VeganView

PRIMAL STRIPS!!

2010-03-05T14:18:00.008-05:00

I know I have not blogged in ages, but when Primal Strips awesomely sent me some of their products to try I wanted to tell the world what I thought!

These things are yummy!

I will definitely be a buyer of the Hickory Smoked and Texas BBQ! They are the BEST flavors and textures in my humble opinion.
I must be honest, I am not the biggest fan of seitan and after I tried all the flavors, cooked and uncooked, I found out that the Lime, Thai Peanut, and Teryaki were seitan, oppose to soy like my two favorites. (All information is listed on their trusty website) It was definitely the texture that wasn't as appealing, but the flavors were very good. When I cooked them in the soup below, I appreciated the texture much more. The lime was probably my least favorite, but for someone that likes a good tangy flavor, this one is for you!

The hot and spicy is made of shitake mushrooms, has an interesting texture and definitely a good bit of hotness.

I decided to use the teryaki and thai peanut in a simple udon noodle soup and I really like these in the soup. They held on to their flavor even after being in onions and home-made veg broth.

These guys are a keeper!
THANKS FOR THE SAMPLES PEEPS AT PRIMAL STRIPS!

Snow Days

2009-12-09T11:07:00.006-05:00

Today it is absolutely blizzarding and I am sitting in my store finding ways to entertain myself while everyone else either gets snow days or what not. Who shops on days like this? Why oh why must Thornes Marketplace be open on a day like this?

I will amuse myself and you of course with some stories from the previous nights. Although I don't work at the Northampton Brewery anymore I still get invited to their holiday staff party and let me just say it is the best night of the year, pretty much besides say New Years Eve and my birthday, obv.

This past holiday party I woke up on my couch, clothes on my living room floor to find I had left my purse, phone, and ONE glove OUTSIDE my apartment door! WTF, yea good times. Apparently I learned I live in an extremely trustworthy building! Some craptastic iphone pics above of Anna and I in our hot red holiday dresses.

The night before the big Holiday Brew Party I went to see Dan Bern in concert. He is seriously the Bob Dylan of our generation and absolutely amazing. This was my second time seeing him, and I am fairly certain that last year after his show we had some lip contact. HOTT.

The store is going well. Maybe I should post some pics of my store in my next post. I don't think I have ever shared those with you lovelies.

Food lately has been pretty redundant. Lots of homemade soups (today I made a tomato and three bean chili with leak broth, yummm. I make em the night before and heat up the next am while getting ready for work. Soup always tastes better after you let it sit ) and stir-fried greens, hello KALE, my fave! Cliff bars, oh holiday festiv flavors I love thee, all sorts of hummus and oh meatless meatballs from TJ's. I am sickly addicted. I need help. Like I cannot stop eating them, it's pretty well... amazeballs.

Well I hope you gems have a lovely snowy or not afternoon. I will be reading blogs all day to entertain myself xoxo

Thanksgiving, hummus platters and more!

2009-11-30T15:22:00.004-05:00

Hello gems!

What a nuttyballs weekend! I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving! Mine was in Lexington with my dad's whole fam, a lot of vino and hell of a lot of vegan food :) First up I know you all want to see what I ate for lunch today. Good Neighbors makes a delicious middle eastern spread. Yumm, I think I could live off of this stuff. Don't judge. My precious mac as my tray, poor thing. Sacrifices I make in retail to keep small business alive ;)

This is just a hilar pic of me and my friend Damien at Butterfly. A Chinese restaurant that has two menus and one is all vegan, love that! I love my food on chopsticks obv!

And on to the Thanksgiving Feast! For apps we devoured hummus and tobouleh with crackers and pitas. It's a family addiction I tell ya.

The vegan table consists of homemade everything. Cranberry sauce, dates, pumpkin rolls, wild rice stuffing with tofurkey sausage and cranberries, mashed potatoes, bourbon maple sweet potatoes, roasted mashed squash, green beans with mushrooms, roasted Brussels sprouts, noodle slaw and more I can't remember. Damnnnn it was good!!

And of course pumpkin pie with a cookie crust. There was also my mother's famous chocolate pumpkin muffins but I didn't get a shot of those.

Yummm. Now I don't have a tofurkey or field roast at the real Thanksgiving but I want to have a friends Thanksgiving where we do that. Any preferences people?? xoxo

Pizza Pizza

2009-11-15T13:10:00.004-05:00

Running my own store means I work 7 days a week. Bleh, I know. And three of those days are 11 hour days, more bleh. But Friday and Saturday my friend Anna and my mom work the last three hours so I don't want to kill myself. Every Saturday night my two gems (Damien and Mark) and I go out to our fave pizza place where the bartender hooks us up AND they have vegan cheese! I always try to make a different pizza every week since they have an ABUNDANCE of veggies to choose from.

Last night I got soy cheese, zucchini, mushrooms, caramelized onions and roasted garlic. Here are two of the last slices, sorry I forgot to snap a pic before I devoured 3/4 of it.

Yummmm

Life Cafe!

2009-11-12T15:32:00.002-05:00

Hi bloggies!

The last two days I have been in NYC. Tuesday night I was asked to speak at a Young Women in Business Entrepreneurial Event, and it went really well. It was weird realizing just two years ago I was sitting in a classroom just like these guys listening to people who had started their own business and now I was on the other side. It was a very cool feeling and being in the city completely recharged my batteries. Such a refreshing place to be.

Lots of vegan food and drink was to be had. We had our first lunch at Gobo, one of my favorites, unfotunately did not take pics. Gobo

That night we went to Life Cafe where we all indulged on too many cocktails and french fries to appreciate the real goodness this place has to offer. Life Cafe is where the writer of Rent wrote the show, and is also where the dancing restaurant scene on tables takes place. I am in the center with my two friends on either side of me, and a new um... close friend Kenny on the far right.

Life Cafe is amazing. The next day I did venture back there for lunch and indulged on their vegan burrito with soy cheese and tofu sour cream and of course lots of guac and wine. So delish. I might have even met my fellow vegan alcoholic that day, but we can't jinx that one so hush on that for a while ;) Pardon the bad lighting below...It was amazeballs though.

ATTENTION and chocolate-pumpkin brownies

2009-11-06T14:18:00.006-05:00

Since I started blogging again there is an issue I have been wanting to bring up and lucky for me someone wrote exactly what I wanted to say perfectly today, no preaching, no judging, just facts at "Where's The Revolution" Blog. In Praise of gluten and other yummy things.

I adore the list in this post above. It is perfect!

Since blogging again I have seen many vegan blogs (to my disappointment) that seem so restricting in terms of diet, and I even feel put-off by the lack of fun some people seem to have in exploring their lifestyle. I think if veganism is ever going to catch on at a successful rate people have to understand how much you DO have living a vegan lifestyle. Soo many foods I eat now I would never know exsisted if I never went veg. Does anyone else feel this way? (Disclaimer: I do not mean to direct this to people that for health reasons cannot eat wheat, gluten, soy, etc. Please realize I respect that for health reasons some people cannot eat certain things. This is not a post that applies to that.)

My friends ask me to cook for them all the time, they order vegan meals when we are out, are always up for veg restaurants and usually finish my meals when I don't. My mom went vegetarian after I went vegan. I want people to realize you don't have to be straight-edge or give up drinking, or cut out sugar, or even just shop at health food stores (although I do) because you are vegan.

To sum up what I feel: I am vegan but I love my fried tofu, my vodka, and my frozen meatless balls just as much as my trips to the farmer's market every week for fresh produce. I do eat almost all organic and whole foods, but I use vital wheat gluten for sausages and seitan like it's going out of style, and I could not live without veganaise. I am also a total nooche and salt whore. My mom bakes weekly and delivers her goodness to me. (She's a typical jewish mom, and if she's not shoving my fridge with food and baked goods, it severely disturbs her. Luckily, she totally gets the vegan thing.) It's not about restrictions, it's what makes you happy and what works for you to enjoy life while doing your part for animals and the environment and your own health at the same time.

Thanks for reading. Any thoughts?

Chocolate pumpkin brownies from VCTOTW :) Melt in your mouth delish. Thanks mom!

The Kind Diet

2009-11-04T16:12:00.004-05:00

I know this is hard to read but Robert Cheeke wrote " To Jessica, you rock big time!"

Alicia Silverstone has always been one of my favorite people because:

a: Clueless was one of the best movies of all time and she totally rocked it out in that

b: She's a vegan, duh

c: She signed her new book to ME! I can just feel the jealousy ;)

I cannot wait to read this and cook some of her recipes! My facebook buddy/vegan body builder Robert Cheeke is featured in the book and also signed it to me and sent a few of his products Vega to me, which I am also looking forward to trying. THANK YOU ROBERT!

Farmer's Market Soup

2009-11-03T11:51:00.004-05:00

As I mentioned in my previous post I have some gems of neighbors living in this lovely town of Northampton who distribute the leftover Farmer's Market goods to people downtown who just don't have the luxury of going on a Saturday morning. Owning my own store is a 7 day a week job and the thought of attending a farmer's market is a thing of the past but hopefully not for good. Anyways, I just thought I would mention in the month of Thanksgiving how lucky I feel to live in such a community where people are more then happy to have each other's backs and go out of their way for nothing in return.

On to the food! This week as I mentioned the main components were kale, turnips, peppers and carrots. When the weather starts to get chilly like it is here I could live off of good soups and good bread.

I saute onions, garlic and leeks in olive oil until cooked through. I then add in some veggie broth with the carrots, peppers and turnips to let it soften. Normally I use the ends of veggies to make home-made veg broth, but I was out! So organic Trader Joe's brand it is.

I wanted some spice and protein so in went a package of Trader Joe's soyrizo and the kale at the end. Since the soyrizo has so much flavor the only other spices I added in was a ton of nooche and salt and let it simmer for probably an hour altogether. I am a nuts for nooche and a total salt whore. (I put salt on my cereal and my soy delicious ice cream but that's a whole other post)

Soup simmering away...Sorry for the craptastic iphone photos you will most likely see again and again.

And in case you didn't see enough of me in a french maid costume, here is my pup Lutey and her halloween bow, so pretty, in my store on Saturday

Happy Tuesday!

Heyyyy I missed blogging!!!!

2009-11-01T13:58:00.003-05:00

I'm back! My store, Layla Vera, has been open for exactly 3 months today! DAMN! It is going really well, and I am very much looking forward to the Holiday season. BUT I decided after everyday of getting into my store and checking like 20 of your fabulous blogs a day, I realized I needed to start again! I missed it! And I have a new apartment downtown Northampton where I do a lot of cooking, a lot of eating out, a lot in general, so I needed to fill my empty blogging void.

First this is just an introduction to see if anyone is even still reading this! If you are then YAY! I hope everyone had a great Halloween yesterday and of course enjoyed vegan mofo which was so much fun to follow. Here are just a few Halloween pics from last night, and tomorrow I will get to the food! I promise! Some dear friends of mine every Saturday take all the leftovers from the downtown farmers market and distribute out all the leftover goods for FREE, YES FREE to their friends in businesses downtown that don't have the time to go. AMAZEBALLS! So from yesterday I have two bunches of kale, some peppers, carrots, and turnips to play with tonight. Glad to be back!

Ok pics, I am the french maid with some friends in my apt.

More fun friends!

Dancing the night away

My mom and friend dressed as Yankees players...they're both from NY

Have you ever seen a ZOMBIE SMURF?

The good, the bad, and the wonderful

2009-06-20T22:22:00.003-04:00

While sipping my organic vodka and lemonade cocktail, and snacking on some ridiculously too good too be true scrumptious plump dates with almond butter, I find it a good time to break this news.

The Good: I am opening MY OWN high-end women's accessories boutique in Northampton, MA. It is a very very very exciting, overwhelming, fun, and crazy time right now for me. At the age of 24 I never thought I could accomplish this type of thing so soon after college. I have worked very hard in this type of field throughout school and in the last couple of years, the opportunity seems to have fallen into my lap. It is amazing for me and I will be sure to keep you guys informed as much as I can on the name, when I open, my merchandise etc. If any of you live in the Western MA valley, you MUST come find me :)

The Bad: The informing you as much as I can part will unfortunately not be that often. My hours and days and weeks blend together, and I don't even open till August! If you think my blogging has been slacking lately, just wait come then....literally ;) Don't get me wrong, there are so many things daily food wise I want to share with you fabulous vegans, such as today, I had vegan salami for the first time and loved it totally, anyone else?? But I just might not have the time to blog as much as I normally would love to, as I did last summer and up until the last couple of months.

