vegan addict

I love the weekend. I can sleep in, spend more time outside, stay up later, and…attend my first Portland Veg Fest! Yay! On Saturday, my boyfriend and I started our morning with a long run, knowing we would be snarfing up some tasty food later in the day (perhaps with the hopes of feeling less guilty when we indulged in cupcakes, truffles, and waffle cones filled with Temptation Soy Ice Cream…and some very healthy food too!). We spent about five hours at the festival which included speakers, chef demos, veg classes, exhibitors, a silent auction, and lots of free food samples (all vegan!). While I normally do not like being immersed in a crowded place for a long period of time, this event was a happy exception.

It doesn’t look very full of people in the photo below, but we arrived fairly early.

We spent some time checking out all of the tables. I think we must have walked circles at least a dozen times, seeing new stuff each time around. Here is a photo of Food Fight’s table (that’s Chad, hi Chad!), and also a nice lady giving out samples of Sheese products.

And then we heard an announcement…something about Boston Cream donuts from Sweetpea Baking Company. Oh my. We headed straight over and waited patiently for a tasty, yummy donut. Sweetpea just happens to reside nextdoor to Food Fight Grocery at the vegan mini-mall here in Portland. And every baked good I have tried from there has been awesome! This donut was sooooooo good! It was my second breakfast. Here is a photo of the donuts, and the other offerings Sweetpea had available (plus a cool t-shirt on one of the employees). Hahahaaa! Mr. Muffins!

After we sampled some tasty foods such as: raw food crackers, several varieties of hummus on rice crackers, barley-quinoa pilaf with shiitakes and cilantro pesto, Field Roast sausages, hempnut butters, smoothies, Dave’s Killer Bread, organic apples, and some other rice-type stuff, we decided to give in to our sweet tooth cravings…namely Temptation Ice Cream. We shared a waffle cone with Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Fair Trade Chocolate. Ummm…can you tell from the next photo who likes ice cream?! Hehehe…that’s Tim. Needless to say, he held onto that waffle cone with a vice-like grip. He’s so greedy when it comes to sweets (just like the donut we “shared” earlier).

The ice cream really filled us up, so we thought it might be smart to sit on our butts and be lazy, while learning how to frost cupcakes and cakes in a demo class taught by Lisa from Sweetpea. This was super fun. We got to eat wee cupcakes! Here’s Lisa making some frosting.

And here she is showing us how to pipe frosting onto cupcakes.

Here are the finished cupcakes.

And here is a beautiful cake she showed us how to assemble and frost! Yum.

After the Sweetpea demo, we decided to listen to one of the speakers who was lined up for the day, Wes Kempfer. He presented a talk called “Global Fate on a Plate”. Mr. Kempfer is on the Executive Committee of the Sierra Club’s Columbia Group. The talk focused on the role of diet in climate change, pollution, loss of biodiversity, deforestation, etc. It was rather interesting, and I learned something new! I never knew that cows are not able to digest the corn they are forced to overeat, thus they become sick, and that is part of the reason why they are injected with antibiotics. So sad. The underlying message in this talk was obvious: adopt a vegan/vegetarian diet! Do it! Here is a photo of Mr. Kempfer enlightening us.

Right after Mr. Kempfer’s talk, we stayed seated for a knife skills class taught by Chef Al Chase. This guy was amazing! Super friendy, and super awesome at using knives. He is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, and has an organization called Culinary Awakenings. You could tell how much passion he has for his work! Here are some photos of Chef Al chopping stuff.

By the end of his demo, Tim and I were hungry! But, we were also tired of being indoors. So, we walked home and made dinner. And that was our day at Portland Veg Fest 2008! I am eagerly awaiting next year’s celebration!

Oh! And before I forget…there was also this young guy at the festival (24 yrs old) who had a marker board around his neck stating that he was looking for a female to date! Hahahaaa! Hilarious. Basically, he was a walking personal advert. I took his photo oh so sneakily, but it came out blurry. I’d love to know if any woman was game enough to take him up on his dinner and a movie! Lastly, here is a photo of a few items we picked up from the exhibitors.

DON’T FORGET TO PARTICIPATE IN THE FREE COOKIE GIVEAWAY!!! Seriously, free cookies!!!! C’mon. Do it!

This is a very sad post (with a happy giveaway at the end). Sometimes life can be fulfilling, and other times you just want to sink into a hole and hide (well I do anyway). I am not sure how many of you have heard about the deaths of seven sea lions here in Oregon, on the Columbia River, but the news is a shock to animal lovers. To save myself from having to type out the details, you can read the news stories with these links (here and here). This really breaks me to pieces, and brings to light how cruel and heartless and greedy some people in our world are. While there have been continual updates and rotating theories on how these sea lions died, the truth is, they would not have died if they were not in traps.

