Great Sage



Huevos Rancheros - vegan style



For Bun Bun's birthday December 5th, we went to Great Sage, a vegan restaurant in Columbia which came highly recommended (thanks Amber) and for good reason.



The service, the food, even the average of 2.5 kids:table ratio during brunch didn't overshadow the near perfect blend of sturdy wood furniture, exceptional food, and easy-going/earthy atmosphere. Where else on earth can one find food with less than half the calories of its meat filled equivalent that tastes just as good, and sometimes better?

Jequiche loves Mexican food, so naturally I gravitate toward tortillas. Bun Bun on the other hand, who introduced me to Eggs Benedict, ordered the Great Sage vegan version. You want to test an Egg's Benedict? Bun Bun's your girl! She LOVED it.

Toward the end of the meal, Bun Bun ordered a Cheese-steak to-go, and wouldn't you know it tasted just like a cheese steak? This place is absolutely on the short list of favorites, 5 stars--hands down, and an extra one for being vegan. 6 Stars.

The next time you're in Columbia, check out this awesome spot, you wont regret it.

Just think of all the yummy, healthy the possibilities.

The Festival of Trees

Ever been so excited about an event that you forget the most important detail of it--like the name? Well if the answer is yes, you aren't alone. Every year around this time, the Christmas spirit is in the air, every decorated downtown, front porch and family room window with lights/trees adds that little something extra to the atmosphere doesn’t it?


Well, being so excited about the upcoming holiday had left me mixing up the "Festival of lights" with the "Festival of trees."

How, oh how? Let's just blame it on the excitement.

Christmas with a chance of meatballs



So today with our four tickets won at a silent auction, we packed up the truck with our two boys and headed to Timonum to check out The Festival of Trees.  As expected, the weather was cold outside but inside it was like a sweltering summer day. We quickly peeled our coats off. Surprisingly, there werent just trees on display but an array of all sorts of "fair-like" gizmos and trinkets for sale and on display. There were trees big and small, and too many to count, all decorated in elaborate and quite elaborate ways.  My favorite, which I missed on the way in, but luckily caught it on the way out-was the "Christmas with a chance of meatballs." (I kept calling it the'spaghetti tree')

The mainstage had live singers in full costume, we caught a few minutes of a dance number, which looked like a rendition of the Nutcracker, and what would a Christmas event be without good ole Santa?  



Santa
at Festival of Trees



One of the most bizzare 'non-tree' items was the air-plants.

Air plant

Although the intention was to grace lights and not trees, it was a fun family outing right before work and school commences again.  It was just good old fashioned family fun. 



Halloween type tree

 

Ravens tree







 













Thanksgiving Feast 2010

Didn't go to bed last night, but stayed up until 2am cooking black-eyed peas, collard greens, and bread pudding. Meanwhile the duck, who we named "John Quack," was laying in water trying to complete his duty of defrosting.

Although tired, with sore feet begging for mercy, the task of slaving over the hot stove had to continue. Of course everyone knows that if allowed to sit overnight most meals are more delicious. The seasonings soaking into vegetables and mingling with herbs is just the prescription for a yummy dining experience.

J's Collards

J's black-eyed peas

J's bread-pudding (Ruth Chris recipe)

Late into the am, around 10am, Jequiche woke with plans to simmer the collards and black-eyed peas. Breakfast was skipped due to fullness from taste-testing two servings of bread-pudding much earlier today. Who on Earth could have resisted piping hot bread-pudding? (made with the Ruth Chris recipe at that!) Sure we almost burned our taste-buds off, but boy was it worth the risk.

John Quack
(my first duck, took off the veg hat today)

That was this morning at some hour past 2am. Since then we've cooked (thought to bone the duck, thought better of it), rubbed John Quack down with lime, sprinkled him with salt and pepper and roasted him for a total of 2 hours, ate more bread-pudding, drank the rest of the bourbon left over from the bread-pudding recipe, made the stuffing to pair with John Quack, looked at the bread-pudding, boiled the red potatoes and topped them with butter, chives, sea-salt and black pepper, eyed the bread-pudding again, and marveled in Bun-Bun's mac & cheese (made with mozzarella, Mexican-blend, and Colby-jack cheese). Right about now a slight sleepiness is coming on.

Bun Bun's mac & cheese

Yea, it's about that time. The remainder of the evening will likely continue with: watching a LMN movie that was DVR'd earlier this week, finishing off that glass of Burgundy wine that has been marinating in the glass for hours now, dozing off on the red couch periodically, and snuggling with Bun-Bun before pulling the little brown blanket close.


But first, a final thought...

We cant be the only ones that used to wonder, "why do we always find cans of cranberry sauce with an upside down label?"

What's upside down?
the label/the can, both or neither?

After a visit to the market during rush-hour, a pyramid of cranberry sauce cans stared down and something strange occurred--Ah ha! they are purposely made this way to encourage people to shake the can bottom up. Although the discovery has been that this only works when the bottom is punctured a little (let a little air in by use a sharp knife to make a little slit--but handle with care), then watch the cranberry sauce slide right out.