To those who think vegans are deprived...
Giant food post coming at ya, so I'm just going to plunge in!
Last weekend Jim and I went with Chris and Kate to the lovely city of Eugene, about 2 hours south of Portland, for a day of exploration and, in reality, excessive food consumption.
Besides being home to Soy Delicious and a vegan chocolatier, Eugene is a very vegan friendly place to eat. They not only have options, they have options that make Eugene a very desirable place to visit and heck, maybe retire one day!
Our first stop was Sweet Life Patissarie. Between the 4 of us, the table was quickly covered with 5 pieces of cake/pie and 3 pizzettas. Being a grown-up is great if for nothing else than the fact that you can eat dessert for lunch if you want to.
Raspberry Cheesecake. Heavenly. My personal favorite. Light and tofu based, but the best one I've ever had. Not bean-y tasting at all. Each couple indulged in a piece of this beauty.
A rich chocolate silk cake with a chocolate cookie crust and a whipped strawberry topping. This one was also incredible, the silk was rich and deeply cocoa-flavored and the strawberry whip was light and fruity.
Majorly rich chocolate cake, with a chocolate cream center. It was very good, but may have just been bit much chocolate (can you believe I said anything is a bit much chocolate?!)
Coconut Cream Pie. Very creamy and delicious without being too rich. I wonder if the whipped cream is that Rich's whip that Crystal blogged about recently.
Mushroom and pesto pizzettas. Last time Jim and I were there we had roasted pepper and hummus ones that were better, but it was good to get a little something substantial in our tummies.
Sweet Life really knows how to bake, nothing is overly sweet or sugary, they are truly baking artists. 
After spending the afternoon walking off our sugar-induced comas, we went to the famed Pizza Research Institute. It's not really a research institute, but they are known for creative and sometimes questionable pizza combinations.
The 4 of us split 3 small pizzas so we could try more options. Here were our rankings (me and Jim, although I'm pretty sure Chris and Kate would agree).
Delicious, but just not quite able to compete with its friends, this pizza had red sauce, spinach, roasted garlic, red onion, tofu ricotta and asparagus on it.
This one was the chef's special. It was loaded with goodies and one of those questionable toppings they are known for: red sauce, spinach, tofu ricotta, snow peas, green beans, green bell pepper, broccoli, tomatoes, olives, eggplant and, the kicker, nectarines. It was very, very good and the nectarines added a subtle touch of sweetness.
The winner, oddly enough, was the one I had the most doubts about. Red sauce, spinach and tofu ricotta for the base again, but dressed up with a delightfully chunky walnut pesto, potatoes and poached pears. Pears! Most unlikely thing ever on pizza, at least for me in my little pizza bubble. Anyway, it was incredible, more perfumed and fragrant than sweet and the mixture with the crisp crust and chunky pesto, I could have eaten a whole pie myself! Now it has my mind churning with new pizza ideas...
We also had chocolate mousse with shredded coconut on top, but my pics didn't turn out. It was good, not great, but a nice creamy way to cap off an otherwise incredible dinner. The PRI isn't just vegan friendly, it's a vegan must if you're ever near Eugene. They do keep funky hours, though, so be sure to check if you're passing through.
Dinner last night was paella, inspired by Susan. I've been wanting to try this for awhile now and her recent post gave me a boost to finally do it. I really enjoyed it, although I think I used a bit much garlic (dragon breath!) but it's very good and I'm looking forward to leftovers.
I will respond to previous comments in the next day or two, so please hang in there and be patient with me! Thanks for reading!
