Vacations always end too soon. All those days compressed into one final Sunday, when you’re left wondering how it all went so fast. But when I combined my staycation with yet another home improvement project that left immense amounts of plaster dust to clean up, it can only end one way. In the kitchen on that still sunny Sunday morning with butter, eggs, cinnamon...and many, many loads of laundry, But, a very contented smile upon on the face of one Ann Kelly knowing that in the end, it’s all good.

   So what triggered all that dust? No, nothing in the kitchen, but the start of renovations in the master bath that include a new shower stall, and tile for both bathrooms (thank you Floor and Decor once again!) and the realization when that stall was originally installed back in the dark ages, it was done with just merely plaster and wire mesh, with the tile over that. Which meant that at 7 am on a Saturday morning, Rick and Pat from Denny’s Plumbing were in there bashing away. Which also made me very glad that I had covered all the furniture, but there’s no escaping those clouds of fine dust. So when I finally made it home Saturday evening, it was time to do a lot of vacuuming, dusting, washing and laundry. Which continued into Sunday morning. So I made sure to treat myself (and yes, you my wonderful coworkers) to my favorite Cinnamon Coffeecake Muffins complete with glaze. Thank you Cake Mix Doctor for such a nice, simple recipe that made it so easy, and made the house smell so good. For the record, I only at one. At a time.

   Speaking of good, I was introduced to two new cafes that I think you’d like to check out yourself. The Wildflower Café on Ft Harrison in Clearwater is somewhere to hit early for lunch, since every seat in the place was full by noon. Our waitress told me that the front dining area was previously the patio, which is now adjacent to that space which is of course doggie friendly. May I say the sandwich I ordered is officially a Kelly’s Kitchen favorite. The Island Breeze Turkey was just perfection; turkey breast, provalone, mango chutney, pecans, golden raisins, shredded carrot, with leaf lettuce and curry mayo on wheat. I also had a smaller version of their Gorgonzola and Berries salad - beautiful baby greens with apples, grapes and toasted walnuts. The lunch size portion isn’t on the menu, but my waitress was nice enough to arrange that for me, and it’s worth every delicious bite. The Wildflower Café is lovely place that seemed to be filled with ladies that lunch that day, and I thoroughly enjoyed being on of them. They’re also well known for their Sunday brunch from 9 am to 2 pm and breakfast. Daily hours are 8 am to 2:30 pm, and they’re available for special occasions. I will be back. Soon.

   An interesting experience for lunch on Saturday; my friend Laura had posted on Facebook some time ago about The Leafy Greens Café on Central Ave in St Pete. Now, when I heard that their menu was all about the raw, vegan, and gluten free side of life, I had some hesitation. But I’m glad I went and had a delicious meal that was beautifully presented and extremely interesting. We started with a Pineapple Cucumber Gazpacho that was amazing; sweet with a hint of heat from the jalapeno, blended with sea salt, macadamia oil and lemon. Good enough for dessert. We decided to order two different entrees to share and explore and both were quite good. Now, considering this is a raw food restaurant, I wondered what a pizza crust would be like that wasn’t actually cooked. It’s good. The Tuscan Pizza is a very good sized two serving selection with a side salad. The crust is actually a walnut and hemp seed creation that is created in a food dehydrator, and does take about 24 hours according to our server. Worth the time and effort. A nice crisp crust a lot of flavor, topped with a cashew hummus and their own marinara sauce. Loaded with toppings that include grape tomato wedges, garlic, red wine, baby sweet peppers and basil. For my first "raw" pizza this was a winner. Our other choice was the Veggie Burger which uses Romaine lettuce leaves as the bun. It’s served with their own homemade catsup, slice tomatoes, guacamole and cucumber slices with a touch of chipotle sauce. What’s in the burger? A blend of Portobello mushrooms, walnuts, sunflower seeds and red onion nama shoyu. Okay, I had to look it up as well - it’s a raw, unpasteurized soy sauce that isn’t technically a raw food since it is heated above the 115 degrees allowed by raw food standards, but the actual flavor is what really draws it in to many recipes. That, and the living enzymes its said to contain. Of course, the chance to try a cookie for dessert that is not baked was intriguing. It was a chocolate orange cookie that had a nice, intense orange flavor, two to a serving. If you do choose to stop in at Leafy Greens, have patience and time to spare. Food is prepared fresh on site, beautifully presented but does take a little extra time. It’s also not inexpensive, and it seems to be that way in many restaurants like this. Fast food may be available in a snap but for a meal of this quality it will mean spending a little more time. The total tab came to $42.00 for lunch, so yes, it is more than I would normally spend. But for such a good meal, I consider it a great investment.

Have you experienced a raw food meal? I’d love to know about your experience and other places like Leafy Greens. I’m always available to you at ann.kelly@coxinc.com. Nice to be back in Kelly’s Kitchen. I missed you!

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM KELLY’S KITCHEN

"A house is made of walls and beams; a home is made with love and dreams." - Author unknown