Dulce Vegan Bakery - and a Family Birthday

2 weeks ago, I had the pleasure of planning my Mom's birthday party.  We had a dinner party for 10 in Highlands, NC.  Fortunately, my Dad was up for hiring a caterer instead of us attempting to cook.  He recommended that  I call Holly Roberts at The Kitchen of Let Holly do the Cooking.  I was pretty apprehensive creating a menu that would satisfy everyone.  Thankfully, Holly was extremely helpful.  I asked her to make me and the girls a quinoa salad,  she also made a veggie lasagna,  and a chicken tetrazzini.   So, I had vegans, vegetarians and omnivores all covered.  She made a salad, bread and 2 appetizers as well.   It was a huge hit.  But then - what do I do about a cake?  The new vegan bakery, Dulce Vegan had just opened!    http://dulcevegan.com/ 

 I ordered the cake ahead of time, I went with a simple vanilla cake with chocolate frosting.  And, the verdict - there were 10 clean plates!  Everyone said they enjoyed the cake, but when I saw all the plates void of cake I knew the vegan cake had passed the test.  When I went to pick up the cake, I ended up picking up a few more things - a white bean hummus sandwich with spinach, roasted peppers and tomatoes, and an amazing cinnamon roll.  I also had the girls taste test the cupcakes and a cookie.

Dulce Vegan Cinnamon Roll - divine

Dulce Vegan - white bean hummus sandwich

The girls were not too crazy about the cookie or the coconut cupcake, but they loved the chocolate cupcake, and of course they loved cinnamon roll and the b-day cake.   I highly recommend Dulce Vegan Bakery in Kirkwood and Holly Roberts in Highlands, NC!

Check out peoples choice award: http://blogs.ajc.com/best-of-big-a/2011/05/02/best-bakery-alternatives/?cxntfid=blogs_best_of_big_a

Sometimes the details escape me...

I am not a detail person.  I rarely remember to read a recipe all the way through before I start.  Sometimes this works out, but most of the time it does not.  But details, arrrghh....  I would much prefer to get the general sense of a recipe and throw it all together.  I usually glaze over words like: emulsify, fold, whisk, etc.  And, any ingredients I am not familiar with, I tend to think as optional.   

Which once again got me into trouble this weekend.  I made a quinoa dish that Chad had tasted at a dinner and loved.  I swore I followed the directions (well, at least most of them).  Chad called me out on it.  So, we made it again for a cookout we were going to on Sunday and he watched over my shoulders (and helped too).  Apparently, scallions are an important ingredient, one should measure out lime juice, not just squeeze a couple into a recipe and cumin seeds are not the same thing as ground cumin. Oh yeah, and I had to actually toast the cumin seeds.  Seriously???  Yes, indeed, the quinoa was 100% better!!  I posted the recipe in an earlier post:

Quinoa recipe in this post:
http://vegginaroundblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/spring-time-cookout.html

The other night, not following the directions "exactly" did work out:
I had cabbage and broccoli from my Natures Garden Delivered box that I needed to use.  My children were "starving" and I was trying to think of something fast, vegan, gluten free and tasty that I could make.  I got onto my Wholefood app on my iphone and entered cabbage, broccoli, vegan and found this recipe.  Chinese-Style Longevity Noodles-

I altered the recipe a bit and did:

For the sauce:

1/4 c veggie broth

1TB gluten free, low sodium, organic tamari

1/2 tsp sesame oil

pinch of red pepper flakes

1/2 TB grapeseed oil

tsp of garlic and tsp of grated ginger

I used a box of quinoa spiral pasta (gluten free)

about 2 cups of chopped cabbage

2 cups of broccoli

1/2 cup toasted cashews

I mixed all the sauce ingredients together, and then heated the sauce in the skillet (I later read the recipe and this is not how I was suppose to do it) but it still worked!  Then I added the cabbage, broccoli and sauteed it all together.  When the pasta was cooked, I drained and added it in, then topped it off with the cashews.  I thought it was very tasty, it was easy to fix - vegan, and gluten free.  If it were just for me and Chad I would have added more red pepper, ginger and garlic to spice it up.  One girl liked it, the other absolutely did not.  Chad said he did want chicken in his (we unfortunately had no chicken in the house).

Just to share, two more culinary mistakes I made recently - "meyers" lemons are not the same thing as a regular old lemon, nor are "preserved" lemons. 

LottaFrutta Again

S in the window - she loves this place

My veggin hold the cheese

Mothers Day - Some want a fancy brunch - I want a vegan sandwich from Lotta Frutta on Auburn Avenue.  I know I posted about this restaurant before, but I cant stop thinking about their amazing vegan sandwich.  It is such a fun place.  I held my breath as I finally asked if the bread was vegan and to my surprise it was.  So, the Veggin, without cheese is vegan.  Chad enjoyed his turkey and havarti sandwich (more like a panni) - S ordered the veggin without cheese but added hummus and I had the veggin no cheese.  Great way to spend my mothers day, sitting in the sun enjoying my veggin.  (And, I havent even begun to tell you about their smoothies & fruit cups)

Chad's turkey / havarti

Osteria and Doc Chey's cater to our "mixed" taste

 

Osteria in Virginia Highlands has always been a family favorite.  They are  accommodating,  have friendly service, and serve good food.  Last week was no exception.  Chad ordered chicken picata, Ry - mac and cheese and S and I deliberated about a vegan option.  S decided it would be a great idea to create our own dish.  So, our waitress with amazing patience, waited  as I went through all the vegan topping options for a pizza.  The waitress confirmed there would be no problem in creating a vegan pizza for us.  S ordered a vegan pizza with artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers and spinach for us to share.  Amazing - seriously one of the best pizzas I have ever had (including those with cheese).  And, imagine S's pride that she created her own!  Bonus-  I noticed on the specials board that they are now serving gluten free noodles.  Way to go!

