Giveaway Winners, I am Looking at You!

The winner of Caribbean Vegan is joyfulgirl415! Congratulations! and . . .

The winner of the PPK swag and loot giveaway is Rachell37. Congratulations! And . . .

Rachell37 has graciously said in her comment that she'd like to share her coupons with someone in the USA, and . . . that person is PeanuttyPrincess! Congratulations! You will receive coupons and some loot from Amy's. And . . .

I'm still waiting to hear from Sarah C., who won a copy of the upcoming The Inspired Vegan, and Carolyn, who won a copy of the Sunny Days fundraising cook zine. If I don't hear from you, I will choose another winner. So . . .

Please all four of you send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (Be sure to click on the ellipses for the rest of the email address, or alternatively use your intuition!)

Happy Vegan MoFo! Finis.

Giveaway: Caribbean Vegan!

Today is the last day of MoFo, and so I have saved my personal favorite for last. Today is a giveaway for Taymer Mason's Caribbean Vegan! I was a tester for this cookbook so I have lots of photos.


Made and loved: Island burger on salt bread with sauce chien, fried plantains, sweet potato fries, and coleslaw. I actually want to eat this right now.


Made and loved: Creole spaghetti.


Made and loved: Caribbean potato salad.


Made and loved: To-fish.


Made and super-double-puffy-heart loved: Trinidadian doubles! You have here layered bara (my bara breads are not supposed to have a greenish cast--I used green split pea flour instead of yellow. Don't tell Taymer I put this photo up.) covered with curried chick peas covered with layers of cucumber chutney and mango chutney. This is Trinidadian street food. You buy it just like above except rolled in waxed paper with the ends twisted. You can sort of see the rolled up one in the background.


Made and loved: split pea soup made with Taymer's amazing everyday vegan ham and wet Bajan seasoning (that is the wet seasoning below).


Made and loved and you will have to imagine it: hearts of palm and tofu scramble, christophenes farci, Caribbean pilau, basil tea, thyme tea, and peanut punch. There were only two or three recipes in this book that I've tried that were not stand-outs for me, and they are beloved by everyone else, so I think it's just a personal preference thing.

Want to make, to start: banana bread, sorrel drink, mashed green bananas, lentil patties, and Bajan stew with dumplings.

Seriously, I love this cookbook. I love the way Taymer thinks and writes about food. I love how she can execute. Have you seen her blog Vegan in the Sun (currently on hiatus, but hopefully more to come)? She can do Caribbean and she can do French, and she is really, really talented. The flavor profile of the everyday vegan ham is spot on in my opinion. This past summer she was experimenting with different vegan ice cream bases, and they were stunning.

Besides fantastic recipes throughout, Tay is funny and spends a lot of time giving you a real feel for the islands. The photos are gorgeous. There's no vegan cookbook like this one. So, obviously you need your own copy. And you're in luck, because The Experiment has been kind enough to provide a copy for the very last day of MoFo! Thank you, Molly and the rest of the company!


To enter, please leave a comment below. Tell me which recipe you might try first, or where you've been or want to go in the Caribbean, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to US residents only. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow.

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The winner of yesterday's giveaway for the upcoming Inspired Vegan is Sarah C!
Congratulations to you! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (Be sure to click on the ellipses for the rest of the email address, or alternatively use your intuition!)

Giveaway: Bryant Terry's Upcoming Cookbook The Inspired Vegan!

Today I have for you a giveaway for Bryant Terry's upcoming cookbook, The Inspired Vegan: Seasonal Ingredients, Creative Recipes, Mouthwatering Menus! I am very pleased that Bryant Terry and Perseus Books have provided a promise for a copy of this soon-to-be-released title. The winner will receive their copy upon the cookbook's release in late January 2012. Thank you so much to both Bryant Terry and Perseus for their generosity!

An excerpt from the back cover: Marking his 10-year anniversary working to create a healthy, just, and sustainable food system, Bryant Terry offers more than just a collection of recipes. In the spirit of jazz jam sessions and hip hop ciphers, The Inspired Vegan presents a collage of food, storytelling, music, and art. Bryant shares his favorite preparation / cooking techniques and simple recipes—basics to help strengthen your foundation for home cooking and equip you with tools for culinary improvisation and kitchen creativity. He also invites us to his table to enjoy seasonal menus inspired by family memories, social movements, unsung radical heroes, and visions for the future. Ultimately, The Inspired Vegan will help you become proficient in creating satisfying meals that use whole, fresh, seasonal ingredients and are nutritionally balanced—and full of surprising, mouthwatering flavor combinations. With Recipes For Savory Grits with Sautéed Broad Beans, and Roasted Fennel, Rustic Johnny Cakes with Caramelized Onion Relish, Jerk Tempeh with Cilantro Sauce, Café Brulot Lace Cookies, Molasses, Miso, and Maple Candied Sweet Potatoes, Roasted Winter Vegetable Jambalaya, and more.

