Highlights From Last Week/end

by Emily

Long time no blog! Life has been busy and work has been crazy and Adam had time to spend with me last weekend so I didn’t waste a single moment on the computer. This weekend is going to be pretty exciting too… follow me on Instagram for instant updates.

Speaking of Insta, do you follow @coffeecupsoftheworld? We went to the pop up exhibit in Manhattan last weekend and thought it was pretty neat.

Fitting, since coffee’s been a pretty big feature of the past week.

Here were some of the best bites…

To start, the single best bites of the month. Milk Bar for an iced latte (my favorite in the city) and a Thanksgiving croissant – “stuffing” flavored bread filled with in-house roasted, shredded turkey, homemade gravy, and cranberry sauce! Adam and I swooned and were more than a little sad that we shared instead of getting one each.

Chocolate halvah iced coffee. Better in theory but still not terrible in practice.

Chocolate cherry smoothie – plain Greek yogurt, frozen cherries, vanilla almond milk, vanilla bean paste, brown sugar,cocoa nibs.

Brunch at Lighthouse. With a grapefruit mimosa. We were blown away by our first chilaquiles experience, they are like a bowl full of nachos!

Brown butter sprinkled chocolate chip cookies I made for a birthday party at work. I used the dough base from this recipe and they were fantastic, the little bit of crunch from the sprinkles was perfect.

Ice cream from Davey’s. A Halloween candy mashup and cookie butter chocolate chip.

Dinner at Ducks Eatery. I don’t have a photo of my dinner, which was undercooked and kind of gross, but the appetizer/drinks situation was breathtaking. Exhibit A – smoked mussels with chili oil on toast with maple, smoked butter, and chives.

12th st sour with egg white foam.

Pièce de résistance – the Café Canard – Tullamore dew, espresso, brown sugar, cream, and nutmeg. I’m not one for hot coffee but sipping it through a cloud of sweet, foamed cream is pretty appealing.

Lentil bowls. Red lentils cooked with with garlic, ginger, red bell pepper, carrot, onion, tomato paste, and turkey bacon. Topped with cheese, hot sauce, plain Greek yogurt, and a serving of roasted zucchini.

Stoneridge Orchards sent me a nice package of dried fruits to try. Their products are all organic and always produced without sulfites, artificial preservatives, colors, hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, etc.

Dark chocolate cherries with almonds were a work snack.

P.S. that snazzy glitter sleeve is part of my ongoing campaign to make my office life more enjoyable. Fancy glass water bottle and a felt succulent.

The rest of the berries were paired with toasted nuts and roasted things for some “it still feels like fall” dinners. 10 out of 10 for this product review, by the way, these were by far the best dried fruits I’ve ever eaten. Sometimes dried cranberries can be displeasingly chewy but the texture here was quite pleasant.

Warm kale salad – sauteed kale / dried blueberries / pepitas / turkey bacon / honey thyme balsamic vinaigrette.

Cranberry almond chicken salad – shredded chicken breast / mayo / stone ground mustard / dried cranberries / slivered almonds. The sweetness of the cranberries was perfect with the mustard.

Roasted vegetable medley – butternut squash / shredded brussel sprouts / dried cherries / pecans / more vinaigrette / topped with goat cheese.

I’m off to enjoy a long weekend!

11Nov2016

Stick To Your Ribs Dinners

by Emily

Thank you, to all those who have served.

The weather is starting to cool down a bit more – I can no longer comfortably wear my sandals* – and our dinner choices have shifted towards steamy, stick to your ribs meals. *Note – I’m still wearing the sandals, I’m just not comfortable any more.

This was also election week and it’s safe to say that I ate my feelings in the form of booze, caffeine, and sugar. I am a woman, but I’m also cis/straight, white, sans disability or preexisting health conditions, and unlikely to get an abortion, so I know my feelings of disillusionment and heartbreak really pale in comparison to many others’.

On a happy note, here were some of the yummy things I ate this week…

This week’s coffee blend was soooo roasty and good.

