Sorry for the complete lack of posts...

I completely let this go for awhile, but recently been meaning to get back to it. I'm going to keep it a food blog of places I've visited and food I've tried than any recipes though. I can cook, however, my presentations not all up to scratch and no one wants to look at ugly food, no matter how tasty! I went to NYC again last summer so I'll collect all my photos together from that and do some round up posts of things I've tried through out the year. Hopefully, from now on I can keep more up to date with it and not leave it over a year between posts!

New York pt 2

This is my second post about my trip to NYC based abit more round the restaurants we visited and food we devoured!






On the first night we got there luke and I weren't overly bothered about going out anywhere as jet lag was making us both a tad cranky. We headed over to the corner shop across the road so grab some snacks and found AMAZING food. There were rows upon rows of food we could try ranging from your basic leafy salad to oriental noodles and fresh veggie salads, amazing fresh sandwiches and incredible looking cakes. I grabbed the 'turkey' salad and some crackers and my goodness, even now I still can't get over how good it was. It had quite a meaty taste and the texture was a little chewy but everything was cut up into tiny pieces so worked well, I would definitely grab this again when I'm back out there. Plus it was so filling and a really great size for its price.
Those cakes though, I have never had anything like them since being vegan. The pumpkin cheese cake was really lovely (coming from a girl who never liked cheese cake and thought it was the devils food) it was creamy, a little tang to it and the pumpkin spice really made it work well together. The peanut Butter mousse bomb however just stole my heart, if I didn't have proof of a picture to show I did really have it I would have thought it was something from a dream. It was light, creamy with the shell of chocolate covering it and I have honestly never had anything as good as that dessert and don't think I ever will until I have it again. It was, quite honestly, the bomb.



Another place I was desperate to go to was Babycakes. And well, I'm not sure what happened but it was such a disappointment. The staff were super unfriendly (it wasn't like they were busy either, there was another couple in the shop and thats it) and the doughnuts were.....blah. I got the pumpkin spice I think and like got the glazed and we ended up nibbling the icing off and leaving the rest. They weren't soft nor cakey. Very thick, dense and I hate to say it almost stale? When I next go I'm staying in a hostel down the street from babycakses but I may give it another go and give it the benefit of the doubt but I've heard much better things about dunwell and that's were I'll be heading next time.



Next up is the BLT from Atlas Cafe. This place was in East village and we went a few times (the whoopie pies there are the best ever) and the people who worked there were really friendly and helpful. This sandwich was something we grabbed for lunch before heading out and I can't remember the price but remember it being pretty cheap for what it was. They were super generous with the fake meat and it really was delicious, I ended up eating half and taking the other with me as it was filling so it lasted me all day until dinner which is great when you're living on a strict budget!



Another place I was really excited about trying was Red Bamboo and they didn't disappoint. For started we shared the buffalo wings and almond coconut chicken and both dishes were just amazing, really meaty texture with a lovely flavour and way too morish. I wish I could recreate this at home! I didn't manage to get a picture of the main course but I had the 'pork' chop with sweet corn mash and cabbage. the 'pork' and cabbage were lovely, the cabbage had bits of apple in if I recall right but I didn't think much of the mash. I ended up leaving it, which to those who don't know me, don't do. Ever!




Another memorable meal was at a place called Bad Burger. Its a all round restaurant serving vegan and non vegan food and has two separate kitchens to control cross contamination. We had breakfast and dinner there and both meals were pretty good. I had the Evis sandwich for breakfast (1st picture) which was pretty much fried bread, banana and fakon. It was good but I would never order this again, definitely a once in a lifetime kinda thing. It ended up being too sweet for me and totally over filling. We had this on our last morning so it was a good last meal I guess.
The second picture if of the starter we shared when we went for dinner. It was fried pickles, broccoli and MACARONI CHEESE BALLS. Incredible, there was a side of this smokey vegan mayo as well and it was delicious. Good enough to not want to share for sure! Again I didn't get a picture of the main course from here, it wasn't all that and seemed like it had been sitting a round for a while. This is the kind of place I would go back for but just for that starter if we were in the area, I probably wouldn't go for a full on meal again.


