Vegan Eats In Seattle: Wayward Cafe.

So I finally got around to checking out the vegan mecca that every other veg-type-person in Seattle except myself has had the opportunity to dine at. Wayward Cafe. I suppose I can be forgiven for taking so long, because technically I live about 40 miles from Seattle. Not really convenient for grabbing a bite to eat.

But this past Monday/Sorta Holiday, I realized I had the day off, 2/3 of the Sprouts had deserted me and it was a perfect opportunity to check out the legendary yumminess. I even grabbed a very non-vegan friend to come along.

OK, so, Wayward used to be in another location. I'm not exactly sure where, and I guess it really doesn't matter for purposes of this review. Apparently the new place has more seating and more room, and that's good because they seem to be VERY popular. Located just across the street from two of my other favorite Seattle destinations (Sidecar Vegan Grocery and Pizza Pi vegan Pizza) this trinity of veganism is reason enough to head for Seattle, even for people like me who live almost an hour's drive away.

So? Did I enjoy my meal at Wayward? Was it worth the drive? Did my non-vegan dining partner find it palatable? Did my very-picky-hard-to-please Sprout like it?

An unequivocal YES! It lives up to the hype and then some!!!

I'm trying to remember what all we ordered - I chose an amazing, flavorful, crispy "fried chicken" type slab of tofu on a homemade bun with chipotle mayo (I'm already craving another in a SERIOUS way); my friend Kevin ordered some sort of BBQ-sauced-spiced tofu which we inhaled; and my Sprout ordered French Toast. We also had miscellaneous sides of deliciousness like cheezy grits, kale, hashbrowns, french fries, biscuits, salads, coffee, juice, etc... Being brutally honest, I will say the French Toast did not "wow" us. Maybe my Sprouts and I are spoiled by my own sometimes awesome cooking or maybe it just wasn't to our taste, but even though we passed everything around the table for everyone to sample, the French Toast got set aside. HOWEVER: Absolutely everything else was incredible and totally worth another hour-long drive in Seattle's famous traffic, even the potatoes were awesome, and I'm SUPER picky about potatoes. I need to return. SOON.

And my friend Kevin, who came along for the adventure? I have to give him extra points for being a good sport because he had no idea what he was getting himself into. Kev and I went to grade school together (LONG ago!!) and tried to out do each other with our artwork when we should have been paying attention to the teacher, I'm sure. I'm so proud of him though, because he actually kept up with his passion for art, as well as being a very successful businessman - he owns the fabulous, fun, funky, hip, edgy, classic Acme Barber Shop over on Capitol Hill (voted one of Playboy's Top 10 Barber Shops in America, what can I say?). Though he isn't vegan, a good percentage of the meals he eats end up that way. I mention all this because he cleaned his plate enthusiastically and remarked afterward that he would definitely come back, and often, because the food was so good. And it's not exactly around the corner from Capitol Hill. Somehow genuine praise from a non-vegan seems to carry almost more credibility.

Read the reviews on "Yelp" and other sites if you don't believe me, (don't take the occassional whine about slow service too seriously, they're still getting the kinks worked out - our service was VERY friendly and prompt, and this isn't McDonalds. Sit back and ENJOY your meal!!).

VegFest Seattle 2010

Seattle's annual VegFest was held last weekend, and naturally, my Sprouts and I had to make our yearly pilgrimage to test, taste, sample and learn about all the new products being marketed at vegans, vegetarians and those interested in healthy living...


We even brought a van-load of (fairly willing and curious) friends, and while they aren't vegetarian, they still enjoyed the experience and came away with loaded goody bags and full tummies and (hopefully) some new ideas.