I doubled up with train coffee and post-train coffee a few days, but I’ll note that this quad was enjoyed on a day I skipped the 1st coffee.

Starbuck’s holiday spiced sweet cream cold brew is good! It tasted like good tidings and cheer!

Did KIND bar read my blog? Limited edition caramel apple pumpkin spice is right up my alley. With a sweet Ambrosia apple.

I also love LARA’s hazelnut, hemp, cacao option. The crunchy nibs are great.

I was too busy at work for lunch one day and ate this turkey and stuffing sandwich on the way home in literally less than 3 minutes.

Plain Siggi’s with chocolate tahini and grapes with pumpernickel pretzels on the side. Yes, I put the grapes in the yogurt.

Elderflower yogurt (very floral) with persimmons and pumpkin spice Cheerios.

Strawberry cottage cheese plus grapes and pumpkin spice pepitas and granola. I didn’t enjoy this seltzer as much as I expected to.

Stress eating candies of choice –

Leftover turkey bolognaise that continued to knock our socks off. Thanks to turkey bacon, mirepoix, and 2+ hours on the stove, this sauce was packed with flavor.

With ~~wine~~ kombucha. Blueberry Mint was sweet and drinkable.

Leftover black eyed pea cakes. Topped with cheddar, fire-roasted corn, salsa, and a sunny side up egg with smoked paprika.

We’ve loved this chili from Iowa Girl Eats for years. This year I stepped it up a bit with lemon-pepper chicken, carrots and celery added to the base, and an additional hour of cooking time to concentrate the tomato before I added the beans.

Pumpkin beers to keep me company while I cooked. <– Adam and I both thought these two were some of the best of the season.

I topped my bowls with shredded cheese, pickled jalapeño, and plain Greek yogurt. Plus cucumber slices and Trader Joe’s pumpkin soup crackers on the side.

Chili, meat sauce, baked potatoes… what’s your favorite hearty, stick to your ribs food for winter?

5Nov2016

Bites And Frights

by Emily

How in the world is it November??? I promise not to spend the rest of this year talking about how the year is running out, but it really is blowing my mind.

On the agenda before January? Christmas shopping, finding the perfect day planner for 2017, and plans for three out-of-town trips right in a row.

Presently, I’m waiting for Adam to get home so we can go to brunch. And these were the highlights from the past week…

I actually did a pretty good job with capturing things this week minus a plethora more of nachos and iced coffees. I tried a new blend from Birch.

Espresso and a KIND bar.

Coffee, chai latte, and an almond croissant.

I found a white chocolate seltzer for my Halloween lunch. It didn’t have much flavor, but my oatmeal was good – with chia seeds, chocolate-covered cacao nibs, and candy corn, plus I stirred in pumpkin puree and Greek yogurt cream cheese at the end.

Other lunches centered around this sweet box of samples from LÄRABAR. They offered me a chance to try their newest product – BITES, “truffle-like bites made from real food to satisfy your sweet craving.” The bites are vegan, gluten-free, kosher, and only use Fair Trade Certified™ cocoa and coffee.

We tried three of four flavors (I’m saving mint chocolate for December, aka Peppermint Month) and were big fans. Cherry Chocolate Chip was enjoyable but not our favorite, I thought Double Chocolate Brownie was fudgy and great next to coffee, and Adam loved the fact that Chocolate Macaroon was coated in coconut flour.

I had a serving of brownie bites with a Noosa pumpkin yogurt and some gum drop grapes(!!) for lunch.

Coconut macaroon went with plain yogurt with yummy chocolate tahini on top.

This week’s snack highlights were nut and seed centric.

Also, of course, candy. Another product review, Magic Candy Factory sent me a super exciting sample –

That’s my name! I think this company is really exciting, you can choose from 100’s of shapes, or write a custom message, and MCF will 3D print you a gummy. The candy is vegan (no dairy, no gelatin), gluten-free, nut-free, and kosher. Most importantly, it’s delicious.

We tried sublime strawberry and Adam declared this his favorite gummy candy of all time.

