Cafe Gratitude - San Francisco, CA

I heard that Cafe Gratitude was the "quintessential Berkeley hippie experience" from some of the group members I met, so I knew I had to try it. It was a toss up between Cafe Gratitude and Herbivore for my lunch on my free morning. A friend with a gluten-free partner also suggested Cafe Gratitude on facebook. I had read very good reviews of the "pizza" at Cafe Gratitude, so I picked Cafe Gratitude. The food is named in affirmations, so I ordered the "I Am Beautiful" shake [orange creamsicle milkshake with vanilla ice cream and fresh pressed orange juice], the "I Am Hearty" pizza [deep-dish pizza with sun-dried tomato marinara, pesto, olive tapenade, Brazil nut Parmesan and ricotta cheese on our live onion sunflower pizza crust], the "I Am Joy" truffle ["rawmond joy" - sweet coconut filling with two live almonds in a chocolate shell], and the "I Am Cherished" cheesecake. Yum! The location I went to in SF was pretty mellow at lunchtime, so I sat at the bar by myself and watched the other customers. :)

Cha-Ya Japanese - San Francisco, CA

Cha-Ya is a chain of vegan Japanese restaurants. I went to the location on Valencia, which was a street full of ethnic restaurants, small art galleries, and little shops. I really enjoyed seeing all the restaurants on Valencia, including a Herbivore Earthly Grill (which I'm bummed that I didn't get to try!). I ordered potstickers, the tempura battered Cha-Ya roll, and the vegan roll. Yum!







Now, to go relax! I ran 2 miles with a friend today, then walked 2 miles back to where we parked. :)

Snackin' on 9th Ave. in San Francisco, CA

When I have to visit a new place, I try to drive over in advance so I can ensure that I'll be on time on the correct day. When I knew that I'd have to go to the UCSF Parnassus campus, I went over there the day in advance. Once I found the campus, I continued driving down to 9th Avenue. I wanted a sweet snack and some fresh air to try to resolve the headache I had, thinking it might help. I parked and walked down to Arizmendi Bakery and Holy Gelato. I bought a mint chocolate cookie and an apricot almond cookie from Arizmendi that I saved for another day during my trip. The mint chocolate cookie was better than the apricot almond cookie, which explains why it was so highly recommended on QuarryGirl. I did enjoy two little scoops of vegan gelato from Holy Gelato. They have 12 flavors available, apparently made from coconut milk. I had a scoop of coconut and a scoop of chocolate with mini chocolate chips and marshmallows (Charlie Brown's Snow Monster flavor, haha). Both were quite good, but I had to sit in the sunshine wearing my jacket to enjoy a cold treat.





PS: I found out about both of these spots from Katie, who commented on my blog recently after her trip to SF. See, vegan blogging does something important. ;)

Gracias Madre - San Francisco, CA

Gracias Madre is located in the Mission District of SF and its focus is to serve organic, vegan Mexican food. It's ah-mazing! I ordered the Tamal - stoneground heirloom masa steamed in the husk filled with sautéed zucchini and onions, served with beans and escabeche. Escabeche is pickled veggies. I also requested it mojado, meaning out of the corn husk and covered in sauce and cashew-based cheese sauce. For dessert, I ordered the pear cobbler with dulce de leche ice cream. I also ordered a side of collard greens topped with pumpkin seeds and a homemade ginger ale. It was an amazing meal and there's a bar to sit at, which I enjoyed since I was by myself. Another lady who was by herself sat one seat down from me and we ended up talking about the city. :)

Cinnaholic - Berkeley, CA

Feelin' kinda sleepy after dinner, so I'll post this and quickly pass out. Early morning flights are no fun. I went to Cinnaholic on Sunday afternoon and bought a S'mores cinnamon bun. It was fresh out of the oven, then covered in cream cheese frosting, animal crackers, chocolate chips, and Dandie's marshmallows. Amazing! Especially since the little chocolate chips melted in the warm frosting.



I'm bummed out that my interview dinner ran long and I missed tonight's SF Vegan Drinks. It said from 6 to 8 PM. I'm sure some people would still be there after 8, but I felt so sleepy after dinner with a potential advisor.

Millennium - San Francisco, CA

I decided to treat myself on my first night in SF by going to Millennium. It's supposed to be one of the best vegan restaurants in the country. I saw online that a 5 course tasting meal was available, so I selected that. My server brought me an extra appetizer since I picked most of the dishes I wanted. The meal is supposed to be selected by the server, but I had an idea of what I wanted before arriving. I might be able to get this meal reimbursed, which would be nice because it was expensive! So worth the money though. It's not everyday I get to eat a meal like this. The pictures aren't the best because the lighting wasn't great and I didn't want to disturb other diners with a camera flash.