As a VegFest veteran, I've watched food and marketing trends come and go, (one year there were 42 hummus samples available!) but this year, my one-sentence assessment of VegFest would have to be: "Too many energy-drinks!" Wow.
I enjoy an occasional green-smoothie or meal replacement shake... but I prefer to make my own, out of fresh, raw fruits and veggies, thank you - without a two-paragraph list of ingredients and the ultra-spendy cost-per-drink that comes with the little nutrition-filled packets of whatever they were selling. I'm sure they appeal to someone. Just not me.


Nevertheless, there was plenty of other good veggie-feasting going on: burgers, dogs, dips, sauces, chips, dressings, tofu, breads (stay tuned for a BREAD-filled blog post soon) as well as our family's two long-time favorites: the good people at Field Roast and Dave's Killer Bread.

Through a FaceBook Fan Page promotion, my kids (AND their friends) read about Dave's Secret Password and they all scored awesome tee-shirts AND a picture with Dave himself, which TOTALLY made their day.

Let me tell you, this was a brilliant PR idea, as the kids are now wearing the shirts EVERYWHERE and insisting that their friends MUST try Dave's bread and furthermore, "...promise you'll ONLY eat Dave's bread from now on, because the stuff rocks and so does Dave and ALL the cool people eat it - duh!..." (their quote, not mine). It is good stuff indeed.

Field Roast was showcasing their "meatloaf" and had samples crumbled and seasoned into a "taco-meat" which was amazing (and the l-o-n-g lines can attest to!). Rumor has it (read their blog) they did sliders and sloppy joes earlier in the weekend, those would have been yummy too!
With the entourage of restless and wandering teenagers, (and I apologise to the Lara-Bar people, apparently some of us *ahem* may not have listened to the very stern and strict vendors at your booth and *may* have have come away with more than just "one" teeny tiny sample...) we didn't pause long enough to catch the speakers or presentations, though they had some good ones, as always; As a side note of trivia, one of the presenters, Dr. Helmuth Fritz, is a good friend of my parents, so it was cool to see him there.

I also ran into a lot of people I knew from work, church, FaceBook, Twitter, fellow blogger-friends (like the creative minds behind the Soundly Vegan blog - they spent the day volunteering there!) as well as quite a few readers who randomly recognized me from this blog. (*waves*).

It was a fun day for everyone, vegetarians, vegans and otherwise. It was great to see ALL of you, and if you're in the Seattle area next Spring, by all means consider checking out this fun festival of all things vegie-licious!

Happy Fourth!

Here's hoping all my American friends had a great weekend celebrating our country's freedom!

My friend Anthony organizes the Seattle Area Vegans Meetup group, and I've been meaning to attend one of his events for, oh, several YEARS now... Somehow Seattle can be so close, yet so far away; and intimidating too - I'm not the world's most social butterfly (amazing, but true, I know...).

At any rate, I'd been whining that my kids might be abandoning me for the Holiday weekend, (only two of 'em did) and Anthony reminded me of the group's 4th of July Potluck/BBQ. A perfect way to spend the afternoon.

The Potluck was a lot of fun of course. I discovered I did know several other people there, including Bethany of the awesome blog, and Doh, the manager of Sidecar, my favorite vegan grocery store (OK, the ONLY vegan grocery store I know of, but still my favorite!).
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Several super-cute vegan bebbehs too. I just want to carry them around and smooch their little cheeks. OK, I did that...


The weather was BEAUTIFUL, and the food? It was amazing! Potluck plates are never that photogenic but I tired to give you an idea...
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Loads of grilled awesomeness, dogs, burgers, asparagus, pineapple, peppers, tofu; some lovely and patriotic star-shaped cookies; a lentil salad; oh goodness, much, MUCH other yumminess I can't even remember!

Naturally I couldn't decide what to bring, and overachiever that I am about these things, decided to "narrow it down" to only three salads. My Classic Macaroni Salad, Pesto Pasta Salad, and Spicy Ginger-Peanut Noodles. The containers were literally almost licked clean, apparently someone liked them! Inevitably, when asked for the recipes, I discovered I didn't have them all on my blog.

