Vegan Tiramisu Pudding Cups

 

I made these vegan tiramisu pudding cups and really liked them! I got some very small servings, though, and I wouldn’t hesitate to double the recipe next time. What I would say is that you definitely need to soak the cashews overnight (not just boil them), so I am writing that below.

For the strong brewed coffee
1 Tbsp instant coffee
1 Tbsp hot water

For the pudding
1 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight
1/3 cup canned full-fat coconut milk
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp strong brewed coffee (from the previous step
1 pinch sea salt

For the ganache
1/3 cup finely chopped vegan dark chocolate (I used 42 g)
1/3 cup canned full-fat coconut milk

Prepare the strong coffee by adding instant coffee and hot water to a mug and stirring until dissolved.

To a high-speed blender, add the soaked and drained cashews and other remaining ingredients for the pudding (coconut milk, maple syrup, vanilla, strong brewed coffee, and salt). Blend until creamy and smooth. If needed, add more coconut milk 1 tablespoon at a time to encourage blending (I didn’t need it), but avoid adding too much — you want the pudding to be thick.

Divide the pudding between serving glasses (shallow, wide dessert glasses are best) – you will only be adding about 3 or 4 tablespoons per glass. It’s rich! Set in the refrigerator to chill.

Meanwhile, add the finely chopped dark chocolate to a medium mixing bowl. To a separate glass mixing bowl, add coconut milk and microwave until hot but not boiling (alternatively, heat in a saucepan on the stovetop until very hot). Pour the coconut milk directly over the chopped chocolate. Do not stir. Cover with a lid or a piece of aluminum foil to encourage it to melt. Let the chocolate sit, covered, for 5 minutes to melt.

After 5 minutes, uncover then whisk to combine. The mixture should be entirely melted and smooth. If it’s not, heat in the microwave in 20- to 30-second increments until it is entirely smooth and no chunks remain. (Alternatively, set your glass or ceramic mixing bowl over a double boiler on the stovetop to melt – that is my preferred method).

Remove the pudding glasses from the refrigerator and add a thin layer of ganache on top of each (about 1 tablespoon per glass), spreading with a spoon until smooth.

Transfer to the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes, until the pudding is chilled and the ganache is semi-firm to the touch. To chill faster, you can set in the freezer for 20-25 minutes. Optionally, make it even prettier by adding cocoa powder to a fine mesh strainer and shaking gently over the dishes to add a light dusting.

Enjoy chilled for best texture/flavor! Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days.

Chili à la courge

 

Ce n’est pas encore l’automne au Texas. En fait, on n’a pas vraiment d’automne au Texas ! Mais pour ceux et celles qui veulent un plat réconfortant, voici une idée de Coup de Pouce. (Ou plutôt, deux : je n’ai pas de photo à vous montrer, mais si vous mangez du porc, je recommande leur filet de porc à l’oignon rouge.) Là, je vous présente une recette végétalienne, un chili à la courge. Servi nature, c’est comme un ragoût, et je recommande de ne pas négliger les accompagnements (crème sure sans lactose, fromage râpé, avocat, coriandre, etc.).

5 tasses de bouillon de légumes à teneur réduite en sel (ou +, au goût)
1 ¾ tasse de protéine végétale texturée
3 c. à soupe d’huile d'olive
1 oignon ciselé
2 carottes, pelées, en petits dés
3 branches de céleris, en petits dés
2 gousses d’ail, hachées
3 c. à soupe d’assaisonnement au chili
1 ½ tasse de purée de citrouille
1 tasse de sauce tomate
1 ½ tasse de courge butternut, en petits cubes
1 boîte de haricot blanc, rincés et égouttés
sel et poivre
crème sure sans lactose et coriandre fraîche, pour garnir (facultatif)
croustilles de maïs, pour le service (facultatif)

Verser 2 tasses de bouillon dans un bol, puis ajouter la protéine végétale texturée. Laisser reposer 5 minutes. Égoutter et réserver. Dans une grande casserole, chauffer 1 c. à soupe d'huile à feu moyen-élevé. Faire revenir la PVT de 2 à 3 minutes, puis réserver dans une assiette.

Chauffer le reste de l'huile puis faire revenir l'oignon, les carottes, le céleri et l'ail 2 minutes. Ajouter l'assaisonnement au chili, le reste du bouillon, la purée de citrouille, la sauce tomate, la courge et les haricots. Saler et poivrer, puis mélanger.