I'm sold. I am totally sold. I love Bryant Terry's cooking style, I love the sound of all of these, and I want to try the savory grits with sautéed broad beans right this minute!

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below. Tell me what inspires you, or tell me which of the above recipes you'd like to make first, or tell me anything at all. This giveaway is open to US residents only. The very lucky winner will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway.

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The Super-Special PPKer Giveaway is still going strong. If you PPK, please enter here!

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The winners of yesterday's Vegucated giveaway is Amey! Congratulations! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.) Remember, you'll receive this DVD in December upon store opening!

Super-Special PPK Swag and Loot Giveaway!

This is an extra giveaway for PPKers, because it features some beautiful things made by PPKers! Feast your eyes on a deliciously enticing Sunny Days cook zine (with recipes by lazysmurf, mollyjade, mo, ctate, inmypies, and many more) awesome issue three of Soyfucker by erica soyfucker, fantastic Tofu Pirate zine and buttons by the loveliest Panda With Cookie, three beautiful cards and a button made by Vegan Eats and Treats herself, and an adorable sleepy hedgehog keychain made by Vegancraftastic. There are also stickers from Food Fight, a cute patch from Vaute Couture, a coloring book from Dave's Killer Bread, free product coupons (from Earth Balance, Ethnic Gourmet, and Tempt), and chocolate and vanilla Protein Energizer powders (from the generous folks at Rainbow Light) for your smoothies. Not pictured but also included is a super-cute pair of bunny-covered chopsticks. I will also be sending in box tops to Amy's for you, so you will receive a gift pack from them containing free product coupons and other goodies. Loot for you! Do you want to win? I want you to win. Yes, you!

Have you already entered a giveaway this month? No problem. Please enter if you like.
Are your products featured above? No problem. Please enter if you like. If you win, I'll send your product to a second winner.

To enter the giveaway, be a PPKer and leave a comment below. Please make sure to tell me who you are on the boards if it's not obvious. Tell me a thing you love about the PPK, or talk about PPKers' products you love, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to PPKers everywhere, whether you are in Seoul, San Diego, or Sydney! The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and posted on October 31st.

Giveaway: Vegucated Documentary!

I've told you before about my lovely August. Because of the Cosmopolitan Hour duo, I was able to attend Vida Vegan Con, which was wonderful. Tied to the conference was a pre-screening of a new vegan documentary film, Vegucated. And it too is wonderful. The multi-award-winning documentary follows three decidedly omnivorous New Yorkers as they give up their standard diet and do a six-week vegan challenge, learning more about benefits of veganism along the way. The documentary is nothing short of fantastic. It's funny, compelling, and accessible. It's not preachy or overstated or holier-than-thou. The director Marissa Miller Wolfson is in the movie throughout, coaching the three on shopping, teaching them about factory farming, visiting a farm animal sanctuary, and providing support. I loved it. Everyone else at the screening loved it. It keeps winning awards (most recently best documentary at the Toronto Independent Film Festival, so I think it's safe to say it's generally loved. If you haven't had the pleasure of watching it yet, and even if you have, you probably want it. Imagine the possibilities for outreach!

(Oh, and you definitely want the t-shirt, designed by Vaute Couture's Leanne Hilgart!)

One way to see it is to attend a screening; check the website or their Facebook page to check out whether the tour is coming to your neck of the woods. Another way to see it is to keep an eye on their online store, set to go live in December. Another way is to enter a giveaway for it right here! The lovely people behind Vegucated would like to provide one code for a free copy of Vegucated from their online store, available upon store launch next month! I'm excited. Are you excited? Of course you are.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this post. Tell me who you would most like to vegucate, or tell me something you liked about the trailer above, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to US residents only, but others this month are open to everybody everywhere. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you win a giveaway on this blog at some point this month, please be kind and don't enter further giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible!

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The winner of yesterday's 30-Day Vegan Challenge is Kim! Congratulations to you! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)

Giveaway: The 30 Day Vegan Challenge!

Today Colleen Patrick-Goudreau has graciously offered up a second copy of The Thirty Day Vegan Challenge! Says The Chicago Examiner, "[Patrick-Goudreau] excels in demystifying something that feels unobtainable to many people--vegan living--and...distills it into practical steps and information without dumbing it down. Colleen is like your best friend: supporting you but also encouraging you to live up to your potential....I recommend [this book] for anyone who has struggled with trying to go vegan in the past, or would like to try it for the first time. For those of us who are tried-and-true vegans, I also recommend the book for its...common sense approach to...compassionate living. Plus, recipes! Get this book as a gift for yourself, your friends, and family." I have seen this book, and I think it's beautiful, like all of her books. I wish I could be the winner!

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below. Tell me a challenge you struggled with, or when you went vegan, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to everybody everywhere, whether you are in Seoul, San Diego, or Sydney! The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you win a giveaway on this blog at some point this month, please be kind and don't enter further giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible!