So....... I'm posting my Ginger Peanut Noodles in hopes of appeasing people. I get asked for this recipe a lot, and I hesitate to share it ONLY because the ingredient list seems seems horribly long.


(I know I usually look at long recipes like this and say... "Meh, I don't THINK so!".) But this is different. I promise you don't "have" to use every ingredient, I just happen to like LOTS of different veggies here.

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Spicy Ginger-Peanut Noodles

DRESSING

Blend the following in a food processor until smooth:

• 1/2 cup peanut butter (any kind works here)
• 3 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
• Juice from 3 limes
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. honey or agave (not to worry, I used agave for the potluck)
• 1/4 cup Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce
• 2 medium garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
• One 3+-inch piece fresh ginger or more to taste (I used a LOT more, but taste as you go, younger, fresher ginger will be much hotter)
• 1/2 jalapeno, seeded (or to taste)
• 1/3 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves
• 5 or 6 fresh mint leaves
• 5 or 6 fresh Thai (or regular) basil leaves

Blend like crazy. It will be thick and greenish brown and entirely unpleasant looking, but it will taste AWESOME! If it's too thick to blend, add more peanut oil but not much! It will "thin out" when mixed with the salad.

Taste and adjust to your liking: hot, sweet, sour, salty. I admit I "play" with this basic dressing, usually adding more of something. It's pretty intense, rest assured, the noodles and veggies dilute it a good deal.

SALAD:

• 1 16-oz. package ANY type noodle you like: spaghetti, udon, cellophane, ramen, soba... anything works.

Prepare noodles as directed (soak, or cook or whatever they require) and rinse in cold water to chill.
Add any or all of the following veggies as you prefer:

• shredded cabbage
• julienned strips of carrot
• julienned strips of red pepper
• cucumber strips
• scallions
• pea pods
• radishes
• baby corns
• bean sprouts
• lightly blanched broccoli flowers
• seriously - ANYTHING you like!!

Add dressing to your preference, (I tend to like a lot). Mix well, and chill.
Garnish with chopped peanuts (these really do "make" the salad)..


And <<-- here's the Thai Sweet-Hot Chilli Sauce I use.
Just in case you aren't familiar with it.
DEEELISH stuff, and most large supermarkets carry a version of it.

Vegan Weekend in Seattle

Sometimes we don't appreciate what's in our own backyard (or neighborhood, or city) until we see it through someone else's eyes...

This weekend, my good friend Shaun came for a visit. Being that he's one of the few vegans I know in real life, it's always fun to cook meals and/or go out to dinner with him. Being that he's from Albuquerque, the vegan choices in town are vastly different than what he has available.

So of course, we checked out some of his favorite destinations here in Seattle - great ALL VEGAN spots that I sometimes take for granted. I know I've mentioned them before, but couldn't help posting some of the yumminess we enjoyed...

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Breakfast one morning at the ever fun and funky Squid & Ink.

We had a Monte Cristo Sandwich, Cajun sweet potato fries and their famous Poutine. (Which is a huge favorite in Canada but not so well-known around these parts... basically cheese curds and gravy over fries. Only vegan. And SOOOO yum. )

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Personally, I'd go just for their gravy. Cover anything in gravy and I'll eat it.

Just doing my part to dispel the "Skinny-Sickly-Anemic-Vegan" stereotype, one gravy-covered meal at a time...

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We also went shopping for vegan groceries (and for curiosity's sake) at SideCar for Pigs Peace. Not that we specifically needed any groceries. But they're an all-vegan grocery store that supports a Pig Sanctuary and we found all kinds of fun stuff that you may see in featured in future blogs. Cheezely Cheese, Bacon Salt (which totally tastes like bacon but is vegetarian!), and on and on... if you're ever in Seattle, check them out.

