Poppy's Burgers & Fries

Onward with the New York eats posting!

The funeral was in Highland Falls and we were staying with relatives in Monroe. On Sunday, we made the rounds driving by the sights Erik grew up around, old houses, familiar surroundings, etc.  As lunch time drew near, we headed to Beacon.

Last time we were in NY, Erik and I really liked Beacon, so it was fun to see what had changed in the past few years. Though to a smaller scale, we decided it was kind of like Crossroads meets Westside here in KC. Trendy, artsy, and has a fun vibe.

Poppy’s



We decided to try out Poppy’s for lunch. It’s located at 184 Main Street and is a simple burger joint serving up local, grass fed meat.

Their menu consists of five different sandwiches, two choices of sides, and an array of different burger toppings to chose from. Their cooler of drinks includes a large selection of cane sugar sodas, organic iced teas, juices, and seasonal local and New York State beer.

 

Once ordering at the counter, your meal is brought out to you in a simple paper bag, burgers wrapped in foil. I liked the simplicity of it all.

Our greasy fries [that tasted pretty good to me!] …



And their veggie burger which is a bean patty with lettuce, tomato, and aioli.



I really like Poppy’s concept of simplicity and quality with local, natural sourcing.

As we walked out after our lunch, we noticed that “Chef Poppy” is a past winner of Food Network’s Chopped.  I’ve watched a lot of Chopped in my day, so it was fun to discover.

Thanks, Poppy’s!

Lulu's & Pumpkin Cashew Ice Cream

Hi!

Hope everyone is doing well! It’s getting colder and colder here in Kansas City and we even woke up to a nice dusting of snow. My parents were in town this weekend and we had fun running around on Monday doing some shopping. We ended up eating dinner Lulu’s and after a weekend full of running around, neither Erik or I felt like cooking tonight so guess what we had? More Lulu’s, ha. Yes, two nights in a row.

This time it was takeout though, so that’s different enough, right?

Anyways, we both got the drunken noodles, vegan style (basically, without egg):

I put my food on a plate, spent a little take taking photos and still finished my whole plate well before Erik finished his.

He was impressed. Or something like that.

Ha, either way … yum!

Next up … I realize pumpkin season is coming to an end and sugar cookie season is beginning, but I couldn’t help one last commemoration of pumpkins! It looks a little something like this …

Pumpkin Cashew Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plain cashews
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup plain canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions:

• Blend together cashews and water until smooth.
• Add remaining ingredients, and once again blend until smooth. The mixture should be blended enough that it’s slightly creamy
• Place in ice cream maker until thickened. My ice cream maker usually takes around 30 minutes.

Note: If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can place the blended mixture into the freezer, stirring often, and it should produce pretty good results. It may be a tad icy depending on how often you stir it but the taste should still be delicious.

It would taste especially delicious with these delicious vegan brownies!

Yes, it’s cold outside.

But who doesn’t like ice cream all year round?

Exactly.

The end.

What have you been baking or cooking lately??

Coming up in KC

Happy Weekend!

And not just any weekend, but the weekend before Thanksgiving! The festivities have begun and the holiday season is here to stay. I plan on posting a few more Thanksgiving’ish recipes before the big day arrives so be on the lookout the beginning of the week! But first … some current happenings in Kansas City:

Coming up in KC

• Tour d’Italia: In case you missed out on the first round, which was November 15th, the Tour d’Italia has one more night, November 29th. It’s a dinner featuring a collaboration between SPIN! pizza, Chef Michael Smith and Cellar Rat Wine that is benefiting Harvesters. If you hurry, you can still catch a seat for dinner on the 29th. Tickets are $39.50 each and include 4 courses, 4 wines and a $10 donation to Harvesters. Seatings are available from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Click here for more info or to get your ticket!
• Gram & Dun: Kansas City’s “original gastropub”, Gram & Dun, from Bread & Butter Concepts will be opening on November 22nd on the Plaza.
  
• Plaza Lighting Ceremony: Speaking of the Plaza … their annual lighting ceremony is this Thursday on Thanksgiving evening. Pre-show performances begin at 5:15.
• BADSEED Pre-Thanksgiving market: Saving the best for last, be sure to stop by BADSEED’s Thanksgiving market tonight. A great time to stock up on local food for your Thanksgiving meals and there will be extra vendors tonight just for this occasion! Starts at 4, goes ‘til 9.

