Spicy cumin lamb hand-torn noodles from Xi’an Famous Foods. These noodles are a large part of why I feel like I can never live outside of New York; 1,000/10.
Paired with a cookie dough latte! Starbucks blonde espresso with cold foam with brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and vanilla bean paste.
Jeni’s Gooey Butter Cake is my new favorite ice cream (second only to the Ben & Jerry’s s’mores bites); cream cheese ice cream with vanilla cake and butterscotch sauce.
Whole Foods’ pimento mac and cheese bites. <– swoon
Microwave Korean rose tteokbokki .
An assortment of dippable things for dinner (I had three dipping sauces so clearly this meal was a winner) – Popeye’s chicken nuggets and mac and cheese, roasted broccoli, leftover cauliflower wings.
Deconstructed hash. Roasted Russet potato and purple Japanese sweet potato / Trader Joe’s breaded cheese curds / chicken breakfast sausages / sauted red onion, green bell pepper, and poblano pepper / plus chipotle aioli.
See also – blueberry Greek yogurt, frozen blueberries and grapes, butterfly pea tea.
Still obsessed with these Belli-Welli bars. I finally shared one with Adam, who was not a fan, but I think they taste great.
It turns out my favorite dried fruit is kiwi; the texture and taste of these was so satisfying.
Rainer cherries (swoon) plus Haribo berries gummies.
See also – these Honest gummies are wonderfully juicy and chewy; not the best gummy I’ve ever eaten but hands-down the best fruit snacks.
Creamy lemonade – fresh lemon and lime with sweetened condensed milk and lemon seltzer.
These alcoholic Frescas are a 9.5/10 – perfectly balanced and just sweet enough.
Pinch of Yum‘s bbq salmon plus roasted Japanese sweet potato and roasted cabbage dressed in a mix of honey, rice vinegar, and Caribbean hot pepper sauce.
Korean rice cakes sauteed with tomato sauce and gojuchang, plus roasted zucchini, shredded chicken, and sharp cheddar.
Homemade baked wontons. Our filling was fresh crab and roasted cabbage and green onion with soy sauce, white pepper, and hot pepper jelly. Plus roasted cauliflower and dumpling sauce.
Salad success – baby kale, this dressing, leftover cabbage, baby bell peppers, chicken breast, cashews, homemade baked wonton crips, and furikake.
Homemade baked wonton chips (these are going to become a staple!) seasoned with szechuan pepper salt and togarashi plus baby bell peppers and pimento cheese. Full disclose, I went back for thirds!
Adam and I had an amazing vacation in Michigan! We ran along the lake, took a ferry to Mackinac Island and admired the flowers, explored downtown, and spent time with friends and met their twin babies!
Yuzu and Earl Grey macarons from Merlyn’s Patisserie. Also an ube crinkle cookie that was the 2nd best cookie I’ve ever eaten.
The number one best cooke we’ve ever eaten was a peanut butter cookie from Common Good.
The smoked whitefish hushpuppies from Great Turtle.
Everything on the menu at Sugar2Salt, our new favorite restaurant. We liked it here so much we went back the next day! This was The Duck – duck leg confit, duck ham, duck sausage, and a duck egg with applesauce, poached pear, and crispy greens.
The salad from Mama Lu’s with pepitas and gigante beans. Plus a margarita made with creamy coconut.
It was a wonderful weekend! Adam and I had a ton of time together, the weather was gorgeous, and we took some great walks around the Lower East Side and Williamsburg and admired the spring flowers. Also we went on a million and one dates; our fridge is stuffed to the brim with leftovers – a very good problem to have!
Some highlights include…
Iced coffee with ube cold foam.
Dalgona iced latte with strawberry milk and and a dreamy packet of peaflower and edible glitter!
Iced matcha with ginger sparkling water and fresh-squeezed orange juice.
Pazazz apple – a good spring choice, sweet and crispy.
Butterdose. Cream puffs – yuzu, ube coconut, and an Easter special with Cadbury eggs, Oreo, whipped cream frosting, and cream cheese filling.
Levain. This dark chocolate chocolate chip cookie tastes exactly like brownie batter and was the #1 best thing I ate all weekend.
Lindens. This meal was pretty unforgettable; the space was gorgeous and it was hands-down the best service I have ever experienced at a restaurant. We will be going back!
Lavender Daisy – pisco, gin, lavender, concord grape jam, lemon, club soda, and egg white.
Rosemary spiced margarita with mezcal, habanero, grapefruit, and agave.
Parker house rolls with grilled ramp butter. Tempura artichoke, maitake, and broccolini with chili oil and a cilantro yogurt sauce.
Herbed shoestring fries with a truffle aioli. 3rd best thing I ate this weekend and easily the best fries I’ve eaten the past 5 years.
Cheeseburger with grilled onion and cherry pepper relish.
Ocean Code. We had a highball with kyoho grape syrup.
Oden – beef, black fungus, daikon, tofu, and an inari-wrapped mochi ball in a super flavorful broth.
