Make No Bones About It We're Vegan


Saturday, May 26, 2012

Hey You, Want Some Candy?

I've been down and out. Me and crazy boy really hit the skids. In my experience, nobody shares almonds. It's hard to get a nutritious meal from the food banks. We once got a fifty pound bag of potato flakes and three 16 ounce jars of sugar and oil laden generic peanut butter. One church attendant called us entitled when I gave back the cans of spam and deviled ham that were in our bounty. Well true, we still had our teeth and a toothbrush to share. We even had  jobs and  we could clean ourselves up in the sink of the local Amtrak lavatory. Hmmm, maybe we were entitled, maybe we were a special kind of homeless couple. Our kind of homeless was way before the 99% occupy was fashionable. We were the one per cent. Homeless employed vegans, but stuff happens even to those who are cruelty free. The good news was that my Bloomies card hadn't totally run out so, I had my last hurrah and ran up credit for a couple of bad ass bras. I guess I could have purchased some almonds or shoes instead of the undies, but it's tough on those mean streets and it's good to feel like you got some under armour.



Chocolate Almond Boats with Strawberry Topping


I've tried making quite a few raw chocolates and thus far this has been my favorite. The chocolate base is from one of my favorite cookbooks, Lacey Sher and Gail Doherty's You Won't Believe It's Vegan.  We also made some bark which was equally delicious.

Chocolate Base
1 C raw cacao nibs
1 C agave
1.5 C coconut oil
pinch of sea salt
1/2 C almond slivers

Blend all ingredients, except almonds in food processor or blender, until completely smooth. Stir in almonds. Pour into candy molds or spread on parchment lined sheet pan. Freeze until firm. Store in freezer until firm.

Almond Mousse Recipe (in the Veganville archives)

Strawberry Topping (also in the Veganville archives, but hidden under the code word blueberry...oh just exchange fruits)
Well it is our sincere hope that this post has given you some food for thought. You can't always judge a book by it's cover. And because we've been through it and have lived to tell it we encourage you to say hi to your local panhandler, give them a smile, some dental floss and some much needed greens. We usually protect our anonymity when it comes to our charitable deeds, but we hope you can follow our example.So, in addition to helping one or two animals every 6 months, Veganville now contributes two jumbo cupcakes every 5th Saturday to our favorite Vet on the street. Next month we will be contributing to Junkie Joe and his pitbull Axe. Won't you?

16 comments:

  1. Oh gawd!! I burst out laughing at the end of that video!! You're too much, GiGi!!

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  2. hahaha, thanx for laughing with me, Susmitha. I'm going to read yoiur interview very soon and catch up with some more blog reading.

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  3. Why do my comments disappear I want to know. Are they going to spam? I remember writing something about the damn Spam and deviled ham, and now I, myself, may be deviled by spam — damn.

    No matter how down and out you get, always remember to wear good underwear. That's what our mothers taught us, right?

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  4. No. I hope not why would your comments go to spam, for the devil of me I don't know. Thank you Oden nash, because you mentioned your mother your comment did show up :)

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  5. Hahaha. What a silly post. And these little treats look AWESOME!

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  6. Thanx, Meg. Not so silly, believe me you, when we were living in the asphalt jungle. Thanx for swinging by. You gotta try 'em. they are so good.

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  7. Andrea, I meant Ogden Nash!

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  8. My husband and I have watched your video at least three times now, laughing every time. Love it! If I go out with a cup emblazoned with the letter C, will people give me Trader Joe's almonds too?

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  9. Awww thank you Cadry and David!That is so sweet. I think you might have better luck with "G" just add a line to your "C".

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  10. that vid is hilarious.. and oh that mousse and strawberry !
    you know the peeps on the street here are very industrious. They even know some hindi words to woo us hindi speaking peeps. you should have looked at the shock on my face when i had recently moved to seattle and heard it on the street.

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  11. Haha, Thanx Richa. I wish had known Hindi words when I was on the street, perhaps someone would have found me and brought me some of your bread.
    That is a pretty funny story you shared though, as they say in West Side Story, Only in America, Merica.

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  12. oh my god you're too funny GiGi! The first three lines of this post are genius. I burst out laughing when I read:

    "In my experience, nobody shares almonds"

    hahah! My husband wanted to know what i thought was so funny so I read the first three lines to my husband and i don't think he got it but i don't read outloud very well :)

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  13. Only a truly awesome person could make that situation funny, in my (not so) humble opinion :)

    when i was a kid we went to the food bank frequently and stayed in two shelters, but i wasn't vegetarian then and unfortunately didn't pay attention to what i ate until i was a teenager. it's true, though, that i don't ever remember being given any almonds!

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  14. Ha Ha back...you funny. Mothrasue. I just read your comment out loud and *my husband* laughed :)

    Thank you, I really appreciate that. That is so sweet of you. Wow you are a real power of example to go through that as a kid and still attend and graduate from Smith. Now that's amazing.
    Today I can even purchase roasted unsalted almonds for a prop and not bawk at the price... gives me immense gratitude...really.

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  15. well, school was my anchor and my life and my mother, aunt, and grandmother always expected me to go to college. i never thought about not going. (now grad school, that is another thing!) it helped, actually, that we had no money because i got full financial aid (not full scholarship, but most). smith is very helpful to low income students--at least, they were before the financial meltdown, not sure how they are now.

    one of the few good things about going through crap, perhaps the only good thing, is that it does help you appreciate what you have.

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