The Wonderful: I will still be checking your blogs and commenting as often as I can. It is much more soothing to see all yours for a few minutes then to write a post after an exhausting day for me, let alone take the food porn. Oh, the food porn....But I love love love reading your blogs, and seeing your posts daily. I will not be stopping that quick check every day, few times a day ;)

And, I hope you will keep checking in on me when I do post. Your comments and thoughts are always really great to read.

PS. I checked and knew it was coming, yes my vegan blog 1 year anniversary is July 8! My goal is to post before and on that!

Happy Weekend!

Being a vegan in LA=AMAZING

2009-04-29T15:13:00.010-04:00

I have just gotten back from La La Land, and it was effing amazing. Since this is a food blog I will focus on that. First night I got there, my friend Alison below took me to this funky place in Claremont on her campus and they had a vegan date curry tempeh dish with quinoa. It was creamy and fantastic.

Below is us one night at www.lepainquotidien.com.

I ordered the vegan white bean soup with amazing bread and then a Farro salad with raw beets and carrots and sesame ginger dressing. We then split a vegan apple dessert which was warm and sweet and delicious.

I also made it to Cocoa Palm, a beautiful restaurant/bar that overlooks all of LA, which was awesome to see at sundown. Awesome mango salad there and plenty of cocktails :)

While in Claremont, I also ate at Casablanca which is the best Mediterranean restaurant I have ever been to. casablancaclaremont.com/ Amazing hummus, tabbouleh, salads, falafels, wine, I went nuts. The staff was so accommodating and friendly as well.

We also saw the group Matt and Kim and had a great time. Ever hear this song?? www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgBeu3FVi60

I moved to stay with my brother for the next few nights who lives in Burbank. We went to the Getty Museum, Amoeba Records (I could have spent days in there), Griffith Observatory, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and a swap meet where you can get all these amazing handmade clothes and jewelry by bargaining outside. A very trendy up-scale flea market type deal. I ended up with 4 dresses, a top, and a beautiful necklace. Check out the sign at Amoeba, loves it.

Next is the BEST vegan meal I have EVER had. REAL FOOD DAILY. www.realfood.com/

GO, seriously, just go to LA to go. And besides the food, more adorable gay vegan men then you could possibly imagine. Heaven on earth, seriously.

Just look at these nachos!

My brother got the portobello sandwich and I got the BBQ tofu salad with "ranch" dressing. We could barely eat our meals after those nachos, but we brought some back. Along with their chocolate praline almond cake. Thinking about it now, I just want to have some.

MIKEY and his Miso Soup at Real Food Daily.

Our cake to go!

Who LOVES LOST. Ok, well I am obsessed and got so excited to see this. Look at this pendulum...remind you LOST addicts of the one in the show? It was explaining about the earth's rotation and what not, exactly what the writers use to explain their time travel and coordinates of the island. Ok, it's not food. But I had to throw that in there.

Speaking of TV, I adore Entourage. My bro and I ate at Urth cafe where the crew from the show go regularly and many scenes have been shot. Very cool. I got the vegan chili and the hummus/tabouleh salad. We didn't see E or Vince, but the place is awesome and the food delish. www.urthcaffe.com/

Outside at Urth!

And one final last but not least little story. When I was in the island of Eleuthera last year (remote island off the coast of the Bahamas) I met Cameron. He lives in LA and we got to see each other for the first time in the US and for the first time since last year on the island. We went to some great bar, caught up, and had a very, very fun night. And look at my top and necklace, from the Swap Meet! He remembered our vegan breakfasts every morning on the island we would eat haha. Sunflower seed butter, toast, fresh island fruit and Kalik beers. Good times.

That was a long post, if you made it through it, THANK YOU, and I hope you all are enjoying your week!

Passover Post :)

2009-04-13T13:02:00.012-04:00

I hope everyone had a great holiday this past week. Here's a sneak peak at mine

Passover Foods!

First up our lovely arrangement of pickles, pickled tomatoes, and the seder plate to the left. I used toothpicks for the bone, and didn't boil an egg. But I did say the prayers, tell the story, and read the questions ;)

Traditional Charoset: (Purple stuff on seder plate)

1-2 Apples, peeled and cored

1 cup walnuts

Kosher wine (you could probably get drunk off the way I made it)

Cinnamon and if desired sugar to taste.

Vegan Matzo Ball soup. I am pretty sure I could LIVE on this.

Recepe here: www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=147

We made a variety of foods. Below on the first plate~

Tzimmus: Basically I bake a whole lots of chopped carrots and sweet potatoes in a combo of about 1 cup orange juice, 1/2 maple syrup, touch of salt, cinnamon, apple pie spice and pumpkin pie spice.

Eggplant casserole: From the Vegetarian Resource Group. (VRG.org)

~1 onion chopped

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 eggplant peeled and cubed

11 oz tomato sauce

1 tsp. salt and pepper

2 large tomatoes, diced

about 2 cups matzo meal.

I also added in tri-colored peppers and lots of nooche.

Saute onions in olive oil and then combine eggplant, peppers, tomato sauce and seasoning. Cook covered until eggplant is tender (about 15 minutes, maybe longer) Stir in tomatoes.

Then in another baking dish, arrange and alternate the veggie mixture and the matzo meal. Begin and end with the veggies. I added the nooche all over. Bake for 25 minutes at 350.

Amazingg kale sauteed with olive oil, onions, garlic, salt and pepper. (This pic is annoyingly blurry)

Second plate also has the delicious potato/mushroom pancakes we fried up: Basically like potato pancakes but with onions and mushrooms as well. I can't find the freaking recipe we used anywhere haha, but they were delish.

And of course whole wheat matzo. I love this with earth balance and also in the morning with some almond butter and organic jam. Yummm.

And just because I celebrate Passover, that's no reason not to have mimosas with your friends on Easter Sunday. They had my favorite vegan cake there too! Coconut Lemon Creme from Bela in Northampton.

If you haven't read my post before this one, it's really short and you must. It will make your day complete :)

YOU MUST CHECK THIS OUT

2009-04-12T15:26:00.004-04:00

perezhilton.com/2009-04-12-headline-of-the-week-weak-384#more-49723

Passover post coming soon!

Happy Spring!

Spring Time & Food Porn

2009-04-01T22:36:00.004-04:00

I couldn't think of a clever title, but we had our first thunderstorm in Western, MA and it's getting warmer, and YES, I have been cooking! A few photos to share.

Seriously, there is SUNLIGHT! Hanging out on the Amherst College commons for the first time all year

And, at night time, LOOK MA NO SLEEVES :)

Below: A ridiculously delicious simple soup/stew/meal whatever your heart desires you call it. A mixture of whole wheat couscous, white beans, carrots, organic stewed tomatoes (LOVE these), spinach, onions, veg broth, and an array of sweet and spicy cumin, cinnamon, and cayenne. Bet ya can't have just one bowl ;)

Next up: VEGAN LASAGNA, need I say more? A mixture of tomato basil sauce with soy chorizo, crumbled tofu, spinach, maple butter (holy wow), nooche, and a bit of organic ketchup and organic bar-b-q sauce (Thank you Amy's) I definitely couldn't have just one piece, believe me. Layers and layers of food goodness.

I have been having some issues at my work lately, and seriously somewhere I used to like going to everyday, now is something I just don't look forward to. I am sure some of you guys know how this feels. Honestly, it suckssss.

On a better note, I am going to LA in a few weeks to visit my brother and good friend. Who's got some restaurant recommendation for me??? If you don't I will be "stuck" dining at PF Changs twice a day, hey I did it in college and could DEFINITELY do it again, but just wanted to know any thoughts from my fave vegan bloggies :) Happy April Fools Day!

Is Anyone Still Out There?

2009-03-20T18:49:00.003-04:00

If you are even reading this, you are an angel. I know I have been the worst blogger the past couple of months. I have to explain why. First of all, I have been working non-stop so my breakfasts and lunches and dinners are pretty un-exciting to post. Plus, I go out a lot, and forget to snap pics of my dinner. And I am pretty right to think you guys all know what granola with almond milk, fruit, nuts and Lara bars look like...

I have also spent a couple weekends out of town, Brooklyn, etc...and fail to remember my camera. I promise my next inspiring meal will make the cut...my mom is making a vegan soup/stew tonight because I am very sick, more on that later, but maybe her meal will make the next blog ;)

So besides working ALL the time, I had a very very dear friend of mine pass away in the last couple of weeks. He had been sick for a year with a brain tumor, and two Saturdays ago, he passed. I am grateful I went to visit him the morning that he died, and I spoke a eulogy at the funeral which many people have told them got to know Danny even better then they ever thought they could. I have been spending a lot of time with his family, as he leaves behind a beautiful wife and two young boys. He and I were very close, and I will miss him dearly.

This photo is taken of us when he and his family came to visit me in South Florida at school one year.

And on top of everything else, I woke up yesterday with a horrible flu/cold/throat hurting/head pounding sickness. I had not been sick since I became vegan! Amazing, and that was almost 5 years ago in Dublin, so something has reared its ugly head. Since I have tonight off and tomorrow (hopefully) I thought I would take some time to blog. I still check all of your lovely blogs when I can, and will comment back, I promise!

I MISSED YOU GUYS IN NYC

2009-01-17T23:43:00.009-05:00

I just got back from NYC and yes, am fully aware of how long it's been since my last post.

PLEASE forgive me! Please :) Just look at the desserts below from Manhattan I got to taste, and I think you will find a bit of forgiveness in your heart. Especially since when I write in the next couple of days I promise to give full details of the sweets and treats, more pics, plus recipes on my newly restored computer, info on my new job, apartment, life...the works.

In the meantime, give my two new favorite places to eat in NY some love, and check out Angelica's Kitchen and Babycakes Bakery.

My Hard Drive Crashed...It's True :(

2008-12-11T18:41:00.006-05:00

So, my computer went bizerk about 2 weeks ago. I brought it to my local Apple store to get fixed, wanted to pay to get all my things saved regardless...one week later I got the news. Nothing could be saved, I either get a new hard drive or a new computer. My hard drive was beat, crashed, nothing was able to be saved, nothing that they could do. It was about the same cost, but since I still had a warranty on this fabulous though now not my favorite Macbook, I opted for the new hard drive. But, I lost everything.

This is not a pity party but as my computer friends, I must tell you.

Over 10,000 songs on my Itunes (and I have a blank Ipod due to a umm random night with a friend and wine, no help from that) But my epic music collection will need to be restored after many many hours of downloads.

Every photo I had on here, professional and all my "for fun outings" pics since 2005, which also included a lot of traveling and not to mention modeling photos with photographers I am not sure I can get again.

Every written saved piece I had from my senior year of college, which means all my final business projects and my thesis from Dublin (about the evils of Walmart)

Plus, a bunch of recipes, which tear, I will have to try to remember again for you guys... and myself...Hmm, the wild rice stuffing to name one.

Ok enough sadness, I have my laptop back and "new" and running. I have had to try to keep up with comments through my parents Mac and their PC, which just was not the same, but why I have been so MIA...Yes, I learned, I will be backing everything up from now on. Take note bloggies! Happy Thursday :)

Happy Post THANKSGIVING

2008-11-30T12:29:00.005-05:00

I think this was one of the BEST Thanksgivings I have ever had. My dad's side of the family all went to Lexington, MA and celebrated.

There was an abundance of vegan foods made by my whole non-veg family. Sure beats those non-family country-club Boca Raton Thanksgivings with friends I had during college. And I mean that.

Ok the goods! My aunts and uncles made VEGAN pumpkins rolls, roasted Brussels sprouts, beets/squash combo, cranberry sauce, and my cousin Sam even got Tofutti ice cream! Whoo hoo!

I brought to the table:

Bourbon/maple/Earth-Balanced sweet potatoes (which I think you could probably get drunk off since I didn't cook down the alcohol, oops HELLO Cabin Fever Liquor) Maple butternut squash, roasted green beans, chocolate chip pumpkin muffins (yes, I will post that recipe asap) AND my new recipe Wild Rice stuffing with soy chorizo, brown rice bread and veggies. Recipe coming soon since I totally made it up the day before while drinking a bottle of wine. Once I recall everything I did, I'll post. BUT many people said it was their favorite dish! HELLO success! I didn't even notice the non-vegan foods.

There was also an abundance of fresh fruits, hummus, olives, nuts, crackers etc etc for nibbling. The whole family had a great time, and I think enough food and wine for days to come.

A part of the vegan goods at the table, which was separated toward the end by a block of butter so you know when you got to foods that were not veg-friendly, how cool is that!?

I would live off these pumpkin rolls if I could...

Now this is MY DADS PLATE! ALL VEGAN! He was so proud.

