Long Overdue Vermont Vacation Review

For our third anniversary, J and I decided to take a little trip to Vermont for a long weekend. Normally, when I go on a trip I have this antsy anxiety to "just get there." I'll try to leave as early as possible and drive without stopping - "Don't drink anyone so you won't have to pee!" This time, however, we decided to make the drive feel like part of the vacation and now, as we start planning a trip to Pennsylvania for my friend's wedding this spring, I'm ready to do the same thing! Although it adds time to your day, it makes the commute MUCH more fun and you find little treasures you may not have if you'd blown right through. Below is a little recounting of our trip - with of course, a focus on the wonderful vegan food we encountered!

So - the night of our anniversary, we were still in town and J made us an INCREDIBLE dinner - Vegan Shepard's Pie (recipe to come, I promise!).

The next morning, we got up around 8 a.m. and were out the door by 9. We headed on over to OhNo Cafe in Portland, Maine for our favorite breakfast sandwich and Coffee By Design's Ethiopian blend coffee - our favorite, which is almost always on tap at OhNo. It's a baily bagel grilled, then made with hummus, spinach, avocado, tomato, and soy sausage. It's the kind of sandwich that I will randomly crave and immediately need. Like right now....as I write about it...I'm wanting one. Have you ever had a baily bagel? They originated in Poland and have this awesome little garlic, salty mix in the middle on the top. I just love them. Especially grilled. Ok, I need to stop...

We got on the road and headed down toward New Hampshire, landing ourselves in North Conway, New Hampshire. I used to live in Fryeburg, Maine which is about 20 minutes outside of North Conway and it was nice to be back in town. We stopped in at The Met Coffee House, an awesome coffee house/art gallery right outside of the North Conway Train Station. I got a soy coconut latte and J got a soy chai latte. Right by the register they had vegan cookies by the Alternative Baking Company so we got a peanut butter cookie and an espresso chocolate chip cookie. I'd seen Alternative Baking Company's cookies before but hadn't tried them and they're not too bad - a little dry, though. We liked the espresso chip one better than the peanut butter, which didn't have a very strong PB taste.

We sipped our coffees, nibbled the cookies and walked around town doing some window shopping at Penguin Gallery and Zeb's General Store before jumping back on the White Mountain Highway.

The views, of course, were stunning. J had never driven the White Mountain Highway before so it was a real treat for him!

We arrived around 4:00 in Burlington and were pretty hungry. After walking around a little, we found a nice map of the city streets and discovered that Burlington has a Dobra Tea House! Dobra is one of my favorite places in Portland - it's the perfect place to relax and enjoy tea and little treats. The atmosphere is foreign - you ring a bell to call your server and there is floor seating on pillows. When I'm there, I forget about the time flying by outside. So we stopped in to relax and enjoy some rooibus tea and a hummus plate. They have a great selection of vegan snacks and treats and they're all clearly marked on their menu. 

Afterwards, we walked around gazing in shops, stopped at the Lake Champlain chocolate store for dark chocolate dipped orange rind (the girl behind the counter knew exactly which items were vegan!), and then went to dinner at American Flatbread. We've had American Flatbread before - they sell their frozen pizza at Whole Foods in Portland and it's not too shabby. The interior of the restaurant reminded us A LOT of our own Flatbread in Portland, but the pizza was not quite as good. It wasn't bad, but the crust didn't have much flavor and their tomato sauce, made with oven roasted tomatoes and peppers, had a strange taste to me. The best part of the meal was the beer we tried - Sasquach - made with butternut squash. It was so delicious that we bought a "growler" full of it to take back to our room! 

The following day, we had a lovely brunch at a restaurant called Magnolia Bistro. It was clearly a hot spot for brunch, especially with the local college population, and there was a long line out the door and we must have waited about 30-40 minutes - but it was worth it! I ordered tofu scramble with tofu sauce and J ordered a veggie bean burger. It was super, super yummy. J's burger even came with a vegan potato salad on the side - something I'd never seen before. 

After breakfast we walked down a big hill towards the lake where the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center was. ECHO is fairly small and we were kind of glad we ended up going on a discount day because the price seemed sort of high for what we got. It was fun though, and there was a really lovely little exhibition on the origins of the race. 

We spent some time walking around the lake, which is just beautiful and then walked around town some more and found street performers and vegan cupcakes at My Little Cupcake.

