling a little better, and all in all it was a great weekend. I’m missing a few shots, but here are most of my favorite eats…

breakfast

Giant iced coffee, always.

That one has fat-free sweetened condensed milk and skim milk. The SCM is leftover from a failed recipe trial, but Vietnamese-ish iced coffees are better than hot fudge root beer float popsicles (good in theory but I can’t make it work!) any day.

I tried the milk bread from TOUS les JOUR.

Nice and vanilla-bean-y.

Another day, another coffee.

I asked Starbucks to put the marshmallow whipped cream and milk chocolate from the S’mores Frappuccino into my skim latte and they happily delivered. The taste was good but I was unbelievably ill by the halfway mark, I cannot even imagine drinking a full Frappuccino.

Plus Adam and I split a Pulsin’ maple peanut bar.

It was vegan and made with pea protein and the nutrition stats were pretty good – 12 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber with 11 grams of sugar. Not a bad breakfast for a busy morning of errands.

lunch

Lunch in Koreatown. I set my mouth on fire with a kimchi bun and cooled it down with a (pink!) Harmless Harvest coconut water.

Afterwards we shared dessert at Grace Street, our new favorite snow spot.

We shared a machta latte.

And a black sesame shaved ice with scm, boba, and mini marshmallows.

Between the tapioca balls and the partially frozen marshmallows, this had so much chew!

“Dinner” for lunch. We almost never cook a full meal in the daytime so this felt pretty fancy.

Roasted broccoli with truffle salt,

and “Cooking Light’s” Farro with Honey-Garlic Roasted Tomatoes.

We added chopped turkey bacon and rotisserie chicken to the farro to make it a little more substantial. Also I skipped the thyme (the bacon made up for the flavor), used fat-free feta, and subbed sherry for sherry vinegar.

snack

21st Amendment brews at the Gotham West Market.

The market space was gorgeous and we want to go back for ramen and/or tacos soon but guys, holy crap, we paid $17 for two cans of beer!!! At least, after a lot of walking along the piers, they were refreshing.

Can cookies at Schmackary’s become an every weekend tradition?

This time we split a giant, chewy funfetti cookie topped with cream cheese frosting and tons of sprinkles.

We’ve been loving fruit-infused water lately; having a big jug in the fridge makes me much more likely to pour a glass.

This week was lime and mint and last week was mint and grapefruit, which was even better.

Corn was popped.

Enjoyed while Netflixing approximately eight billion old episodes of “Criminal Minds.”

A girlfriend and I had planned on going to Rice to Riches ever since the first summer we moved here and Monday the time was finally right. I got a cookie cream rice pudding with mocha crumbles. We both liked the pudding but thought it would be more enjoyable served in a bowl instead of a trough.

My fancy cup was a skim cortado from Happy Bones, so that was fun. And we took a great walk across the Williamsburg Bridge.

dinner

Our friends’ adorable baby girl just turned one and they invited us to her Doljanchi, a Korean 1st birthday party tradition.

The buffet was great,

but the best thing ever was getting to catch up with all of the med school friends (and their babies!) that we’ve been missing.

Saturday night we had an absolutely amazing dinner at The Marshal, a Hell’s Kitchen farm-to-table spot that focuses on seasonal, local goodies. Bonus – the waitstaff are all insanely cute!

I got an Earl’s Tea to drink – chilled Earl Grey Tea, Peace Vodka, Catskills Provisions raw honey, lemon, and orange cream bitters.

We started with scallops – bourbon planked herb crusted Massachusetts jumbo scallops with caramelized lemon and assorted local herbs.

And Arcadian Pastures deviled eggs – ramps-infused yolks, micro-wasabi, and crispy duck prosciutto.

None of the appetizers really knocked our socks off (good but not the best ever) but the duck prosciutto was definitely smoky and amazing.

Our meals, on the other hand, were mind-blowing. Adam got a bacon-wrapped pork loin that he loved so much he didn’t speak for the rest of the meal and I did a trio of farm sides.

Roasted Bulich Farm snow while mushrooms, herb butter, Upstate white wine // Sautéed Lancaster Farm dandelion greens, red pepper flakes, grapeseed oil, Finger Lakes white wine // Satur Farms sweet potato and kale au gratin. The gratin was out of this word; it was so rich I couldn’t even finish it.