My bro and I

And really there is no Thanksgiving complete without a crazy Wednesday night before with friends

I hope all you lovely bloggies had an amazing, delicious, and love-filled holiday! (I promise those two recipes in my next post! Be ready because I think you'll all be swooning over my wild rice stuffing in Dec :)

Perfectly Cooked Tofu

2008-11-23T11:58:00.005-05:00

I adore perfectly fried tofu. I don't think much gets better then that crispy and delicate perfection. My way of doing it:

Slice xtra firm tofu into squares and heat up olive oil in skillet. Gently, place the tofu on and season with salt and pepper. Do not flip for a few minutes.

In this dish above, when I flipped I added a tad of vegetable broth, this delicious orange soy marinade and a little soy sauce. Make sure the liquids cook down and flip again if desired. I usually do for extra texture and flavor. I also added in fresh minced garlic....mmmm.

The veggies are just green beans and cut white corn I made in some veg broth with salt and pepper. Time efficient and so good.

I also baked up 3 batches of whole wheat chocolate chip pumpkin muffins. Recipe next time, promise! This weekend kicked my ass, I need some napping before tonight. Some fun photos from the last few days. (I slept in a college dorm last night, and I barely slept in a college dorm when I was even in college! Such an experience ;)

Singer/Songwriter writer Ari Hest, check him out, he's awesome

Just another night at the Brewery w/some regulars

Playing downtown Northampton

Awww, good friend Kevin and I getting caught...in a moment ;)

And what is Sunday afternoon without a sleeping pup!

Get ready for the MUFFIN RECIPE SOON!

My first award IM STOKED! AND MORE AWARDS, read on :)

2008-11-20T22:11:00.005-05:00

So I have literally zero time right now, but just got this from the fabulous Bethany, and am out the door! BUT THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Made my night so far...I will do my passing on to other fab blogs tomorrow but wanted to say how much I appreciate this!

rules and regs:

1. Post about award

2. Link person back to you that nominated your blog

3. Place the award on your sidebar

4. Choose blogs that you think are really cool and, contact that person and tell why you think that blog is so cool.

WOW! There are so many blogs I love to browse through, this is gonna be tough! But here we go:

River:

Because she has the most rockin MoFo halloween themed October EVER! And also because she always leaves the sweetest comments on not only my blog, but so many others. The bloggies would just not be the same without her.

Chelsea:

Her blog is always so much fun to read and I totally appreciate her so called "ramblings." Also she got married in a vegan donut shop, how freaken unique is that?!

atexvegn:

She has some of the greatest recipes and her food porn photos are HUGE! I am always a sucker for a blog like that, and hers is healthful and delicious!

Jen:

Haha, honestly she makes me laugh in her blog and I love all the randomness put into it. Not too mention all those tasty meal photos and, with a blog name like hers, it just NEEDS to be loved!

Ok, many more I want to give, but some have been given out already and ahh once again I am short on time! Love all you bloggies! Happy Weekend!

A BIG BITCH OUT: Enter With Caution

2008-11-17T17:22:00.003-05:00

My grandmother ( my mom's mom) has been staying at my parent's house for the past week and a half. I have never experienced her living in the same house as me because every other time she has stayed a week here I have been living in another city, state or continent ;)

I don't want this to be mean, so I will leave out the gory details of my mother's ignorant family (my wonderful mother excluded) but needless to say, it's not pretty. And thankfully the complete opposite as my father's side of the family, who I have been accepted with open arms at every Thanksgiving I have been vegan :)

OK HERE WE GO~

My mom and I spent a bunch of money at Whole Foods last weekend to make this vegan mushroom barley soup for everyone to share for the week. HUGE POT of DELICIOUSNESS ahead of us. We spent so much time and effort making it perfect one evening, and then wanted all the flavors to meld and sink in over night. For lunch the next day, I am very much looking forward to heating up my soup with some bread and salad! So I take a bit, and heat it up on the stove, start stirring and THERE IS FUCKING CHICKEN IN THE SOUP!

My grandmother HAS NO RESPECT for my lifestyle, our home (my mom is a vegetarian) and our kitchen or of us. I started crying, no joke, it really affected me, I cannot even imagine what I would have done if I had not noticed it and had eaten it. I was extremely upset, pretty much on the verge of a nervous breakdown that someone could be so disrespectful and ignorant of a cause and lifestyle I have lived and have been so proud of for 4 years now.

She still has not apologized, and kept calling me "ridiculous and just to pick it out or eat it because it won't kill you." She just DIDN'T GET IT AT ALL.

So now, this HUGE pot of soup is going to waste in this house, because my mother and I will not touch it, and my dad saw how upset I was and thinks of it as tainted, even though he does occasionally eat meat.

Even when I told my other Grandmother (dad's side) and all my friends, they flipped out and could not believe it happened. (I am someone who shoves people that try to use their disgusting meat infected silverware to try my food at restaurants. They must use a clean one or mine ;)

So on that note, it was not only a large waste of money and time, but it fueled so much anger and negative energy throughout the house. "Grandma ignorance" is bringing it all home with her. MY POOR SOUP :( I mean this wasn't a restaurant mishap with cheese, (which I have experienced and was appalled and ended up with a new free meal and wine) this was my own home and my own cooking with someone in my "family" doing this.

Ok, enough ranting about the "soup epidemic" everything else is going really well. I apologize for being such a slacking blogger, I need MOFOS to inspire me haha. But job is good, new man interest is very good (more on that next time) and I AM GETTING an amazing apartment right downtown Northampton (ideal location, literally next to the brewery and everything else, health food store included) at the start of the new year with a good friend of mine. Can't wait! Perfect and really no need for a car most of the time, whoo hoo!

Send me thoughts on my bitch out if you feel like it, I could use the love ;)

IVE BEEN TAGGED 7 STYLE

2008-11-12T09:18:00.009-05:00

Miss amazing Bethany tagged me for this so here is the deal:

1. Link person who tagged you and post rules on your blog

2. Share 7 random/weird facts about yourself

3. Tag 7 people at the end and include links

4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving comments on their blogs

HERE WE GO:

~1. I am not a fan of sleeping (unless it's with someone all warm and cozy.) This results in me going out almost every night and not coming back until the next morning. I believe this habit became unbreakable when I lived in South Florida and really, no one comes home before dawn in Miami. Also, I figure I can sleep when I'm dead. ;)

~2. My favorite holidays are New Years, the 4th of July and MY BIRTHDAY (which I tend to make last at least 2 weeks.) I am prone to love any occasion where you can drink and play before noon. And, of course make vegan fare.

~3. I became a vegan while living in Dublin, Ireland in 2005 after taking a Business Ethics class and saw how chickens were killed for our selfish purposes. This means it will be my FOURTH Thanksgiving without meat this year, and I still have never tried Tofurkey. (Ok, that was like 3 facts, moving on)

~4. I tend to overdress everywhere I go. I just can't help it...and if I don't have my beloved ridiculously expensive designer sunglasses from Europe I freak out. I have once thrown a fit in Trader Joe's because I dropped them, no joke. They were a gift from my dad, and they mean the world to me.

~5. My parents are the closest people to me in the world. They know almost everything about me and on many occasions they have told me "to stop with the information overload, did I realize who they are." I am really honest with people, I can't help that either, especially when the cocktails are flowing.

~6. I don't consider myself as someone that watches a lot of TV, but I won't miss Entourage or Lost (although I mostly have to catch them the next day online or OnDemand.) I watch Jeopardy, Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The Rachel Maddow Show every night if I am home. I could watch the original 90210 and The OC for hours on end, and I constantly have MSNBC on the background. Is that someone who is a TV watcher? I still don't know.

~7. Last fact: Hmmmm...I don't ever realllyyyy want a real job. I want to travel the world, eat vegan food, drink, and play! Now I wish that were possible without a source of income ;)

ALRIGHT LET THE TAGGING BEGIN:

HAVE FUN GUYS!

Worst Blogger In The Worlddddd...

2008-11-11T17:38:00.008-05:00

In the words of my fave Keith Olbermann, I have deemed myself the worst blogger in the world because I have been so MIA lately. I have good reasons though:

1)OBAMA WON!!!!!!! And that was a GREAT AMAZING UNREAL night complete with lots of homemade dips, muffins, etc, not to mention the Magic Scotch that took me out for the next day. WHOO HOO OBAMA!

2) I do have to work occasionally ;)

3) This weekend I hit up 4 different concerts in Northampton and absolutely every bar. Good times. Met another NEW MAN INTEREST who I spent some time with this weekend....hmmm more on that tomorrow after our second outing.

4) I really have been living off of Whole Foods Vegan salad bar, so not too many recipes to share.

Alright I am done with my explanation!

ON TO THE PHOTOS!

First batch of all the home-made guac/salsa/hummus/ complete with popcorn, nuts, breads, chips, veggies, pumpkin muffins, etc etc

Beautiful Sight!

Some pretty excited people with some pretty awesome home-made bumper stickers ;)

First round of BOOZEEE

Today I cooked up that delicious soup at the top, which I will share my recipe tomorrow. I want to leave you with one last YouTube I think everyone should watch!

I have missed you bloggies!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVUecPhQPqY

Halloween Photos!!!

2008-11-03T13:26:00.006-05:00

This weekend was ridiculously fun starting with Thursday night where I won Sexiest Costume and a sweet gift certificate at my fave restaurant Sierra Grille. Gota love Dorothy with red stiletto stripper shoes ;) Friday friends came in and we went to the Brewery Party, Tunnel Bar Party and Divas Party (large late night dance club) and Saturday more friends and wine. It ended yesterday with brunch and everyone from NY and Boston headed back home in a blurry state. I woke up this morning with massive bruises, a headache and a cold.

For now here are just some photos to live vicariously through my weekend. Food porn coming this week. Promise!

Below we have Dorothy (with an Obama pin), Glinda, A Veteran for Obama, two Lesbian Obama supporters, Uncle Sam, a Drunken Sailor and a School Girl, Enjoy! Oh and my mom would be pissed if I didn't mention she won a Most Elaborate Costume award ;)

A Big Vegan MoFo Thank You!

2008-10-29T11:20:00.013-04:00

I can't believe I made it to 20 posts for this month! Yay! And seriously last minute since I will be off gallivanting for the next 4 days for Halloween. Kind of like how I was in college, always waiting to the last minute, although come Graduation that worked out pretty well for me ;) I have no porn for my last post because I wanted my last MoFo entry to be a Big Vegan Food Thank You!

This was a great month bloggy wise for me and here is why:

This month, I have read more recipes on more pages, and I got to know more fab bloggies then I ever had before. I loved exploring the Internet daily to find new people, and of course a huge appreciation to all of you that found me!

I think we should have Vegan MoFo at least twice a year because it is so refreshing to make it a point to keep in contact with the vegan community. Sharing our beliefs, values and stories through this type of communication can have such a positive impact on each other and the rest of the world. Through delicious and cruelty-free food, it is more apparent then ever to stay connected with one another.

May Vegan MoFos (at some point in the very near future) take over the world! ;)

Ps. Just in case I am no where to be found before Election Day (I do have friends from NYC and Boston coming in) and there are alot of bars/restaurants parties in Northampton I have to go to this weekend (I promise to post pics when I return to my house) here is a little um non-food for thought ;)

Sooo on that note: Happy Halloween MoFos and GOBAMA!

MoFo Veganaise Addiction & Rainbows

2008-10-28T17:58:00.003-04:00

If you guys aren't yet sick of seeing the end of my street, here is the most BEAUTIFUL FULL RAINBOW I have ever seen! Look at that full arc! And the colors!

Just amazing...ok on to the food!

I have a serious love affair/addiction to Veganaise. The blue original because I have tried them all and this has the overall BEST TASTE EVER. I should order this stuff in bulk because I can eat a jar a week and at about $5 a pop, it's getting almost as expensive as my alcohol habit. Just kidding ;)

For my second to last MoFo post I had to share my absolute favorite always go-to sandwich. It is ridiculously easy and so delish.

Toast up some Tuscan Pane bread from Trader Joe's. (I know I have mentioned this bread a million times, but if you have a Trader Joe's and have not yet experienced this vegan goodness, do now. Right now...well or after you read my post ;) My non-veg friends eat loaves of this at my house late night with Earth Balance. If I could count how many of them have said "I can't believe this is vegan!" No joke, it is that good.

Ok, enough bread talk. Take a good amount of tofu (not too firm tofu) and smush with fork. Add in however much veganaise you like to taste. I personally use about 2 tablespoons. Add in salt, pepper, paprika and mix! Add on toasted bread. VOILA! Ok, it's not rocket science, but it's really good. Here it is with a simple salad and an olive oil/balsamic dressing I made.

