She is the Most Interesting...recipe and video included

Since her reputation precedes her today's blog will simply include a video and recipe.

Music provided/played by Crazy Boy.

PB and Vegan Fluff Milk Shecky with ingredients Standing Tall

2 C vegan milk of your choice
1 C Peanut Butter
1.5 C vanilla ice creme of your choice
3/4 C plus one dollop of Ricemellow to top milk shecky
1 tsp non-alcoholic vanilla
2 T agave (sweeten to taste)
2-3 ice cubes

Blend until thick. Top with dollop.

Made in Berkeley, California. Drink responsibly.

Stay tuned, contest coming soon!

PS Below in the comments is a linky to the commercial this video spoofs ;)

Autumnal Pumpkin Pancakes with Bob's Dread Mill

The vegan boards are in an upheaval. That's right. Apparently Bob and Mrs. Bob the retired founders of Bob's Red Mill have considered donating a hunk of money to an Oregon corporation that does animal testing. This is not good, especially since lots of vegans, me included have at least one of Bob's products in their pantry. Bob's face is even on the front of the package. We have a package of unopened Bob's Gluten Free all purpose baking flour in the cupboard. Now what should we do with this brand new bag of Bob's? Well, rationalize of course. See no evil, hear no evil...doesn't usually  work for me. However I did purchase said bag before Bob's Red Mill became Bob's Dead Mill. So after much deliberating, Crazy Boy and I decided to see what would happen if we used some of evil Bob's flour. Would we be struck down? Would we be ostracized from the vegan community? My activist friends know where we live. Would we wake up to find that our apartment had been leafleted, toilet papered and bloodstained in the middle night? Would my reveries of being a poster child for PETA end?
C'mon, please dear vegan friends, we bought this gluten free flour way before Bob and Charlee donated to the evil corporation and we besides we want pancakes for dinner.

Psycho boy googled an Engine 2 suitable pancake recipe and without reservation, tore open the Bag with his teeth, and got to work. For some crazy reason he used a waffle recipe for pancakes. Sometimes waffle and pancake recipes are interchangeable. Sometimes waffle batters are thinner. Personally I didn't want to take any chances. I was scared enough using the butcher's bag of gluten free flour. PBoy mixed the batter together and heated the pan. I hid in the closet with a crucifix and some roasted garlic.
Let me know when it's ready, I'm freaking starving, I croaked from my place of darkness.
Stop panicking it's just a bag of gluten free flour, your friends won't find out, PBoy said.
Yeah they will. They know everything there is to know about butchering. And then they'll show up with picket signs.

And then I heard it, bloodcurdling Linda Blair screams coming from the man who was once my husband.
I ran to the kitchen, stopping on the way to pick up another makeshift rosary. Actually it was two Popsicle sticks and a necklace stuck together.
What is it????
Oh these stupid pancakes have no oil in the pan because we're on this E2 Plan and they are sticking to the skillet. Damn it!
So add some more spray.
Okay.
Anything else?
NO..They're almost ready.
Good I'm starving.

I must say they were excellent pancakes, except for their obvious deformities, hence no pics.
Use this recipe at your own risk! Bahahaha.

Sideshow Punk-in Pancakes Gluten Free


11/4 Bob's Dread Mill Gluten Free Fix
2 T cornstarch
1 T ground flax seeds
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2  tsp ginger
1/ 2 tsp allspice
1 T agave
3/4 C solid-pack canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
11/2 C rice milk or any vegan milk thereof
2 tablespoons orange juice

 Spray skillet with canola spray, heat pan. Mix all ingredients together. (Batter will be thick; add more liquid if you want a thinner batter.) You will need to spray skillet between batters. Proceed at your own risk. Oh stop waffling. Any thoughts on the Bob's Red Mill debacle?

Don't Be a Dum Dum, Dum Dum and Vegan Posole

So I have this big ass contest going on here in Veganville. Yep since like um before last week. Yep. Lots of people, yep lots and lots of people have entered.


NOT!

You know how many????  Look below for the answer.


You don't see any numbers. Do you? You don't see anything at all, right? That's because NOBODY ENTERED! NOBODY!
Bupkis. A big ass zero for the big ass contest. Which in my self respected opinion is:

Dum, Dum, Dum!  When you could win yum yum yum! See contest! Hey...speaking of dum, dum, dum. That's the name of the dummy pic above. This is a photo dear to my beating ventricle. It's from the ultra fantastic Etsy shop, Snailbooty. If I were you I would move my booty over to Snailbooty before I snatch up this pic for myself. 

Did you know that I was almost a ventriloquist? Well I was... I had a dum dum like the middle dum shown above. Jerry and I were inseparable when I was in the first grade. We had matching red suits and we went everywhere together. Jerry would even order dinner for me. "GiGi will have a knish, and I'll have a Shirley Temple." That is until Jerry's head fell off!

Hey look what I found. I knew I'd find you my long lost friend! Sob, Sob. You can find Jerry's head sans body at Marieskidscollege, a nifty little vintage shop only on Etsy. Why he's almost like "Johnny got his gun" of the dummy world.