Course 1: crunchy Indian flatbread with fried chickpeas, avocado, and grapefruit slice

Course 2: Seared Potato Gnocchi - vanilla braised fennel & celery root, sherried pumpkin cashew cream (tasted more like mustard), sweet pepperonata, fried sage

Course 3: Black Bean Torte - whole wheat tortilla, caramelized plantains, smoky black bean puree, pumpkin-habanero papazul (what?), cashew sour cream, cara cara salad

Course 4: Pumpkin Tamale - pozole rojo with pinquito beans & corn hominy, braised greens & brussel sprouts, red wine-chocolate mole, avocado, radish & jicama salad

Course 5: Tempeh - tempeh (braised?) with curry glaze/coconut sauce (?), spicy peanuts, bok choy, and brussel sprouts

Course 6: Dessert Medley - truffles, cookies, dark chocolate pecan pie with coconut sorbet, chocolate mousse pie

Source - San Francisco, CA

Today, I arrived in San Francisco for a week full of interviews for postdoc positions. I had an early flight, so I kept waking up from nightmares of oversleeping and missing the flight. Once I finally landed and picked up my rental car (a 2012 Jetta - rofl), I decided to seek out Source for lunch. I had seen the restaurant online with good reviews, particularly for the Twinkee. I ordered the Twinkee, the Snicker-y snowball (chocolate cake with frosting and nuts), and the Jamacian Jerk Cluck (soy chick'n with greens, carrots, zucchini, brown rice, black beans, and cranberry relish). It was delicious. I loved the warm meal because it's cold and windy here. I had plans to go to the Golden Gate Bridge and the Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39 area to see the seals. I decided to check into the hotel instead and stay out of the cold, wet weather. I went over to Berkeley to check out the area and I have dinner plans tonight at one of the best vegan restaurants in the country. :)

Jerky & Pesto

Jerky & pesto - not an intuitive combination. I made the tofu jerky and spinach pesto from Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster Appetites. The tofu jerky recipe suggested serving the jerky on a crusty bun with the spinach pesto. I decided to do that, but with regular ol' sandwich buns. The pesto contains spinach, basil, and almonds (not pine nuts!). It was a tasty combination! I made these yesterday, but forgot to snap a photo. When I had the leftovers today, I was at work so the photo is from my iPhone. I would recommend this and can see myself making the pesto for a pasta dish in the future. I kept the olive oil to 1/4 cup, the minimum suggested, to keep this from becoming an oily mess. I thought 1/2 cup, the maximum suggested, would be too oily for me.

Sweet Potato Falafel

I printed out this sweet potato falafel recipe a long time ago, but hadn't made it yet. That's a little surprising given my love of falafel (see this link for a post of all my falafel recipes for Mofo V). I've been reading the Diet, Desserts, & Dogs blog for a long time, but never made any of her recipes. She has a lot of issues with systemic Candida yeast infections, so she doesn't cook with sugar or gluten. I decided to try one of her recipes, since she gets a lot of praise on the blog circuit. Instead of serving these baked falafel patties in a pita pocket, I served them on top of a salad (romaine lettuce, red onion, cucumbers, a few Kalamata olives). I wish I had some cherry tomatoes and shredded carrots to add to the salad.

Dinner at Christopher's Kitchen

I met up with my friend last night for dinner. We selected our usual spot - Christopher's Kitchen. I ordered the falafel wrap and Sarah ordered the tacos. I had the tacos the last time we were there, so I wanted to try something different. I thought the wrap would have dehydrated falafel patties, but instead it was more like a pate. Interesting and tasty, just not what I was expecting. We each ordered a slice of pie for dessert, cutting them in half so we could try both flavors. We split chocolate mousse and lemon cheesecake pies. Each slice of pie was almost the same cost as an entree! I've said before that this place is pricey, but it's always so good. :)

Moo Moo's frozen entrees

When I was home for Christmas, I spotted several of Moo Moo's Vegetarian Cuisine frozen entrees at the grocery store. My mom bought two of the vegan options for me to try, which was very nice considering the $5 price tag. That's a little steep for a frozen meal in my opinion, so I wouldn't buy these unless I knew I was going to be in a pinch. They were good and used real ingredients, so I would consider them when I knew I'd be short on time to cook from scratch. I cooked them in the microwave, which may explain the less than beautiful appearance. The first one I tried was the black bean burrito - it didn't look as beautiful as the box, but it was very good and included some tofu. The second one I tried was the poblano chickpea patties - they were well-spiced, but were very soft. I'm glad I can now move these photos off my desktop, since I've finally remembered to post them. :)

Big Butt

I don't buy Nike products, but I do like their ads. I posted the Thunder Thighs ad a while back, but I saw this one for Big Butts online today. I remember when it came out, but just wanted to post it today.

Nachos

After LSU had such a rough loss in the BCS National Championship game last night, I decided to make something simple for dinner tonight. I didn't get much sleep because it was a late night and the cats woke me up several times. I had some Tostitos Scoops left from last night, so I decided to use those instead of taco shells. The taco filling is made of TVP and the recipe is from American Vegan Kitchen. I used the Scoop to get a little taco filling in the scoop, then added a few shreds of Daiya cheese and chopped romaine lettuce. It was quite good, but it's definitely easier to overeat with the Scoops compared to taco shells.




