Celebrations.... May 31st

First of all, it's been ONE year since I've started this blog! I can't believe how fast time flies! Technically my first post was on May 30th of last year, but my first "eats" post wasn't until a year ago today (you can see my first posts here)... But I just got back from visiting family Upstate this weekend, so I was unable to post sooner! Anyways, here is a re-cap of my busy weekend, starting with Friday.

I went uptown Friday to go to the hair salon, and I stopped at Le Pain Quotidien at 53rd & 5th for a breakfast/lunch first.

I got an apple cinnamon muffin and their vegan quiche.

The muffin was really good (especially the topping), and the quiche was ok... it was a little too spicy and I prefer eggs in my quiche I guess. Still, it was really healthy none the less! (Oh, and the thing on top of the quiche was a piece of artichoke? At least, that's what they told me! lol)

And here I am riding back from the salon in a cab... I really had to rush home and pack!

For dinner that night we ordered pizza because we were in a hurry! We got it from Rivoli Pizza in the West Village (we've ordered from them before and the pizza is always great!).

I tried to take pics while I was Upstate, but it was hard to "sneak" them in! Most people don't understand the concept of taking pictures of what you eat... hell, my Grandma doesn't even understand or accept the fact that I'm a vegetarian!

So here are the eats I got in...

Grandma's coffee cake... this is AMAZING. Seriously, the best coffee cake I've ever had.

For dinner Saturday night Grandma made (or I should say my Mom made, because she assisted so much!) linguini & clam sauce. (Again, clams and shrimp are two of the only things I'll tolerate. And I usually only eat them in social situations like this one. It was good none the less!)

My Aunt brought up some cupcakes that she had made. I had a red velvet one... can't go wrong with that! ;)

On Sunday we had a family get together at my Grandparent's house... here I am in Grandma's living room (Mom is in the very back there, lol).

I had a good time playing with all the dogs that people brought over! Both my cousins brought their dogs, but my favorite will always be my Grandparent's dog, Mae. (You can see more about her here.)

Here is a better pic to see what she looks like (although since she's under the table it's kind of dark).

Unfortunately I wasn't able to snap a pic of my dinner that night. We had a BBQ. I managed to find Morning Star Farm's Italian Sausages in a grocery store Upstate! I had one with some corn-on-the-cob! Here's what they look like:

Tonight for dinner I used the remaining sausages in pasta. I kind of made my own pasta with "meat" sauce. I can't say enough good things about these "sausages." They taste like the real Italian sausages that I've had when I was little. Only they are WAY better for you and of course, meat free!

On our drive home this morning (and we got up EARLY this morning to leave), once we got back into the city, we got to have an up close and personal look at the Memorial Day festivities. We happened to drive right by the piers (it's "fleet week" here in NYC), where they were having Memorial Day services, events, etc. I wish I had taken some pictures, but we were going by it kind of fast in the car.

Still, there was someone who was VERY happy to see us when we got home!

How was your Memorial Day weekend?

And in light of my first year anniversary, how long have you been blogging?

Good News & Good Eats! May 6th

I feature a picture of the good news below, but it has to do with Wild Ginger bringing back their original spring rolls! Yes, I care that much. But the last time I went when we had the blogger meet-up, they had these mini spring rolls that weren't quite as good. But to my surprise, when I went back yesterday, the original sized ones had returned! I actually told them how happy I was. I'm such a geek! lol Ok, anyways, on to the eats!

I've been having major PMS symptoms this week. The evidence is below!

Pizza and brownies. :) The pizza is from Ray's (my local pizza place here in Greenwich Village), and the brownies I made myself and they are the terrific Ghiradelli ones that I've made before (see here).

Yesterday was my lunch at Wild Ginger...

My beloved spring rolls! They are seriously the best in Manhattan. Where did they disappear to last month? I hope they take my suggestions seriously (they should only know the amount of publicity I've given them on here! lol) and not f*** around with them again!! ;)

I got their adorable shumai steamed dumplings too. These are so tasty!

And of course, my beloved pineapple fried rice. :)

Now, on to today's eats!

Breakfast:

I tried Van's cinnamon french toast sticks. I had these along with some berries and Trader Joe's maple syrup.

Here is my mini review: While I did like the cinnamon-y taste, I wasn't wild about the texture. And they were a little too "everything free" for my taste. Now, you don't need gluten to make something taste good, but these were a little off to me. Still, the syrup made them better. But doesn't it always? :)

Lunch:

I was running errands in the West Village and decided to stop in the Le Pain Quotidien on Hudson St. I had been to "Le Pain" before, but not in a long while.

I got their vegetarian quiche, which came with a mesculn salad.

The quiche was quite good, but they really didn't give me a lot for the price! I mean nearly $12?! I'm not even a fan of raw veggies, so salad is not my thing. Still, for the money I made myself choke down some of it!

I was still so hungry after eating it that I broke down and got dessert. And guess what? I forgot that I had made brownies a few days ago and ordered... another brownie!!! I had one of those "doh!" moments. But this has really been a brownie sort of week anyway, so it's ok.

As for the brownie, it was good, but I actually like the ones I made better! Their food is pretty good, but they really overcharge... now I remember why I don't go there that often!

Snack:

One of my favorites, a strawberry fruit bar (Whole Food's 365 brand).

Dinner:

Was an Annie's skillet meal. I know on the box it says "Creamy Tuna Spirals," but it's actually totally vegetarian pasta (even rennet free, which is super important to me these days!). You have the option of adding whatever you want to it. If I weren't so lazy I would've added tofu, but I don't know what I'm doing with it! So instead I just added peas!

Either way, it was good! And for dessert? Yup, you guessed it! Another brownie! I had one of my home made ones. But don't worry, I had an orange earlier in between brownies! lol

And on that note, I'll leave you with some close-ups of my dear little boy! :)

P.S. ~ I also forgot to say, "thank you!" for all the comments on the last post! Keep them coming! I read them all and will respond to any questions. :)