VegFest and Lots of cookin'

Ok, so last Saturday I headed to the Boston Vegetarian Festival. In the morning I volunteered which entailed setting up chairs in the lecture rooms and setup of the children's area. Later, I helped exhibitors bring their products inside and locate their tables.

Getting to the fest early worked out to be a huge advantage. At 10am I started to wander around before it got too crowded. The first table I stopped by was Herbivore. Lolo was there and I said hi. Isa and Terry hadn't arrived yet.

I met some nice folks from Stark Sister's Granola. The Potent Foods people were friendly and their maca bars were mighty good. There were many tables showcasing awesome vegan baked goods. I steered clear as I am on junk food cut back. Later, I attended two of the lectures. The second one on nutrition labels was really eye opening. I'll likely post about it in the future.

Freebies this year were not as generous as previous years, but I guess you can't complain about free. I scored some mini Lara bars, tea, Trader's Joe's rice, some popcorn samples and a bunch of coupons.

After the lectures I headed back downstairs. The festival had gotten so crowded, it bordered on fire hazard. While I was glad to see so many people interested in vegetarianism, I was disappointed at the pushy, angry crowd. Many people must have been put off by the attitude. I looked over and saw Isa, Terry, and Veganomicon. The crowds were relentless though and I decided to leave. On the way out I grabbed some pumpkin ice cream from Wheeler's Vegan Ice Cream which will soon have a Cambridge location. If BVS sticks with the same location next year, I may have to skip it unless I stop by as soon as it opens.

That night over 20 PPKers met at Elephant Walk in Cambridge for dinner. It was a lot of fun to meet everyone.

I forgot my camera early in the morning, so unfortunately I have no pictures of the festival. How about some food pics to make up for it?

Apple Spice Cupcakes with Penuche Frosting (Terry's from VegNews)


Cheezy Crackers from Celine's blog


More Sourdough Pancakes (strawberry and regular)

Since I'm on junkfood cut back, but wanted some pumpkin cookies... I adapted this recipe from The Healthiest Diet in the World Cookbook. They were originally chocolate chip cookies. I added 1 cup of pumpkin. Then used hazelnuts, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The cookies have oat flour, whole wheat flour, no refined sugar besides the choc chips (1/3 cup of maple syrup) and only 1 Tbl of oil! They are both hearty and yummy.

Healthy Pumpkin Chip cookies

When I was hiking on Sunday, I saw the coolest tree ever.

Catching Up...

First, I've got another auction on Ebay to benefit America's Second Harvest. My original auction made $62.36 for the charity.

The new item up for bids is a brand new I-fish that was sitting around my house. This would be great for kids or those that are young at heart if they have an Ipod. 50% of the proceeds from this one will also go to Second Harvest. Check it out, here.

Moving along...

The Boston Vegetarian Food Festival is tomorrow. I'll be volunteering there in the morning and then wandering around. Quite a few bloggers that I know will be there as well. We've got a plan to meet for dinner at Grasshopper, so drop me a line if you want to hang with us.

How about some food posts?

This is a tester recipe for Hawaiian Bread from the next Don't Eat of the Sidewalk zine.

Sourdough crust, filled with mushroom curry that I found on 28Cooks.

Sourdough pizza,with FYH cheese, veggie sausage, and oven dried tomatoes.

Another tester from the Don't Eat of the Sidewalk zine. Chipotle seitan on sun dried tomato bread. The side is roasted butternut squash from my very last CSA share.

Blog Action Day Post

Today is Blog Action Day and the topic is the environment. I'd been thinking about what to post for the past two weeks or so and time just flew by.

Hunger has been at the top my activist concerns lately, so I thought I might write a little about that. Many of my blog readers are already vegetarian or vegan, so I feel like I am really preaching to the choir.

Over 800 million people suffer from hunger. Yet 43% of the grain we grow, goes to feeding livestock. It takes approximately 7 pounds of corn to grow 1 pound of beef. Other animals including fish require 2-3 pounds of corn per each pound of bodyweight. This is an incredibly inefficient way to feed people. Let's link the hunger issue to the environment.

US farmed animals create 1.3 billion tons of waste per year. This roughly equal 5 tons of waste per every American. None of this goes through a water treatment like human waste. Does anyone wonder why our food and water has contamination problems? Let's also think about erosion, green house gases released by livestock, and the inefficiencies of land/water use. (It takes 100x more water to grow a pound of beef versus growing 1 pound of vegetable protein.)

Here's another factoid for you. According to National Geographic, it takes 3/4 of a gallon of oil to produce 1 pound of beef. 283 gallons of oil are used to raise one cow.

One more tidbit that I ripped off from GoVeg, "According to the USDA and the United Nations, using an acre of land to raise cattle for slaughter yields 20 pounds of usable protein. That same acre would yield 356 pounds of protein if soybeans were grown instead—more than 17 times as much!"

Can you really be an omnivore and an environmentalist? For that matter, how can you not feel selfish eating a quarter pound hamburger that cost 1.75 pounds of grain to grow when people are starving? If you didn't do the math, the burger also required almost a 1/5 of a gallon of oil to produce. Next time you complain about gas prices, think about your food choices. In general grains and veggies require 1/18 the amount of fuel that livestock requires.

Other topics I considered writing about...

What exactly do carbon credits get you? If you drive an SUV and buy carbon credits, are you really helping? One of the sustainability leaders at my company says they do enough for the environment in other parts of their life and that they are buying carbon credits to offset the effects of their SUV. What if everyone just bought carbon credits, but didn't make changes?

Biofuels like ethanol actually aren't carbon neutral.

For an interesting read re: carbon credits and biofuels check out:

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/BiofuelsBiodevastationHunger.php

or check out this cool article on salon.com about carbon credits.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/07/02/carbon_credits/index2.html

Also, some of the facts or ideas above were taken from an awesome pamphlet called 101 Reasons Why I'm Vegetarian. You can learn much more about environmental, ethical, health, and socio-economic reasons why veg is really the way to go. The extensive footnotes list gives you tons of reading and learning opportunities.

If you wrote a Blog Action Day post today, drop me a line so I can read what you had to say!

Testers, Vegan 4 course Dinner

Thanks everyone for the comments on my last post. Like I said, my goal is to do more this year. That being said, I ended up with a $100 Blockbuster gift card that I'm not going to use. I've posted it on Ebay. 70% of whatever the card makes will go directly to America's Second Harvest via MissionFish. It works in stores for rentals or purchases of used games or DVDs. Anyway, if you could use it or know someone who could, check out the auction.

Onto the food...

A few weeks back I picked up carrots at the farmer's market as they closed. The nice guy gave me a bunch of beets for free. On the way home I decided I would saute beet greens. The bright green carrot tops caught my eye and I wondered if I could cook them as well. A quick google search said yes. Carrot greens are on the bitter side, but mix well with other greens.

Tempeh Teriyaki, a Melomeals tester with sauteed beet and carrot greens.

Veggie Planet had a 4 course vegan dinner on October 1st. The menu was created by chef Amie Swanson. The special nights are pricey and crowded, but the the creative meals are worth it. Unfortunately, I only remembered to take photos of three courses.

Lentil and swiss chard soup. Check out how the peppers are cut into little shapes.


Spinach salad with roasted carrots, spiced pumpkin seeds, and apples with a maple dijon vinagrette.


The missing photo is sweet potato gnocchi in a vegan butter and sage sauce.

Dessert: Chocoloate hazelnet layer cake with chocolate ganache

Last photo, I was farm sitting at my friend's place in Maine again. Three chickens decided to roost in the bushes next to the house for the night. Apparently the leaves were cozier than the coop. Can you find them all?

I've also got a few other pics from Cafe Indigo and Crazy Burger on the new blog as I was able to stop by both places recently.

Are you grateful?

A couple of weeks ago my family observed Yom Kippur. It is a somber, holy day where we reflect on on our actions during the previous year. We note where we could be better and we say we are sorry for the things we did wrong. This is accompanied by a 24 hour fast. Of course, I'm skipping a bit of the theological significance here.

Though I am normally not particularly religious, this is a holiday I look forward to. People that know me well, often give me a bit of flack for what seems like a sudden surge of religious inspiration. I'm a very spiritual person, but I honestly can't say I am particularly religious. I'd like to think if I wasn't Jewish and just stumbled upon the idea of Yom Kippur, it would still interest me. We don't often get to put aside a whole day to reflect on our lives. So, why am I mentioning all this?

Well, the rabbi's sermon was about hunger. It is a fitting topic for a day when you are fasting. She spoke a bit about the food stamp challenge. If you aren't aware, a number of groups have been pushing politicians to try living on $21 per week. That is the amount currently allotted to someone collecting food stamp benefits. Living on $21 per week is difficult and most people who tried it, found it nearly impossible. You certainly can't afford much fresh fruit or vegetables with that money.

The number itself is accurate, but it is a simplification. Many people getting food stamps are also receiving other benefits. Also food pantries, shelters, and charities provide a buffer for the needy. Perhaps the food stamp program does need reform if it is really the sole means for a recipient to get their food.

While fasting, I looked around my kitchen which is filled with food. I noted my blog where I write about food. Honestly, I even checked out the PPK food porn and some of your blogs. We're all pretty dang lucky. We aren't worried about whether we are going to be able to find a meal, we are busy thinking about what we are going to cook for dinner.

