Thankful

I hope all of my American readers had a safe but satisfying Thanksgiving. Adam and I both worked the holiday but were able to continue our tradition of Thanksgiving night nachos! And thankfully our days ended early enough that we had time to chat with my parents while taking the dog on a cocktail walk and Zoom conference with all of my in-laws in the evening.

We spent a little time talking about things we are thankful for which was an easy assignment for me because I feel like thankful is actually my primary state of being – at least five times a day I thank my lucky stars that I just get to know Adam and Webster, let alone have them both love me back.

By the way, even my non-holiday eats were still pretty much on-theme because the short list of superficial things I’m thankful for definitely includes coffee, boba, sprinkles, ice cream, and pizza! Highlights from the past week include…

Stumptown holiday spice iced latte.

Thompson Square Bagels (my favorite in the city) poppy seed with birthday cake cream cheese.

Yogurt bowl win. Plain Greek with peanut butter, cranberry dressing, and granola. Trader Joe’s cranberry dressing (the stuff in the refrigerated section, not the canned one) is the best in the game.

This s’mores kefir was good but not as exciting as I wanted it to be.

Whole Foods has a whole line of specialty holiday ice cream flavors so I am obviously going to be eating ice cream every day for the next month.

Brown sugar creme brulee bubble tea!

Thanksgiving nachos. This year we did Trader Joe’s horseradish and chives potato chips / shredded cheese / duck fennel sausage / shishito peppers / cranberry dressing. Plus roasted brussel sprouts on the side.

And we stayed on theme with maple margaritas.

No pie for dessert, but we did have these festive truffles.

Roasted broccoli and cabbage with spicy cashew sauce and rolled tofu.

We lucked out that Taglio is so close to our apartment because they are currently my favorite pizza in the city. This roasted potato and vodka slice were both 10/10. Plus they have given a ton of food to the workers at Adam’s hospital throughout the pandemic so I am thrilled to support them (multiple times a week!).

Homemade chili topped with sour cream, jalopenos, and pimento cheese. I used duck sausage, black beans, orange bell pepper, poblano pepper, sweet onion, diced tomato, spices, and beer.

Plus a beer for the cook.

Pumpkin And Papaya

Let’s just start this off with a GIANT sigh of relief! There was no post last week because I most ate a horrifying amount of ice cream while refreshing the election results. Thankfully our country made a move back towards decency this weekend and I was able to function as an adult and cook dinner and go to bed before 2 am.

Highlights from this weekend include…

Cherry cocoa coconut almonds. All of the mixes from Sahale have great balance.

I haven’t seen any eggnog yogurts yet this year so I’m still on the pumpkin. Siggi’s with granola, cashew butter, and maple syrup.

Paw-paya cocktail!

I loosely followed this recipe for Geng Dang Muu, swapping pork for turkey. Served with sticky sushi rice from one of our many nights of take-out last week.

We love this recipe for crock pot garlic brown sugar chicken (minus the bacon and with skinless chicken thighs). With sage and roasted broccoli and cauliflower.

Sunday we had – distanced, outdoor – reservations for the pre fixe dinner at Claro.

Our favorite dishes included a tostada with squash and peanuts and a ceviche-style artic char with smoked roe.

Pumpkin Spice And Everything Nice

Highlights from this week include…

Phin-brewed Cafe Du Monde chicory coffee with sweetened condensed milk is obviously my new favorite thing of all time.

Pumpkin Noosa with papaya and cocoa granola. Was pleasantly surprised by how well these three flavors paired together.

Yummy candies my parents sent us from back home – tamarind balls and guava hard candies.

Be sure to grab yourself a bag of these cinnamon pretzels the next time you’re at a 7-11.

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale is one of our original pumpkin favorites.

And this limited release Stone double IPA was pretty great too.

Cheese plates for dinner! Bartlett pear / homemade spiced candied walnuts / maple-smoked cheddar / papaya / durian chocolate and milk chocolate / Manchego / garlic naan crackers from Trader Joe’s.

Egg casserole – with broccoli, green onion, shallot, TJ’s turkey summer sausage, and maple-smoked cheddar – plus beer cheese kettle chips. Inspired by this recipe.

Whole-wheat matzoh brei with roasted brussel sprouts.

A great take on sheet-pan fried rice (loosely based on this method) with cauliflower rice (seasoned with soy sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar, and gojuchang), peas, green onions, and sausage.

Coconut Iced Coffee

I work this weekend but I do have some fun date nights planned.  Highlights from the past week include…

We made painkillers!  Dark rum, coconut milk, coconut cream, pineapple juice, orange juice, and nutmeg (and edible glitter stars!).

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And since it was in the house, I put coconut cream in my iced coffee.

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A yogurt bowl with peanut butter toffee granola and fresh blueberries.  I need to make an effort to eat more berries while they’re still in season.

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Watermelon jerky.  I was past due on eating this… it is Apple Month next week!

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These birthday cake bunny grahams are a 10/10.  Perfectly balanced sweetness and soooo cute.

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Green beans (roasted, then sauteed with duck sauce, soy sauce, and Chinese mustard) with Trader Joe’s frozen vegan orange chicken.

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A tasting plate dinner win – rainbow baby carrots, bbq kettle chips, smoked salmon dip, and roasted cauliflower with five spice.

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Curry Favor

It was a very low-key weekend (I slept for ten hours Friday night!?) but I did manage to clean every inch of our apartment yesterday, a very overdue and satisfying task.

Food highlights include…

Greek Gods less sugar vanilla yogurt with peanut butter toffee crunch granola and blueberries.  10/10 reviews for all.

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Sour ale brewed with fruity cereal and edible glitter.  I obviously have been on high-alert looking for this unicorn-themed, sparkly beer for months.