Doc Chey's is another family favorite where we can all order our own thing and all leave happy.  Tonight, though I decided to really make a challenge and request vegan - gluten free.  It so happens, their special Marco Polo's sauce is gluten free!  I ordered that with rice and tofu.  Amazing!  The girls both had noodle bowls with tofu and Chad had the chicken cashew nut stir fry.  We all loved our meals.

Rich Chey - I dont know him, but from what I read about him and heard from others, he is one inspirational entrepreneur.   First, he contributes so much to our neighborhood - his philanthropy is endless.  He host dine outs at his restaurants several times a year, for not one but several local schools.  He raises money for the fire station in our neighborhood and I know he give A LOT more, but I want to write about his other attributes - to create several restaurants that cater to young professionals before kids (ie me and Chad 7 years ago), AND families (now us), and even the girls grandparents love his restaurants.  That is a hard task to accomplish.  Beyond that, he is flexible with his food and can create dishes for every type of eater - Doc Chey - gluten free vegan is hard!

Thank you Rich for what you have done for our neighborhood and my family.  We love dining at your establishments.

Hilarious - Vegan winning BBQ

So my excitement over the Food Trucks shot through the roof when I got a call this week that I had WON something in the raffle.  Last Thursday I bought 2 raffle tickets to raise money for the Atlanta Street Food Coalition.  (NOTE: I have NEVER, ever, won anything (except arguments)).  I felt like it was really my calling to support this cause, I mean the first time I ever won anything was supporting them, right?  Well, I heard that I won a gift certificate, but I kind of spaced out when they told me from whom.  Imagine my surprise when I opened the envelope today to $70 worth of BBQ!!!!  No, there are no vegan options, this was the real deal BBQ.  Now, I am not mentioning their name, because I am sure they are fabulous, and I am grateful for receiving free food - and I now have my husband's birthday gift :)
But how ironic that I won $70 worth of BBQ??

!!

Lentil Surprise Tonight

If I havent made this clear yet - I really am not a cook.   But this afternoon I started going through our cabinets and found a lot of expired food.  It was pretty upsetting to throw away food.  I became determined to cook whatever was left. - Chad was forewarned before he came home - I had cereal ready for the girls.  I got some inspiration from a recipe a friend had shared, but as usual didnt have everything it required but this is what I did:

• One can of organic lentils (I am trying to use all my canned food, still dont feel safe using cans)
• Stewed tomatoes
• 1 TB each of coriander and cumin
• Juice of one lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Roasted red peppers
• And rice - let it stew for awhile then served to the girls

Later, I added more cumin, pepper, salt and red pepper flakes for me and Chad.

Results - one girl spit it into trash, the other took a respectful bite, Chad said he couldnt re-heat his to his liking (remember no microwave) and I ate my whole bowl.  So, I wouldnt say success, but at least I experimented.

I promise, I am not offended when someone eats meat next to me...

Chad and I had our date night out and decided to try the new Genki in VA Highlands.  I ordered a steamed veggie bowl with glass noodles - vegan and gluten free (if I had asked for no soy sauce).  And, Chad ordered sushi and this "meat" sampler.  Not sure what all it included -

Second Trip to the food trucks - Midtown Thursdays

Am I becoming a groupie?  I love the energy around these food trucks in Atlanta.  I still dont know why in the world Atlanta is making their existence so difficult.  I went to the trucks at 15th and Peachtree at the Woodruff Arts Center.  A band was playing for Cinco de Mayo and the crowds were gathering.  I had a delicious vegan quinoa salad with snap peas from Souper Jenny's truck.  And, I tried a chocolate cupcake from the Yum Yum Cupcake truck.  I cant resist a PINK truck selling cupcakes, with "Yum Yum" written on the side.  (No it wasn't vegan, but it was GOOD).
I drove passed 10th street and saw crowds, I was bummed to find out I missed the Miller Union pop up stand at 10th.  I would have loved to see what those guys were serving up.
Only so much good food one can eat at lunch.

To learn more:
http://www.atlantastreetfood.com/

One week without microwave

Really, it hasnt been that bad.  Actually, I havent realized it was gone until this morning.  I needed to quickly heat up a muffin for my daughter before we headed to the busstop.  And, I needed to re-heat her burrito to take to lunch.  At 7am trying to fix my coffee, her breakfast and lunch so we could get out the door and suddenly realizing no microwave - was not a good way to start the day.  Panic ensued, but I stuck the burrito and 2 muffins in our new toaster.  Less than 10 minutes all were ready to be eaten (or packed.)  So not as bad as I thought, but yes, a lot quicker in a microwave!