Of course, after 15 years in business, not everything is a surprise. The other popular sweets over the holidays were vegan toffee, especially the chocolate-covered variety, and hot cocoa, both the classic and peppermint drinking chocolate varieties. Given their classic nature we weren’t at all shocked by their doing so well.

As I and my staff catch our collective breath before unveiling a new chocolate pleasure for Valentine’s Day in just a few short weeks, I’d like to extend my heartfelt thanks for allowing us the privilege of providing your compassionately decadent gifts for the holidays and throughout the year. It is my pleasure to delight and serve you. And I know everyone at AG shares my gratitude for you. Here’s to a fabulous year-ahead!

New Year’s 2012 this weekend, gives us a little wiggle room in the holiday gifts department. Did you forget someone on your list, or maybe just didn’t get around to those last few presents? Ring in the New Year with decadent compassionate sweets! Whether it’s a corporate holiday gift for your boss or a sweet treat for your significant other, help those important people in your life start the New Year right!

New Year’s resolutions are always full of eating better, getting fit and staying healthy. You can help with all those things and give your colleagues and loved ones decadent treats they can feel good about enjoying. Although sending sweets may not seem like the best way to help someone achieve their fitness goals, my experience has been that I gain greater enjoyment from and eat less of high-quality, pure and exquisitely delicious desserts, than I would from cheaper or “healthy” tasting alternatives. Those imitations spur me to eat more, trying in vain to attain the satisfaction I’m craving. Encourage conscious and compassionate indulgence with a personal or corporate food gift that will nourish the mind, body and taste buds while encouraging less devouring and more savoring.

Allison’s Gourmet: What inspired you to adopt a vegan diet/lifestyle?
Whitney Lauritsen: I went vegetarian in 2003 because I was inspired by a friend, then tried veganism about 6 months later out of curiosity. Over the years I fell in love with the lifestyle due to how good I felt, emotionally, physically and spiritually. It’s fun discovering new ways to be eco-friendly, healthy and compassionate.

AG: What’s the biggest challenge in running your blog Eco-Vegan Gal?
WL: Finding time! It’s tough balancing my day jobs and personal life with the website, but I make it happen no matter what. When I do have time, creating content and managing the site is a no-brainer because it comes so naturally to me. I would never call my site work – it’s love.

AG: What do you love most about it?
WL: I love all the amazing people I meet online and at events. I learn so much from each individual, even those that come to me for advice teach me something through their questions. I feel connected to the whole world through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube – what a great way to learn about how different people live healthfully and sustainably!

AG: Are there any whole-food staple grocery items you can’t live without? (Favorite fruits, veggies, beans or grains?)
WL: Do kale chips count? If not, I’d have to say almonds, quinoa, kale, and broccoli. I love almonds as snacks, quinoa is my favorite “grain”, and kale and broccoli are such nutritious, tasty veggies. I’m really keen on Brussels sprouts – I could go on…

AG: Do you have a favorite seasonal meal idea or recipe you’d like to share?
WL: I’m really into butternut squash right now. I love roasting it, steaming it, stuffing it with other veggies and grains, or mixing it into things like quinoa or brown rice pasta. You really can’t go wrong with it! I love this recipe from The Blissful Chef: Lemon-Kissed Brussels and Butternut Squash.

AG: What’s your favorite eco-friendly tip for the holidays?
WL: Go minimal, buy second hand, and recycle. Choose presents that inspire recipients to eat healthier and live greener. Try not to go overboard just because it’s the holidays – you can be festive without buying a lot of things. One of my favorite eco tips is to rent a live Christmas tree, or buy a potted plant and decorate that instead. Think outside the box, it’s more fun that way! I’ve contributed to some gift guides, like this one from Vegan Cuts.

AG: Which Allison’s Gourmet goodie is your favorite or would you most like to try?
WL: Anything gluten-free and lower in sugar. I’m always looking for a good hot cocoa too, so your peppermint drinking chocolate looks pretty darn tasty!

Although many of our products are gluten-free, for low in sugar items I’d suggest our organic coffee and fair-trade tea selections. Happy Holidays, Whitney!

1. Ask her friends to make a gift for her or draw her a picture.
2. Ask her friends if they had a toy or book they loved but were finished with that they might want to pass along to her
3. Let people choose to give get whatever they wanted
4. Ask for a small donation (say $5) that she could pool together and take half to go shop for a gift of her choosing and donate the other half to any organization she wanted.