Eden Alley

And for the rest of this blog post … a quick week night dinner at Eden Alley. After running some errands and not getting done until about 8:00, cooking didn’t seem like fun so we stopped by Eden Alley before going back home.

We started by sharing a bowl of potato dill soup. It was good, I liked the dill flavoring in it a lot. I might have to make a dill inspired soup sometime myself!

Erik got the avocado vera cruz:

And I’m always a sucker for sweet potatoes (especially the week before Thanksgiving!) so I got my semi-usual sweet potato burrito.

And now … the weekend. We’re headed to BADSEED with some friends tonight, should be fun!

What are you doing this weekend??

Chez Elle & Uptown GreenFest

Another wonderful weekend come and gone!

I think I've decided that Sundays are my favorite day of the week. After church we usually go out to eat with some friends, get Fresher Than Fresh, and enjoy the afternoon. Today was no different!

Everyone decided on Chez Elle Creperie & Coffeehouse today.

Chez Elle is located near the corner of 17th & Summit (yes, our favorite neighborhood that I always seem to be talking about). They're located in the converted historic Summit theater building and known for their delicious crepes.

Erik and I both opted for a spinach salad and hot tea. Simple, and delicious!

Though neither of us got crepes, as you can see below … they are beautiful and delicious!! There is a plethora of sweet and savory crepes on their menu.

And for any vegan readers out there, they have a vegan batter available that’s made out of soy milk and buckwheat flour.

My lovely friend, Katya, posing by the Chez Elle sign:

We ate on the patio and enjoyed the beautiful September weather! Lovely Sunday lunch with friends.

Uptown GreenFest

Before going home, we stopped by the Upton GreenFest.

It consisted of live music, artists, performers, food, and workshops covering a range of topics from preparing healthy and quick meals to easy ways to go green at home.

Conveniently Natural was one of the food booths. We had just eaten at Chez Elle, but it all looked delicious! Conveniently Natural has been doing a Thursday “all-you-should-eat” buffet lunch lately and while I haven’t gotten a chance to make it to one yet, I plan to and highly suggest checking it out!

Keep up with their Thursday buffets via their Facebook page.

Last but not least … The Purple Carrot has purple hair again!!

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Waldo Pizza

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

I worked most of the day, but we hung out with some friends in the evening so that was fun. I had to wear a jacket for the first time in a long time. I’m ready for hot tea in the mornings but now that I have felt cold for a whole day I’m not sure what I think about this changing of seasons thing, ha. Either way, it’s here to stay!

Anyways … next up we have a lovely Sunday filled with vegan pizza and natural snow cones:

Waldo Pizza

After church on Sunday, we went with a few friends to eat at Waldo Pizza.

There are two Waldo Pizza locations in the KC area. One is located at 7433 Broadway (75th and Wornall) in Kansas City and the other is at 1543 Douglas St (Douglas & Mulberry) in Lee’s Summit.

One really neat and notable aspect of Waldo is that alongside their normal menu, they have a full vegan menu! For us vegans, it’s certainly appreciated and loved.

As far as cheese is concerned, they have a soy-based “Follow Your Heart" Vegan Mozzarella as well as Italian and Cheddar Daiya cheese.

Erik and I split a roasted garlic and basil pizza topped with Daiya Italian “cheese”. I especially loved the garlic! See?

Yeah, yum.

“Kansas City’s great little place for pizza”.

We had a perfect Sunday lunch.

Fresher Than Fresh

Next up, and not surprisingly, we headed to 17th & Summit for a delicious snow cone at Fresher Than Fresh. The weather isn’t going to stay nice that much longer, we must take advantage of perfect snow cone days while they still exist!

I took a moment to have a mini photo shoot with my snow cone.

Their daredevil special this week was Blood Orange & Rosemary. I pined after it when I saw them tweet about it, but unfortunately I was not the only one and they were sold out when we got there.

Instead, I opted for one of my favorites, green tea pear. Erik got pineapple and Serrano pepper. Delicious!

And then we took a drive through the West Bottoms, just for fun.

I love Sunday afternoons!!

Stay tuned for some delicious recipes coming at you very soon!

What’s been the highlight of your weekend??