Last night was…Date Night! We had a BABYSITTER, and actually went out to dinner for the first time in four years (I am counting some of my pregnancy, because you cannot drink when you are toting around a developing fetus). We have done dates during the day while he is at day care, school, etc. but never gotten a sitter for an evening before. It was quite the revelation.
We got sushi, which I had been craving. Question: why isn’t there more vegan sushi at sushi places? Like that awesome deep fried silken tofu I always get, can’t you put that in a roll with some avocado and carrots or something? Maybe next time I'll ask them to make me a fried tofu roll. It was great regardless.
The place was a BYO and so we brought this great, yet very reasonably priced wine (It was a
Dry Riesling from Chateau Ste Michelle) so I went crazy and drank two glasses of wine at dinner, and then we went to this store I’d been dying to go to for like months,
A Taste of Olive. I ended up spending $50 on olive oils and vinegar, but to me, that is the best fifty bucks that you can spend.
You can taste all (or at least as many as you can handle) of the oils and vinegars and once you choose one (or more!) they bottle it for you right there and seal it with their fun machine.
Yup, that's my cat's tail on the right, there.
So, the bottles have their logo on one side, and on the other they print out custom labels for whichever ambrosial liquids you chose to go inside:
My husband's choice.
I needed a great, all-purpose balsamic vinegar. This was it. I was difficult to go basic with the dozens of amazing vinegars they carry.
My choice of oil.
My husband and I each preferred a slightly different profile to our oils, so we got two. He chose a Spanish oil, La Trinidad, which was grassy, fruity, and had a sharp, peppery finish that got you in the back of the throat. I chose Kaldi, a Greek oil that had a lot of fruit up front and a peppery finish that didn’t linger too long on the back of the throat. Anyway, I’ll get a flavored one next time, but it was so hard to choose, I went for the great all around oil.
So, today, we hit the Farmer's Market and then really wanted to use our new bottles.
Hubby made a fresh vegetable terrine with zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes and fresh basil:
I mixed in some chickpeas, and some sauteed fresh spinach (hubby also made that, sauteed with leeks, from our farmer's market purchases). I dressed it with my balsamic vinegar and my olive oil. Hubby does not like balsamic vinegar, so I made a separate dish.
We ate these over pasta: capellini dressed with garlic and oil. I'm sure you can imagine a better picture than I could have taken because I was starving!
And then, since it was like 75 degrees (Fahrenheit) today, I made some pumpkin ice cream. I was trying to get a craving for Bassetts pumpkin ice cream out of my system:
It turned out exactly like my beloved Bassetts, but, better. And vegan.
If you guys want the recipe to either of these, comment below and I'll try to make it happen.
Have a great night (or day)!
<3 Dawn
