A few WOOTS! in this posts (Melissa says even us um, 30+ folks can give a woot!... but I'm thinking she may not want to use the term herself now that I've used it and 'folks' in the same sentence). :)First, another 'done' for Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan. I posted about these Double Carob Cashew Cookies once before, and finished them off yesterday. I really like these - well, I haven't met too many cookies I didn't like - but, they are a very nice alternative to a double chocolate chip cookie, are a little crunchy-chewy, and also wheat-free!
Second, imagine my elation when I visit our grocery store this week and find - gasp! - Turtle Trails!
This is one of my favorite Purely Decadent flavors, and I am not kidding when I tell you that I my mood immediately perked up to pop that pint of deliciousness in my shopping cart. I may need ice-cream intervention. :) Oh, and remember my post about my few pints that tasted odd? Well, I contacted Soy Delicious and they graciously replied with coupons that I can share with my blogging buddies! They are just finishing their Canadian coupons, and when they do they will send a little stack of US and Cdn coupons for $1 off Soy Delicious pints! (which I will later divy up).Finally, this may be my last post for a couple of weeks because...
Hallowe'en is fast approaching and I'm a spooktacular nut!
...and because...
in a couple of weeks I'm off to Portland, Oregon!!! I am working on a project there and will give you details when I can. If I have something important/interesting to post I will, and I will be available by e-mail/comments until about Nov 10th, but I really need to get some matters organized before I leave so I must (reluctantly) chill on the blogging. I am so jazzed about visiting Portland, I've heard so much about the fantastic veg offerings and shopping there!! Yeah, yeah, yeah, I have to finish my work first before I shop - but if you're out and about the weekend of Nov 11th to 13th, you may just spot me scoring some vegan goodies! :)
32 comments:
Have a great time here in Portland! There are some great veg places to eat, and don't forget a stop in at Food Fight.
have a great time in Portland, Dreena! looking forward to hearing of your "adventures" there upon your return!
Aimee
yum. carob and cashews are two of my favorite things. Have a great time in Portland I'd love to go there myself one day.
I hope you have a great time in Portland, I love it here.
Did you hear about the vegan resturant that opened that is all Pirate Themed? It's called Pirate's Tavern. Here's the website: www.piratestavern.com/ . I have not eaten there yet, but I've heard that it is yummy.
Dreena, I am uber jealous. Portland is like veg*n mecca! Food Fight is there!! OMG, the restaurant possibilities are endless. You'll have to tell us all about it. I'll live vicariously through you. What might ease my envious feelings would be a little ice cream coupon. (*wink*)
Last post for a couple of WEEKS? Gasp!
Those cookies look fab-u-lous and I can't wait to try them. I love carob, too!
Have fun in Portland!
Hi Dreena!! Your cookies look great!! I love cashews and will definitely be making those when the cookbook comes out!
I love those soy ice creams too. I never tried Turtle Trails though! :P
We'll miss you when you are away, but have a great time in Portland! We know you are up to something good out there!! Have a great trip!!
Portland!! Cool! I drove down to Oregon w/ Brent's parents once.
If you're driving, make sure you don't pump your own gas... I don't want to have to bail you out. LOL!
And I just have to reply to Carol... a pirate-themed vegan restaurant? Does that seem ironic to anyone else??
Talk later!!
Dayle
have a great trip! I hope that you get to do all the serious (work) and fun (shopping)things! Can't wait to hear how Portland is- I've always dreamed about visiting...
Thanks Heather - I can't wait to check it all out, but I'll have to restrain myself from buying too much I think!! Do you shop at Food Fight much?
Hi Aimee, thanks... I'll have lots to report when I return. :)
Thanks Jenna... I wasn't sure about the combo when I first made them, but now I really love them!
Carol, thanks for the tip. I just checked out their website. Wow, all vegan restaurants - I would LOVE that here. Portland folks are lucky ducks!
Hey Carrie! I know, I've heard/read a lot about Portland - I'm jealous most of the time myself! Oh, and an envelope is already waiting for those coupons to be mailed to you. :)
hyphen-helena, I'll try to get back to posting soon after I return just to give you a fix! :) Thanks...
Thanks so much, Candi... oh, and if you like caramel, you must try Turtle Trails. I just wish it had even MORE caramel in there!
Hey sis, I think it's going to be a cool place to visit... I know, the pirate theme is a bit odd, but the menu looks good - did you check out the site?
Thanks Bazu, I hope we get all our "work" done quickly too - more time for shopping and visiting veggie places!
Dreena are you going to be a presenter at the Vegan Holiday Festival? That's in a few weeks... ; )
If you live in or are visiting Portland, be sure to check out www.VegPortland.com for the best veg-friendly eats around!
Dreena- Have a great time in Portland! I hope you get to enjoy all the great Vegan Fare. I'm just going to miss all your great posts while you're gone!
