My home away from home, Seattle!

This weekend I escaped to Seattle to celebrate a dear friend's birthday and get out of the doldrums. I made up a small list of places I wanted to try, which was a new concept to me as I'm not really used to spoiling myself. The trip was well needed and awesome.

Friday night was the birthday dinner. We met at Root Table, a small hobbit-hole of a restaurant that offers American-Asian fusion cuisine.I had perused their menu beforehand and was delighted to see root vegetable fries. Lucky for me, another guest asked about animal byproducts.....which the fries were guilty of being immersed in. SAD. I decided on the veggie-friendly Golden Gardens Curry.

THE AFTERMATH

I'm really afraid to admit this, but this was my first curry. Growing up, I had a sensitivity to spicy foods and have just grown accustomed to avoiding them. Lately, however, I'm finding myself asking for medium spice on Thai dishes and throwing jalapeno salt into scrambles. Let me tell you, this curry was the gateway drug. It was spicy, but in a yummy way. It was rich, flavorful and amazing. I WANT CURRY ALL THE TIME.

The rest of the night we spent at a friend's house, talking about Burning Man and oohing and awing over a homemade water cooler. At 1:30am the group decided to trek to Beth's Cafe. Definitely not vegan friendly, but the atmosphere more than made up for it. I went for an English muffin with jam and we played telephone pictionary until 3am.

The next morning (ok, whatever it was noon) I provided the pancake recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance and made believers out of my already veggie friendly friends. A couple took down the recipe and I jumped up and down in excitement. Three of us went to Discovery Park, this mammoth space that borders the Sound and boasts a serpent mound, a learning center AND a lighthouse. Munching on the pesticide free berries in the park, we hiked all these tiny trails and saw some spectacular views. Of course this made us very, VERY hungry.

Dinner following such an excursion had to be what is now my favorite pizza place, Pizza Pi Vegan Pizzeria. My friends used to live just up the street from this place but we never visited. We had breadsticks with melted Teese and four dipping sauces and the Field Roast Favorite, also covered in Teese.

Now, I have been meticulous in avoiding processed food stuffs, but Teese is amazing. It didn't just slide off when you picked it up, like I've found FYH Vegan Gourmet to do.

Sunday morning I spent my last hour in Seattle munching on a vegan banana muffin and the best coffee I've ever had in Seattle at Cloud City Coffee. My soy mocha wasn't sweet and milky, it was grownup; and the muffin was the perfect fuel for the drive ahead. I also found their drip to be slightly bitter, which I LOVE.
Stay tuned for the PPK Cookbook Challenge results!!!

Struggles with a bright spot.

It's been 2 months since I've posted. Whoa. I started this blog to keep my writing skills fresh, and then I abandon it. I'm sorry blog!

So, obviously, one of my struggles is updating this thing. Another is my weight. While in Europe, we walked and walked and walked and walked some more. I swear I lost ten pounds. We get back to the States....and I lose my job and put on a ton of poundage. Not out of stress, dear reader, out of boredom. So I joined Weight Watchers.

Thing is, I can't cut much out. Sure, there's beer and french fries, but that's about it. I eat so well, far better than the first go around in Weight Watchers 5 years ago, and it's all homemade. We just can't afford to eat out of boxes anymore. In the past 7 weeks, I've lost a total of 2.6 pounds. Sure, it's better than gaining, BUT COME ON. So yes, I'm really cutting out the beer this time, maybe one a week instead of 3 or 4; and yes, I'm cutting out the fries, promise.

I'm going to Seattle this weekend, to visit dear friends and explore vegan options. Back when my buddies were going to U-Dub, I would visit monthly out of boredom. But I've only visited once while vegan and didn't really get a chance to explore what's available to me. I promise a full post, with pictures, when I get back.