Scribbles and Scrambles ~ R and R

My daughter and her kiddos and I took a kind of spur-of-the-moment trip over the weekend. When I say kind of spur-of-the-moment I mean that she had to move several heavy obstacles and we both had to jump through some hoops to pull it off. But we got it done and it was so, so worth the hoops. 

My in-laws own a little trailer in a park on the shore of one of Minnesota's 10k lakes. It's a trailer from the sixties with a few upgrades and a build-on, and a stackable washer and dryer. Orange and moss green shag carpet was cutting edge high-fashion when it was laid in the bonus build-on bedroom. Paneling was all the rage. And dog gone it if the decor isn't cheesy cabin tourist crapola. 

But we make the trip almost every year. And once my little kids were beyond the toddle-into-the-lake-and-drown phase, this place has become what vacations are meant to be. 

When it's just Rob and I we go and decompress completely. He fishes, I read in the boat, we eat twice a day and wear whatever we want. 

With the kiddos my daughter and I had to be a little more on top of our game. And the lake was the lure we knew it would be. From about 8 a.m. to dinner time the kids were digging, playing, collecting and glorying in the secret treasures and new experiences of the lake. And as an adult along for this experience it was glorious. It was exactly what a vacation should be. 

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Making Old School Cool...

Saturday I was able to join my first TEDx event. I've seen a few talks on Youtube and the like and I've always found that I take at least one thing away from a small investment of time. 

But in Omaha we have our own TEDx organization. A friend is part of the planning committee and suggested my daughter and I might like a TEDx Adventure. We traveled to a little town on our side of the river in Iowa. Malvern, Iowa, population?  Not so many. 

(I love it when Omaha crosses the river into our territory.) 

A Carnegie library makes it's home in Malvern. A classic white clapboard church has been transformed into an art studio, home to a terrific artist and my new kitty buddy.  Old downtown buildings are being reclaimed and made beautiful in all their glory. 

We lunched at a lovely cafe/bar/coffee house with a for reals piano man playing away. 

Should you be looking for a town like Malvern, there is a lovely bike trail and there will be some upcoming housing available this summer. (No hotel, really.) But the Art Church has an apartment that is going to be rented out (which is really cool. I'd love to stay a night or two.) A historic building near the bike trail is being renovated to provide more housing. 

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Campalong

Friday night we loaded up the pups and met Toad-Boy and & for a night out among the stars. 

& wanted the kids to get a camping experience and boy did they get one. Nearly every camping condition I've ever had was condensed into one 14 hour trip. 

Case in point? Boy tent, girl tent. The girl tent was bigger so the two little girls, & and I also had the company of all four canine girls. Cozy. 

First camping issue. We all descended at nearly the same time coming from three locations and we were all running a bit late. Not almost dark late but late enough that by the time the tents were up and the fire roaring it was way past dinner time. 

Then the mosquitoes. Whoa baby. The mosquitoes. They have been so bad this year because of all the rain we've gotten. Friday was brutal. The smoke took some of the edge off and and then we had a lovely breeze blow in. The rain tarps started flapping and the mosquitoes disappeared. 

We had a lovely time around the blazing fire pit and enjoying some fun drop in company (the neighbors, aka my parents,  and my brother and almost sister-in-law and their cutie 4 year old joined us later.) We camped in my folk's pasture just a tall grass hop, skip and quarter mile to the bathroom.  & prepped the meals veggie dogs, chips, fruit and carrots and celery sticks for dinner, vegan marshmallows and dark chocolate smores for treats and veggie sausage, hash browns and cinnamon coffee cake for breakfast. The easiest camping trip I've ever been on. In the middle of the evening & leaned over and said. "Thanks for all those years I had no clue how involved the mom things like camping and vacations were." 

The sky was so clear we got some stargazing in. Lovely evening.

We finally got to bed around 11:15 p.m. My 4 year old nephew chose the comfort of Grandma and Pas house. (Wise child  : )) I regretted immediately not accepting the blow up mattress that was offered to me. After all the pups got settled, and I almost found a comfortable spot to sleep on we started drifting off at 11:45. The settling took a little time and there were some moments of frustration. Like Gladys kept getting crazy feet and leaping about the tent. &'s oldest got her face puppy stomped and there was some weeping. Also, the day had been a hot one so the tent with all those bodies was warm. Very warm. 

