A Fun Food Day

Well! I'm a little behind... but last weekend, I had a really fun food day!

I took a little trip over to Palo Alto for a visit with my great friend JJTWH. Our original plan was to go for a hike and look at wildflowers, but it was a chilly, windy day... so we decided to go to Palo Alto and stroll and eat instead. Ha ha!

After cruising the mean streets of P.A., we went into a nice little Mediterranean spot called Kan Zeman. We had a great lunch - very filling and nutritious and delicious.

First they served us some very delicious lentil soup that came with our meals. They also gave us some pita. I loved that some of the pita was whole wheat. Nice!

Because I cannot resist a bean dish, and because JJTWH is pregnant and can eat as much as she wants, we ordered an appetizer. This was called "Foul Modammas - fava bean dip served with garlic sauce and tahini." I really appreciated that our waiter was very vegan friendly. When he set this down, he said "that's tahini, not yogurt!" with a big smile. Right on!

JJTWH and I ordered the same thing - the vegetarian platter. JJTWH is a vegetarian, but not a vegan, so she got the platter as is. The waiter helped me make sure that my dish would be vegan. All it took was replacing the baba ghanoush with another serving of hummus. No problem! So, my GIGANTIC platter had two delicious falafels, two nice servings of hummus, tabbouleh, two dolmas, and a nice fresh veggie salad. Wow! It was really great. In all, I had a lot left over and I enjoyed the other half for lunch the next day. This restaurant was really good and really vegan friendly.

NOT PICTURED: After lunch we strolled over the amazing Fraiche for a lovely frozen yogurt. Oh, I really LOVE that place. I wish they would open one in Santa Cruz. I had a soy yogurt with mangos and toasted coconut. I was too busy oohhing and aaahing to take any pictures. Sorry about that! Maybe next time!

After our lunch date, I pulled back into Santa Cruz just in time to meet up with Melisser from The Urban Housewife and her friend. They were in town on a vegan baked goods tasting expedition. After they enjoyed a few pieces of cake at Black China Bakery, I met up with them at Staff of Life. We perused all the offerings in the aisles, just for fun, and then selected a few baked goods to try. We tried the chocolate cake, the chocolate tower, and the cinnamon roll. I know Melisser's got some seriously sophisticated reviewing systems... so I'll leave it to her to tell you all what we thought.

However, I will say this - nothing we sampled topped the amazing giftie that Melisser brought me - three vegan "Thin Mints." These are a sample recipe from a cookie cookbook she's testing for. OH MY GOD! These were INSANELY good. I shared them with Musty and my grandpa after dinner than night. Thanks Melisser, you rule!