Thanksvegan Day

I'm so full I can barely sit so this will be a short one:

Golden Era's special Thanksgiving vegan dinner

This is what I'll be having tomorrow.

Yes, I said tomorrow. Because I just had this at mom's:

those are vegan shrimps in the hot pot

in addition to this:

mashed pumpkin was so good!

If you knew me, you'd be amazed I could eat so much.

But miracles happen when the food is this good.

So the Golden Era Thanksgiving special was ordered to-go because I don't have the will-power to resist any of their specials (which are really exceptionally special). So I picked it up before heading to mom's so I could have it for tomorrow. Yeah, I'm greedy like that. But good food is good food, and I plan on making the spirit of Thankseating last until Sunday night.

Cheers and Happy Thanksvegan from the VeganWheekers clan!

A peek into their huts

It's too cold out there!

Is that a treat in your hand?

Vegan Corn Dogs...or not

Today I had a craving for vegan corn dogs. I mish mashed recipes from Post Punk Kitchen and Vegweb and I created the Frankenstein of corn dogs.

more like oversize tempura

It's not pretty. I mean, just look at it. It doesn't look like a corn dog. And the "corn" part was crispy instead of fluffy soft like I remember from my elementary school days. I'm not sure where I went wrong. But ya know what? Still tastes good! I used Loma Linda's Big Franks for the hot dog -- it's my fav.

And for the real part of dinner (that was just appetizer!):

Vegan mac and cheese (yes, again) with broccoli, zucchini, and cashew.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...

Holiday officially begins when our local pop station KOIT starts airing Christmas music 24/7, which they did last Wednesday. So now we get to hear a dozen renditions of "Silent Night" and the occasional Mr. Grinch song.

In the mood for some holiday shopping, I went to IKEA today to get a table to set the guinea pig cages on. My hubby had custom built their cage, which is like a chateau compared to what you would find a pet store.

Check out the 2nd floor loft!

At IKEA, we took a break for a drink at their cafe and I saw people eating mashed potato and gravy, which totally got me craving for it too. So while hubby drove to Trader Joe's nearby to pick up ingredients, I quickly searched for vegan gravy recipes on his iPhone. I ended up using a mish mash of ingredients and techniques from VeganDad and VegWeb. Here's the result:

I love lots of gravy and it totally buried the mashed potato in this pic. Also featured are Trader Joe's vegan soy nuggets and grilled brussel sprouts. My craving was definitely satiated. Thanks, IKEA, for the inspiration!

Now we're too full to move, so the guinea pig table setup is going to have to wait...

Vegan Bakery Obsession

I was not always a cupcake junkie. But when I turned vegan a couple of years ago, suddenly the selection of baked goods shrank considerably. Whenever there was a celebration and a cake was needed, we'd pop by Rainbow for a Black China Bakery cake. While I'm grateful to Black China Bakery for making vegan cakes so readily available everywhere, it was starting to get, well, boring.

Then I chanced upon Sugar Beats Sweets cupcakes at VegFest a year ago and it was like a whole new world. Like, riding-on-a-magic-carpet whole new world. I was hooked. Addicted you could even say. At this year's VegFest, I walked away with one of everything they had on display. Of course I didn't eat it all (I could have, but I didn't). I shared the awesomeness with my loved ones so they too can enjoy the wonder that is vegan baked goods. VEGAN, you hear? No eggs, no dairy. Only cruelty-free yumminess.

So if you're a dessert addict too, I have some good news for you. Sugar Beats Sweets is opening up a storefront in SF. Violet Sweet Shoppe sells goodies to Rainbow Grocery. There are organized vegan bake sales that benefit adorable four-legged furballs. Next sale is on Dec 5th in front of Ike's. I shan't be late this time! At least I got to try the baklava from Fat Bottom Bakery. Here's to hoping they'll make it again. If they do, y'all better save me some!

Now I'm off to enjoy Cinnaholic's cupcake from GreenFest. Cheers!

The Cleopatra of Guinea Pigs

Meet Belle, my perpetually hungry girl. After a full meal, she would still wheek and beg for food as if she hadn't eaten for days. Watch this spoiled guinea pig eat in style:

Meeting Patrick McDonnell of "MUTTS" at GreenFest

Since young I've loved animals. Growing up, my family had pet mice, hamsters, parakeets, goldfish, and an orange tabby cat (not all at the same time of course). Now I have my darling guinea pigs and can't imagine life without the simple joy that my animal companions bring.

It is that joy that artist Patrick McDonnell captures so well in his daily comic strip "MUTTS". I fell in love with it the moment I saw it in the newspaper (come on, cute cartoon cats and dogs, how can you not love it?). The antics and innocent musings of Mooch the cat and Earl the dog never fail to make me smile, laugh, or reflect on the beauty of nature and life. I quickly amassed a collection of his books (it helped that some crazy person was selling a set of his earlier books on eBay...their loss, my happy gain!). When the figurines came out, I got Earl first and then was given Mooch as a Valentine's gift to make a perfect pair (my guy sure knows the way to my heart, eh?).

a small sampling of my MUTTS collection

Last week, I learned that he would have a book signing for his latest release "Guardians of Being" at GreenFest. "Eeeeek!!," my inner fangirl squealed. So I dashed over there after work, hoping I didn't miss him. I've never been to a book signing before so I didn't know what to expect. What I found was an unassuming man sitting on a foldable chair at the side of the booth with no crowd around him. Had I not recognized him from his pictures in the books, I would have guessed he was just another attendee, not the great comic genius royalty that he is. Where are the balloons, trumpets, and red carpet, people?! He at least deserved a table to write on! Instead, when I presented him with my copy of the book and gushed some gibberish in awe, he  proceeded to sign it with the book propped on his lap. This man flew all the way from New Jersey and he has to sign books on his lap. So humble is he!

Look, he drew a little Mooch for me! Squeeee!!

I sure wish there were other people around to chat him up just so I could stand around and absorb his awesomeness. (He's vegetarian and a member of the Board of Directors for both The Humane Society of the United States and the Fund for Animals.) But being the shy, awkward, bumbling girl that I am, I quickly thanked him and dashed off before I gave into the temptation to sit as his feet and ask him to read the book to me (aka kindergarten style). Wouldn't be fun to be escorted out by security, would it?

Before leaving, I stopped by Cinnaholic for some baked goodies (hi Kelly!) and VegNews to sign up for a subscription (hi Liz!). They had a great $5 off promotion and I also wanted to thank them for the free GreenFest tickets.

Now your mission, if you so choose, is to head on over to muttscomics.com and sign up for the daily comic strip emails to get a blast of sunshine in your inbox everyday! Then head to GreenFest to meet Patrick at another book signing on Sunday at 11am!

I wonder if it'd be inappropriate to bring all of my books for him to sign? :-)