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I'm so getting one of their cloth shopping bags next time I'm there. I just never remember to go unless I have out-of-town guests! Besides, they're right across from Pizza Pi, which sells vegan pizza, if you're craving that sort of thing. (which we weren't)

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After groceries, we hit Mighty-O Vegan Donuts. Another MUST TRY if you're on Shaun's tour of the town.

Applaud our self control. We resisted buying out the entire store. In fact we limited ourselves to six.

Some of which went back on the plane to Albuquerque today...

Shaun's like a kid in a candy store when we go to Mighty-O. See how delighted he is with his choices?

Last but not least, supper at Teapot Vegetarian House. Check out the "Bobo Platter Sampler" (and this is just the half we hadn't eaten!!!) the thing is huge; filled with spring rolls, fried seaweed wraps, satay (toasting over the little fire - woo - cool!!) , tofu fritters and realistic rose "chicken" drumettes complete with a bit of sugar-cane as the "bone". Insane. Delicious.

The boy would totally fly here from Ab'q. just for those mock-chicken drumettes. Yes. They are that good.

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After dinner, our dessert was almost too pretty to eat. Beautifully presented Mango "cheese"cake with mango-berry sauce. I seriously considered licking the plate clean.
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This concludes our Vegan Tour of Seattle for today. Yes, I could go to these places on my own, but it's always nice to share them with friends. If you're ever in town, let me know!

And stay tuned. A little excitement coming up in a few days.

Vegan Vietnamese - Yum!

My friend Shaun is visiting from New Mexico.

I love it when he's here, because he's a lot more adventurous about trying new restaurants than I am (well, and we like visiting with him too, of course!!!)
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So, yesterday we took my youngest Sprout and ventured to a new-ish all-vegan Vietnamese restaurant in Seattle's busy and colorful International District.

Oh MY! We'd heard great things about the place from fellow vegans and let me say... we were not disappointed!

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Vegan Garden (OK, the name's not real original) has this h-u-g-e menu of tasty sounding Vietnamese favorites, all vegan and many made with fairly realistic "mock meats". If those aren't your thing, there's plenty of veggies and tofu too, not to fear.

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Well, I am not ashamed to admit we all really LIKE fake-chicken-fake-beef-fake-lobster (?!?we didn't try that, but they have it!).

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It took us forever to order, faced with so many choices, but I think we were most excited they had vegan Phở (a traditional Vietnamese beef and noodle soup), so we started with that. It had some sort of mock meat, mushrooms and tofu in a tasty broth; I can't imagine anyone missing the meat!!

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My daughter had tofu spring rolls (which, as always, she inspected for any "weird" things - like carrots). The three of us also tried lemongrass "beef" and "chicken"-something-that-I-can't-remember. I DO remember that it was good though!! Everything was.

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Yes, we ended up with lots to take home, but SOOOO worth it! We finished with my favorite treat ever, Vietnamese coffee which I haven't had since going vegan, (it usually has condensed milk) but this was made with coconut milk. Oh.Wow.
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Everything was incredibly delicious, colorful, generous portions, perfectly cooked. The staff were super helpful and the restaurant was clean and well lit.

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If you're in Seattle, you have to check this place out!!

My Newest Favorite Restaurant

While Shaun was here, I took him to breakfast at my new favorite Restaurant here in the Seattle area.

Squid and Ink.

This funky little place is not far off the freeway in Seattle's Georgetown neighborhood. If you're passing thru, check it OUT!

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Oh, man, I LOVE LOVE them for so many reasons; 1) it's got that whole indie/punk/DIY vibe, 2) it's open late, and 3) the food is delicious, VEGAN and hearty. Oh, and 4) it serves breakfast till 4 p.m.

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The menu is full of warm, cozy vegan yumminess; we certainly did our best to sample plenty of it...

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First up, to explain this scary picture; that Canadian (more specifically Quebec) favorite "Poutine"; which is basically a dish consisting of French fries, topped with fresh cheese curds, covered with brown gravy.

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We dug right into the vegan version (which may explain the messy photo) which was quite deelish.

