Well, I’m going to.
My trip home has been amazing. I have been lucky enough to spend time with my ENTIRE family, as well as try on wedding dresses, run a half marathon, and enjoy some pretty awesome meals, too!!
This is the best of the very best, in recap form.
On Thursday, we went for lunch at our wedding venue.
Dad’s Dungeness Crab Melt with chunks of Dungeness crab topped with fresh tomato, avocado and melted dill havarti cheese on an English muffin.
Mom’s Gale Ranch salad with organic mixed greens, Fuji apples, Brie cheese, candied walnuts, and raisins tossed in a sweet lemon-honey dressing.
Sister’s Diablo Burger with half-a-pound of grilled Niman Ranch beef served on a ciabatta bun with avocado and bacon.
My Pacific Rim salad with lettuce, snow peas and radishes, topped with cashews and sesame seeds and served in a crispy fried wonton with a miso-vinaigrette dressing on the side.
YUM. I polished mine off (even the nuts!) and it was delicious.
After lunch we went golfing, followed by grocery shopping for dinner.
TACO NIGHT!!
Mom fried the shells, while we started chopping toppings, making the beans, and heating the “meat.”
I had Smart Ground Mexican Style veggie crumbles while the rest of the fam had chicken.
Crazy bleached out flash aside, they look lovely, don’t they?!?
Mine were on soft corn tortillas because my stomach was being a little shifty.
After the first round, I went back for una mas.
Friday was kinda a snackface day. Amid the chaos of race day pickup, my other sister coming home, and me trying to straighten out more wedding shenanigans, I managed to eat the below yummies.
TJ’s Mediterranean hummus to the rescue.
A little bit ‘o this, and a little bit ‘o that.
While in the city, I got an iced coffee…the cash collector almost spelled my name right, and yet, I still got called “Elsie” by the barista who made the drink. As as aside, I get called “Elsie” 90% of the time at work by people who just read my name tag. I don’t get it.
Hummus-y snack plates #2 and #3
And for dinner, ANOTHER meal sponsored by (the one and only) Trader Joe’s.
LENTILS!!! Rose, I decided to give it a go and try to make them look pretty!
So easy. Threw spinach and ‘shrooms in a pan with cooking spray and once they were nice and wilty I added in the lentils. Once again. SO EASY.
Ok, so the color of the lentils doesn’t exactly make them look like the most appetizing dish on the planet, but I promise it tasted better than it looked. Naturally, I repped the family vineyard with the wine glass.
Tastayyy bean-age with some veggies and hummus on the side.
Oh, and a big salad, too (with home-grown cherry toms).
After dinner we all carved pumpkins.
The puppies waited patiently for scraps…well…kinda.
I may have added fuel to the fire. Mwahaha. Instigator!
We collected seeds for roasting. Holler. The left pan was savory (EVOO, salt & pepper), while the right pan was sweet (EVOO, cinn & sugar). While my strategy for roasting wasn’t super precise, it’s not exactly brain surgery is it? Oven at 400 ‘til you can smell them. Ya dig?
Carving pumpkins really worked up an appetite.
My mom made a beautiful apple cranberry cobbler for dessert, which I dug into for first, second, and third helpings.
My mom usually makes the crisp topping with nuts, but since she loves me I hid the walnuts, she omitted them this time around. 😉
Saturday was ZE BEST day of my lifey thus far. For reals. iPod drama aside (see this post if you are in the dark on WTF I’m talking about), I was in seventh heaven. Cliff’s notes version: I got a wedding dress!!!! Sorry, but I can’t show you the gown because those pics are as sacred as Brit Brit’s virginity on lockdown.
Lunch was spectak. For anyone in the San Francisco area, make sure you make your way to The PLANT Cafe Organic. They just opened a new location at Pier 3 and in addition to having an amazing menu, the view wasn’t too shabby either.
A toast to the bride-to-be and her (co)maids of honor! I actually got the only drink without EtOH since my half marathon was the next morning. Pre-race boozing ‘aint my scene.
It was tough to choose, I wanted everything on the menu! In the end, I decided to get their signature dish, the plant burger with mushrooms and avocado on top.
