Monthly Archive

This past weekend couldn’t have been any better; I spent it up in CT with my soul sistah Nicole! Before I headed to Grand Central Terminal on Saturday afternoon, I was invited personally by the wonderful chef at Candle 79 for a special lunch! Of course I couldn’t turn such a fabulous offer down, so I got to the restaurant as soon as it opened!

Upon arriving I was served, in typical Candle 79 style, two Strawberry Mini Muffins! They were delicious, and I gobbled them down in an instant.

Once I heard that the soup of the day was a Creamy Pumpkin Bisque, I knew I had to give it a try! I ordered a bowl of it alongside the day’s Special Salad which was a fantastic combination of peppery arugula, creamy avocado, grape tomatoes, chickpeas, endive, and fennel. Although small, this salad was exactly what I was craving and satisfied me perfectly. As for the soup, it was everything I could’ve hoped for and then some! The consistency was thick and luscious and best of all was that it was topped with toasted pumpkin seeds and a drizzle of pumpkin oil. Talk about decadence!

I could’ve stopped there, but the chef was kind enough to bring me both an appetizer and dessert as well! First up we have the Crispy Dumplings appetizer which were possibly the most delicious things on the planet; I don’t know what they were filled with, but they were absolutely fantastic nonetheless! It was served with a small julienne beet and carrot salad covered in a blizzard of sesame seeds alongside a mild ginger based dipping sauce. These were absolutely superb!

As if I didn’t eat enough, I also had dessert coming my way! Lucky that the Chocolate Almond Joy is pretty tiny because I don’t think I could’ve handled anything larger! This is one of my favorite Candle 79 desserts, and it was extra special on Saturday because the chocolate coating was all melty!

My Candle 79 brunch/lunch was the perfect way to keep me happy during my 1.5 hour long train ride to Stratford, CT! The Candle staff is just so generous, and I appreciated this meal so, so much. Thanks to the chef if you’re reading! You’re the greatest! Anyway, after lunch it was CT time! I made my way to Grand Central, bought my ticket, hopped the train, and I was off! I decided to be better prepared this time, and went equipped with my iPod and Revolutionary Road to read (which I’m loving thus far)!

Believe it or not, the train ride went relatively quick! I was pretty engrossed in my book, so that, along with my music, made the time fly by. I was beyond excited to see Nicole once I arrived; she had gone home to CT on the 19th when she was sick, and I hadn’t seen her since! Reunited and it felt so good!

After running a few errands, we both managed to work up an appetite. Dinner time! We decided to make our way to New Haven for some solid vegan cuisine. After giving it much thought, we chose Ahimsa as our dining destination!

To start, we both settled on the two soups of the day- a soul warming Spinach Cauliflower Soup and a rather disappointing “Creamy” Cucumber Soup. Sadly, the Cucumber Soup was anything but creamy; it was as thin as water, and extremely bland. Oh well; at least the Spinach Cauliflower Soup didn’t let us down! It was steaming hot, and had an undeniably bold and rich flavor.

Nicole had been anxious to try the Stuffed Artichokes appetizer at Ahimsa for a while, so that’s what she ordered! Although very small, it certainly wasn’t lacking in the taste department according to Nicole! These four little lovelies were stuffed with potatoes, cashews, tomato, shallots, and peppers and were drizzled with a creamy mystery white sauce. They surely looked fantastic!

I went with the tantalizing Nut Cheese Quesadilla! They were just as good, if not better, than they look! Three perfectly crispy tortilla wedges were filled with a mixture of cashew/macadamia nut cheese and marinara sauce and were served with freshly made salsa and guacamole. It was love at first bite.

Once we got back home, Nicole surprised me with two beautiful cupcakes that she saved for me! She had made a huge batch a couple of days prior (seen here), and I was lucky enough to be able to give them both a try. Of course, I had to try the Chocolate Cupcake with White Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting first. It was every bit as decadent and delicious as it sounds! The cupcake was extremely moist and tender, and the peanut butter frosting sent me over the edge; it was one of the best cupcakes I’ve ever had! Next up was the gorgeous Red Velvet Cupcake with Vegan Buttercream Frosting. Once again, this cupcake was another winner! With a slightly more pronounced tone of vanilla and a mild, yet just perfect amount of chocolate flavor, I was once again blown away! Not only was the cake delectable, but so was the sumptuous buttercream frosting that I could’ve happily eaten by the spoonful.

In preparation for Sunday’s surprise birthday party in honor of Nicole’s dad and aunt, we started baking as soon as we walked in the door! We chose two recipes from none other than Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World!

These would be the Carrot Cake Cupcakes! A party without cupcakes is like cake without frosting! Although the end result came out looking quite beautiful, the cupcakes themselves seemed a bit off; maybe the recipe is faulty, because they completely collapsed in the oven and the texture was not what we expected. Luckily the frosting covered their flaws!

And now I present you with Nicole’s masterpiece; a Banana Split Layer Cake! This is an adapted cupcake recipe of the same name from VCTOTW, and it produced two perfectly moist and tender cakes! All that was involved was doubling the recipe and increasing the baking time. Simple, simple!