Oh and one last thing: THE VEG DATE! Went very well, will be seeing him again soon. :):):) Thanks for all your good lucks! They must have helped.

Tonight I have drink plans with a Professor I have been whatevering. But I mean who can take that over a fellow veg down the road ;) Happy Hump Day MoFos!

MoFo Hot and Cold and MEN

2008-10-28T11:51:00.005-04:00

This is not the most original dish but it sure is tasty. Lightly stir-fried tempeh in olive oil, with fresh tomatoes, and mushrooms in a bit of good balsamic. The tomatoes have that amazing pop in your mouth goodness. That is the HOT part. Atop a whole bunch of fresh romaine lettuce, the COLD part obv. Seasonings were salt and pepper and italian seasoning blend. It was easy and very tasty for my hectic day.

I modeled at Amherst College today, have a private pilates session AND...have a date with my first vegetarian tonight!. The guy I met at tailgating whose brother is a vegan! Amazing, we're gonna get beers and what not at this wicked hippie/trendy beer joint called The Moan and Dove, near Hampshire College. They have HUGE barrels of peanuts in their shells you can take as you please, gota love that. Wish me luck MoFos, not with the peanuts, but with the man ;)

MoFo Pumpkin Goodness...FINALLY ;)

2008-10-27T10:17:00.010-04:00

So I know I am by far the last person to use pumpkin while cooking or baking during this month. But hey, better late then never.

This is an adapted recipe from VegWeb. PUMPKIN OATMEAL MUFFINS!

A few alterations of my own: I used whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose and vegan cane sugar instead of brown sugar. I also added pure vanilla extract, more pumpkin pie spice, and did not use nuts or make an icing. They are just soo good all hot and with some Organic Earth Balance spread inside.

INGREDIENTS Below :)

Mini muffins in the silver tin and normal size in the black pre-oven :)

All baked up with some dried cranberries for garnish...very MoFo scrumptious

MoFo Pasta Bake

2008-10-26T18:08:00.005-04:00

Back to the MoFo blogging! I think I have 4 posts to go after this one. I'll get there, promise!

This is a pasta bake clearly: Organic whole wheat pasta spirals baked with home-made sauce, some tofu, soy chorizo, stir-fried onions and mushrooms. LOTS of spices, and nooch on top. Yummo, make sure to add in cumin and cinnamon, the flavors POP! I baked it for about 20 minutes on 350, with the cooked pasta and stir-fried veggies.

Dinner was some pasta bake, simple salad with balsamic, and tuscane pane bread with earth balance. Soo good paired with organic red wine.

Friday night meeting Jesse Malin before his concert. I go to this venue The Iron Horse which has soo many good concerts, downtown Northampton, at least once a week. But it always pays off to pretend you're looking for the bathroom and fall into the artist in his dressing room ;) Great show, if you don't know him check him out, HE EFFING ROCKS!

Another beautiful day in the Happy Valley, across my street a hot air balloon landing late afternoon!

I was good this weekend for all of you that thought I crossed over to the dark side and became a thief from my previous post. Happy Sunday MoFos!

Scandelous ;)

2008-10-24T10:16:00.004-04:00

I am going to tell you this post has nothing to do with food. It is not a MoFo post. It has to do with...

WHITE TRASH!

I am seeing this guy who lives in a nice residential area in a surrounding city, but at the end of his street was a house with two McFuck signs on the front lawn. One morning we got back to his house after a night of bar-hopping and in my not all there state ran down his street and had extra strength to pull these signs off the disturbing lawn.

Illegal: Yes

Trespassing: Yes

Stealing: Yes

Worth it for this photo I have clearly titled WHITE TRASH: Definitely Yes!

I still have leeway to get to my 20 MoFo post goal, so stay tuned. Just had to share this :)

MoFo Soup & Weekend Goodness

2008-10-19T15:31:00.013-04:00

Unfortunately, this amazingly tasty soup/chili/stew (we couldn't really decide what it was) doesn't photograph too hot. But omg look at what was mixed in, and you'll know just how scrumptious this combo was.

Stir-fry up some Garlic and Onions, Hot Peppers and Salsa in Olive Oil while Veg Broth is getting hot. We added in Organic Dandelion Leek Dark Miso to the broth (lovee this stuff.) It adds a great flavor and is good for your digestive system. :)

The GOOD STUFF includes: TJ's Soy Chorizo, Red Potatos, Kidney Beans, Celery, Green Beans, Mushrooms, Tri-Colored Peppers, and Carrots.

Many Spices including Fresh Rosemary, Cinnamon, Salt, Pepper, Ginger and a bit of Organic Mayple Syrup ( brings out the chile flavor of the chorizo) to taste.

Toast up some Tuscan Pane bread with Earth Balance and that's a great meal!

Soo good, the large batch lasted only 2 days between 3 people.

On to the weekend: Friday night was my parents anniversary, we went to Judies in Amherst, MA where I had this awesome rice pancakes/black bean/portobello/veggie vegan conncoction they made without the cheese. SOO good!

The Parentals ;)

Saturday tailgating at Umass, I met someone (Ryan, on the right) who is Veg and his brother is a Vegan! I was rocking my Vegan sweatshirt till it got warm, and underneath had a World Peace Tour Thermal, and what people you can meet! Ryan and I are gonna do lunch soon :)

Haha, this is at the Obama Benefit, a music promoter in town gave me this comic he made comparing McFuck's facial expressions identically to Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes.

The last awesome band that performed at the Benefit.

My girlfriend Anna and I have a habit at staying out in Northampton bars wayy past closing time...

And what happens Sunday afternoon when I get home from the weekend. Looks at my little pup sleeping with me, and I am not a cone-head, just wrapped up in my Vegan sweatshirt :)

Hope all you MoFos had a great weekend!

I've Been Tagged...MOFO Style!

2008-10-19T12:44:00.007-04:00

So Lisa tagged me, and now I have to show you the contents of my FREEZER! Mine is not that exciting, BUT she was right on one thing...there is definitely Vodka in there ;)

From Left To Right Top Shelf: Vodka, Tri-Colored Peppers, Organic Tater Tots, Cut White Corn and Chopped Spinach

Bottom Shelf: Green Beans, Garlic Gloves, More Spinach, Hot Peppers From The Garden

In The Back: Lots O Ice

Yesterday I tailgated for Umass, Amherst homecoming...I didn't go to school there, but a lot of my friends did and came in from Boston. Went home around 4, passed out, and woke up at 8:30 and ate the CHILI my mom actually made vegan with the soy chorizo! Hoorey! Will post pics later. At that time I got ready for a night in Northampton. After a trip to the Brewery and Paradise City Tavern (where I am whatevering with the bartender ;) I ended up at Sierra Grille where there was an Obama Benefit Late Night Party...bands, food, drinks, awesomeness. There was even an Obama Cabernet!

It was also great to wake up this afternoon and hear about Colin Powell RIGHT?!

Ok, enough about my social and political life, I have to tag some people for this freezer fun:

Chelsea

bc I effing love her and her blog and she's not a stuffed pepper virgin anymore ;)

Happy Herbivore

bc she thought of the pantry challenge so why not show us your freezer?! ;)

Tofu Mom

bc I bet she has so much goodness in her freezer and it's gonna make me really jealous ;)

Enjoy your Sunday MoFos!

CHICAGO MOFO...And All That Jazz

2008-10-17T00:13:00.006-04:00

Last night I went to see the show Chicago and it was fantastic. I didn't get home till about 11 and realized I had not had a real dinner. At this time, I wanted BREAKFAST! Here is a tofu scramble from last night and then a morning cereal breakfast from well this morning :)

This is firm tofu scrambled with vegan ground "sausage" fried lightly in canola oil spray. I put in mushrooms, spinach and sun dried tomatoes. I seasoned with turmeric, salt, paprika, nooch and cracked black pepper. Along side Ezekiel toast with Earth Balance...tastyy :)

And this is Organic Cosmic Cocoas with soy milk (attack of the children's Whole Foods cereal again!) with raw almonds, bananas and the very last of fresh berries I think I will be seeing for a while :( Totally good though. I sprinkle salt on my cereal which my parents think is crazy but I know I can't be the only one right...??

Scroll down...

CHICAGO!

Amazing Show!

I kind of get into taking playbills (mom on the left)

Happy Weekend MoFos!

Keeping It Short With MoFo Tempeh

2008-10-15T14:41:00.005-04:00

I can't get enough of these peppers!

This is going to be short, I went out last night and came back this afternoon (it's becoming a routine...) after closing down about every bar in Downtown Northampton and staying in the backroom of one with the staff till 5 am...
I woke up this morning in a completely different town, and I need SLEEP stat so quick post and I am out!

I heart TEMPEH cooked right. This is a tempeh stir-fry I usually make depending on the fresh or frozen veggies I have on hand. First, fry the tempeh in a good amount of olive oil and season with salt and pepper and a bit of balsamic. Flip when ready. Add veggies, let it cook down, season to taste and VOILA! MoFo TEMPEH :) This one had some of the peppers obv, corn, green beans and spinach. Delish!

Sizzling away in the pan

Andddd on to my plate! :)

Nap Time MoFos!

MOFU SURVEY EXCELLENCE!

2008-10-14T01:44:00.010-04:00

This was so fun at 2 am when I cant sleep! Thanks veganmeccalove!

1. Choose between locally grown or organic, which do you usually choose?
I have to go with local, and then organic…if it’s local and organic well I am totally sold, usually regardless of price, have to support the goods.

2. Favorite way to prepare potatoes:
Lots of veganaise with salt, paprika…did I mention veganaise? And I like em roasted in the fall time with olive oil and spices.

3. Do you press your tofu before preparing/cooking it (if you eat soy)?
Hmm typically no because I have no patience. It’s more like open, drain, fry in lots of awesome olive oil.

4. Name your favorite recipe that is a tradition in your family:
Check out tradition under my Jewish food post and see how I veganized that! Now that’s tradition!

5. Any food allergies?
Lactose Intolerant…probably a reason why it was soo easy to be Vegan.

6. When you want to go to a fancy dinner, where do you go?
Sierra Grille in Northampton. I know I have mentioned it 47384032 times before on this blog.

7. When you have a cold, what do you crave?
Umm soup? Drugs? Tissues? Sleep?

8. What kind of water do you drink? (Filtered, spring, tap, etc.)
I’m a water snob, rightfully from all the bacteria I ingested drinking tap water from Dublin when I lived there, so now it is all bottled, preferably Evian or Poland Springs for a cheap fix.

9. Name a flavor of soda you'd love to see:
Hmmmm Whole Foods soda is all I will drink, and it’s always with Grey Goose so I am content, although my fave is black cherry or orange cream.

10. If the recipes you ate as a child were compiled into a cookbook, what would the title be?
Ummm mozzarella sticks and PB & J…cookbook that!

11. If you were allowed to grow one food that can't grow in your climate, what would it be?
GRAPES FOR HOMEMADE WINE!

12. Favorite type of mushroom?
I heart all, no discrimination with my shrooms.

13. Most frustrating part of your kitchen?
My parents still eat cheese, the CRUMBS bug me out.

14. Last food you burned?
Food no, my very expensive All-Clad pots and pans yes everyday….

15. Usual response to a veg*n's favorite question, "But where do you get your protein?":
Tempeh, tofu, soymilk, soy yogurt, dark leafy greens, grains, pasta, rice, edamame, NUTS, nut butters, seed & seed butters, etc etc etc…this question is so bullshit considering Americans eat way too much protein because they are scared of carbs…I can’t stand the ignorance of so many people.

16. If you were baking your own birthday cake today, what flavor would it be?
Coconut Lemon Organic cake. The recipe from Bela downtown…see many previous posts where it is featured.

17. Favorite brand of chocolate chips?
Can I try some and get back to you, the darker the better.

18. You have $200 of your tax return reserved for Williams Sonoma- What do you buy?
Lots of cocktails glasses and new plates.

19. Do you plan your menus in advance? Any tips to share?
Nope

20. You have 3 minutes before you have to leave the house and you're starving- What do you eat?
A vanilla cashew goji cliff nectar bar, always! And I am getting into Luna bars now as well.

21. If Martha Stewart, Paula Deen, and Rachel Ray got into a fight, who would win?
Paula BECAUSE she had Michelle Obama on her show and that rocked my world!

22. If you eat oatmeal, what do you add to it before serving?
Vegan vanilla milk, raw nuts, fresh fruit and salt. Maple syrup too, just a drop or 8 ;) Sometimes some earth balance if I don't want sweetness.

23. If you got to travel to one country and learn all the traditional dishes there, where would you go (ignore commitments in your current place of residence)?
Tokyo, anything Asian.

