New in PDX: Back to Eden Vegan Bakery Boutique!

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jess sconed.

I love this scone.

Maple Walnut Scone

ZOMG, right? Back to Eden Bakery has opened it's cozy and super adorable storefront & boutique on NE Alberta! It's located right next to Townsend Teahouse (vegan bubble tea, anyone? made with actual tea!) and the adjacent cart lot currently housing the all vegan Open Heart Cafe and Homegrown Smoker BBQ*.

I've taken two visits since they opened last Tuesday, and I'm all smiles in there. Everyone is! You can just feel how proud the staff is of the storefront. There are baked goods, bulk candy, Temptation soft serve, vegan products, cookbooks, Oregon's own Coconut Bliss scoops, Oogave ice cream floats and Cellar Door Coffee - a favorite local roaster.

That scone above? It starred one of my favorite flavors in the world, maple, and was such a precious, sweet scone. I brought it home for breakfast with my semi weekly morning coffee and it could very well be the best thing about this past week. I mean, I wanted to hug the bite I dipped into my coffee. But I didn't.

Pumpkin Bar

The very first baked good I tried from Back to Eden was the pumpkin bar above. I considered cake and pie, but the pan of pumpkin bars on the bottom of the main case called out to me. The classic crumbly, slightly salty topping, a thin layer of rich pumpkin, and crust = instant favorite. And reasonably priced and portioned, at $1.75 or so.

Crowd on Last Thursday

Inside the case:

My friend Millie dug her slice of Chocolate Rosemary Sea Salt Tart

Wall seating

Muffins & Scones Case

Karla had a Temptation sundae with Dandies Marshmallows and house caramel sauce. I think her sugar high lasted for hours. Maeve and I stopped by earlier today for soft serve with caramel sauce, and I'm still buzzing sweetness. Temptation soft serve is sa-weet! Seriously though - vegan soft serve on Alberta!!

Karla's sundae

The marshmallows remind me of how a local ice cream shop would stuff a mallow at the bottom of waffle cones when I was little and my sister and I were always delighted to find it...and at the savvy...

Back to Eden's own Janessa, and Lucas outside the boutique

* Side note, HGS is moving a few blocks east to 27th& Alberta in the old Spud Locker location next week. Can we discuss how NE Alberta officially has a vegan walking tour now? When I moved to the Alberta District in 2004, I would go to Vita and the Coop, and then the Coop and Vita. Granted, I lived there for two weeks and then fell into SE Portland love.

NE Alberta vegan highlights:

• Lunch at Homegrown Smoker Vegan BBQ - my pick is the combo with chronic tempeh, smoked soy curls, mac & cheese and add the fabulous smoked corn.
• Vegan shoe shopping (or realistically, show window shopping) at Pie Footwear at 29th.
• Grilled vegan cheese sandwiches with roasted jalapenos in trippy The Grilled Cheese Grill school bus
• Chicken Fried Tempeh at Vita
• Tempeh topped pizza slices at Bella Faccia
• Mason Jars full of booze or the Floor Punch at the Bye & Bye all vegan bar. Oh, and BBQ Platters (sub brussels for the collards!), one of my favorite things to eat in PDX, hands down. Meatball subs, Eastern Bowls with Peanut sauce and more.
• Coming Soon: The All Vegan Held Belts storefront!
• and Goodies *and* Cellar Door Coffee at Back to Eden, of course
• Tour de Crepes - I wasn't wild about the crepes here a few years ago, but I hear they've gotten great!
• Last Thursday: the insanity, the wonder, the stands. Petunia's Pastries has some gourmet vegan treats at their stand - I was in love with the Chocolate Hazelnut cupcake. There are usually at least 95 stands selling hand crafted vegan truffles, as well.
• Tofu Po Boys at Palm State Gumbo
• Michelle! my Alberta vegan guide.
• Alberta Coop at 15th.
• Mash Tun for tempeh hot wings
• Tin Shed for breakfast

So just walk the street up and down repeatedly, and pick your vegan indulgence!

What am I forgetting?

I'm going to consolidate these tips on my new location soon!

Recent Great Stuff.

Time to be straight forward. Here's some stuff, that happened recently, that I deem great:

Tomato Season. I ate a tricolor pint of cherry and grape tomatoes for lunch the other day.

