Vegan Treats Pastries

These were for a special order, look how cute!!
From the top, going across the rows from left to right:

• Death by Chocolate, Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake, Chocolate Marshmallow Cake
• Grasshopper (Chocolate Mint) Cheesecake, Summer Citrus Cake, White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
• Cookies and Cream Cake, Brownie Chunk Cheesecake, Chocolate Encased Strawberry Shortcake
• New York Style Cheesecake topped with Strawberries, Peanut butter Tandy Cake, Brownie Fudge Caramel Stack with a Swiss-Chocolate Covered Pretzel

Here's a close up of the Chocolate Marshmallow Cake. It's a double layer chocolate cake filled with marshmallow cream (ridiculously light and fluffy cream, not sticky, sugary, gross cream) and covered with chocolate whipped cream and covered in chocolate crunchies. It's topped with a Sweet and Sara marshmallow - Yum!

Slingshot Dakota

My friends Tom and Carly make up the band Slingshot Dakota. They are awesome and they just left for tour, you can check their tour dates here -- I definitely suggest you check them out if they're in your town! They play a super-positive set with Carly on keyboards and vocals and Tom on drums.

Pet Bandage

We're watching Mr. Nick for a few weeks while his owner is vacationing in Thailand. Mr. Nick cut his elbow and foot, the cuts aren't deep but he keeps licking them and re-opening them, thus getting blood on the floor and carpet (ick!).

I went to the pet store to try to find a solution and found this:



Here he is with his 'wounds' wrapped!


The pink with hearts was my idea, but he was a good sport about all of it!

White Chocolate Caramel Bunnies

White Chocolate Caramel Bunnies from Vegan Treats' Easter Candy selection:




They're filled with the best vegan caramel I've ever had, it's perfectly flavored with just the right amount of gooeyness.

Earth Crisis

I'm going to try really hard not to be a dorky groupie, BUT, this weekend I saw Earth Crisis on their Firestorm reunion tour and it was awesome.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, but my trusty iPhone helped me out a little!

Here's a pic of my friend with Jonathan from Path of Resistance & Earth Crisis, he's wearing a Vegan Treats' "Go Vegan or Go Fuck Yourself" shirt - he wore it on stage, it was awesome.


Here are two action shots, I wish the iPhone took video, Earth Crisis' singer, Karl made some short & sweet but amazing comments about Veganism.


There were about 700 people in attendance and the set was great, the crowd was super-energized. I've seen them play countless times; but this time we were lucky enough to get to hang out with them backstage and watch from a safe location on the side of the stage. They were probably the most down-to-earth and awesome band I've ever met.

In case you're not familiar, they're a vegan & straightedge hardcore band from New York. You can read about them and their history here: Earth Crisis Wiki

Spring Cake!

Check out this amazingly cute spring cake - It's a double-layer chocolate cake, covered in Swiss chocolate, filled with strawberries and cream, and decorated to look like an Easter egg...

It's from the Vegan Treats retail store and is unbelievably adorable!

Dinner with Frannie

Frannie is my sister-in-law's nickname for her mom. Frannie is an amazing chef, she whipped up this delicious treat for us for dinner, it's so simple yet so amazingly perfect.

Fresh corn, tomatoes with basil, and black beans with polenta (all made from scratch):


Frannie with her simple yet elegant Soy Delicious:


Close up of my sundae (a little more extravagant than Frannie's!):


Gian, Frannie, and I:


This funny head that Frannie got in Italy, he's always decked out for the season, every time I see him it makes me giggle:

Profile

I just changed my profile to read that I "have been vegan for over ten years."

Holy crap. It's been ten years and about a month. Ten freaking years. It's unfathomable to me, I did the math like 4 times just to be sure.

Colonial Vipers vs. Cylon Raiders

I wish I could take the credit, but alas I found this randomly while searching for information on the upcoming Battlestar Galactica season (it begins Friday, April 4th, FYI)

These are awesome, I might just replicate them to enjoy with the season premier!

Chicago! Karyn's Cooked

Gian and I went to Chicago recently and at our friend Deej's recommendation tried Karyn's Cooked.

Karyn's describes itself as "Conscious Comfort Food" a description that is truly fitting.

I think I rate Karyn's Cooked as my all-time favorite vegan restaurant. I know, it's high praise, but well-deserved.


Here are some of the delicious dishes we had, we went for brunch, lunch, and dinner (several times)!

Blintzes:


Potato Pancakes:


French Toast:


Pizza with soy cheese:


Southern Fried BBQ Tofu:


Cilantro Refried Beans with Slaw, Seitan, Avacado and Tortillas:


Spare Ribs with Cilantro Cole Slaw:


Lemon Meringue Pie:


Gian waiting patiently for them to bring our meal:


Karyn's Cooked - Conscious Comfort Foods
Open: Monday 11:00am to 9:00pm, Tuesday-Saturday 11:00am to 10:00 pm, Sunday 11:00 to 9:00pm, Sunday Brunch from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm
Located at: 738 North Wells Street, Chicago, Illinois 60610
Phone: 312.587.1050

George Tortilla Tricks

George's first try at flipping the tortilla blindfold off of his head and into his mouth.

George Tortilla 2

George's Tortilla Blindfold Second Try

Chicago Diner

No trip to Chicago would be complete without a visit to The Chicago Diner.

We went for dinner and for brunch. The brunch was tasty, but the dishes all kind of tasted the same. It was an experience and it was "cool" and fun, but I think there are higher quality restaurants in Chi-town.

Biscuits and Gravy:


Tofu Benedict:


French Toast with Tofu Scrambler:


THE BEST SOY SHAKE I HAVE EVER HAD!
(Thanks to Temptation Soy Dairy):

Chicago: Handlebar

One night we went to Handlebar for dinner. Handlebar is a vegetarian restaurant/bar with a cycling/bike/bike messenger motif. It was very loud but the food was pretty good. It was packed with twenty- & thirty- something hipsters.

Fried Plantains and a Veggie Burger:


Sloppy Joe with Potato Salad:




Handlebar
2311 W. North Avenue
Chicago, IL
(773) 384-9546

Chicago: Sightseeing

I don't know how, but I somehow managed to escape Chicago without traversing to the top of the Sears Tower. We're going back in September, I'll have to ascend it then!

These were all taken right around our hotel:





The lake water was SO clear:

Chicago: One of the coolest meals...

The friends we were with in Chicago had the hotel cater a pizza buffet on the last night, they were thoughtful enough to request vegetarian and vegan pizza options for us, it was awesome!

Appetizers

I am obsessed with appetizers. I'm sure you all remember the Seinfeld episode where Jerry confirms that he could eat a meal of just appetizers...that's how I feel all the time! I love making appetizers for dinner.

Bruschetta with fresh basil:



Bruschetta and 7-layer taco dip:


Sun-Dried Tomato Spread:


Pesto-Rella Phyllo Cups:

Infuriating

An Open Letter to this 'Secret-Writer' and All Other Men/Women Who Make Similar Comments:

If you feel guilty about wearing dead animals, don't do it. There are many stylish, cruelty-free options available.

Do a little research and stop being such assholes.

Sincerely,
LivingVegan Blog




The above image is stolen from March 2, 2008's PostSecret Blog post.