Memorial Day weekend in Southern California for LLU’s medical school graduation. Luckily my parents were kind enough to feed us Sabbath lunch. This is the vegan feast my mom prepared, and it was phenomenal. The Life-Affirming Warm Nacho Dip (between the fork and the tortilla chips) is something I’ve been craving ever since.
For dessert, we had vegan pie. The strawberry lemon cheesecake with a chocolate-lined graham cracker crust is in the foreground, and the fresh boysenberry pie (with berries from their yard) is in the background. So. Good.
The Loma Linda visit included tours of both parents’ offices. This is my dad’s office. His decorating is an inspiration. The line of framed photos on the wall to the right is the history of Mustangs in the Michaelis family.
The wall immediately to the right when you walk into my dad’s office. He painted the Mustang and the racing stripes himself, and I’m trying to think of ways to ask my management company if he can repaint my apartment.
Finally, on the way to the airport, a much-anticipated trip to West Hollywood’s newest all-vegan Mexican restaurant, Gracias Madre. This is the gorditas appetizer, probably the tastiest thing we ordered: potato-masa cakes, warm salsa verde, avocado, and cashew crema. (This is also my first blog photo taken with my phone.)
In the background we have Jeff’s flautas de camote: rolled tacos with sweet potatoes, caramelized onion, pico de gallo, guacamole, cashew nacho cheese, cilantro, and black beans. In the foreground we have my tacos: one was mushroom, one was seared cauliflower, and one was grilled zucchini. While Gracias Madre was good, it was unremarkable compared to my mom’s food, Maria’s, or Veggie Grill (yes, I ate a lot that weekend). But, I didn’t try their salads, or the sopes con pina, and they were out of the plantains, which sounded delicious.