That night our fellow friends Megan and Chris had us all 3 over for dinner. It was a wonderfully fun dinner party. First we played with their super sweet little twins, and after bedtime we had our dinner. Megan was so sweet and made a traditional lasagna as well as a vegan lasagna. (*side note: every year I make a little cookbook with some of my favorite recipes of the year, and give it to my friends and family... this lasagna recipe was from one of my past cookbooks and is probably one of my very most favorite meals of all times. It was a REAL treat to have someone else make me my own favorite dish!!). Here's my piece. I had two, actually!
And that night, Laura and Chris took me to another veg-friendly spot they knew: "Rancho's" This was also featured in the VegNews article. I can only say this : WOW!!!! What a freaking amazing place! They have a huge menu, and at least half the items have a (*V) symbol next to them, meaning that the item is or can be vegan! It's a mainly mexican food spot, with very fresh ingredients. They had so many veggie choices it was just awe-inspiring: shitake, tofu, tempeh, vegetable, avocado... the list goes on. I finally settled on an avocado-blue corn enchilada and a tempeh ranchero enchilada, both with red sauce, and a side serving of beans. Oh man, it was a truly delicious menu. I can't wait to go back.
This morning I got up early, since Laura and Chris were headed off to work, and decided to go for a hike at Torrey Pines State Park. Torrey Pines is one of my favorite places anywhere, and it was especially lovely on a quiet, cool, cloudy morning. It was so beautiful just walking around with the sages, cacti, and cliffs... ahhh.
After that little walk, I headed over to "Rancho's" other location - which isn't too far from the airport. Last night I had noticed the breakfast part of the menu, and that they made vegan pancakes! Shockingly, there is nowhere to get good vegan pancakes in all of Santa Cruz. Dharma's does make vegan corn "pancakes" - which are essentially just large disks of cornbread. Most unsatisfying. So, I ordered some vegan multigrain pancakes - and added in blueberries and bananas. You can't tell from this picture, but these were FULL of blueberries and bananas (on the underside). I also paid the extra $.95 for organic pure maple syrup. Oh yum yum yum. These were the fluffiest, hugest, and most delicious pancakes I have had since becoming vegan over 5 years ago. They were THAT good. I couldn't believe it. I literally left the store skipping down the sidewalk!
Just a quick note for those of you are fellow vintage kitchen ware fans... I only had about 10 minute to stop by my favorite vintage pyrex antique spot in the world. I was in such a rush, I didn't have much time to decide about purchases (I got one small refridgerator dish), but I did snap some pics of this lady's booth - it's just so beatiful. She groups all the dishes by color in some very enticing displays!
Lastly... my eating schedule was all weird on account of my flight today, so we ended up getting burritos at about 4:30 today. As a result we weren't too hungry for dinner. So, I just made us a big fruit salad. I broke down and bought plenty of non-local, non-seasonal, and a few non-organic fruits. Oh well. :) The salad had fuji apple, red d'anjou pear, manjo, fresh pineapple (very good one too!), blueberries, and oranges. mmmm. a nice treat.
Hope you all had a great weekend! Be sure to check these places out if you ever make to San Diego!
Yay! That sounds like the most amazing trip. All the food looks so good (pancakes! I'm there) but I especially like the store "all vegan"- that would fit in nicely in vegan world, wouldn't it?...
ReplyDeleteNice collection of pyrex too. I love that pitcher thing on top. Never seen one.
Wow! What a great trip! These days I get to SD about every 2 years for a conference and I usually just stick around the Gaslamp/convention center area but next time I'll definitely have to explore some more.
ReplyDeleteWow, looks like you had a wonderful trip and some delicious food! It all looks so good...and of course I have to say thanks for posting a picture the Pyrex booth. What an amazing selection to choose from :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a great time with a lot of wonderful food. My grandma lives in Carlsbad so I'll definitely be flying out there one of these days. I'll make it a point to drive down to San Diego and check out some of these vegan eateries.