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Admittedly, neither of us have ever had the"original" to compare, but who cares? Fries, gravy and creamy melting curds of vegan cheese... sounds pretty dang good to me. Rich and decadent too, we brought lots home!

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I probably shouldn't admit how much we ordered, but I'll say we also brought home leftovers of incredible vegan fish and chips, and perfect crispy, salty sweet potato fries.

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On previous visits I've had the seitan-fried steak and gravy, one of my all-time favorite meals EVER!

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More fun restaurant food to follow. (Just what I need!).

Happy weekend!

Teapot Vegetarian House; Seattle

Had to post a few pix. I know I've blogged - and raved - about this place before, but it's just that good...

My friend Shaun was visiting for the week, from the dry, dusty wilderness (not really) of Albuquerque.

He loves all the awesome vegetarian places in Seattle (who wouldn't) but Teapot is one of our favorites! It's fun to actually have another real-life, honest-to-goodness vegan to share favorite places with sometimes, you know?

No worries about whether they'll "find anything they like" and no turning noses up at those "funny" (?) ingredients like tofu and seitan...

OK, so Teapot is one of Seattle's best known vegetarian restaurants, all vegan actually. They call themselves "Pan-Asian" which is basically a little bit of everything Asian/Thai-ish. Insanely deeee-lish!

Naturally we dragged a couple friends along for the experience, (yeah, they were complaining) and made sure we ordered our favorite dishes including the Rose 'Chicken' Drumettes, Pad Thai and Almond Fried Tofu with Gravy. We also ordered several interesting teas. Even the non-veg people were impressed!

My youngest had a few issues with the chopsticks, but otherwise, all was predictably wonderful!

If you're EVER in Seattle, you MUST go. Call me, I'll meet you there!

VegFest II; The Rest of the Story.

OK, it's been a week, you'd think I could finally get the rest of the VegFest post done, but no.... I've been on Spring Break and being lazy and doing... well.... not much... visiting with friends, cooking, going out to eat with my friend Shaun and a couple Dr.'s appointments. I'll post gratuitous food porn shots another day.

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So last Sunday.

VegFest in Seattle.

What a blast.

Yummy food and great information and interesting presenters... You all just need to come next year.

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I guess it's the largest (or 2nd largest? I heard both statistics) event like this in the country.

It's pretty big. Yeah, like sensory overload. But worth it.

A group of 6 of us went together, 2 vegans (my friend Shaun, and myself), 2 vegetarians (my 2 'Sprouts') and 2 "sometimes-a-tarians"(my friend Sheryl and her son) ...yes, yes, calm down, I know the term is FLEXatarian or whatever, (insert eye-rolling here) but they like this better and I suppose they can call themselves whatever they want, I'm not that into labels.

It was nice to have perspectives other than mine when it came to trying new products. My kids tend to be picky, it was nice to let them try new things without buying an entire BOX and then wasting it... I discovered my littlest Sprout LOVED Nancy's Soy Yogurt and the Bumble Bars. Items I haven't boughten simply because I'm not a fan. My not-quite-vegetarian friend Sheryl loved several of the burgers and the Tofurky sandwich slices, as well as meat-free Potsticker dumplings, all items she hadn't had before.

I think I sampled every available vegan sample - I was stuffed, but what FUN!! (OK, except for the reeeeally green hemp butter. Just a little too "green" for all of us...).

There were a few lacto-ovo items that I wish had been labelled better. The event is run by volunteers and even though they do an INCREDIBLE job, unfortunately, sometimes their product knowledge is limited. I LOVED the Bella Diva Raw almond/coconut oil (I think?) spread or "butter" too. So creamy and slightly sweet. It'd be nice instead of Earth Balance once in a while, I think.

And did I mention we all voted the Field Roast booth our favorite? Well, of course.

My only disappointment was the "Purely Decadent" people - what was up there? Last year was so awesome! Not to fear, there were several other vegan ice-"creams" to sample.

Matthew, my friend's teen-age son, so typical, tries to act like he's seldom impressed by much, but he was our "guinea pig" and volunteered to try anything. He really loved the "Cavi-Art" vegetarian "caviar"... I saw him return for several samples there. Surprising.

It's fascinating and fish-egg-like, but a little TOO caviar-like for me.

Oh!! And Bryanna Clark Grogan was one of the presenters!! So exciting. A REAL celebrity!

She gave the best demonstration for Banana Cream Pie, which I unfortunately don't have a recipe for - think I'll go look on her website. It was fun to see one of my cookbook heros in action though, even if I was in the w-a-y back! She's very entertaining and informative in real life, not that she isn't otherwise, but you know...

Here's HER blog notes about VegFest for a slightly different perspective. We were gonna stop by for an autograph in my "Nonna's Italian Kitchen" book a little later but my kids had had enough of the crowds by then. It WAS crowded. Very.

Speaking of crowds - I saw someone who recognised me from the PPK forums as well, but I didn't have time to stop and ask THEIR name... (kids needing the bathroom don't wait for veggie chit-chat I'm afraid.) So, {sigh} whoever you are, I wasn't being rude, I swear it!!

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A good time was had by all.

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My not-quite vegetarian friends learned a lot about products they hadn't heard of or tried; my kids got adventurous and sampled new things; And my friend Shaun - also vegan - got to try lots of items he can't find in the stores in his area of the world (Albuquerque).

As you can see, we came home LOADED with "loot" like vegetarian trick-or-treating; PETA stickers, Odwalla bars, tea and coffee and LARA bars!

After VegFesting, my 'Sprouts' were getting a little stir-crazy with the crowds, so we did a little Seattle sight-seeing (*Ooooh, the big city - skyscrapers - traffic - pollution - street people - oh my*) and then went to Whole Foods which, for us, is a treat; almost 2 hours from my house. I go about once a YEAR!

My friend Sheryl, a small-town girl like me, had never been. She was awestruck at the variety, selection and typical Whole Foods "pretty stuff". I SOOO enjoy sharing favorite places with my friends.

Here's hoping each of you had a great weekend and spent time with people you love.

VEGFEST, SEATTLE, Part II

VegFest! The day's finally here! An entire convention hall devoted to vegetarian food, product samples (i.e. lots of yummy vegetarian foods to taste or even buy) speakers, chefs, nutritionists, etc...

We met up with friends (see post below) and got a bite to eat first, then headed over...









As we walked over to the Convention Center, I happened to see the Purely Decadent truck parked on a side street and had to run do a happy dance in the street... (Scoops of ice cream bigger than my head... I'm in heaven...).

Once inside the Festival, we wandered up and down aisle after aisle, sampling all sorts of interesting and tasty items. Talk about sensory overload. Wow.

With so much, it was hard to pick a "favorite" but we definitely LOVED the Field Roast booth. Have you tried Field Roast? They call themselves a 'Grain Meat' - basically a really well-done fake meat product. Even if you don't like some of the faux-meats out there, try this!! I know it's not available everywhere, which is too bad. Oh my gosh...

They had generous samples, helpful information and were SO friendly! We jut stood there chatting and trying ALL their yummy items. I am always raving about the stuff to people and getting soy-skeptical omni friends to try it - one time I randomly started talking about it to someone in the grocery store... I should do their PR, I swear! (They're a small artisan company based right here in Seattle, so it's even LOCAL!) it was fun to try everything! If you have access to them in your area, DEFINITELY check it out - the sausages especially? Amazing. My friend's husband, a devout omni :) even gave them his seal of approval!
So of course we had to ham it up (can vegans do that?) a little in front of their sign.