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The winner of yesterday's Five Paw Collection giveaway from Rescue Chocolates is tammywarber! Congratulations! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)

Giveaway! The Five Paw Collection from Rescue Chocolate!

I have for you today a sweet sweet giveaway. It's the Five Paw Collection from Rescue Chocolate! Do you know about this wonderful company? They give all net profits to animal rescue, and the chocolate is divine. Have a look here to see who they have donated to and who they partner with, and then come back here, because one lucky winner will get five chocolate bars, namely:

• 1 Peanut Butter Pit Bull
• 1 Mission Feral Fig
• 1 Foster-iffic Peppermint
• 1 Pick Me! Pepper
• 1 The Fix

Thank you so much to Rescue Chocolate for your generosity. f you don't win, I suggest you visit the online shop directly!

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this post. Tell me which of the five chocolate bars is calling your name, or which animal aid organization is dearest to your heart, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to US residents only, but others this month are open to everybody everywhere. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you win a giveaway on this blog at some point this month, please be kind and don't enter further giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible!

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The winner of yesterday's American Vegan Kitchen giveaway is Babette! Congratulations to you! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)

Afternoon with AndyDufresne, and a Giveaway: The Wonderful American Vegan Kitchen!

Today I had the pleasure of having lunch with a vegan blogger you might know of, the charming AndyDufresne from the PPK and the blog In My Vegan Life. We went to an all-vegan Chinese restaurant called Green Wok and had the lunch buffet. It was medium-fine, with a standout being eggplant in a tangy sauce. The hot and sour soup was tasty too. I took photos on my phone, but they are not coming through to my email address, so hmph. Anyway, Portland is vegan mecca--who else has the luxury of an all-vegan buffet at an all-vegan Chinese restaurant? After we finished, I practiced some homework on Andy, who was very patient, and a man came over to offer us homegrown kiwiberries and another fruit. I want to say they were olive berries. We both accepted happily before realizing that we were eating food from a stranger! Andy remarked that she tended to believe the best about other vegans, and I like that line of thinking.

After lunch we made our way to Barbur World Foods to get amazing zaatar pizza and falafel and baklava for later! You should check out Andy's blog to see her haul. While we were waiting for some falafel, a kitchen employee rolled her eyes and loudly muttered in response to a question about whether some cookies were vegan, and Andy and I gave each other a look. So I think we were both kind of floored when she walked back over and started asking questions about being vegan, vegan baking, vegan health, motivations, etc. Not just one or two questions. I think we spoke with her for a good ten or fifteen minutes, and she was listening. She chose to ask us, and she listened to us wax positive. She took it in. Maybe she will take it further. It was pretty wonderful to speak from the heart, and pretty wonderful to speak in tandem with another vegan who I know is passionate about veganism. I will remember this. Thank you, Eloquent Andy, for your spontaneous advocacy! Inspired and inspiring.

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After Chinese and Middle Easter fare today, I am ready for some American food. Today's giveaway is for American Vegan Kitchen by Tamasin Noyes, a book generously donated by Vegan Heritage Press! I was lucky enough to win a copy of this during last year's MoFo from The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur, and I really love it, especially the Incrediburgers and the Greek Town Gyros. You may be the lucky winner and maybe you'll even give one away on your blog next MoFo!

The PPK has posted five pages of their use of this book, plus another cookbook challenge thread, and here are their very favorites. This was super fun to do because people had made almost everything and nearly everybody was raving about how good that particular recipe was!

1. The favorites were Green Town Gyros and 50/50 Burger Buns,
2. . . . closely followed by Garlic Ribz and Deep-Fried Avocado Wedges,
3. . . . flanked by Tater Tot Pie, Tuna-Free Noodle Casserole, and Cinnacrunch Muffins,
4. . . . not to be outdone by Incrediburgers, Savory Wheat-Meat Loaf, Chicago Deep Dish Pizza, Cheezy Mayo, and Coffee Cake,
5. . . . followed by, seriously, everything else. Everyone loved what they made, to the tune of 85 separate ravings. Serious affection. And that was the one thread. There are more on the PPK, and there are the Amazon.com raves too, and that's just what I know about. If you are cooking vegan, this cookbook is simply a standard.

So why don't you have this book? You need this cookbook in your life! Also, psst: I do hear rumblings that Tamasin is writing a sandwich book with Celine Steen right about now. Keep your ear to the ground and your eyes peeled for this. The photos I've seen have been amazing and testers are loving the recipes.

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To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this post. Tell me your about your favorite diner food, something in your kitchen, your favorite sandwich, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to everybody everywhere, no matter where you live! The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you win a giveaway on this blog at some point this month, please be kind and don't enter further giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible!