24. Favorite late night snack?
Tamari almonds.

25. Favorite springtime food?
Are tomatoes in season then?

26. Favorite food-related magazine?
VegNews obv! I was reader of the month last year around this time ;)

27. Which do you prefer: shoyu, tamari, conventional soy sauce, or Bragg's Aminos?
Braggs, but I love anything salty

28. What vegetable or fruit do you dislike the most?
I actually have never not liked a fruit or veggie.

29. Name a holiday food you look forward to all year long:
Mulled wine, can that count? Warm soynog with rum, bourbon sweet potatoes, pumpkin ale, ummm I see there is a pattern here, I should stop ;)

30. If you could convert anyone to veganism with your magic wand, who would you convert?
My parents, my amazing brother, my future husband (?) and Barack Obama :)

Cute Little MoFo

2008-10-12T16:13:00.013-04:00

Disclaimer: I wrote this yesterday and thought I would get home last night to post, but just got home this afternoon from my night out...continue :)

First, I have to THANK ALL YOU GUYS for your incredibly nice comments you are always leaving on my blog. I really appreciate it and love you guys. Can we somehow get a vegan blog reunion going so I can meet some of you fabulous people in real life?

Ok, next I could not resist not sharing this pic of my pup Lutra (named after the Island of Eleuthera I mentioned yesterday) just waking up from a nap. She's not Asian, just sleepy and soooo cute right here with her little eyes shut.

Ok, on to the food. I have no patience. I used up the soy chirizo on PIZZA! I will get more to make that chili this week, no worries. This is pizza dough from Trader Joe's that I love, although I am not the best at rolling it out. One day I suppose I will have to attempt home-made dough. Toppings are crushed tomatoes, artichokes, fresh basil, sweet peppers and covered with the chorizo and nooch. My non-veg friend Kt had 3 pieces last night and LOVED IT. Vegan pizza takes over the world...

It was a gorgeous day today in Western MA. Check out this perfect butterfly I got a shot of.

Did I mention it was a BEAUTIFUL day. This is at the end of my little street, look at that AMAZING foliage. I heart warm weather in the fall time.

Tonight I am off to the Brewery for a friend's birthday. I am sure to have good stories tomorrow!

Oh, and one last thing does anyone else have the absolute cringing feeling every time you hear McPalin speak...I have mastered the art of chugging beer and burping at the TV loudly whenever she's on...anyone else, anyone else?? Sexy, I know right, maybe thats just me.

How fantastic were the Clinton/Biden speeches today in Pennsylvania?

Peace MoFos

MOFO Catch Up & Fun Pics :)

2008-10-11T16:13:00.012-04:00

Hey Guys! I know I know, I promised food porn for yesterday, but I spent all day on my couch attempting to recall the night before. Grace Potter was an amazing concert, but I ended up in the back room with the owner of the club who I have known forever and a large bottle of grey goose. Hmmm...yea, needless to say I was touch and go yesterday for awhile ;)

BACK TO THE GOOD STUFF THOUGH!

I discovered Soy Chirizo for the first time at Trader Joe's today which is going to be PERFECT for a spicy Chile I want to make this week. Throw in some homemade sauce, kidney beans, okra, OH AND SOME OF THOSE PEPPERS I FROZE from Dee's garden! Yummo...I am going to stop torturing myself and you guys until I make it.

For tonight I thought some old fun pics that involved vegan food would be appropriate since I haven't been cooking much the past couple of days, more like have eaten a whole loaf of organic bread & earth balance which I didn't think made for exciting food porn...

Let's BEGIN!

In case you forgot about some of those amazing peppers...swoon

Is there anything better then making cocktails with FRESH pineapple & coconut in the Island of Eleuthera...umm don't think so

At Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca...if you are a vegan and don't know about this legendary restaurant and its founder...go to Wikipedia immediately

I just heart this sweatshirt...and that HUGE serving of tempeh & veggies for the family

Besides the GO VEGAN bumper sticker (which used to be on my beloved car, now in auto heaven) these are my two faves I have seen around town

Ok, haha I thought this was funny, my dad spying on my late night dinner habits, probably pan-asian and beer

Besides witnessing my hair color changing quite a bit in the last few months (I am back to a honey blond) I hope you enjoyed! Have a fantastic weekend MOFOs and I promise to catch up on everyone else's fabulous blogs right now!

QUICK MOFO THOUGHT

2008-10-09T18:09:00.004-04:00

I have a very short post today because I have had a wicked busy day and going to see Grace Potter and the Nocturnals concert tonight. YAY!

I am a bad Jew...I have made great vegan Jewish food, hence yesterday's dinner.

BUT on Yom Kippur you are supposed to fast. I can't, it's not in me. (Which is ok because I have ALWAYS been underweight, and my doctor told me I really should never not eat for more then a few hours at time, that gets me off the hook right??) I did take a long walk today and reflected...that's enough atoning for me.

By 1 am LAST NIGHT (yes, I know I couldn't even hold out from dinner till morning) I had to have my peanuts and dark chocolate bedtime snack. I LOVE PEANUTS, as I am sure you know from my survey I just love all nuts!

What is your favorite nut? Because I cannot choose. BUT I can say THIS dark chocolate, Lake Champlain 75% cocoa (the darker the better!) is amazingggg. It was the brand on sale at Whole Foods this week...and I am glad!

Have a great night MOFOs! I promise food porn tomorrow ;)

MOFO JEWISH STYLE!

2008-10-08T16:08:00.015-04:00

Once again another fabulous recipe thanks to Isa! For the Jewish New Year tonight among all the pickles from the Jewish Deli I scored, I made Vegan Matzo Ball Soup from PPK as well as Potato Latkes from vegkitchen.com (look under the Ha nukkah section.)

Look at these pickles and pickled tomatoes dominating for apps :)

AND ALL THE LATKES !

Personal Serving for moi

Matzo Balls Pre-Drop for soup!
Mmm Vegan Jewish love

SUCCESSES!

A few personal alterations to each:

For the soup, I used wayy more carrots and I added celery. And, since I used all my carrots for the soup I didn't use one in the latke recipe as it calls for. I also used 8-10 small red potatoes instead of regular large ones.

Complete with organic fresh apple cider (and vodka) PERFECT COMBO for apps and red wine for dinner. Will a vegan Jewish deli be in my future ;)

And THANKS for all the great responses to my last post with the alphabet game! You guys are awesome. Happy Jewish Holiday MOFOs!

MOFO TOFU

2008-10-07T17:08:00.007-04:00

Mao Po Tofu this is not (although that is my favorite...MMM PF CHANG'S RIGHT NOW PLEASE!)

But MoFo Tofu is just as fun to say. And, so that is what I am naming it!

This is a simple recipe that you can pretty much add or take away anything you want to. I canola oil spray the bottom of the pan and season with salt and pepper. When the scrumptious goodness starts to sizzle I add olive oil because I love the taste and it helps the tofu not stick when you flip! Let it brown on each side. I add Bragg's and organic horseradish for a hot tasty bite! Look at those babies lightly goldening..

AND THEN THE GOOD STUFF! I added cabbage, olives, peppers, artichokes, tomatoes, mushrooms etc. etc. etc. I usually add a bit more of salt (I heart salt, although when cooking for my anti-salt mother I try to omit as much as possible. What a good daughter I am!) a bit more pepper and a healthy amount of really good balsamic vinegar. I let it cook down for a bit...the amount of time to make a cocktail and munch on some nuts to relax before dinner.
SCRUMPTIOUS, quick and easy MOFO TOFU!

One more thing for today: I am the model at Amherst College for all of the Art/Art History classes in the Fine Arts Dept. When I am errr "extremely exposed" (for lack of a better word) for 3 hour classes in contorting poses with all of those fine intellects drawing me, I try to keep myself entertained by playing what I have deemed the "alphabet game" in my head.

I go through the whole ABC's with movies, musicians, celebrities, television shows, designers, countries...ok get the point? What on earth does this have to do with veganism you ask?

Today, I was doing FRUITS AND VEGGIES in this crazy head of mine, Yay! Now I have a challenge for you! What is a better "I" then iceberg lettuce, and what is an X or Q one?

Now wouldn't that make for some great conversation at that celebrity dinner I want to have! Of course you are all invited, and Katie already said she's bringing the donuts! Saweet!

Rock On MoFos!

MOFO SURVEY FUN :)

2008-10-06T18:41:00.009-04:00

A little MoFo survey going around:

Here we go!

1. Name a song that involves food in some way?

"Life Is A Garden" by Pop Party Opera, my brother's amazing band.

2. What criteria do you use when buying a new cookbook?

I actually don't buy cookbooks because I always seem to get them as gifts for birthdays and holidays. My always go to is Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson (Thanks Jill and Eric!)

3. What did you eat today?

If you follow my blog I am sure you will find out ;)

4. Name a vegan food you know exists but have never tried...

Vegan Donuts...craving...

5. The Food Network just called and needs you to start your new show tomorrow. What will the title be?

VeganView, OBV

6. Favorite hot sauce or other spicy condiment?

Trader Joe's Jalapeno Pepper Hot Sauce, yummmm

7. How old were you when you became vegan?

20 years old :)

8. Favorite vegan cheeze?

Follow Your Heart Monterey Jack, but I love to make my own cheeze sauce with Earth Balance, soymilk, nooche, hot sauce, paprika, salt and pepper.

9. Cutest baby animal?

My Lutra of course! See previous posts

10. Favorite type of jam/jelly?

Hmm tough, probably Organic Grape Whole Foods brand

11. Do you take any vitamins/supplements?

Magnesium with calcium and zinc

12. What food/dish most embodies the Fall Season?

Bourbon Sweet Potatoes HELLOO

13. What food would you have a hard time living without?

Tofu and organic nuts definitely... wait does wine count?

14. Coffee, Tea or Hot Chocolate?

Tea...I think coffee to me would be like someone on cocaine, way too much energy and makes me crave cigarettes

15. It's 10 pm and you're starving. What do you eat?

Really good TAMARI ALMONDS, or PEANUTS, or CASHEWS, well I suppose any nut for that matter.

16. If you have an animal companion, what is her/his favorite food?

Well, my puppy eats puppy food. But my favorite dog I house sit for eats all my vegan leftovers. Ralph is a beautiful 12 year old lab/shepherd/pit-bull mix with a fantastic like for all things veg!

17. Worst injury you have gotten in the kitchen?

I cut myself about 85% of the time I am in my kitchen with too sharp knives. I also burn myself quite often on my toaster oven. (I refuse to own a microwave, zapping of nutrients, No Thanks!)

18. When you have a food-related question, who do you call?

Hmm, people usually call me with their food related questions. I guess I would go to my Internet bloggy friends ;)

19. Summer is ending-what food will you miss the most?

Fresh corn on the cob and fresh basil as my herb. Also, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, err all the berries for that matter and PEACHES!

20. What snacks do you keep in your purse/backpack/desk at work?

The amazinggg Cliff Nectar bars! The yellow cashew vanilla goji ones that I basically lived off in college :)

21. Favorite soup to make on a rainy day?

Oooh tomato soup with grilled cheeze...yummmo

22. What is your favorite combination of fresh vegetable/fruit juices?

I don't discriminate with my juices, I go through phases of faves...whatever tastes good with my grey goose at the time...

23. Favorite brand of root beer?

Whole Foods

24. Make up your own question!

Hmm ok,

You are having three vegan celebs to dinner! Who are they? Mine are:

~Alicia Silverstone

~Joaquine Phoenix

~Ellen DeGeneres

Fun Stuff!

VMF Post 4! Beer, politics, music, mexican, and more cake? ;)

2008-10-05T17:03:00.010-04:00

Ok, ok, I get it enough of that AMAZING coconut lemon cake...but I can't resist posting this pic of the two hottest vegans (with the same birthday) eating it together. Alexis on the right. That's vegan love.

Last night, after seeing TWO concerts (photo below with the amazing Susan Angeletti, at the first concert, my mom on the left) and a long needed trip to the Brewery I worked at last summer, I ended up at Sierra Grille, my ABSOLUTE favorite restaurant in Northampton.

This four course restaurant (always with at least one vegan option in each!) turns into the greatest bar at night, complete with vegan Belgian fries and spiced nuts, which I have officially diagnosed myself with having a severe addiction to. At this point my phone took on a life of its own because when I woke up this morning I did some major umm dialing...fantastic. Apologies to any of you out there that I might have called, and although I probably don't have your numbers, anything was clearly possible at that 2 am point.

