Baby Shower Bites

Last weekend my mom and my good friend Paula threw me a baby shower. This was just ONE of the food tables! The cake with the giant cupcake on top of it in the pic above my mom ordered from a bakery, but despite the fact they were both skeptical that I'd want to make anything, I insisted on making vegan cupcakes, of course. And, in what's becoming my go-to wower for parties, I whipped up some of SMBP's black & white truffles.

NYC 2: Cafe Blossom

Top right: Delicious black-eyed pea cakes; Bottom right: Mushroom Phyllo Pastry

We were recently back East for a wedding, and had one night in NYC. This pass-through was even less time than my last trip to the Big Apple, but still enough time for a (vegan!) dinner night out with friends and a run in Central Park! Two of my must-dos when vising the city now.

After my other trip, I was hoping to go to Candle 79 again, since it was one of my best dining experiences EVER. Seriously, out of this world, whether you are vegan or not. But, I was coming in off an evening flight, and my husband reminded me I'd probably be pretty tired since I'm now entering my 3rd trimester (!)- he was right. Plus, I did want to try out somewhere new- NYC is just such an amazing food mecca. So, we picked somewhere more convenient to where we were staying - Cafe Blossom on Carmine in the West Village. I had been to the Cafe Blossom on the Upper West side my last trip, but each of the Blossom locations has a different menu and vibe, so it was still a completely different experience, which I was excited to try out! Read on for my take on Blossom...

Banana-Strawberry Waffles

I don't know what it is about Sundays, but I almost always wake up wanting pancakes or waffles. ESPECIALLY now that I'm pregnant, if I get something in my mind that I want to eat, I just gotta have it. Today, it was waffles. Thick, fluffy, Belgian waffles, with fresh banana and strawberry. Numnumnum. ;-)

This recipe is simple and easy to throw together on a lazy weekend morning.

Ginger Peanut Soba Noodles with Maple Tempeh

For fourth of July this year, one of the dishes I made was Oh She Glow's Rad Rainbow Raw Pad Thai. It had an amazing lime-peanut dressing that I thought would go great on a soba noodle dish. I added a bunch of veggies, some sweet maple-glazed tempeh, and voila! A yummy, easy new dinner favorite!