Don’t wait until the last minute and leave finding the right gift for your Valentine to chance or the whim of the grocery store candy isle clerk. Your sweetheart deserve more than that, don’t you think? How about treating him or her to the compassionate indulgence of some of the very best organic, dairy-free and fair-trade chocolate on the planet. And, although chocolates are customary for this time of year, we have plenty of other options if chocolates aren’t suited to either their taste or your purpose. Maybe a fair-trade tea sampler or something from our vegan bakery will more accurately express your sentiments. We’re here to help, we want to make your Valentine’s Day as delicious and stress-free as possible: just let us know how we can help.

Allison’s Gourmet: When I first considered going to cooking school in 1996, I heard about a woman who had a daily home-delivery food service, catering to folks (especially stars) who followed a hardcore macrobiotic diet. I even had one of your flyers from before you started the restaurant! A few years later, I enjoyed my first meal at Real Food Daily. Will you correct any erroneous memories I may have and tell us how Real Food Daily came about?
Ann Gentry: That’s about right. In the late 1980’s, I started a home delivery cooking business serving organic vegan meals because at that time there were not many, if any, gourmet whole/real food restaurants in LA. I know, hard to believe, right?  This was pre-Whole Foods Market and there were a few places to eat plant-based cuisine but they were kind of hippie-ish and the food may have been healthy for you but didn’t always taste or look satisfying.I opened the first Real Food Daily in 1993 as a direct result of having no place to go out to eat the kind of food I was cooking at home.

Allison’s Gourmet: Wow, you are a true pioneer in the realm of delicious vegan restaurants! Were you always a fan of cooking or did that come when you turned to a macrobiotic/vegan diet?
Ann Gentry: I grew up in a household of some mighty fine Southern cooks. Good thing I didn’t keep eating that way, as I’d be as big as a house by now and probably facing some serious health problems, too. Once I was introduced to vegetarian cuisine, then macrobiotic cooking, I put down my Dr. Pepper and took a real interest in learning how to cook for myself.

Allison’s Gourmet: Amazing how those lights just turn on, huh? When I finally had the honor of meeting you when Anna and Frances Moore-Lappé did a book signing at your fun and funky West Hollywood location, I was struck by your unexpected and charming Southern accent. How do you weave your Southern roots into your macrobiotic/vegan menu?
Ann Gentry: It is just a natural connection to use my Southern heritage in both cooking and hospitality when it comes to my restaurants. I never try to mimic the exact creation of a certain dish, I just let the essence of the recipe guide me. For example, creating the Salisbury Seitan came out of my love for eating Salisbury steak at independent Southern diners and cafeterias.

Allison’s Gourmet: Lucky you. I only had them in TV dinners. No wonder yours are so much better. Did you set out to create a gustatory haven for stars or did that just happen?
Ann Gentry: When you have a great business in Los Angeles, everyone flocks to it. Hollywood keeps coming because these folks, just like everyone else who is a beloved RFD guest, wants to eat food which is deliciously clean and pure. All kinds of people following a variety of strict dietary guidelines—whether for ethical, health, or religious reasons—find themselves with a lot to choose at RFD. We have earned the trust of people who are seeking out a plant-based diet whether full or part time. When folks leave RFD, they feel a satisfaction from eating fresh organically grown plant based foods. People respond well to this, sometimes without even knowing why. I know why – because RFD is committed to serving balanced, nutritional whole foods cuisine using high quality produce and ingredients most of which are grown organically and this affects people on many levels.

Allison’s Gourmet: Your latest book, Vegan Family Meals: Real Food for Everyone is geared towards cooking vegan at home; what’s your favorite piece of advice for healthy home cooking for people on the go? And do you have any advice for people making the transition into veganism?
Ann Gentry: A plant-based diet with a seasonally rotating palette of fresh, colorful produce ripe for use encourages creativity in the kitchen. If you prepare the best local and seasonal ingredients with a variety of cooking methods, you’ll have more interesting and diverse tastes, textures, and colors on your plate. Any quality home cooking takes a little time. As a busy working mother, I too am juggling the day-to-day challenges. In Vegan Family Meals I talk about how it’s nice to have the American-style four or five dishes at every meal, but it’s not necessary. Balance your nutrition intake across the week, and don’t get hung up on making every meal a feast. Instead, focus on preparing a few recipes that will keep your cooking simple and your time in the kitchen enjoyable. If you are making the transition to a plant-based cuisine, know it takes time to change and embrace a new way of eating. Take it easy and be kind to yourself.

Allison’s Gourmet: Those are great suggestions, Ann. What’s your favorite vegetable and how do you like to prepare it? How about your favorite super simple vegan meal/recipe that keep you supercharged through your day?
Ann Gentry: I’m blessed; I love all vegetables. Right now, I love to roast cauliflower as it has such a simple satisfying texture and mild flavor. I start my day making the first recipe from Vegan Family Meals, Acai Berry Granola Bowl. I even have my 8 1/2 old son loving this breakfast. It is filled with super foods, nuts and seeds and is filling and satisfying.