That night we ate at Bueno Y Sano. I had thought it was more like a restaurant when I found it online, but it was more upscale fast food. Nonetheless, they had options we could easily veganize and they had seitan (almost every restaurant in Burlington had seitan - it was awesome!). 

The next day, we got on the road home fairly early and stopped in this little tiny town called Jackson, Vermont to grab some breakfast at the Lovin Cup Cafe. The Cafe is right on the main street and is inside what looks like someone's apartment. I ordered a sesame seed bagel with hummus and lots of yummy veggies and J got a focaccia panini made with seitan, sauerkraut, and maple mustard. Can you tell that I love bagel hummus sandwiches???

We drove home taking less stops because we missed our furbabies and wanted to get home to get ourselves all set for the week to come. Of course we sucked in the view on the way! 

All in all it was a wonderful trip and we'd love to go back and explore Vermont some more. We'd like to do a spring or earlier fall trip so we can get in some hiking and exploration. Someday!

Fall is in the air

Good morning, friends!

You may notice the new logo at the top of the page (which isn't showing up correctly as of the writing of this post!). It was designed by my lovely fiancé and I think it looks wonderful! Unfortunately, when I tried uploading it to Blogger, it didn't size correctly, so hopefully he can fix it for me when he gets home from work! Fingers crossed.

Me and my man are currently planning a little anniversary vacation for November to Vermont. I was stressing a bit over finding a nice little bed & breakfast that can actually accommodate vegan eaters. The first place I contacted said they weren't open when we're planning to come up but that they'd be able to give us a breakfast of fresh fruit if we visit another time. Now I love fruit - believe me - but if I'm going to spend over $100 a night on a place, I want a little more substance and effort than fresh fruit! So I contacted this place in Vermont and it looks lovely and they can accommodate us easily. Although it might be chilly, we're going to bring a few bottles of wine along with us so we can sit on the deck and look at the stars. I'm tempted to bring our telescope - Fairfax is a sleepy town and I'm sure we'll have a much clearer view of the sky without all of the light pollution we get from living in a city.

So now that we've got our Inn booked, it's time to research restaurants and things to do. Food is important to us - as you may notice from this blog and we like to make sure we know where we can eat before we even get there so that we don't spend a lot of time searching. To my surprise, I've discovered that Burlington looks pretty accommodating. There's a cute little cafe that's 100% vegan called New Moon Cafe - I'm super excited to try their sandwiches and cupcakes - and there's a another fun lunch place called Magnolia Bistro which we were surprised to find a good number of vegan/vegetarian options. For dinner, so far we've found Bite Me Organic Pizza, Bueno Y Sano, and Zabby & Elf's Stone Soup. In other words, we're going to be fine.

All of this got me thinking, are there any 100% vegan bed & breakfasts out there? How successful are they? And....when can I open mine? There actually are several vegan/vegetarian b&bs out there and, although I don't know how successful they are, I have hope. My fiancé and I really want to open a B&B at some point - Salt & Pine Inn and Bakery - likely up the coast of Maine somewhere, maybe Camden. I've had several friends tell me, "Oh, but you'll have to make it at least vegetarian. No one will want vegan food." Um, ex-squeeze-me? Every time J and I make someone brunch they are BLOWN away by how good it is. I have no doubts that people will like our food. And I can run a little bakery out of the kitchen too. We could do wedding packages - how awesome for vegan couples to have a 100% vegan catered wedding at a vegan establishment with vegan innkeepers and, oh, by the way, you want a photographer? J's got that covered. You want a violinist? I've got that covered. BAM! All we need is some money....haha, the hard part! A girl can dream though, right?

Better Late Then Never?

It's been a while - I know. I'm doing a terrible job of keeping up with this blog, but I promise to try try try again to post more regularly, dear friends.

Back at the end of February, J took me to Camden, Maine for a weekend, birthday getaway and it was truly lovely. It also proved to us that we can be vegan AND go on vacation! Huzzah! Below is a little review of the many places we went for those of you looking to travel! Overall, I can tell you that Camden is an INCREDIBLY accommodating place - at the time, it seemed more so than even Portland, which is a much larger city. We can't wait to go back again next year!