At what was maybe 2:00 a.m. or 3:00 the thunder started. We've been having this weird rumbly thunder this year. It just goes on and on. So I exited from my semi-sleep to rumbling, knowing that rain was a 50% possibility.  Flashes lit up the distant sky. Maybe we'd miss the storm. 

Then the rain came. So much rain. For about a half hour it poured. So heavy that it penetrated the rain fly a bit and my sleeping bag got soaked from the side of the tent. Oh and so glad there was a tarp between us and the ground because water rushed under the tent. 

When it stopped we drifted back off to sleep. Mostly. 

The pups had a great time and they were excellent. I was uber impressed. They ran around like crazies but not too far and came back when we called them. And they slept well. I mean a few face stomps is minimal. Zero accidents occurred unless you consider face stomping an accident. No doubt we will repeat this little adventure. Because the ability to forget things like ugh and pain and work because of the payoff of fun and family makes us able to romanticize things like childbirth, road trips and camping. Ha. Ha. 

Serials and Scenarios ~ Archetype Coffee Reviewed

I love that Omaha is getting more and more trendy and bringing some of the best from other locales into the area. 

The newest coffee shop in town is absolutely a blast from Seattle. Two years after visiting, I still miss the plethora of coffee shop choices and fine brews we got to experience while there. Now, the Omaha metro area is offering quite a few choices, each with it's own unique strengths and personality. 

Archetype Coffee (the link is to their FB page) just opened last week. 

They offer an urban and sleek atmosphere and beans from small coffee roasters. 

The menu is clean and sleek as well, and we enjoyed an excellent pour over. 

Though I didn't try an oat milk latte, that's for next time, I'm excited that they offer different non-dairy milk choices. They didn't have baked goods or treats other than fresh fruit the day we visited, so don't plan on being able to get goodies. Though if you check the Facebook page before going you might get the lowdown. I noticed that they did mention having a bakery that was going to supply something or other. 

If you are in the "Blackstone District" just West of Midtown (40th and Farnam area) and you want a great cup of coffee, give them a try.

I love the little quirky touch of the beaker that holds another 1/3 cup of coffee. And the covered outdoor seating. 

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Ronald's Donuts ~ Las Vegas ~ Review

Doughnuts aren't vegan. Nope, those Krispy Kreme "Hot Now" little suckers just aren't. Two years ago, my daughter & and I went to Seattle and enjoyed Mighty O's and Portland treated us to Voodoo. Since then, nada. Until last week in Vegas. 

One of our traveling companions had checked with Isa and John for the must go places in Vegas. They both said Wynn and Ronald's Donuts. 

Wynn was on our list. We ate there last year and the setting and decor is terrific, and vegan food, amazing. And that was true for this visit, too.

But I digress, we're talking doughnuts, here. So, armed with a google search of Ronald's and a taxi we loaded up and headed out for vegan doughnuts. 

And when the taxi pulled up to a strip mall at the edge of China town, we were a little "hmmm." 

We walked into a 70's dinerish doughnut shop with the classic full glass case of donuts, lots of formica and paneling. A smiling man greeted us. And two gentlemen chatted and noshed doughnuts in one of the booths. We all wondered...the question bubbles were hovering over our heads...hmmm, is this the shop? Did we spell it wrong? 

Lindsey walked toward the counter. "Uhhh, which ones are vegan?" 

Mr. Donut smiled wider. "This rack, this rack and some down here." 

"So all of these are vegan, right here?" Lindsey asked. He smiled and nodded. 

We ordered. Three of us are vegan, two others are not. We each ordered several. (Won't say how many and we did share... even with a lovely British man who was walking down the street with us while we carried our bounty.) Suffice it to say that we ordered on Thursday, used the glass casserole dishes in the condo for freshness sake, and finished them on Sunday. 

Like children in a candy store, we debated, dreamed and ordered. Hopefully we didn't leave behind drool marks. 

Juggling cups of cold, creamy almond milk and our doughnut smorgasbord  we sat down at one of the formica booths. There was a moment of awed silence as each pulled a doughnut out of the boxes and sunk our teeth into them. Oh mercy. Every. One. Of. Them.  Amazing. Sweet, tender, puffy sugar bombs of airy magic. The non-vegans were just as much in love. And I'm pretty sure the regulars who came and went weren't there because the doughnuts aren't made with animal products. 