Normally, I donate to charities like America's Second Harvest because 98% of my donation goes to making a difference rather than overhead. I also donate to the local food pantry collection bins at my supermarket. My goal is to do this more regularly.

I challenge you to do something whether it is talking to your friends or family about what they can do, making a donation to Second Harvest or a local food pantry, volunteering somewhere, or even just clicking at the HungerSite every day.

I've got a backlog of food posts which I will get to soon. I've been thinking about this entry for awhile now and wanted to get this out there first.

Some old pics, scary charcoal crackers, dining guide

Well, it occurred to me that I've got loads of info on veg dining in New England that I keep locked up in my little brain. So, I started a Veg Dining NE list on the left side of my blog and will work on updating it to include all the places I've tried. That also gives me some incentive to visit restaurants that I've always wanted to, but not made the time for. The info about each place actually exists on a secondary blog I created, so it is totally searchable if you click a link and head over to the other blog which is http://vegchic2.blogspot.com Searching will be really useful if you are looking for a particular state or town.

The second blog gives me the capability to have static links to stuff without cluttering up regular posts here. Onto some food...

Awhile back, a friend and I headed up to Acadia. Our dinner on the way was Lolo's Picnic Sandwiches. Never fear, I hear the cookbook will be available soon.

This sandwich is awesome and travels well.


When I went strawberry picking, months ago...I made Lolo's Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake.


Lastly, I wanted to share a weird product I saw at the market yesterday. Charcoal crackers...

These aren't vegan as they contain milk and whey powder. The ingredients also list charcoal powder. Ummm...why? Has anyone heard of this product before? I can't say charcoal crackers sound appetizing. Though, they might be good for you if you have been poisoned. I've heard they use activated charcoal in emergency rooms. Well, actually I don't know if the charcoal in the crackers is activated.

Testers, holidays, and stuff

The crisp fall weather is starting to settle in. I'm beginning to think about apple picking and what kind of pumpkin to carve. Time really does fly by.

Speaking of that, sometimes I can be a terrible blogger...letting a month pass by before posting. Fortunately while lurking around reading everyone else's blogs, I eventually get motivated. Sometimes I wonder about bloggers that show up and then disappear forever. Even though most of us don't get to meet in person, we know each other on some level. Has any one ever emailed one of the bloggers that fell off the map just to see how they are doing?

The sourdough starter I got from a friend is gradually taking over the country. It has now been shipped to NY, NH, WA, and CA. Soon I will be mailing some to OH and VA. It is pretty neat to see how it is passed around and kind of amazing to imagine how many generations kept it going after making it through the Oregon Trail.

On to food stuffs...

The supermarket had the mondo green peppers. Of course, I didn't buy them as green peppers fall into the category of "Foods Jody Despises."


The family got together for Rosh Hashanah dinner last week. My dad's girlfriend is always very aware and cooks special dishes for me. She made some squash soup and almond rice. She was also sure to pickup hummus, tabbouli, babaganoush, and my favorite pita bread. Between all that and the side dishes, I had a full belly.

My aunt also cooked up some wonderful vegan desserts using margarine and egg replacer. She made a lemon apricot cake and also some molasses clove cookies.



I'd tested a batch of Mocha Snickerdoodles to bring, but didn't make more after my aunt mentioned veganizing her recipes for me. These cookies were adapted from Celine's recipe for Chai Snickerdoodles on her blog Have Cake Will Travel.


This weekend my aunt and I went for a hike at one of my favorite parks. The weather was beautiful. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera. Here's a quick shot from my phone.


Ok some Lolo/VeganYumYum testers:

Sugar and Spice Snap Peas


Roasted Eggplant and Caramelized Onion Marinara over red quinoa


Creamy Broccoli Mushroom Bake The side salad is something that I learned about from B&B at the PPKer picnic. Raw beets, roasted corn, arrugula, with lime and cumin.


Up soon, more testers for Melody and some other random recipes I want to try.

August Wrap up...

I'll be the first to admit, I'm terrible at keeping up with blogging. I've got a whole months worth of pictures that I've failed to post. I'm also always lurking around at other blogs and need to get into the habit of commenting more.

Let's see...

A few weekends back I was in Ithaca for a wedding with a friend of mine. I was most excited about this because I'd finally get to eat at Moosewood. We met up with another pal and headed over there for dinner. Unfortunately only a handful of dishes are vegan. I had the African Stew with grilled tofu.

Here's a shot from the outside of Moosewood


The stew...


The wedding was at the interfaith church on Ithaca college's campus. The church is pretty neat and located on a little man made pond.



Ithaca iteself, was very veg friendly and kind of crunchy. It reminded me a little bit of Burlington, VT. The co-op there was great and I dragged my friends around there looking at everything for at least an hour. We tried cactus jerky...not a fan.