I think I'm gonna see if my friend Gil the lamp guy can make Jerry's noggin into a lampshade, just for old time's sake. Gil says they will put a lightbulb in anything. Even Jerry.
And let me tell you- some heads are going to roll if nobody plays my contest, Bahahaha. Jerry said that, not me. Dum de dum dum.
While we are waiting for a contestant to freaking show up, here's a delicious recipe for Posole. 

Traditional Posole is more brothy, so feel free to up the liquid content. Either way it's a bowl of hearty goodness. I like it more stew like.

Pozole Stew

1 small can roasted diced chipotle peppers
3 cloves of garlic chopped
1 C chopped onions
1 T canola oil
1 Summer squash diced
1 yellow, red or green pepper diced
1 zucchini diced (boy this is getting dicey)
1 tomato diced
2 tofurky links sliced (we slice 'em we dice 'em)
3 T tomato paste
15 oz can hominy (drained)
16 oz can pinto beans with chipotle rinsed and drained
1 tsp. cumin
1.5-3 C vegan broth or H2O
sea salt to taste
oregano to taste
cilantro julienned (optional)
1 avocado (optional)
lime
tortilla chips

***** breaking news******we interrupt this recipe to bring you a contestant****All the way from Chicago****

I Can't believe I won another box of voopees, GiGi!

I'm speechless, Oprah.

But I'm not speechless!
How did you like my Oprah impression, GiGi?

At one time you had the upper hand in our relationship Jerry, but now you have no hands so I win. So bob on out of here so I can finish this recipe.

Posole continued: without interruption, Jerry!

Heat oil in big heavy pot and add chipotle, onions, garlic and veggies, and saute. Add remaining veggies and tofurky rounds and cook til lightly browned. Add hominy, beans, tomato paste, spices and the amount of water (or veggie broth) you are comfortable with. Simmer for about a half hour. Serve in bowls. Top with cilantro, lime and avocado. (I added lime to the Pasole while it was cooking) then added more to my bowl. Just because I like it.

I used to like Pazole, but now it goes right through me. Bahaha. Good Oprah impression, huh, GiGi,huh?

Jerry quit talking over me! Sorry for all the interruptions today, folks.  Hey don't be a dum dum. Be a smarty. Play the contest, join the party.

What?! A Veganville Contest for Carnivores and the Ilk? Contest! Contest!

What? It's been eight days without a blog, you say. In Beatles' lyric lingo eight days is a week.
Crap, I owe you a contest or something. I got a doozy of a contest right up my bamboo organic sleeve too.

Boy oh boy I hope people enter. This is open to all members of the human race, except members of the Tea Party. I think I contradicted myself there, since Tea Party members are not considered  humans or mammals.

Quite honestly I never could stand tea, and that kombucha stuff just stinks. I know I'm a vegan and I'm supposed to expound on the benefits of tea, right? Screw that I say. The only time I really drank tea was when I used to get my tea leaves read. My whole crazy family used to visit the tea leaf lady. She was a little old lady who wore a flowered mu mu and had a pornographic light switch in her bathroom. You know the kind. The switch has an erection when you put the lights on. And when you switched them off well...sometimes that happens in the dark. (bahahaha). Mildred the mu mu clad pornographer tea reader lady had a favorite phrase she used while reading your leaves to you. After each leaf  prediction "you will get married when you are 20" or "you will have a friend named John" she would add in this high pitched voice..."and that is that". "You will brush your teeth" and "that is that". One day you will not drink anymore tea...and that is that.

Back to the contest.

I won't leave you in the dark here. Stop playing with that light switch, would ya.

Anyway, this contest has a little twist to it because as we all know I can be a little twisted. I don't like to proselytize.Yeah, of course I'd love it if the whole world became vegan. I'd love it If everybody left the itty, little, bitty baby calves alone with their mommies. And I sure wish those little, itty, bitty babies weren't taken away from their mommies so they could be placed in a cramped disgusting box to live out their infancy just so you could make them into Italian V Parmesan sandwiches later. NO! I didn't bring you here to tell you that. No I did not.

This is not a conversion contest so I won't tell you how cows are abused just so you can eat some soft serve or coffee praline heavy duty ice cream sundae. I promise I won't mention how porky pig becomes your breakfast side at Denny's (bacon has a mommy too) or ramble about how chickens suffer in battery cages. Nope why should I become all hot and bothered about that stuff. I know you are still going to rush out maybe not today but tomorrow to get a triple heart attack burger with some drippy bleu. (I won't even mention the health benefits of eating vegan or how much water we save by going veg.) Nope I won't tell you that stuff.

This is a contest here and let's have some freaking fun. Shall we. Really I just want you to know how great the vegan options and food is today. If you are looking to feel better, look better or even want to be a little more eco conscious try 2 meatless Mondays. Try out your local veg restaurant. Try one vegan lunch one day, and a vegan dinner another. Oh don't be such a big baby.

This contest is for all you pesky pescetarians, all you died in the wool carnivores, the "I could never leave my cheese behind" vegetarians, the "I hardly ever eat red meat because I'm so effing healthy", and the "I eat only free range organic" gourmet, and of course let's not forget all you "I'm already vegan but only eat chips and salsa" friends.