Today at Whole Foods, Magic Hat Brewery had a VOTING 12 pack! Who could say no that?? And I always think a nice tasty brew is the best way to help a rough night's morning right? Well, maybe that's just me...

On to the FOOD! I found vegan refried pinto beans, salsa style at Trader Joes! Yumm, apparently in my state I didn't think to buy wraps, but I did have organic whole wheat pitas at home, so I used what I could. Complete with tomatoes, fresh basil, lettuce, nooch, salt and pepper
ALLL put together now
I hope everyone else had a fantastic weekend! HEADS UP! Next Sunday, one week from today, Alexis and I are hosting a Pre-Thanksgiving vegan feast! Any of my vegan blogging friends are welcome! Good food, good booze, and good people! Happy Sunday MoFos!

Check em out for local goodness!

www.sierragrille.net

www.northamptonbrewery.com

VMF Day 3! More CAKE perchance...

2008-10-03T15:38:00.012-04:00

I was downtown Northampton shopping this afternoon, and I just COULD NOT resist getting a slice of that cake from Belas! Just more torture for you guys ;)

p.s. I need to mention how well this pairs with Malibu Coconut Rum (it's vegan!)

My shopping travels included Mainstreet Boutique where I spent wayyy too much money, Cornucopia (local health food store) for some nuts, dates, almond milk & nooch. I came across this adorable VEGAN sparkle scented oil to carry in my purse. It smells so good, I got the jasmine intoxication scent (kuumbamade.com) Check em out!

My last stop was at the Obama headquarters where I signed up for 3 weekends of canvassing in Keene, NH...how great was Biden last night guys? Obama 08 baby! My sweet T from NYC.

Happy Weekend MoFos!

Vegan MoFo day 2=Cake!

2008-10-02T19:51:00.006-04:00

Ok, I know I told you guys about this cake so here it is!

Made by Bela, an amazing veg/vegan restaurant in Northampton. I have never been served better tempeh, dark greens, not to mention their stir-fries, salad dressings, and peanut noodles! BUT THIS CAKE TAKES THE CAKE!

Coconut Lemon, made from organic and local ingredients with a frosting I would do anything to have the recipe for...well maybe, err yea probably almost anything ;)

Its that good. Under tripadvisor.com Bela is rated 6 out of all 60 restaurants in Northampton! (And Northampton has more restaurants than every city by square feet in a downtown area in MA, except one part of Boston! And they're all pretty much spectacular and veg friendly!) Now who's coming to visit me? ;)

Fun Fact: My friend Alexis is about to take a bite outa that baby, she is a VEGAN and we have the same birthday, July 19th! We got this for a non-veg friend's birthday celebration last weekend and lets just say, everyone said they'd never had better cake! That's Vegan MoFo at it's best!

p.s. Excuse our phallic looking candle set-up, it was all we had ;)

ITS HEEERRREEE :)

2008-09-30T14:30:00.007-04:00

Vegan Month of Food! For my first post this month, I decided it should be on something unique and fun to eat! What better then a Vegan Sushi roll in the shape of a cute creature! This is from Zen in Northampton, one of my favorite restaurants downtown.

I know I have mentioned it before, but here is the link: www.zennorthampton.com

Amazing! It was basically lots of avocado, rice, bean sprouts, seaweed, cucumber etc etc etc. I think it was called a Caterpillar Roll ;)

This month I want to show some of my favorite meals from restaurants as well as ones I cook, plus some sweet treats like the Organic Coconut Lemon Cake I will post tomorrow...get ready, it's the best vegan dessert I have EVER had in my life.

One random side note: I saw Sonya Kitchell, a very talented singer from this area, who played last night with The Slip, and the show was fantastic. I am in the center and Sonya is to my left. Definitely check out her new album or at least listen to something on Youtube :)

Happy World Veg Day! And, let the Vegan MoFo Begin!

"I Won't Grow up. No, I Promise That I Won't!"

2008-09-25T17:56:00.010-04:00

When I am pretty hungover, I wake up craving the most random foods including tamari almonds, fried tofu, and all sorts of veggie pasta. How do I recall such things? Well, that was this morning.

In any event, I have already posted how I am a HUGE fan of organic kid's cereal from Whole Foods: Cosmic Cocoas, Panda Puffs, YES PLEASE!

On these joyful mornings that resulted from a spectacular night, I am more prone to crave these kids type meals. What to do? Whole Foods of course, and their fantastic alphabet tomato soup! The kind with the minuscule numbers and letters (sold in the cold bar section in my WF) and topped off with some FYH "cheese"...YUM

I guess my body feels a little more grown up then my mind at times (thank God) because two hours later after a grueling pilates session I needed some dark leafy greens and complete protein. Hence the two pictures above. The first adult friendly one was kale, tomato, corn, okra (random and I should get this more often) mushrooms, olives, chickpeas, basically everything but the kitchen sink stir-fried in some canola oil, balsamic, spices & organic horseradish (post on that soon too come.) And the later...well my soup of course!

Now, I'm off to cocktail because there is a glorious night in downtown Northampton ahead of me. It's time to play...rough life! ;)

Counter, NYC!

2008-09-17T10:00:00.007-04:00

Well this past weekend was crazy fun in NYC but I really wanted to share with you my absolute new favorite brunch spot in the city. Counter (serves vegan and non-vegan fare, plus has an organic martini bar, wine and beer) and is the best food I really have had in a long time that early in the morning. (Well, 1 p.m. but besides the point ;)

First, I got a pitcher of organic sangria (had to start the day off right and there were two of us!)

On to the food: I got the Frittata Alla Fiorentina (which was actually 2 tofu frittatas) on whole wheat english muffins with spinach and vegan hollandaise sauce (swoon). Also a mesculan green salad and amazing spiced home fries. They also brought out homemade ketchup, vegan mayo and played Dylan on the cd player the whole time. It was heaven.

And if I needed more food, I could NOT resist a vegan maple pecan chocolate hot fudge sundae in a pastry crust. (All desserts are vegan!) I may need to move to NYC for this meal alone!

The picture above is at dinner the night before at a wonderful dark veg-friendly place called Corner Cafe. (Sorry, my wine haze prevented me from remembering to take food shots for you guys here, but the appetizer of fried artichokes with sea salt and lemon were off the hook! Dinner was a Thai inspired noodle dish with grilled teriyaki veggie skewers, and for someone who rarely gets dessert, I got the vegan raspberry sorbet which was so creamy and delish) In the black shirt is a friend from college and in the white a friend from home. The weekend was filled with a couple concerts, lots of food, and many, many bars (including the original Coyote Ugly which I proceeded to become an honorary Coyote by dancing on the bar late Sunday afternoon.) Great times :)

Check this out:

Counternyc.com

Life Is A Garden

2008-09-12T11:03:00.005-04:00

"Life is a garden (To be digged)" ~ Pop Party Opera

Yesterday I went to a friend's garden and I have never seen such amazing produce in my life. Deegreeze (nickname) has grown Swiss chard, butter lettuce, broccoli, cukes, summer squash, zucchini, 6 kinds of tomatoes and 6 kinds of peppers (Note to self, little red chili peppers will burn your mouth off.) PLUS herbs, grapes, apples, pears and peaches! If you have never had a fresh grape from the vine, go right now and find out where you can. They pop in your mouth and it tastes amazing. Lots of food porn below :)

Tomato garden
Peppers!
Hard at work :)

The Gardener himself
Grapes

I'm off to NYC for the weekend with some friends for some fun in the fall sun and delish vegan fare and cocktails of course plus a cd release party, a concert and shopping obv. Be back Monday night! Enjoy your weekend everyone!

North End Trip & LUTRA!

2008-09-08T17:33:00.003-04:00

"Old wine and friends improve with age." ~ Italian proverb

I have been so MIA and I am sorry! After lots of crazy Labor Day parties, concerts (I highly recommend you check out The Figgs music, really tight) and this weekend I spent in Boston I have been a horrible blogger. But please forgive me!

I don't have many food pics but I will say that Boston's North End to my pleasant surprise is amazingly accomodating to vegans. Besides all the garlic roasted veggies, rosemary potatoes, organic wine and fresh farmer's market produce I never felt out of place. (And I went with all guys who love their italian meats, cheeses and egg filled pasta.) I survived! And had a great time.

Then I come home and my mom's boss got a puppy that I will be able to take care of!!!! How cute cute CUTE is she??? Love her. Lutra is her name, after the island of Eleuthera that we love. Some new recipes soon, I promise!

Delish Pizza and a Disgraceful Palin...

2008-08-26T16:15:00.009-04:00

Ah, I have been such a slacking blogger lately. Two of my best friends went back to college so we partied a lot last week, which resulted in me completely losing my voice, along with a lot of money, and probably brain cells. I also have been addicted to MSNBC DNC coverage. How spectacular was Obama's speech? Totally blew me away WOW!

But ughhh, I think Palin is a disgrace to the woman gender, and if I have to hear one more time about her moose-hunting I will probably start throwing things at my flat screen.

On a happy note:

Ok, technically not totally homemade because the dough is this awesome pizza dough (which I am ridiculously challenged in rolling out well) from Trader Joe's. The top one is a garlic herb crust then I rubbed with olive oil and flour and topped with homemade sauce. I blended organic fresh & canned tomatoes with a lot of dark leafy greens, oregano, salt, pepper and basil. Veggies are mushrooms artichokes and olives.

The second crust is whole wheat with the same sauce with greens, artichokes, olives, and mushrooms. I added the sauce to this later because the first one I made wasn't as crispy as I had hoped. Both also had Litelife ground vegan sausage.

What are all you fabulous vegans doing on this long holiday weekend?

Stop Signs, Shel Silverstein, and CAKE!

2008-08-22T10:39:00.006-04:00

I saw this stop sign in Amherst, MA and we had to back up in traffic so I could snap a pic. Thought it was awesome.

Most amazing vegan chocolate cake with "butter cream" frosting. Inspired by http://tastyvegan.blogspot.com "mexican cake" ingredients. But I made a few alterations as you will see below, such as apple sauce for oil, soymilk for water, no vinegar etc...and I made a different frosting.

Cake ingredients :

1.5 cups flour

1 cup organic sugar

4 Tbsp. cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (really adds to the cake)

1 tsp. vanilla

5 Tbsp. applesauce

1 cup vanilla soymilk

Pre-heat oven to 350. In a bowl sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder and baking soda. Then add the rest of the ingredients and mix together. Bake for about 35 minutes in a 9 inch square cake pan.

We made our own " vanilla butter cream" frosting which was too die for. Seriously, amazing. From www.veganchef.com, just look under the dessert recipes. So easy and delish! Happy weekend! And an awesome poem below:

POINT OF VIEW

Thanksgiving dinner's sad and thankless

Christmas dinner's dark and blue

When you stop and try to see it

From the turkey's point of view

Sunday dinner isn't sunny

Easter feasts are just bad luck

When you see it from the viewpoint

Of a chicken or a duck

Oh how I once loved tuna salad

Pork and lobsters, lamb chops too

Till I stopped and looked at dinner

From the dinner's point of view.

~Shel Silverstein

Veganizing the Food Network

2008-08-19T17:50:00.009-04:00

I enjoy watching The Food Network (well some shows) from time to time, and I love Giada's Everyday Italian. She's talented in the kitchen, has a beautiful husband, loves to travel, and well she's just hot to watch honestly. Today, she made this delicious looking artichoke & tomato broth to serve with grilled fish. I decided to sub the fish for tempeh. (She said the fish was meaty, yet flaky, I figured tempeh would be perfect.)

Since I do not really follow recipes and cook to taste, this is what I did. I used two pans, one for the tempeh and one for the veggie mix.

Tempeh cast-iron skillet: Good amount of olive oil and cut up tempeh on medium heat with salt and pepper, let it lightly fry, flipping over the pieces from time to time. Make sure to season both sides.

Veggie pan: Start with olive oil with minced garlic and onion. Then add artichoke hearts and salt and pepper to taste. Once that has a nice golden brown color, I added organic canned cut-up tomatoes so the juices would be more strong. During the last few minutes I added fresh chopped spinach (I need greens in my food even though Giada apparently doesn't) and nixed the chicken broth that she uses for some white wine. Season again with a bit of salt and pepper, and I added dried rosemary for an extra touch. Tada that's it! Pair with a nice sweet white wine=heaven.