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The winner of yesterday's Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet giveaway is jacblades! Congratulations to you! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)

Giveaway! The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet

Hi, you guys, I am too tired to be original, boo. But yay, I am getting right to the giveaway, and you are going to love it! It's for The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet: 101 Globally Inspired Vegan Creations Packed with Fresh Flavors and Exciting New Tastes, by Joni Marie Newman. Joni has generously donated a copy for you! I don't have this cookbook but I want it. I have Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster Appetites, which she co-wrote with Celine Steen, and I love it. I can safely tell you that I wish I could be this giveaway winner. One of you is going to be lucky! Since I don't have a copy myself, I went looking for expert reviews.

The PPK has posted eight pages of wish-lists and I-mades from this book, and the verdict comes to a total of 78 raves about recipes, far, far outweighing anything less positive. This includes Isa's post that the four she tried were wonderful. One guy's only post on the entire board ever was to rave about four of the recipes and say he was eating one right at the moment. Want to hear more? The top five spaces are occupied by

1. Bacon cheeseburgers, the clear winner
2. Agave wheat buns and sweet potato chipotle burgers in a tie
3. Garlicky ranch potato burgers
4. Jalapeno cornbread burgers, super quinoa burgers, noochy burgers, and tofu egg salad sammy
5. Earth burgers, black bean BBQ burgers, PB & J burgers, bacon and egg burgers, and chicken salad sammy

Also receiving love: cheese-stuffed seitan burgers, ortega burgers, Jamaican jerk burgers, Trifecta burgers, avocado bacon burgers, zucchini mushroom burgers, potato samosa burgers, curried split pea burgers, meatloaf burgers, pinto rice burgers, enchilada burgers, baba ghanoush burgers, mushroom chicken burgers, dal burgers, really meaty burgers, sun-dried tomato pesto burger, sweet potato buns, bagel buns, cilantro lime rice, BBQ sauce, creamy BBQ coleslaw, Mediterranean pasta salad, bacon bits, and homemade tofu mayo.

On top of the exclamations of joy which make up the majority of the thread, here are a few quotes:

Bekki said: I'm impressed so far just looking at this one. Plus, there are 101 veggie burgers, PLUS condiments, some sides, breads, and desserts, which excited me....it's like 20 or 30 bonus recipes!

Janejellyroll said: I got this cookbook Tuesday afternoon -- I haven't made anything yet, but it is one of the most exciting and original cookbooks I've seen. I can't wait to make burgers this weekend!

Efcliz said: I've made 2 burgers in 2 days - the pinto rice burger yesterday and the super quinoa burgers tonight. Both excellent.

Lovechild said: The agave buns are the best buns in the world. I don't see any reason to use another recipe ever.

ieatgrains said: I just picked up this book. Any recipe which instructs me to slice off a piece of ham-flavored seitan to chew on while I prepare the rest of the recipe is alright with me. Amen.

The PPK is also doing a cook-along from this book this week, so you may want to go have a look in the cookbooks forum for it. By the way, Joni posted her recipe for Jamaican jerk burgers on her blog if you'd like to see it. If you poke around, you might find additional recipes.

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Ready? Ready. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this post. Tell me your favorite veggie, what burger recipe in the book you would make first, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to US residents only, but others this month will be open to everybody everywhere. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you win a giveaway on this blog at some point this month, please be kind and don't enter further giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible!

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I left somebody off of my blog suggestions yesterday. If you don't know Vegan in Brighton, you are missing out! Jojo is awesome.

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The winner of yesterday's Food for Lovers queso recipe is Panda with Cookie! Congratulations to you! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. Eh, also, Rabbit Food, I am waiting for your contact details! (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)

Shout-outs to MoFo Bloggers, and a Food for Lovers Queso Giveaway!

This is a Rapunzel of Queso upon a tower of vegan cookbooks, see?

There's a Liebster Award thing going around? Three lovely people have bestowed it upon me, so thank you! I gather that it's to promote lesser known blogs. I think it's super nice that there's all of this vegan good will going around, yay! I don't want to chain-blog/make anyone feel obligated to repost, so instead of doing something formal, today I will just point you to the lovely people who have done a shout-out for me, plus two more who re-tweet my giveaways without being asked, plus more that I love just because.

So! If you are looking for some great vegan blogs, please visit (among many many others) Cupcake Kitteh, Hobby and More, In My Vegan Life, It's Raining Kale, Lazy Smurf, Mo Betta Vegan, Naked Vegan Lunch, Panda with Cookie, Phoenix Dreaming, Prairie Vegan, Three and a Half Vegans, Vegan Cookbook Afficianado, Vegan Eats & Treats, Vegan Explosion, and The Show Me Vegan (who veganized the Midwestern tenderloin sandwich! That is a piece of seitan bigger than your face on a bun the size of the palm of your hand.)



Then when you are done browsing, come back here. Bring with you something that likes queso, and no I do not mean your dog or cat or your girlfriend. I mean bring some chips, or a tostada, or a tortilla, or a baked potato or three. Because today's giveaway is for the best queso you will ever put in your mouth! I have it in my refrigerator at all times now that I have a local source for it. (I was so excited when I saw it that I squealed and took a photo. The photo above is not that photo. It is, however, my very own jar of queso.) A jar of it is going to every omni member of my family for the holidays. It's delicious, it's good for you, it's vegan, and it's made out of Austin, Texas, by the nicest couple you could ever want to meet.