HOLY M.F.ing YUM. I wanted to cry this was so good. I need a food processor for this dish alone. The burger was made of lentils, mushrooms, beets, cashews, and bulgar wheat. Oh my gah. The memory of the taste of this burger will stay with me forever. Def in my top 5 best bites of food. 
The size was pretty noteworthy too. I literally can’t say enough about this meal. The bread had a yummy seedy crust and was toasted to perfection. The burger was too savory, no words do it justice. I hardly touched the roasted potato wedges and salad on the side because I wanted to save the room in my stomach for the huge beast of a burger. Think I liked the meal much? I will FOR SURE be back to this place.
Ok, I give up, turns out I can’t fit it all in one post…TO BE CONTINUED.
This is quite possibly the most delicious looking post I have ever seen. And you’ve got some MAD SILLY pumpkin carving skills!!!
oh dear me.. where’s your wedding venue? heaven? that food is BOMB.
and props to you – lentils are quite possibly the most difficult food to make look pretty but you beautified them very nicely…’atta girl!
glad you had such a fabooooosh time with the familia!
Holy decadence! 🙂
You’re a lucky gal with all those. I think the lentils look awesome, but probably just because I love lentils!
YAY you got a wedding dress! Good eats apple cranberry cobler oh drool! It looks so good! The sammie at the end looks out of this WORLD good. Looking forward to part deux!
E! Just when I thought the previous blog was your last of the weekend, you surprise us with another one, bigger and better than the former! Loving all the food images, even though I’m super full from my lunch, it made me hungry seeing all those shots of phabulously plated dishes at the wedding venue. EEEK!!! I can’t wait! You and your blog, again made my day. Oh and tell Laura and Marie, they’re not too shabby with their pumpkin carving skills either, and loving the rubia-ness on Laurita 😉
By far my fave blog after the running your half marathon blog in NYC. That was oober inspiring and this one is very cheery…hehe..Besos!
Awww…I am so glad you got a chance to see your fam and had such a nice visit! Pumpkin carving at home?! Jealous–What fun! And a wedding dress to boot?! How exciting!
Have a safe trip home 🙂
Courtney
OMG.. your plant burger looks amazing!!!! wow, super YUM 🙂
It’s funny you got called Elsie…I never heard of that name, just Elise.
Congrats on finding your wedding dress! How exciting!
Oh my lord that plant burger sounds *amazing*! I can’t even imagine how good it was. It’s such a pretty color too.
Congrats on the wedding dress, it’s all downhill from there I swear.
Sweet and savory pumpkin seeds is such a great idea!
Oh ma ga. I am envious of those eats! And ain’t nothing betta than a snackface day…except that BURGER!!!
I tried to eat there with MamaJ over the summer, but they weren’t serving the full menu so we left. Lame. Guess I’ma have to go back to SF.
I’m dying to see this dress. I know you don’t want to share but I NEED to see it 🙂
Can’t wait for the other half of the trip! xoxoxox
Great recap so far, everything looks delicious! And I think part of the fun of pumpkin carving is roasting the seeds! Yum yum 🙂
Congrats on finding a wedding dress!
Plant burgers and pouring your own family’s wine into a glass…uummmm just a freakin LITTLE jealous over here 🙂
Pumpkin seed roasting….just got a pumpkin yesterday for my lil one and I have never roasted seeds. I like that this is not brain surgery. I was temped to dehydrate the seeds, but now I may just roast em. Your seeds look really clean like you spent mega time getting the pumpkin goop off em. Hope mine are that pretty 🙂
Safe travels home honey!
Ahhh you got your wedding dress! That’s the most exciting news ever:)
Have a safe trip home!
ahhhh congrats on the dress!!
i would ALLLL OVA servings 1, 2 and 3 of your madre’s apple cranberry cobbbler. even if I had to eat it out of your Elsie–I mean Elise–bowl
You’re probably going to be the most gorgeous bride of all time and I am probably going to swoon over your wedding pictures for hours on end. The food at that place looks hella hella good lady! Good choice! And I wish we could see your dress but I get it…
So sorry about your nasty plane ride. Being sick when travelling is my number one biggest hate. Booo.