Orange and black nachos for Halloween. TJ’s pumpkin chips topped with cheddar, olives, black beans, and shredded chicken.

Plus pumpkin beers and Peeps. Warlock was fantastic this year.

For the rest of the week, I made a big batch of pumpkin seed pesto. Served on pizza with cheddar and sliced turkey, I promise it was tastier than it looked. With a pea sprout salad.

And we tossed the rest of the pesto with pumpkin-shaped pasta, parmesan, shredded chicken, and roasted cauliflower. Almost nothing is better than pesto pasta.

Enjoy your weekend!

31Oct2016

Top Ten Last Week

by Emily

{1} Kobrick Coffee

I stepped up my espresso game with their housemade chocolate milk. Adam and I were both swooning after every sip.

{2} Pumpkin yogurt bowls

2% Fage with pumpkin puree and pumpkin butter, cinnamon, slivered almonds, and pumpkin spice granola. With an Asian pear.

Plain Siggi’s with pumpkin x2, pumpkin spice cheerios and frosted mini wheats, and a few candy corns. With a gingergold apple.

Pumpkin Chobani with cereals and another apple.

{3} Bobwhite Counter

Fried chicken sandwich with pickles and pimento cheese.

{4} Pumpkin Smoothie

We make at least one every October. Pumpkin puree, plain Greek yogurt, cinnamon, maple syrup, and vanilla almond milk.

{5} Xzibit “Pimp My Ride” style Reese’s

Reese’s stuffed with Reese’s Pieces. My peanut butter cup obsession usually does not extend beyond Justin’s minis but I am bewitched by these; the bit of crunch takes the cups to a whole new level.

{6} Molly’s Cupcakes

They have a whole slew of gooey stuffed cupcakes.

Cake better was perfection!

{7} Let’s Pretend This Never Happened

Unsurprisingly, Jenny Lawson (aka The Bloggess)’s 1st memoir did not disappoint. I added her 2nd book to my Christmas list less than halfway through.

{8} Nachos

I turned my copycat Chipotle bowl leftovers into nachos. Nachos > salad bowls. Tortilla chips, cheddar cheese, black beans, corn, sautéed onions and peppers, and shredded chipotle honey lime chicken.

{9} C’est Cheese

Adam and I had a weekday off together and we spent several hours of it on the phone dealing with our retirement accounts. We desperately needed booze and cheese afterwards so we headed to Port Jefferson for lunch. Baked brie with raspberry jam.

Beer flight – Post Road Pumpkin / Telekinesis sour / Framboise / Imperial Biscotti Break stout.

Plus a Spanish salad with mandarin oranges, Manchego, olives, and a honey tarragon vinaigrette.

{10} David Pumpkins

Bless you, SNL, this is my new favorite thing.

{Bonus} Be sure to check out SaveTheDay.Vote, Joss Whedon’s super PAC that produces short PSAs about the importance of voting (for Hillary). The subject matter is sobering but somehow the videos are all still laugh out loud hilarious. Whedon is already my role model, and I am so impressed with all of the celebrities to chose to participate.

P.S. Happy Halloween!

24Oct2016

Pumpkin Yogurt — Froyo — Beer

by Emily

This weekend was low-key but exactly what we needed. Inclement weather killed our Saturday plans (instead we ran some errands and caught up on tv) and Sunday I was scheduled to work. I’ve got Wednesday off in exchange for yesterday so my workweek will be two mini 2 day blocks <– nice!

Here were the weekend’s top eats…

We made a quick trip down to Rockville Center to check out Kookaburra Coffee. They had toasted marshmallow coffee syrup!! Fan-freaking-tastic in my triple shot iced latte.

Spooky yogurt bowl. Plain Fage with pumpkin butter stirred in, topped with chia seeds, salted peanuts, cocoa nibs, and a few candy corn.

I put a lemon cream popsicle in seltzer water with some whiskey. Creamy, fizzy, and boozy, the trifecta.

Pumpkin pie froyo, topped with pretty much all of the dessert-y toppings.