Porter à ébullition, puis réduire le feu à moyen et cuire 13 minutes ou jusqu'à ce que les légumes soient tendres, en remuant régulièrement. Ajouter la PVT réservée, mélanger et chauffer 2 minutes de plus. Ajouter un peu de bouillon si nécessaire, au goût. Garnir de crème sure et de coriandre, puis servir avec des croustilles de maïs, si désiré.

Super Seed Trifecta Granola

 

I made this super seed trifecta granola so that I could have something with more protein and fewer carbs than regular granola. I really liked it! I decided to grind the flaxseed so that my body could absorb those nutrients better, so I am modifying that below. I also added a pinch of salt, and I am writing down my baking times.

For the dry ingredients
3 cups crisp brown rice cereal (gluten-free if necessary)
3 cups rolled oats (gluten-free if necessary)
½ cup hemp hearts (shelled hemp seeds)
½ cup brown flax seeds. ground
¼ cup chia seeds
1 generous pinch of salt

For the wet ingredients
½ cup brown rice syrup
2 Tbsp. flax oil (or other oil)
1 Tbsp. molasses
½ Tbsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 275 °F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In a small bowl, combine the wet ingredients.

Heat the wet ingredients in the microwave for about 1-2 minutes. Alternatively, you can heat the wet ingredients in a saucepan, until it just begins to bubble around the edges.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and thoroughly combine. Divide the mixture between the two baking sheets and spread out evenly.

Bake the granola for 45 minutes, switching shelves for each sheet (i.e. placing the sheet from the top shelf on the lower shelf and vice versa). In my case, I baked it in a large roasting pan, stirring every 20 minutes, for a total of 1 hour. Once done, let cool completely before transferring to an air-tight container. Enjoy!

Poulet sucré à la confiture d'abricots

Voici une bonne recette de poulet sucré à la confiture d’abricots. Je pense que ce serait très bon avec du riz, mais puisque je surveillais les glucides, j’ai plutôt servi ça avec des légumes.

¾ de tasse de confiture d’abricots
½ tasse d’échalotes françaises hachées
1/3 de tasse de bouillon de poulet
¼ de tasse de sauce tamari (ou de sauce soya)
2 gousses d’ail, hachées
2 c. à soupe de vinaigre de vin blanc
1 c. à soupe de gingembre frais râpé finement
1 c. à soupe de feuilles de thym frais ou ½ c. à thé de thym séché
½ c. à thé de sel
¼ de c. à thé de flocons de piment fort ou plus, au goût
¼ de c. à thé de cumin moulu
poivre, au goût
12 hauts de cuisse de poulet désossés et sans la peau
½ tasse d’abricots séchés coupés en deux

Préchauffer le four à 375 °F et placer la grille au centre.

Dans un grand bol, mélanger tous les ingrédients, sauf les hauts de cuisse et les abricots. Ajouter les hauts de cuisse et bien les enrober de la sauce. Transvider dans un grand plat de cuisson et cuire au four 30 minutes.

Ajouter les abricots et arroser le poulet. Poursuivre la cuisson au four 30 minutes, puis servir.

Chickpea Nuggets

 

I found this recipe for chickpea nuggets on The Kitchn ages ago and finally got around to making it, then posting about it a year and a half later – please clap. It’s actually really good! I served the nuggets with Greek salad (I like it without olives) and a delicious Greek-inspired lemon rice. (The rice is from Minimalist Baker and I will not repost the recipe, because they are being weird about it. By law, a recipe cannot be copyrighted, so it can be shared, while pictures are copyrighted and cannot be shared without permission. But they insist on doing things the other way, allowing people to repost their photos while cracking down on recipe posting. So… just go see the original link, I guess. It’s really good rice!)

½ cup panko or gluten-free breadcrumbs
½ cup rolled oats
1 (15-oz) can garbanzo beans (do not drain)
1 tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. onion powder

Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 375 °F.

Place the panko on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until toasted and golden-brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool while preparing the nuggets. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place the oats in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and process into a fine flour. Transfer to a large bowl and reserve the food processor.

Drain the chickpeas over a bowl or measuring cup, then save the chickpeas and ¼ cup of the liquid. Place the chickpeas into the food processor; add the salt, garlic, and onion powder; and pulse until crumbly. Keep mixture in the food processor.

Whisk ¼ cup of the chickpea liquid in a small mixing bowl until foamy. Add the foamy chickpea liquid and ½ cup of the oat flour to the food processor. Pulse until the mixture forms a ball. You may have a little oat flour leftover, which you can add to the chickpea mixture 1 tablespoon at a time if the mixture is loose.