Of course it is Food for Lovers vegan queso! The fine proprietors Chris and Crystal have a jar just for you! To enter, leave a comment on this page. Tell me why you deserve to win, or tell me what you would put your queso on, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to US residents only, but others this month will be open to everybody everywhere. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you win a giveaway on this blog at some point this month, please be kind and don't enter further giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible!

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The winner of yesterday's Viva Vegan! giveaway is Rabbit Food! Congratulations! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)

Tester Peek, Viva Vegan Seitan and Chorizo, and a Giveaway for Viva Vegan!

Terry Hope Romero has been writing recipes for her next cookbook! I received word just yesterday that I could count myself amongst the lucky testers. Of course I couldn't wait to get started, so what you see above is a bowl of delicious Asian miso-y soup. If this recipe is any hint of what's to come, testing is going to be amazing . . . and so is the cookbook.

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So it's fitting that today's giveaway is for the wonderful cookbook Viva Vegan! This Latino food cookbook is by Terry Hope Romero, who I hope you know is also co-author of the just-released Vegan Pie in the Sky amongst others. If you don't have this amazing cookbook, you need it, because it's wonderful. (Just ask Kitteh, who regularly blogs about her Viva Vegan meals.) The giveaway is brought to you by the lovely people over at Da Capo Lifelong, who have furnished a number of titles for giveaways on this blog. (Thank you, Lindsey, and everybody else!) Please consider having a look at their website, and/or following them on Twitter and Facebook, because they are seriously generous. They also publish beautiful and useful vegan books, like Isa and Terry's dessert trio, and many more.


I especially love the seitan recipes in Viva Vegan. Here is a batch of steamed white seitan, a double batch of steamed red seitan, and a batch of chorizo sausages all ready for the freezer. To enter this giveaway, leave a comment below. Tell me about your favorite Latin food, something you'd like to veganize, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada, but others this month will be open to everybody everywhere. The winner will be chosen by random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you win a giveaway on this blog at some point this month, please be kind and don't enter further giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible!

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The winner of the Dave's Killer Bread Good Seed Halos is Tahinitoo! Congratulations! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)

Flash Reuben, and a Dave's Killer Bread Halos Giveaway!

This is the Flash Reuben, which is all kinds of yum.

You make it like this:

1. Think about tonight's blog post. Inspiration in a thought bubble: reuben! Look at amount of daylight left. Panic.
2. Check pantry. Defrost Viva Vegan steamed red seitan and Dave's Killer Bread Rockin' Rye.
3. Dash to store to get sauerkraut (Bubbie's). Get accosted by kiwi-berry pusher in produce. Eat one kiwi-berry. Succumb to cajoling and agree to buy kiwi-berries. Dash home.
4. Slice seitan and preheat broiler.
5. Broil seitan slices three minutes per side.
6. While broiling, mix up thousand island dressing: 1-2 tablespoons each ketchup and Vegenaise, 1/2-1 teaspoons each capers and pickle relish, dash of black salt.
7. Toast rye bread.
8. Layer half the sauce on the bread. On go broiled seitan strips.
9. Remove about half a cup sauerkraut from jar. Squeeze moisture out over sink. Layer over seitan. Drizzle remaining sauce over, top with second piece of rye.
10. Look at daylight. Panic. Rush outside with camera, sandwich, and backdrop. Photograph from every angle, minimum 15 shots each.
11. Upload photos to computer. Choose least offensive, brighten, and crop.
12. Write post quickly so you don't forget what you did.
13. Schedule for publishing.
14. Hope that sandwich is not stone cold.

Variation: Skip steps 10-14. Eat hot.

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Of course I have another giveaway for you hungry vegans, and it's from Dave's Killer Bread!
Are you surprised? No, you are not. All of their bread is vegan, and it is the only bread I buy. Right now I have their Killer Cracked Wheat bread on my kitchen table, and Rockin' Rye (you know this already) and Blues Buns in my freezer. I dream about their Sin Dawgs--if you have access to them and are not buying them, I am concerned. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be a regular purchaser of their newest product too. That product would be DKB Halos, aka Good Seed evolved bagels! One lucky winner will win a package of these gorgeous things upon their launch on November 14. Don't they look so good? They give seedy a new meaning.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below. Tell me about your favorite Dave's Killer Bread product, or what you like on your bagel, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to US residents only, but others this month will be open to everybody everywhere. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you win a giveaway on this blog at some point this month, please be kind and don't enter further giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible!

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The winner of yesterday's Quick & Easy Vegan Bake Sale giveaway is Emmy! Congratulations! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)

Quick and Easy Vegan Bake Sale, and a Giveaway for the Same!

