Happy Monday!

by Valerie on May 10, 2010 · 9 comments

I hope everyone is doing well. Thank you for all the lovely comments and emails and tweets regarding my last pot, on my Tuesday Night Yoga resolution.   I really appreciated everything you said.  I know I have been pretty quiet here lately, but today I wanted to show you a few bits of my weekend:

First, aren’t these flowers gorgeous:

Flowers at Dupont Market 

Another picture of pretty flowers:

Flowers at Dupont Market

I saw those at the Dupont Market, my standard Sunday 9am appointment. A couple of Sundays ago my friend Christina came along to the market with me – we had such fun, and I was grateful she was ok with me being still half asleep at 9am (just because I go to the market every Sunday at 9am does not mean I am totally awake).  After shopping at the market, we went to Teaism, where I enjoyed this scrummy tofu scramble:

Teaism Tofu Scramble

Teaism has always been one of my favorite restaurants, and fortunately, they have a fair amount of gluten-free and vegan selections. When I make tofu scrambles, I use firm tofu, so Teaism’s tofu scramble made with silken tofu was a new concept to me. It was full of cilantro and chilies, making it super satisfying (though be sure to ask for it to be vegan when you order it, as Analiese notes below, it can sometimes be deveganized). If you have no dietary restrictions, I also highly recommend the Ginger Scones and the Chocolate Salty Oats cookie, two of my former staples.

But back to this weekend. I saw the first local strawberries of the season:

Strawberry lane

I can’t believe it’s been a year since the strawberry lane picture.  These strawberries yesterday smelled delicious and sun-ripened, though they were not as sweet as I expected them.

And since this was the last weekend for ramps, I also bought some to make one last batch of ramp pesto.

Ramps 

While I wish ramp season were longer, basil is starting to appear at the market.  This is the second weekend I have bought a tiny little bunch of basil. As small as it is it still fills the kitchen with its lovely fresh fragrance.

Basil!!

I have a whole post coming up on new recipes I have been trying out with basil.  But in the meantime, remember when I spotted macarons at Trader Joe’s and said macarons were truly everywhere.  They really are. I saw some at Whole Foods yesterday:

Macarons at whole foods

Above is strawberry and pistachio, and below are chocolate and lemon (or maybe it was vanilla):

Macarons at WF 

I am hoping the ubiquitization of macarons means that a vegan version arrives soon too! I love that macarons are usually naturally gluten-free and not always that that sugary. Part of me wants to take on the challenge, but honestly, right now I am all about smoothies and soft-serve, because look what arrived this week:

Vitamix! 

That’s right, the much-debated-agonized-over-should-I-really-purchase-this Vita-Mix. And honestly, I should have bought it a year ago when I first started thinking about it.  It really does make smoothies in under 1 minute, though I think the key to it working is to follow the order the recipes suggest when piling the ingredients in.  Several of you asked me if the Vita-Mix is loud, and it is, but it only has to be loud for 30-60 seconds, as opposed to my old blender, which was loud for much longer as it struggled to make my green smoothies.  And thank you to everyone who answered my many, many questions on the Vita-Mix versus the Blendtec. 

I hope everyone has a great start to the week!

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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Analiese Marie May 10, 2010 at 3:16 pm

Heh…I guess we are on the same wavelength this morning! And are those peonies?! Serious synchronicity! :-) A word about Teaism's tofu scramble. I have seen the cooks throw a small amount of what looks to be yogurt in the pan when they're cooking it. I've since started asking them to leave the yogurt out and it tastes just as good. And yes, the silken tofu was a revelation for me too! I love how soft and comforting it is!

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2 Olivia May 10, 2010 at 3:28 pm

Ah! You bought it! I'm so glad you're loving it. And I'm curious–what's the official preferred order for loading the Vita? Mine's used so I don't know all the juicy details.

On a side note: I'd love to do a blogger meetup this fall/winter when I'm in the DC area. I keep drooling over your restaurant pics.

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3 Melita May 10, 2010 at 7:03 pm

i love those peonies – one of my absolute fav flowers b/c they smell SOOOOO good :) i was finally able to get my hands on some ramps this weekend at our farmer's market. am loving all of your gorgeous pics. yay for the vitamix!! i've been making lots of green smoothies recently and thankfully my old (cheap) blender is working fabulously! have a fabulous week darling! hugs!!

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4 Meghan (Making Love In The Kitchen) May 11, 2010 at 2:01 am

Yahhoozles! Everyone who gets the Vita-Mix wonders what they were waiting for. This baby will change your world!

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5 Ivy May 11, 2010 at 4:55 am

Those flowers look beautiful. I've added you at twitter but I am not sure if that is you. Are you a web developper?

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6 The Voracious Vegan May 11, 2010 at 6:37 am

Those flowers ARE beautiful! I wish I had a bouquet right here at the table beside me. I love having fresh flowers, they make the whole room happy and light.

Speaking of happy…enjoy your Vita-Mix, you are SO lucky! I can't wait to see what you whip up in there!

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7 Averie (LoveVeggiesAndYoga) May 11, 2010 at 6:58 am

congrats on the vita! ivve had mine about 20 mos or so. Life changing and should have bought it 5 yrs ago!

yes, loud but youre right only for 30 secs
and in the beginning i made alot of smoothie type foods…had no idea i could make raw balls etc in it…as i got less scared of it's power, my creativity exploded. love it

i dont like the blendtec, see this post
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2009/10/vegan-peanut-butter-banana-bread.html

I could have been far worse but was tactful :)

sounds like u were soliciting opinoins on the 2, vita vs BT
i am a vita girl ALL The way!

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8 Carolyn May 15, 2010 at 9:47 pm

I finally used my mom's vita mix this past week, and it's AMAZING! I never knew a green smoothie could be so… SMOOTH!!! I can't wait to get one of my own (dunno when that'll be though…).

P.S. Peonies are my fave flower – in pink, bien sur!

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