Divide the chickpea mixture into 12 equal portions and shape each one into a nugget. Coat each nugget completely in the toasted panko and place on the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake until crispy, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve warm with your favorite dipping sauce.

Coconut Turmeric Loaf

I liked this coconut turmeric loaf for breakfast! I used Bob Red Mill’s shredded coconut, which is much finer than standard, and I prefer that in a loaf cake; that being said, anything with shredded coconut goes on my kids’ blacklist (with the notable exception of Nanaimo bars).

For the dry ingredients
1 ½ cups flour (I used 1 cup unbleached all-purpose and ½ cup whole grain white wheat flour)
1 cup coconut flakes (I used ¾ cup, plus 1 Tbsp. for topping)
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
1/3 tsp. salt
1 tsp. turmeric
1/8 to ¼ tsp. black pepper
¼ tsp. cinnamon or nutmeg (optional)

For the wet ingredients
1 cup non-dairy or lactose-free milk, such as almond or lite coconut (I used ½ cup coconut milk + ½ cup lactose-free milk)
½ cup maple syrup
2 Tbsp. sugar, (for sweeter cake)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
juice of 1 lime (2 to 3 Tbsp. lime or lemon juice)

Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Line a loaf pan with parchment or grease well.

Blend all ingredients under wet so that coconut flakes breaks down a bit. to very small flakes.

In a bowl mix all the dry ingredients really well,

Combine wet and dry and mix to form a batter. Transfer the thick batter to a loaf pan. Sprinkle a tbsp or so coconut on top and Bake for 45 mins or until a toothpick from the center comes out clean.

Cool for 10 mins then remove from loaf and cool completely. I usually cool the loaf, then refrigerate for an hour or so then slice.

Golden Soup

 

Here’s a nice soup recipe for fall: golden soup from Pinch of Yum. I used less liquid than called for, but now I think you should definitely use broth instead of water, so that’s what I’m writing below. I’m also adding to soak the cashews ahead of time – the boiling won’t cut it.

Note also that since turmeric can be used as dye, it might stain a food processor or blender (in which case, leaving it out in the sun would help), so I used my immersion blender so that only the metal part came in contact with it.

The original recipe had a topping of crisp, roasted chickpeas and herbs, which would be great if you have time to make them.

2 Tbsp. olive oil
½ onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 head of cauliflower, chopped into about 5 cups of chunks or florets
1 cup cashews, soaked overnight
1 Tbsp. turmeric
7–8 cups vegetable broth (I used 4)
2 tsp. salt (less if your broth is seasoned)
a squeeze of lemon juice

Heat the oil in a deep soup pot. Add the onion, garlic, cauliflower, cashews, and turmeric. Sauté for 10 minutes or until very fragrant.

Add the broth (start with 4 cups and add more later as needed) and salt. Simmer until softened.

Transfer the soup to a blender and blend into a creamy consistency; it’s best to do this in batches. (This is where I recommend an immersion blender instead!)

Return to the soup pot and add any additional water or broth (remaining 2-3 cups) if you need to thin it out. Also a good time to season with more salt and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Plaque de légumes rôtis et de tofu

 

Voici une recette végétarienne simple (une « crisse et cook ») : une plaque de légumes rôtis et de tofu de Ricardo. C’était bon, mais ma sauce n’a vraiment pas l’air de celle sur la photo – je pense qu’il faudrait en effet quelque chose qui ressemble davantage à la sauce barbecue de chez St-Hubert!

Pour les légumes
675 g (1 ½ lb) de pommes de terre grelots, coupées en deux
340 g (¾ lb) de choux de Bruxelles, parés et coupés en deux
3 c. à soupe d’huile végétale
2 poivrons de couleurs variées, coupés en gros dés
1 oignon rouge, coupé en dés
2 gousses d’ail, hachées
1 c. à thé d’origan séché
3 c. à soupe de persil plat ciselé

Pour la sauce et le tofu
3 c. à soupe de mayonnaise
3 c. à soupe de ketchup
1 c. à soupe de moutarde de Dijon
1 c. à soupe de vinaigre de cidre
1 c. à soupe de cassonade
½ c. à thé de paprika fumé
1 c. à soupe de fécule de maïs
675 g (1 ½ lb) de tofu ferme, coupé en gros dés
1 c. à soupe d’huile végétale


Pour les légumes
Placer la grille au centre du four. Préchauffer le four à 425 °F. Tapisser une plaque de cuisson de papier parchemin.

