Hello everyone! Let me tell you… last week was anything but ordinary! My mom came to visit me for a whole week, and my step-dad was in town on business as well. I know I’ve mentioned my stresses about being financially dependent on my parents on my blog before. Recently, I’ve been having to make conscious effort to stay away from bleak utilitarian ways. Whenever I’m around my mom I’m reminded that it’s nice to treat ourselves just because, so her visit couldn’t come at a better time.
My parents enjoyed the delicate candies I made.
Moms are wonderful at French braiding!
A loaf of freshly baked bread...
And this is what happens on the way home.
Chocolate!
And...
More chocolate!
What surprises are in here?
Mmm truffles.
Tiramisu, cookies and cream, blueberry cheesecake, dark chocolate sea salt caramel, and black forest cake.
A blast from the past.
And one of the best ideas I've come across: honeycomb covered in milk chocolate.
My mom got some filled chocolates to try too.
I love that she enjoys so many things about life.
And she has a taste for colorful food as well!
She's the queen of salmon.
More colors!
I made Aggie’s Last Minute Sesame Noodles for me and my parents to enjoy during the week. I loved the sesame oil in this dish! It felt special when I packed this for me and my mom in my little lunchbox, since she went to my classes with me while she visited. I also packed some for my step-dad to take with him to work. He was also in town on business that week. It’s quite a rarity that my parents are in Richmond at the same time, so I wanted to treat them as much as I could!
Since my mom was in town, she whisked me away to Trader Joe's.
I usually make my own hummus, but since my mom was in town I wanted her to try the Triple Layer Hummus. There are no Trader Joe’s stores in Florida so this was a little special something something.
And she brought something special up from Florida... papaya from our tree!
Simple, delicious, and convenient "mush"
This is Joy’s recipe for gluten-free chickpea and apple slaw. I accidentally processed it in the food processor for too long, but it still tasted delicious! Tangy and sweet, like what the recipe says, with dried cranberries and a Granny smith apple in the mix.
On a slice of "Seeduction" bread.
Oh my goodness this is the kind of bread that is so good that you could finish the whole loaf without putting anything on it.
My version of a bento box--Rotkohl (German recipe for red cabbage), leftover red lentil burger tipped with vegan mayo, avocado slices, and coconut milk basmati.
Random, yes. Delicious, yes. YES!
While my mom visited she also made her classic recipe and one of my favorite desserts: tiramisu.
Proud of her creation!
As she should be.
We were looking forward to having the girls over that night!
Beautiful ladies all around!
Dainty dishware was appropriate.
The best tiramisu my mom has made to date!
And a night isn't complete without dancing, or salsa in this case!
But wait, was there more fun to be had?
Précisement, mes ami!
We went out to dinner at one of my favorite hang out spots, Balliceaux.
It has the neatest decor.
To start off we ordered tandoori fried cauliflower with a chickpea salad and pickled cucumbers.
I want to learn how to make cauliflower taste this good! The chickpea salad and cucumbers added a refreshing touch to the crispy battered cauliflower.
I also ordered a cup of roasted pumpkin-mushroom and barley soup.
This tasted so much like a soup my grandma use to make when I was little!
I couldn't put my finger on which recipe I'll have to ask my grandma for.
Aromatic steamed salmon with black bean paste, scallion-celery stir fry with house made bacon, and fragrant jasmine rice for the sir.
I’ve never heard of cooking celery. Curious, eh?
Southern fried Twin Oaks tofu with red beans and collard greens for the queen.
Twin Oaks makes the best tofu EVER! And the way that they prepared it here was reminiscent of a typical southern dish with fried fish. I thought it was adorable that my mom, queen of salmon, decided to get this vegetarian dish. I may have done some influencing though because I also wanted to try this, but I had something else in mind for myself…
A hearts of romaine salad with a creamy hazelnut dressins and crunchy ZUCCHINI BREAD CROUTONS!
As soon as I saw the words “zucchini bread croutons” I knew that would be my choice. Oh my goodness. If salads could be desserts this would be it. I kept gushing about how wonderful of an idea it was to do this! It was so delicious that I sat there thinking of all of the wonderful breads I could make into croutons. The waitress exclaimed, “you can make them out of any bread!” And right she is. Next time you have a sweet bread in your home, I advise you make them into croutons. Actually, I urge you!
After dinner we met up with some wonderful people.
My mom got a taste of Ipanema's homemade soy ice cream and their vegan apricot almond blondie.
We had a feeling that the dessert made us extra hyper.
The past week was a memorable one indeed. It was so much fun having my mom go to my classes, and she got to see what her daughter does in art school. I’m sure a lot of parents would like to have that experience. She got a better understanding of what my life is like for most of the year. Looking back on her visit I see that she’s become a more flexible person, or maybe she just really likes being around me? I think it’s both!
p.s. I’ll be announcing the winners to my last two giveaways very soon, so keep an eye out for that! My apologies for keeping you all waiting.
