I *heart* Vegan Treats

Really I love any dessert, but Vegan Treats is so easy and delicious, I almost feel like it's not worth the effort to make my own...
Here's a recent trip:

Gian enjoying some XXX Vitamin Water:


A Chocolate-Encased Strawberry Shortcake (one of ate the chocolate covered strawberry off the top before photographing):


Death by Chocolate (layers of chocolate cake filled with chocolate mousse and chocolate ganache and covered in chocolate):


Strawberry Shortcake (vanilla cake filled with strawberries and cream, topped with a strawberry and white chocolate):

Breakfast!

I love making breakfast, there's something luxurious about having the time to cook and eat a leisurely breakfast, it's probably because during the week I'm scarfing down a quick bowl of oatmeal as I dash out the door to work, regardless, it's a simple pleasure.

Pancakes are the easiest, I just get whatever accidentally veagan brand of pre-mixed pancake mix that is in stock and use Ener-G for the egg, Soymilk for the milk, and omit the oil. Top with some Earth Balance and pure maple syrup and you have a delicious breakfast!

Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm not even going to post the recipe for these because they did not turn out as tasty as I would have liked...here's the short-story: I took some brownie mix, made the recipe for 'cake-like brownies,' added white chocolate chips from Pangea, and scooped them out. They look perfect,but they were very crispy and sugary, not very savory. I'll try again with a modified recipe later.

Snack: Nachos

This is so quick and easy but it's a real crowd-pleaser:

Layer tortilla chips (I used blue and yellow corn chips) with salsa and vegan rella (or Follow Your Heart Nacho Flavor) in an oven-safe dish (I use a glass pie plate). Stick it all under the broiler for about 3 minutes until the cheese is melted, be careful not to let the chips burn!

This is best eaten right away as the salsa can make the chips soggy pretty quickly.

It's a great snack, we had it last night while watching a TiVo'd Dexter!

A Visit

George's friend, Roxy, came over for a visit. He loves visitors and was ecstatic.



He showed her how to beg for table scraps (as if).



Then they chased each other around the house. Roxy loves to squeak squeaky toys, so she grabbed some ofhis squeaky toys, made a ton of noise, and ran around the house with the toys in her mouth as he chased her. After all that running she had to take a break - doesn't she look like a frog?!

Lavender Cake

When I was in 9th grade, we read a book in which the main character eats a lavender cake. I cannot remember the book, though I'm pretty sure it was 18th/19th century English Literature a la Jane Eyre. The teacher brought us all a piece of lavender gum so we could experience what it was like to eat lavender (there were probably 200+ students in all of her sections, I went to a very large high school, so one piece of gum was really all that was reasonable).


Anyway, that piece of gum did not even come close to replicating the taste of fresh lavender gently baked into a light and delicate cake:

This vegan version by Vegan Treats is amazing. It's covered in white chocolate and has the perfect amount of lavender.

Farm Sanctuary Gala

On Saturday, May 17th, Farm Sanctuary will host it's semi-annual fundraiser:

The 2008 Farm Sanctuary Gala

It's a bit pricey, but the cost of admission directly benefits Farm Sanctuary's wonderful work.

The 2006 Gala was amazing, I had the opportunity to meet and speak with, among other celebrities, Dennis Kucinich. Hopefully he will be attending again this year - I'm also hoping for an appearance by William Shatner. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Restaurant Review: Brunch at Balasia

Brunch at Balasia:

It's a Pre-Fixe $15.50 per entree, definitely pricey for the area, but delicious and filling nonetheless.

I forgot what this was called, it was a curry-rice-tofu scramble tower:



Banana-Berry Waffles with soy sausage and curry tofu scramble:


They also have an assortment of organic teas/coffees with Silk creamer and offer a variety of sticky buns, cinnamon buns, etc. for dessert if you're still hungry (unlikely).

Overall Rating: 8/10 (would have been higher if items were ala carte)

Balasia "A Green World Cafe"
500 Chestnut Street
Emmaus, PA 18049
(484) 330-6405