Nicole topped it with a copious amount of Vegan Buttercream Frosting (also from VCTOTW), and decorated it with drizzled melted chocolate, rainbow sprinkles, banana chips, and maraschino cherries. My girl’s got some crazy baking skills; I can’t believe how professional looking it turned out! This cake is the ultimate crowd pleaser; proof was in the fact that it was gone in less than 5 minutes while the lonely non-vegan store bought cake was waiting to get a little lovin’ as well. It was wonderful to see everybody appreciating the fabulousness that is vegan cake. Looks like our job was done!

Once all of the baking was complete, we were both extremely tired and in desperate need of a good night’s sleep. We wanted to be alert for the party!

Sadly we lost an hour of sleep, but that still didn’t stop us from rising bright and early to get ourselves started on a recipe that we’ve been anticipating to make for a while- Candle Cafe’s Paradise Casserole! This is one of our favorite meals to order at the cafe; not only is beautiful to look at, but it’s extremely healthy to boot! Luckily, the recipe is in the Candle Cafe Cookbook which is a trusty favorite of mine. I recommend you all purchase it asap!

Although quite a bit of prep work is required, this recipe is still pretty easy to throw together! On top of a bed of steamed kale lies a perfect trio millet, black beans laced with cumin, onion, garlic, and red peppers flakes, and cinnamon/miso infused creamy sweet potatoes. This combination is such a winner! Each layer lends a different texture and taste which makes for the ultimate palate pleaser.

During the party, Nicole also made a batch of her incredible roasted vegetables that I couldn’t stop munching on! A plate full of warm roasted sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and asparagus was extremely comforting. We also couldn’t get our hands out of the mixed fruit bowl! All of the fruit, except the bananas, were frozen which made them that much better! After my excessive fruit and vegetable consumption, my stomach was not feeling all that well;  I do have the tendency to overdue it sometimes!

After staying for the majority of the party, it was time for Nicole and I to head back home to NYC! I had a fabulous time preparing for the party and taking part in all of the festivities! I can honestly say that Connecticut is like my second home now; Nicole’s family always takes me in with opened arms! Here are some random assorted photos I took during my visit!

As far as today goes, Nicole and I had planned on celebrating being back in the city by doing all of the things we love most; lunch, walking, a trip to whole foods, and a visit to the union square farmer’s market for cheap produce and picture taking. Sadly, the rain interfered with the majority of our plans. At least we were still able to spend some quality time together!

We met each other at none other than Candle Cafe for an early lunch at 11:30. To our surprise (well, not really a surprise anymore!), David Duchovny walked in, yet again, to sit down for lunch as well. Looks as though we both had the same intentions in mind; to beat the crowds! Other than the staff, naturally, David Duchovny was the only other person in the restaurant besides us. Nicole still couldn’t work up enough courage to ask him for a picture, but we’re hoping that he’ll approach us one day! Wishful thinking! For all of you interested in knowing, I believe he ordered the Spicy Peanut Stir-fry and was reading the book Oblivion: Stories. I sound like such a creeper right now, but I promise I’m not! Just an admiring fan is all!

Anyway, onto our food! We both started of with some soup- I chose the Red Lentil while Nicole stuck to a Candle Classic, the Magical Miso.

I was absolutely in love with my soup! It was incredibly thick and creamy, and was chock full of plenty of vegetables. The soup actually reminded me of split pea more so than red lentil! I was very pleased! Nicole, however, wasn’t wild about the Miso Soup. Other than the delightful chunks of tofu, it just wasn’t her cup of tea soup! Yes, very cheesy, but I’m entitled on my own blog!

We both decided to be boring and order the same thing for our main meal- the seasonal Grilled Peach Salad! Every since we laid eyes on it on yesterday’s special’s menu, we knew we needed to come today just to order it. Just as expected, it didn’t disappoint! Piled on this plate of perfection was arugula, grilled peaches, roasted shallots, toasted almonds, fennel and hearts of palm. Instead of the shallot-balsamic vinaigrette it originally was served with, we both replaced it with the sweet and luscious cranberry vinaigrette. The salad was fantastic, but it was way too small for my liking. I could’ve eaten two!

After staying and chatting for a while in hopes that the rain would subside, we gave up and decided to brave the nasty weather so we could make our way to do some grocery shopping at the Whole Foods in Union Square! As always, we started out by both making ourselves a salad from the salad bar. On a bed of mixed greens, I added some chickpeas, shredded carrots, peas, steamed broccoli, baked tofu, roasted brussels sprouts, and roasted butternut squash with cranberries. This baby came out to be $7.11, but had I not been picking on it the entire time, I bet it would’ve been more! I also bought a few other things for the house- wildwood soy yogurt, vanilla almond crunch galaxy granola, and cascadian farms cinnamon crunch cereal.

I’m so glad to be relaxing at home right now! I’m quite tired, and I have to mentally prepare myself for a long and drawn out day at school tomorrow; four classes is not what I’m in the mood for at all! I’m strongly considering skipping out early and not attending my last class; he doesn’t take attendance, and I’m just not feeling school until 5:25 tomorrow! We’ll see how it goes I suppose!

See you all soon; hope your week is off to a great start!

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