********Think you can cook vegan? contest******
             Official Rules and What You Win****
1. Contest Starts Right Now. August 6th 2011 and ends August 26th 10 P.M. PST
2. You must make two completely vegan meals. It's okay to use prepared vegan food like vegan chili or vegan meat substitutes or vegan sour creme. 
3. Vegan means no animal products whatsoever. No meat, no dairy, no honey. You are welcome to use any of the recipes on my site, an original recipe or one from a vegan cookbook or a recipe you veganized from a regular cookbook. Send me the recipe and a picture of the meal you made. Tell me if you created the recipe or where you got it from.
Videos are welcome. I am open to questions and happy to make suggestions.
4. I will feature contestant's meals on the Veganville blog in the coming days and weeks.
5. You can enter as many meals as you like over the three week period.
6. You must be a follower of this blog.

7. I'll post your entry on my FB page too. Get your friends to enter or vote.
8. Let's rack up the comments and I'll bring in a surprise guest judge too.

Vegan newbies Hints
Some fave substitutes:
1. Daiya Cheez - perfect meltability, it's not soy based and tastes great.
2. Follow Your Heart Cheez is excellent as well.
3. Vegenaise mayonnaise is the only way to go in the mayo dept. (my mom even likes it).
4. Nutritional yeast (not Brewer's Yeast) is a great stand in for Parmesan and mixed and there are amazing recipes out there for vegan "mac and cheeze".
5. Wanna veganize a family recipe and not sure how, hit me up.


Prizes:
A big box filled to the brim with assorted Veganville goodies. And a beautiful handmade vegan bookmark from Lylah's Etsy shop. I have one myself. Please check out her shop for some more real gorgeous artwork. I heart her line drawings and doodles. You can also check out what project Lilah is working on right now at her blog.

I'll add some more prizes if we get a good showing here. Come on what are you waiting for? Get cooking. And tell your buddies. It's fun to share. Why hell, make a party out of it! Cook up some nifty vegan foods and have a vegan potluck.

And that is that!

A Narcoleptic's Food Blog

My sleep habits are funky lately. If you stopped by because you are vegan for health reasons, you came to the wrong place. Sorry. We're ethical vegans over here in Veganville. If it was the 90's and I was a decade younger, (okay 20, 25 oh shush years younger), we'd be vegan straight edges here too.
Anyway let's discuss narcolepsy, shall we? Narcolepsy as anyone would tell you is characterized by scatter shot sleep patterns. Narcoleptics fall asleep at inopportune times like when triple chocolate chip cookies are supposed to be taken out of the oven. Remember when I gave in and got the most unugly crocs I could find? They are very comfy. Crocs are a big catalyst for narcolepsy. Anyway my snoozing function is off kilter. An intended one hour catnap could morph into six or even a baker's dozen. By the time I drag my groggy ass to the kitchen to cook dinner, kale and wilted greens become less of an option. Homemade kettle corn usually does the trick and provides the needed nutrients.
I started recording again and am working on a new show. I know the adrenaline rush has effected my quotidian shut-eye. If you are good I'll give you a peek at the new project at the end of this post.

Kettle Corn- (My keyboardist makes it in a Whirly Pop but you can use a big heavy pan)
1/4 C sugar
1/2 C popcorn kernels
1/3 C mix of canola/olive oil
3/4 tsp sea salt

Heat oil in a large pot or Whirly Pop over medium-high heat. Add popcorn and sugar giving it a quick stir and then cover with lid. Once popcorn starts popping, pick it up and give it a quick shake every few seconds until popping slows down, between 3-4 minutes. Remove immediately from heat and pour into a large bowl. Sprinkle with sea salt and chow down and checkout this Cd..

Our keyboardist, Larry Tasse suffers from the same syndrome I do.

Robby will don this shirt for the next shoot. What was he thinking?

I'm Stuffed....Peppers

There is a dizzying array of colors at my local produce market right now. You can walk out of  Berkeley's Monterey Market with two canvas bags filled to the brim with juicy seasonal goodness for under eighteen bucks, maybe twenty. I usually get very excited about a trip to the market but I must be prepared to wear my game face. I must be psyched and in tip top shape. Monterey Market is the Lohmann's of produce. While New York Jews might elbow each other and stampede a Lohmann's for a marked down Balenciaga or Kate Spade bag, Berkeley tie dyed grey haired hippies will squash your Tevas for the purplest plum. And no I don't wear Tevas. My 92 year old dad, Pete does. NO tie dye though. Pete usually dons Brooklyn Dodger Tee and NYPD sweat pants. Don't think I haven't thought about using Dad and his wheelchair as a weapon in the Roman Coliseum of fruits. Yep Pete is sure deadly in his wheel chair but  you know what else...he's  an ex-mucky muck on the NYPD. So watch out  and get outta our way Mr. Jerry Garcia look alike.You over there, drop the honeydew. Pete still remembers the Miranda rights too, or at least something cop like. How 'bout..."drop the radicchio, and nobody gets hurt". Ooh you go Daddy!
Last trip, Pete wasn't with me. I did manage to get away with some yellow peppers, blueberries and strawberries, but it wasn't easy. A pigtailed grandma in lederhosen got a little too close to my peppers and I had to bop her on the suspenders with my recycled Lohmann's bag.

Moral of the story: Violence doesn't pay. I got home and didn't know what the hell to do with the yellow peppers.

