Philadelphia, Cereal, and Brownies for the Future

I discovered the most scrumptious cereal during our journey north - Enjoy Life Crunchy Flax!

My mom is allergic to wheat, and thus loves the wonderful allergen-free Enjoy Life products. After sampling a bite of her flax cereal one morning, I was addicted! She kindly sent us home with 2 boxes to tide us over until I'm able to find the cereal here in Georgia... I sprinkled a wee bit on top of a blueberry fat-free Greek yogurt for lunch today (accompanied by a giant quantity of steamed cauliflower and carrots topped with a little SmartBalance Light, and some dried cranberries!) I was so delighted with this simple lunch, enjoyed on a rare Monday off from work...

Oh yes, we're back home again! After hours and hours of driving from Philly to Atlanta, we're safely reunited with home sweet home. Alas, on Sunday morning Zach had to drive 3 hours further south for another month-long out-of-town clinical rotation, leaving me lonely and missing him in our empty-feeling house, but I have plenty of laundry and erranding to keep me occupied until he comes home for the weekend. Luckily, I had the presence of mind to plan not to return to work until tomorrow, leaving me one final day of "vacation" in which to unpack, tend to the lawn and garden, and restock the fridge with such perishable essentials as soymilk and eggplant.

The most fun of returning home, however, is going through vacation photos! Thus, I'm eager to share one final chapter of our road trip with you, along with a life changing brownie recipe...

Although we spent most of our trip in Maryland, visiting my parents and my college friends, we did get to be a bit touristy with an overnight stay in Philadelphia! En route, we paused to share a classic Philly soft-pretzel for an on-the-road snack... Sooo yummy with extra-spicy mustard!

Naturally, we would be irresponsible bloggers if we didn't also investigate Philadelphia's most famous culinary icon, the cheesesteak sandwich... Although Pat's and Gino's are the most famous cheesesteak stands, I recalled a Gourmet article advising less ubiquitous locations for the ultimate culinary experience. We dutifully found the article online, and then spent a slightly embarrassing amount of time discussing the described attributes of each of the 5 locations Gourmet endorsed. We finally decided on Mama's Pizza, and, well, Oh My. Oh. My. I briefly found myself wishing the menu offered a cheese-tofu or cheese-tempeh for a less guilt-inducing option, but the indulgence was totally worthwhile. One should savor everything in moderation, right? And, after all, we did have a research duty to uphold...



Needless to say, the two of us shared the sandwich and still had leftovers!

We also had plenty of walking awaiting us! We visited a Quaker farm,

The oldest still-existing Underground Railroad safe-house,

the main campus for Zach's' medical school (he attends the Georgia branch of a Pennsylvania-based school that's so huge, they had to build a second campus in another state!),

and, of course, the liberty bell!

The last stop on our journey was one more, happy, lingering supper shared with Kathleen, before we had to sorrowfully part from our friends and family and drive home again...

But not too sorrowfully, however, because I had, tucked safely inside my suitcase, the recipe for my mother's incredible brownies! Mom fixed these brownies for us during our stay, and they rocked our world to such an extent that she gladly shared the recipe. Exploding with dark chocolate and espresso, they are an experience, a journey, a moment in chocolate... and just to keep you in suspense, and because I feel I've perhaps rambled far too much for one day, I shall share the recipe in my next post... ;-)