Merit Vegetarian Restaurant- Sunnyvale, CA

I've told all of my children that when they were teenagers, I would take them on a special weekend trip, just the two of us, anywhere they wanted to go in California.  The exception being Disneyland: if I was able to afford Disneyland, I wanted to take all the children.  SR for the last couple of years has been mulling over Death Valley, but whenever she decided upon it, it was not the right season.  Apparently the temps are better in the Spring, and there are certain flowers that blossom during that time as well.  But something even better than Death Valley came up for her last June.  One of her favorite artists was performing a rare American tour, and one of her stops would be in Mountain View, a mere couple of hours from our home.  When I offered that to SR as her special weekend, she jumped at the chance.  So, off we went to the Emilie Autumn Asylum Experience.  Now, this music is not for everyone, not even me, but it wasn't about me.  It was about giving SR a special weekend. So, we left on Friday night, spent the night in a hotel, spent all day at the Experience, stayed over again, and had lunch the next day before returning home.  I researched restaurants before we left home and found Merit Vegetarian online.  It was open on Sundays, so I thought we'd give it a shot.  See my review below along with a a few shots of our trip.

 This is a funny shot of the hotel's room service menu.  If you look on the left side of the page, it lists appetizers and sides.  Then the right side of the page lists more appetizers and sides.  Notice how they are completely identical.  I wonder whom they are trying to fool?  

Okay, here's a pic of SR with others talking with someone who does daguerreotypes at the Experience.  Just so you know, SR has an unusual style in clothing.  She likes layers, gloves, employs a Goth influence along with some Victoria era influence, and adds her own unique touch.  I completely support her expressing herself with her attire.  Here, for once, she found others that dressed in a similar way.  She completely fit in and had made a few friends that will last a lifetime.  I'm the one that stood out with my baseball cap and camera and pants.  Oh, by the way, she's the one in the striped tights and dress.  Don't you see her?

Here she is locked up with other prisoners in one of several cages at the Experience.  You can see how utterly miserable everyone is.  Okay, okay, she's the one on the right with black hair, black dress and black and white striped tights.

 Here is Emilie Autumn and a couple of other permanent patients performing.

SR had a fabulous time, and that made it a great weekend for me too.  I love you, SR!

Here is Merit Vegetarian.  They are in a nondescript strip mall down a busy street.  Their info is: meritvegetarian.com, ph: 408-245-8988, 548 Lawrence Expressway. Sunnyvale, CA 94085.

SR and I started off with Drumsticks and a sweet sauce.  They were very good.

 Then we went for their Orange Nuggets.  Great glaze, very tasty.

SR had one of their freshly made Mango Smoothies.  She let me have a sip, and it was delicious.

I ordered their Noble Broccoli.  It was a beef and broccoli style dish.  Very good, I liked the sauce it came with, too.  Lots of broccoli, which is one of my favorite veggies.

SR ordered the Spicy Noodle Soup.  She didn't realize it had mushrooms, which she despises, but she worked around it, and liked it in the end.  It had a tangy taste to it and was good.

 We ended our meal - and our stay - with desserts.  SR ordered the Caramel Flan and completely loved it.  I tasted it, and it was light and sweet, very good.  But...

 I had a penchant for chocolate, so I ordered their Mocha Chocolate Cake.  The cake itself was a little too dense for me.  I like light cakes and cupcakes.  But, the frosting made up for it.  So light, so creamy, it was in a word, delightful.  

All in all, I highly recommend Merit Vegetarian. The prices were reasonable, and if you're a vegan, looking for an open place to eat on a Sunday, this one will definitely work.  If you're in Sunnyvale, look them up.

GR's 14th Birthday!

GR shares her birthday with President Lincoln, so whenever you have the day off for that day, think of her!  As usual, she didn't want to have a party, instead picking things to do on her day with her family.  It was a great day, and I am so blessed to have her.

We started off the day by going to the historical Railroad Museum, which she just loves.  If you're ever in Sacramento, this is a must-see.  We were home for lunch and presents, including new booties for her pup, Mindy, and...

...cake!  And, yes, we can't seem to stop having our  Black Tie Cheesecake .  Seriously, you have to make this.  I also allowed myself to have one Oreo Birthday Cake cookie.  Not a fan of processed cookies, but GR wanted them, so I had to have one, too.  After lunch, we watched The Great Gatsby.  She is a  major fan of the story and has read the book several times.  I got her the movie for Christmas, and she decided that day to save the first viewing of it for her birthday.  The wait was well worth it for her.  Now, her movie goes well with her new Gatsby poster that little brother, JK, gave her for her birthday.

A couple of hours later, my parents joined us for dinner at Gatsby's Diner!  Yes, we have a Gatsby's Diner in town, and GR made up her mind that's where she wanted to have her birthday dinner months ago.  I looked online at their website - www.gatsbysdiner.com - and realized that although they had several vegetarian options, there was nothing vegan but their side salad.  GR said that was fine with her. What she didn't know was that I went there in person and spoke with the co-owner, David, explained that my daughter was a Great Gatsby nut and would they make us a special dinner?  David graciously agreed to do so.  GR doesn't ask for much, so I wanted to do this for her.  Their buns and breads aren't vegan, and they had no pasta on the menu.  But, we agreed that he would make us a special pasta dish for that night.  He went out and bought pasta just for our family.  See our delicious dishes below.

Believe it or not, this huge salad is their side salad!  This was SO good; I can't remember having a side salad that tasted this good.  I could taste the fresh thyme that was sprinkled on.  Loved it.

I kept our dinner a secret from GR; as far as she knew, we were just going to have the salads.  But, being kids, she and her siblings saw fries on the menu, so we ordered two batches to share.  Tasty as well.

 

Here is my huge portion of pasta.  He put grilled portabello mushrooms just on mine because I would be the only one appreciating them.  It was so much that I brought most of this home with me.  Everything was excellent, including the service.  We can't go back on a regular basis, just because of the lack of choices, but for this one night, they made it super special.  It was a great surprise for GR when he brought out the pasta.

Here's GR enjoying her dinner in the restaurant of her dreams.  Happy Birthday, dear GR!

GR's 13th Birthday!

My GR turned 13 on February 12th.  Most of you probably think it's Lincoln's birthday, but it's really hers.  Anyhow, she didn't want a party, just a fun day with her family that she designed.  She may bring a friend with us camping in a few months as a way to celebrate her birthday in that way.  She loves being outside, and so part of our day was at a park.  Enjoy the pics, another restaurant to add to the mix, some doggie catch-ups, and of course, dessert!

After Christmas, Michaels was selling off their gingerbread houses super cheap, like for one or two dollars, so I bought two more of them.  GR's been bugging me ever since to make them, so I let her do it the night before her birthday.  For the life of us, we couldn't get it to stick together or stand up, so I suggested gingerbread cookies. Everyone loved that idea, so they decorated the house pieces and had huge cookies for breakfast the next day!  This is what was left before I remembered to take a photo.

We took our lunch from Adalbertos to the park.  I had a veggie burrito without cheese, sour cream or guacamole, which has dairy in it.  Also, the Blessings had fries; if you order their fries, make sure you ask for new oil.  We've had bacon in our fries before, and that's how we discovered they use the same oil for everything. 

We also enjoyed a little croquet.  Here G is practicing his swing, which ended up doing him no good because I beat the pants off everyone!

Here's a shot of the birthday girl with her pup, Mindy.  The last pics I posted of the dogs, they were just about two months old.  Now, they are two years old as of November.

Here's a beautiful shot of them.

Not to be outdone, here's SR's dog and Mindy's sister, Abby.  Just to give you a quick update on Abby: she's currently undergoing heartworm treatment.  She apparently contracted it from a mosquito before we got her and Mindy on a program. We are praying for a full recovery.  In a few weeks, I'll have a post dedicated to gratuitous pet pictures. 

For dinner, GR picked one of our most favorite restaurants, Huong Sen Tofu.  They are located on Stockton Boulevard in Sacramento.  We go there at least once a month.  G used to work near here and learned about it from coworkers.  We started coming as a family when I was still pregnant with JK.   They are super affordable and offer a wide ranges of dishes.

Here's what it looks like when you order.  You can see one of the two brother owners in the background.  They make all of their dishes from scratch in their kitchen, including their mock meats, and everything is vegan, even their desserts, but not their waffles.  Don't ask me why they sell waffles, but they seem to be a real hit among the Vietnamese immigrants.

 They also double as a store, and here's their main refrigeration section.  On the left is their soy milk, which they also make there. 

 Here is a table in the center which stores some of their non-chilled items.  Not everything that sell prepackaged is vegan or vegetarian.

 G said I could take a picture of his dish, which is what he usually orders each time we come: steamed rice, a super tasty eggplant and tofu dish, and red seitan.

 The girls and I usually get the pho bo.  That's the garnish on the side.  So good.  JK just likes their tofu and steamed rice.

 For dessert, we met up with my parents.  GR asked for ice cream as her dessert.  When I asked if she was sure she didn't want a cake, she said she really wanted my Black Tie Cheesecake , but she thought it was too much work for me to make for her.  Pish posh!  My girl got her ice cream and her cake!  By the way, if  you haven't made it yet, the cheesecake looks hard to make, but it isn't. Give it a try!

So that's all the pics I'm putting up.  Hope you enjoyed the show.  Happy Birthday, GR! 

Savannah Cake, Watermelon Cake, Hulk Cake and Birthday Dinners!

Some of my regular readers may remember that every July I have a few days where I am on birthday overload.  SR's and JK's b-days are six days apart; my dad's is a week earlier, and my mom's is a week later.  For the kids, I have a long day where we have two birthday parties back to back.  It's fun, but we always take a deep breath when it's done.  I always let the Blessings pick what kind of cake they want and what they want for the birthday dinners.  Since we eliminated artificial colors and flavors and preservatives, along with the already eliminated msg and corn syrup, a couple of years ago, they only get to have the "bad" stuff on their birthdays.  They can pick anything they want to eat at their parties.  With that in mind, two of the cakes below have colors in them, but one is all natural, and I'll share what I did with that. Enjoy the birthday tour!

SR turned 15 on July 20th, which was the same day as her acting class.  I made these cookies 'n' cream cupcakes for her to share, which we have at least once a year.  They are from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

SR wanted to go out for her dinner and picked one of our family's most favorite restaurants: Andy Nguyen's II.  Do not mistake this for Andy Nguyen's, which my mom took me to on my birthday; this is No. 2, and although it is not a vegan restaurant, the veg choices there are excellent.  It is so unfortunate that this shot came out blurry because their Vegetarian Hot and Sour Soup is outstanding.  We always ask for extra tofu to be added.  Some of the fam likes to add steamed rice to their bowl with the soup.

These are their Vegetarian Rolls - so good.

These are their Crispy Noodles with Tofu - awesome.

This is their Vegetable Fried Rice without egg - yums.  Andy's is located at 10145 Folsom Blvd. in Rancho Cordova, CA.  Their phone is (916) 362-2270.  They know us so well that when I call them up, Vinny the co-owner, says my name before I can say who I am.  A nice touch.

 

The next day was the birthday parties. JK turned 6 on the 26th and said he wanted a Savannah cake for his party.  Savannah cake, hmm?  Well, I first tried to find a little bag of toy animals that were Savannah-like to decorate the cake, but no luck. So, GR and I made the animals from play dough.  GR made the giraffe, crocodile and snake, and I made the tiger, elephant and lion.