Nope, they seemed oblivious to the contents, just looking for their sugar fix. We may or may not have ruined our lunches and might have crashed into sugar comas later that day. But. Seriously. If you are vegan, or love delicious doughnuts and find yourself in Vegas. Ronald's Donuts. Nuff said. 

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ A Few Words for the Weekend in Vegas...

We, my daughter & and I, went to Vegas for an Arbonne conference. Can I recommend Vegas to the average bear? Let's just say that it's not my favorite city.  If you don't smoke and don't drink and don't gamble, I don't know that it's a great choice for vacations. One of the doctors I work for took his family a few months ago and they did museums and shows and had a blast. He has video of his teens having an indoor sky diving fun time. 

But all that costs some serious green. And I spent my serious green on the ticket and the hotel. So. I didn't fully experience Vegas unleashed. But, like I said, I'm not sure I want to experience Vegas unleashed. 

This year we stayed at the Wyndam Grand Desert as it was right across the street from the MGM conference center. Next year we will do that again. The rooms had full kitchens and the pool areas were open 24 hours. We spent a lot of time hanging out at the pool and that was glorious. 

The conference was amazing. I am going to build my business. I have to. Arbonne cares about it's people and the world. I'm so impressed with the heart of the company. And I don't know that I've seen more beautiful people in my life. Seriously, Arbonne stuff works. The men and women there are users of our line and their skin, hair and confidence is a powerful testimony of how well these pure, safe and beneficial products work. Newly released is a combo weight loss system that has a metabolism booster with green coffee bean extract and a plant based appetite control component. My batch is in the mail. The testimonials from the guinea pigs who tried the products are impressive. There is a sleep spray that helps with insomnia and for those who just have sleep issues. 

While they introduced the new products they released millions of petals from the cat walks above. And then little foam happy face frisbees. So fun to have all of that rain down on us. 

During conference breaks we ventured out a bit. Took a half walk/half taxi ride to the Wynn Casino. Wynn has a vegan chef influence so many vegan options are available in their restaurants. After our walk we were pretty hungry so we split a vegan spinach artichoke dip, a "tuna" sandwich and the "hamburger"-chocolate shake-french fry meal we fell in love with last year.  Loved, loved, loved. And none of us took a single picture. The first morning we were there we took a taxi to Ronald's Donuts which had been highly recommended. I'll be doing a review this week, so more later. But I must say. WOW. 

Then. The trip home. 

We hit turbulence. I'm not horribly prone to motion sickness. But. Turbulence is not enjoyable at all. My daughter, &, was really having difficulty with it. Then it got worse. Omaha was having really bad weather. We flew through some clouds with lightning. The pilot said we were going to try to skirt the storms. We began descending and seemed like we might land. But suddenly the descent felt a little more like leveling out, then climbing. Not a good sign. Ten minutes later he announced that we would be taking a detour to Des Moines. Uh. Most of us didn't know Des Moines had an airport. Des Moines wasn't expecting us. A skeleton crew was all that was there. We landed, deplaned and spent an hour waiting for news. A plane heading to Chicago joined us, too. 

There was a lot of activity including a spontaneous volleyball practice. 

Finally, after the hungry hoards had eaten everything they could find before the Pizza Hut and snack/book/trinket store locked up, we were given the news we'd be going back to Omaha. We got back on, fired up the engines and took off into the storm that had been in Omaha and was heading toward us. Let's just say that by the time we went way into Kansas and circled back to Omaha and landed, poor & was clutching her barf bag and doing lamaze style breathing. She never gave up the contents of her stomach but I believe that hour and a half was the longest of her life. 

Terra firma has never been more fabulous. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Cafe Gratitude Kansas City Reviewed

Strangers on a subway pose?
We Iowa and Nebraska vegans certainly enjoyed our trip to Cafe Gratitude.

Love that their dishes ask what we are grateful for and
the water bottles are etched with uplifting words.
What was I grateful for? The delicious vegan food. 

A lemon almond cake that was my least favorite menu item. 

I am Extrordinary

Our big vegan restaurant blast included dinner at Cafe Gratitude. All but one of us had been there before and it's earned a stop every time we even get near Kansas City. 

Favorite items we've found items that we love. Their milkshakes for starters. Named, I am Beautiful, I am Cool and I am Eternally Blessed. Crazy good. A dreamsicle orange, a fresh mint and cocoa nib, and a coffee. 

