Blue Sage Vegetarian

I recently took a trip to Blue Sage Vegetarian Grille in Southampton, PA. The cafe was charmingly decorated and had a spectacular blue ceiling! The food and service were both 5 stars!

I started with the soup special- Thai peanut sweet potato soup. It was mildly spicy, which was perfectly complemented by the peanut flavor.


My friend Mike joined me, he had the Porto Cubano~ Slivers of balsamic marinated portobellos, roasted peppers, baby spinach, smoked mozzarella & tomato-almond pesto spread. It was tasty, but very messy! The filling kept falling out of the bread, and it looked like it was difficult to hold onto.

I had the El Fino~ Griddled spinach wrap encases grilled pears, maple pecans, gorgonzola, grilled onions, baby greens & dairy free carmelized onion mayo. with spring mix in pear-walnut vinaigrette, oranges, roasted baby yellow beets & sundried cranberries. I had the dairy free version. The pear and maple pecans made this wrap! It was sweet, but not overpoweringly so. I want to recreate that taste!

This was a great place to go for lunch! I look forward to heading back there for dinner sometime so I can try the dairy free dessert!

Vegan Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes (recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World), they are the cookies and cream version and they were amazingly good! The icing was a bit too sweet, so next time I have to experiment with that. The brownies were also incredibly tasty and vegan. Yum!!

NYC Adventures: Part 2

Our next stop was Lulu's Sweet Apothecary (516 East 6th Street)- a fully vegan ice cream shoppe! It's a tiny place, with only seats for four inside and no room to stand. Be prepared to get your ice cream to go if it's crowded!

I settled on a classic sundae, which comes with two scoops. This is mint chocolate chip and toffee crunch (both cashew based), with marshmallow, sprinkles, coconut whipped cream and a cherry.


We also got a brownie sundae, which is a gluten free brownie with two scoops of ice cream and hot fudge on top. I can't quite remember what flavors they were!


Our last stop was Sacred Chow, which is a vegan tapas place. We were still full from ice cream so this was just perfect! These pictures are much darker since the restaurant was dimly lit (but oh so cute!).

We shared three tapas plates- sesame collard greens, grilled western tofu with side salad, and baby root vegetable latkes. The veggie latkes were amazing and my favorite dish.



Then it was time for both of us to run to catch the train ride home. Next up is a Vegan food tour of Philadelphia!!

NYC Adventures: Part 1

The first place I went on my first vegan food tour of NYC was Peacefood Cafe (460 Amsterdam Ave), and let me tell you- the food was amazing!

I started with the soup of the day, pumpkin lentil. The flavor was great, a hint of pumpkin and spice mixing with heartiness of the lentil.



My friend got the vegetable tamale, served with jalapeno and cilantro oil. It was tasty, could have used more veggies inside though to make it amazingly good.



Next for me came the roasted japanese pumpkin sandwich (mashed and seasoned with a little sea salt, ground black pepper and extra virgin olive oil, topped with caramelized onions, ground walnuts, vegan goat cheese and seasonal greens per their menu). I loved it! The onions and the pumpkin combined for a heavenly taste. Served with sprouts and some fruit/veggie sticks.



My friend had the fluffy quinoa salad (beans, baby greens & sprouts of the day, avocado, sweet peppers, corn & onions tossed with creamy lime mustard vinaigrette). Next time, we'd get it without the vinaigrette for more of the veggie flavors to come through.


Then came the best part- dessert!! I was so torn on what to get, finally decided on the lemon vanilla cake. The icing was tart and sweet and the cake was moist and yummy.


We also had to try one of the cheesecakes, this one is peanut butter, and the crust is made of raw vegan chocolate chip cookie dough- joy. I'd marry this cheesecake.


We also tried the Brazilian Nut Chai and the Apple Ginger Soy hot drinks with our desserts. The Chai was creamy and spicy. The Apple Ginger Soy was just a bit too much ginger for me, but if you like that- try it!!

NYC Adventures

This weekend I am going to NYC to visit a friend who's also vegan, and try out some great food! We are going to Peace Food Cafe and then to try out some vegan bakeries! I am looking forward to it, even though it's only an hour's train ride, I have only been to NYC a handful of times in my life. After doing some online research, they have a vegan ice cream place, many vegan bakeries, and over 40 vegan restaurants!

(www.peacefoodcafe.com)

Vegetarian Summerfest

This was my first year attending NAVS Vegetarian Summerfest, and I had a blast! I met so many great people. The food was amazing (all vegan), and I made an effort to try new things. Some of which I am now hooked on (daiya cheese) and some things I can't wait to make (greener smoothies).

If you've never been, it's a 5 day conference held near Pittsburgh, PA. Housing and workshops are on the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, which is very scenic. There are hiking trails and lots of open space. While walking the trails, I saw bunnies, groundhogs, raccoons and deer.

I learned so much from the workshops, and I cannot wait to use the new knowledge to enrich my life!

The Beginning

I made cupcakes for the Fourth of July holiday, they were vegan vanilla cupcakes with raspberry flavoring, vegan butter-cream icing, sprinkles and blueberries. They were super tasty!

I am beginning this blog in order to document my next year of adventures. My birthday is approaching (on Wednesday) and I've decided I need to start doing more. I want to go on one adventure per week and bake or cook one new recipe a week as well!

My first adventure will be attending the Vegetarian Summerfest 2010 in Pittsburgh, PA on July 7th-11th. I will give a full recap after I get home!