Oh, and one of the staff even recognised me - which was sorta cool; "Hey, you're the Blog Lady" she said. Funny. Yeah, they have a nice little blog here that I'd posted a comment in a while back. My friends called me "The Celebrity Blog Lady" for the rest of the day - :rolling eyes: great!

Other interesting items; samples of Purely Decadent "brand new" flavors they're introducing this summer; Pomegranate-Chip which was just OK, a Coconut Crunch sorta-thing which was too coconutty for me, Strawberry-something which I can't remember the name but we all really liked, and Orange-Creamsicle and Lemon Creamsicle which we agreed were heavenly!

SOOO many other things to try too! Besides the usual - soymilk, granola, energy bars, and so forth, there were about twenty flavors of hummus (we didn't feel a need to sample all of those) lots of salsas, faux meats, rice milk, hemp milk (which I'd never had, really good stuff!) "caviar" made from seaweed which was...um.. interesting...

Speakers included nutritionists, chefs and dietitians. The featured presenter while we were there, was doing a presentation on ways to use nuts. She had good ideas, some of which I already use and others I hadn't thought of, but unfortunately was very soft spoken and it was hard to hear.

There were pretty long lines for some of the more popular samples and sales pitches, so it took us a while to make the rounds, but all-in-all, a really fun and interesting afternoon.

On the hike back to the parking garage we passed the Purely Decadent truck again... and even with tired feet - more happy dances in the pouring (Seattle) rain... yeah, we're weird. Great ending to a great day!
But wait, there's more!

LOOT:

After returning home, I dumped my bag out and took a picture of all the great take-home samples we returned with as well... I had no idea there was so much until I put it all together - and we didn't even hit every booth! I feel like I hit the veggie-sample jackpot all over again.

And last but not least, my 'Sprout', ever the Animal Rights Activist, made several trips past the PETA, Pigs Peace and Northwest Animal Rights Network (NARN) booths to stock up on stickers... she immediately covered one of her school binders when we got home and took this picture for me to share ...

VEGFEST, SEATTLE - Part I

So the moment I've been waiting for all Spring has arrived: that wonderful, educational and informative (not to mention TASTY!) event known as VegFest... in Seattle!

For those who don't know, VegFest is an annual Vegetarian Food Festival (supposedly one of the largest in the US? I don't know if that's true but it is big) where you can taste free food samples - (over 500 different kinds to try according to their website); as well as see cooking demonstrations by chefs from all over the country and hear the latest information on nutrition from doctors and dieticians who are specialists in vegetarianism.

Fellow veggies to hang our with? Free samples of the latest vegetarian products and yumminess, you say? I am all over that! My kids and I have gone the last couple years and had a BLAST!

So my Middle Sprout and I met fellow veggie-friend "4EverGrounded" (I'll use her VeggieBoards screen name, like I do with all my friends, just in case they're hiding from the IRS or whatever) for an afternoon of veggie-ness.

But first, Lunch! (I know, with all those samples, this may seem like overkill, but venturing into Seattle is, in itself, a rare treat for us, so we decided to hit up one of our favorite all-vegan restaurants "Bamboo Garden" for lunch before braving the wall-to-wall crowds, long lines and hours of walking...

Everything at Bamboo Garden is wonderfully vegan. Many items use faux meat products that are all quite yummy - they have a HUGE menu and narrowing down choices is always difficult.

We ordered some super-spicy Ruby Chicken and Vegetables (my choice), some potstickers which I didn't get a
picture of, and Almond Fried Chicken which my duaghter absolutely adores...

Everything was insanely good, of course.

At the end of the meal, we all got to giggling hysterically because instead of "Iced Tea" I had "Rice Tea".

(My Sprout discovered I'd dropped rice into my teacup and thought it was wildly funny... OK, maybe you had to be there).

After lunch we headed out to VegFest. At least this way we figured we wouldn't be starving and cranky waiting in all those lines and ready to chew people's legs off... (which, being vegan, I suppose we really ought not to do anyway...).

Stay Tuned.