A Merry Little Christmas

by Emily

Merry Christmas to all my readers who celebrate! I am actually at work today, but Adam and I had a great weekend making merry.

We pretended it wasn’t raining and took a long walk around Manhattan and over the Brooklyn Bridge.

I was very excited to check out the holiday decorations at Chelsea Market and the Oculus and Brookfield Place.

Best bites highlights…

Nobletree eggnog cappuccino.

I also bought a fancy Ronnybrook eggnog and dumped it over ice with a triple shot of espresso, so good.

We had yet to stand in the Dominique Ansel line to try a cronut but when I read this month’s flavor I knew it was time – eggnog caramel!

Crispy, chewy, gooey; they were totally fantastic and worth the wait. Eggnog caramel may be my new favorite thing.

Lunch at Kobrick Coffee. I had a grilled cheese with swiss, shallots, and horseradish maple mustard.

Plus a Strong Island Iced Tea – gin, tequila, rum, triple sec, cynar, Hella cola tonic, lime juice, and soda. The little coffee cup was Adam’s cortadito – a crazy delicious cross between a cortado and a Cuban coffee.

Holiday flavors jelly beans – eggnog, pumpkin pie, cranberry, hot chocolate, and peppermint.

Harpoon Winter Warmer. The pink drinks were my attempt at making a peppermint marshmallow vodka that did NOT work.

Rice and Gold for dinner for a whole jerk roasted duck. Wrapped up with jerk-hoisin sauce, pickled cucumbers, and moo shu pancakes.

We also had cured salmon crudo with onion ash, myoga, jalapeno, and maple bourbon soy sauce.

Charred eggplant with Chinese yogurt, scallion, and crispy shallot that was one of the best dishes I ate this year.

A Bondi Kelly – white rum, luxardo maraschino, lime, and charred pineapple.

And a citrus salad dessert special with cardamom labne and yuzu nata de coco.

We brought home our leftover duck to put on nachos which was the best idea ever.

And our Christmas Eve dinner was snowflake pasta with pesto, red bell pepper, baby kale, and turkey pepperoni.

May your day be bright.

18Dec2017

It’s Beginning To Taste A Lot Like Christmas

by Emily

Eggnog, peppermint, and rugelach, oh my!

Adam and I spent the weekend eating all of the holiday things! We did an eggnog tour of Brooklyn one day and then a Brooklyn holiday ice cream tour the next. I learned that even if you share and leave a lot of leftovers you can still tire of eggnog very quickly, and I’m probably someone who enjoys eggnog more than the average reveler. I also affirmed that no matter how many twinkly lighted and tinsel bedecked holiday pop-ups I encounter, I will still clap my hands in glee every time.

Alphabetically, here are some Brooklyn spots celebrating with holiday pop-ups and/or themed items:

16Handles. Peppermint froyo with Oreo and hot fudge.

Ample Hills.

There were so many holiday choices we had to get a flight to taste them all! In the front row – Eggnog with rum / Festival of Lights cream cheese ice cream with raspberry rugelach / Candy Cane.

Bearded Lady.

BL Eggnog – bourbon, spice, a whole egg.

Brooklyn Cupcake. Coquito cupcake. <– not a seasonal item actually, it’s on the menu year-round

Ladybird Bakery. Eggnog mousse tart. <– this was more visually appealing than anything, 5/10.

Leyenda. <– most festive stop of the weekend, 2nd only to Miracle on 9th Street

Coquito Ho Ho – Resposado Espolon tequila, Oloroso sherry, Braulio, coconut cream, cinnamon, egg.

Oddfellows. Eggnog and Santa’s Cookies milk sorbet with chocolate chip cookies.

And here were the highlights of my less festive eats…

We were pretty pleased with this 7-11 cold brew can. Made with skim milk and minimal sugar and it had way more flavor than anything we can get from the thousand Dunkin Doughnuts near our apartment.

Brunch at Forest Point. We need to come here more often because it’s amazing. Oban Sour – Moto Whisky, Mizu Lemongrass Shochu, yuzu-maple cordial, lemon, pimento dram.

I also had hummus, Israeli cucumber salad, fantastic grilled naan, harissa, and perfectly poached eggs.

