Tuesday, December 14, 2010

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.

Monday, December 13, 2010

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