Cheese plate dinner. With dates, apple, and sautéed green beans with almonds.

The highlights were this paprika cheese from TJ’s,

and these Malbranche Mura Cha Cha matcha tea biscuits I was sent to review. The cookies are gluten-free and vegan and absolutely bursting with matcha flavor. Be forewarned – if you don’t like the tea you won’t like the cookie, Adam loves both.

Copycat Chipotle salad bowls. Romaine // spicy salsa // shredded cheese // chipotle honey lime chicken // sautéed onion and orange and yellow bell pepper // black beans // fire-roasted corn.

I sipped pumpkin beer while I sautéed my chicken. Both were delicious, 8-9/10.

I’ve got three different pumpkin iterations packed for tomorrow’s lunch!

22Oct2016

Pumpkin Nice Latte

by Emily

How are we more than halfway through October? And less than three months away from the end of 2016?? I can’t handle it! Here was this week…

I had leftover sweetened condensed milk from a recipe so I put it in TJ’s coffee concentrate. Then I spent the entire morning certain I was going to die but also overcome with glee.

This Target brand salted caramel hot chocolate is delicious. Apparently I was into my morning sugar this week.

Yogurt bowls for lunch. All on theme, thank you. Chobani pumpkin with pecans and pumpkin spice cheerios and frosted min wheats. Plus an Asian pear.

TJ’s pumpkin yogurt with more cereal and an apple.

Noosa pumpkin with pumpkin spice granola and pumpkin seeds.

TJ’s caramel apple yogurt with Heritage Flakes and sliced almonds. This was the best of the apple yogurts, fyi.

It was a snack-heavy week, here were the highlights –

Related – a new pretzel shop opened right above my train and it is a problem.

Most dinners this week were weaksauce. Adam and I both get a bit bummed out as the weather cools down and we’ve had a hard time motivating ourselves in the kitchen. Case in point – I ate nachos two days in the row.

At least these nachos had turkey breast on top. And eggs with spinach in them on the side.

Another night I made a super simple turkey and cheddar toasted sandwich.

Inspiration did finally come, in the form of a box of lemons. Limoneira sent me a sample of their citrus. Limoneira Company is a 124 year old international agribusiness dedicated to sustainability. Their lemons are quite tasty, almost sweet.

I made Lemon Brown Sugar Chicken. Served with roasted broccoli and lemon pepper cauliflower rice.

Also Dulce de Leche Lemon Popsicles.

Cross your fingers for me that the weather’s nice in NYC today, if there’s no rain I’ve got a fun activity planned.

8Oct2016

Double Chocolate Cherry and Pumpkin Spice

by Emily

We’re a week into Pumpkin Month and I still haven’t cracked open any of my pumpkin beers! I have, however, purchased more (I spotted Schlafly in Manhattan – finally! – and couldn’t pass it up). Thankfully I consider November gourd drinking time as well.

I didn’t do the best job with photos, but here were some of my eats last week…

Home-brewed coffee (espresso roast with fat-free half and half) with honey, vanilla, cinnamon, and pumpkin spice.

I dumped most of that yummy coffee into my purse and consoled myself with espresso and chocolate milk when I got off the train.

Pumpkin spice coffee with pumpkin juice that ended up being too spicy for me. I wanted it to taste like that amazing pumpkin smoothie Odwalla used to sell.

I also was NOT a fan of the pumpkin pie Quest bar, big surprise. My coffee and chocolate-covered almonds were still a good snack though.

As was this pear and Epic Bar combo.

Liberte lavender! yogurt with banana and almonds for lunch.

My other yogurts for the week came in the form of a product review – i.e. sent to me free of charge, with no additional compensation for this post. Greek Gods yogurt is both Adam’s and my absolute favorite so when they offered to send me their three newest chocolate flavors I jumped at the opportunity.

Because they’re made with whole milk, the yogurts have too much saturated fat for me to consider them an everyday staple, however, as a treat they are fantastic. Compared with ice cream they have less than half the saturated fat and calories (and double the protein) and 100% of the flavor and creamy decadence. Like I said, Adam and I both consider them to be the most pleasing yogurts on the market. And we have been eating them everyday this week!