Have you seen this super-pretty cookbook? If you haven't, you should seek it out. For example,


Made and loved: gingered chocolate chip (here, chunk) cookies.


Made and loved: carrot and pineapple scones.

Made and loved sweet and you will have to imagine it: sticky toffee pudding cake (omg). This is very worth imagining. Also, zebra cake and everything cookies.


Made and loved: savory herbed crackers. Some made with animal cookie cutters. Aren't they cute?

Made and loved savory and you will have to imagine it: savory "cheesy" biscuits (omg), mini sausage rolls (omg), pesto (omg), pea-tarragon-cream cheese tart, sun-dried tomato-olive-sausage pie, savory pinwheels, tomato and herb biscotti.

Want to make: individual baklava, green tea lattice cookies, creamy dreamy lemon mousse pie, spanakopita loaf, asparagus and roasted garlic quiche. I mean, to start.

This cookbook is so user-friendly and lovely. I don't even want to give you a publisher's blurb--I want to tell you about it myself. On the title page is a poem written by Carla's eight year-old daughter. First up: a bake sale guideline, then history and cooking equipment, conversion chart, ingredients, photos, troubleshooting, a guide to how to bake for newer cooks, adapting/resizing recipes, substitutions, presentation, storage, and a guide to baking throughout the year. Comprehensive. And that is just the first 50 pages! From page 50 to 252 are more than 150 delicious recipes. Lists for avoiding specific sensitivities/allergens (soy, nut, wheat) and child-friendly recipes are noted.

Here are the ten recipes chosen by testers (I tested!) as favorites: orange and almond biscotti, reindeer squares, chai chocolate mini loaves, lemon and blueberry biscuits, coffee and caramel cupcakes, zebra cake (yes!), no-bake apricot cookies, chocolate pie, mini sausage rolls (see?), and pea-tarragon-cream cheese tart (yum!). And now I want the pesto again. It is my favorite recipe for pesto ever. If you don't have this book, don't you wonder why not?

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Carla has generously provided a copy for the MoFo giveaways here! I hope I have tantalized you enough, because this should be on your shelf, and stained from use. It will still be pretty, and you (and the people who you live with/bake for!) will be really happy.


To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below. Tell me about a vegan bake sale you baked for, or a vegan baked good you bought at one, or a vegan baked good you can't live without, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to everybody everywhere, whether you are in Seoul, San Diego, or Sydney. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you win a giveaway on this blog at some point this month, please be kind and don't enter further giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible!

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The winner of yesterday's Taza Mexicano Sampler giveaway is radioactivevegan! Congratulations! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)

Taza Chocolate and a Mexicano Sampler Giveaway!

Do you know about Taza? They are based in Somerville (a place I lived and love) adjacent to Cambridge, Massachusetts and across The Charles from Boston. They make traditional Mesoamerican chocolate. They make it ethically and sustainably. It's all organic and fair trade, and it happens to be vegan. Rather than read my blog today, I am going to send you over to their website to read about how the chocolate is made, from field to factory, step by step. It's here and it's super interesting. Actually, I think their whole website is kind of awesome. So poke around. There is a recipe for vegan cupcakes!

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So today's giveaway is for a fantastic Taza Mexicano Sampler! The winner will receive the above deliciousness, eight 1.5 OZ Chocolate Mexicano discs, one each of Cacao Puro, Chipotle Chili, Cinnamon, Ginger, Guajillo Chili, Orange, Salt & Pepper, and Vanilla Bean. Thank you to Taza for your generosity! These discs all sound just delectable

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below. Tell me what you like about Taza's website, or what you would like to make with this gorgeous chocolate, a dessert you think is delectable, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to US residents only, but others this month will be open to everybody everywhere. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you win a giveaway on this blog at some point this month, please be kind and don't enter further giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible!

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The winner of yesterday's Quick & Easy Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food giveaway is Art You Dream About! Congratulations! You'll receive this book upon its release in early January! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)

Quick and Easy Post, Tomatoes with Horns, and a Giveaway for Q&E Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food!

I looked at the computer tonight and thought: oh my god, I have to write a post! I'm tired! I have two 12-hour days coming up! So I considered. Quickly. Today's giveaway is quick and easy, I'm having an Amy's tofu scramble for dinner, why not make the post itself quick and easy?
So I present to you something amazing, but something some of you (PPK) may have seen before: adjacent horned tomatoes. They were growing on a plant I was tomato-sitting in August and September. Here they are ripe.

Hoveringdog suggested saving the seeds and see if I could grow more tomatoes with horns next year. I had to give one of the tomatoes back with the plant, but I have the seeds from one of them. You might see another post like this next MoFo.

There, quick and easy, and the microwave has beeped.

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Now! Your giveaway today is Alicia Simpson's third cookbook, Quick and Easy Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food! Or rather, the promise of a cookbook. The Experiment Publishing will send the giveaway winner a copy of this cookbook upon its release in early January. Many thanks to The Experiment! Doesn't that cover make you want to know more? Much more?