We were too stuffed to do more than pick at dessert, but we couldn’t skip it!

Bittersweet chilled chocolate fudge in NYC honey with honey comb, bee pollen, and Blue Marble vanilla ice cream.

The Lower East Side has always been my Manhattan haunt of choice, but lately Hells Kitchen has been rocking our socks off! NYC readers, what’s your favorite neighborhood?

23May2015

Weekly Wrap-Up; Back At It

by Emily

I know this post is behind schedule (and I swear, I really am going to share all of the tasty things we ate at the end of our trip!) but the first week back at work after a vacation always feels so looooong. It doesn’t help that the poor puppy is sick – and it really doesn’t help that he is on 2 weeks of a twice-daily medication, in addition to his twice daily seizure medication! No matter, he has the fuzziest face on Earth and I wouldn’t trade him for the world.

Here are some of the eats from the week that I wouldn’t trade either…

Coffee, always

A double-strength batch of Community Coffee French Roast served over ice with Hint of Honey Almond Milk.

Halvah yogurt bowls

Plain Greek yogurt with crumbled marble halvah mixed in and juicy summer fruit on the side.

Spinach pesto on everything

Mixed with shredded chicken and bow tie pasta (my mom and aunt always serve pesto with bow ties so that’s how I do it too!).

Next to really amazing salads topped with turkey bacon dressing and balsamic roasted grapes.

And mixed with shredded chicken atop a truly epic toasted cheese sandwich.

Chipotle, again, always

For dinner I improved the rice-veggie ratio by serving my bowl on a big bed of arugula dressed with bbq sauce.

And the leftovers made for the most exciting lunch I’ve ever packed.

I am so ready for the weekend!

15May2015

Spring Vacation 2015

by Emily

Adam and I took advantage of our joint weeks off and flew home to St. Thomas for a quick visit. The timing worked out perfectly so that we flew in on Mother’s Day and could celebrate with my mom in person.

Our trip was short but wonderful!

We saw some old friends, ate tons of good food, ran on the beach, and visited our favorite spots. I am missing pictures of most of the action, but here are some of the highlights…

St. Thomas now boasts several self-serve froyo places (and a Walgreens?!), a fact that seems insane to anyone who grew up in the VI.

Zest, at the Ritz, also had yummy toddy-brewed VI Roasters coffee, so you know I had to make an affogato.

With vanilla froyo with caramel and marshmallow.

Dinner at ITP, my family’s favorite pizza spot.

We shared giant Greek salads and a bbq chicken pizza.

Brunch at Barefoot Buddha, my favorite restaurant on the island.

I got a Vietnamese iced coffee, as well as a really amazing Cuban coffee to go. Plus my standard order, the Bigfoot Bagel Sandwich.

Egg frittata, smoked turkey, turkey bacon, cream cheese, sharp cheddar cheese, chipotle aioli, tomato-onion coulis and fresh spinach on an everything bagel.

Lunch on the water at Fat Turtle.

The food was meh – we split a Cajun mahi mahi sandwich and a veggie pizza that Adam loved – but the view was nice.

And afterwards we got house-made salted caramel gelato from a pop-up booth in Yacht Haven.

My parents made Adam’s favorite dish one night for dinner, Bill Clinton’s Enchiladas.

Plus key lime pie for dessert for me.

I scooped a slice of pie onto Greek yogurt for breakfast the next day and it was delicious.

You can’t miss the local dishes at Victor’s.

That is pan-fried Old Wife, a nice white fish that went well with the smoky creole sauce. My plate also had veggies, fried plantains, and fungi – a cornmeal paste that has a texture like firm mashed potatoes.

Finally, fraccos, aka Caribbean shaved ice.

I got soursop and passionfruit with condensed milk and it was one of the best things I ate all vacation!

It was a great trip, and now I’m excited for a three-day staycation in the city before we head back to work.

8May2015

Gesundheit!

by Emily

Oh man, has allergy season hit us with a vengeance. I feel just horrible! My throat hurts, my nose is runny, and my head is an achy, foggy mess. All of that complaining is to say – I missed a lot of pictures this week, many of them of candy and/or coffee because I pretty much had to have a liquid or hard candy in my mouth 24 hours a day. That said, I got to go on several mid-week dates with the husband and it was actually a pretty great week.