David thought for sure she’d go for #3. I had no idea what she’d choose but I secretly hoped for #4. Olivia understood everything about the first three options, but wanted to know more about #4. There was a lot of learning in this exercise, no matter which choice she made, so that alone made it worthy. As soon as I explained it to her, she immediately chose #4. We asked if she was sure and she was solidly confident and instantly announced that our favorite local animal sanctuary, Animal Place, would be the beneficiary. David and I told her that however much money she donated, we would double it. Although requesting donations is an unusual gift for a 5 year old, I hoped that the nominal amount would ease any discomfort of more traditional givers. After Olivia received all the gifts from both family and friends, she learned about sweet Carmen and declared that all of her money would be going to Animal Place. Such generosity! We suggested she keep a little for herself, but she was adamant that Carmen needed that money more than she did. About a month later, we finally went after school one day to meet Carmen and the new piglets who had recently moved in to Animal Place. I was so busy getting ready for the busy holiday season at Allison’s Gourmet, that I completely forgot to bring the adorable card Olivia made, along with her donation. Gah! I felt terrible and set my mind for us to make a special trip to deliver it. Today is that day. I recently learned that Olivia’s money will be doubled again, thanks to a donor who is matching all funds donated to Animal Place, through December 25, up to $8,000. I’m thrilled to share that Olivia’s $100, which doubled to $200 with our donation will now become $400 for Animal Place! Talk about manifestation. This girl has some power! Watch this video of her playing with Carmen.

If you have anything at all that you can give, you could be a master manifester too and double your gift automatically now through Christmas. Please make it an even better holiday season for these beautiful animal friends who get to live out their life in sanctuary. Give today.

Warm holiday wishes to you and yours,



P.S. Get one of these fabulous shirts!

I know getting all your holiday shopping done is just the beginning, and for most of us, “relaxing” this weekend will mean spending hours in the kitchen preparing elaborate vegan holiday meals, but that’s not such a bad thing. If you’re still wondering what to make, especially if you have omnivorous family or friends coming over, the VegNews Holiday eCookbook is a handy option. It includes all kinds of holiday recipes from the traditional to the unique and fantastic including Allison’s recipe for holiday wellington puff-pastries. For slightly less traditional but no less delicious meal ideas take a moment to peruse some of Allison’s other recipes published in her “Veganize It!” column in VegNews, also featured in the Monday Yumday series on this blog. Highlights for the season include Pumpkin Cranberry Scones, Coconut Nog and Vegan Meatloaf (a great replacement for the traditional Christmas roast).

Thank you for the immense pleasure of creating your decadent holiday gifts. Once you’ve done all that cooking and baking, don’t forget to savor and enjoy every compassionate bite of the holidays. Happy Winter Solstice tomorrow!

Photo by Herbivore Clothing

Allison’s Gourmet: When and how did Animal Rights become an issue for you?
Jasmin Singer: I stopped eating meat when I was a teenager, mostly because I thought that being vegetarian was a natural extension of being a theatre student, kind of like wearing all black and smoking clove cigarettes. Through a friend, I met a young woman who had recently gone vegan. I was about 24 then (I’m 32 now), and was a struggling actor in NYC. This new vegan person in my life showed me some footage of factory farming (where would we be without those friends, right?) and I immediately went vegan. That friend, by the way, is Marisa Miller Wolfson, filmmaker behind Vegucated. As the story goes, Marisa is still a very good friend of mine, and, along with her partner, David Wolfson, is responsible for introducing me to Mariann — so clearly I owe her a lot!
Mariann Sullivan: I was definitely not one of those people who awakened to animals when I was a kid and demanded that my parents stop feeding me meat. Though I always liked animals, they weren’t a big part of my life, and I certainly never gave much thought to how they are turned into food, until I was in my 40s. (So don’t let anyone tell you it’s too late for them to change. Jasmin’s grandma just went veg at the age of 86!). As for so many people, it was my love of a dog that really awakened me to the importance of paying attention to animals. I got my first dog, Calhoun, when I was well into adulthood, and he really opened up a whole new world for me. He was so much more — his emotions, his smarts, even his sense of humor — than I had ever realized a dog would be. So I started to think more seriously about animals. And it was a random remark by an acquaintance that he had stopped eating meat because of the way the animals were treated that made me start thinking along the lines that eventually led me to veganism and animal rights activism. That’s always a reminder to me that we should never hesitate to mention why we eat the way we eat — you never know who might be paying attention.

AG: Jasmin, when I had the delight of meeting you last summer at Vida Vegan Con, I asked how many hens you had at your sanctuary. You were very gracious not to laugh at me when you answered. Would you please clear up my confusion and tell us, what is Our Hen House?