Sur la plaque, mélanger les pommes de terre et les choux de Bruxelles avec 2 c. à soupe de l’huile. Cuire au four 20 minutes.

Entre-temps, dans un bol, mélanger les poivrons, l’oignon, l’ail et l’origan avec le reste de l’huile.

Retirer la plaque du four. Ajouter le mélange de légumes sur la plaque. Saler, poivrer et mélanger. Poursuivre la cuisson au four 15 minutes.

Pour la sauce et le tofu
Entre-temps, dans un bol, mélanger au fouet la mayonnaise, le ketchup, la moutarde, le vinaigre, la cassonade et le paprika. Saler et poivrer. Réserver la moitié du mélange dans un petit bol pour le service. Incorporer la fécule au premier bol. Y ajouter le tofu et mélanger délicatement pour bien l’enrober.

Dans une grande poêle antiadhésive à feu moyen-élevé, chauffer l’huile. Dorer la moitié du tofu à la fois, sans remuer, 2 minutes. Remuer et poursuivre la cuisson de 2 à 3 minutes ou jusqu’à ce que le tofu soit bien doré. Réserver sur une assiette. Ajouter de l’huile, au besoin.

Sur la plaque avec les légumes, répartir le tofu. Parsemer du persil et arroser de la sauce réservée.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Salad Bowl

 

This is another recipe from Marco Borgres’s book The Greenprint. I love this salad bowl for lunch and I’ll be making it again! I also added some roasted, salted pepitas as a topping at one point, used microgreens, and I switched up the dressing based on what I had on hand (a lime vinaigrette tastes better to me than straight-up lime juice, and I also had an herby garlicky dressing).

2 small sweet potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
¼ tsp. paprika
½ Hass avocado, sliced (I used more)
1 large tomato, sliced
1⁄3 sweet onion, diced
juice of ½ lime (see note above)
pinch of dried parsley flakes (I omitted that)
sea salt
2 cups spinach
1 cup canned corn, drained and rinsed
1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
¼ cup hummus, store-bought or homemade

Preheat the oven to 400 °F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Spread the sweet potato over the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with the paprika and roast for about 30 minutes, flipping once halfway through, or until tender and golden.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the avocado, tomato, onion, lime juice, and parsley. Season with salt to taste.

Divide the sweet potato, tomato-avocado salad, spinach, corn, and black beans between two bowls. Top with the hummus and serve.

Raw Broccoli Salad

 

This recipe is from Marco Borges’s book The Greenprint. I served it as a side to Hawaiian meatballs. I did like the salad, but the dressing skews heavily acidic and I think it could be balanced with some oil (the Little Prince emphatically agrees).

For the salad
6 cups chopped broccoli florets
2 cups cherry tomatoes, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 cup hulled pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted (mine were salted as well)
½ cup finely chopped red onion

For the dressing (see note above)
1/3 cup stone-ground mustard
¼ cup cider vinegar
2 tsp. maple syrup
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. water

In a large bowl, toss together the ingredients for the salad.

In a small bowl (I used a jar), whisk together the ingredients for the dressing.

Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss to coat evenly.

Secret Ingredient Chocolate Pudding

 

This recipe is from Angela Liddon’s Oh She Glows Every Day cookbook, and it’s also online here. I’ve made chocolate pudding with vegetal ingredients before (like avocado, black beans, or tofu), but I think it’s the first time I made one with sweet potato? It was really good! The amounts below are slightly adapted.

For the pudding
1 ¼ cups (6 oz/170 g) diced peeled sweet potato
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
¼ cup unsweetened almond milk (I used lactose-free milk)
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
2 Tbsp. raw or roasted smooth almond butter or raw cashew butter
1 Tbsp. virgin coconut oil, softened
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp. fine sea salt

Topping suggestions
coconut whipped cream (I used vegan ReddiWhip)
fresh berries or pomegranate arils
sliced almonds, toasted
granola

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and set a steamer basket on top. Steam the sweet potato in the basket, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes, until fork-tender. You may also use a steamer appliance. Turn off the heat and let sit for 5 minutes.

Transfer the sweet potato (you should have 1 lightly packed cup) to a food processor and add the maple syrup. Process until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the bowl as necessary. Taste and adjust the sweetness, if desired. I find this pudding tastes a bit sweeter after chilling, so keep that in mind. You can always adjust the sweetness after it chills.

Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for at least a few hours or up to overnight to thicken. If the pudding is too thick for your liking, you can thin it out with a splash of almond milk.

Serve the pudding with coconut whipped cream, fresh berries, and toasted sliced almonds, if desired. You can also enjoy it on its own, or with homemade granola sprinkled on top. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

Seattle

In early June, we got to take a family trip to Seattle with the Engineer’s mother. We had a short trip (three days), but squeezed in the main things I wanted to see and do (and eat!), so here’s a quick summary.

Day 1
We got there midday, driving in from Seattle. Our first stop was Red Mill Burgers for lunch, which was quite good. I ordered the red onion jam burger, but was mistakenly given the verde burger, which was not at all what I had wanted, but I could tell that the base of the burger was great. One thing that I noticed there, and it was going to be a theme in the state of Washington, is that all of the items that registered in my brain as “disposable plastic” were in fact made from plant fibers and compostable! I wish they were standard everywhere – I know that in Texas, plastic is still the norm. And in Quebec, people complain about paper straws that don’t hold up. But these straws and cups seem like the perfect compromise!

We then went to our first attraction, the Chihuly Garden and Glass at the foot of the Space Needle. We bought tickets to visit both, and spent time in the former while waiting for our entry time at the latter. We had seen some of Chihuly’s work at the San Antonio Museum of Art, but this was so much more impressive! There are sculptures that are 20 feet tall, and in every color you can imagine! One of the docents told us that they are dusted every day before the museum opens (we were really wondering ). I really don’t know if I preferred the Sealife Tower, Mille Fiori, or the chandeliers. Most of the glass sculptures are indoors, but there are many outdoors as well, looking like alien flowers in the greenery. This was really worth the visit! The gift shop is also superb, and it took a lot of self-restraint on my part not to buy anything.

Then we moved on to the Space Needle. I liked that there are exhibits explaining its history as well as building factoids as the line of people winds its way to the glass elevators. The top has a revolving restaurant (honestly, it looked more like a bar with only small 2-seater tables); the viewing deck was nice, as we got beautiful views of both Seattle as well as Mount Rainier. This was worth the visit!

Then, we went to Pike Place Market. Honestly, this would be much better in the morning, as shops were closing up already when we got there, but our schedule was tight and this was the best we could do. I almost bought peonies, but I didn’t know if our lodging had a vase, so I ended up just taking pictures. We spent some time looking around, bought pastries at Le Panier, saw the flagship Starbucks with the original logo, and made our way down to the Gum Wall.

We had booked an Airbnb on Dayton Avenue, a nice townhouse near the Woodland Zoo. We stopped at Trader Joe’s on the way and bought our dinner there before settling in for the night.

Day 2
We started off our day with a visit to the Fremont Troll, which was just as I imagined it to be, except the surrounding area was nicer than I imagined it. You can actually climb on the troll as long as you are being respectful of the surroundings, and I think everyone in our group had fun.

We then swung by the Lake View Cemetery to pay our respects to Bruce and Brandon Lee. The site itself if wonderful, too! And it was on to our next stop.

As this was a Saturday morning, the first one of the month, we’d had to foresight to book free tickets to the Spheres. They are a greenhouse with tropical plants in downtown Seattle, and it’s a project by Amazon (the company, not the forest). As the Engineer says, it’s a bit like trying to book concert tickets, on that there’s a lot of demand and you need to keep refreshing the page until you can get through! And you can only book 4 tickets at a time. I really enjoyed the visit. Plus, we were delighted to see that there was a General Porpoise right on the premises, so of course we took a break for doughnuts – and yes, they were every bit as good as advertised! (The kids and I had a cinnamon sugar crueller, a Boston cream doughnut, and a marshmallow chocolate doughnut.)

We then went to lunch at The Whale Wins, which again was just as I had imagined it. It was much quieter than I had expected for a Saturday lunch, which was actually really nice! We ate quite well.

After a pit stop at our townhouse, the Engineer and I took the kids out for a few hours. Our first stop was to visit Frankie Feetsplinters. I’ve become obsessed with Thomas Dambo’s troll sculptures, and since there are six in the Pacific Northwest, I wanted to see some! (The map on his website is unfortunately impossible to navigate, but you can use this one for the USA.)

Our second stop was Discovery Park, where we took the trail recommended by Molly Wizenberg: “Park in the south lot, walk up and over the hill, down through the meadow that slopes toward Puget Sound, and then wind your way down through the woods to the beach. It’s beautiful, year-round.” Well, we didn’t have time to go down to the beach, but we saw the sound, and it was beautiful.