I decided to veganize and tweak a vegetarian recipe I googled. Eh. It wouldn't be worth it to give you the recipe but I'd be happy to give you some tweak pointers and an elocution lesson. Say "Pete's Peppers Pointers" three times fast. Now out of our way.

Pete's Peppers Pointers

1. Yellow peppers make perfect containers-boats if you will. Cut vertically. Leave the top and bottom but remove pepper membrane.
2. I think the pepper boats taste better roasted or charred before filled.
3. I used a combo of quinoa, roasted peppers, red onion, scallion, raisins, and pine nuts, and cumin- (none of these were in the recipe prior to the tweak). Any grain will do. I added olive oil and a touch of balsamic. The base works. I think cilantro would have brought it up a notch.
4. Needs lots of flavor and seasoning.
5. For leftovers we drizzled olive oil and sprinkled Daiya over the top. It works.
6. I think Black Forbidden rice inside the yellow peppers would give it a Gothic twist for a special occasion.

Do you have a favorite way to cook yellow peppers? I'm stuffed.

Mama GiGi's Back Porch Corn Bread (oh you know what I mean)

I am not necessarily prone to exaggeration. At least not the way my sister, who we call Heidi Hyperbole is. If Heidi tells you she found a $100 bill outside an AT&T store that enabled her to pay the remainder of her cell phone bill for the month, she most likely found five bucks outside Trader Joe's and was able to buy a burrito. Heidi is an embellisher not a liar-liar pants on fire. So when I tell you that this cornbread is the best you ever had, remember it's me talking not Heidels. When I tell you that people travel far and wide for this sweet moist cornbread I mean it! Far and wide might only be fifteen to twenty miles but since I am presently without a car, far and wide takes on a whole new meaning. To me far and wide is like living in the Old West. It could take me and my posse  twelve days to reach San Francisco from Oakland in a stage coach...(just once I would like to be upgraded from coach...bahaha). They'll be no Wild West campfire cooking today, unless I can getta hold of some Dandy marshmallows. No sirree boy, we're talking bayou cornbread cooking. Step aside Paula Deen. Here's some sauteed mustard greens, with hearty 'shroom gravy and Mama GiGi's mouthwatering cornbread "graced" with a pat of Earth Balance.
You have to say "grace" when you partake in Southern fare. It makes baby Jesus happy. And for some reason the cornbread tastes better.

Mama GiGi's Back Porch Cornbread 

2 1/4 C Flour
1 C sugar
3/4 C cornmeal
1.5 T baking powder
1 3/4 C rice milk or any vegan milk even vanilla flavored is fine
1/4 C water mixed with one T Ener-G egg replacer
1/2 C canola oil
1/2 stick + 1 tsp EB (hey it's Southern Cooking) melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8" by 8" pan. I line it with parchment and regrease lightly.
Combine flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder in a medium bowl.
Combine rice milk, Ener-G slurry, canola oil and melted EB in a small bowl.
Add liquids to flour mix. Stir with wooden spoon til just combined. Lumps are cool. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for about 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Warm cornbread....the stuff that food dreams are made of. Y'all come back now ya here. You too, Paula.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

A "To Whom It Concerns" Letter to Me

If you are trolling cyber space now and happen upon Veganville I would like to be perfectly clear. Today, to the untrained eye Veganville might appear to be a job resume service. Today and only today we might appear to be loosely associated with ESL or even the Better Business Bureau. Normally all these fancy pants factions are outside Veganville's jurisdiction. Veganville is a place that is concerned with vegan food, occasionally fashion, and cruelty- free makeup. You know all the true sustances of life. Stick around I'll give you some food pics at the end of the post. Right now I need to get on my high horsey. It's my blog and I can cry if I want to.

Every other week I receive an e-mail from a blogger interested in Veganville goodies. At first this might be flattering until you read the body of the letter and hit their link. I am always gracious. I have done giveaways on reputable sites, mostly vegan and am always happy to participate if the site is truly interested in Veganville.

Dear Etsy person-
Yummy. I have a blog. I think yer stuff wuld be perfect and my readers wuld like ur stuff alot.
Here is the linc: I wuld like to revue yoiur box.

"Lincs" invariably lead me to army wife blogs or Appalachia themed food sites. Postings include roast piggy complete with mouth apple, "revue" of charcoal briquette, and how to make garlands from Vienna sausage and fruit loops. The magical fit with their readers seems to elude me.
Today I received a letter that was so excited about me and Veganville.

To Whom It May Concern,


I have a blog about food called " ". I do reviews & giveaways of different products for companies. You can check out my blog here:  Please let me know if you would like to work with me on a review and/or giveaway. Typically a company will send me something to review and then I’ll offer the same item or items to a winner on my blog...blahblahblahblahblahbladdy blah.

At least I got a "yum" in the Appalachian letter. Correct me if I'm wrong here. I think that's a form letter. It's not even from the IRS or Visa. It's not a publisher rejection letter. It's a letter to me, although they don't know who I am, what my shop is and never mention any of my product. They would however like me to pay at least $22 to ship my items to them and their lucky winner. This does not include my labor fees or ingredient costs. Yippeekayay. Note to sender if you are in the job market please don't send potential employers form letters. Read:dumpster.

