Back from KC

The Chef helping some of the students in the choux pastry class. Lot of hands on and incredible food sampling. Totally yummy!
I really liked the dome on this building in the Plaza. Unfortunately the bus was blocking the view down the street. It was REALLY crowded, however there was a free parking garage right next to the Unity church, which is where Eden Alley is contained. We did notice you could sit outside of the cafe also. They have a really nice patio area where you can sit and people watch. I think that is a nice option when the weather is nice. Their bread with agave butter is outrageously good! Staci has to eat gluten free so I had to eat her bread. Torture, I tell you...NOT!!! I could make a meal out of that delicious bread alone! I don't know if they make it there at the cafe, but it is worth the trip to the cafe alone..I had not had agave butter spread until then, it was also delicious. Much like honey butter spread.
The view from the parking garage. This is actually a little side street, but the dwellings had a definite English Tudor style to them. Very charming.

The classes at the Culinary Center were fantastic as usual. Staci and I shopped a lot and got to eat at some really interesting places. The choux pastry class and the healthy cooking class gave me new recipes and inspiration. I am going to make the paella we learned in class this week. All the recipes in the Healthy cooking class were based on the Mediterranean diet and can be made in under 30 minutes. Very easy and very tasty.

One of the most interesting places was Eden Alley. It is a vegetarian cafe in the basement of the Unity church at The Plaza. We had no idea it was actually located at The Plaza until we got there. Staci had found it on a website and we navigated the directions from our hotel thanks to Yahoo maps. It did take us a little bit to find Eden Alley from the direction we came from. They didn't say in their ad that they were in the church. It wasn't until we were turning around that we saw the banner on the side of the church. Well hidden, but worth the trip.

I love the architecture in that area! It is stunning. A lot of the apartment buildings are going through re-gentrification and turning into higher priced housing, but they are keeping details of the buildings from the 20's, 30's and right up to current architecture. And the Plaza has a ton of stores, most of them designer stores.

Although we did not shop, we did go to the cafe and had a really good meal. I can see myself going back to Eden Alley again, even though I am not a vegetarian. One funny thing about KC, each time I got "french toast", it was actually more like bread pudding. To me, french toast is a slice of bread dipped in egg and cooked. In KC I got cubed bread, in a sauce. That is what I know as bread pudding. It's good either way. Tom-ay-to, tom-ah-to..

Since there was a fridge in the room, we picked up some provisions at Whole Foods and ate some of our meals at the motel to save a little cash. I adore Whole Foods Market. Since we don't have one of them here, I bought some things that I can only find there or at the Wild Oats Market in Tulsa. I did pick up some semolina flour from the bulk bins so I can teach the boys how to make fresh pasta.

The biggest bang on the checkbook was the trips to Half Priced Books. We actually went to one in Overland Park and another in Olathe and found goodies in both. I love this chain. I always find really good books every time I go to the one in Overland Park. This is the first time we've been to the one in Olathe, but not the last!

As much fun as we had, it was still nice to be home.