From the monthly archives: June 2011
Pleasure is your hairy host waking you up with a lick to the face…
Pleasure is sangria in a quiet, New England yard in good company… (Thanks for human hosts Marsha & Ron!)
Pleasure is being surrounded by water.
Pleasure is a lonely lighthouse and not having to crop mingling crowds out of a picture.
Pleasure is a blue sky met by a blue sea.
Julian’s in Providence, Rhode Island has fantastic vegan brunch options. Traveling to another state for veggie dining adds a bit more pressure to the ordering process. There you sit with a long list of delicious-sounding options–sweet ones, savory ones, personal favorites–but you must only have one.
Luckily at Julian’s you can order a half portion of their St. Jamez ‘Benedict’, a tofu benny among the best I have ever had… fried tofu ‘egg’, garlicky spinach, & vegan hollandaise on a soppy saturated piece of Italian bread, and one singular slice of their vegan cinnamon orange French Toast. Both hit the spot perfectly, satiated me fully without being too-too much. Julian’s makes mean vegan versions that illuminate just how lacking New York City is in certain vegan areas.
Like No Udder is the world’s first vegan soft serve truck. The roaming truck offers vanilla, chocolate and vanilla-chocolate twist vegan soft serve with a variety of toppings. The soft serve’s texture is creamy and the color– stark white reminiscent of my childhood fixation: Carvel. I hope Like No Udder adds more toppings. I want to officially request marshmallow sauce and pineapple.
Wildflour is an all-vegan bakery stocked with the works! Sweet and savory scones, cookies, cupcakes, cakes, cinnamon buns, muffins, brownies, bars and breads… the place was a vegan treat heaven! I chose their Red Velvet cupcake.
Besides these gorgeously decorated cupcakes, Wildflour also sells some fantastic sounding juice concoctions like the Avocolada: avocado, coconut water, pineapple, lime and vanilla.
One of the reasons why I was all aboard the Megabus to Providence was Garden Grille. I went their last year and was so impressed by their food. This time was no different. A menu like Garden Grille’s is overwhelming. They have a variety of dishes that appeal to each and every taste bud. For a starter we got the Hearts of Palm cakes with the chickpea chipotle aioli to appease the salty, zesty and wish to dip.
For dinner: the eggplant rollatini: tofu-nut cheese wrapped in tender strips of eggplant on top grilled polenta cakes and a nest of garlicy spinach and drenched in Pomodoro.
The start of the a Vegan Foodie Weekend in Providence, Rhode Island started with a bang! Our hosts and their neighbors prepared a vegan spread that was jaw-dropping.
Lime tortilla chips from Food Should Taste Good; roasted garlic, grilled tomato and basil bruschetta; cherries; hot and sweet peppers; sangria and Tortas de Aceite.
Fruit salad and summer rolls. Fresh and flavorful summer goodness.
Summer rolls–rice wrappers stuffed with goodness.
Dinner in the yard with a plentiful plate. Many taste buds decided they couldn’t go on mid-way through my meal.
The meal ended with some vegan cupcakes. I am loving the Rhode Island hospitality!
As soon as I saw Isa’s recipe for Spaghetti-Nos with Mini Lentil Meatballs, I have been craving it badly. After a week of splurging way too much on food out, I knew I needed a week of a lunch worth looking forward to… even if it would take the best of me. Down time is a diminishing commodity as I wrap up another school year.
Here are some lentil meatballs getting a nice skin. The recipe made about 35-40 or so.
Not having my queen-size processor, I needed to do the balls and sauce pureeing in batches, which made things a bit more complicated.
But oh my, how delicious. A plentiful cheesy sauce atop mini pasta with my fried then baked balls. The perfect lunch for the week.
Never skimp on the sauce.
Strawberry pancakes–golden, thick and fluffy pancakes pebbled with slices of strawberry. Food Perfection. Use this recipe for perfect pancakes.
Fruit salad with nothing but the best stuff. No pushing around boring cantaloupe and tasteless honeydew. Just the most coveted in the fruit salad: strawberries, pineapple and watermelon tossed with fresh mint. I am going to name this Karen’s Fruit Salad.
Spending an overnight with the entire 5th grade class of 2011 at a Club Getaway, I knew food selection would be lacking. I packed some goodies to ensure I wouldn’t waste away.
Packing essentials: glycerine soap, hand sanitizer, soymilk, corn nuts, sesame sticks, Happy Baby mango puree, Plum Organics super puffs–purples, Sweet & Sara‘s marshmallows, Larabars: chocolate chip cookie dough and tropical fruit tart and Probar s’mores bar.
Lunch and dinner consisted of a canned salad bar and watermelon. Far better than I expected.
What’s a campfire without a marshmallow. After a long day of bungee trambolining, inflatable bouncy house sparring, archery, etc, I needed this flame-toasted Sweet & Sara’s.
Vegan Reporting By Location