-Teresa
Hey Jess! No, your mention is the first I'm hearing of that festival, and I'm there the weekend before. Jess, what places do you recommend I shop/dine at - which ones are a 'must'?!
Anonymous, thank you for that link. :)
Aw, thanks Teresa. :) I'll do my best to have some fun in one the best veg cities in the US!! woot!
Dreena: A couple things- I also LOVE Soy Delicious- Turtle Trails AND PB ZigZag- it is dangerous to have them in the house! About Portland- you MUST go to Powell's City of Books (so awesome!) and the Columbia Sportswear Flagship Store is also there. We were in Portland for a few days over the summer on vacation and LOVED it. We ate some tasty Middle Eastern food at a sidewalk cafe with the MAX roaring by occasionally. There was also a great veg restaurant called Old Wives' Tales. What a great city!
Hi Dreena,
I hope I am not too late, but I just got back from my first visit to Portland and got a lot of good recommedations of places to visit & eat at. I was staying near the convention center and managed to get to all of these places by bus or train:
Places to eat:
Veganopolis - vegan sandwich shop downtown.
Stumptown coffee - downtown - best latte I have ever had.
Voodoo Doughnuts - vegan doughnuts less than a 1/2 block from Stumptown coffee.
If you are traveling with meat eaters, Oba! (cuban fusion - downtown) was very good.
Paradox - vegan cafe with great breakfast - Take the 15 bus from downtown.
Vita Cafe - 3024 NE Alberta St (near Herbivore Magazine store). Also had great breakfast and the lunch/dinner menu looked good too. They had vegan mac n cheese on the menu.
Pirate's Tavern was ok. It had a ton of choices.
Other places to visit:
Food Fight vegan grocery
Herbivore Magazine - pick up some great t-shirts.
You should be able to google and find most of these places on the web.
Are you starting to get the idea that I ate my way through Portland? :)
Dreena - That's a shame! I was honestly really excited thinking I could attend a food demo of yours.
For Portland, definitely check out Veganopolis - it won't blow your tastebuds away, but you will be very satisfied with options and atmosphere.
If you're bringing the kids, another favorite of mind is Vita Cafe - they have a kids menu as well - they are in NE Portland on Alberta - and my boyfriend is pretty much in love with the chicken fried steak (tempeh). I recommend the nachos, scrambles, salads and soups.
I hear pretty much nothing but poor reviews of Pirate's Tavern, and that it's overpriced, but I haven't been yet to say for sure.. The decor I hear is neat!
I absolutely recommend Bay Leaf Vegetarian Restaurant in SE Portland on SE Division - especially if you are a fan of Chinese and Thai. It is a comfortable environment, well priced, fresh vegetables, and tasty sauces - and the lunch special is ridiculously hard to beat at 5 or 6.95, plus soup. In fact, I went there last night with a group and everything was spot on.
Herbivore Store, near Vita Cafe, is certainly worth a stop - not sure if they carry your books but they should! - and Food Fight! is close to Bay Leaf (as well as all organic and veg Kale Kafe - very good, but mixed reviews).
There are quite a few delicious Middle Eastern restaurants, check out Nicholas, Hoda's or Ya hala - I haven't been to the last one but I hear it blows the others away, and has vegan kibbeh.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
<3 jess
Hi! I saw your post on Amazon.com, and I just wanted to let you know that while I bought The Everyday Vegan for all of the recipes, I've ended up returning to it over and over again for two things: dressings and desserts! I use a slightly adjusted version (traded out hoisin for garlic-chili sauce, added more ginger and lemon peel, and I use less honey to keep it firey) of your Sesame Lemon vinaigrette on big bowls of orzo pasta tossed with raw chopped veggies. SO GOOD! And desserts are where most vegan cookbooks fail, so thank you SO much for your cookie recipes. They're fabulous, and I can't wait for more! Also, if you're ever visiting Columbus, Ohio, you have GOT to try Dragonfly (www.dragonflyneov.com). I think it's the best restaurant in the world, and it just happens to be vegan. Double bonus!
Dreena,
I shop at Food Fight whenever I am in the neighborhood, as it is about a 20 minute drive for me. It's great for snacks and treats.
Heather
Portland! Hey, that's my town! Yes, it is vegan mecca. Food Fight is tiny, but it has all the snacks one needs to make it through one's day.
Also, two other restaurants: Old Wives Tales, which is vegetarian but has lots of vegan options; and Calendula.
Mmm. I love carob. I think it has an almost carmely taste to it. I can't wait for these cookies! I love how you press toppings onto them.
Turtle Trails is my absolute favorite ice cream ever! I love it so much.
I hope you are able to get alot of stuff done for your trip! If you are around the store at all, pop in and say hi!
Addy, thanks for those tips - I hope I have enough time to check out some of these fabulous spots. (oh, and yes, I am always 'in the danger zone' with the ice-creams, because there are always 4-6 pints of soy delicious purely decadent in my freezer, I kid you not!)
