געשמאַק

Adam is post-call this morning and I am taking my weekend day off so we get to share the same space for a bit, woo-hoo!  We have some really exciting date options to chose from, like a grocery trip and maybe the gym.

I worked Saturday and Sunday – and was off on Friday but spent the entire day reading and/or watching tv – so I don’t have too much excitement to share this recap.  We did go on a very delicious dinner date Saturday night though.

weekend highlights…

Coffee coffee.

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Cinnamon chocolate pudding.

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Snowdays shaved ice!  Black sesame with grass jelly, mochi, and strawberry sauce.

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Yesterday I made a dish that was moussaka-adjacent.  No potatoes but the other layers were there.  Roasted eggplant / sauteed turkey with tons of onions, spices, and tomato / mornay sauce with parmesan.

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And Saturday we did an awesome Israeli dinner at Timna.  You select an entree and then the table gets all of the appetizers tapas-style.  Also we ordered two desserts because we just couldn’t choose!  It was one of our best meals to date.  Falafel with pickled mango.

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Kubneh bread baked in a flower pot served with crushed tomato, creme-fraiche, and jalapeño salsa.

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Grilled beet salad with beluga lentils // tuna sashimi with green tabouli, tatziki, and ponzu // grilled cauliflower and artichoke with curried yogurt, homemade raisins, and pickled onion // smoked eggplant with feta cheese and sumac.

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I had “the fish,” striped bass with cherry tomato confit, grilled zucchini, grilled fennel, fried eggplant, Greek yogurt, and bread crumbs.  We loved the meal from start to finish but the fried eggplant was my favorite bite of the night.

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Kubneh bread with creme patisserie, white chocolate, and honey and sage ice cream.

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Sicilian pistachio ice cream with tahini, silan, and shredded halva.  swoon 

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Back to the grind we go!

Popcorn And Poutine

Random updates…

Both sets of excisional biopsy stitches are out and today I am finally allowed to go to the gym, woo-hoo!  Also important – both biopsies came back clean.

We are finally catching up on Agents of Shield and LOVING it.  Hilarious as always and just crazy touching.  I’m not loving the “big bad” for this season but Fitz’s story-line is good enough that I don’t care.

I work this weekend but have super fun dinner date plans with the husband on Saturday.

Best bites from the week…

Coffee can and an Envy apple.

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Vanilla yogurt with nougat halva from Seed + Mill and a sumo on the side.  Halva mixed into yogurt is one of my favorite things.  I also really like key lime pie in yogurt.  Apparently I think you can improve dessert with Greek yogurt?!

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Tamarind my parents sent me from home.  I rode horses as a child and our stable had a patch of trees you could pluck tamarinds from and it’s one of my favorite memories.

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No photo because I ate it while sitting in traffic but I had the most deliciously meta thing from Schmackary’s – a chocolate chip cookie topped with chocolate chip cookie dough frosting!

Piles of popcorn.

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Spaghetti casserole with whole-wheat spaghetti, marinara, Trader Joe’s soy chorizo, and sharp cheddar.  Growing up, I hated spaghetti but adored this casserole.  This version was smokey and delicious.  With roasted broccoli on the side.

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Dinner at Mile End.  The poutine of the month is Nashville hot chicken, so obviously we ordered that.

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I also had a za’atar chicken salad with Boston lettuce, mint, Israeli salad, cucumber, and crispy chickpeas.  Fresh mint in salad is so good, it genuinely makes me smile.

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Happy almost weekend.

Dotted Line

My favorite bites this week…

A breakfast date at Dot & Line.  I had a maple iced latte and a croissant stuffed with vanilla cream and chocolate.

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Breakfast casserole.  Like this one, but with extra sharp cheddar, smoked rainbow trout, and the addition of green onions.  With broccoli and cauliflower on the side.

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BBQ chicken salad.  Romaine with blue cheese dressing / green onion / cucumber / pomegranate / smoked almonds / sharp cheddar / shredded chicken with bbq sauce.