Lunch at Lion’s Milk. We shared a sandwich with black olive paste, toasted sesame oil, and kasseri cheese. Plus Turkish coffees.

Tofu bowls for dinner. With mint lime kombucha.

Roasted buckwheat and kobucha squash with roasted elephant garlic / roasted zucchini / baked garlic brown sugar tofu / Sriracha. Except apparently neither Adam nor I like buckwheat one bit; we ate off our toppings and had cheese and crackers instead.

I try to have every healthy dinner include a protein, carb, fat, and veggie, and technically these meals fit the bill. Smoky honey chips with melted sharp cheddar and carrots with hummus.

Homemade onion dip (with turkey bacon and sharp cheddar!) with roasted broccoli and TJ’s cheesy tree crackers for dipping. I also dipped baby carrots and kettle chips but they didn’t make a nice forest.

I shredded two large sweet onions and spent 50+ minutes caramelizing them and it was well worth it.

Especially because I sipped this peachy and delicious Shiner Bock Holiday Cheer while I cooked.

Two more nights of Hannukah and one week ’til Christmas!

4Dec2017

Miracle On 9th Street

by Emily

New York City is the best place on Earth and that is doubly true around holidays! Adam and I had a lovely weekend with lots of walking and we explored Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan and saw and ate all sorts of fun holiday and city things.

Like lights in the Lower East Side.

And wild swans in Sheepshead Bay.

Coffees, specialty cocktails, pizza rolls, and other fantastic eats…

Mace’s Miracle Christmas Cocktail Pop-up is officially my new favorite holiday activity! I wish I had taken pictures inside because it was freaking magical.

The specialty cocktails were so fun! I had a Not Even a Mouse – pumpkin spice infused rye whiskey, Budweiser-marshmallow syrup, pumpkin puree, egg, and a marshmallow mouse.

And a Snowball Old Fashioned – gingerbread bourbon, sugar, and pecan bitters.

Iced latte love. Brooklyn Roasting Company.

Orso.

Yogurt bowl win. Plain Greek yogurt with maple jelly and vanilla bean powder with golden kiwi and granola on top.

Ice & Vice double scoop that was truly the best ice cream Adam or I have ever eaten. TBT – earl grey, dark chocolate, and speculoos chip and PSL – pecan, sorghum, and latte toffee.

The Nog at Sugar Sweet Sunshine, pumpkin cake layered with eggnog pudding and whipped cream.

Luda’s Dumplings.

We shared shrimp and loaded potato with garlic sour cream and mushrooms on top.

Brunch at Butter & Scotch, aka the restaurant that’s decorated like the inside of my heart.

I had biscuits with mushroom gravy and an egg on top.

The NameShake.

Birthday cake slice (the leftovers were still moist 24 hours+ later, fyi) and a Unicorn Treat – a brown butter cookie drenched in sprinkles!

The space was adorable, the music was wonderful, and as we were rolling ourselves to the door the waitress brought us a chocolate chip cookie to go since we had been so excited about everything.

Dinner at Thursday Kitchen.

You have to get a light-up booze-filled capri sun! I went with strawberry.

The menu is tapas style so we got to taste a lot. Everything was so interesting, and perfectly spiced. Pan-seared plantains with Korean chimichurri, honey ricotta, roasted pistachio, dried cranberry, and crispy plantain crumble.

Duck confit empanada with dill crème fraiche, cumin, and pickles.

Gnocchi with Korean chili pepper sauce, garlic aioli, parmesan, and crispy seaweed.

My homemade dinners weren’t bad either. I made vegetarian “rice” and beans casserole.

Riced cauliflower / pinquito beans / onion and bell peppers (yellow, orange, and green) baked in evoo / red enchilada sauce / sour cream / shredded cheese. I topped my bowl with more sour cream and some Cholula sauce plus beet and goat cheese cassava chips.

An epic take on cheeseburgers and fries.

Roasted green beans and butternut squash.

Cheeseburger roll ups! Crescent roll dough / ground turkey sautéed with chopped onion and pickle relish / mayo and ketchup / shredded cheese / brushed with garlic butter.

Happy 1st week of December!

2Dec2017

Winners And Losers

by Emily

I ate some really yummy prepared foods this week but I did not do so hot cooking my own meals. I had the day off on Wednesday and I spent most of the day cooking/baking and it did not go well.

