The Wonderful World of Food

The past few days of blog neglect has definitely been food-worthy, regardless of the lack of posts. But not to fear, I have a lot to share with you since my birthday. πŸ˜‰

To celebrate my 26th year, my boyfriend, little sister, and I ate at Cascal, a Latin-infusion tapas restaurant, and SO good. This place offers some pretty interesting, but amazing, small plates to share, which is the best way to do things, in my opinion- that way you get to taste it all.

Ceviche
Vegetarian Eggplant Tian – Layered grilled eggplant, piquillo peppers, Manchego cheese, smoked tomato-paprika sauce
BEST dish: Wild Mushroom Empanadas with manchego cheese and truffle oil
Duck Confit Gorditas – Duck filled gorditas, chipotle-chile espresso sauce, cilantro relish, cotija cheese salad garnish
Cuban Wrap- Sliced, adobo marinated pork tenderloin, rolled in tortilla with cilantro mojo, watercress, piquillo pepper salad
All together
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Pumpkin Cheesecake – Made with fresh caramelized pumpkin, spices, in a graham cracker crust. Served with a molasses whip cream

Dinner was excellent… but I think I could make a better cheesecake. Not as pretty of course, but I bet I could up the taste rating, plus make it healthier. πŸ˜‰

And… I was chosen (sort of, along with some demanding), to be one of the lucky taste-testers for Alisa‘s test recipes for some new desserts. And she sent me a birthday card. She’s so sweet, as are her cookies!

Alisa's Blondies! The large chocolate chips MADE it for me.
Gluten free, dairy free, and made with love πŸ˜‰
Hello... sprinkled with taste!
My FAVORITE

Chocolate Explosion Oatmeal Cookies

I even got the recipes… mwahhahaha! Thank you, Alisa! Definitely great birthday presents!

This weekend I got a chance to make some macarons. These guys are refined sugar free, dairy free, gluten free, and yummy.

Recipe coming soon!

There’s so much more to share, like all the great vegetarian/vegan dishes I’ve been playing with, or the Whole Foods Thanksgiving Dinner (also vegan) I attended earlier this week. But all that will have to wait for another post.

For now… I am grateful…

November 18th Gratitude: Cloudy days… I am fan of warm, sunny weather, but at some point there has to be a changing of the seasons. Today, in northern California, it’s cloudy, and a storm is on it’s way. As long as I’m nice and warm, bundled up indoors, I’m cool with the rain.

Questions:

Where are you not feeling good enough?

Where are you feeling more than good enough?

11 thoughts on “The Wonderful World of Food

  1. All the cookies look amazing!!! YUM!!!

    And pumpkin cheesecake cupcake??? I want one!
    .-= Pure2raw twins´s last blog ..Dinner Workout Trip =-.

  2. That all looks so yummy indeed. Glad that you’ve been enjoying Thanksgiving all month.

    I feel _not enough_ with my body image, especially knowing that the old path of starvation and restriction is not going to work, with my metabolism and adrenals messed up. Since my energy is better, I’m _determined_ to do more crunches and other shape-improving things. But we’ve been on the road so long and out of routine and just upside down, and I haven’t been writing enough (the one thing that keeps me sane), so I guess that’s another way I’m ‘not enough.’

    Feeling way good about me and my husband, though – he’s such a great guy and I feel so lucky.

    love
    Ela
    .-= Ela´s last blog ..Visiting- Shopping and Body Image- Vantra Restaurant Review =-.

  3. Okay, I want those empanadas now! Sans cheese of course πŸ™‚

    Glad you liked the package! Of course, the cookies will keep getting better I think!
    .-= Alisa Cooks´s last blog ..Vegan Thanksgiving E-Cookbooks =-.

  4. that would be fun to try to recreate that pumpkin cheesecake. i’m sure even the mess up versions would be GOOD!
    lately i haven’t been feeling good enough in my job-acquisition skillz. πŸ™ i’ve applied to over 30 jobs in 3 weeks and only one bite so far.
    as far as what i’m feeling really good about-my marriage. it has survived alot this past 9 years and it’s getting stronger πŸ™‚
    .-= Heather (Perspective Is Everything)´s last blog ..Almost a decade since our first kiss =-.

  5. that dinner looks so yummy! Thats a bummer the pumpkin cheesecake wasn’t as good as it looks :-/ but it does look reeeeaaally good haha. I’ve been so behind in my schoolwork recently so thats probably a place that I’m feeling pretty low in, but I’ve been feeling really good in my accomplishments with packing up my apartment!
    .-= salah@myhealthiestlifestyle´s last blog ..Narnia =-.

  6. Definitely some blog worthy eats! That vegetarian tian looks delicious… so do the sweets πŸ˜‰

  7. That Tian thing is impressive!

    Ok, you know how much of a blondie-lover I am…any chance Alisa would let you email me that Almond Blondies recipe?!? Pretty pleeease?!
    .-= Amber Shea @Almost Vegan´s last blog ..105degrees- L1-W4-D4- last-minute prep =-.

  8. Cuban pork?!? Yum.

    I’m sad Alisa’s cookies are gone. Sigh. I ate them too fast. πŸ˜‰
    .-= Katie´s last blog ..All because of the salt =-.

  9. Oh, happy birthday indeed!!! I’d eat any and all of that πŸ™‚ Everyone keeps posting about tapas so I think I know what I want to have in the next few days….!
    .-= Monique´s last blog ..AND WE’RE BACK!!! =-.

  10. I think I just drooled all over my keyboard. This meal looks fantastic! So jealous!
    .-= Joanna´s last blog ..Nerd in the kitchen and future epidemiologist on a rant =-.

  11. Umm recipes please!! Those look so so yummy πŸ™‚ Ive been feelig really low about my weight recently. Just one of those weeks ya know? I have been kind of sick so my body is just run down and I cant push myself in my workouts like I want. BUT, I know next week has all new potential πŸ™‚
    .-= Kat´s last blog ..Random Days =-.

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