Favorite Things

I know I haven’t posted in a while.

I break the silence (perhaps only momentarily) with a list of 20 of my favorite things!

1. Family time2. Photography

3. New book smell

4. The beach

5. Falafel

6. Ethiopian cuisine.. drool..

7. A hot shower in the middle of winter

8. English accents

9. Sherlock (BBC version)

10. Niles Crane

11. Homemade deodorant

12. Solo airport travel

13. Independent foreign films

14. Adapting/creating recipes

15. Horse breath

16. Puppy dog eyes

17. Sk6ers

18. Nail polish

19. Tights

20. Boots

Hooray!  That was fun!

Your turn!

Camden Lock Market

Today we take a trip back in time to Camden Lock Market in London. My what a funky-fresh place!

Yep.

I just said funky-fresh.

Enjoy!

Oh yes, this cookie was heaven. As was the peanut butter bar the size of my head that we nabbed for later.

Spreadable Cookie

I jumped on the bandwagon.

After almost a year of reading about the adoration toward it from fellow bloggies, after picking it up off the shelf and returning it countless times, I finally bought a container of Biscoff Spread.

Oh Belgians, I love your genius!

Now if only I can keep my spoon out of the jar..

So I’ve been an absentee for far too long..

I do apologize.

You see, we took a trip!

We saw family, met new friends and saw amazing things.

We went to Europe! London, Oxford, Edinburgh and Paris to be exact!

I will try to get posts up with some of our favorite photos soon. My internet connection and the wordpress uploader do not get along. I trust everyone’s Easter was fantastic!

7

T-minus 7 hours until liftoff!

 

Are we excited??  You BETCHA!

 

Where are we going?

 

Here’s a hint.  (All of the Friends fans out there should appreciate this.. )

 

England swings like a pendulum do
Bobbies on bicycles, two by two
Westminster Abbey, the tower of Big Ben,
The rosy red cheeks of the little children.

Now, if you huff and puff and you finally save enough
Money up to take your family on a trip across the sea,
Take a tip before you take your trip; let me tell you where to go,
Go to England, Oh..

England swings like a pendulum do
Bobbies on bicycles, two by two
Westminster Abbey the tower of Big Ben,
The rosy red cheeks of the little children.

Your mama’s old pajamas and your papa’s mustache,
Falling out the window sill, frolic in the grass,
Tryin’ to mock the way they talk fun but all in vain,
Gaping at the dapper men with derby hats and canes

England swings like a pendulum do
Bobbies on bicycles, two by two
Westminster Abbey the tower of Big Ben,
The rosy red cheeks of the little children.

England swings like a pendulum do
Bobbies on bicycles, two by two
Westminster Abbey the tower of Big Ben,
The rosy red cheeks of the little children.

 

Roger Miller – “England Swings”

Diner Groupie

For a late Valentine’s Day meal, Kyle took me to a restaurant I’ve been lusting after for almost a year.

The Chicago Diner!!

I was so excited I couldn’t stand it! For those of you that aren’t familiar with the Diner, it is an all vegetarian/mostly vegan diner in Chicago. Everything on their menu can be made vegan. I think the only non vegan things they have are cheese and eggs, but they have the vegan equivalents.

For a Sunday, that fun little diner was PACKED! When we walked in, we gave the greeter our name and he directed us around back to their heated patio to wait. After about 15-20 minutes a waiter came to bring us inside. Instead of going around the front, he brought us in the back door and through the kitchen. Both Kyle and I love that we were brought through the kitchen – proof that they have absolutely nothing to hide from their customers!

After having a seat, our waiter (Brian) popped over to see what we wanted to drink. I explained it was our first time and we weren’t quite sure what we wanted yet. He was super nice, telling us to take our time and ask questions if we needed. For every table in the restaurant being packed with people I never once felt rushed.

On Brian’s recommendation, I went with the reuben and sweet potato fries..

umm.. heLLOOOOOOOOOO gorgeous..

