Foodie Friday: A N D Cafe

One of the places I was most excited to try the moment I moved to Portland was A N D Cafe. All vegan/vegetarian and full of deliciousness, this cafe was right up my alley. From an adorable menu with cute names for entrees, such as the "hot nest", to the pure aesthetics of the food that came out, this spot is top notch and by far one of my favorite go-to's for brunch in this city.



bennie in a mess: tofu scramble, tomato, spinach, homemade biscuit, hollandaise
[meatloaf benedict in the background]

meatloaf benedict: two eggs poached, walnut "meat"loaf, toast, hollandaise

full nest: 3 nests, veggies, tofu scramble, veg sausage, hollandaise, homemade biscuit

feast waffles stuffed with veggie sausage, potato & vegan mozzarella topped with hazelnut sausage gravy, tofu scramble annnnnd a side of nests

Foodie Friday: Slappy Cakes

When I went to Portland last summer the one place I wanted to visit and didn't have time for was one of the first destinations on my list this time around.

Slappy Cakes offers a totally unique and fun way of going out for breakfast. Aside from having a full service breakfast menu, they have griddles built into each table where you make your own pancakes right at your seat!

Basically you choose your made-from-scratch batter (multiple choices including gluten-free and vegan), any sweet or savory add-ins from their lengthy list of fixins and all sorts of toppings/syrups. Not only was customizing so much fun, it was an awesome experience getting to make your cakes.

Each bottle of batter makes 6-8 pancakes, so Katherine and I shared a batch. We chose the whole grain batter (this one's vegan!), chocolate chips, walnuts and bacon for the fixins and lavender honey and lemon curd as toppings.





[chocolate chip pancakes with honey lavender syrup,
vegan sausage, hash browns, toast and eggs for me!]
Location: 4246 SE Belmont Street Portland, Oregon 97215
Neighborhood: Southeast

Foodie Friday: Fortune Cookie Factory

Hands down, my favorite part of my most recent trip to San Francisco was seeing the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory. Even though a part of me felt a little bad (like I was taking pictures of a cookie sweatshop), it was something I couldn't miss.

Nestled in a small alley on the busy streets of Chinatown, you can smell the aroma of fresh cookies as you walk by. Within a few steps of entering you're immediately greeted with a flat, unshaped cookie hot off the press. A few more steps in and you can see fortune cookies being made right in front of you! Each soft, hot cookie is pressed, a fortune is placed inside and folded over a carved out metal sheet that shapes the cookies... all done by hand!

No one speaks English and you must pay $0.50 to take pictures. Cesar and I emptied our entire pockets into their bucket and snapped a few. I bought a bag of cookies and after which the cutest little old man gave us each a piping hot, freshest made fortune cookie.













annnnnd a little video I found on YouTube, so cool!

Foodie Friday: Luv-It's Frozen Custard

While I was visiting Las Vegas a few weeks ago my friend took me to one of her favorite places to go as a child, Luv-It's.

I couldn't help but admire the charm of this adorable blue building with white trim and its walk up window service. I was dumbfounded that this seemingly busy and very family-oriented custard shoppe (no really, everyone in line had children) was right off the strip and practically in the sketchiest of neighborhoods. However, it certainly proved to be the popular place for families on a Friday night.

They offered all sorts of speciality sundaes and a ton of flavored custards listed on their menu. At the time I was feeling regular ol' vanilla custard with butterscotch. HOLY BUTTERSCOTCH BATMAN, it. was. amazing. Sara ordered their seasonal blueberry custard and I've never tried anything like it, I'm still daydreaming about it.

[via]





Location: 505 E Oakey Blvd. Las Vegas, Nevada 89104
Neighborhood: Downtown (north end of the strip)

Foodie Friday: Mexican Egg Rolls with Creamy Cilantro Dressing

My mom is always finding new, fun recipes to try and I think she gets more excited than I do when she can find a way to vegetarian/veganize it! While I was visiting Southern Utah last week, she made these awesome Mexican egg rolls (I kept calling them hot pockets) that were just too good to not share here! My favorite part was the creamy cilantro dipping sauce, that I later used on everything else in sight (burgers, salads, etc.).