For dinner, since we wanted a broader gluten-free selection for my mother-in-law, we went to a/stir – it had a great menu, and the entire place is gluten-free! We didn’t try the dessert, because I had my heart set on a nearby shop…

We had dessert at Frankie and Jo’s. I had been waiting literally for years to go there! It’s a vegan ice cream shop with awesome flavors; even non-vegans from Bon Appétit love it! I tasted the Blueberry Lavender Pie ice cream (seasonal), and it was really great; I wish I had been hungry enough to eat that one too! I should have asked for a taste of California Cabin, too. But I went with the ones I’d had my eye on all this time, the Salty Caramel Ash ice cream and the Beet Strawberry Rose sorbet. They were out of this world! I’d really like to figure out the recipe for that sorbet in particular. And I just found out that Frankie & Jo’s ships their ice cream domestically, so that’s where my next paycheck is going…

Day 3
We drove out to Mount Rainier, which we’d been seeing from afar since we got there. You definitely have to get there early (before 9:00am) to get a parking spot, but keep in mind that the visitors’ pavilion doesn’t open until 10:00am. We had read that in early June, “it’s possible there will still be snow on the ground.” We’re Canadian, we figured that was totally fine. As it turned out, though, there was so much snow that one of the two trails we were considering (Nisqually Vista Trail) was closed, and the other (Skyline Trail to Myrtle Falls) was open, but… under a lot of snow. People starting their trek had spikes on their shoes (or snow shoes or skis), and walking sticks of ski sticks, and proper snow suits in most cases. I walked up the slope for a bit (maybe a total of 50 feet up, according to Strava), then decided that my shoes were not adequate and I went back down. (The Fox and his grandmother were waiting in the visitors’ center by then, and the Engineer and the Little Prince went up a bit further than I did.)

We did get to enjoy the scenery on the way up and down, though (at least, those of us who weren’t driving), and made a little stop at Narada Falls on the way down.

We then had lunch at Mount Rainier Railroad Dining Company, partly because it was a good location that offered some gluten-free options, and maybe partly also because in Vancouver, we hadn’t been to the “right” location of the Old Spaghetti Factory and I felt like I had been cheated out of the railroad car. This place was all railroad cars, though, and the food was really good! I ended up splitting a hamburger with the Fox because he finished his corndog and was still hungry; the Little Prince and my mother-in-law both had the salmon with blackberries, and the Engineer had the Montecristo sandwich.

On the way back, we stopped by Lincoln Park to see a second Dambo troll, Bruun Idun. I think I liked her more than Frankie! The surroundings are gorgeous, too, as she’s on the edge of the forest near the water. This was a great outing! And the kids spent a little time at the playground too.

We dropped off my mother-in-law at the townhouse so she could rest and made our way to Delancey. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you might know that I’ve been wanting to go to Delancey since… before it opened over 15 years ago? I can’t help it, I’m such a big fan of Molly Wizenberg, so I was following the whole thing on her blog (Orangette) and then read her memoir about that phase in her life. And on the way there, as we were driving downhill in Ballard, I think we passed her on her bike, then met up again with her at the intersection of 75th Street and 8th Avenue. Molly Wizenberg, if you were wearing a lime green bike helmet and biking with your toddler in her trailer, just know that I was super happy to catch a glimpse of you!

Anyway, we made it to Delancey. Somehow, this was also just as I imagined it, though I couldn’t sum up all the background info I got from Molly Wizenberg (and honestly, it’s not necessary to enjoy a good pizza!). The white pizza looked great, but I decided to go the classic route and got the margherita (and I took Lactojoy, which was totally worth it). We got some of their famous salted chocolate chip cookies to go, too.

So, I hadn’t realized that there was a Frankie & Jo’s literally next door, but what we had on our schedule that evening was Salt & Straw – I’d been wanting to go there ever since I saw this on Instagram! I tasted the Strawberry and Coconut Water Sherbet, and it was good, but I got the Peanut Butter Brittle Caramel Fudge, and that was fantastic! And Salt & Straw does sell online too, including a pack of dairy-free flavors.

Of course, with such a short stay, we didn’t get to do *everything*. If I ever go back, I’d like to go to Bateau, meet up with two friends who live there, maybe explore some neighborhoods more in depth or see more of Molly Wizenberg’s recommendations. And, like, eat at Frankie & Jo’s everyday!