The Wednesday downtown farmers market. Mere block from my office.

Hands down, my favorite farmar.

Crazy-gluing that hand down - the Cafe Velo cart.

It's a smaller set up (this one is a bike! Oh, Portland) than the Saturday markets', with 400 fewer people on line with cute crying babies in front of you. Individually dripped cups of Stumptown, you choose the roast! I went with an Indonesian roast this past week.

Soymilk on the counter!!!!

Holding on the farmers market theme for one more addition: Pimientos de Padron. I can't let these go this summer. These were sauteed classicly with olive oil, coarse sea salt and crushed red pepper.

I brought the above peppers to the Try Vegan Week Potluck & Trivia night, along with these cookies from the upcoming Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.

Citrus Glitters

Heading back to test kitchen land, I've started testing for Isa's upcoming 'healthy' book. I am so freaking busy lately, but if I'm making a point to cook at home, odds are it will be her recipes. It's just how life is.

Summer Lovin' Curried Corn Chowder

Moving on from corn, to corn - the down home, smoked corn on the cob from Homegrown Smoker Vegan BBQ. If you've read my Stumptown Vegans review, you know I'm quite fond of them. They've recently labeled quite a few main items gluten free, and I swear, their home cooking style food is better every single time I go.

From corn to......pizza! Because sometimes Hot Lips puts corn on their pizza..... At this week's Yelp Portland Ballroom Bash. Here's Maeve with the vegan foccacia pie Don personally delivered to the table of awesome Yelpy vegans.

The Yelp Elite Hour & Ballroom Bash was super fun! I'm not a huge Hot Lips fan, and I despise their cilantro pesto, but how cool! I was able to get a tomato base slice a bit earlier, fortunately for my tastebuds and sanity, had I been induling in more of the complimentary beverages.

Oh hey, walking across the Morrison Bridge safely for once, thanks to construction, is pretty great. And random.

And really, really great - a veganized Vermecilli Bowl from Huong's Vietnamese cart downtown. He has other vegetarian options that are alright, but I've been wanting to request a vegan version of the pork or chicken bowl for too long! So, I finally did. He even volunteered a summer roll for the eggroll before I could even think to ask. I'm on a rice noodle kick.

It was tasty, and HUGE! And $6! It had fried tofu strips and this strange white gluten, which was good stuff.

All in all, Really Great Stuff.

Whiffies pies, dinners, friends, riceballs

Do you see what is photographed below?  It is a mini, deep fried, apple pie.  I can't believe I've been eating quite healthy the past few weeks, and yet, those words are being typed, that those words were experienced!  The Whiffies deep fried pie cart opened up at SE 12th and SE Hawthorne (walking distance from my apartment!) last weekend by Potato Champion!, and Ms. Strawberryrock and myself just happened to walk by during their first evening.  It was a soft opening and poor us, only the vegan fruit pies were being offered.  My apple pie was hot, flaky and filled with small chunks of apples and delicious apple ooze.  That's right.

Vegan apple pie

We sat outside the cart and enjoyed the late night liveliness around us.  There was a DJ cart for pete's sake.  Of course, afterwards I felt a little...deep fried, and I knew this wasn't something that could be a frequent indulgence from the get go, but I liked it.  I would have died had there been a drizzle of icing, so it's probably best there wasn't.  I've been immersed in focused greens consumption to preparation for trying their new savory vegan chicken pot pies and, in the future, they're supposed to have vegan fried chicken seitan.  Come on.  

Whiffies on twitter.

SE 12th carts.  The fries at PC! are the best, 

and the Creperie *just* started offering a vegan crepe!

DJ...cart...

The new Whiffies cart

Since I'm already skipping the final NYC food porn post til next week, let's continue onto more food in PDX I've enjoyed & created.  Daylight! photos! gasp!

The jdfunks burrito

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I was in the mood for a burrito, and that is rare.  I'm really a crispy person.  Me + texture = great friends.  This tortilla held lightly seasoned short grain brown rice, baby spinach, smoky pinto spread, hot sauce, homemade almond cheeze (based on the recipe from Real Food Daily) and noochy breaded seitan. 