Well, thats the end of my food post about NY. Sadly I didn't get pictures of more, there was an amazing food fair at smoresburg I'm going to back to this year as it was fun and right on the river that had some wonderful food available which sadly I didn't get pictures of. I can't wait to go back, june really can't come soon enough.

New York Holiday! (instagram pic based post, sorry!)

All the way back in November, my boyfriend and I visited New York for a week and stayed with his sister in the East Village. We only arrived a couple of days after the hurricane so it really was touch and go whether or not we were actually going to be able to fly out or not, but thankfully luck was on our side and we managed to start or trip with no real trouble. (Apart from when we arrived which was not fun, horribly scary and I still want to rip the hotel apart that took our booking and then gave our room to someone else leaving us stranded. ERGH)

I never really got round to posting about New York the way I should, I'm not the best with words and tend to get a little of subject but thought I'd do a food based post of some of the amazing things we tried and bought out there. It's unbelievable what's available to vegans out in the states that we can't get over here and every day I'm pining to go back. I'm going to do a two part post for this, one for the packaged food/things I bought back and one based on restaurants/fresh food just so it doesn't get too long winded.

First things first:



Found this amazing coconut milk based drink in whole foods. I was trying to originally find the pumpkin spice version but I think we just missed out sadly! I only bought one of these back and as soon as I tried it I wished I'd bought more, really creamy, really tasty and not watery in the slightest. The mint wasn't overpowering at all either which I was expecting to but it was a gorgeous drink and one I wish I could find over here!(I have a feeling I could maybe recreate with using a soy chocolate milk and mint syrup though!)



I've been looking for nice cheap mason jars for ages and found this for a cool $1.95 at whole foods, picked up too small and two large wide mouth jars for about $7 I think it worked out being. Chucked in my sweets I picked up whilst out there (Hot tomales and cinnamon jolly ranchers) and they looks quite cute sitting on my kitchen shelf at home. Well worth the worry of them breaking my suitcase definitely!
Like all vegans I know picked up a few bags of daiya cheese to bring back. I have to say this stuff is amazing, why we don't yet do it over here I don't know and this stuff would be huge over here. It's creamy, tasty, melts like the real thing and the macaroni cheese I made with it has never been so good. Finishing the last pack off was almost painful.
Now I know you can get nature valley bars over here but the only ones I ever want have honey in them or just seem a little boring. The peanut butter ones were divine and I'll be getting both flavours again when I come back.



One of the first stores I begged Luke to come with me too was to Trader Joes. And boy was it worth it. The queue was unbelievably long and pretty much stretched right around the store (we went in rush hour AND just when it had reopened after the hurricane so everyone was panic buying I think too) but the food was amazing. If trader joes opened here I would be first in line to get in, a lot of its organic based and from smaller more independent companies and had an amazing range of more health based snacks (not what I picked up obviously!) I originally went in to grab pumpkin spiced coffee but the lady who worked there explained the seasonal produce sells out quickly which was a shame. The maple cookies I picked up though where just amazing, I bought three and luke pretty much sat and ate a whole box to himself when we got back to his sisters which didn't impress me! The cinnamon rolls I weren't expecting to be vegan so that was a pleasant surprise. (they were a bit more cakey than I wanted them to be, I was expecting something a little softer but still, incredible none the less) and I have yet to make the pumpkin loaf as it requires eggs to make so want to make sure when I do give it a go it'll work and not end up flat and not rising as I wont be able to give it two goes.

Welcome

...To my new food blog. It's a vegan based food blog that will be filled with places I've been and visited, food I've made and things I've bought to give people ideas and to just keep a note of what I've enjoyed and made so I have something to look back at. Hope you guys enjoy my warbling posts and if you have anything you want me to specifically try out then let me know! 

Thanks for looking and hope you enjoy :)