My first close encounter with sea lions occurred when I was living and traveling around New Zealand for a year. My boyfriend and I had made our way to the South Island, near Invercargill, and were walking along the coast. Watching the waves, we could see this wobbly, bobbing shape coming toward us…what was it? A sea lion! It was coming to rest in the sand. It was awesome watching the sea lion slowly cruise along the sand to a cozy spot. There was no fear from the animal toward us, nor us toward the animal. But, there was a connection (of course!). After a few moments, two or three more sea lions emerged from the water and dragged themselves to rest. Smelly as they were, it was hard to walk away…

When I am depressed for any reason, I turn to baking, which is my solace (whether I am happy or sad). So, in honor of these passing sea lions, and in salute to World Ocean Day on June 8th (the link below might actually be for last year’s World Ocean Day, but still!), I am having a giveaway! Yep. Free stuff.

All you lovely readers have to do is leave a comment about your favorite sea creature (in keeping with the World Ocean Day theme). Make sure to leave your comment by Friday, May 16th (midnight Pacific Standard Time). I will randomly select a comment, and the winner will receive a variety of homemade vegan cookies!! Cookies make me happy, as I have mentioned in previous posts. So, cookies ought to make others happy as well, right?! The whole idea of this giveaway is simply to honor these sea lions, and all animals whose lives are taken from them unjustly. OK? OK!

Yay! Come try some tasty foods, learn some new stuff, and listen to smart folks talk about interesting stuff!

What is a pico cupcake you might be wondering? Well, it is simply my term for a pineapple-coconut combination! I am still waiting for spring to fully arrive here in Portland, and this cupcake made me think I was someplace sunny (for the three or four seconds it took me to eat one!). I must admit, fresh pineapple as opposed to canned would have made a much prettier treat (and tastier too), but I shop on budget…Anyway, these are adapted from the Golden Vanilla Cupcakes from the one and only Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I made a few changes: (1) instead of 1 cup of soymilk, I used a 1/2 cup of soymilk and a 1/2 cup of pineapple juice, and omitted the apple cider vinegar; (2) I added a 1/2 cup of crushed pineapple to the cupcake batter; (3) I added a 1/2 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut to the Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting recipe; and (4) I substituted light coconut milk for the soymilk in the frosting. It would have been nice to add some coconut extract as well, but I didn’t have any on hand. These are not frosted fancy at all, but I did garnish them with a wee pineapple slice!

This past weekend I went to Seattle to see my favorite band perform (they are on tour now, go see them, they are AMAZING!). Although I live a mere three hours from Seattle, I have only visited the city a few times. I left a warm and sunny day in Portland, and was greeted (unsurprisingly) to a warm and very rainy day in Seattle. That’s okay because I made a new friend along the way! He was cruising the sidewalk, most likely searching for Mighty O Donuts (which I indulged in, but sadly have no photos to share). But, here is a photo of my new friend “Snaily”. He was super shy and turned away from the camera, but I am convinced it was simply due his donut cravings…

While in Seattle, I had the chance to dine at Pizza Pi. It was a nice escape from the rain, very warm and cozy inside. The folks working there were super kind. The pizza was tasty, but I must agree with the lovely Vegan Noodle, the cheese on top was a needless addition. After pizza, I stopped across the street at Side Car for Pigs Peace. I was able to spot some nifty items that I have never seen in Portland, including some fun bubble bath scented in vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry and packed in wee milk cartons. Too cute…and wow, this stuff smells awesome! After that, it was on to the show…seriously, go watch these guys perform…

Now, the strippers…hehehe…

Crazy name for a…cookie! I found this recipe in a Cooking Light magazine years back, and usually only make them around the holidays, but sometimes it’s cool to break tradition. You can find the recipe here, and it is easily veganized by making a few small substitutions: (1) use vegan margarine instead of butter, and (2) use an egg replacer method instead of an egg white. These cookies are addictive, and best eaten warm. I always make them using homemade jam, but undoubtedly, they would be great with any jam. I made two batches this time around, a Strawberry-Raspberry Stripper, and an Apple-Cinnamon Stripper. For the latter, I replaced the lemon juice in the glaze with plain soy milk, and added a healthy dash of cinnamon, and then sprinkled the tops with slivered (and crushed) almonds. Oh, and I used an apple jelly as the filling. These are a snap to prepare, and it’s fun slicing the logs and drizzling the glaze over them. The perfect cookie for impatient cookie munchers…they don’t really need to cool!