I'll be celebrating Alison's 21st birthday tonight (again) downtown Northampton. I believe birthdays especially 21st birthdays should be celebrated for at least a week. I'll post the pix from the most sick chocolate vegan cake with "butter cream" frosting ever made tomorrow! I know I never posted the last one, sorry, but this blows it outa the water, so I figure it's better anyways. It's good to be back :)

Lots To Report

2008-08-18T14:48:00.005-04:00

Wow! It's been so long since I have blogged, but I have been galavanting in Northampton for 3 days with Steve (aka Elbo Room) and then spent 3 days with a friend who was turning 21...good times. After great restaurants, music, bars, and a beautiful hotel room later...I am back home for a little while. And yes, that is us with Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins at Hotel Northampton above :)

For my friends pre 21st dinner I am happy to say she ordered the vegan soup and vegan tofu specialty meal because she's obsessed and well, so I am. We went to Zen (which I have mentioned before and also been to 3 times in 4 days this week) Her solid attempt at a blog pic for me :)

I have been very much enjoying the most amazing beautiful weather that has been in New England the past few days so I haven't spent that much time inside lately, except for umm a few indoor activities...and to see the movie The Wackness which I have to highly recommend because it's amazing. Glad you guys didn't forget about by blog!

~The Swell Season~

2008-08-12T11:00:00.006-04:00

Sunday night, my friend Alison, my mom and I saw Josh Ritter and The Swell Season (the actors/musicians from the movie Once, which I would definitely recommend and it's filmed on my old streets that I lived on in Dublin) and even with the numerous downpours at this outdoor venue, it was such a great show. Some pics below. Josh Ritter is also adorable.

Alison and I above before the first ridiculous rainstorm, so much fun.

For lunch today: Organic hummus, tabbouleh and veggies with a simple spinach and tomato salad with mushrooms and paprika on top with Annie's Organic Goddess Dressing (this stuff is incredible) Also, some Whole Foods macrobiotic curry tofu below. Really delicious.

I'll be away from the blogging world for the next few days and weekend. "Elbo Room" is coming tomorrow, and I'll be away from my computer and in Boston for a few days :) I'm sure I will have much to blog on Monday. Enjoy!

Hair, Body, Face, & Mind! PRODUCTS!

2008-08-09T12:31:00.009-04:00

I love taking good care of myself, not just in food and exercise, but in products! After Alexis's great idea to post on some vegan bath/beauty goods, I took it upon myself to buy up and try all I could do in a week (and afford) to give you my results. My favorites are based on smell for some, effectiveness of others, final result, and of course budget!

First after trying Whole Foods 365 grapefruit body gel and lotions (the lotion was too thick for my taste) and a variety of Jason products I decided my favorites shower and after shower delights were Kiss My Face anti-stress gel and Avalon Organics Lavender lotion. Both had this calming sense which is great for morning and night time showers, and this delish smell. The lotion was not greasy and went on smoothly. Plus, you can find both of these products at Trader Joe's which saves a few bux. One other product I love for a post-shower is Aveda replenishing moisturizer, which I wouldn't use every day, but great for once in a while.

Trader Joe's wins the shampoo and conditioner test for me by far! Mostly, because of it's affordable, but also leaves my hair really conditioned and smooth. I found Whole Foods Brand was just too drying. Plus this one below smells great! One other fun fact, my brother Mikey is going back to college and is buying products. While shopping and making an effort to have him be more animal friendly without breaking his bank we discovered that uber cheap TRESemme hair products do not test on animals! Yay!

For the face: My favorite face wash is Desert Essence, which I finished yesterday and recycled without snapping a pic, oops. For make-up removal I use natural vitamin E oil. (I tried the Desert Essence make-up face removal pads, and found they were too harsh.) As a replenishing wake-up to my face, I occasionally use Avalon Organics Vitamin C. It's citrus smell and light toner is a wake-up call! I also use and LOVE Nature's Gate exfoliating mask once a week (ran outa that too yesterday :(
Post Shower: I use Tom's unscented deodorant, I have tried Trader Joe's and didn't find it as smooth, and other vegan deodorants I just find too pricey. Also, below, is an aromatherapy cinnamon spray by Aura Cacia, which I found at Cornocopia, a small health food store in Northampton. This light mist is sensual and warming and made with all essentail oils and of course cruelty-free.
For my teeth: I didn't take pics of my brushing utensils but I use a Preserve toothbrush which is made from all recycled plastic and sold at Whole Foods. I normally buy whatever toothpaste and mouthwash is on sale at the health food store because this stuff is expensive. Tom's is usually the least expensive, but I used to be a bigger fan before they sold out to Colgate a few years ago ,a not-so vegan friendly corporation.

NEXT: Luscious Lips. I love Alba Terra Tints because they are smooth, have a hint of color, not shiny and smell good. For chapstick, I use Trader Joe's Lip balm which is made with 50% organic products.

I love makeup! And although, I do splurge occasionally on expensive pricey vegan make-up (Urban Decay) I have to give the favorite award to NYC. This VERY inexpensive brand is sold at Walgreens, CVS and Target and does not text on animals! Finally, a drug store brand that is cruelty-free. On most days, I use just bronzer and mascara, which both come to the grand total of about $6!

Last, but not least: Overall well being :) For supplements I take on a normal basis, I get Trader Joe's "Calcium, Magnesium and Zinc" combo which my doctor has always recommended because test result show I have no need to take any other vitamins. I also, don't sleep. I just have too much energy, but when I NEED to, I take all natural Melatonin, which is a natural occuring chemical in the brain that helps you sleep. My allegries can get annoying in the summer, I splurged on this homeopathic allergy relief bottle of drops. I can't say if it really works or not, but I also don't take it as regularly as I should, so I didn't want to judge. And finally, Arnica cream is a life-saver! I rely on it for bruises and such because it relieves pain and reduces the appearence. (After my car accident I used tubes of this stuff!)

Ok, that's it! I hope this has helped give you guys a simple and affordable guide to making a vegan friendly lifestyle a bit more fun. I will always be on the look-out for new products and things and share what I think, enjoy!

Beautiful Gardens & Mediterranean Food

2008-08-08T17:19:00.013-04:00

An awesome video by the New Pornographers above, who were soo good last night! And me and my bro for the show at the top!

Beautiful gardens behind my mom's office. She is the office manager of one of the most well known acupuncture centers in MA. I love this place!
FISH!
Part of their garden, which currently have HUGE squash, green peppers & hydroponic tomatoes.
I Loved this dude!
Froggy!

I was still on an adrenaline high from a lot of fun last night, and woke up like the crazy person I am and ran for over 2 miles at 6 am. I am hurting! For some reason I was craving all this Greekish food for dinner, so below we have grape leaves from Trader Joe's, falafels from Whole Foods (need to make my own of these asap! recipes please!?) organic kalamata olive hummus (from Good Neighbors, sold at Whole Foods and locally made, highly reccomend) plus a simple salad. I dressed everything in Nasoya dijon mustard veg mayo which was very good.

As promised, I am testing vegan beauty products and bath goods, (Kiss My Face is my favorite overall so far) and tomorrow I will give you my results and advice on what I think is awesome and why :)

Short Post: Interesting Article and Veggie Burgers

2008-08-07T08:13:00.007-04:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-freston/why-vegan-is-the-new-atki_b_114464.html

I hope you can take a look at this article and let me know what you think. I personally can't stand how people are always doing these crazed trendy diets filled with cancerous preservative packed foods, Splenda, high fructose corn syrup filled dressings etc, etc...Diet is a lifestyle, and that is why being a vegan is a lifestyle. It's not just about the food, although it's a great part of it. (And of course there are junk foods that are vegan out there, but that's why shopping at Whole Foods and small health food stores are great places to find what you want to shop without all the crap in between.)

This article is an interesting look at how (having a jump-start with Oprah) veganism could be the new Atkins. Although, this is hard for me to look at in this way because veganism as I mentioned isn't a "diet" to lose weight. I have to give credit to someone who can write this and put it out in the mainstream for less health conscious people to be aware of the good that can come from being a vegan.

Quick meal: Vegan burgers made from oats, bran, soybeans & veggies with nutritional yeast. On top of Roma tomatoes, lettuce, and mushrooms on Ezekiel bread with organic ketchup, Veganaise, organic mustard, organic relish...the condiment works to choose form.

Apologies for the quality of photo...my digital camera is officially dead! It's gone three great years through europe, south florida, nyc, massachusettes, etc...Lots of Iphone pics are to be ahead :)

I won tickets to see The New Pornographers tonight! Yay! So, I'll be taking my brother and post tomorrow with pics, some bath & beauty product recommendations (good idea Alexis!) and more :)

Bunnies, Vegan (food) Bars, & New Porn

2008-08-04T09:15:00.010-04:00

"The sooner you know who you are and what you want, the less you'll let things upset you" ~Lost In Translation

If I were more talented I would be able to control a dog that weighs as much as me, while snapping a pic of a family of bunnies in my backyard woods with my Iphone. Unfortunately, not much luck, but I tried and they were SO cute. My photo on the other hand looked more like Blair Witch Project footage.

On the subject of photography, a friend of mine emailed this link to me today and it is absolutely incredible, so check it out if you have a spare minute. www.ashesandsnow.org

Fun Fact! Whole Foods in Hadley now has a complete vegan macrobiotic bar and vegan salad bar! I heart them. Below some satay tofu, whole wheat dumplings, golden sesame tofu (my personal fave) and veggies with a sesame tahini dressing. YUM

And as promised here is one of the many tempeh dishes I have been stir-frying with my amazing crispy kale & green beans from the Farmer's Market. Thrown together with sesame seed oil to fry the tempeh, and then adding the greens a little later with some organic sweet & tangy teriyaki sauce and a little Braggs.

My music buddy Alison is in NYC till Sunday (when we will be seeing The Swell Season, from the awesome movie Once at The Pines, HELLO Dublin flashbacks) BUT before that anyone in the area up for the New Pornographers at the Calvin Thursday night???

Curly Kale & Cocktail Hour!

2008-08-02T10:27:00.011-04:00

Saturday=Amherst Farmer's Market! I sauntered my way downtown and got hit on by both guys and girls alike, who were swooning over my "Mean People Wear Fur" t-shirt I got when I was at the PETA headquarters in Virginia...although I do not agree with many of their politics as a corporate business and some of their umm "scare" tactics they use, I do believe they stand for a good cause, and I loved the shirt ;)

I was stoked to find this HUGE bunch of curly kale for only $2.50, which I guess makes up for that one orange tomato to the right I splurged on for $3.00. I'm sure it will be worth it!

I'll post my dinner later, but I went to a "social gathering of sorts" tonight...cocktail party more clearly, where it's now been pretty much proven people older then me (besides my closest friends) are so fun, so perverse, so funny, and way more intriguing to be around then most people my age are, I think I am meant to be with an older man... ;)

Pizza, Pilates, & Men

2008-08-01T06:43:00.013-04:00

"Well gosh by golly, he sure is a MAN!"

~ The one and only Patrick Phillips

Patrick can make me laugh for 20 minutes straight with the most ridiculous lines. I love waking up to e-mails like that one, which I did the other morning. And to answer his question on the last post, there was no organic vodka in my potato salad.

I've been wicked lazy the last few days and discovered an amazing and inexpensive pizza from Trader Joe's that I love. When I am more motivated, I'll try making it from scratch because I'd change the dough to whole wheat or something more exotic, and I'd add more veggies.

One last thought on this post. After my car accident, I went to acupuncture once a week which helped to soothe the pain in my knees, back, neck everywhere for temporary relief. When the pain wasn't as bad, I continued with physical therapy and started private pilates rehab. Pilates has helped me gain back strength, and even though my back still has bad pain from time to time due to a compression fracture, the exercises have helped so much. One of the pilates instructors at the studio I go to works on this blog below. So if you are interested check it out. She's also a vegan and has my birthday!

Thinkpilates.com

P.S. I also like waking up to e-mails such as the one I received at 7 am this morning that just really make you smile. More on this later ;)

Summer flicks & food :)

2008-07-25T18:26:00.009-04:00

"Sometimes truth isn't good enough, sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to get their faith rewarded." ~Batman in The Dark Knight

You can very well guess that from the quote I went to see this movie last night. It was amazing. And beforehand I went with my friend Justin to Food 101 in the South Hadley Commons for some wine. We didn't eat there, but I highly intend to soon. Definitely a place where a vegan would have to call ahead :) but it was beautiful and the staff seems to be very accommodating. (We got half our drinks for free because there was a little tiff at the bar, gota love that!)

Before the fun, nothing says summer like potato salad. Complete with celery, greens, carrots, veganaise and this awesome southwest spice blend I have. Also, a cool simple salad to complete it with Drew's sesame thai lime dressing. Happy weekend!

Sushi, Soup, & Pie...Oh My!

