Photo Friday: Getting to Peak Summer

It’s been months since the last Photo Friday. So let’s take a look at the camera roll and see some of my favorite food shots that for one reason or another didn’t make it onto the blog.

Actually, most of my pictures don’t make it onto the blog. Many get posted to Yelp. Others are just intended to be a form of visual shorthand to jog my memory about things I’ve cooked, eaten, or found interesting. Every now and again I’ll take a photo of someone in my family. 

One of these days I’ll get all these images off my phone, or edit them, or organize them. But in the meantime, here are a few highlights I thought were worthy of sharing.

File this under, “Oops I did it again.” This was my 2018 outing to Swifty’s for one of my favorite things in the world. The deep fried buffalo burger. Gaze upon it, and be content knowing that inside was cooked to a perfect medium rare.

No, it’s not exactly soup season. But in late spring, it was temperate enough to enjoy a bowl of this butternut squash soup from Sweet Sue’s newly opened Copper Pot. She’s back in the restaurant game, and the shop is as sweet as ever. Maybe even sweeter.

I’m getting older, and I can’t remember what I’ve shared anymore. But this is the Beyond Meat burger at The Hollow. I was curious. And it was tasty. Anyhow, as I tried to describe it to some people, it sounded less and less appealing. I’m not quite sure I fully understand the science, although for vegetarians or those looking for a meat substitute, this is remarkable stuff.

After the Pizza King won the Tour de Slice in Schenectady, I returned with Little Miss Fussy for slices. Including the ziti slice which was one of her favorites as a much smaller kid. I’m glad to report her tastes have evolved. I’m less glad that mine haven’t, so I helped her finish that carb and fat bomb.

Brewtus Roasting is pulling espresso shots at their coffee shop in Delmar. And this cortado was delicious.

In the past few months, I had my first NEBA from Mike’s, although next time I think I will get it some toppings. For my first outing, I wanted to try it on its own. In this form, side to side, I’m partial to Mr. B’s Best. But we’ll see what happens when I get one more fully dressed.

Speaking of firsts, this was my first and last Stewart’s Deli Dog. It’s likely Mr. Dave will have something to say about this. I probably did something horribly wrong. I mean… I certainly did something horribly wrong. I ordered—and ate—a Stewart’s Deli Dog.

My hope was that the Stewart’s tub of macaroni and cheese would be a sufficient antidote. But no. No, it was not. However, I had to try something.

One of my favorite parts of visiting one of the Yelp offices is the free coffee. The baristas at Yelp NYC whipped up this gorgeous cappuccino with locally roasted beans.

While i wanted a bowl of noodles from Xi’an Famous Foods in NYC, I had a bowl of noodles for lunch. Plus I had just eaten a Cambodian sandwich. So I went with an order of spicy lamb dumplings. I love dumplings. Plus, there’s always room for dumplings.

Oh man. Going through the camera roll is rough. These are just a small fraction of what I’ve been eating. But I also realized that I’ve been doing a better job at sharing photos, so there weren’t as many new ones. And not all pictures were worthy of sharing. Lighting can be tough sometimes.

But I’m happy with these for what they are. Have a great weekend. Hope to see you at the Battle of the BBQS on Sunday. It turns out in addition to a judge, I’ll also be the master of ceremonies. I guess nobody has told them what happens when someone hands me a microphone.