I tried to make Oreo marshmallow peppermint magic bars. No. I ended up with a molten stew of brown gook.

I couldn’t feed this to anyone but it actually did taste delicious and I did scoop a serving into a jar to eat with yogurt.

I also spent several hours making brown stock and then lentil and tortellini soup. This venture at least looked like food but it tasted like… nothing. We ate Chipotle bowls for dinner.

Here were some of the things I ate that did work —

This work lunch looks unassuming but it was truly one of the best things I’ve eaten in months. Vanilla bean Greek yogurt with cranberry relish and maple + almond butter granola.

Plain Icelandic-style yogurt with cookie sludge, a SnapDragon apple, and La Colombe.

Cherry vanilla Chobani with golden kiwis and Heritage Flakes.

Some of my snacks were fairly fantastic as well. Seaweed salad.

Turkey jerky.

Carrots and garlic hummus.

Kombucha.

Coffee Chai tea. Good Earth offered to send me a sample and since chai is my favorite tea and I love coffee I accepted. It was delicious! Just a bit spicy and roasty. I drank a cup at work instead of a 2nd coffee a couple of days and did not resent it.

Hershey’s caramelized creme gold bar with peanuts and pretzels. It was so interesting and tasty, way more complex than a regular Hershey bar.

Treats at Vanilla Bean, our new favorite Long Island spot.

I had a Nutella-studded brownie and a delicious iced latte.

I may not have cook-cooked dinner but my throw-together dinners were good. Trader Joe’s frozen section did not let me down.

Fish sticks with roasted green beans and blue cheese and spicy cocktail sauce for dinner.

I also made great “Thanksgiving leftovers” baked sandwiches.

Sourdough, sliced smoked turkey, cranberry relish, mayo, and lots of Kerrygold Skellig sweet cheddar.

With burnt broccoli that still wasn’t terrible.

Please cross your fingers for no more kitchen disasters for me!

27Nov2017

Thanksgiving Week

by Emily

I always have a lot to feel thankful for and last week was no exception. With working two weekends in a row and Turkey Day my schedule worked out perfectly for lots of fun free time with the husband! We had a great time in the city on his post-call day and were able to drive to Pennsylvania Thursday evening to spend the holiday with his family.

Highlights…

Fancy coffees –

Noble Tree iced latte at Nickel and Diner.

Stumptown Winter Cheer.

Vietnamese cold brew.

Fun city restaurants –

Supermoon Bakehouse!

So cool. We tried a banana split sundae twice baked croissant – caramelized sous vide whole bananas, banana caramel sauce, creme patissiere, and chocolate almond creme, topped with chocolate fudge, banana caramel, dehydrated banana, gold leaf, and torched meringue.

And a Golden Boy Doughnut – golden turmeric brioche filled with mild chocolate salted caramel, rolled in sugar and topped with a chocolate shard – aka the best doughnut I’ve ever eaten.

Crazy good ramen at Ganso. A girlfriend and I went after work one night and it was so fantastic that I went back with Adam the next day! The first time we shared blistered shishito peppers.

And I had triple shrimp ramen – with shrimp paste chicken broth, thick Sapporo noodles, chili-fried shrimp, dried shrimp, garlic chives, and moyashi sprouts.

The second time we had wings and beer.

And I had the Tori Shio – Japanese sea salt-chicken broth, toothsome Tokyo noodles, crispy chicken thigh chashu, ajitama egg, and greens.

On-theme eats –

Pumpkin yogurt with Heritage Flakes and a ~~mini pumpkin~~ persimmon.

Fruit and nut yogurt with toffee bits, pecans, and orange raisins.

A pre-holiday plate on Tuesday night.

Crock pot cooked turkey, Trader Joe’s cornbread stuffing, cranberry dressing, and roasted green beans.

Plus a cranberry beer!

Our Thanksgiving tradition…

Stuffing nachos! With turkey, cranberry, and lots of cheese.

Plus broccoli that I pretended was green beans.

My actual Thanksgiving plate.

Our contribution to the meal was peanut butter, butterscotch, toffee candy.

Have a great week!