Chocolate Cherry I decided to use in a smoothie recipe. For 2 – blend 1 cup yogurt, 1 cup frozen dark cherries, and 8 ounces chocolate milk. Yum!

Chocolate Strawberry I topped with freeze-dried strawberries, chocolate-covered cocoa nibs, and pecans.

And Chocolate Mocha turned into pumpkin spice mocha, with pumpkin spice granola and pepitas on top.

Dinners were weak this week. I made this ridiculous grilled cheese sandwich – Havarti and sharp cheddar on cinnamon swirl bread – three nights in a row!

And leftovers saved me from having to cook the only meal that counts as a meal. Pumpkin sausage pasta and broccoli salad were weirdly fantastic together. Topped with smoked paprika and shredded cheese.

Last night we went to Biang! We split shredded potatoes and garlic bok choy and I had Mt Qi spicy pickled veggies on hand-pulled noodles. My elbow was practically touching the girl next to me, so no photos.

Today, we’re hoping to go to Smorgasburg and dinner in Williamsburg. Have a great weekend!

30Sep2016

The End Of Apple Month

by Emily

This week I…

Tried two new products to review {see below}
Drank 6 cups of coffee
Worked 3 of 4 days and spent Wednesday in Manhattan
Loved the newest season of “The New Girl,” laughed out loud at “NCIS,” and felt totally over “South Park”
Ate three different plates of nachos

highlights…

Sparkling Ice offered to send me some of their new Essence Of sparkling water line. No sodium, no sugar, no artificial sweeteners, just carbonated water and natural flavors. 10/10, they were very refreshing and I would definitely buy them on my own.

I enjoyed Lemon Lime and Tangerine alongside my coffee.

Caramel apple yogurt with cinnamon Chex and freeze-dried apples.

Caramel apple oatmeal bowl. Oats with chia seeds, apple, cinnamon, candied pecans, and Booterscotch M&Ms.

Buttermilk pie yogurt bowl, with a Cara Cara.

This “Red Hook” paleta from La Newyorkina was the single best thing we ate all month. Super-strong coffee with cookie dough from Baked.

Peking Duck Bing at Madison Square Eats. I knew if I kept trying these crepes I’d find one I loved. This one was stuffed with peking duck, scrambled eggs, hoisin sauce, and chili paste.

Lunch on a sunny sidewalk at Delicatessen.

We shared an everything salmon burger,

and the Mac Quack with duck confit, white cheddar, fontina, and caramelized onion.

But the best bites were the Duck, Duck, Goose Dumplings – smoked duck breast, duck confit, foie gras, cherry chutney, brown butter vinaigrette, and sliced almonds.

We’ve tried Pepperidge Farm Swirl Breads in the past and loved them (p.s. they have caramel apple and pumpkin spice seasonal flavors!!) but they recently upgraded the products with a wider slice and more visible swirl and offered to send some my way.

We loved the new version too. I typically only buy us whole-wheat bread and save the white stuff for a treat, and these swirl breads definitely taste like a treat. Plus, at 80 calories a slice with 3 grams of protein and only 4 grams of sugar, the nutritional profile isn’t too bad.

I made epic sweet and savory grilled cheese sandwiches out of the Raisin Cinnamon Swirl.

Bread with butter // blackberry jam // smoked sliced turkey // sharp cheddar and light Havarti cheese // turkey bacon // and a hot skillet.

Plus roasted brussel sprouts on the side.

And Smackintosh Hard Cider (from our trip to Traverse City) to drink.

Pumpkin Month starts tomorrow!

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: yogurt

Highlights From Last Week/end

Stick To Your Ribs Dinners

Bites And Frights

Top Ten Last Week

Pumpkin Yogurt — Froyo — Beer

Pumpkin Nice Latte

Double Chocolate Cherry and Pumpkin Spice

The End Of Apple Month