Bruschetta bellissimo!

Oh, the age old question - is it broo-sket-uh or broo-shet-uh? The first one! I will never forget this because bruschetta was my fall back meal in Italy, and for my first meal I was corrected very loudly for mispronouncing it by a waiter who mocked me in a New York accent! This was only fitting after my repeatedly-setting-off-the-alarm-in-the-bank-ordeal, but I still turned red as tomato!

After getting lots of local yummies at the farmers market this weekend (tomatoes, potatoes, basil, apples, cilantro, onions, peppers, zucchini, garlic, kale, and some more tomatoes), Jesse couldn't wait to make bruschetta for dinner! He even set everything up all pretty-like so that I could take a photo for "my blog thingy." Sorry for the crappy quality photos, I left my camera at a friend's place!

Chop up all your veggies (and your apple... it's good, I promise!) and have some vino!

Mix it all up in a bowl with olive oil and balsamic to taste
*If fresh garlic gives you heartburn like it does me, roast some garlic ahead of time!

Now, drizzle some olive oil on your baguette, and toast that baby up!
If using roasted garlic, "butter" your baguette with it before popping it in the oven.

Fresh, local, and quick dinner is served!

A VeganMoFo survey!

I saw this fun survey on VeganShizzle, and couldn't help but take it myself! I added a question to the bottom, and you should do the same!

1. Favorite non-dairy milk?
Hazelnut! Chocolate almond is a close second!

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?
A good soup now that the weather is cooling down, an apple/pear crisp or cobbler, and whatever is next to test for Vegan Crunk!

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?
Popcorn is gross!

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?
Every pancake I ever made until I tried Isa's basic recipe in VWAV.

5. Favorite pickled item?
Hot peppers!

6. How do you organize your recipes?
I stick loose recipes under the spoon and fork sorter thingy in a kitchen drawer. There are so many I can barely open the drawer... maybe I should organize that someday! Put 'em in a binder or something.

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?
I live on the 3rd floor of a 100 year old apartment building with no outdoor space or modern things like a garbage disposal, so trash by default.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods...what would they be (don't worry about how you'll cook them)?
guacamole, dark chocolate, and mussaman curry!

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?
A few doors down lived Besta and Papa, the sweetest old couple in the whole world. Their grandkids were my age and visited often, so I spent a lot of time at their house. When I spent the night, Besta would make us Norwegian pancakes in the morning :) RIP Besta and Papa!

10. Favorite vegan ice cream?
I really like the Tempt Hemp stuff, in whatever chocolate flavor, as well as Coconut Bliss. My teeth are very sensitive to cold, so I don't eat icecream very much.

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?
Japanese rice cooker that Phanny gave me!

12. Spice/herb you would die without?
Cilantro

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?
The Higher Taste, a Hare Krishna gave it to me when I was a teenager.

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?
Strawberry freezer jam! Nothing compares to its deliciousness!

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?
Desserts seem to be the way to go, so brownies, cupcakes, cookies.

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?
Tofu!

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?
Breakfast because then it's the weekend!

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?
Jar of walnuts, jar of brown rice, jar of lentils, jar of quinoa, VWAV, french press, coffee bean grinder, Tapatio, red wine vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce (we have very little storage space in our kitchen!).

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.
Corn, black bean Gardenburgers, blueberries.

20. What's on your grocery list?
We don't have a car, so I do frequent visits to many grocery stores. Tortilla chips, bagels, veggies, almond milk, nooch, tofu, and I need to get over to Food Fight and try some Daiya cheese!

21. Favorite grocery store?
Trader Joe's. I love a good deal!

22. Name a recipe you'd love to veganize, but haven't yet.
This is not really my area...

23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa's because I know you check it everyday). Vegan Crunk probably! Though I have about 30 that I read regularly.

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?
Vegan truffles from Missionary Chocolates.

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?
Does a $20 bottle of Rose marked down to $9 count? I'm really a penny pincher, so I can't think of anything else!

26. Ingredients you are scared to work with?

Yeast! It's weird!

27. Favorite food cart?

I love Saigon Kitchen at PSU and eat there at least once a week, but Asaasse Ital is a new favorite as well.

28. Top 3 favorite cuisines!
Thai, Mexican, Lebanese.

Have a great weekend!!! xoxo Chelsea

Happy VeganMoFo!!!

I can't believe it's been a whole year since the last VeganMoFo! I miraculously posted every day last time, but am sticking with the VeganMoFo goal of posting every weekday for this time around. I'm so excited to read all of your awesome blogs, try out recipes, spend more time at the farmers markets, and take lots of fun vegan-centric surveys (and maybe some freezer-tag???)!