JS: Our Hen House is a virtual hub for animal advocacy. We produce resources — video, audio (our 100th podcast episode just aired!), interviews, reviews, and the written word — that anyone can use in order to find their own way to change the world for animals. We believe that anyone can easily and seamlessly plug animal advocacy into their everyday life and we are an indefatigably positive clearinghouse for those who care about animals to express themselves, and to create a way of changing the world that makes sense for them. We call it “Our Hen House” because it is a community-wide effort, and, since 9 of the 10 billion land animals killed in the U.S. each year are birds, when you talk of animal rights, you are pretty much talking about chickens.

Photo by Jo-Anne McArthur

AG: What are your backgrounds (i.e. what did you study or do prior to your work for animals)?
MS: I am a lawyer and recently retired from my position as Deputy Chief Court Attorney with the New York State Appellate Division First Department.
JS: My background is in theatre. Before becoming an animal activist, I was working as an actress in NYC. I also did a significant amount of writing, both personally and professionally, but my heart was on the stage.

AG: How did the idea for Our Hen House arise?
JS & MS: The big animal rights organizations are doing great work, and it’s important to support them in their efforts, but it became clear to us that the kind of change that is needed is not something that can be accomplished unless absolutely everyone who cares pitches in and does what they can. It was also clear that a lot of people really didn’t know what to do to create positive change for animals. Animal use and abuse enters into every aspect of our lives, and the opportunity to fight it does too. There’s so much we can do. We are so inspired by the fact that every day more and more people are waking up to what is going on with animals and want to help change the world. So we want Our Hen House to be a resource for this growing army of people who want to take personal responsibility for leading the way to a new world in which the exploitation of animals must come to an end. The fact that our little organization has grown so much in such a short amount of time (we gave birth to OHH in January 2010) is a testament to how this movement is growing, and how deeply people care.

AG: What’s the biggest challenge in running OHH? Greatest reward?
JS & MS: We hate bringing up money, but since you ask, there’s no doubt that that’s the biggest challenge in running OHH. In fact, it’s the only really significant challenge, since everything else we do is pretty much what we love. Producing content, whether it’s the blog, or the podcast, or the videos, takes time and money, and we are a listener- and reader-supported not-for-profit enterprise. The greatest reward is definitely whenever someone contacts us and tells us that they did something, whether it was an article they wrote or a kids’ art project they coordinated or a humane education certification they pursued, because of something they read or heard on OHH.

AG: You have a “Gay Animal” focus that touches on the LGBT community and animal activism. Do you find there’s more openness to animal issues in the LGBT community?
JS & MS: Yes and no. On one hand, people in the LGBT community can frequently relate to feeling marginalized by society, feeling “othered,” feeling less than, thus leaving us with a seemingly organic kinship with animals — who are so unbelievably disregarded by society. We’ve met a lot of people who identify within the LGBT world who feel that their compassion to animals is a natural extension of their personal boycott of the heteronormative culture in which we live. However, just like with any social justice movement, there are still folks in the LGBT community who are asleep when it comes to animal issues. And there are unfortunately certainly animal activists who are asleep when it comes to LGBT issues. One beautiful example of the two movements joining forces is Mercy for Animals’ yearly campaign to march in gay pride parades nationwide, behind a sign that says “No one is free when others are oppressed.” MFA’s Executive Director, Nathan Runkle, talked to us about this and other building blocks he uses to connect the dots between animal rights and gay rights in a video we produced with him, which launched our Gay Animal series.

(We’re interviewing Nathan in a couple of weeks. So stay tuned here for more about Mercy for Animals.)

AG: Do you have any advice for people making the transition into veganism?
JS & MS: Yes, indeed, we do. In fact, we recently published our Top Ten Tips For Shifting to a Plant-Based Diet.

AG: OHH is doing such great work, I imagine time in the kitchen isn’t easy to create! What are some of your favorite vegan meals/recipes that keep you supercharged through your day?
JS & MS: Great question! We start every day with a healthy green smoothie. Frequently, this includes a heap of frozen spinach, frozen berries, frozen cherries, chia seeds, something to sweeten it like mango or pineapple (or occasionally dates), and water. On days we run, we might add some vegan protein powder to that. We realize our breakfast of choice makes us sound saintly, but we actually really like the taste of it, and no matter what happens for the rest of the day, we know that we started our day off on the right foot. We’re big fans of Dr. Fuhrman and try to follow his Eat to Live program about 90-95% of the time. Basically, that means a whole-foods based diet consisting mostly of greens, legumes, fruits, nuts, and seeds. Of course, we live in New York City and do quite a lot of traveling, so we certainly never deny ourselves delicious vegan treats from time to time! We also do 10-day juice fasts every 2 months, initially inspired by the movie Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, which have really changed our lives. As a result of the last 15 months of juice-fasting, we’ve lost a total of about 130 pounds between us. Now, we maintain the juice-fasts not as a weight loss tool, but because they really help us reboot our system, detoxify, and take a breather from the normal hectic-ness of life.

