Friday, August 31, 2012

sweet tofu vegan sushi

Ingredients: rice, roasted seaweed (see below), sweet tofu, fresh avocado


spread ingredients as pictured onto seaweed

roll

cut into 1'' pieces--wet knife with water to make it easier to cut
tasty


Thursday, August 30, 2012

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Savory Tamarind Noodle Soup in 10 minutes





 Need some quick savory food? No ramen in the cupboard? Don't feel like going out to eat?

scallion and cilantro to garnish



end with white pepper

done in 10 minutes!
Servings: 2

Ingredients:
Optional: 1/4 tsp vegetable oil
firm tofu, cut into cubes, 1/2 cup 
Water Spinach (rau muong), 1 cup
1 boiled egg
onion, 1/4, dice into cubes
tomato, 1 dice into 6 pieces
noodles
tamarind soup mix, enough to taste
salt, enough to taste
sugar, 1/2 tsp
pepper paste, 1/4 tsp
garlic, 1/4 tsp, finely diced

fried onions, to garnish
scallions, to garnish
cilantro, to garnish
jalepeno, to garnish
mint, to garnish
white pepper, to garnish




Thursday, August 23, 2012

A Sushi non-vegan Adventure--Walnut Creek, CA




black cod special


My husband is a vegetarian. I am a non-mammalian omnivore, meaning I do not eat mammals (with some exceptions). I cook only vegetarian cuisine, but when we go out, I like to indulge with chicken or seafood. Months ago we discovered Ajisai  Japanese Grill & Sushi in Walnut Creek. Since then, we've returned almost a dozen times. The service was friendly and the food? delicious! My husband's favorite is the vegetarian deluxe rolls while mine is well, everything else. I'm a fan of udon and have eaten it at many places. Ajisai's udon noodle soup is by far, my favorite! Wayne and his staff are absolutely delightful! If only everyone in the world was as friendly as nice as them!

We've had Ajisai cater for our wedding and everyone was delighted by the food! Fresh and delicious, yum!

Monday, August 20, 2012

The Land of the Medicine Buddha-a Retreat in Santa Cruz


Hiking trail--so serene




We saw a leaf waggling on the trail. It was the only leaf which was moving that way. Perhaps it was a pet spirit?


rooms
Path to our room
View from our room

view from ourbed

window from our room

Clean room, serene atmosphere. It was so peaceful. We're glad to ended our honeymoon week hiking, enjoying nature while nourishing our spirits. Thank you, Land of Medicine Buddha, for a wonderful experience.

Yelp:  
Location:
5800 Prescott Rd
Soquel, CA 95073

Saturday, August 18, 2012

The Penny Ice Creamery-Santa Cruz, CA

Pivot Sorbet-a bit tart, not too sweet, definitely fresh taste

Chocolate Sorbet and Pivot Sorbet $4, the combination was fantastic!
Our tongues did happy dances upon the arrival of the chocolate and pivot sorbet combination! There was a line of about 10 people upon arrival. The staff (Zach and team?) were friendly and helpful.

The most delightful part? They make their ice cream in house from scratch!
ice cream machine
around town, tower near the ice creamery


913 Cedar St
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
(831) 204-2523
http://thepennyicecreamery.com/ 

A Brief Quest for Vietnamese Vegetarian Cuisine

We found a savory Vegetarian Place! This is now our favorite Vietnamese restaurant. It's delicious, friendly, authentic, quick. and affordable.

What is it? Dong Phuong Tofu on McKee Road in San Jose.
mushroom stuffed tofu. Deliciously fried! So crispy

bun "bo" hue, a central Vietnamese noodle soup

Mi (egg noodle)


Vegan Mien Mang Ga--savory with salad on the side $6,
Vegan Chao Thap Cam $6--light, not too salty, with lots of goodies in it. Definitely a fan of their imitation "cha" (Vietnamese ham), the veggie meatball was delicious!


Vegetarian Eggrolls- best vegetarian eggrolls we've had--perhaps it has some yam in it?
Fish cake (non-vegetarian) the cashier said it was $2---delicious, not dry, definitely good value
assorted mix: $5, salad,eggrolls, tofu tomoto patty, bamboo, 

yum!
Update: Vegetarian treats!


sweet banh beo la dua (pandan flavor)

re-heating eggrolls and mushroom tofu

4.5/5 stars on Yelp
2359 McKee Rd
San Jose, CA 95116
(408) 251-6838

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Castello di Amorosa

Wine Tasting Room

Vegetarian Chopsticks on Honeymoon



Chateau Montelena, Calistoga, CA

Chateau Montelena, Calistoga, CA
Love letter...to who?
peek-a-boo :)


My husband chose these cake toppers and he couldn't have made a better choice! They're now our travel companions.Thanks to Y&A for the idea!
Post-wedding photos: Dress by Maggie Sottero
 My husband and I are budding photographers. Of course, we had to take photos of the wedding dress after we picked it up from our bridesmaid. The dress went through a lot of labor after being used and abused. It took us almost an hour to iron it after taking it out of a trash bag.  It was priceless to see it receiving some love from the hubby :)

Hotel Booking Tip:
-If you can afford to be flexible, try booking via www.hotwire.com
-Once you check in at the hotel, ask for upgrade to honeymoon suites. We stayed at the Sheraton and were upgraded upon request. Hilton gladly upgraded up to their Jr. Suite
-Rates are best on weekdays