And last, one of my favorite and most anticipated spring-time arrivals:

This one was so cute, just sitting there all alone with its little head down…and its little wing all askew! I love goslings!

Cookies make me happy. I eat a lot of cookies. Cookies make lots of people happy. And lots of people eat lots of cookies. So, I am going to post about cookies, again! This particular cookie is definitely close behind Peanut Butter Babas…very close! Enter the Snickerdoodle. I call these Twisted Snicksters, simply because I like the word “snickster” (definitely NOT because of that lame heavy metal band from the beloved 80’s, Twisted Sister…). Anyway, I created this recipe when I was trying to start a vegan cookie company. My boyfriend likes to roll the dough in the cinnamon-sugar. So, if you have a happy helper in the kitchen, let them do the rolling! It is incredibly essential to the final product!

Twisted Snicksters (this recipe is easily halved, and works just as well)

1 cup vegan margarine (I use Earth Balance)

1 1/2 cups unrefined sugar

2 eggs replaced (I use Ener’G Egg Replacer)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the cinnamon-sugar topping:

1/4 cup unrefined sugar + 2 teaspoons cinnamon, stirred up. I usually don’t use all of the mix, so save some for oatmeal or toast!

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the margarine for about 2 minutes. Add the sugar, gradually. Beat for about 3 minutes. Add the replaced eggs, and beat some more. In a smaller bowl, sift together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add this to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Put the dough in the fridge until firm (about an hour). Although sometimes I am impatient for cookies, and I skip this step, and they still turn out just fine! Once you have removed the dough from the fridge, roll into balls, roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture, and place on your cookie sheet. Gently press the dough balls down with palm of your hand, or something flat. Bake in your oven for about 11 minutes, or until they look done. The number of cookies you get depends on how big you make the balls. I eat these so fast I never count them.

C’mon, fly out to Portland, you know you want to…learn how to help make a difference!

Well, the weather here in Portland, OR has been a blend of four seasons over the last few days. This seems to be a worldwide trend, and I kinda like it…I know, I know, who likes hail, snow, rain, sun, wind, and cold all in one day? I do. I grew up less than a mile away from Lake Erie in Pennsylvania, and this is a welcoming memory of childhood…Anyway, weather that is as temperamental as my mood leads to lots of fun in the kitchen! So that’s good…

First up, I made a huge batch of granola. The recipe is adapted from The Big Book of Vegetarian, which happens to have a ton of yummy vegan recipes (and veganizable vegetarian recipes). This is the Spiced Vanilla Granola, made with considerably less sugar than the recipe calls for. This is a very versatile granola, you can add any combination of nuts and dried fruit, and it still turns out perfect every time!

After the granola, I made pita dough (again). I think I’ve become a pita fanatic. Pita is awesome because one batch makes enough dough for at least 16 pitas, and you can freeze the unbaked dough balls for later! This pita dough is for tomorrow night’s dinner: FALAFEL!!!! My favorite part of making any yeast dough is watching the yeast get all foamy! As I have mentioned in a previous post, talk to your yeast! Say things like “Hey lil’ yeasties, it’s time to go for a swim!”…

Once the pitas were finished baking, I was hungry. So, I made a snack with a chickpea spread from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook (my very first vegan cookbook!), and cut a pita into triangles. This is one of the most addictive spreads around, and my pita was psyched to not be naked anymore.

Once I finished my snack, I went on to making more jam, with the last of my berries in the freezer (picked…2 summers ago!!!!). Lemon juice is essential to jam-making.

A Strawberry-Raspberry Jam:

Next up: Tuscan White Bean Soup, also from The Big Book of Vegetarian. This is a hearty, healthy, delicious soup (especially on a day when the weather keeps you indoors).

Maybe you are wondering, where’s the dessert?! Well, I can’t go a day without some sort of tasty treat, so today (and many days) I made Chocolate Pudding, courtesy of Fat Free Vegan (my oh my, this is sooooo gooood!!!!).

And lastly, on Wednesday I received a little package in the mail from Hannah (aka Bittersweet). I was lucky enough to be one of the winners in her bunny contest. So, you don’t have to guess who was hiding in the envelope! That’s right! A sweet little pink bunny, who I have named Krames (after a sneaky spider who lived in the hallway of my building, until he ran off with another spider named Willis, who lived in my apartment…). Thank you Hannah! As it turns out, Krames loves vegan cupcakes (go figure!). On Friday night, my boyfriend and I were desperate for a treat, but I had no sugar anywhere! I did have some soy sweetened condensed milk. I ended up making vanilla cupcakes without a recipe (a little of this and a little of that), and topping them with some homemade hot cocoa mix I had in the cupboard. They actually turned out very well, not too sweet, with a lovely texture and crumb. But the “recipe” only made three cupcakes. One for me, one for Tim (my boyfriend), and one for Krames. Perfect!