What you will need:

For Egg Rolls
1 package Spanish Rice (we used Uncle Bens 90 second Spanish rice)
1 pound ground sausage (any vegetarian meat crumbles will work here!)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can Mexican style diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese
6 green onions, finely chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
28 egg roll wrappers (by the prepackaged salad bags at the grocery store)
optional: add a package of taco seasoning mix for more flavor

For Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce:
1 can Mexican style diced tomatoes
4 oz. package of cream cheese (half a block)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
½ cup sour cream


Directions:
For Egg Rolls

1. Cook rice according to package, cool completely.

2. Cook sausage/crumbles in skillet over medium heat until cooked thoroughly.

3. Stir rice together with the sausage and black beans in large bowl. Once everything is mixed well, stir in tomatoes, cheese and onions.

4. Spoon 1/3 cup of mixture in center of each egg roll wrapper. Fold bottom of wrapper over filling, tucking in the tip under the filling, then fold left and right corners in. Lightly brush remaining corner with egg (or water), tightly roll end toward remaining corner, and gently press to seal.

5. Bake on cookie sheet at 425 degrees for 20 minutes (10 minutes on each side).



For Creamy Cilantro Dressing
Process ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Foodie Friday: Foreign Cinema

During my visit to San Francisco, brunch at Foreign Cinema was a must after Brittney descriptively sold me on their homemade pop tarts. The ambiance was lovely, the menu was creative and the service was excellent; the waitress even promptly refolded our friends napkin and adjusted his chair when he left the table. I loved the industrial chic atmosphere and overall posh vibe Foreign Cinema gave off. We sat in the huge, gorgeous dining room with large windows and open doors letting the sun spill in. This was needless to say one of the fancier restaurants I've been to, but worth every penny. I wish I could have squeezed in the dinner experience on their covered outdoor patio area where a schedule of foreign films are projected onto a giant concrete wall... next time.







Homemade organic strawberry pop tart, so delicious. Definitely trying the apple-pear next time!



Balsamic fried eggs over roasted garlic-potato hash and mixed chicories.


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Location: 2534 Mission Street San Francisco, California 94110
Neighborhood: Mission District

Foodie Friday: Smitten Ice Cream

Smitten I totally was when introduced to this adorable ice cream parlor in San Francisco during my visit two weeks ago. Each cup or cone is made to order (in a whopping 60 seconds!) using liquid nitrogen -- how cool! Pun fully intended.







I opted for the classic vanilla with a meyer lemon caramel sauce and Brittney got the brown butter pecan, so creamy and delicious!




[via]

Here's a little video of Smitten ice cream in the making!



Location: 432 Octavia Street San Francisco, California 94102
Neighborhood: Hayes Valley

Foodie Friday: Birthday Cake Oreos

These babies are 3 weeks overdue for a well deserved shout out on my part!

Oreos 100th Birthday was on March 6th and I can't think of a better way to celebrate than cramming what tastes like funfetti cupcakes (my favorite!) into America's favorite cookie. Since these are limited edition, I'm not sure how long they will be available in stores, so be a fat kid like me and stock up on an ungodly amount of bags before they are gone. I've searched six or seven stores, but only found them thus far at Target and CVS.





Don't be alarmed when you open the bag and it smells like you are in heaven, you aren't dead....yet. Maybe after you and your coworker eat an entire bag in just a few short hours, but I made it out alive. Don't judge me.



I would like to give Nabisco my stamp of approval for exceeding my high expectations and not just coloring the cream like they seem to do with every other festive Oreo cookie. Well done.

edit // tonight I stumbled across this magical concoction at the grocery store, can't wait to try it, though I'm sure it will be nothing short of amazing!