J and me chilly in Camden, Maine

Harbor

Windward House Bed & Breakfast
Vegan Accommodations: 5/5 Stars
Environmental Awareness: 5/5 Stars 
Setting: 5/5 Stars
Staff: 5/5 Stars


At the recommendation of friends, J booked two night stay at the Windward House in the Chart Room Suite right in Camden. The Inn is owned and run by Kristi and her husband Jesse who are incredibly nice and accommodating. The room was large and cozy and included a little sitting room with propane fireplace  and a jacuzzi tub! On top of it all, how excited were we to come out to breakfast on Saturday morning and find that their menu has vegan items on it - yes! They had tempeh bacon, sticky rice with coconut milk, delicious pancakes with a rum/banana sauce, orange-soy yogurt pancakes, cereals, toast, french toast, beautiful fruit cups, teas, coffees - we certainly did not go hungry! We enjoyed speaking with our hosts who were extremely personable and we greatly appreciated their attention to detail, including their interest in sustainability! J and I want to start a birthday trip tradition and we will absolutely visit again next February!!

Cappy's Chowder House

Vegan Accommodations: 2/5 Stars

Setting: 2/5 Stars

Staff: 5/5 Stars

So Cappy's is a great place to visit if you want to feel like you're a local...especially in the winter when hardly any tourists are around. We sat at one of their back booths in the darkened restaurant decorated with photos and cabin-themed chachkis. J ordered a locally made cider and I had a hot spiced rum drink. As we pondered the menu we realized there really weren't any vegan options available. The waitress came over and asked if we needed help and we explained that we were vegan and checking to see if there was anything we could eat. She was incredibly accommodating and said they could absolutely figure something out using pasta and veggies. We asked about the fries and onion rings, but they fry them in the same fryer they use for the clams and the onion rings are made using eggs. But she was so nice and really really wanted to help us out! Normally, in Portland, when we say we're vegan and can't find anything, the waitress sort of shrugs and says oh, well; so it was very refreshing to have someone actually try to find us an option! We ended up only having our drinks at Cappy's but they get high marks for trying! It's a fun local atmosphere, and we definitely recommend getting a drink there. 

Super yummy drinks at Cappy's

Robot bar!!

Cafe Mediterranean

Vegan Accommodations: 5/5 Stars

Setting: 4/5 Stars

Staff: 5/5 Stars

After our drinks at Cappy's we went up the street to Cafe Mediterranean for dinner. The restaurant is very small and has maybe 6 or 7 tables. There was only one waitress and one guy in the kitchen, which was quite impressive. We sat in a window seat that was fairly private, and watched the snow/rain coming down hard outside. J ordered the falafel and I ordered a Mediterranean sampler plate that included tabouli, hummus, salad, warmed pita, and eggplant. The food was so, so good! There are several vegan options on the menu that don't even need to be modified and I'm sure some of the other dishes could be modified too! It's nice to go somewhere and not have to make a special request though. 

J's falafel

Sampler platter

NOM!

40 Paper

Vegan Accommodations: Unknown

Setting: 5/5 Stars

Staff: 5/5 Stars

After dinner at Cafe Mediterranean, we walked/half ran in the rain over to 40 Paper for cocktails. J was ecstatic that they had Maine Root and I had a a lemony-ginger drink. 40 Paper has a super fun/high-end atmosphere; very modern decor. I can't really comment on their ability to serve a vegan couple since we didn't eat there, but based on the rest of the town's accommodating behavior, I'd say it isn't out of the question. We will likely try to eat there the next time we visit!

Fresh

Vegan Accommodations: 4/5 Stars

Setting: 5/5 Stars

Staff: 5/5 Stars

On Saturday, J and I had a late lunch/early dinner at Fresh. The restaurant uses mainly local goods and their kitchen is open so you can watch the chef prepare your meal. As we peered at the menu, we didn't really see anything inherently vegan, but they had a nice selection of salads that we asked to modify. We asked if they could combine the Rocket Salad and Fresh Bistro Salad together but leave off the dairy and meat products, and they said, "No problem!" The chef prepared a beautiful salad with chickpeas and tons of veggies that was very fulfilling and quite yummy. We also ordered an order of their fresh hand-cut french fries which were DELICIOUS. We had planned to return to the restaurant later that night for drinks but ended up watching a movie and enjoying the warmth of our room at the Inn. 

