Blackbird Pizzeria, KWF, and Juice Merchant

Hi everyone! Last Sunday, Zach and I drove down to Philly to pick up dinner from Blackbird Pizzeria. I tried the Italian Sausage sandwich, and it was really good! This was just half of it!

Along the way, we passed underneath one of my favorite graffiti messages...

On Tuesday, I did another curbside pickup order from Kimberton Whole Foods; here are some of the new things I got to try! So far I've only tried the cauli crisps and the garlic & vegetable soup, but they were both great!

On Friday, Zach and I ordered dinner from the Juice Merchant in Phoenixville. We both got the Americano sandwiches with fries, and they were pretty good! 

We brought the food to Lock 60 for a picnic dinner before the sun set, and then stopped by the river to say hello...

In other news, I did my Halloween decorating yesterday; here's the kitchen!

  

Cringer says hello!

 

Peace. :)

Pizza, Fun Finds, and “Catifying”

Hi everyone! Here are the two delicious slices of pizza (funghi, sausage) that I ordered at Blackbird Pizzeria on Saturday. Zach and I shared some cheese fries, too, but I didn’t take a picture. He ordered the cheesesteak.

I found the Tofurky roasts on sale at Kimberton Whole Foods for $6.99 each, so I grabbed these two; now I’m all set for Easter and Thanksgiving this year, lol!

And I saw these pretzels at Giant; I’m bringing them to D&D tonight for a snack, so we’ll see how they are… 

I finished reading this book that my aunt had gotten me for my birthday; there were a lot of really cool ideas in it… 

Zach had already installed some shelves for the cats, so now I’m brainstorming where more can go, measuring for some nonslip mats to make the shelves safer for the kitties as they explore, and considering a tall cat tower as another way for them to get up and down from the shelves. I’d also like to get/make some sort of window ledge perch/bed for Rogue so she can fit better in the window above the kitchen sink since that’s her favorite place to watch birds.

Of course, Cringer swears she’s content with just her soft blanket by the heater… 

Peace. :)

Recipe Experiments & Blackbird Pizzeria

Hi everyone! This week I attempted to make my own version of the spicy eggplant dish from Sutao Cafe. It worked for the most part, but the eggplant did not get as tender as I’d hoped. Next time I will boil the eggplant pieces first (with the onions and peppers) and then add them to the sauce in the pan to cook a bit more. If that works, I’ll share the recipe next week! 

I also made a batch of BBQ cauliflower bites (1 cup BBQ sauce, 1 tsp hot sauce) with a single serving of mac & cheese that I put way too much turmeric in (I don’t know what possessed me to do 1 tsp, next time I’ll just do ¼ tsp haha). Other than the too much turmeric, though, it was a good meal overall. 

For dinner on Friday, Zach and I went to Blackbird Pizzeria; it’s been so long since I’ve been there (though this was at their new location), so it was a real treat! We got two slices of the haymaker pizza, cheese fries, and a seitan cheesesteak. Everything was really good; the pizza was delicious (and Zach’s favorite; he said that he liked that it was a bit spicy), the cheese fries were fun, and of course the cheesesteak is simply a classic must-have, though very messy to share and eat, haha! 

Here are some of the sketches I did this week…

carrot (original photo)

cauliflower (original photo)

celery (original photo)

corn (original photo)

And here’s a close-up of Daisy… 

P.S. I finally signed up for Vegan MoFo; I’m going to be doing my own monthly theme: Bookmarked Recipes of Vegan MoFo Past! If you haven’t signed up yet, you only have until August 24, so don’t procrastinate too much longer!

Peace. :)

Blackbird Pizzeria and Vegan Tree

Hello everyone! Today Zach and I visited my sister Alena in Philly, and it was a lot of fun! We went to Blackbird Pizzeria for lunch, ordering a large pizza (half pepperoni, half plain) to share. The pepperoni (made with seitan) was great, and Zach enjoyed the plain pizza. 

Alena also got a cheesesteak (Blackbird Pizzeria won this year's Best Vegan Cheesesteak in Philly contest)... 

...and Zach got a side of fries (not pictured, but they were good; I made sure to grab some hehe).

After that, we walked along South Street, checking out a comic book store, and then heading over to my favorite bookstore -- Wooden Shoe Books -- but it was closed for the day.

Alena had recommended that I try the banana strawberry smoothie at Vegan Tree, so she and I each got one, and it was amazing (a bit messy because it got overfilled and then a lid squished on, but absolutely delicious and well worth the sticky fingers haha). Here's a pic of Alena's, almost finished... 

And here's some nice art we saw on our walk... 

P.S. I got to see this cutie, the sweet little Blu!

Peace. :)

Fall Foods

Hello everyone! Halloween is just a couple days away, and I can hardly wait! Here's some of the fall foods I've enjoyed this month...

First up is "best snack ever" aka pretzel sticks with melted chocolate chips...

Next is the Simple Baked Sweet Potatoes from The Raw Project (I added cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice as the seasonings)...

Here's the awesome food from when I visited my sister Alena in Philadelphia. We went to Blackbird Pizzeria for lunch...

Alena had a slice of pepperoni pizza.

I had a slice of veggie supreme pizza.

We also decided to share a seitan "chicken" parm...

...and a seitan cheesesteak.

(Of course, we couldn't finish everything, so here were my leftovers.)

I bought a kitchen sink cookie (chocolate chips, potato chips, pretzels, pumpkin seeds, coconut flakes, and oats) on our way out, which we shared later at Alena's place with tea.

We passed this adorable mural (on the side of the building for an animal rescue).

And I got a free copy of Slingshot from Wooden Shoe Books, which I read on the train ride home.

Centerfold.

When I got home, I made sure to harvest my little garden before the frost.

Next up is the Greek Lemon Soy Curls and Potatoes from The "V" Word (I left out the olives and parsley)...

And here's something new I tried, but wasn't too fond of; it was too sweet, more like a pumpkin pie puree...

Yesterday I made mashed sweet potatoes (with ½ T vegan butter, 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice), a sprinkle of sugar, and some cranberries on top)...

...And baked Halloween cookies... I used the following cookie cutters, but the cookies expanded a bit too much while baking, so they morphed but are still delicious, haha!

Once Halloween is over, it will be that most magical time of the year, the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)! It will be my 6th time participating, and I'll be sure to keep you updated on my progress throughout the month.

Here's Cringer and Daisy, being silly...

...And Buttons and Leela briefly sharing the sunshine until Leela decides, "nah, nevermind"...

Peace. :)