Kyle went with the Dagwood and a side of sesame ginger kale salad

That kale salad was tasty!

On top of all that deliciousness we shared a vegan chocolate chip peanut butter cookie dough shake!

The Chicago Diner forever has my heart!  I can’t wait to come back for another shake.. mmm..

I, of course, topped the meal off with some coffee!

Then we ran away from Sue..

Fin.

P.S. – Kyle’s NOT flipping me off in that picture.  I’m not sure what he’s pointing at, though..

Happy (un)Turkey Day!

I hope you are all surrounded by loved ones and heaps of delicious vittles!

Have a great holiday!

(not) Out of Africa

So the morning of the safari park visit, I started off with some blueberry muffins.  Fresh blueberries from Amy’s mom’s garden.  I made Mama Pea’s blueberry struesel muffins from The Book. 

Twice. 

Once with fresh FIGS from Amy’s mom’s garden.  I should also mention I ate 3 pints of fresh figs on my own.  What can I say?  I fell in love overnight.

We stopped for lunch at Amy and David’s favorite Indian restaurant.  Yes in Virginia.  It was FANTABULOUS!

Then the fun began.  I think my favorite part was that I got to ride in the bed of a pickup truck for 2 hours.  I don’t know why that’s so much fun..

I kinda felt sad for the giraffes.. they didn’t get to play with the rest of the animals.. =(

There were scary emus..

Trailing buffalos..

Baby ZEBRAS!!! TOO CUTE!

I got to pet this guy!  I wanted to take him home but he didn’t fit in my car.

She’s actually reaching for the feed tub and not trying to get fresh.

Not hungry.

Very hungry.  (And I am mega-sunburnt..)

Walk the watusi (cattle that is).

Next stop: Louisville and Indianapolis!

(Shiny disco ball..)

Virginia, here I come!

Back in August I took a trip out to Virginia to see my old roommate from Arizona, Amy!  She was the inspiration behind the veganized buttermilk biscuits!  Please enjoy the photo montage!

Of course, the trip started with the terrifying windmills..

Then I got to Columbus, Ohio!  I planned this leg of my trip so I could go to Dirty Franks and get a vegan hot dog!

I got a Bollywood vegan dog – topped with a mango chutney.  It was tasty, but I actually preferred my homemade ones.  The plan was to get a fried leek as well, but I decided to save my appetite.

Boy am I glad I did!  I stopped at Pattycake Bakery…

and this beautiful hunk of chocolate was waiting for me…

Jennie was behind the counter and was super friendly, helping me pick out a cookie to bring to Amy and David as well!  I’ve been craving that chocolate monster since I took my first bite.  Oh – and did I mention it was the size of THREE cupcakes??  Oh yeah.  Good thing they ship..  Plus I got a shirt to support them.  They ship those, too!

Pretty scenic overlook.

Arabian filly

Amy’s chickens!

Meet Amy’s horses!!

Johnny and Chester

Marvin

Chester

Bones

Sammy and the antisocial goat that thinks he’s a horse..

Baby Inspector!

Me too, me too!

Dumpy!  No really, her name is Dumpy.  She was found by the dumpster and she is as bold as they come!

BIIIIIIIIIIIG YAWN from mister Ian!

Whaaaaaaaaaat?!

How about a shot of Vodka (the dog)?

Coming soon…

Safari Park!!

Exhaustion

Hi friends. I know I’ve been awful with keeping up the blog. I really do apologize. It isn’t for lack of cooking, baking and photo taking (hey that rhymes). My life has been pretty stressful this past month. Between moving, coping with my Grandma’s move, summertime family gatherings and now with the passing of a close family friend’s son; I haven’t been much in the mood for sitting down and cooking up an extraordinary post or recipe.

I hope to be back soon. Something will kick me in the seat of the pants soon. Please don’t go away! I would miss you all terribly.

I still follow a bunch of blogs and comment on your drool-inducing recipes. Keep them coming and hopefully I’ll be back with some of my own “post-hastily”. =)