And, by the way, we think Allison’s Gourmet is doing incredibly wonderful work. We like to say that the single most effective thing you can do for animals is to provide delicious vegan food. You are doing just that, and we love that you are also so outspoken about animal issues. Actually, “for-profit activism” was the impetus for the Money Squawks section of Our Hen House.

Oh my, your gratitude warms my heart!  It sounds like you take incredibly good care of yourselves, both physically and emotionally! I, too, am a big fan of Dr Fuhrman and I love referring to his ANDI score chart.

AG: Do you have a favorite Allison’s Gourmet product or one that you’d love to try?
JS & MS: That’s a tough choice, but all in all it’s probably safe to say that our favorite Allison’s Gourmet product is the Vegan Peanut Butter Cups. They’re not only reminiscent of our favorite taste combination from childhood, but there’s something about Allison’s that is otherworldly. Plus, we love that they’re fair-trade — which we think is a prerequisite for buying any kind of chocolate (we love Food Empowerment Project’s list of recommended chocolate).

But this year, we have our eyes on the Peppermint Bark. Not to ruin any surprises, but there are many people in our lives who will be eating that very, very soon. We hope we will be, too!

Thanks so much Jasmin and Mariann, it’s always lovely to hear about what you’re up to (and I hope someone gets your hint about the Peppermint Bark).

Whether you choose one of our elegant chocolate gifts, a gourmet coffee gift basket, or a cookie of the month club, we guarantee that everyone on your list will love your gift.
Did you remember a sweet something for your Host or Hostess, Dog Sitter, Nanny, Driver, or Doorman? There are so many people in our lives who deserve our appreciation during the holidays and chocolate is a great way to show it. If you’re not sure which types of goodies a specific person prefers, choose one our instant gift certificates and allow them to enjoy their own dessert shopping. Whatever you decide, order now so you can get on with the rest of your festive plans like awesome vegan baking and giant family meals!

Happy Holidays from all of us at Allison’s Gourmet.

P.S. Join Allison (@AllisonsGourmet) tonight at 6pm PT for the @VegNews Twitter chat: http://veg.gy/3E5CM. She’ll be answering your vegan baking questions along with two other extraordinary women, Hannah Kaminsky @BitterSweet_ and Beverly Lynn Bennet (@veganchefbev)!

Thank you for allowing us the honor of sending important gifts to people you care about. We appreciate your trust. Happy Compassionate Holidays!

We’ve designed five fabulously elegant and decadently delicious vegan gift baskets with green and compassionate corporate gift-giving in mind. In varying sizes to match any office or budget size, these gourmet coffee gifts baskets include a variety of healthy, cholesterol-free baked goods, artisan chocolates, vegan confections, and fair-trade coffee and cocoa. Impress your colleagues and share your good taste; say goodbye to the corporate holiday gift that no one wants and instead offer your business partners premium-quality desserts that everyone will enjoy. Our products even come with a complete satisfaction guarantee!

While we certainly have lots of great gifts here at Allison’s—from our new vegan artisan caramels and truffles to our monthly memberships—we’re most excited to offer the gift of compassion every day.

Probably many of you sat around a table yesterday with people you love and care for deeply while having a very different experience as they poured more gravy over dry turkey and you tried not to think about the life sacrificed…it’s not easy being the sole vegan or vegetarian at any table, but especially on Thanksgiving.

As a more than 20-year vegan myself, I know that this movement of compassion is only getting stronger. We can see it now more than ever as more celebrities speak out for animals, more restaurants and supermarkets include vegan options, humane standards become more widely adopted, and plant-based diets become more desirable to the ailing, unhealthy Americans eating processed junk food. That doesn’t mean we’ll ever live in a world that’s entirely vegan, but it sure feels like we’re too far down the road towards a more compassionate culture to turn back now—whatever lies ahead of us is closer than what lies behind.

Whether or not you’re adding Allison’s fine products to your gift-giving this season, you may want to consider other compassionate giflt choices like ‘adopting’ a Farm Sanctuary animal, supporting one of PETA’s programs, making a donation to a local animal shelter or buying a foodie friend a vegan cookbook. As the planet continues to transition, gifting compassionately helps us to continue to be beacons in a world that is indeed on its way towards something better for all of Earth’s creatures. And that is certainly something to be thankful for.