We shared and were glad the portion sizes left us with room for dessert, however, we would have ordered it anyway. As it was we took portions back to our airbnb. 

A figgy nutty cheesecake. Good. But neither of these desserts
touched the unpictured orange chocolate mousse cake..

The starter potatoes were delicious. Heck, do I need to break it down. They were all delicious. The I am Terrific was probably the least favorite of the group and the I am Sensational was just that. Spaghetti squash, alfredo sauce with nut parm. Amazing. The green salads included on most of the entrees are light and delicious as well. 

The prices for organic and vegan with the care going into the preparation are definitely reasonable. 

I have to give Cafe Gratitude thumbs up and I totally recommend it to anyone looking for fresh and delicious. I also think omnivores should check out how delicious vegan eats can be. I honestly don't think anyone eating there could walk away disappointed. 

I am Terrific

I am Sensational

I am Grounded

So. Smarties being disobedient to the sign.
However, we were obedient to the hugging, smiling and warm fuzzy feeling part.
So much so I was afraid we'd be kicked out! 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Mud Pie Bakery, Kansas City, Reviewed

I love coffee. Since going vegan I've learned to love good coffee black. But when I go somewhere that has non-dairy milks (and an assortment at that) I always go for the unflavored, unsweetened latte. The best of both worlds, rich, creamy coffee deliciousness. Mud Pie Bakery makes a mean cashew milk latte. Mean. As in excellent, should you need clarification. :  ) 

A few friends and I traveled to Kansas City for a vegan food frenzy that lasted just about 24 hours. I had been to Mud Pie on a previous trip and was excited to go back. 

One of the gals got a box of goodies to take home. Two of us ordered a vegan sausage, cheese scone, one got a lemon blueberry muffin and I ordered this lemon baby bundt cake. 

We all shared bites and sips and nearly licked plates. Seriously. Everything was delicious. Tender, tasty, perfectly textured. The lemon blueberry was declared "best muffin ever" and the rest of us had to agree that it was top notch. 

In addition we each ordered a couple extra treats to share when we got home or eat on the car trip. 

I ordered a peanut butter cookie and a 7 layer type bar. They sat in a brown paper sack wrapped in bakery paper for 30 hours. Generally, baked goods treated like that get stale, or certainly lose a large chunk of quality. Right? 

These didn't. They were both delicious. I was a little sad I had to share with Rob. 

Bottom line. If you are going to KC and are vegan or not, give them a shot. Two thumbs up and I'll throw in both big toes, too. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Fud Kansas City Restaurant Review

 A couple vegan friends joined me for a whirlwind tour of Kansas City area vegan restaurant fun. That's right. We drove three ish hours to eat copious quantities of vegan grub and do a bit of shopping. An overnight stay via Airbnb helped us sleep off Friday night's food coma and prep for the Saturday's eating adventures. 

My first restaurant review is Fud. This was my second visit to Fud. We bought a sundae there a year of so ago and devoured it and felt the need to repeat that yummy experience. We entered the small restaurant with the groovy atmosphere and quickly ordered our treat. 

The Sweet stack is a huge sundae made with cashew based ice cream and covered with all the toppings they have on their menu. The four of us split one delicious sundae and ordered some mac and cheese on the side. 

The mac and cheese was a delicate, subtle bowl of deliciousness. Creamy, comfort food and mildly tangy. 

While enjoying our snack we discovered that Fud offers brunch on Saturday from 11 to 3. We returned and ordered three entrees to split four ways. 

They had a reuben tempeh "corned beef" hash. Purple cabbage and jackfruit provided the corned beef pink, A side of sour kraut added the perfect additional tang, fried potatoes rounded it out and it was truly amazing. 

Blueberry pancakes were our nod to traditional breakfast foods. And we weren't sorry. The others poured maple syrup on theirs but I stuck to the way it was prepared, blueberries, a little powdered sugar and a drizzle of blueberry syrup poured over the stack. The two plate sized pancakes had a hint of savory and we decided there might have been some cornmeal in the recipe. 

The last dish was a tofu open faced sandwich. Two thin slices of tofu, one smoky the other eggy stacked with greens, tomato and a delicious drizzle. The eggy tofu was amazingly eggy. I think it was a sulfurous salt that I'm going to have to add to my pantry. 

If you find yourself in the Kansas City area I definitely recommend Fud.