More Flowers

These flowers were so vibrantly purple I had to have them!!

Buggy Whip

He's so athletic!


*Buggy Whip – Describes a forehand hit with a follow through which does not go across the body and finish on the opposite side but rather goes from low to high and finishes on the same side

Restaurant Review: Su Tao

Su Tao Cafe is an all-you-can-eat vegan Chinese restaurant outside of Philadelphia, PA.

There's an extensive salad bar (pictured below) with everything from salad fixings to tofu-egg salad to fresh fruit, to more exotic Japanese-inspired seaweed salads and Korean-inspired Kimchis

There's also a whole other hot bar with everything from fresh sushi, hot and sour soup, miso soup, and 8 entrees, mock duck, mock chicken, mock fish cakes, dumplings, spring rolls, and other entree/appetizer items.

Kimchi, brown rice, dumplings, beef and peppers:

Los and H fooling around



Green beans, mock duck, dumplings, lo mein, fish cakes, tempura, sushi
This is my favorite entree, they call it "Treasure Pot" it's a mix of beef, chicken, peppers, squash, potatoes, yams, and other veggies

Some other fake meat dishes


They even have dessert, here's an assortment - apple pie, Whole Foods brand 'oreo' cookies, sesame balls, cashew squares, rice poppers, and biscuits


The salad bar has sliced apples with what tastes like condensed milk, they're really sweet and rich but remind me of my childhood when my grandmother would serve fruit with condensed milk for dessert, I've asked on several occasions how they make the condensed milk, but they always say, it's 'just a special sauce.'
Fin!

Peach Turnovers

I love peaches. A friend of mine has a farm and they grow peaches, when we worked together she would bring in BUSHELS of peaches to share with us, it was amazing. I don't see her as often any more so I had to get these peaches from the supermarket, though they were advertised as coming from a local farm, so I'm okay with that.

I chopped 8 peaches into small pieces, added 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 Tbs sugar, and 2 Tbs Splenda and let them sit for about an hour to get juicy...

In the meantime I took out a package of puff pastry from the freezer and allowed it to thaw on the counter for about an hour.



I sliced the pastry into 3 inch squares, added a few tablespons of peaches and folded them over onto themselves to make little pockets.

I baked them for 25 minutes at 400.



These are served a la mode with some Turtle Trails!



And plain!

Bocas

Bocas are great, they're so easy to make and taste very good. We put these on fresh kaiser rolls and topped them with Sharp Cheddar Sheese:



With all the fixin's:

Try-It-Out Tuesdays: Everyday Gourmet Cookies

Today's product: Everyday Gourmet Wheat- and Dairy- Free Cookies.

Okay, WOW! I cannot believe that these cookies are not only vegan but also wheat-free. These cookies are unbelievable. They are light, crispy, buttery, gooey, and all-around delicious!

I sampled the chocolate chip (OMG) and the oatmeal raisin (my second favorite). Both rival even my own best cookie recipes.

I would recommend these cookies to any vegan or omni - the best part is that you can mail-order them directly from their website: Everyday Gourmet

They also have an impressive assortment of cakes, muffins, brownies, and pies available for delivery.




Have a product you'd like me to review? Send an email to j88nny@hotmail.com for further details.

Guacamole

I made my own guacamole, it was fantastic!



Recipe:
2 ripe avacadoes, mashed
1 small tomato, chopped
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 lime, juiced

Combine all ingredients and serve with chips. Only make as much as you will eat in a day, this doesn't store well.

Pancakes and Lilacs

I love making breakfasts, especially on Sundays!

I just loved how this looked with the fresh lilacs and fresh fruit!

Close-up!

Introducing....

My new PINK background...



In an attempt to make my photos 'pop' a little more, I've been using the macro settings and have tried using a mini-tripod and a background...

This pink background is framed around a delicious Indian dish of mixed vegetables and aloo palak (spinach and potatoes).

Summer Dinner

We had a deliciously fresh summer dinner the other night.

I decided to make BLTs with a few side dishes. I also made fresh peach infused iced tea.

Here you can see the lettuce and tomatoes (L & T), iced tea, zatar bread chips, and hummus, lupini beans, and also a loaf of rosemary olive oil sea salt sourdough bread from Wegmans.
Lupini beans with fresh basil
L & T

Tomato and cucumber salad, also with fresh basil
me!
Los!
P & G & S! (He's so freaking cute!)
G & J
Los, again!
Since there was a baby, the dogs were sequestered to the other room, they sat patiently waiting. At one point I dropped a piece of tofu-bacon on the floor and George, the eagle-eye he is, just started crying and whining until I bent over, picked it up, and tossed it his way, he's such a ham!
Since Motley is so small we let her stay, she chose to hide behind people's legs all night:
Once dinner was over she jumped on the seat to get some love, you can see by the rips that this is a VERY popular hang out for all the dogs - the most enticing part of this seat is that the dogs can watch the trees (and hence the squirrels) from this spot all day long, they love it!