2008-07-24T16:35:00.016-04:00

"After Nashville sushi and a long debate on Bob Dylan, we went into Woodland Studios at 10 pm that night for a look around, we jammed for 5 hours solid." Robyn Hitchcock

This quote has a double meaning, well many meanings, but today for me it has two. I almost made an impulse trip to Nashville today to meet up with someone who was there for the night. This someone is from Florida, we'll call him Elbo (after the Elbo Room bar in Ft Lauderdale where we met in May.) We have chatted for a couple of months and planning trips to see each other. He's coming here in early August to see me, and I thought his one-night business trip in Nashville would be more fun if I was there.

I am also a person who bought the IPhone (full priced first one) after 2 glasses of wine & lunch impulsively. I can be quite spontaneous.

This morning entirely sober, it didn't seem as reasonable as it did last night while discussing it with my friend Alyssa over a nice bottle of Reisling...

Anyhoo, tonight I also had an insane craving for Avocado sushi, so there ya have it. Meal complete with a mushroom/barley soup from Whole Foods that I love.

Alyssa is also one of my best friends and today she brought me a VEGAN mini dark chocolate pecan pie! Love her!

P.S. The title of this post is also inspired from my favorite movie of all time, obviously, The Wizard of Oz. Hence the pic at the top swooning in D.C. with the Ruby Slippers! Enjoy!

I'm back, and I'm older!

2008-07-23T09:54:00.017-04:00

Early in the afternoon on my birthday at the Amherst Brewery with my dad after a day at the Farmer's Market...I heart New England.

"And the sun still shines in the summer time

I'll be yours if you'll be mine

I tried to change, but I changed my mind

Think I'll have another glass of Mexican wine"

~Fountains of Wayne

Well, I am no longer a slacking blogger! It was my birthday this weekend which was filled with lots of food, fun & friends. Then my Internet went down for 3 days...but I am back and with some good stuff. A pic of my family at Sierra Grille on the birthday eve, unfortunately no pics of the food, but this place is great where they have about 4 courses and always vegan options for each. Spiced nuts, olives, Belgian fries, tempeh entree w/green beans & asparagus...yum. Complete with a vegan dark chocolate rum cake I made which got gobbled up before my camera could make an appearance. I'll post the recipe soon.

The next night, a few of my best friends from Boston came in for a delicious birthday dinner at Zen. This AMAZING Asian restaurant downtown Northampton has the best tofu dish I have EVER had...yes competitive with PF Chang's and gets the upper hand because it's local. Not to mention their amazing veg sushi & soups to start.

Also, Tunnel Bar above, the best bar in Northampton, just picture where Frank Sinatra would have swooned.

One other fun fact: Friday I had a substitute private Pilate's teacher and she was not ONLY a vegan BUT was born on my birthday, July 19th! Awesome.

I'm in the recovery phase of the weekend so this morning for breakfast: another tofu/veggie sausage scramble with mushrooms, tomatoes, greens, nutritional yeast, salt, spices, Ezekiel bread w/earth balance, the works.

Lots of good gifts were given as well~ snapshot of the huge poster I got of all the Playbills from NY Broadway '07-'08, good handful of which I have seen. Loves it! Thanks to everyone who was a part of my fabulous birthday! I had a blast!

Teddy Geiger, and Dumplings!

2008-07-15T12:31:00.016-04:00

Last night, my friend Kt and I went to see Teddy Geiger at Pearl Street in Northampton. He is an amazing musician, and definitely underrated. He's known for "For you I will (Confidence)" and his songs in the soundtrack The Notebook. I personally like the song above. We had a GREAT time, and I got to see a few people I highly...hmm...yea more on that later ;) We'll leave it at "swimming"... Anyways, us at the concert below!

Everybody loves dumplings! Especially me. Vegan dumplings from Whole Foods, just reheat at home in the toaster oven (I do not use a microwave, it zaps nutrients from all foods, and I am highly against them.) I make a sauce of soy & sesame seed oil with salt to dip in. Below is a light combo of chickpeas, bean sprouts, green beans, bok choy, mushrooms and fresh corn. Sauteed in a rice wine vinegar, Braggs, and sesame seed oil.

Party Season

2008-07-14T09:33:00.015-04:00

"The secret to staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age."~Lucille Ball

Birthdays mean VEGAN CAKE! For my brother's I made this rich chocolate cake from Post Punk Kitchen. Recipe here :)

The only difference is I used all whole wheat pastry flour.

I also made a glaze for the top which basically consisted of:

1 cup coconut milk

3 TBL earth balance (melted)

1 cup of organic raw cane sugar

Make sure to refrigerate the glaze a few hours before putting on top of the cake.

Also above Trader Joe's half vanilla soy ice cream with mango sorbet combo. Orgasmic.

Pre cake: We went to Eastside Grill, which is a great restaurant in Northampton. They made me this special concoction of veggies with olive oil, garlic, tomato sauce and pasta. Lots of huge mushrooms, spinach, artichokes and fresh asparagus.

THE FAMILY above, and Mikey and I below. Great night for a birthday.

LOT O' GOOD STUFF TODAY

2008-07-13T11:39:00.016-04:00

"Kramer goes to a fanstasy camp. His whole life is a fantasy camp. People should plunk down $2000 to live like him for a week. Do nothing, fall ass-backwards into money, mooch food off your neighbors, and have sex without dating, that's a fantasy camp." ~Seinfeld

I was once told this quote applied to me, minus the mooching food part...I'll take it as a compliment.

After a, errr marathon of sorts last night, I needed to refuel. So solution=BRUNCH, minus the mimosas, which reminds me I need to start buying champagne because my birthday is oh so soon. Anyways, above is a tofu & Tofurkey sausage scramble with greens & tomatoes, with rosemary, lots of olive oil, salt and nutritional yeast. Along side, fresh baked vegan rosemary bread with earth balance spread AND organic blueberries and rasberries. YUMMM

Up to come a vegan chocolate cake for my brother's bday and the bday dinner in Northampton!

"Everyday is a holiday, and every meal is a banquet"

2008-07-11T21:48:00.020-04:00

Today I walked to the farmer's market downtown and got so many delish goods! I made a tofu, green bean, bean sprout, cabbage & bok choy stirfry for lunch with some of the produce. Lightly fried in lots of pure sesame oil (I love this stuff!) rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, and finished with a sake teryaki. Soo good!

"Every meal is a banquet"

When I lived in Dublin, I went to The Brazenhead every Sunday afternoon with Rosie, one of my best friends I met there. We would stay well into the evening drinking, singing, and eating with the locals. It is the oldest pub in Ireland, and after one long afternoon of belting out Irish Rover, Whiskey in a Jar, and Molly Malone, a wise, older (slightly...very intoxicated) Irish man told me the quote I used as the title of this post. I have lived by his words to this day and probably always will. Above ~ two of my best friends I met in Ireland. Rosie, Patrick and I reunited last summer in MA for my graduation party! (Where I had pounds of catered vegan food from Whole Foods) "Everyday is a holiday."

I tend to consider everyday a weekend...

2008-07-11T18:20:00.019-04:00

FOOD PORN BELOW!

Dinner tonight: Fresh avocado, tomatoes, napa cabbage, and Tofurkey sun-dried tomato sausage with Drew's thai sesame lime dressing again, and a bit of salt and oregano!

Jeff: Why didn't you say hello to him? You know him.

Larry: I know. He wanted to do a stop-and-chat. I didn't want to do a stop-and-chat.

Jeff: "Stop-and-chat?" Where do you come up with these things?

~ Curb Your Enthusiasm

Today at my private pilates session (which I do twice a week to help my back and such from my car accident) I ran into a bartender that has served me at every music venue in Northampton. Let's just say I've had a few messy nights (in that good sort of way) with someone she knows very well in her presence... I never expected to see her at my pilates studio. Regardless, I did not stop-and-chat. What is it about running into certain people that just make everything for the next hour so awkward? Maybe she didn't recognize me...

Anyways, Larry David is a flipping genius. Some pics of my backyard below. (Note to self: if having fun in the woods here, expect bug bites...probably TMI ;) Plus, above this sweet window of cranes in one of the office rooms here.

HAPPY WEEKEND!

Organic Lemonade & Vodka

2008-07-10T18:24:00.010-04:00

"On my home I surprise myself by stopping into a liquor store on Seventh Avenue and Twelfth. I surprise myself even further by buying a pint of Black Label. On the way out, I think how strange it is that liquor stores never redecorate. They never get cool-ized. But then, they don't need to be hip. They are like urinals-people will go no matter what." ~Augusten Burroughs, Dry

Augusten Burroughs is my absolute favorite author from my generation, is from my hometown, and I have gotten to see him speak twice and meet him. Don't think the movie Running with Scissors gives the book any justice. (Which is usually how it goes.)

Anyways, last summer when I came back to MA I worked at a brewery, and now on even the nicest days I have the urge to be in a dark bar. (Don't worry I didn't do that today.) But grey goose vodka is VEGAN FRIENDLY & I love it paired with organic lemonade. Santa Cruz is the best brand in my opinion, very refreshing on a hot summer night :)

Dinner tonight~ A pasta salad I made earlier so I could refrigerate for a while before eating. Organic wheat fusilli, lots of celery, about half a jar of veganaise (I love that stuff!) salt, pepper, thyme, oregano & basil. Also a green leaf salad with tomatoes, YES TOMATOES (read lower post to explain) & Drew's amazing thai sesame lime dressing.

I think Jesse Jackson is nuts!

2008-07-10T11:13:00.005-04:00

Ok, I think my title explains how I feel about that issue. I want to hear what the fabulous Bill Cosby has to say to shed some light on this...

Also, I am getting so sick of people talking about their fear of tomatoes! Seriously, has anyone heard of mad cow disease? First spinach, now this! Two of the most healthy and delicious things to eat. The only reason produce has been diseased is because of processed meat diseases in the ground. Wow, I am really not always this angry, just opinionated ;)

On a lighter note, as I mentioned yesterday I am obsessed with kids organic cereal from Whole Foods. Today, Organic Koala Crisp (which is made with brown rice flour, cocoa, that sorta thing) with raspberries (that cost wayyyyy to much money!) and a banana. Worth every penny!

Chang's Via Boca!

2008-07-09T20:23:00.002-04:00

These are dedicated to Katie, the other most amazing skinny vegan bitch I "know"

Some photos from Chang's after my graduation and posing with Chris Matthews outside the Lynn graduation ceremony...being valedictorian did have its benefits!

Asian Flair

2008-07-09T17:29:00.038-04:00

"It's just that where he's from, they don't even have a PF Chang's!" ~ The OC

First I'll start with breakfast because I have been insanely addicted to kid's cereal, specifically 365 organic peanut butter pows which are these silly little oat, corn, rice balls with peanut butter from Whole Foods. I mix it with nuts & fruit every morning and a whole lota vegan milk. (Silk is on sale this week at Whole Foods, although not a big fan of the corporate politics of the Whitewave company that owns them...Land O Lakes sound familiar?)Anyways, this is a delicious and nutritious breakfast!

Now on the quote, PF Chang's is my absolute favorite chain restaurant, and after I became vegan, I called the Boca Raton restaurant who connected me to headquarters and told me all their "vegetarian meals" were vegan, along with most of their sides and noodle dishes. Ma Po tofu anyone?! I ate there at LEAST 4 times a week for 4+ years in South Florida (sick, I know but no joke) as it was right down the road, and in a plaza with my Whole Foods. I have to go to Boston now to get my fix. But it did inspire my asian meal tonight! Complete with a crisp Reisling, just like I used to get at Chang's...how I miss thee.

Way above is bok choy, nappa cabbage & mung bean sprouts stirfried in a sweet chili dipping sauce and sweet/tangy teryaki sauce (featured below) PLUS some veggie/glass noodle & tofu spring rolls, and to add on, best corn ever from down the road with earth balance soy butter on top of course. Yummm. (once I figure out this whole blog thing, I'll post pics of many trips to Chang's ;)

Post FOURTH OF JULY!

2008-07-08T17:50:00.003-04:00

"Produce section. Very provocative area. A lot of melons and shapes. Everyone's squeezing and smelling..."~ Seinfeld

Summer is finally here. Lots of Hadley corn above.

After a crazy July 4th weekend in Manhattan, I decided it is definitely time to start posting. Also, that wine I am rocking is vegan wine from Union Square Farmer's Market! Then rooftop party in NYC in the rain, so much fun! (Adrien Grenier's cousin, Evan's, to be accurate ;)

Dinner tonight:

A tofu/chickpea salad with lots of veganaise, spices, & celery on a whole wheat bun from Trader Joe's. Also a raw broccoli & tomato salad with Whole Foods organic sesame tahini dressing. So delish!

Above some fab pics from NYC, my dog for the summer Alice, and of course my dinner. Enjoy!