I saw this newspaper box when we were out and walking around. Isn't it cute?


The folks at the wedding we attended, decided to have cupcakes instead of wedding cake. They asked us to bring vegan cupcakes. I cooked up chocolate mint, chocolate almond, agave, and peanut butter cupcakes and brought them along. When we got to Ithaca, we ganached and sprinkled them.

The chocolate mint/almond ones...


Agave and PB


On the way back from Ithaca we stopped in to meet Bazu and Daiku. Bazu cooked up some wonderful lunch and snacks for us and we had lots of fun hanging out with them. Check out the post on Where the Revolution?, to see what Bazu cooked. ---Thanks guys!

What else? Well, I am always cooking with the sourdough. It needs to be fed once a week. Usually I just make some variation of pancakes because it is simple.

This morning, I made plain and peach sourdough pancakes.

Cooking


Finished


Speaking of sourdough, Marti over at Tofu and Sprouts had always wanted sourdough starter. I offered to try sending her some. I mixed in extra flour and dried it out a bit. Then dropped it in the mail to go cross country. Neither us were sure how it would go, but it worked out wonderfully. Check out Marti's post on her first sourdough recipe.

One more sourdough photo. I made this wonderful recipe I found online as got two perfect loaves of bread.





Ok, I've got a few Lolo Cookbook tester recipes to post later in the week and I've also started testing for Melody over at Melomeals.

I'll checking out everyone's blogs this week.

Blueberries, Sourdough, NYC

Hope everyone is having a great summer.

Between plans, yard work, the office, cooking...it seems like I never get around to blogging.

Let's see, a few weeks back I went blueberry picking at a local farm. I picked 3.5 pounds of blueberries!

The local farmer's markets are great, I only wish I had started finding them sooner. If you are in Massachusetts, you can find markets near you on this site.

I'm also enjoying my 1/2 share at the CSA this year. Right now, they are picking onions, zucchini, squash, tomatoes and beans.

Here's what I've been cooking:
Crazy Vegetable Fried Rice a VeganYumYum tester recipe for Lolo's upcoming cookbook


Blueberry Pancakes - Recipe from The Rabbit Food cookbook


Tomato Cream Sauce with zukes and whole wheat pasta, also from VYY.


A friend of mine shared some sourdough starter which was passed down from the travelers on the Oregon Trail. I've been fooling around with that. So far, I've been successful with pancakes and waffles. I did make some biscuits that turned out, ok. The bread was not so tasty. If you've got sourdough recipes, please share.

Blueberry sourdough pancakes and waffles




Last weekend I met up with some PPKers for a picnic in Brooklyn. Though I took lots of photos, I really didn't get around to uploading them all. I brought lavender lemonade, chopped veggies from the farm, and Romanian cucumber salad. Some of the other food included: homemade hummus, beet and corn salad, macaroni salad, potato salad, quinoa salad, cherry ginger cookies, brownies, and earl grey cookies. The folks I met were really great.

After the picnic I had hoped to try one of NYC's famous vegan restaurants. Unfortunately, no one was hungry---if you can believe that. So, we decided to have some coffee and see if we could possible manage more food later.

The place we randomly picked is called the Cocoa Bar. We saw soymilk on the menu, so we sat down. When the waiter arrived, we asked about which drinks could be made with soy. He informed us that they have a whole vegan menu including 3 cakes. That would never happen in Boston. It is funny, the desserts that are vegan are not labeled as such on their regular menu either.

At any rate the 7 of us split 3 slices of cake and that was the end of our eating spree. Behold the 3 cakes. (Choc Death, PB Bomb, and Oreo)

Cupcakes, test recipes, lovin' summer

This weekend a friend's cousin was visiting and we headed to CT to see Gillette Castle. I packed a picnic for us which consisted of homemade New Farm cookbook rolls with greens and veggie burgers. The burgers are a test recipe from Veganyumyum's upcoming cookbook. They are mighty tasty seitan, corn and black bean burgers.

Here's a quick pic of the patties.

The castle is really neat. I took many pictures of it. This is one of my favorites.

After the castle, we stopped at another little park called Devil's Hopyard. There was a cute little waterfall there.Cupcakes were requested by our visitor, so I made pumpkin chocolate chip and gingerbread from VCTOTW.

With cream cheese frosting
Mini zucchini breads using extra CSA zukes

My lunch from a week ago. Homemade tabbouli, store bought hummus, farmer's market green beans with hoisin sauce and cracked red pepper, and sauteed green's. The greens have some leftover alfedo sauce which is also a veganyumyum tester recipe.
I've got lots more pics and post that I'll get to eventually.