To Whom it may concern
You are not getting the above Sam Sam cake!
Signed,
I am not concerned

 Now that I got that off my chest. Check out this customer appreciation photo I received from an Austin, Texas fan . I think this beautiful face is the perfect candidate for the national "voopee pie" campaign. Thank you so much!

What do you think? Got any Veganville pics, I'd love to see them. Thanks so much!

Little Miss Cuffin

If you are a dedicated follower and all around Veganville pal and admirer then you would know that we recently invented something worthy of your knowledge. That's right we here at Veganvillle like to contribute to your over all mental health and adjustment.
In a recent post we introduced the "Cuffin". If you were paying attention you would know that a Cuffin has nothing to do with fisticuffs, although they are so delicious you could probably get away with smashing a Cuffin in someones face. They might even like you for it.
Don't confuse a Cuffin with:

Q:What did one casket say to the other casket?
A: Is that you coffin?

Oh take a riccola already!

A Cuffin is not a coffin and vice versa. Yes, it's true I often eat my Cuffins in a cemetery but that's just me. I like walking after midnight. 

 A Cuffin is a cross between a muffin and a cupcake. Get it?? Bahahaha. 

Check out our new Little Miss Cuffin. And because Miss Cuffin is vegan she'll never include curds or whey ;)

Little Miss Cuffins With PB Glaze
Makes 6 Jumbos
3 medium overripe bananas
1+1/3 cup peanut butter
¼ C agave
¼ cup rice milk mixed with 1tsp apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon non-alcoholic vanilla
1 ¼ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 6-cup Cuffin pan .

Peel bananas and place in a large mixing bowl mash, then mix in the peanut butter with a fork until well blended. Add agave and stir in the rice milk mixture, and vanilla. Mix in the flour and baking soda. The batter will be thick. It’s cool if a few lumps remain. Using an ice cream scoop, divide batter between cuffin cups, filling 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean, and remove to cooling rack. Cool in tin for ten minutes, remove from tin and cool on rack. Cool completely before adding glaze.

PB Glaze3-4 Tsp Rice milk
1 cup powdered sugar
2 T creamy peanut butter
Directions- Just mix them together and drip over cooled Cuffins, or dip Cuffin tops upside down in glaze. Refrigerate for about 45 minutes.


Share them with your favorite spider!

Hot Dog! A Public Apology!

Yes it's true. I was on Twitter last week. And yes some of you have made it quite clear that you are disappointed in me.

Vegans rarely lie, but I made a mistake when I sent those pictures.

I know I sent my carnivore friends pictures of weiners I'd be serving at the bbq. I understand how you could have misinterpreted them as real meat.  I never once lied about the size.

 

How could one lousy Twitter link go global in just a matter of minutes?

So what's your fave vegan hot dog? What do you like between your bun?

What a Croc!

Take a glance at my profile and you will see that I am not a fan of a certain Hu-gley rubber holed garden gnome shoe. Yes I realize a lot of chefs wear these "F" for Fashion shoes. A lot of people fall off escalators when they wear these plastic monstrosities. Did you know that? I mean I don't think I'll be wielding a Wusthorf or whipping up a frosting on an escalator any time soon, but still. Gag. Yes I am on my feet sometimes 13 hours a day, but my Chucks rule, as long as I put insoles in them. I also work with chef's gel mats which save my ass and my feet. Wouldn't it be great if they could save face too?

So imagine my surprise when I was surfing the net looking for a cruelty free pair of black ballet flats or some facsimile of to change into when I go ingredient shopping. I was looking for something versatile, something to don with a pair of skinny jeans or rolled up Levis or summer skirt. Lalalala. Ooooh look these are kind of cute and economical and Eco friendly. WTF? Noooo. Shield my eyes. They are a Croc. Can't be. Let me see them again. Yep my eyes do not deceive me. Those are a freakin' Croc!

It might be time to throw those Croc prejudices aside, GiGi. Well since Zappos does have free shipping returns I decided to give the Crocs a whirl.

I wore them to go get ingredients yesterday. They look cuter in person. The cool thing about them is that when I dropped organic powdered sugar on them I just wiped them right off with a wet nappy. Wore them in the kitch today and they were quite comfy. While at the Croc store I kind of liked another flat not suitable for the kitchen but great to knock around town with. Check 'em out. Kinda cool right? So what do you wear on your tootsies when you are cookin?

Tempeh For the Taurus

Well crazy Taurus boy had yet another birthday. But I swear the dude is like Dorian Gray. I'd hate to see what his attic picture looks like. We celebrated with the movie, "Bill Cunningham New York" . The photos and fashion are a must see and Bill is a lovable eccentric. We enjoyed takeout from Nature's Express in Berkeley and combined their delicious frozen dessert with some lemon custard cupcake and lemon frosting to make a delectable party parfait. Woohoo.

The Einstein, a scrambled tofu, tempeh bacon, Daiya cheese tomato avocado and black bean burrito is pretty good.

The real genius is the Grilled Tempeh Reuben. The homemade kraut paired with the tangy house thousand island and melted Daiya hits the spot and is calling to my taste buds as I write.

