Luscious Fibers, Food and Family

frites with peanut sauce are the best

Today we got off to a late start but still managed to have a full and fun day. First we headed out for some frites that Grant had read about in our guide book. In the last few days we have eaten a couple batches of fries but so far I have been unimpressed, until today.  These fries were cooked perfectly! They were nice and crispy on the outside but still clearly a potato on the inside. The sauce of choice was peanut of course, and it was yummy.

After fries we walked around a bit and then headed to the NUUF to attend service. Prior to our vacation we learned that Amsterdam has a Unitarian fellowship and they happened to be having service the Sunday we were in town. (They only have service twice a month as they are a smaller congregation.) We had been looking forward to attending service and were not disappointed. Everyone was very friendly, welcoming and very eager to talk to us. I think they were disappointed that we were only visiting. It was a lovely service with definite similarities to All Souls in DC, but also a bit different especially since it's a much smaller group...it was quite intimate, but very comfortable. After service we stayed for tea and enjoyed talking with everyone.

In the evening we did some more walking and took a tram ride. We had a great dinner at the sit down restaurant of a takeaway place I described in an earlier post. We ordered a number of dishes and managed to finish all of it! Obviously we enjoyed the food. After dinner we decided to head home and call it a night as we were both pretty tired. Amazingly, we got to bed by 11pm!

Pictures from the day are below...

 

grant, your friendly gps

Yesterday was another great day! I'm going to let the pictures do most of the talking because we're off to a late start today after sleeping in and I want to get to those outdoor markets!

 

This first picture we mostly took for Tut. It's of the bread we purchased for breakfast and I know you'd appreciate it. Whole grain and full of nuts and raisins....I think you can see in the picture.

This next picture is just one of the many bird friends out our window each morning.

After breakfast we mostly walked around the city taking in the sites of amazing architecture, people, art, and Amsterdam life. Grant has an incredible lay of the city already and we used the map very little. He also made sure we took different routes rather than pass the same street when doubling back. It was quite impressive and he's definitely taken the lost tourist frustration out of this equation.

 

These pictures were taken when we left. They are of Grant on the houseboat and me on the stairs that lead to the houseboat.

The next few pictures were taken at a vegetarian restaurant, Bolhoed, that we made our way to for lunch. We were happy to sit outside and the food was quite good. We shared a mushroom pate, lentil and carrot soup, and a tofu pie turnover. Oh and dessert...a chocolate covered cake/brownie.

This next one is of Grant at a cafe. You can guess what he's up to.

After a brief trip back to the boat we spent the early evening at the Anne Frank house. We both took our time reading and learning about her incredible experience in the secret annex. Seeing her actual space and documents was really quite something. Though the events happening in this time were horrific and there is sadness when you think about it, her story is also quite inspiring. Her father's story was also inspiring and I never knew what an advocate he was not only for his family and their story but also for equal rights and peace in general.

Later in the evening we met up with James' friend Ray for a drink and some great conversation. It was interesting getting his perspectives on the city now that he's lived here for over 12 years. It was a fun night.

 

 

 

 

first day in amsterdam

After a few travel hiccups, Grant and I arrived in Amsterdam safely. We found our houseboat without any issue and the friendly owner greeted us with keys and some basic information and well wishes for the week. It was definitely a low key situation and that works for us. The houseboat is on the canal Waalseilangsgracht. Looking out onto the water is fantastic and watching the boats and people go by is fun. Here is a picture of Grant in our dining area.

 

After a quick nap we headed out for some walking, dinner and to the market for a few groceries. These pictures were taken along our walk.

 

Grant did a lot of great research for vegetarian and vegan eats in Amsterdam and thankfully he had an idea of where we could go for dinner and well, it was so good.  The Indonesian place, Kantjil To Go, is a take-out hole in the wall, hidden gem in a more residential area. We got a couple containers of food (noodles with tofu and veggies in a peanut sauce and rice with green beans in a black bean sauce) and some chopsticks and headed to a nearby park to eat and people watch. It was a great dinner and I'm certain we will go back!

 

After dinner we stopped at the grocery for a few essentials. One of those being Speculoos spread. I had read on a blog that it was vegan and that it's a spread like peanut butter but tastes like ginger cookies. I had to try that! I was a little hesitant to purchase a whole jar for only a week's stay, but did it figuring I could take it back in my checked bag...yeah, this bottle will definitely be gone within the week!  It tastes like those little spice biscuit cookies you get on morning flights. YUM!

 

It was a good evening but now it's after midnight and I need to get some sleep! More tomorrow...

 

seattle and donuts!

Today Steph and I headed to the airport pick up Henry and then our day two eating tour of Seattle began. We first headed to Mighty O's, a completely vegan donut shop, and were overwhelmed by variety of choices. I've actually made donuts before and they were tasty but I was left with just one choice. Looking through a glass case with so many beautifully delicious donuts left me not being able to choose just one. It was at that point that I decided to get a dozen different donuts (chocolate/chocolate, sprinkled, strawberry, old fashioned, raised and well 7 more) and then still chose one more to eat in the shop. That choice was easy, it was Don King's birthday so their Don King donut was on special. The Don King donut is a chocolate donut with a vanilla glaze on one side then dipped in coconut.  I also chose a cute cinnamon sugared mini and off I went to enjoy each with a strong cup of coffee. When Steph sat down I saw she bought a half dozen (yes, now we have 18 donuts to bring home!) and she also got the Don King and cute mini.  The donuts were so good! We slowly enjoyed each bite and when finished, decided to split just one more, a french toast donut, which was also very good.

From there we drove to Greenlake to have a look at one of my favorite walking paths on the water and to find a monkey tree which I remembered were scattered all around Greenlake.  I wanted to get a picture of one for Grant and my mother and it didn't take long to find one of the huge pines.