Allison’s Gourmet: And that’s no minor feat! Congratulations. Finally, what’s your favorite Allison’s Gourmet product?
Ann Gentry: Someone sent me your gourmet brownies that are laced with a hint of orange. I loved that they were not overly sweet, as I didn’t taste the hit of sugary sweetness most brownies have. Yours were just the right amount of chocolate and sweet and they were divine.

Thank you, Ann, that’s high praise indeed coming from you!

Sugar High: The Dark History and Nasty Methods Used to Feed Our Sweet Tooth by Jill Richardson

Sugar is now 20 percent of the American diet, but it’s not just our health that suffers from its pervasiveness.
Americans think an awful lot about sucrose — table sugar — but only in certain ways. We crave it and dream up novel ways to combine it with other ingredients to produce delectable foods; and we worry that we eat too much of it and that it is making us unhealthy or fat. But how often do Americans think about where sugar actually comes from or the people who produce it? As a tropical crop, sugarcane cannot grow in most U.S. states. Most of us do not smell the foul odors coming from sugar refineries, look out over vast expanses of nothing but sugarcane, or speak to those who perform the hard labor required to grow and harvest sugarcane.

Of course, sugar can be made from beets, a temperate crop, and more than half of sugar produced in the United States is. But globally, most of the story of sugar, past and present, centers around sugarcane, not beets, and as biofuels become more common, it is sugarcane that is cultivated for ethanol. What’s more, some conscious eaters avoid beet sugar as most of it is now made from genetically modified sugar beets.

While I do not fool myself that sugar is “healthy,” if I am going to satisfy my sweet tooth, I prefer cane sugar, maple syrup, agave nectar, or honey over the other choices: beet sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and artificial sweeteners. Of the bunch, most Americans can find only honey and perhaps maple syrup sustainably and locally produced, but cane sugar is often the most versatile product for baking.

As a major consumer of cane sugar, I was disturbed to learn the realities of cane sugar production when I visited a sugarcane-producing area in Bolivia.

Sugarcane grew as far as the eye could see on the degraded soils of the deforested industrial agricultural area in Bolivia’s lowlands. At one point, the van I was riding in got stuck in a traffic jam of enormous trucks, each full of sugarcane, delivering their loads to a refinery. The area around the refinery smelled terrible, and the locals told us the smell came from oxidizing ponds that hold the refinery’s wastewater. When the refineries are washed out, typically once a year, the wastewater is dumped into local waterways, resulting in fish kills. This spurred me to learn more about how sugar is made, both in the U.S. and around the world, and how it impacts the land and the people who produce it. Sadly, the story of sugar is also the story of the African slave trade. Today, sugar production still uses exploitative labor practices and can cause serious environmental problems.

Read the entire article on Alternet.org

Allison’s Gourmet: Tell me about your journey to becoming a “Joyful Vegan.”
Colleen Patrick-Goudreau: I grew up eating every kind of animal – anything that walked, swam, or flew. My father owned ice cream stores and would bring home tubs of ice cream to fill our separate ice cream freezer. At the same time, I – like most children – had a deep sense of compassion for animals, suffered when they suffered, and intervened when I was able. My parents and other adults supported this compassion, but they also taught me to compartmentalize. I was taught that some animals were worthy of my compassion (the stray dogs and cats or wildlife I helped) and some animals were “here for us” and thus deserving of our compassion only to a point. And these were the same animals all over my wallpaper, my pajamas, my childhood books and games, and my favorite TV shows and movies: lambs, calves, pigs, ducks, geese, turkeys, and chickens.

I could have gone about my whole life staying desensitized, but luckily I read John Robbins’ Diet for a New America when I was 19, which started me on a path to learn everything I could about the exploitation of animals for human consumption. I stopped eating land animals immediately, and several years and several books later, I stopped eating (or wearing) anything that came from an animal. I just did not want to contribute to violence towards animals – violence I would never participate in directly.
So, when I became vegan (12 years ago now), it was a very natural and joyful decision that has had many unexpected gifts. Even though there is great pain in being aware of the suffering of non-human animals, there is also great joy at being fully awake and not being part of that violence.

AG: You are an impassioned voice calling us to awaken for the animals and our human souls. Would you share with us your evolution from a background in English to teaching vegan cooking classes to publishing your touching “Food for Thought” podcast and now arriving as a prolific author and inspiring speaker?
CP-G: You’re sweet. Thank you for saying that. When I left graduate school back in New Jersey I was not vegan, but I had already read Diet for a New America, and seeds had been planted. So, even though I didn’t know what it was going to look like, I knew I was going to follow a path working to help animals and empower people to not eat animals. I knew that my contribution would be through what my skills and interests were – namely writing and speaking (I taught Freshman English when I was a graduate student and was finding my voice as a lecturer). So, I just started by doing and by trying to find my voice. I began educating people by tabling, by doing Street TV (showing slaughter videos and handing out Why Vegan brochures), and then by teaching cooking classes (because everyone said “what do I eat?”). When I realized I was on to something with the classes, I wanted them to reach more people, so I produced a cooking DVD. Tapping into the power of media, I started producing my podcast, Vegetarian Food for Thought (it’s all vegan!). From there, my first publisher found me and offered me a contract to write The Joy of Vegan Baking, and it’s all gone on from there with The Vegan Table, Color Me Vegan, Vegan’s Daily Companion, and The 30-Day Vegan Challenge. The journey has been exhilarating and incredibly gratifying, and I’m so grateful to wake up each morning dedicating my life to exactly what I feel is the most important work in the world: teaching people how to manifest their compassion in their every day lives. It’s pretty amazing.

