Your most infamous kitchen misadventure

One of my funniest childhood memories happened when my mom did something very similar, taking a whole cookie sheet full of flaming toasts out of the oven, running straight out the door, and dumping them onto a big snowdrift.

Months later, as the snow melted, we actually saw birds out in the yard feasting on the now-unfrozen remains of our flaming snack.

ashleytrailrunner in Not About Food

Cedar planks

What did you soak your cedar plank in? Soaking it in wine gives your food a good flavor & cuts the cedar-y taste a bit. More tips at this website may be helpful:
http://www.tastytimbers.com/about-plank-cooking.html

ashleytrailrunner in Home Cooking

Any good food in Pasadena past 10pm??

I believe the Crepe Vine is open late; they also have live music sometimes. Call the restaurant to be sure, but I think you could have dinner here after 10pm.

http://www.thecrepevine.com/

ashleytrailrunner in Los Angeles Area

Cambria...sweet cambria....what can I eat there and where can I eat?

We once ate at the Brambles Dinner House and had a fantastic evening - a great menu, good service, all the ambiance you could want. I recommend it.

http://www.bramblesdinnerhouse.com/

ashleytrailrunner in California

"classy picnic" menu input... can you help me?

The menu looks great - you're making me hungry!

One question: do you have seats in a box, or bench seats? I only ask because if you're in a box you may ALSO want to include candles for that extra-romantic touch. The Bowl's policy on candles is posted here:
http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/tix/theatre_pol.cfm
Basically what you'd want to get are hurricane-style candles, anything nestled into a container so that the flame is a couple inches below the top of the container. I often see these little hurricane-style lamps at the Bowl:
http://www.rei.com/product/611181?vcat=REI_SSHP_CAMPING_TOC

Super-romantic under the stars!

ashleytrailrunner in Home Cooking

Wheat Free Birthday Cake

I second the Flourless Chocolate Cake suggestion. Mmmmmm!!!

ashleytrailrunner in Home Cooking

Mariachis and good Mexican food?

El Cholo, in Pasadena, may be too much of a drive for you, but the mariachi music is great - call in advance to confirm, but they usually have mariachi music during dinner hours Fridays & Saturdays.

http://www.elcholopasadena.com/

ashleytrailrunner in Los Angeles Area

New Years eve rec's. Not kidding

One very special restaurant you might enjoy is "Cafe des Artistes." It's in Hollywood, has a great menu, and a lot of ambiance.
http://www.cafedesartistes.info/client/artistes/homepage.htm

One bonus that will be special to you (coming from chilly New Jersey) is that most of the restaurant is in a "backyard-like" setting outside. There are heaters if it gets really chilly (and it's covered if it's raining) but for the quintessential Los Angeles dining experience, I think it's hard to beat.

ashleytrailrunner in Los Angeles Area

Hollywood Bowl

Greenblatt's Deli on Sunset will put together a stellar picnic for you -- and their wine selection is amazing!

http://search.cityguide.aol.com/losangeles/restaurants/greenblatts-deli/v-100087431

ashleytrailrunner in Los Angeles Area

really tasty vegan restaurants?

Hmmm... are you maybe thinking of Green Leaves, on Hillhurst? It's not that far from Griffith Park. I think they opened about a year ago.

http://www.greenleavesvegan.com/aboutus.html

ashleytrailrunner in Los Angeles Area

What do vegans eat on Thanksgiving?

I'm with Karl on this one - Thanksgiving for me has always been about the side-dishes: green beans, mashed potatoes, salads, stuffing... Yum!

I'm vegan, and my partner makes an amazing vegan stuffing from scratch, toasting the breadcrumbs herself, chopping the celery, soaking everything in vegetable broth... It's so good, in fact, that we're asked to bring it to our family's thanksgiving dinner every year.

Which brings up another idea for you, if you're hosting vegans but aren't sure what to cook: perhaps you could handle the "easier" side-dish stuff (vegetables, salad) and let your vegan guests bring whatever main-dish equivalent they want to eat. We've known many very nice people who have knocked themselves out trying to "cook vegan" for us, and the fact is, when you're not accustomed to cooking vegan, you're probably not going to be that successful at it.

When we're invited anywhere, we always offer to bring our own main dish (with enough for everyone to share, if they'd like to taste what those crazy vegans are eating). This ensures two things: our host is relieved of the struggle to find something for us to eat, and we know we'll be well fed.

ashleytrailrunner in Home Cooking

Vegan Cookbook Recommendations

I'm partial to The Voluptuous Vegan
(http://www.amazon.com/Voluptuous-Vegan-Sinfully-Delicious-Dairy-Free/dp/0609804898/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-4706421-1330844?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186690561&sr=8-1)

Be sure to try the tamale pie recipe.

Also, your son might be interested in reading this New York Times article about these firefighters in Austin, Texas: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/national/26vegan.html?ex=1186804800&en=b527f7694add7715&ei=5070

The firefighters' website has a number of yummy vegan recipes; we love the wraps and the enchiladas. http://www.engine2.org/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx

As to the many comments about whether a growing boy can eat vegan without any ill effects, yes - everyone is right that it takes a bit of extra care to make sure you get enough B12 - but in the end the rewards of being vegan far outweigh the effort it takes to keep yourself properly nourished.

Bravo to your son for understanding that what you eat is important to think about.
And bravo to you for supporting his principled decision.

ashleytrailrunner in Home Cooking