back in the blog-ssr

forgive me dear blog readers, it's been nearly two months since my last post. i had a job and a social life and i was kind of owning philadelphia, and in my whirlwind painting some areas of this damn town red, i forgot my camera and neglected to snap pictures and ate out a lot and just kind of dropped the ball in general. but....I'M BACK! and i'm going to do my best to stay on top of this here food journal. i hope you too will stay on top of reading it, because i have a lot to say.

COMING CLEAN
as some of you may remember, i was unemployed for a bit back in october. oh, glorious [f]unemployment. but right around november, i started working at a new job.....in a cheese shop. this new position required me to try every product as part of my training. some vegans may have turned this job down instantly, but as a foodie at heart, and a girl trying to establish herself and move up in the food industry, i sucked it up and accepted the position. and i got to say, cheese is pretty yummy. i'm still in the process of figuring some things out about my diet and my relationship with it. i still cook and eat vegan A LOT and i still love veganism and vegan food and my vegan friends and restaurants. i just eat cheese sometimes. i hope that's ok with you. it's taken me a little while, but it's ok with me.

BACK TO BLOGGING
last weekend i took a much needed trip to NYC to visit some friends that were supremely missed. i visited high line park in chelsea, the chelsea market, the MOMA (my first time visit! check out the tim burton exhibit, it's rad) franny's in brooklyn, the whitney museum of american art, and finally, the vegan gourmet candle cafe, on the upper east side.

one of my favorite images from tim burton exhibit,
romeo and juliet

view from high line park,
photo courtesy of michael

(i cheated and stole this from high line park flickr page)

coff-skey at candle cafe
(whiskey spiked coffee)

speltberry salad with lentils, roasted cauliflower and butt-nut squash
over mixed green with a creamy shallot dressing

cajun seitan sandwich with steamed kale, carmelized onions,
avocado and ancho chili aoili on toasted focaccia

garlic-shallot-potato mash

besties, enjoying their grub

man, new york is freaking fun!! overall, candle cafe was pretty awesome. we have the candle cafe cookbook here at home and i've cooked out of it many a time, and eating at the restaurant was kind of just like that. not to frou-frou or fancy, a bit on the pricier side, but it's nyc so what can you do? one thing that stood out to all of us was the sauces and dressings. each sauce elevated the dish to the next level. kind of a weird observation, but we all agreed.

so, that's all for now. i hope you'll have me back, dear readers.

love,
lauren