I'm a huge fan of Nature's Express frozen dessert, even though I get freeze head. They carry a different flavor everyday. The vanilla almond was a terrific compliment to the lemon flavors swirling through the parfait. It was a very hot day, and we had to carry the parfaits home without lids, hence the leaning tower.

Now excuse me while I go eat in the attic. Bahahahaha.

(photo credits-crazy Taurus boy)

Hey Check out This Uber Cool Vegan Etsy Shop

We interrupt this Veganville sale to showcase another cool Etsy shop. Yes it's true I'm in need of some major Karma points and yes it would be a relief if that hex on me was removed sometime soon but that's not why I've decided to be super nice and use my blog to hype Baubles4knitwits.

Members of the Etsyveg team have all taken a pledge to support and promote one another's shops and feature one a week. The Etsyveg team consists of vegan and vegetarian artisans and shop owners. This week Baubles4knitwits is in the spotlight. B4K, (I just made that up), Jenn Hernandez' adorable and vibrant vegan Etsy shop features stitch markers and knitting accessories for all you crafty Bees out there. I don't know what a stitch marker is exactly. Does it keep time...like a stitch in time. I'm doing my best here. I am the rare Etsian who is not a domestic goddess in all areas. Knitting needles are just sticks to me. Just more things to keep from poking my eyes out with, but look how cute these are.

Bet they would look great as a hair adornment... I mean if they are not too close to my eyes

It seems like Jen excels in a lot of areas. She even brews her own kombucha and has her own cooking blog too- cookinvegan.com. Oh, shoot me now. And check out these beautiful tangerine swirl stitch markers. Wouldn't they make great earrings too? Or keychains even? See they are multi-purpose stitch markers.

And speaking of all Jen's nifty accessories did I tell you that I bought a new pair of spring- summer shoes? What do you think? They are super comfy and I think they'd be da bomb with my new hemp hair sticks.

Blowfish "Georgia"

Happy Birthday Cupcake For Mommy

They say it's my mommy's birthday. Every year my mommy says, "didn't I tell you and your sister not to get me anything?" One reason my mommy doesn't want anything is because she stopped counting birthdays.

She doesn't want my sister to get her anything because my sister's perpetually broke and getting my mom a present would mean just hitting my mom up for more money later which really kind of means that in the long run my mom bought herself the present.This does not at all indicate that my sister is ungenerous or slothful or frivolous. Her Dickensian story is for another day. (this is what I call a cyclical gift-not to be confused with the diabolical "re- gift")

Did you ever receive a re- gift? I did. From a wealthy cheapo. Mrs. Scrooge didn't even have the decency to re- wrap the crappy gift they didn't want. They gave it to me with the original paper hanging off. Yuk. I mean why splurge on a piece of scotch tape.

The most prevalent reason my mom doesn't want anything is because many birthdays ago and one particularly auspicious April 17th my mom went into labor and gave birth to a 2.75 pound preemie...Me! (April 18th)

Now isn't that the best gift ever? Happy Birthday, Mommy.

Vegan raspberry cream cheese cup cake for Mommy! xoxox

Raspberry Frosting

4 Oz. tofutti
1/4 stick earth balance (softened-room temp)
3 C powdered sugar
tsp rice milk
tsp vanilla
2 T TJ's organic raspberry preserves (or your fave)

Cream tofutti and earth balance. Add powdered sugar. Beat 2-3 minutes. Add vanilla and rice milk. Continue to mix to frosting consistency. Stir in preserves.

Share with your birthday pal.

PB Swirl

9/10ths of the time I've got some gratitude going on. Even if I have to drum it up and eek it out. I'd rather be happy and dopey than a pitiful slug. A lot of people like to step on slugs. Vegans aren't even that fond of them. Not that we would intentionally step on anything. I won't even step on a crack because I don't want my mom to suffer.
The 1/10th part- you know, the grimacing gastropod part hit me upside the head this week. It all started with an honest mistake. I sent out caved in cupcakes. I tried covering the offending grand canyon cakes with mounds of icing. The client wouldn't have it. Of course I replaced them, apologized profusely and offered them a free trip to Arizona. Water under the bridge, as they say. Lalalala. I let it go and moved on. It's not good to stress. So I mosied over to my Etsy account. Yep I'm in treasuries everyday, but the sales are bupkus this week. In an effort to make myself feel better I decided to check out other vegan bakers sites to see if perhaps their sales were down too. I consoled myself with, "oh well maybe it's a slow week".  350 sales on one vegan baker's site and 450 at Megaprettyvegan's online account. I just wanted to clear my 60 sales this week.  I tried to let it go. I really did. And just when I was thinking of packing in all my cupcake liners, blue icing and Swedish fish I received a convo on my Etsy account. Nope it didn't make me richer, or even get me past 60 Etsy sales but somehow it kept me at this baking gig for one more day. Here is the letter and our correspondence. Thank You Bakado!