Mediterranean Grill

Vegan Accommodations: 4/5 Stars

Setting: 3/5 Stars

Staff: 5/5 Stars

On our way home on Sunday, we stopped off in Freeport for a little outlet shopping and had a wonderful dinner at the Mediterranean Grill. We ordered the hummus as an appetizer and then shared the falafel entree. The food was excellent and J said he hadn't had falafel and hummus that good in a really long time. There wasn't a ton on the menu that would accommodate vegans but there is a lot for vegetarians and they're so nice there that I'm sure they'd be happy to modify things if you asked. The setting is a little open and less intimate - it's a very large open room which feels strange at lunch when the rest of the room is empty. Delicious food though! 

Azure Cafe

Vegan Accommodations: 0/5 Stars

Setting: 3/5 Stars

Staff: 1/5 Stars

Before heading to the Mediterranean Grill, we tried to have lunch at Azure Cafe in Freeport. We were seated at a nice window table in a room very crowded with close tables. As we peered at the menu it was clear that something would need to be modified or created to accommodate us. When the waitress came over I asked what they could do for vegans. She looked puzzled and asked what exactly vegan meant - "you mean like vegetarian?" I explained that vegans do not eat any animal products or by-products. She said, "Oh. The only thing you can eat, I think, is the Tomato Vodka Soup. I think that's safe." And then she walked away and stood by the waitstaff station, rather than heading to the kitchen to ask the chef. Annoyed and hungry, we bailed. 

Vacation Re-Cap

This past week I went on a vacation hiatus ...

Saturday, July 23rd = lots of laziness

Sunday, July 24th = lots of laziness + some errands including a trip to Borders (did you hear? they're closing down) for some discount wins: Moosewood Cookbook, Veganomicon, and Vegan for Life.

Monday, July 25th = Dentist appointment. Tested out my latest cupcake recipe, Salty Pete's Favorite Treat, a chocolate cupcake topped with homemade caramel, sea salt and vanilla no-butter cream - yum! Saw Captain American - kickass!

Tuesday, July 26th = Drove to Brunswick to visit some of my former coworkers - brought cupcakes for taste-testing and there were large grins and "mmmmm's" all around. Dinner at Justin's mom's house for his birthday where we taught her how to make vegan pizza and to her amazement, she really liked it - vegan win! She also took one bite of the cupcake and exclaimed, "These are NOT vegan!" Also taught her that most pestos are not vegan (many contain Parmesan) and that the "Lactose Free" Veggie Shreds cheese at Hannaford actually contains dairy products - yes, read the ingredients. The second one is dried skim milk protein. Ew. She was shocked but now understands the importance of reading the ingredient list and not trusting labels - hooray!

Wednesday, July 27th = Tested out Blueberry Corn Pancake recipe from Veganomicon - FAIL. They came out thin and gloppy, so much for a nice birthday breakfast at home! Walked over to Hot Suppa in town for breakfast, then walked to the Farmers Market. Goodies included 2 lbs of potatoes, a head of kale, a head of rainbow chard, and kohlrabi. Took Justin out for drinks at David's then surprised him with dinner at the Green Elephant...pretty much the only vegetarian/vegan place in town. Then surprised him with drinks and friends at our favorite bar, Local 188. Then went to the Bar of Chocolate for martinis and absinthe with more friends.  Awesome night :)

Farmers Market Goodies

Justin enjoying his birthday dinner

We splurged and got appetizers - mmm!

Thursday, July 28th = Visited Boothbay Harbor where my mom's ashes were scattered 4 years ago. Had a nice lunch on a pretty dock right on the water.

Friday, July 29th = Looked at 2 apartments, fell in LOVE with one and have applied. Currently waiting to see if the landlady picks us (pick us! pick us!). Made Blackberry Whoopie Pies for Justin's birthday.

A baker's fridge is a dangerous place...

Saturday, July 30th = Went tubing on the Saco River with 5 awesome people. Laughed, got wet, relaxed, burned like a lobster, laughed some more.

Sunday, July 31st = Thought a lot about my mom....dreaded the mountain of work waiting for me on Monday.


It was a fabulous week and although I return to work this week, it's a short week because my bestest friend in the world is going to visit me on Friday. I haven't seen her in TWO years. Way too long. But she lives in Japan, so I'll forgive it. I plan to make her a fabulous vegan brunch and show her around town. Can't wait :)

Are you out there??