 For the cake I used my recipe for my White Cake with White Buttercream Frosting .  I baked it in a 9x12 pan.  I made the frosting as usual - I took about 1/4 of it out and stirred in 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. of turmeric into it.  I divided the rest in half; to one half I blended in 2 Tbs. of cocoa.  I spread the white sky on first, then added the hilly brown, then used a fork to spread on the Savannah grass.  I thought this came out pretty cute.  JK got to keep his little animals.

SR remembered GR's 10th Birthday Cake  and wanted that again but wanted it to be deliberately made to look like a watermelon cake.  So, I made the cake the same way, but I put in 2 cups of chocolate chips in the batter and skipped the sprinkles on top.  This is such a moist cake. To avoid artificial coloring, you could use sweetened and reduced asparagus water for the frosting and pureed strawberries for the batter.

We actually left for camping on JK's birthday, and we had a blast celebrating it in the woods.  For his dinner, he picked tofu fried his favorite way: plain.  He likes to dip fried tofu in ketchup and raw tofu in soy sauce.  :-)  He wanted a banana and strawberry salad and Kids Love It! Potato Salad . 

He wanted a Hulk cake, so Mommy did her best with a butter knife and fork.  I made the White Cake with White Buttercream Frosting again in two cake rounds but added 1/2 cup of cocoa to the batter.  I saved a a small portion of the frosting and kept it white and added various amounts of green coloring to get his hair and skin.  I tried to make him grimace - what do you think?  I brushed his hair very nicely, though.  :-)  Normally I would have used asparagus or artichoke water to make the coloring, but with my energy levels lately, I copped out... But he only got colors on his birthday!

I had the clever idea of putting the candles in Hulk's eyes and teeth.  Creepy!  Hulk on fire!

Here's what a slice of Hulk looks like.

We had a great time camping and celebrating little ones' birthdays!  Thanks for sharing the memories with us.

Ding How Restaurant - Davis, CA

In keeping with my attempt at showcasing restaurants during our "travels," I'm reviewing a restaurant a short distance from Sacramento.  My family discovered Ding How in Davis several years ago, but I can't remember now how.  It is a traditional Mandarin Chinese restaurant but offers a separate menu for vegetarians.  Twice a year I take my mom and Blessings to San Francisco to a museum that offers a homeschool day.  When we come home, it's begun to be our tradition to eat dinner at Ding How.  The service has always been prompt and efficient, and this time our server, David, was especially charming.  I highly recommend this restaurant, and if you are ever in Davis, California, take a chance and stop by. 

Their information is www.dinghowdavis.com; phone: 503-753-3590; address: 640 W. Covell Blvd. They are located in a nondescript strip mall on the corner of Covell and Anderson.

Of course we chose, as usual, from the vegetarian menu.  Along with the dishes pictured, we also ordered tea and steamed rice.  David knew we were vegans and said most of the mock meats were vegan on the menu.  Here is the Vegetarian Hot and Sour Soup.  This soup is normally hot with heat and spice, so be careful when you first eat it.  It is good though and is always ordered when we show up.

My mom has a hard time with anything beyond the smallest amount of black pepper, and last time she couldn't eat the soup.  Here she is again giving it a go, brave lady.  She lasted about four spoonfuls this time.  You can see SR and GR with their bowls checking her out.  JK doesn't eat it either, so it's just me and my girls chowing down on the bowls.

This is usually ordered as well - the Vegetarian Sweet and Sour Chicken.  Very good.  Kind of blurry shot.

We enjoyed this dish, the Mandarin Braised Tofu.  JK pretty much eats as much rice and tofu as he can (along with any available baby corn), so we ordered two of this dish.

Vegetarian Lemon Chicken.  Very good.  I wish I could figure out how they do the glaze.  We went to another restaurant, now closed, that had a very similar dish, and I tried and tried to recreate it, but I just couldn't. 

Here is the Ding How Special Vegetarian Chow Fun.  First time we ordered the chow fun this way, and it was very good, like all of their dishes.

Leftovers were brought home to G, who readily enjoyed them!  All of the dishes are reasonably priced, and the food never disappoints.  Give them a try, especially if you are local!