Hi there,

I get mine (pb lovers voopee) at catahoula coffee in Richmond, I'm using them for motivation while training -they are my "cheat" meal (I'm assuming somewhere around 600 kcal for a whole pie) and plan my day's meals accordingly. So far it's been working - down 20 lbs with 5 to go. So thank you for making these pies.
Only problem - is they are too popular at catahoula lately, and I haven't been able to get one for at least a week and a half - and I am feinding FEINDING I tell you!
I would order through easy but the danger of a 6 pack of these sitting on my freezer ( they freeze well right?) scares the dickens out of me - as at least having to get to catahoula stops me from eating these every day of the week.
So please, please please I beg of you - deliver more to catahoula - you can always complain to me via email if they aren't moving and I will make sure everyone I know gets some...
Thank you for your time and voopies
~ ~
Hi Bakadoh (ha ha)
Thanks for your nifty letter of PB Love. If you are picking up this message now 1:45 Friday some Fresh PB voopees should be in your local Catahoula by 2:00 today. I just sent some out.
PB in a jar often calls my name from an undisclosed location, so I can understand your voopee in the house predicament. They do freeze well, by the way. But A freezer never stopped anybody!
Down 20 pounds, that's terrific. What are you training for? You can always order a batch to bring to a friends (just convo me) and I can drop them off at Catahoula sans shipping of course. I'm not sure about the caloric content, but be assured the calories are much less than a whopper, a better source of protein and cruelty free.
Would you mind if I used your letter on my blog today?

Run don't walk to Catahoula now.

Thank you again. Always happy to motivate. (I'm an ex-athlete and coach)
Keep pedaling.

GiGi
Head Honcho of Veganville
~ ~ ~
Of course you can use my letter in your blog. I'm at catahoula right now - buying three... But I love how many there are here.

I won't bore you with my life story - but I'm training to see how fit I can be. Even when I was body building many years ago I never was able to get under 190 for very long. Now I'm hovering between 180 and 177 steadily losing since January 31st.
Sorry chocolate all over my iPhone from the vooper... I'm good for another week- I'm going to try to addict two people for you today, by sharing.
I love your idea for drop ship at catahoula

In honor of the lovely letter I received I am creating a PB Lovers Box that will include PB Voopees, Vanilla Cupcake with PB frosting and PB Swirl Brownies. 60 Etsy sales here we come.

Wanna add some swirl to your brownie now? Make your fave brownie batter and place in prepared pan. In a separate bowl make the PB mixture.
Mix together:
2/3 C PB
2 T canola oil
2 T organic powder sugar

Place dollops of PB mixture on the panned batter. Swirl with knife. Bake according to your favorite brownie recipe directions. Feel free to write me a very nice letter.

Knife Skills and Life Skills for Vegans

Today is all about knife skills for vegans. Knife skills are like basic life skills. I'm sure you are probably crafty enough to use scissors and incisors but in my kitchen knives are a preferred tool. Use the right tool and you can say sayanara to kitchen accidents, or at least save on finger cots and dental bills.

1. Never run, swing from a rope or wear a blind fold while wielding a chef's knife. You are not Zorro.

2. Put that knife down when you are talking to me. Don't use it your knife as an extension of a hand gesture. Do not punctuate with the point of a knife!

3. You talking to me? Yes, I just asked you a fascinating question, but please please, don't continue dicing while looking me in the eye and telling me in elaborate detail about how your last date took to you to Arby's.

4. We might not eat meat or crustaceans but don't chuck that mallet just yet. Nuts and coconuts need attention too.

5. It's okay to raise that mallet the next time a snarky omnivore tries to sneak a beef bouillon into your veggie stock. (Yes Mr. Omnivore even beef stock has beef in it.)

6.  Hey where you going with that cleaver? It'll never be bloody from meat again but isn't it great for smashing garlic and removing an avocado pit?

7. Do not swallow fondue forks like a sword swallower even though it is the funniest thing in the world, and your crazy ass friends will think it's hysterical. Food is much more important than a night in the emergency room. (And cheaper too.)

8. Rusty knives cause gonnorreah, or is it gangrene? Eh, same thing.

9.  And never ever cut a lemon or any delicious fruit in mid air. Always use a flat surface. Or it will come out looking like the lemon garnish below, smart ass!

For the recipe please visit the blog I swiped this from. (See the many uses of the mallet). Maybe you can't see the lemon wedge anymore because I cropped this food photo with a hatchet. These tropical grapefruit meyer lemon parfaits can be particularly delicious after a loss of blood. But we're avoiding that aren't we?

The Activist and the Cupcake

I know. I know I've been missing in action here. Do you even know I haven't been here? It's been a whole week. Lately when I'm not working, I'm sleeping or trying to wrap my head around global catastrophe. I pray a lot. For Japan of course. Other countries. Sarah Palin's soul. I want to do something. I know I will. Throwing a few bucks at the tsunami relief fund seems trite. I started to set up a product with donation proceeds on my Etsy page and I took it down.  I didn't want to jump right into this now and then forget about this disaster up the road when this will take years maybe decades to rebuild a country and people's lives.
I was at a party about a month ago. I had catered the dessert and knew very few people there. I was also an inconspicuous guest. I was wiped and took up space on the couch. This woman sat next to me. She fondled a cupcake, and held it up to her friend across the room and Soto vocce "these are the best cupcakes I've ever had." Her friend pointed to me and said, there's the baker. The woman introduced herself to me and covered her heart with her hands and praised my almighty cupcakes. The woman and I chatted and she told me she was an international peace activist. Like right up there with the Dalai Lama. Really. We discussed world events, or rather she did.
 I interjected very astute opinions like, "Oh what a bloodbath!" I think I said that several times.  "Oh what a blood bath!"And "Yep, it's a good thing that guy in the Middle East stepped down." or "it could have been another blood bath." Feel free to use the blood bath retort at your next party. It's a great icebreaker.
Believe it or not the international activist thought this was a very good point, and then she got up to get another cupcake.
As I gathered my trays to leave several Buddhist guests were gathered at the cupcake shrine. They placed there hand over their hearts and nodded their heads in reverence.
"You are doing a great service to mankind".
Humbled and grateful, I answered in my best Brooklyn accent.
"Go on... get outta here."