And now, for the first day of the Vegan Month of Food, I present - a post on vegan makeup! Say, what?!? I know, I know, you can't eat it, but...... long story short, some jerk almost hit me on my bike yesterday, and swerving to avoid him, I crashed. Nothing major, but when I woke up today my body was wicked sore! So I left work after an hour and a half and laid around all day feeling sorry for myself, checking my Facebook, and eating Tofurkey brats. You all know the brat is where it's at, so I thought I'd share my recent love for Urban Decay Cosmetics instead.



A month or so ago, I saw a post on the PPK including a coupon code for like 30% off your entire order at Urbandecay.com! Urban Decay is a cruelty-free company, but only about half of their products are vegan, so make sure you see the purple paw print before ordering! Being the thrifty, glitter-loving vegan that I am, I couldn't resist some new lip stuff. I managed to limit myself to three: lipstick in Gravity (reddish purple), Ultraglide lip gloss in Gash (dark red), and XXX Shine lip gloss in Joyride (glittery bright pink).

Lipstick: B+. Long lasting and applies evenly, but without being thick at all. The only negative is that it isn't as shiny on the lips as it appears in the tube.

Ultraglide: C-. This gloss loses big points for being way too sticky! I can only wear it when my hair is pulled back, or try to discreetly peel the stray hairs off my lips all day. Not cool! It also isn't as shimmery as it appears in the tube.

XXX Shine: A+! I loooooooove this stuff! It's pretty, has visible glittery-shimmer, and gets bonus points for the minty freshness it gives the lips upon application!

Another thing I love about Urban Decay - each package states after the ingredients list: "We don't do animal testing. How could anyone?" Agreed!

A Vegan Crunk tester, and activists vs. mall cops!

Oh man, is it a sweet deal to be a recipe tester! The pickin's are pretty slim for cajun and southern foods, let alone vegan-style, here in Portland. So it was quite a treat to have tempeh gumbo for dinner last night! Nice job, Bianca!

Tempeh Gumbo and whole wheat french bread

Newsflash!

Remember a few months ago when the Radical Cheerleaders for Animal Rights were cheering about puppy mills in front of Scamp's in Lloyd Center? And as they were leaving a fellow activist was thrown to the ground and arrested? Well, Lloyd Center has dropped it's charges against Matt Rossell and lifted his 4 year ban from the premises in exchange for his promise not to sue. But there's an even bigger victory! Scamp's has closed all of it's doors! Check out this write-up in the Oregonian http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/08/animal_rights_protester_makes.html

A Sunday morning decadent breakfast

A few weeks ago, we were at Jesse's parents' house for dinner. I made sure to bring my vegan additions for dinner, but totally forgot to ask what was for dessert (we never really eat dessert at home), so I missed out on strawberry shortcake. Actually, I had a giant bowl of strawberries, so I was fine with it. But what really surprised me was that they made shortcakes, and that they looked like scones rather than the spongy, store-bought shortcakes I remember from my childhood. I was intrigued and decided I had to make my own! I got strawberries at the farmers market yesterday, so today was the day!

I've made scones once, and while I liked them a lot, I perused my other cookbooks this morning hoping to find a simpler recipe. Isa Moskowitz to the rescue! The basic scone recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance only required staple ingredients that I always have (the Joy of Vegan Baking recipe uses soy butter, which I usually don't have around) and only took 20 minutes from start to finish! My plan was to top my strawberry shortcake with icecream, but I used the last of my coffee creamer for the scones and put the icecream in my coffee instead. Yum yum!

Shout out to Jess for the (soy) icecream in coffee idea!

Cute little scones just out of the oven

This is what happens when I clean off the coffee table

Cookie using all of her willpower not to attack Zoey's tail

I hope you all had a fun and delicious weekend! xoxo Chelsea

Samuel Smith's Organic Raspberry Ale

I really wanted framboise this evening, but was feeling too cheap to buy it, so I decided to try Samuel Smith's Organic Raspberry Ale. All Samuel Smith beers are certified vegan by The Vegan Society - how cool is that?!? I found it to be more beery and less fruity than framboise (though I think that's actually malt liquor and not beer?), but still very tasty and refreshing. It's also available in strawberry and cherry.

Cheers! xoxo Chelsea

P.S. Cookie says hello!

New shoes! Wahoo!

You know I love me some cute vegan shoes, and I can't pass up an amazing deal! So when I saw a post on the PPK about a website selling J-41's for $19.99, I had to get two pairs! I've always been intrigued by their eco-friendliness, Jeep technology, and soy-based inks... but way too cheap to buy a pair. About half of the J-41's on the website were vegan, but I don't know if that's true for J-41's in general.

J-41 Seville, cute and shiny!

Not as sporty as I was expecting (yay!)

J-41 Palm Vegan, make my feet look big, but they are! So that's ok :)

P.S. Sorry ladies, but it appears the sale was only a one day thing! Check www.6pm.com for other crazy deals :)