Seitan sausage, garlic, mushrooms & collards

This dinner features two types of homemade steamed sausages, both of the spicy variety.  One was based on Isa's Chorizo in Vegan Brunch and the other from Artful Vegan.

Hodge podge meal including the dish above, a leftover tamale from Paula of Semicircular Vegan, brown rice, smoky pinto dip, etc. etc. etc.  She brought them to a party I threw last weekend with a sub-theme of late 1990s WB shows I watched and it was a super fun time! I can't even begin to describe how productive cutting out Buffy and Felicity quotes made me feel.

Yesterday I stopped by the Eastbank Farmers Market for goodies including basil, Hot Lips black raspberry soda and one of Toddbott's rice triangles.  One my my favorite stands, no question.  

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Los Gorditos II: Vegan Taco Truck Action

So this past weekend I was hanging out with a couple local vegan food bloggers, who just happen to be dear friends, and we just happened to go to Los Gorditos II after completing some hard work* at Sweetpea.

Vegan Mulita - layers of corn tortilla and...stuff.

Los Gorditos II is an all-vegan cart that was opened this past fall by the sweet owners of Taqueria Los Gorditos on SE Division. The original has had an ample vegan menu in place for over a year and a half now, tried out vegan Sunday hours and flew with the business and community-wise idea with this new cart. You can get a glimpse of the large, extended menu here. 

They offer burritos, tacos, mulitas, tortas, nachos (ahhh!), enchiladas, bowls and more - and have tofu, Soyrizo, Follow Your Heart cheeze AND vegan sour cream.  You can easily make a vegan cheezy sauce at home any day, but addictively seasoned cheap beans and rice with vegan chorizo over nachos or in a bowl or burrito or tacos and dairy alternatives is too good to pass up.  

If you're veg*n in the Portland area, surely you've been to at least one of these carts.  Now go to both!  Again!  How are you not supporting the vegan taco truck within walking distance to the vegan mini mall??  Is it because their hours are 11am-5pm M-Sat?  Then go to the original, it's open till 8pmish!  What?  I'm a fan.  And it's silly but still fussworthy, because I honestly prefer the simple beans, rice and avocado dish for $4.50, though I'll indulge in the nachos if I'm really, really hungry.

Vegan Enchiladas - note: the soy cheeze doesn't melt on these.

Vegan Quesadilla.  The cheeze does melt in these.  This is what I ordered, it sure was melty. Devestatingly, I couldn't handle the immense soyrzio and fake cheeze heartburn so I'll stick to my beans, rice and avocado in the future.  Plus, I'm a crispy food fanatic so I don't know what I was thinking ordering something soft....

The only true downside was the watery tomatoes, we didn't eat those.  We also took a vegan torta to our friend, which is apparently the-item-to-try, but none of us were feeling toasted bread.

*hard work is obviously a mixture of school work, conversation and blogging.

Sick Days Sustenance

Watching it sorta snow and rain inside of Sweetpea Bakery...

I voluntarily fell victim to the cold bug my friends have been passing around and snotted my way through the past few days, mostly gloriously lying on my couch and watching DVDs.  I 

took off of work, drank tea and did a minimal amount of cooking.

I had my fix of tea and fresh vegetables and beans at Sweetpea yesterday afternoon, on a break with Evan from Bjorked Off! from my lazy, snotty homestay.  Sweetpea is now serving Porland-based looseleaf Townshend Tea, and I had the pleasant Strawberry Sencha.  

Happy Bowl

Foodwise,  after reading with my tea for a while I opted for one of their newish savoury offerings, the Happy Bowl.  You can't go wrong with a bowl of well cooked grains - in this case brown rice, wholesome beans, fresh kale and housemade sauce.  I went with the recommended half BBQ and half aioli.  I go for similar very vegan arrangements at the Whole Bowl, Chaos Cafe and Blossoming Lotus (Incan bowl with half of each sauce, plus tempeh) and the beans and sauce helpings in this bowl are commendable.  Next time I'll try just the tangy BBQ sauce.  There's nooch on the coffee fixings table and you can ask for your choice of hot sauce.

Dessert, which I honestly nibbled on with my tea before lunch.  