ReplyDeleteYou have some great friends! Can I borrow them when I get to San Diego?
I've only been to San Diego once, but I really liked it. I was at 3 of the places you mention: Jyoti-Bihanga, Ranchos, and Torrey Pines. The restaurants were great, and like you I loved Torrey Pines. It sounds like you had a great trip!
ReplyDeleteWowie! What a trip!!! :) That pyrex booth is just AWESOME! And what a beautiful hike! I would have chosen the meatloaf too, yum yum! Oh, and can I be one of the friends you send your recipes to? That lasagna looks divine!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a blast! Who knew San Diego was such a vegan friendly place?!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a really great trip. It's awesome that everyone was so accommodating for you, and that you were able to find so many tasty vegan treats. Even though I am not vegan, I appreciate how hard it is to find really great pancakes, and those ones look fantastic.
ReplyDeleteWow, I would love to visit a store called "All Vegan!" Incredible! All in all, it sounds like your trip was excellent. Everything makes me wish I could go there too. I can't imagine being able to order vegan pancakes anywhere!
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome eating and shopping experience! Don't you love to go to a restaurant where you can't make up your mind what to get? How often does that happen!
ReplyDeleteI would really like to email you about yoga. Would you mind sending me your email address? veganruthie AT yahoo
ReplyDeleteThanks :)
Hi Bazu,
ReplyDeleteYeah... I guess that in VeganWorld, ALL the stores would be "All Vegan"!!! :)
Oh Cool Chris,
That's neat that you go to SD with some regularity. I definitely encourage you to check out the vegan sites!
Hi Emmy!
Yeah, I included this picture for you and Ruthie! This is only one tiny section of the larger display... it's so overwhelmingly fun!
Hi VivV,
Cool that you also get to SD/Carlsbad. I like Carlsbad a lot. And yes, you certainly can borrow my friends! :)
Hi Susan!
How super fun that you've been to so many of the same places in SD that I went. Isn't Torrey Pines just amazingly beautiful? That combination of desert scrubs and cactuses... with the ocean!? It's so cool.
Hi Vegan Ruthie!
I actually sent cookbooks to a few blogger buddies this year at xmas... I'll do more next year! And I'm so glad you liked the Pyrex pic - so many beautiful dishes, and only one carry-on bag for the flight home! ha ha
Hi Theresa,
Yeah, who knew??!! :)
Hi Judy,
What a sweet comment :) It's true - vegan or not, good pancakes are a special thing to find!
Hi Laura!
I wish all my vegan blogger buddies could have come with me... it was so exhilarating going to all the fun vegan spots.
Hi Diann,
oh yeah! I sure do love it when there are so many choices you can't decide... it's crazy fun!
ps ruthie,
sure thing! ;)
Oh man...I wish I had known about all these places when i visited San Diego in November. I was there for the day and for lunch the best I could find was a (vegan)veggie burger...pah! Now I really want to go back and try out those places and definitely visit the vegan store!
ReplyDeleteAwesome post. I live in San Diego County. I need to go to All Vegan for sure. My DH and I used to go to Torrey Pines in our early dating years all the time. It is a beautiful place.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great trip you had! Torrey Pines looks beautiful. And what a cool pyrex display that shop had! I love it when stores arrange items by color. I must get down to San Diego one of these days, if not for the vegan food, then for the "all vegan" store! Gotta love that!
ReplyDeleteI am a vintage kitchenware nut and I must admit that the pyrex picture made my heart skip a beat. The food looked great too!
ReplyDeleteHi ScottishVegan,
ReplyDeleteYou gotta go back! There's so much to see (and eat!).
Hi Veg-a-Nut,
You are so psyched to live in SD County. I was really impressed with all the veggie offerings. :)
Hi Kati,
I agree! Arrangements-by-color are extra beautiful. And, obviously, I really recommend SD. It's fun & tasty!
Hi Kellimezzo,
How fun that you are another vintage kitchenware fan! :) Nice to meet you!