I'm certainly no saint, and am only beginning to shift away from junkier, more convenient foods, and foods I'm used to eating. I'm about to share a bunch of photos of not kale so stay with me.


Someday when I have a place where "counterspace" exists, I'll buy a juicer and juice everything that comes in my path.


I got the Pizza Crepe, with marinara, cashew cheese, basil and pepper flakes and it was so amazing.
I ate the whole thing and then eagerly eyed Alex's for bites.



After crepes, we went for coffee, and then watched the Women's World Cup at Banter. Then we moseyed around Manhattan in the rain poking in some record stores while we waited for our reservation at Blossom on Carmine. When we go for fancydinners, we do it right. We each get a special cocktail, we share an appetizer, we each get an entree and we always get dessert. Alex's cocktail choice was the Jaguar Ride, with jalapeño tequila, sriracha bitters, lemon and lime juice, orange liquer and salt rim. It was super spicy and savory. I somehow failed to photograph mine, but I got the Dale Hollow, with angel's envy whiskey, and ginger syrup with mint over ice.



I ordered the pasta, which was orecchiette with ground seitan chorizo, cashew alfredo, sautéed broccolini, artichoke hearts and soy parmesan. Alex was a big fan of this dish too! I think he ate at least half of it! I was super full, otherwise I would have been on defense and eating it all myself.


He got the seitan scallopini, with lemon wine caper sauce and truffled mashed potatoes. Some sautéed kale made an appearance on this plate as well. I am not a giant seitan-lover so I took a bite or two but the truffled mash was the main event on this plate for me.



Overall, we would definitely go back to Blossom on Carmine. We liked it much better than Candle 79, where both of us were pretty disappointed with not only the food, but the service as well. Candle does make a better brownie, however. Still, I don't think we'll go back there. Blossom was better for food for sure.

More from Thug Kitchen, I made Posole Rojo, a spicy soup thickened with chilies and tempeh. I topped it with lots of cabbage and avocado, and unfortunately all you can see are the toppings from this picture that I took, but just use your imagination or something.



Every since that loser sommelier told me that time that I could never understand the finer things in life because I'm vegan, I've been wanting to host a vegan wine and cheese party. Even though all I know about wine is that is comes in red and in white, I'm like really good at drinking it. However, I did not know too much about vegan cheese. From the consensus of the internet, the best vegan cheese to buy is Mikoyo's Kitchen. Despite the company taking 5 days to ship an order I placed, and Fedex not following instructions and doing what they do, I managed to climb to the ends of the Earth to claim what was truly mine -- the best vegan fancycheese on the market. That evening I hosted a vegan wine and cheese party, and by that I mean I brought my fancy vegan cheese over to my aunt's cottage and shared it with everyone. I was the only vegan at this party but the vegan cheese went over super well, especially amongst certified vegan-haters, and cheese-haters alike. Even alex, who only likes the cheese that comes on pizza, seemed to enjoy the cheese!


Of course I served it with classy stone fruits! We also served them with triscuit crackers because we are fancy. The flavors I ordered were Double Cream Chive, which was a creamy (obviously) spreadable cheese that reminded me of boursin cheese. It was overwhelmingly the most popular. The second kind was Sundried Tomato Garlic, also a double cream variation, also spreadable, but more sundried tomato and garlicky, as one might expect. I loved this one as well. The third kind was Mt. Vesuvius Black Ash, which was a much harder cheese, with a smoky and sharp taste. It was nice that all three weren't the same texture and sharpness. I am more a fan of the creamy variety but I would still choose to order a cheese like this next time for variety of the fancycheeses.


This is my plate with some of each kind. Oh don't worry I had much much more than this.

My aunt and uncle got a new puppy while we were visiting. His name is Redford, and he is adorable. When I came to visit he was fast asleep. My uncle tried really hard to wake him up but his machinery was switched off. Nothing could wake him up! We let him sleep because he looked super cute. When he woke up he played tug of war with my mom for an hour and nipped everyone and everything in sight.

I've been going nuts on Salad Samurai still. I've been trying to make more of the Summer Chapter salads because I spent a lot of time this winter making the winter ones, but it's nice to make salads filled with summery produce. This is the BKT bowl, the B being Tempeh bacon, the K standing for Kale, rather than your ordinary L(lettuce), and tomatoes were traditional and unadulterated here. There was avocado and red onion as well all tossed in a mustardy-citrus vinaigrette. It was so good I am going to make it again tonight!


Another salad I've been making over and over is the Orange Poppyseed Tofu Salad with Strawberries, which also has blueberries, orange segments, and Sriracha and Smoke Pecans. The pecans are like crack. I learned from times prior to make a double batch. The pecans take only 15 minutes and the tofu about 30. In the 15 minutes while the tofu finishes and the pecans are out of the oven, I eat them all. Fast. There are like 5 pecans left to put in the salad. I learned, and made a double batch this time! This salad is unbelievable dope and it makes me enjoy summer just a little more.