Hi Kristin, hmmmm, did you just go from one cafe/restaurant to another? No need to do anything else, just keep eating through the day - jk! :) Seriously, your suggestions are great, much appreciated - I definitely want to check out some of those spots - and get me a vegan donut! Thanks...
Hi Savanna! Yay, that's terrific, I'm so pleased to hear you had a relatively 'smooth' Thanksgiving dinner. I often find I muck up a recipe when I'm trying to do several for a party or event, and time is short, you feel some stress, yadda yadda. Sounds like you salvaged the better part of the pie, anyhow, and you certainly had enough food it seems. Thanks for the update, and you now, these family get-togethers now get easier from here on in - you got through a big one without too much fuss or trouble, right? :)
Jess, you are now my veg Portland guide!! Thanks for all that info. I will definitely check out at least a few of those places. I will be working with a gal that lives in Portland, so she also will know some of the spots, and hopefully we will have time to shop and browse and have a bite to eat here and there. I'm sure we'll be scrambling to work so we can enjoy ourselves a little too!! This info is great, thanks Jess.
Wow, Jen! I'm so delighted to hear that, thank you. If you follow my blog at all, you know I have quite a sweet tooth, so I DO enjoy testing desserts. :) I really like your variation on the dressing, using a garlic-chili sauce instead of the hoisin - do you have a specific brand of that sauce that you like? I'm so jealous of all the excellent vegan/veg restaurants out there - we have literally nothing where we live - boo!
Heather, snacks and treats are my thing - thanks!! :)
Hi Sheryle, that's a couple of mentions for those restaurants now, thanks for that - you are lucky to live in such a fab veg city. :)
Hi Kris, yes, I hope to drop by your store and maybe get to meet you, that would be cool!
Dreena~ Have FUN in Oregon!
oh, and Dreena~ I couldn't choose a fav chimi--they are both so different and GOOD!
Woot! Those cookies look amazing, I cant wait for your book! I would be excited to find that soy ice cream too..my grocery store took away the one brand of soy ice cream they did carry :(
I know you will enjoy Portland. Can't wait to hear all about it. Those cookies look amazing.
Guess what?! I found turtle trails finally!!! It's amazing. I'm on my second pint already (in 3 days).
Awww, Thanks Dreena! I'm drooling already. I have a Cookie Avalanche in the freezer now, but I'm not liking it as much as the praline one. I've never tried the Turtle Trails. Must get that one next. Or PB ZigZag. Hmmm, chocolate perhaps? Decisions, decisions!
Have a great trip to Portland! Oh, and I'm all about the ice cream coupon... I've never found Turtle Trails, but I know it must be incredible. Everything else is!
ah, you'll love portland! try & visit multanomah falls if you can -- it's georgous! enjoy & let us know all about it.
Hey Julie, thanks!... I agree about the chimis, very different so you sometimes are in the mood for the one variation over the other. :)
Melissa, that's criminal in my books!! Taking away your soy ice cream - do they realize the impact that can have??!! I found the Turtle Trails in our larger grocery chain, not our health food store that's a chain in BC - so that was a bit odd because usually the health food store gets the goodies first! I hope your soy ice cream is replenished soon... can't you tell I'm sad for you?!
Leslie, this calls for yet another WOOT!!!! Omg, isn't it fantastic? I'm the worst, though, I dig around for the chocolate covered pralines and the big swirls of caramel - oh, I love the caramel, I wish there was even more in there. Then, when it gets to mostly the 'white' ice-cream, I give it to the girls... how bad is that??!! They don't mind, they don't like the chunky stuff in there anyhow (well, at least I tell myself that)! They're still young, so usually they like just vanilla or something plain - see, still trying to convince myself! Anyhow, I have 4 pints in the freezer, dear. Since it is currently only being carried by the grocery store that we don't visit often, I sent hubby there the weekend and said "I'm low on Turtle Trails, this is NOT good". He came back with 4 more pints - that should last me until I leave for Portland I'm guessing... how embarrassing is THAT?
Yes, Carrie, you must try pb zig zag. That is a fav for me - and the Turtle Trails, and the Chunky Mint Madness - very good too! The Cookies and Cream one is almost too much for me, I don't know what it is about it - I think I'd like the quart size Cookies and Cream that Leslie talks about - not the decadent brand but the larger Soy Delicious container, but it's not in our stores yet. Anyhow, I am talking WAY too much about my ice-cream passion here... for sure try out zig zag - it's awesome!
Thanks Laura!... and I'll be posting about the coupons and other stuff to catch-up on when I return - I do hope I get those coupons soon!!
Thanks for that Vicki... I'll make note of that in case I have lots of time to 'play'. :)
Hi Dreena!
Have you tried Purely Decadent Raspberry A La Mode or Cherry Nirvana? They are scrumptious!
Cashew cookies! Amazing! You have the best cookie recipes ever. I'm insanely addicted to cashews right now and that sounds stellar
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