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Sparkly mint brownie from The Fat Witch.  <– best brownies in New York

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It’s the freaking weekend!

Smoked Cheddar To Chocolate Almond

Flavor themes of the week: coffee, cauliflower, seltzer, croissants.

White Noise.  Iced latte and black sesame and milk frozen yogurt swirl fantasticness.

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Home coffee for the week.  Starbucks espresso roast with chocolate milk.

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Breads Bakery.  Smoked cheddar croissant.

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Orwashers.  Almond and chocolate croissant.

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Yogurt bowl.  2% Fage with pomegranate, golden raisins, and luxardo cherries.

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Snack time.  Soursop yogurt drink / red walnuts and marcona almonds with rosemary / pinata apple.

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Kakigōri from a pop-up at Canal Street Market.  Japanese-style shave ice with black currant chocolate sauce, smoked almonds, and torched meringue.  Toasted meringue is one of my all-time favorite flavors.

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Luke’s Lobster.  Lobster rolls taste like butter squared.

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Pelicana.  Korean fried chicken is the best fried chicken, period.

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Not a winner dinner.  Cauliflower rice / sauteed bok choy with rice vinegar / ground turkey sauteed with chopped kimchi and gojuchang / soft boiled egg.  This had so much potential but I ended up stopping halfway through and eating fried chicken leftovers instead.

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Another night we were supposed to have cauliflower soup for dinner but I couldn’t deal with the blender so at the last minute I ended up making… whatever the hell this is.  At least it was tasty!  Sauteed yellow onion and leeks with celery seed and smoked paprika / roasted cauliflower / turkey bacon / sharp cheddar.

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Have a great weekend!

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Emily Of Sandwich

This was a short week for me on the work front, I was off Monday from the weekend (with Adam!!) and off Thursday for a doctor’s appointment.  Wear your sunblock, kids – I have to have two moles surgically removed, one on my chest and one on my back, complete with stitches, giant gross scars, and a month straight of no gym and no normal showers.  At least I got a good lunch in Manhattan out of the deal?

Highlights…

We finally made it to Doughnut Project!  The Malter White was great, malted milk chocolate with a malted chocolate chip mini cookie and cookie crumble.

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We got a gift certificate to the Russian Tea Room for Christmas this year and we enjoyed a super fancy lunch.  We had vodka, of course.

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And caviar.

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And I had delicious Kulebiaka for my entree –  salmon with slow cooked onions, mushrooms, and vegetables wrapped in pastry, served with braised caraway cabbage and mustard beurre blanc.

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Yogurt bowl wins.  Greek with fresh strawberries and caramel almond butter.

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Strawberry Icelandic style with a fancy tangerine.

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Chicken quesadilla from La Esquina.

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Best ever ice cream from Ice & Vice.  Malted vanilla with sea salt caramel.

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Dessert at Vanilla Bean.  Banoffee tart for me and a crazy good iced latte.

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Caramelized banana peanut butter cups.

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It was sandwich week for dinners!  Croque Madame – rye bread, smoked turkey, sharp cheddar, strawberry jam, french toasted – with roasted broccoli and shishitos.

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Jalopeño popper turkey burgers with smoked gouda and roasted green beans.  We didn’t have buns but I’m still counting this as a sandwich.

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Asian-style turkey reubens – with gojuchang mayo and kimchi – with roasted shredded brussel sprouts.

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Super

Did all my American readers eat wings and gauc and dip last night?  I don’t even watch the Super Bowl but I try not to let that get in the way of my buffalo chicken consumption.

Weekend eats highlights –

We actually had dinner reservations at Evelina last night; a little Italian place with no tv, big screen or otherwise.  I had a fun Cordelia cocktail – mezcal, malted banana, pressed lime, and Coco Lopez.

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We shared two yummy salads to start.  Italian radicchio with roasted grapes, almonds, Blue di bufala, and vin cotto.

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Roasted beets with Fuji persimmon, house smoked ricotta, and hazelnut.