So I'm not sure what I can do about anything except show up, do the next right thing and more will be revealed. In the meantime, here's some comfort food pics. Wishing you all peace.

Ripplin Raspberry

Pretty in Punk

Peppy Paddy

You name 'em I'm tired.

I'm Hungry!!!

Two of my buddies and I have tipped the scales again and have vowed to get back on track tomorrow. Actually, yesterday! This is not like my hefty blogs of yore, (remember that pissy nurse who weighed me last year?). Remember when that nasty ass nurse told me my bra was too tight...? That a too tight bra can cause back problems. Well that's not going to happen this time. I've stopped a bit before the booby trap snapped. I've also gotten more sane about food and brassieres. If I can spend money on food, (or in my case eat the remainders and profits of someone's order), I can afford a well made bra. I can also afford to purchase Isa Chandra Moscowitz',

"Appetite For Reduction"...Wonder if I can get it at a reduced price. I really wanna try it. I think we had our last hurrah this weekend.

It started off innocently. Yep Mo and I were going to split this portabello sandwich with yummy 1000 Island, (made with vegennaise, pickle relish and vegan BBQ sauce).We thought of making a lightweight vegan antipasto. Mo is some dicer/sous chef.

Instead we wound up with pounds of potato salad, (say that three times fast). Recipe coming soon.



Later that weekend we just had to down some Mexican Wedding Cookies we were making for a friend's surprise package. The recipe can be found in Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's "The Joy Of Vegan Baking". They are delish. A little too delish!

And these foods were all just the tip of the iceberg. And I'm not talking iceberg lettuce.

There's been a food fest all weekend. Hey don't worry. We can still eat great here at Veganville even though me and the home girls have to lose a few pounds. I'll be back with that kick ass potato salad recipe, right after I have my dinner of wilted watercress and boiled lemon.

Want Some More Candy?

We didn' t grow up with much candy in our house. Our 92 year old baby sitter Mrs. Weinerman used to bring Heidels and me goody bags filled with Blow Pops and Bazooka and Tootsie Rolls. Stuff my mom never bribed us with. I was 8 years old when I told my mom that Mrs. Weinerman fell asleep on the job. Mrs. Weinerman often passed out during the Lawrence Welk Musical Hour. Who wouldn't? I actually have two pretty hip friends who have fond memories of watching that nightmarish show with their grandparents. We had no grandparents and Mrs. Weinerman was as good as dead. God knows what Heidels and I did while Mrs. Weinerman snored through the Lennon sisters. I think we waved bubble wands around Mrs. Weinerman so she would dream of Lawrence Welk. Anyway when Mrs. Weinerman finally really did die in her sleep candy became history for me and Heids. RIP candy, I mean Mrs. Weinerman.

Now for the most part, as a vegan I know what I can and cannot eat. I figured milk chocolate is out of the question. I boned up on candies a few years ago and read Candy Freak, an awesome book by Steve Almond. Smarty pants, here also knows that caramel is derived from milk. Late last week I whipped up my own vegan version and not particularly healthy version of that substance. Still it makes pretty awesome brownie topping and candy.
I did not know until last week why turtle candy was called turtle candy. I rightly assumed that no turtle was harmed in this confection. Bet you can't guess why they are called turtles.

Yes, my friend they are called turtles due to an uncanny resemblance to a turtle. Had I known that pre-refrigeration, I would have added an extra foot or something to the turtle on the bottom right. These are made with walnuts, but I've also made them with pecans and they work with both. They looked so good I mistakenly bit into the side of the plate.

Recipe
1 batch of vegan caramel (click on link)
1 C pecans or walnuts
1 C vegan chocolate chips

Line tray with parchment. Divide nuts into 4 batches. Make vegan caramel. Set aside. Melt chocolate in double boiler. Cover nuts with with about 1.5 T of chocolate. Top with same amount of caramel and then top with chocolate again. Freeze for about an hour. Partake.

If you've been around the vegan block I'm sure you already know that Oreos and TJ's JoJos are indeed vegan. But get this. Shock of all shocks. I was reading the deservedly much  touted Melisser Elliot's
the Vegan Girl's Guide to Life last night
 (the book I was supposed to receive from the publisher last October...harrumph)
and found out that Noah's Bagels adds a little somethin-somethin to their bagels called duck feathers. Say No to Noah's! I would eat a Noah's bagel with hummus about twice a year if that. Now I gotta wonder what Noah's puts in their hummus-pate?  Disgusted enough? Melisser says, stay away from those Planter's Peanuts too. They are laden with gelatin. Happy trails.