As a blogger, you get kind of bummed when you don't see the "Followers" count increasing steadily over time. You start to think - is anyone out there actually reading this? To quench my blogger-loneliness, I added a nifty little widget "Feedjit" to my page. Over time, I've been noticing that folks from California, Alaska, Washington, D.C., Canada, Boston, New York, and several other countries have been visiting my pages. And although they aren't clicking the little "Follow" button to let me know they're right there with me, I'm confident that they are. Don't be shy friends - feel free to click that button and to leave some comments on my posts! I love answering questions, responding to ideas, and getting advice from readers, so step right up!

As the weather is becoming increasingly more beautiful and the plants around us begin to delight our senses, I've been doing more summer vegan cooking. What exactly does this mean? Well, I've put away my stews, heavy dishes, warm soups and roasted veggies for now, and have started preparing a lot of crisp raw dishes, celebrating the array of summer veggies just starting to show up at the Farmers Market and food stores.

This week Justin and I put together a Korean-style cabbage salad using a head of shredded purple cabbage, some shredded carrots and edamame. Justin made a sweet-spicy sauce that complimented the flavors of the veggies really well.

Korean Cabbage Salad

We also made Vegan Yum Yum's Smokey Miso Tofu and used it to make sandwiches with caramelized onions and mushrooms, tomato, and cucumber. The tofu was delicious and we'll definitely be making it again, though next time I won't use her drying method. When I tried using her method (placing a cast iron pot on top of the tofu to squeeze excess water out) the tofu ended up crumbling a lot and we didn't get as many slices out of it as we wanted. I'll also slice them a little thicker next time. The marinade in the recipe has a surprisingly salty, smokey, sweet flavor. We had some extra and used it on the sandwich as well.

Smokey Miso Tofu

Dinner! Smokey Miso Tofu with Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms, Cucumber & Tomato, Korean Cabbage Salad, and, of course, a pickle

Since this is one of the few times Justin and I have two days off in a row together (he works on Saturdays and has off on Fridays; I have off on Saturdays & Sundays) we decided to do a little exploring. My dad recently gave me the family picnic basket which I'll pack with some left over cabbage salad, hummus veggie wraps, and juice, and we'll head up to Bradbury Mountain State Park for a picnic and a hike. 

What are you doing for Memorial Day? Family picnic? Hiking? Hanging out at home? What are kind of menu are you planning? Let us know! 

Radisson Let Down

Just as I'd suspected, the Radisson had no idea how to accommodate a vegan. I showed up on Monday morning after a 2 hours bus ride and found a long table with breakfast before me. Our options: egg bagels with cream cheese or butter, danishes, muffins, and yogurt with fresh fruit in it. So close, Radisson, so close! All you needed to do was to have yogurt and fruit separated so that people could choose one or the other or mix them on their own. What was disappointing was that they should have been prepared for a vegan in the crowd since I'd filled out a form in advance that asked me about dietary restrictions! 

I dropped by their lunch and saw sandwiches...yes, there was a vegetarian option with cheese, but no, there were no vegan options. At afternoon snack time, they offered power bars, and comically choose ones that all contained some version of milk. Oy! 

So out into the city I went! The first day, I met with my friend Kelly for lunch at this little Thai place for some delicious pad thai. That night, we ventured to Cambridge for dinner at The Friendly Toast where I had the Vegan Vahalla with sweet potato fries (if you've never been to The Friendly Toast - GO. There is one in Cambridge and one in Portsmouth, NH. It's totally worth the drive - this was my second trip and I certainly see more to come!). The following morning I had one of my Larabars for breakfast and then met Kelly at an Italian restaurant across the street called Vapiano's. I was craving something super healthy and went for the salad which was wonderfully refreshing. When I asked the girl to leave out the parm and mozz cheese, she looked at me like I was from Mars. "Do you want to add some chicken to it instead?" NO! 

My yummy salad!

Vapiano's $5.95 lunch specials...not a lot of options, but it is very easy to convert a lot of their items and they seem very happy to do it! 

Oh well! All in all, the trip was great, the conference was super informative and it was fantastic seeing friends I rarely get the chance to visit. I am however, very disappointed in the Radisson and you can be sure that I made mention of their failed food options when they emailed me a survey!