Showing posts with label raleigh. Show all posts

Vegan Dinner - Fiction Kitchen


 Being Vegan in rural North Carolina is hard.  Most of our meals out on the town consist of salad with the occasional Pad Thai dish.  We have managed to get some pretty good meals from Ruby Tuesday with their new Vegan menu, but for the most part, it is actually just their vegetable side dishes on one plate.  Nothing really created with the intention of being a completely vegan meal.

Recently hubby and I found our way to Fiction Kitchen.  Fiction Kitchen is a little place in downtown Raleigh (about an hour and a half from us) that is really amazing.  They offer a complete Vegan/Vegetarian menu.


Photo Credit - Renee Olson



We finally managed to get over to their area at a reasonable time to stop in for dinner, and it was amazing.  I'm going to give you a run down on what we had.  We wanted to try a variety of things so that we could get a good idea of what we could expect.  We started out with the Butterhead Lettuce Cups.

From the Menu on fictionkitchen.com

I'm not a huge spicy fan but we tried them anyway.  Here's how they arrived.

 
Butterhead Lettuce Cups - Photo Credit - Renee Olson





 Absolutely beautiful food.  I didn't even pull the onions out like I normally do.  I just picked it up and ate it.  It was really good. Those microgreens on the top certainly packed a punch, too.  When I read "radish" in the description I was a bit worried.  I'm not a big radish fan.  These however were really good.  They didn't taste anything like any radish I had ever had.  Really a fantastic dish.



Next we ordered an entree and a side.  For the entree we selected the Curry Bowl.

From the Menu on fictionkitchen.com


This is how it arrived.  Both hubby and I love curry so this was a safe dish for us to try.  The curry was fantastic.  We asked the server about the spice level and settled on a 2.  This was spicy for me.  If I were to reorder this, I would probably back it down to 1 but for someone who likes heat 4 is probably the best selection.  I couldn't imagine it any higher.  Over all a really good dish.  It had these tiny tomatoes in the curry that burst open when you bite into them.  It added a much needed cooling element to the dish.  Nothing one note about this dish either.  All the veg still maintained their independent flavor but were married together nicely in a right curry.  We both really enjoyed it.

Curry Bowl with Rice - Photo Credit - Renee Olson


For an additional side we ordered the Root Vegetable Fries.  We passed on the gravy and went with the chipolte buttermilk dressing.

From the Menu on fictionkitchen.com


These are absolutely the best fries I have ever had in my entire life.  I cannot begin to sing the praises of this dish.  The server told us that this dish includes golden beets, potatoes and other assorted root vegetables.   The fries alone were amazing but when added to that lovely dressing they were simply amazing.  When I need a french fry fix, Fiction Kitchens' Root Vegetable Fries are going to be on my list!

Root Vegetable Fries - Photo Credit - Renee Olson


 Fiction Kitchen is located in Raleigh NC and offers dinner and a weekend brunch.  Be sure to head over to their website to check out their amazing menu as well as their facebook page.

Note:  I tried their website using Firefox and had some issues.  I recommend using IE for the best browsing experience.


Pagan Blog Project 2013 - P is for Pride


Pride – feeling of achievement of those who one is associated


Late in summer here in North Carolina we have a little festival in Raleigh called Central NC Pagan Pride.  This weekend is used to celebrate and associate with like minded people. 





Last year my little Pagan Shop, Sosanna’s Closet, had a booth there.  We spent that time meeting lots of wonderful people and learning about each other paths. 

Sosanna of Sosanna's Closet


Wheel of the Year Wreaths - Sosanna's Closet


Mini Goddess Figurines - Sosanna's Closet



This is the one time when I don’t feel the need to tuck my pentacle into my shirt to hide who I am.   Here in Eastern NC there’s not much openness to those that happen to fall outside the spiritual norm.  My hubby and I have not only my pagan shop as a business.  We deal directly with the public so I always tuck my little pentacle into my shirt to be sure that they won’t be put off and decide not to work with us.


Sometimes I worry they’ll judge and we’ll lose a sale or maybe they’ll talk bad about us.  It’s not a make believe fear, earlier this year I submitted an application to join “Pigin the Park”.  It’s a local event with vendors where they celebrate all things BBQ.  I had my feelings hurt when they told me that I just wouldn't fit in with their mostly Christian crowd. 


I guess they don’t really know that there are quite a few pagan people out there in this region.  Maybe if we pulled our pentacles out of our shirts when we’re paying our water bill, or maybe buying groceries that might not be so afraid of us.  I know that I’m going to try to make a conscious effort to be more visible in myself and to show my pagan pride a bit more brightly.
So if you’re around Eastern NC around the mid part of September come out to the Raleigh Fairgrounds and check out what we have for you in our booth.

Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna

)O(


Central NC Pagan Pride Days

Less than 24 hours stand between me and my very first Pagan Pride festival. I'm extremely excited about this. I've been getting ready all week. Last night Hubby finished two my my tattoos that we've been working on. Silly but I really wanted them complete before the festival.

I have an arm band.






And a calf piece now.




The pictures are a little off because of the flash on my phone. I'll be headed to the store today to pick up a new camera. Just in time for the festival. I hope to have lots of pictures. The Greek Festival is happening at the same time so I am looking forward to.... Yes, you guessed it Falafel!!


I wrote an article about Pagan Pride Days on examiner.com. You can find the article here. For each like I get they pay me. Subscriptions are worth some money too. Just to put this in perspective however, I have been writing for them for about 4-5 months now and I've earned $6. LOL


With all this going on right now I also wanted to mention that it is getting close to the time when the DC-40/51 initiative is getting started. They have released their prayer manual and are getting set to take "siege" to Washington DC. They also have released the blood covered light over us Pagans to combat our magic.

My friend and fellow blogger Kallan Kennedy, over at The Secret Life of the American Working Witch, had an amazing response. You can find it here. This post is so amazing that there isn't anything that I can add to it. Other than. DITTO.


So as we head out for our weekend, take a moment to reflect on what is really going on here. What do they really want to gain? What should we do in response?

I'm continuing my weekly rites to protect Columbia and stopping each day to take a moment to appreciate my freedoms that I have today. Just as you appreciate your family, your friends and those precious things around you, count the first amendment among those things you hold dear, and just offer a bit of positive energy towards our goal of keeping it safe.


Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna