80's Valentines Day

It was Valentines day. A day for love, frivolity, cupcakes the size of my foot, engagement rings (that's right), and the best of all, 80's sing-a-long night at the Coolidge Theater.

Since it was Saturday, Raina did not have to make the trek to the bakery and we were left with a full day of vegan novelties. Brandon had seen this place in Harvard Square called Veggie Planet and we thought it would be a cool place to check out when all of us could go. So we were back on the red line and went to see what was served on a planet named Veggie.

Deep fried amazingness is the answer.


They have all vegan pizzas and/or rice dishes. You can order such things like Vegan Shepard's Pie, Red Curry Peanut Tofu, or standard veggie and cheese as a rice dish or a pizza. Red Curry pizza had to be tried, and I am missing it already. It was coated with red curry paste, chunks of deep fried tofu, broccoli, peanuts, and rice on top of a hand made organic little crust. I have never had anything like it! This was definitely prepping me for some dessert.

Typing in 'cupcakes' into the map feature on the iPhone, we came across a place called Kickass Cupcakes, with a name that cool, we knew they had to carry vegan options. And we were right. Up in Davis Square this little shop had some of the most amazingly decorated little goodies and even ones for your dog and your cat. These choc-it-to-me cupcakes were piled with chocolate ganache. They were worth every calorie that nestled into my lower back side that day.

Now before we even boarded our plane to get to Boston, Raina informed me that for V-day we were all going to head down to Coolidge Corner and sing along to all the awesomely bad love song music videos from the 80's. I just went along with the idea not knowing it would actually happen.
I don't think anyone was really ready for what we were in for that night. It was 11:30 pm. It was freezing cold. There was a well established line outside of the Theater and we still had thirty more minutes before we could even take our seats. Was this going to be worth it?

Oh yes my friend, it most certainly was.

For the next three hours, Raina, Brandon and myself belted our hearts out to every love song music video that was projected before us. Mind you, none of us had even had alcohol that day. We shimmied with Pat to ward off evil pimps, we took A-Ha on, and we felt Rod's infatuation while there was a total eclipse of our hearts. It was spectacular. Alas, all good things must come to an end. So we hailed a cab (OK, Raina did) and went back to the house to sleep well.

The Other L.A.

After our let down at Wheeler's, Brandon and I knew that it was time for some T.J. Scallywags, another vegan joint that I had read about online. We met Raina at her house and went over to Allston to check out this all cruelty free diner. They had an amazing selection of American cuisine that was all vegan! Brandon ordered a chick'n Parmesan calzone, Raina-the spinach and tomato mozzarella calzone, and myself, an all out tofurky bacon club sandwich. All of these items were drool worthy. With bellies full we decided to fill up our little brains with some inspiring art that was on display at the ICA. Shepard Fairey had his work on display there while he was in the local Bostonian jail!


The next morning, Raina had to head back to work at the bakery in the wee hours, so again, B and I were left to wonder the streets unsupervised. Hello Harvard!
We hopped on the red line and headed up to one of the world's most famous universities. Harvard. I had no idea that Cambridge was such a liberal feeling, vegan friendly, artsy phartsy little spot. We wondered aimlessly around the campus in awe of the hundreds of years old buildings and shops, making our way to Tealuxe. I guess this is a little local chain that serves up hand scooped tea and oh yes, ginormous vegan cookies. Ordering a Creme Brulee tea with soy, which totally tasted like acorn squash with maple syrup, and a giant choco-chip cookie put a huge smile on my face. On reaching my sugar fix we jumped back on the red line and went over to see MIT.

I have always wanted to see the Frank Gehry structure that is over in that neck of the woods, and yes, it was also a sight to bestow. I can not imagine drawing that up in AutoCADD!
It was getting late in the day so we went back to meet Raina so that we could all go up to the top of the Prudential Center (aka the Pru) and watch the sunset. Out of all of the tops of buildings that I have been to, this by far was one of the best sights that I have seen. It certainly can make a girl hungry for success staring at all those costly town homes, and for some more vegan grub.
Heading out again, we went to the South End. There is a little restaurant called DeLux which was like being in a friends bedroom that's located in his parents house even though he's forty. The decor was full of Elvis memorabilia, old record covers, a Christmas tree on the bar, and a brightly lit up Santa waiting for you outside the bathroom door. It was fantastic! They didn't offer much other than cheeseless salad for vegans, but it was still a neat vibe.

Rockin' out in Boston

Over a very long and some what bitterly cold weekend, Brandon and I took on Boston, one vegan joint at time. Brandon had never been to Boston, and since I feel that Bean Town is the city for me, I had to take him and convince him that this was the town for him as well.

We flew out early early Thursday morning and landed in Boston ready to eat our way through. Raina was still at work, so we were left to fend for ourselves until the afternoon. We walked through the Financial District and then up through the North End, peeking into the Modern Pastry, Mike's Pastry Shop and then, oh yeah, historic things like Paul Revere's old joint. This city, for being not as large as most, as so much to offer the veg friendly soul! We were like little kids in a sweets store, winding through the old cow paths that would eventually lead us to Beacon Hill. We popped into a little bagel store next to the Old Meeting House and Old

Bookstore (which disappointingly is now a diamond store?!) The bagel was a good way to jump start our energy to go walk to Cheers, Quincy Market, Old State House and then to some disappointment.

Before even going to Boston, I had to make sure that I knew where all the "hot" spots were for us to eat at, and while doing some research I came across Wheelers Black Label Vegan Ice Cream. Reading that it was an all vegan ice cream joint, I could not wait to get there. After

about 45 minutes of confused wondering, Brandon and I finally got there, during business hours, and they just up and closed the shop! Someones stuff was still inside with their laptop open and everything, but nothing! No sign that 'we went out to take a wee', 'my dog was coughing up hairballs' or 'zombies on the lose!' NOTHING! We were quite put out needless to say. That is when we decided it was time to head over to Raina's neck of the woods. Brighton.

Tempura Hangovers

Lately my sister and her husband have been frying up several batches of tempura to stay warm on these crappy Indiana nights. Hearing her talk about how amazing these little fried nuggets of who-knows-what are, I was curious to see just how tasty these things were and if I could make them in, of course, a vegan manner.


(the banana wontons)


So Susan and I decided to completely uphold our gender biased roles and sew up some old school aprons while cooking some tempura batches. Not knowing exactly what we were doing, I thought that we could buy tons of veggies and we would be able to eat them all with the help of two hunger guys. With a basket full of asparagus, carrots, a sweet potato, russet potato, green beans, extra firm tofu, red, green, and yellow pepper, and some bananas for some chocolate wonton frying to top it off, we were on our way for a gluttonous over load.






We made four batches of tempura batter with flour, sugar, baking powder, water, and sea salt. Having just a "practice" run, Susan, Brad and myself dived head first into a world full of beautiful pain. This was a new found heaven. Other than Brad's vegetable sushi rolls, I am not sure if I have been more eager to consume more than five servings of something in such a short amount of time. (Brad's Awesome Sushi)

Needless to say after eating batches and batches of these goodies and watching a head turning episode of LOST the aprons were slow in action. (Yes, it is cupcake fabric)