Oh dear. My blog stats are at an all-time low. That bums me out a bit, but really, what should I expect when I neglect my wee blog so shamefully? Ah well. Now I’m just going to continue the trend of my most recent posts: out-of-town eats!

Last weekend I headed back to my natal state, dear darling Rhode Island, to watch my little brother graduate from Worcester Polytech. As a big sister, I am both indescribably proud of my brilliant, charismatic, and all-around wonderful brother and slightly shocked that said brother is now a college graduate. Jaysus! At least my little sister is still in college. Lawd knows how I’ll feel when she graduates. I don’t even know how my parents can handle it!

Anyway, on to the good stuff – food. After Mum picked me up from the airport, we high-tailed it to RI’s premiere veg eatery, the Garden Grille. Okay, that’s a lie – we tried to high-tail it, but were held up by various circumstances. By the time we arrived, we were both quite famished. I ordered the Red Bean Rice Burger, and Mama chose one of the daily specials, some sort of salad with tiny potato bits. (Yes, Mom, I should’ve written down the name of your dish!)

Burger noms!

I love veggie burgers with visible bits of veggies and rice and other real food, and this one totally fit the bill. It was perfectly satisfying, and I enjoyed the slaw on the side. It’s embarrassing to admit, but up until fairly recently I thought all coleslaws were disgusting, mayonnaise-laden goopy affairs, and it’s been quite enjoyable to try the non-goopy varieties I encounter. This one was simple and tasty.

Salad situation.

I only tried a bite or two of Mom’s salad, and I don’t remember the details about it, but I do remember that it was also quite delicious. :)

After lunch, we headed next door so I could experience RI’s one and only VEGAN BAKERY OMG. Wildflour is a bakery and juice bar, but I was so full from lunch that I didn’t try any juices and just picked up some snacks for later. Mum and I got a black forest cupcake and a few raw treats – some sort of ganache-y brownie, a coconut macaroon, and a “Rawreo.” They were all incredibly rich and delicious, particularly the brownie… oh man, I’m salivating just thinking about it. I only snapped a shot of the cupcake, though.

A thing of beauty.

Oh, JK – you can see some macaroon and a corner of the brownie. Mmm.

The vegan eats continued on my second day in RI, too. My brother belongs to a fraternity, and he and his fellow senior brothers organized a post-graduation event at their house for their families. They have a cook who makes food for the brothers on a daily basis, and Ian put in a special request for vegan food for my mom and me. I’ll admit that I didn’t have great expectations, but I guess I was doing the cook a disservice, because he and his wife whipped up four vegan options at the party! There was a portobello mushroom wrap, a pasta dish, a cold potato salad, and a vegan chili. Totally perfect for a grad party! And to top it all off, his wife came around while everyone else was eating dessert and handed us a big plate of vegan cookies – I think they’d gotten them from a local bakery, and they were perfectly soft and delicious. Hooray! It’s really nice to have your expectations exceeded by a long shot, isn’t it?

Culinarily, my trip to RI was a smashing success. But really, I didn’t go home for the food. I went to spend time with some of the people who are nearest and dearest to me, like these five goofs…

Love my family.

…and these dearies…

My RI gals are the greatest.

…and, of course, my crazy dogs:

Tamale & Mistletoe

…what a fun-filled, jam-packed three days. :)