My recollection of how the Monkey Tree got its name was because the branches resembled a monkey's tail. However in looking up the tree online, it seems the story and name of this tree was changed in Seattle at some point. I like my understanding better.

Next we decided it was time for lunch. Steph suggested the Elysian Brewing Company, but she wasn't sure where it was. So I looked it up and good old GPS got us there and guess what? It was right next the donut shop. That caused a number of laughs!  We enjoyed a burger, brew and fries in the outdoor seating. Yes, that's right outdoor seating! Something I wouldn't dream of doing in the DC August heat...so lovely.

Later that evening we headed to the Snohomish Taste of Music and enjoyed some live blues music from a couple local bands. All in all, a fantastic day!

weekend round-up

So I've gotten behind on my picture a day series, but I'm still taking pictures. I'm just too busy post every day. I'll come back to it eventually.

This weekend Grant and I didn't have too much planned which was nice considering we have a lot of travel coming up in August and September. 

On Saturday we slept in and decided to have waffles for a late breakfast.  We didn't have any berries so I made banana, chocolate chip. They were good, but not a favorite. However, it did the trick for a lazy Saturday morning. 

After breakfast we headed to the National Animal Rights Conference. I think it's always in DC and we decided to go for a couple hours to visit the exhibit hall, buy some vegan treats and see what the animal advocates are up to.  It's a lively conference and there was a lot of very knowledgeable people there to have interesting, sometimes shocking and sad conversations with. It's great to see so many people in one place who are so passionate about the humane treatment of animals.  We picked up a lot of information and like I said, some vegan goodies. You can see in the picture below...I got a few pair of earrings made from seeds collected from the forest floor in Costa Rica (very cool!) We picked up some of our favorite chocolates and candy bars. Oh, I also got some black salt (from India) that I've been looking for for more than a year. It used in vegan "egg" dishes because it has that kind of smokey, sulfur tastes that eggs have, if you like that kind of taste. I've been wanting to give it a try, but couldn't find it. (You can also see that Kati was interested in what we brought home.)

This morning Grant got up early because he wanted to go on a long ride before it got too hot. I got up also and made a raspberry coffee cake to enjoy with friends and coffee...sorry no pics! Grant was determined to ride 70 miles today and well, he did it. He got back a couple hours ago and is pretty much dead. I made an early dinner, knowing he didn't eat any lunch, and he made a valiant effort to enjoy it, but had a hard time staying awake. Here is what he's doing now.

For dinner I tried a new dish, beanballs in a tahini/miso sauce. The balls :) were pretty easy to make and the sauce was awesome. I love tahini and it has fresh parsley...very good. The balls are made out of carrots, fresh parsley, kidney beans and some bread crumbs. They were good also, but next time I'll be sure to make them a little smaller so that you don't get a mouthful of bean, which for me was too much. I think a mini-beanball would be better. Anyway, here is a picture. I served the balls and sauce over whole wheat pasta with a side of...can you guess...kale.

All in all a great weekend and it was nice to relax before heading into another crazy week at work.

red delicious strawberries

Last weekend I made one of my favorite summer pies - Strawberry Pie! The recipe comes from Kittee and it's just fabulous. I love how the pointy strawberries poke their way out through the glaze. There's also a layer of tofutti cream cheese hiding under all that strawberry goodness. It's a keeper!

Here a few pictures for a little catch up. These were taken at the cabin last weekend. We had a nice weekend away.

out for a ride

Grant and I dug out the car and used it for the first time in over a month. Ok, we didn't really need to dig it out, but we had to get gas. We took Kuba to the vet this morning (he's fine) and while we were out, we realized it was so nice to see a change in scenery, we decided to go for a ride to Gaithersburg and have lunch at Antonio's Cafe. We've been wanting to go there for a while and taking a drive out there seemed like a good idea.

We shared some squash papusas (picture below) and I had the jerk tofu with rice and salad. It was a yummy meal and the owner was very nice. They also carry a lot of vegan desserts from the popular vegan bakery, Vegan Treats, out of Bethlehem, PA (I love their website, check it out.)  It was a nice meal.  On the way home I snapped the above picture of the fabulous dog in the car next to us. He also seemed to be enjoying the ride.

I didn't have time to write about the below picture. I took it on Thursday after drinks, with a good friend, and dinner at Bread and Brew. It was a fun night.

happy valentine's day

Grant and I had a quiet, but sweet Valentine's Day. I'm fighting a cold and getting ready for a trip so we celebrated at home.  Grant decided he wanted to bake something so after some research he chose chocolate stout cupcakes (from VCTOTW)...fitting, right?  Yup, cupcakes with beer. What could be wrong with that?

Grant is not as comfortable in the kitchen as I am, but hopefully he'll keep at it. He's got potential to be a great cook and he's definitely more daring than I am with experimenting and changing up recipes. The cupcakes were fantastic and so pretty with the pink frosting.

It was a nice day.

pizza to go

Well not really to go, but it was our last dinner before Grant's mother leaves early tomorrow morning. Tonight we walked over to Columbia Heights and enjoyed some pizza and beer (the beer was ok...a little too hoppy for me) at Pete's Pizza. We like this place because it's casual, shared seating, New Haven style pizza, beer specials and best of all vegan cheese! It was a tasty meal.

evening with family

Grant's mother is in town visiting and last night we had a nice dinner in. After the couple inches of snow we got earlier in the day and how cold it was outside, a quiet evening in was perfect.

Grant played on the viola and violin...we had yummy appetizers...a terrific dinner of mushroom stroganoff and roasted asparagus...we played cards...enjoyed some lemon coconut cake and finished off the evening with a little wii dancing.

It was a fun day and evening. Here are a few more pictures from today...