20Nov2017

It’s Beginning To Taste A Lot Like Thanksgiving

by Emily

Adam and I both worked Friday, Saturday, Sunday so I don’t have a lot to share. THREE exciting things: this weekend I…

{1} Made an on-theme Thanksgiving time dinner and ate it with the last pumpkin beer of the season.

Chicken cooked in the crockpot with Korean bbq sauce and fresh cranberries / on a bed of roasted shredded brussel sprouts and cabbage. Plus I went back and added melted extra-sharp cheddar on top, which was perfect.

{2} Discovered the best ice cream flavor ever.

{3} Dyed my hair purple!

13Nov2017

Shave Ice and Rock Candy

by Emily

Goodness, do I love New York City! We just had such a good weekend. First, how neat is this rock candy instillation at Union Square?

Second, we hung out in the epically cool Industry City,

and went to the American Fields pop up market,

where they gave us (multiple!)(free!!) delicious rosemary maple bourbon sours,

as well as a sample of Unicorn Kisses seltzer.

I haven’t actually tasted it yet, but I’ve been trying to get my hands on some for a year so this was pretty damn exciting. <– and it wasn’t even out on the samples table but I asked the Polar guy about it and he brought me one from a special hidden stash!

Five favorite foodie things this weekend…

{1} a new snack

Crispy okra from Trader Joe’s.

{2} a new favorite in bubble tea

Pa Tea might be our new favorite tea spot.

We had brown sugar milk tea with pudding aaaaand baby boba.

{3} breakfast at Brooklyn Kolache

Pimento cheese and sweet cheese and blueberry.

Plus a latte from Brooklyn Roasting Company.

{4} lunch at Pig Bleeker

Complimentary cornbread madelines.

A Yolanda Winston – vodka, curacao, vanilla, and Wolfer cider.

Duck lasagne!!

And roasted brussel sprouts with pickled mustard seeds that were the best vegetable I’ve ever been served.

S’mores in a jar.

{5} dinner at Little Tong

We loved this noodle shop. Everything felt intentional and the dishes were all gorgeous – I wish the light had been better for pictures so I could come closer to capturing the beauty.

Chinese broccoli salad with citrus soy and smoked egg yolk.

Spiced duck fat fried purple potatoes with cheese curds.

Grandma Chicken Mixian – noodles, chicken broth, chicken confit, tea egg, pickles, flowers, fermented chili, and black sesame garlic oil, and chili oil on top.

And then we walked across the street and cooled down our mouths with a guava snow cone with condensed milk. Yes, on the coldest day of the year so far.

I love NYC.

10Nov2017

Pumpkin’s Still In Season

by Emily

This post includes three more days of vacation (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday); I eased back into the work-week after my trip. It’s supposed to be in the 20’s in NYC later today so now I kind of wish I was away on vacation again!

Highlights from the week…

Coffee!

Pumpkin spice my grandma brought me from Winans.

Pumpkin smoothie with Greek yogurt, maple syrup, cow’s milk, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

BBQ at Salt and Bone.

I got a ridiculous but tasty Percocet with aged rum, coco lopez, citrus.

And had turkey breast – 3 hour smoked with a butter sauce – cole slaw, and a few bites of Adam’s potato salad.

Thai food in Sunnyside. Fried tofu.

And drunken noodles that actually had enough veggies for my tastes.

One of our favorite winter traditions is visiting Winter Village at Bryant Park for a thick hot chocolate.

Gooey walnut chocolate chip cookie from Chip in Astoria.

Buckeye straight from Ohio.

We tried something fun from Minamoto Kitchoan – Sakura Gomora, sweet bean and mochi wrapped in a cherry blossom pancake.

Packed lunch – strawberry and rosehip kefir cup with a cupcake crumbled in! Plus a snap dragon apple.

I brought in chocolate cupcakes (from a mix!) with homemade cream cheese frosting and Amy Sedaris sprinkles for a coworker’s birthday.

Yogurt with pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice Cheerios and Frosted Mini Wheats.

Roasted fall salad – quinoa / shredded brussel sprouts / leeks / turkey bacon / sweet and spicy pecans / gold raisins / and oven-fried sage.

One of the co-founders of CHUT UP reached out to my about sampling their new line of condiments and I happily accepted, so those were featured in dinners for the rest of the week. All three flavors are made with minimal processing and no added sugars (and they’re tasty!).