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Sadly our entrees were disappointing.  My cacio e pepe risotto with white shrimp was a major letdown.

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But that meant that we ended up grabbing pizza on the way home; buffalo chicken is never a letdown!

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I worked the weekend so most of my food was in snack form.  Two superior combos of iced coffee and chocolate milk.

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This citrus medley yogurt from Trader Joe’s is fantastically creamy and sweet, especially with sumo mandarin segments mixed in.

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Potato wedges from the cafeteria – gotta get in that blue cheese.

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And one morning Adam drove me into work and we went on a breakfast date at the Orwashers in the new Whole Foods 365.  Best chocolate croissant of all time!

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Random television musings –

  • My two favorite shows this season – The Good Place and Agents of Sheild
  • My least favorite new show – 9-1-1
  • The old show I am loving and tearing through seasons of at a disturbing clip – Cougar Town

Valentine’s freebie FYIs –

  • If you visit Godiva stores on Sunday, February 11th they’ll give you one free piece of chocolate while supplies last (no purchase required)
  • Aunt Annie’s is selling heart shaped pretzels buy-one-get-one-free on the 14th if you download their app
  • Not free and just for New Yorkers – FYI, Doughnut Plant is selling adorable rose shaped doughnuts right now and usually they have heart-shaped ones on Valentine’s

May The Schwartz Be With You

^^^ That’s a Spaceballs quote for my title because this post includes a lot of meatballs!

Best bites this week…

Coffee combo from heaven, Birch cold brew roast and chocolate milk.

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Even better, chocolate milk with a Grady’s cold brew.

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Yogurt bowl wins.  Chobani mango with blueberries and doughnut cereal.

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2% Greek with blueberries and a big scoop of MaraNatha caramel almond butter.

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Important note – this is my new all-time favorite nut butter.  If you eat it straight out of the jar (as I’ve been doing all week) it tastes like delicious frosting!

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Ball!  I made a batch of baked turkey meatballs with sage, lemon, and whole wheat panade.

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Served on lemon pepper broccoli rice / with gussied up tomato sauce – with tomato paste, shredded sweet onion, garlic, anchovy, and oregano.

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Plus we made toasted meatball subs!  With smoked gouda and Parmesan.

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And a side of roasted broccoli.

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I also did another round of hot dish.  This time an Asian take with shredded turkey, ginger, gojuchang, peas, shiitake mushrooms, bok choy, and sweet potato tots.

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And you can never go wrong with pizza.  What am I even going to do when I don’t live walking distance from buffalo chicken?!

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I work the next three days but I hope everyone else enjoys their weekend!

You Do Win Friends With Salad

Weekend highlights…

**Brunch at Freeks Mill a gorgeous, airy, much lauded restaurant in Gowanus.

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Paloma – Cimarron Blanco tequila, lime, contratto bitter, grapefruit, preserved lemon, salt.

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I had the puntarelle salad with anchovy vinaigrette, grana cheese, and a soft boiled egg.

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Plus Shishito peppers with honey and salt.

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We want to go back for dinner!

**Coffee and treats at Abboutsford Road, a fantastic coffee shop and roastery in Gowanus staffed and owned by handsome, friendly Aussies.  I had a yummy iced latte plus bites of a cheddar chive biscuit and lamington (chocolate cake, raspberry jelly, coconut) cupcake.

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I also had a ridiculously delicious cup of strawberry iced tea.

***Tea cake at Charlotte Patisserie.

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Macadamia nut cake filled with salted caramel and covered in milk chocolate.

**Cheese plate.  A crazy simple cheese plate, but a good one nonetheless.  Roasted green beans / baked whole wheat tortilla chips / smoked gouda / sweetened dried lemon.

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Plus chocolates from Dylan’s.

**Homemade Caesar salads with salmon.

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Romaine tossed in homemade dressing <– not worth the effort / crispy cheese bites for croutons / dijon and brown sugar baked salmon.