In a previous post, I mentioned something about a peanut butter cookie recipe. Well, here is my most favorite recipe…EVER…for peanut butter cookies. This recipe is adapted from one my mom had scribbled on an index card in her recipe box. I don’t know the source, so let’s pretend it was passed down through the generations…although it probably wasn’t. Anyway, I call these Peanut Butter Babas (ummm…don’t ask me why, it’s a bit strange…). I never said cookies were supposed to be healthy…remember that! But, they are TASTY!

Peanut Butter Babas

1/2 cup vegan margarine (I use Earth Balance), softened

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

1/2 cup unrefined sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 egg replaced (whatever method makes you happy, although I have only ever tried plain soy yogurt and Ener’G Egg Replacer)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (whole wheat pastry flour works nicely too, but you may have to adjust the amount)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Beat the margarine and peanut butter together in a stand mixer (or use your hand mixer) until smooth and creamy. Add in the sugars. Beat until fluffy. Add in your replaced egg and vanilla. Beat until even more fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, slowly. Using about 1/4 - 1/3 cup of dough, shape into balls (I use a BIG cookie scoop to make perfectly round cookies, because I am a bit of a perfectionist…sometimes…). Place cookie balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. One at a time, dip the cookie balls in a shallow dish with some sugar in it. Slightly flatten each cookie ball with the palm of your hand, and use either a fork or a potato masher to make a pretty criss-cross pattern on the top (flattening the cookie a bit more). Bake in your oven for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are golden (if you have a sassy oven like I do, you may want to adjust the baking time accordingly). Let the cookies cool a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Makes about 8 big, fat, yummy cookies. Or, if you want, make these smaller so you have lots!

What?! Buns of Soul? Yep. Today my boyfriend made these buns (thank you Celine…you rock!) for a major component of our dinner…Black-Eyed Pea Soul Burgers. Several years ago, we picked up a rejected copy of The Healthy Soul Food Cookbook from our local Goodwill. At the time, we were vegetarian, and there were plenty of suitable recipes in it, this one included. It quickly became a summertime favorite because it packs a ton of flavor and some spicy kick (and veggie-type burgers are fun in the summer). Bootsy Collins would be happy with one of these for sure! Anyway, the recipe is easily veganized, and pairs well with roasted potatoes, fruit, greens, whatever you want. But first, the buns!

The secret to a happy rise? Talk to the yeast! Get smart and do a New York Times crossword while you wait!

Six lil’ buns rising up, up, and up!

One done bun.

Black-Eyed Pea Soul Burger with BBQ sauce and lettuce (boring, but soooo goooooood!)

Black-Eyed Pea Soul Burgers (recipe adapted from The Healthy Soul Food Cookbook)

1 can black-eyed peas, cooked in their liquid until mashable, and drained

1/2 cup chopped cauliflower, cooked (I steam it until pretty tender, you want to be able to mash it)

1/2 cup chopped broccoli, cooked (same as cauliflower)

1/2 -1/3 cup chopped cremini mushrooms (any mushrooms really)

1-2 tablespoons flour

2-3 tablespoons vegetable broth

4 cloves garlic, minced (more or less depending on how you feel about garlic)

1 squirt of Braggs or low-sodium tamari sauce

3 teaspoons Soul Food Seasoning (recipe follows)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. In a big bowl (I like to use my stand mixer), mix all the ingredients together, mashing the peas against the sides of your bowl. Form into 4″ patties (These can be messy. If you find that your mixture is too wet, add some breadcrumbs or flour. If it is too dry, add some veggie broth or a bit of water.) and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Lightly coat the prepared pan with cooking spray. Put the patties on the pan. Bake for a total of about 25 minutes or so, flipping the patties halfway through baking. The recipe says it makes 4, but I always end up with 6. These work well with any vegetable you choose. So versatile!

Soul Food Seasoning (adapted from The Healthy Soul Food Cookbook)

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

3 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder

3 1/2 tablespoons onion powder

1 tablespoon dark chili powder

1/2 tablespoon paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons thyme

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Combine and store in a tightly sealed container. And if you shake this before taking off the lid, oh my, turn your head! This is potent! Alas…I am weak…

Tomorrow, I will post the promised Peanut Butter Cookie recipe, even though only a few people made guesses regarding the birds. It’s alright…