From Amazon: Here are recipes to satisfy and enjoy all day, from breakfast (Breakfast Biscuit Sandwich), snacks (BBQ Popcorn), salads and soups (Taco Salad, Corn Chowder), mains (Fettuccine Slim-Fredo) dessert (Moon-Dusted Donuts)--and even low-cal vegan beverage (Homebrewed Ginger Ale). Every recipe includes complete nutritional analysis (information frequently requested of Simpson by readers of her previous books). And Simpson has also crafted fifty different daily menus for eaters with daily calorie intakes of 1,400 to 2,000 calories, making it easier than ever to eat highly nutritious, varied, and calorie-conscious comfort food.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below. Tell me your quick and easy cooking tip, or what you make when you don't feel like cooking anything, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to US residents only, but others this month will be open to everybody everywhere. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you win a giveaway on this blog at some point this month, please be kind and don't enter further giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible!

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The winner of yesterday's Sunny Days zine giveaway is Carolyn, who is crazy about her husky Shelby! Congratulations! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)

Giveaway: Sunny Days in Texas Zine!

I have nothing to say that can rival the heart involved in the creation of this giveaway item or the cause it supports, so I won't post anything else today. Here you go.


Today I am so happy to host a giveaway for the Sunny Days in Texas vegan cook zine! Have you heard about this zine yet? It's full of excellent recipes compiled by some of your favorite Texvegans, and it was created to raise funds for Sunny Days Farm Animal Sanctuary, the largest farm animal sanctuary in Texas. You want this zine. A resident cutie basks with his copy above.

Sunny Days has come upon very hard times this year. Texas has been experiencing its worst drought in decades combined with a record-breaking heatwave. Sunny Days has lost its grazing grass, and have to buy more hay than ever. The cost of hay has doubled. It's much harder to find water for the animals. You get the picture. Things are not good. Three hundred animals and those yet to be saved are at risk. Says Lazy: Because of the record-breaking drought, Texans from all over the state have been trying to raise money with bakesales, garage sales, auctions, marathons, and anything else we can think of. One of the contributors to the zine has even been training for a marathon along with Team Sunny Day and are also looking to raise as money that way. If you aren't interested in the zine, please consider donating that way http://www.crowdrise.com/sunnydaysarnr2011 .

Lazysmurf is blogging recipes from the zine all MoFo'in month if you'd like to have a look at the delectable recipes in this zine. Also, you can purchase your own copy on etsy or go fancy with a full-color copy here, or (/and) you are most, most welcome to enter a giveaway for your own copy right here! I think it's a classic in the making.

Here is the description straight from Lazysmurf's post: The zine has been a labor of love for sure. It is packed with fabulous recipes for everything from Ranch Dressing to Mexican Hot Dogs to Cowboy Cookies to Raw Tacos to Jackfruit Brisket. There are healthy recipes like Tex Mex Stuffed Peppers and Blackened Caeser Tempeh Wraps and then there are recipes for 40 pounds of battered and deep-fried Popcorn Tofu, Oatmeal Cream Pies and Homemade Oreos. It is also illustrated with pictures of Sunny Day Farm’s most adorable residents.

I am told that Winky, Peanut, Millie, Baby, Nod, Willow, Sugar, Dinger, Milo, Sky, Desmond and Trixie may have had a paw in creating and/or have pawfully endorsed this fine page-turner.

To enter the giveaway, comment on this post. Tell me about the animal sanctuary you love the most, or (and/or) tell me about the animal(s) you love the most, or anything at all. I am so happy to say that this giveaway is open to everybody everywhere, no matter where you live! The winner will be chosen by random number generator and posted tomorrow after tomorrow's giveaway. Good luck! And to Sunny Days, I wish you adequate funds and support and glorious moderate weather for decades and more!

Lady Marmalade had a peek at the zine, and she too couldn't put it down. She fell asleep perusing it.

Would you like to donate to Sunny Days directly? Lazysmurf says if you would like to just help out without purchasing the zine please make a donation to Sunny Day on paypal to the email info@sunnydayfarms.com or sponsor an animal for a few dollars each month. Also check out the indomitable Molly’s Lonestar Plate post that includes other ways to help as well.

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The winner of yesterday's Rancho Gordo Desert Island Sampler is Luciana! Congratulations! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (Be sure to click on the . . . to get the rest of the email address. Alternatively, you could use your best thinking skills and possibly figure it out.)

Dirty Rice and Beans, and a Rancho Gordo Desert Island Sampler Giveaway!

You know sometimes how you make a recipe and it knocks your socks off? You're puttering along and you think you're making something tasty, and then you take a bite and think Holy Cats? How did those ingredients come together to make this? That happened to me today. Above you see a tester recipe for Robin Robertson's latest cookbook endeavor. It's dirty rice and beans, and it's not just tasty, it's stellar! Also, it really is true, brown food is the best.