Sugar Cookie. Appropriately pink and sweet.  Photo by Evan, smudge likely by me.

Me and my sick germs even got together to make some cookies this weekend - 

Hazelnut Linzertort testers 

from Isa and Terry's upcoming Vegan Cookie Book.

Some are filled with my favorite, local black raspberry jam, and the rest are with Trader Joe's Reduced Sugar Strawbery Preserves. 

 I fed some to a non-sick friend and I hear she's still alive.....

Signs of Veganism in SE Portland

Literally, this post is about signs regarding vegan options in SE Portland.  Noticed a pattern in my flickr stream from this past weekend....

First up, posted a couple blocks away from Junior's Cafe on SE 12th:

I think seeing this touched my heart.  I haven't been to Junior's in months and am planning on changing that awful truth pronto.  Their Superhero Scramble is possibly my favorite* in town, and their Vegan Potatoes plate with creamy tofu sauce and fresh sage sorta rocks my mouth with yum.  Add sauteed tofu to that and you won't be sorry.

SE 12th and Hawthorne Food Carts

Snowpocalypse, December 2008 

Moving north on on SE 12th, you come to a food cart dominated parking lot at SE Hawthorne. Home to Potato Champion and vegan poutine, a vegan-friendly pasta cart and where I truly wished Gorditos II had opened (but it's okay, I can easily go to the original or vegan Ankeny location).

Looks like El Brasero Mexican cart has clearly gotten wind that vegan-friendliness can = increased business in this town.  Anyone been?

The vegan options are written at the bottom of this board.  I can't say a $6.50 vegan burrito has much pull for me, I just love Gorditos' so much, but I'm sure I'll stop by at some point and give it a go and support this vegan effort.  Let me know if you do and if there's something great!

I noticed these menu updates at Q BBQ a couple months ago - Tofu Nuggets and a Veggie Dog. Haven't stopped by when they're open or heard if they're actually vegan, but here's hoping (and that they don't taste like bbq chicken in a bad way).

These are simply some signs I photographed this past weekend.  I am well aware of many, possibly most?, of the ever-expanding actual instances of vegan-friendliness in SE Portland.

*included as one of the Top Ten Best Things the Stumptown Vegans have eaten for 2007 in the Travel Edition of Herbivore Magazine.

There's a kind of hush.....

I've been forgetting my camera at work lately and not photographing all the fun food business I've been  up to.  Like, last night, I went to Nhut Quang with a friend again living up to my #2 fan status.  It's quite a dedication for a SE Portlander, right.  Today, I had my camera with me, a sunny afternoon and a mission to photograph my lunch downtown.  After juggling ideas throughout the morning, I decidedly walked to the classic India Chaat House at the start of my lunch hour and sadly found them closed for the day.  

My thoughts turned to tofu and I found myself walking to I Love Thai Food.  I've recently read that they were under new ownership and slightly less vegan friendly and flavorful and wanted to check things out.  Sure enough, a new sign and menu presented it as I Like Thai Food cart and 4 or 5 people in line deterred my stop there.  Love to Like, really?

I peeked in at some other carts nearby but nothing called me in.  I found myself walking to Dreamers in another food cart lot since I hadn't gone in ages and thought it'd be fun, but it was also closed.  I contemplated giving Small World a third shot for Ethiopian food but didn't want to spend so much on lunch, and finally ended up with a falafel wrap from Hush Hush.  

Falafel Sandwich 

I dig Hush Hush for the speed (always served in a flash!), service and quality of food, but I do leave there smelling like falafel every time.  The past couple falafel wraps I've had there were still very good, but I found myself being annoyed with the tahini-soaked second half and pointless watery tomatoes.  I still the the falafel flavor and size deserve recognition.  The BEST falafel I've had recently was from Karam.  It was positively stand out - crispy yet moist and delicious.  I almost couldn't believe it.  I regretted not going there as I walked with my lunch today, but I've made it through the rest of my day so far.

Exterior of Hush Hush.  Go in!

And that's the story of my wandering lunch hour.  

400th Post: Favorites Edition

Let me name drop for the 400th time my friend Karla, of Veganshizzle on this, 

the 400th POST ON GET SCONED!  Holy Crap, it's exciting.