I had the spicy tuna rice bowl.
Okka. Very good cortado and Turkish coffee, plus baklava.
OTB. My favorite bar food in Brooklyn. The fantastic cup on the left was a frozen mojito.
Nuggets and chili cheese fries.
Rule of Thirds. Chiba Surf Club – yuzu sake, lillet, strawberry, sparkling wine, and fresh chives.
Douglas Fir-Banks – sesame shochu, gin, peach, vetiver, lime, umeboshi, and douglas fir. Plus a hojicha iced latte that was the 2nd best thing I ate this weekend.
Souffle pancake.
Japanese omelette sandwich on milk bread with miso mayo and yuzu cucumbers.
Smashed potatoes with mushrooms, hatcho miso, and a poached egg.
Passionfruit Coffee. This was a quad skim iced latte with caramelized milk chocolate sauce.
We are head over heels for these Nightingale ice cream sandwiches. Adam is a traditionalist but this cinnamon roll variety is my favorite.
We went to Food Bazaar recently (home of Rokstar Chicken) and brought home some great snacks. This weekend I enjoyed key lime grapefruit Polar seltzer,
honey butter chips,
Jom gummy candy,
and spicy beef ramen.
We waited in line two and a half hours for Cuts and Slices pizza — worth it! We got chopped cheese, chicken and wafles, jerk chicken, and stewed oxtail.
Leftovers from a wonderful lunch at Mao Mao (I didn’t have my camera). Fried fish cakes with sweet chili sauce / steamed dumplings with chicken, shrimp, and mushroom / vegetarian rice rolls. We also had great poached chicken with chicken fat rice.
Roasted sheetpan hash. Fennel, bok choy, purple sweet potato, chicken pesto sausage, soy puffs, mint, and pesto.
Adam is busy tonight so we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day a day early with ridiculous/amazing corned beef reuben grilled cheeses from Roast. Plus short rib shepherd’s pie and (homemade) roasted green beans.
I also made us green iced lattes!
See also – this week’s coffee combo was a winner.
Still really enjoying these guava crisps.
Pineberries! We liked them more than the Oshinko berries but less than regular strawberries.
This bin of strawberry popping bobas felt like it had endless potential.
I made great iced matchas with lemon seltzer and boba. Also – amaretto and diet coke with popping boba; 9.5/10
We weren’t that impressed with these fancy truffles.
But were shocked by how much we liked these limited-release cookie dough candies.
Best meal of the week – chicken kale pesto sausage on a pretzel bun with honey mustard / roasted yellow and purple cauliflower / Japanese sweet potato salad that is one of the best things I’ve ever made; roasted Japanese sweet potato with mayo, Kewpie, Sriracha, rice vinegar, paprika, white pepper, gochugaru, green onion, and pickled radish.
Leftover veggies and potato salad plus salmon salad – canned sockeye, smoked sockeye salmon candy, mayo, Sriracha, rice vinegar, and green onion.
Giant, smokey, protein-packed salads. Romaine and carrot greens with black garlic balsamic vinaigrette / roasted brussel sprouts with evoo and urfa pepper / roasted carrots with maple, evoo, butter, paprika, and gochugaru / smoked turkey breast / bacon-flavored crunchy mung beans / fried egg.
Adam and I had a really lovely weekend. There were storms Friday night into Saturday morning but afterwards the weather cleared up nicely so we could enjoy some walking dates. We covered a lot of ground, including walks across the Williamsburg Bridge and Queensboro Bridge. Also a trip to the Guggenheim for the Nick Cave exhibit.
Doughnut Project‘s maple cruller is our favorite doughnut in the city.
Lucky Kings Bakery‘s fried mochi stuffed with red bean paste and rolled in sesame seeds. This was amazing.
Banana pudding at Baonanas. Cookies and cream and ube.
Drinks at Dante. Our favorite was this Amalfi Limonata – malfy lemon gin. limoncello, lemon curd, lemon juice, and limonata soda.
I 100% planned last week’s meals so we would have leftover ingredients for homemade painkillers. Pineapple juice, fresh orange juice, and light coconut milk with sweetened condensed milk with dark rum.
Brunch at Loulou. I had a Remy – tequilla, Lillet Rose, and homemade grenadine with lime and sparkling grapefruit.
Also a gruyere omelette.
Lunch at Tacombi. Horchata / hibiscus agua fresca with mezcal and chile.
Corn esquites.
Breakfast taco with eggs, pico, and Oaxaca cheese. <– best dish of the meal
Birria tacos.
Dinner at Super Burrito. We ordered all of this week’s specials with ground beef – burrito, crunchwrap, and nachos. We loved it here!
Epic homemade burrito bowls. Roasted cauliflower rice with roasted onion/bell peppers/poblano pepper, sharp cheddar, double roasted salsa, chicken and chile verde sausage, crispy tortilla strips, and pickled jalopenos.
Eating Chalk 