USPS, Go!

How excited was I when I opened up the mail box to find Sarah Kramer's waving, smiling face?!

Her new book, Vegan A Go-Go, drops in late August and you can bet I've already pre-ordered a copy!

Recipe: Walnut Pesto

According to Donna Klein in The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen pesto traditionally does not contain dairy. She explains that traditional pesto contains sea salt, whose rich flavor and intense 'mouth feel' create the savory flavor we all love.

Here's my (very easy) pesto recipe:

First, lightly brown the walnuts - do this by heating them in a pan lightly dusted with PAM or olive oil and toast them over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until just browned -- be careful they will burn very quickly, so keep your eyes on them!



Add the toasted walnuts to a large bunch of basil leaves (about 1-2 cups), sprinkle with 1-2 tsp sea salt and puree
Traditionally you would also add some olive oil, in an attempt to make this recipe lower calorie and lower fat, I omitted the olive oil, it changes the texture slightly, but still makes an amazingly rich pesto

I used this batch to top some chopped tomatoes, it's a really fresh tasting meal
I paired it with some fresh sweet corn, very light and summery and really good!

Try-It-Out Tuesdays: Doctor Kracker

I've been getting a lot of samples for vegan products, I'll review them each Tuesday for a new feature: Try-It-Out Tuesdays! Fun!

Today's sample: Doctor Kracker Seedlander Chips.


I know that there is extraneous packaging, but I would LOVE to be able to purchase Doctor Krackers in these cute snack containers at the supermarket. They're perfect for throwing into your purse for a quick snack. Despite their low calorie and fat content they're very filling!

Doctor Kracker's slogan is 'Seeds Are Not Just for the Birds' and I wholeheartedly concur!

These crackers are savory and flavorful with a light, crisp cracker topped with pumpkin, sesame, flax, and poppy seeds. The flavor is excellent, not overwhelming. I paired these with fresh tomato slices and hummus - both pairings were perfect.

Have a product you'd like me to review? Send an email to j88nny@hotmail.com for further details.

Light Traveling

I flew to Indianapolis for the weekend and was so impressed with my packing skills, I just had to share:



That was all I took - those two bags! Unfortunately, I was so used to bringing checked bags containing things like pints of soymilk, that I forgot about the 'no-liquid' rule and was quickly flagged as I tried to take pints of Silk, small tubs of peanut butter, and a tub of hummus through security! Luckily the FAA official had a good sense of humor about it, but I felt so bad wasting all that delicious food (especially since Indiana is not exactly the most vegan-friendly city!)

Cravings!

I am SO in the mood for these:


I think I'm going to try this recipe from Megaheart.com, we'll see if it works with Ener-G and margarine in place of butter and eggs...

• 1 cup filtered low-sodium water (trace)
• 1 stick unsalted butter (12.4 mg)
• 1 cup white unbleached flour (2.5 mg)
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar (.15 mg)
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (.189 mg)
• 4 eggs (252 mg)

Preheat your standard oven to 400° F or your convection oven to 375° F.

Crack eggs and place white and yolks into a bowl. Set aside.

Heat water and butter in a medium pan until they boil. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the flour, stirring steadily over a low to medium heat for about a minute or until the batter becomes one smooth ball. Remove this from the heat and beat in the vinegar, vanilla, and 4 eggs all at the same time. Beat until smooth.

On large cookie sheet, spoon or scoop about a ¼ cup of dough setting them about three inches apart. (I use a ¼ cup measuring cup. This forms a very nice round well shaped "puff.") You can also shape into elongated puffs.

Bake on middle rack for about 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Test with a toothpick. Cool on rack for about 10 to 20 minutes.

Strawberries and Cream

Los always mocks that Berries and Cream Starburst commercial



So I made Berries and Cream for dessert tonight!



They're topped with soya whipped cream and homemade caramel. Yum!

Pizza!

It's really quite ironic that I post about pizza so often - before I was vegan I hardly ever ate pizza, if I did eat it, I would pick off the cheese - there was something about the rubbery feel of pizza cheese that did not appeal to me!

Los on the other hand LOVES pizza and often jokes that he wants a slice of 'real' pizza on his deathbed. I think he has romanticized it and wouldn't really like it if he actually ate it since he's been vegan for so long, but he thinks he would, so I guess I'll let him hold on to the dream!

Anyway, recently we've been adding Yves Pepperoni to the Follow Your Heart 'Cheese' on our pizza. Tonight, Los had the great idea to add Yves Canadian Bacon instead - it was a fantastic idea!

First, Los lightly fried the bacon, then added it to the pizza, topping it off with another pint of sauce, delish!