Foodie Friday: Doomie's Home Cookin'

Finding vegetarian soul food is hard to come by and for years now I've been wanting to try Doomie's. Another prime example of "What the hell were you thinking waiting this long to try this place Ainsley?!". Their entire menu is vegan and chock-full of deliciousness (seriously, I don't think I can die happy until I've tried one of everything)! The Southern Fried Chicken comes highly recommended, so I gave it a whirl. Okay guys, there is an actual fake layer of "skin" under the breaded deep fried goodness; something I have never seen! It's funny how vegetarians get when fake meat starts to truly resemble that of the real thing... this was just as mind blowing as it sounds.






[southern fried chicken and mashed potatoes, added a little bacon to make it my own personalized cowboy griller]



I hear there are always new creations and experiments happening and an entire secret menu is available, some things stay and some don't, this I have to ask about next time.

Our waitress was something else... bright blue hair, eccentric, helpful and totally willing to share her secrets of the Duran Duran Pandora station of choice when I was singing to every. single. song. while I ate.

For dessert there was absolutely no question about getting the vegan crème brûlée. We also had to get a slice of the red velvet cake, why not? The crème brûlée resembled more of a pudding than a custard, but was just as rich as the real thing.





Location: 1253 N Vine Street Hollywood, California 90038
Neighborhood: Hollywood

Foodie Friday: (gelatin-free) Golden Graham Treats

When I worked at Aveda in 2009 one of my coworkers brought this vegetarian-friendly treat into work and I swear if no one was looking, I would have devoured it all. It goes without saying that I immediately asked her for the recipe. It's a bit sticky, but a good replacement for the regular ol' Rice Krispies treats ;)



What you will need:

1/4 cup butter
1 jar Jet-Puffed marshmallow creme
4-6 cups Golden Graham cereal
1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)



Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, stir butter and marshmallow creme on medium heat until smooth.

2. Turn off heat and mix in cereal right away.

3. Pour into 8x8" pan/casserole dish and add chocolate chips.

4. If you're making them into individual bars, press in pan with buttered back of spoon. Cool completely and cut into bars.







(I chose not to add chocolate chips to this batch as I'm not a huge fan of chocolate and these were pretty much all for me)

Foodie Friday: Pappalecco

All the places I'm always passing that catch my attention, but go the longest without trying, are the spots I look back on and wonder what the hell was I thinking and why didn't I try this sooner?! Pappalecco is one of those places, a totally cute cafe with a plethora of gelato choices, all listed in Italian so you know it's authentic. They also have a full blown menu that I didn't know existed. This time we only popped in for some gelato, but I'm anxious to go back for some bruschetta and a salad or panini.

I'm a firm believer and will continually reiterate that service is a MAJOR contribution to a good dining experience. The food is obviously close second, but having good service really determines my quickness on returning. This place was nothing short of friendly. After asking what two or three of the flavors were, as I'm not sure what "Straciatella" or "Fragola" means in Italian, I asked the guy "how many times per day would you say you get asked what each flavor is?", his response "too many to count, but I love it!" That upbeat attitude was fantastic, and when I asked him what his favorite flavor was he quirkily responded "it's a secret", then of course proceeded to tell me all about the cioccolato fondente (dark chocolate).



I had to try the Nutella (duh!) and it was deeeelicious. If I could virally share with your taste buds, I would.




Location #1: 3650 5th Avenue San Diego, California 92103
Neighborhood: Hillcrest

Location #2: 1602 State Street San Diego, California 92101
Neighborhood: Little Italy

Foodie Friday: Fruit Dip

Okay, so my grandma makes this really amazing dip that I had no freaking clue what it could possibly be. Lo and behold, these three simple ingredients pack so much delicious flavor when combined and you can dip practically anything in it for a tasty treat!

What you will need:

1 cup brown sugar
1 tub cream cheese (8 oz.)
1 tablespoon vanilla

Oh! And don't forget, this can easily be made vegan by using Tofutti cream cheese!



Directions:

In a bowl (larger than this one, I didn't realize how much stirring was involved) blend together the three ingredients until smooth. Voila!



My favorite thing to dip... Apples!