Her latest post is a spazzy list of favorites and I thought I'd jump on board with mine.  

I wandered into my flickr stream for inspiration....

Of course I'm starting with the cats.  Here's Huxley and Zelda on my newish (vintage) couch,

which I also adore.  They're actually next to each other!  OMG.

Chocolate Peppermint Vitasoy.  I stockpile this stuff come $1 end-of-season sale time and merrily drink it throughout the year.  Chilled.  I don't need to go on.  Just try it.

I picked up this Kozy Shack Soy Pudding on sale at Grocery Outlet for $1.49 a while back.  I rarely make pudding for myself but was a big Kozy Shack rice pudding fan back in high school.  I haven't read about a Soy Rice Pudding yet, but for a vanilla snack pack, this was good and a trio of friends agreed.  It made me feel like a special vegan little kid.

There wasn't a big soy beany taste that packaged vegan pudding can be victim of and therefore not shine in vanilla form.  Like I want banana soy pudding??

Overall - Recommended!

The downtown farmer's market - specifically, the Wednesday downtown.  It's right by my office and is one half of why I actually look forward to the midweek.  I can pick up produce, lunch sample what's in season, people watch and escape work within a block of my office.  Sadly, last week was the final one for the season.  

The other reason I look forward to Wednesdays - ANTM night with friends!  Yes, there was a vegan on it this season.  There were a few mentions of her veganism on the show early in the cycle.  She wasn't my favorite, sorry!  That goes to awkward Marjorie.  I don't see how McKey won't win, though.

Making ANTM even better?  The hilarious Four Four recaps.

This is a food blog.  Cooking is my favorite!  No, baking!  Cooking!  All of it!  Tofu!

Fancy cocktails, like this freshly squeezed Whiskey Sour.  I made this one after using a vintage cocktails book for a craft project (my decoupaged kitchen table).  I probably sat down to watch Mad Men right after this.

But I'm also a sucker for $2 greyhounds at Tube, not to mention their 5pm-1opm happy hour cheap vegan eats.  $3 Fake ham and cheeze!  2 for $5!  They no longer call it the McGonnigle, but whatever.

There's something about their greyhounds that tastes like vanilla.  

Veganshizzle and I attend bi-monthly Tubesdays!

Gourmet chocolate.  A second Cacao location opened up by my office downtown and on a trying day, I actually stopped in for the first time and picked up a soy macchiato and a dark chocolate mint bar - with actual mint leaves, oooooo.  I've gotten 1/4 through the bar and the rest is in my freezer waiting for me.

Trader Joe's dried cranberries.  $1.99 a bag.  I pick one up whenever I'm there, which is more often come winter, when the farmer's markets are gone.  My go-to snack.

I can't think of what truly replaced it - but the TLP (tempeh, lettuce, roasted pepper) at Red & Black Cafe was my first favorite sandwich in Portland and remained so for trio of years. 

 

The cafe used to be located across the street from my apartment in SE, but was forced to move last year.  It's now all vegan and located next door to the vegan mini mall, still in SE.  I can't say if it's the move or the chopped roasted red pepper as opposed to strips, or tortilla chips over potato chips, but it's no longer my favoritest sandwich ever in Portland, but it's still up there, no doubt - especially on rye or Dave's Killer Good Seed bread.

Family!  I have a tiny family and they're in NY, but they must go on this list if my cats are! Here's my sister, myself and our grandparents in May, before her college graduation from Stonybrook University.  If you remember from last month, my brother Rick was in town for the first time, he's definitely a favorite, too.

Rich's Whip at Sweet Pea Brunch.  And kale!!!! Horribly bad for you vegan whipped cream from a can goodness, balanced a little bit by stocking your plate with kale.

Hell, Sweet Pea, specifically.  Wait....Katie Jane from Sweet Pea Bakery!  She's the best.  

Another favorite meal - the $8 BBQ Tofu Platter from Bye & Bye.  I subbed brussel sprouts for the collards the last time I went and wouldn't do that again and don't understand why the tofu is sprinkled with nutritional  yeast as well, but moving on - great food, great plate, reasonable price.  We had a black out in SE on Monday night and some friends and I trekked up north for grub.  

Once again, Zelda.  The Couch.  The end.

What's on your list?