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You know that dirty rice and beans recipe up there? The only way it could have been improved would have been if I had used these beans. Today's giveaway comes from Steve Sando and the other lovely people at Rancho Gordo. Have you had these beans? They are the best beans you have ever had, hands down. Today I have for you a very generous giveaway: it's the Desert Island Sampler! The winner will receive a pound each of Steve's beans he couldn't live without: runner cannellini, cranberry, Rio Zape, brown teppary, and Christmas lima beans will all be yours!


To enter, please leave a comment below. Tell me about your favorite legumes, or your favorite human bean (get it?), or anything at all. This giveaway is open to US residents only, but tomorrow's giveaway and others this month will be open to everybody everywhere. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you have won a giveaway from this blog, please consider being kind and not entering further bigger giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible!

The winner of yesterday's Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar giveaway is choirqueer! Congratulations! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (Be sure to click on the . . . to get the rest of the email address. Alternatively, you could use your best thinking skills and possibly figure it out.)

In Which I Visit India Sweets and Spices, and a Classic Giveaway: Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar!

Yesterday I ventured to the scary suburbs of Portland, OR, to visit a shop that Nummers told me about a couple of years ago. This is a component of strip mall hell, but inside is another matter. We are going inside India Sweets and Spices. That spot of yellow is a kid's t-shirt. He was bouncing a football against the wall outside the shop. He won't be the only kid hanging about!

You come in through that door at the end and you immediately hit the wall of spices and spice mixture packets. It was hard to take photos because there were five or six littles running around the shop playing tag. Chaos, but it was really fun.

Here you see Amchur, which I picked up thanks to Amey's post at Vegan Eats & Treats, and black salt for scramble!

All of the Marmite is sold upside down.

Hindu figures for worship. I think they are Lakshmi and Ganesh, mostly?

Aisle of Indian snack foods! Both sides! This seems to be the Indian version of what I would expect to see in a potato chip/tortilla chip aisle here.

Close-up of a few of the snacks/snack mixes, and puffy mini-puri.

On the left, dried mango balls coated in kala namak (black salt) and seed mixes for after meals. On the right, aseptic boxed juices: basil, triphala (this seems to be an Ayurvedic mixture), karela (bitter melon?), gooseberry, and lauki (bottle gourd).

Mango stack!

On the left, I'm looking at the leaves in the middle. These may be lime leaves, but they are much larger than the kaffir lime leaves I found at Uwajimaya last week. On the right, I think we have methi (fenugreek) greens and kavathi, which is an indian tuber. Amey? Anyone else?

This basket, which looks like it is full of maggots, is actually full of fresh turmeric!

Choose your preferred pappadum for frying! Right in the middle above the yellow disks, there are two little packages of items for frying. You know they are for frying because their name is the Fry Me. You can get them in kapu kathi shape or pillow shape.

All of the flours! Rice, wheat, bean, all different kinds and grinds for making all different dishes. Remember that there are kidlets running around the store this whole time, yelling and dodging each other and sweeping around the adults. The adorable little girl on the left intentionally inched her way into the photo while I was trying to back up further to get the whole rack. Then she smiled at me and picked up a bag of chick pea flour and started gnawing on it.

Hing. Keep a respectful distance from this . . . pungent spice. I can't read anything on those labels, but I know hing. You may also know it as asafoetida.

Just in back of the flours, there is another big rack. It has all different kinds of pulses on the left, and on the right, two-pound jars of powdered spices over the housewares. The back wall and to the right of the photograph is all pickles and chutneys.

There was also a lot of unloading happening in the back, plus this great big sign that says India Sweets and Spices. On the left, you can maybe see this silver house, which could be a shrine. You can also see how high the ceiling is! This concludes the visit to India Sweets and Spices. They also have food made to order and a sweets case, but they didn't understand vegan so I didn't photograph the sweets or buy any hot food to take home. That is too bad, but having access to this shop is pretty luxurious so I won't complain!

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Today's giveaway is for the vegan classic cookbook Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar! This lovely book by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero is the second in the dessert trio, which I hope you know also includes Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and the just-released Vegan Pie in the Sky. It includes the recipe for the infamous peanut butter chocolate pillows and 74 more recipes. If you don't have it, you need it. If you have it, you need it to gift! The giveaway is brought to you by the lovely people over at Da Capo Lifelong, who have furnished a number of titles for giveaways on this blog. Please consider having a look at their website, and/or following them on Twitter and Facebook, because they are seriously generous. They also publish beautiful and useful vegan books, like Isa and Terry's dessert trio, and many more.

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment below. Tell me about your favorite cookie, or someone who invaded your life, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada, but others this month will be open to everybody everywhere. The winner will be chosen by random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you win a giveaway on this blog at some point this month, please be kind and don't enter further giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible!

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The winner of The Conscious Cook is xvavaveganx! Congratulations! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)