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Cheeseburger fries!  Ground turkey sauteed with tomato paste, fish sauce, and yellow mustard, baked on top of curly fries with sharp cheddar, green onion, and chopped dill pickles.

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Curry chicken salad with baked green beans.  The chicken salad came out great – it was packed with sauteed celery, toasted cashews, and yellow raisins.

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Woop, There It Is

Highlights from this weekend include – tons of coffee, tons of beer, tons of togetherness.  Webster spent all of Saturday kicking it in Brooklyn with us, which was amazing.

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Either Adam or I work the next several weekends so we tried to really maximize our fun date time!

Highlights…

We did a decadent car brunch picnic with take-out from Soul Brew in Huntington.  Woop, There It Is weekend special – chocolate pancakes with marshmallow cream.

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Scrambled egg burrito with potato, spinach, and smoked gouda.

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Chocolate peanut butter cup iced latte.

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Brooklyn Kolache Co is one of our favorite breakfast spots.

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I had pimento cheese and we split a chocolate peanut butter.  Plus an ube iced latte!

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Lavender toasted marshmallow iced latte from Pipeline Coffee.

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Frozen cortado from Better Read Then Dead.  <– the best thing I ate all weekend/month/year

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We were 10/10 excited to buy/try this Gushers yogurt but it was, unsurprisingly, not all that good to eat.

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Evil Twin Brewing is currently our favorite spot in the city/on earth.  Everything is inventive and delicious and they offer smaller tasting cups so you can try a lot of things.  Blackberry peach milkshake IPA // key lime pie milkshake IPA // gose brewed with soursop(!!) and sea salt.

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Triple dry hopped IPA // Triple IPA with marshmallow // a Saturn frozen cocktail – Dorthy Parker Gin, L’Orgeat, Velvet Falernum, passionfruit, Rockey’s Milk Punch, citrus, and edible glitter!

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Highly recommend this chicken, corn, and rice frozen meal, particularly topped with chili oil.

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(Distanced, outdoors) dinner at a Thai restaurant in Red Hook.  I had spicy duck salad.

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And a green papaya salad with salted eggs.

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Happy Monday!

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Sprinkles And Sushi

We were easing ourselves back to work so we kept my birthday weekend pretty low-key.  Adam and I made super exciting, sprinkle-packed coffees and walked around Cold Spring Harbor admiring the flowers in the morning and then got sushi take-out for dinner and  I video-chatted with my parents while opening presents.  And the next night we met up with friends for drinks/dinner/a long walk around Park Slope.  It was perfect!

Highlights include…

Birthday dalgona coffee.

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Quad iced latte from Balancero.

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Fredo cappuccino (espresso blended with ice and topped with frothed milk) from The Grand.  <– my new favorite coffee

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Lox and cream cheese biscuit from Comfortland.

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An epic yogurt bowl – – plain Greek yogurt with cashew butter, plum, plucot, apricot, and Bueno Bar.

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I left key lime pie off of my list of favorite foods the other day, but it’s definitely in the top fifteen!  Westbrook’s Key Lime Pie Gose is fantastic.  I also made a wonderful key lime pie cocktail with lime juice, vodka, sweetened condensed milk, and key lime seltzer.

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Birthday sushi.  I got seaweed salad, a roll with egg and pickled vegetables, and a roll with king crab, crunch, avocado, and spicy mayo.

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Chuko Ramen.  I got the kimchi ramen with soy eggs.  It was so great to see friends for the first time in months… we were sitting outside and only took our masks off to eat and we all felt pretty safe about it.

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Cross your fingers for me that it’s an easy transition back to work, please!

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Soursop And Szechuan Peppers

Today is my 1st day back in at the hospital after a day off and a two-day stint of project days at home.  I had to recertify in ServSafe and I had a big task to work on (updating the Nutrition Department’s Clinical Practice Guidelines to be more current/evidence-based) so my boss let me work from home, which was lovely.   I got to leisurely brew Phin coffee and sip while I worked!  Plus I ate a million snacks.  <– Normally I sit in the ICUs and wear an N-95 for most of the day so I took full advantage of having a free face!

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Highlights included…

The company that makes the instant espresso we love for Dalgona coffees also makes a really good espresso roast.

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Plain Greek yogurt bowl with blackberries, peach, cashew butter, and a chopped up Bueno Bar.  <– I realize it is ridiculous to stir a candy bar into your lunch but this was breath-takingly good and I’m glad I did it!

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Vanilla skyr yogurt bowl with blackberries, black plum, cashew butter, coconut chips, and starry sprinkles.

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Adam and I had to go into Manhattan for a doctor’s appointment so we stopped by Bibble and Sip for a cream puff.  A cream puff topped with crème brûlée and filled with milk tea cream and boba!

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I snacked on nuts every day this week.  These sweet Thai chili almonds were a favorite.

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Still obsessed with Hal’s caffeinated cola seltzer.

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Adam and are both head over heels for these dinner mints.  We made it through 12 years of marriage before we realized we are both fans of these guys!

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This soursop ice cream was possibly the very best packaged ice cream I’ve ever tasted.

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I topped this cheese enchilada meal with more cheese, sour cream, and Crystal hot sauce and it was 10/10.  P.S. I highly recommend Amy’s frozen meal options, this one is good even if you aren’t over the top about it.

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There’s a newish poke place in our neighborhood that lets you add a thousand toppings.  This was white rice with crabcake, tofu, eel sauce, spicy mayo, cucumber, shiitakes, shredded carrot, string bean, green onion, tamago (shredded egg omelet), oshinko (pickled veggies), inari (tofu skin), garlic crisps, and lotus chips.

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Blistered green beans – sauteed with garlic, ginger, and chili oil – with Trader Joe’s mini chicken and cilantro wontons.

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Have a great – safe, distanced – weekend!

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