I had a pleasant day today. Biked to work, then came home early to go to the gym (since I was concerned if I could work out and bike this morning). The bike ride was super easy, thankfully, so I'm excited to get back on my bike. It's been 6 or 8 weeks since I rode it last and I really enjoy it. All of the newly poured sidewalks are open between my house and my job, so it's a smooth 5 mile ride now. I also got to talk to a friend over email about our shared anxiety of deciding our futures. We're graduating around the same time, so it's nice to have someone that can relate to the stress of making decisions that are going to affect the rest of your life! I'm having a huge inner debate about what to do if I have to pick between a city that I'd love and the lab with the most potential for my career path. I'm not even through my first interview and I'm already panicking about what if my favorite lab isn't in my favorite city. Seriously, one step at time, lady. On top of that already pleasant day, I received a phone call from a friend who has decided to attend an Al-Anon meeting. As the child of an alcoholic, I know all about Al-Anon and AA. I'm really happy for my friend who is trying to work through various issues that are affecting decision-making and emotional state. It's not an easy step to reach out for help, so I'm glad this person felt comfortable enough to share this with me. Just a good day to know that I've got quality friends that do care about me and know that I am there for them when they need it. :)

Isa's Caulipots!

I finally made caulipots (cauliflower mashed potatoes). Even a non-vegan friend suggested them. I used the recipe from Appetite for Reduction. I also made the chickpea gravy recipe to top my caulipots. I served this with broccoli and Gardein beef. I loved the gravy, which is surprising given that I didn't like gravy made from fat drippings. I was hesitant to even make gravy, but I figured my love of chickpeas was strong enough to try it.




In totally unrelated news, I'm going to San Francisco for postdoc interviews in a few weeks. I'm super excited. I think I'm going to love the city. Guess I'll have to wait and see if I love the research too. I have plans to meet with another professor in February, because he's visiting my institute for a seminar. He said we'd set up plans then to visit his lab, which is *not* in California (gasp, I know). I am totally make a reservation at Millennium for dinner on my first night in town. I hope I get a chance to try some other restaurants and visit some of the tourist-y things during my trip. I'll have the afternoon of my first day free, as well as the last day potentially. I'm not staying a full extra day for sight-seeing and fun, because I really need to type my dissertation. I can't take too much off for fun. I stayed home cleaning and doing laundry all weekend. I'm planning to start typing my first chapter tomorrow! The intro still needs some work, but I'm stuck on it.

New Twist on Mac & Cheese

I made this mac & cheese recipe in early December, but couldn't find the right sausages and used too much margarine but not enough hot sauce. This time, I was able to use the Field Roast Chipotle sausages, because I found them in the Tampa Whole Foods. I also didn't use margarine at all this time, since the white beans will make that relatively creamy texture (which I remembered based on this fatfreevegan recipe). I did use salsa this time instead of hot sauce. Most importantly, I used very little apple cider vinegar!! The 3 Tbsp called for is WAY TOO MUCH, it overpowered every other flavor on the first day. I actually liked the recipe this time with the reduced vinegar and no margarine. I added baby bella mushrooms and peas to make this a full meal. Yum. It made a lot, so I'll be eating this for two more nights. :)



Of course, as I'm typing this, Miss Adie Mae is right next to me, as always. Love this Ocicat. I will forever be thankful for the old owner dropping her off at my house in Baton Rouge.

Hello 2012!

I rang in the New Year with my mom. We had a little movie marathon. She had a simple cheese pizza she made at the house, but I had leftover tofu tacos. I cooked the tofu with bell peppers, onions, garlic (I'm addicted!), and a dash of cumin. I topped the tofu tacos with lettuce and Daiya cheese. I now know that I have to be careful on the quantity of Daiya cheese that I eat. All that coconut oil makes me feel bloated. We made lemonade with fresh squeezed lemon juice too. We watched a couple movies and caught the ball drop in NYC on CNN.




Today, I returned to work, not realizing that it was a paid holiday. Two of my labmates were there, so I got to catch up with them. I also talked to my boss. We agreed that I am not doing any more experiments because I need to focus on writing and finding a postdoc. My paper should be submitted this week or next. He said he would continue to employ me if I can't line up a postdoc before graduation, so I have a last resort source of income. Woohoo! That was a great, short meeting. I spent the morning and early afternoon writing emails to prospective advisors, which garnered a few replies of "no funding - sorry." Ugh. Disheartening, but I'll keep trying. I spent the rest of the day meal planning & grocery shopping, unpacking, and watching Mob Wives. I made the Greek tofu scramble from Vegan Diner, adding a couple diced pepperoncinis and a little bit of the Sunergia soy feta lurking in my fridge. I thought I'd serve it with hash browns, but the Alexia sweet potato tots were calling my name at Publix!