Glad you made it home though…happy times 🙂
congrats on the 1/2 marathon!! you will be telling us more about it, yes?
I’ve had that plant burger – it’s insane. the texture alone makes me melt! Now that you’ve piqued my interest in going back, was there anything else on the menu you recommend that your company ate and liked?
Since I am away at school, there really is no reason for me to buy a pumpkin to carve this year…but I really want to make pumpkin seeds after reading this post!
I don’t even know where to start, there is way too much deliciousness in this one post! The salads, the lentils, the burgers….I’m overwhelmed!
What an awesome weekend! Crazy busy, eh?! I’m so happy you got your wedding dress! I bet you look absolutely gorgeous in it.
Cafe Plant sounds cool – your sandwich looks awesome:)
ahhh carving zee pumpkin! so much fun!! well, sometimes. I can do a lil one BUT A BIG ONE…. i get laze. sad story right?! really, that sounds pathetic.
love the eats!!! this is such a delicious post!! I want to try smart ground! I have only tried the morningstar crumbles…….and maybe the boca crumbles?! cant remem.
AND OMG -> wedding dresses!! can’t waittttt to see!!
HAPPY TUESDAY ELISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P.s. I promised myself I would do this (my last post says why):
4 principles of sustainability:
-reliance on solar energy
-nutrient cycling
-population control
-biodiversity
perpetual resource- one that is renewed continuously -> solar energy
Sustainable yield- the highest rate @ which a renewalbe resource can be used indefinitely without reducing its available supply.
environmental degradation: when our rate of a natural resource use exceeds a renewable resource’s natural replacement rate and the available supply begins to shrink.
Looks like so much fun!! I am so happy you found a wedding dress girl!!
stop this. your trip home is seriously looking the THE BEST time ever. I don’t even want to see anymore. (lies because I totally do)
ughhh I NEEEED to see your wedding dress. pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease.
haha okay enough of being a creep.
I’m pumped for part 2.
I want to see some dresses!!!
Is it bad if “Elsie” makes me think of a cow??
<3 <3
Looks like you had a great visit! All your eats look so good and your family is awesome for catering to your needs/wants. My family usually just lets me fend for myself!!
Woo hoo for wedding dress shopping 🙂
Those TJ’s lentils are a life saver! So easy, and do you know how nasty burned lentils can smell? These are foolproof!
WOW! Awesome recap of so much veggie goodness, and your cobbler looks awesome.
Just awarded you two bloggie awards — check out my latest post!
Oh man! I feel like each of your meals deserves a post of its own!! I am in love with that sandwich you ordered. Particularly loving the purple color…oh beets. 🙂
I totally roasted pumpkin seeds this weekend too!! They’re SO delicious aren’t they?? The veggie crumbles in taco are a great idea….I wish i’d thought of that sooner! hahahah
ahhhhh GLORIOUS weekend love! i am soooo excited for you and your wedding dress, and can’t wait to see it. pumpkin seeds, yes. plant burger, yes and yes. fabulous post, yes, yes and yes!
have a wondrous day elsie.
i mean elise 🙂
That burger!!! I couldn’t have designed a better lunch even if I had all the foodie power in the world! That had to be foodgasmic.
Your Elise-Elsie problem is kinda like how people like to call me Diane. Like, you might as well call me Bob, right?? Even when I introduce myself OUT LOUD as Diana I often get “nice to meet you, Diane” in return. Does not compute.
So how come you have a CA obsession with TJ’s? Not diggin the NYC locations? I guess I couldn’t blame you…
Pingback: The massive recap that never ends « hungry hungry hippie
The PLANT organic cafe is amzinggggggggg!
As are the rest of your eats lady. Love the hummus plates!!
Pingback: Ode to the in-laws « hungry hungry hippie
Pingback: R + D « hungry hungry hippie
Pingback: Thrive « hungry hungry hippie
Pingback: Back to work « hungry hungry hippie
Pingback: Squash patty-cakes « hungry hungry hippie
Pingback: A faux cobbler & a giveaway