Come back next week for a Giveaway of two of Colleen’s books!

AG: What is your greatest reward in teaching people about compassionate living?
CP-G: I believe we’re all here to be teachers to one another; we’re all here to lift each other up to become the fully evolved people we can be. I believe that people want to be the most compassionate they can be, and I believe it’s already inside of them. I’m not teaching/telling them anything they don’t know; I’m just pointing them to what’s already in their hearts. I help them recognize it, and when they do, they wake up, and I get to see that moment. It’s heart-warming, gratifying, and powerful for me with each person I see experience this. The details may be different, but their stories are pretty much all the same: “I cared about animals when I was a child; I was taught to squelch that compassion in order to eat the animals my parents fed me; then X happened, and I’ve become re-awakened to my compassion.”Each story of awakening I hear just gives me strength and resolve to continue doing this work, because it’s not just a matter of teaching someone how to sauté onions or bake vegan brownies; it’s a matter of shifting the paradigms to become the compassionate people we really are. (I’m adding new “love letters” to the website all the time, if you want to read some).

AG: Congratulations on your recently launched gorgeous new website! Can you tell us about your Compassionate Cooks Club, Daily Dose of Compassion and/or anything else you’d like to share about your new site?
CP-G: Thank you! The website redesign for The Compassionate Cook has been a LONG time coming! Now that it’s updated, it enables me to more easily change and add more content, blog more (even though I don’t consider myself a blogger), and enable people to comment and participate directly on the website. The Compassionate Cooks Club is not new, but the new account-based membership is. I’m so blessed that people value the work I do and want to support it, but I want to be able to give them something back while creating a community. Club members get to see videos, recipes, and content created just for them; depending on the level, they also get signed books, and some can contact me directly in a consulting kind of relationship to get personal advice and guidance. Of course there is and always will be a ton of free resources on my website, but members just get a little more. I’m really excited about the Daily Dose of Compassion. It’s my new (free) email service whereby subscribers receive an inspiring quote from me everyday in their inbox. I’d been wanting to do this for awhile, especially when I heard from so many people who disciplined themselves to read only 1 page a day out of my book, Vegan’s Daily Companion, so it’s just another way to empower people to live compassionately without apology.

AG: What are some of the whole-food staple ingredients you keep on hand in your kitchen? Do you have a favorite recipe you make often?
CP-G: Favorite recipe – definitely my kale salad. A staple in my home, particularly because of my kale gardens! Rub olive oil on leaves to coat them, sprinkle on some salt and nutritional yeast, and toss with anything and everything, depending on the season. Sometimes it’s toasted pecans and diced apple. Sometimes it’s pumpkin seeds, red onion slices, and avocado. It just depends. I’m a very simple eater and keep a lot of veggies in my fridge and grains/beans in my pantry as staples. I love whipping up new recipes just based on whatever I have in my kitchen. Some recipes are available for free on my website.

AG: If you and I were collaborating in the kitchen, what would be your fantasy creation?
CP-G: Anything with coconut oil, chocolate, and bread. Does that inspire anything in your incredibly creative mind??

AG: Hmmm… how about soft, doughy bread made with coconut oil and a dash of cinnamon, dipped in chocolate, fondue-style?
You have accomplished so much already. Knowing you as I do, I imagine there’s more to come. What’s the next frontier for Colleen Patrick-Goudreau?
CP-G: Right now, I’m caught between Scylla and Charybdis because I have so much I want to do, but I also have a burning desire to find some balance in my life. So, aside from trying to slow down a little, the most immediate next project to come to fruition will be the interactive 30-Day Vegan Challenge online program. I’m focusing on letting my books breathe a bit (no books for awhile), returning again to a regular podcast schedule (it slowed down a bit in 2011 because I had three books come out one after the other), and on launching the 30-Day online program. So much to do, and I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to do it.

Thanks Colleen, it’s always a pleasure to catch up with you. Now I need to go get my chocolate melting for that fantasy creation! For more about Colleen, her books, speaking engagements and podcasts, find her on Facebook and Twitter.

P.S. Remember to come back next week for a Giveaway of two of Colleen’s books!

Despite the winter season keeping us extraordinarily busy in November and December, we’ve been scheming for months to come up with something new and exciting to offer for this sweetest of holidays. We love creating festive and swoon-inducing vegan chocolates for Valentine’s Day and this year, along with our new line of Artisan Truffles and Caramels, we’re also very excited to introduce you to our latest creation: Vanilla-Kissed Strawberry Bark. As gorgeous and delicious as it sounds, this smooth and creamy vanilla-strawberry bark will have you dreaming of strawberry fields.

Don’t wait to order your own unique valentine gifts for all the most important and chocolate-loving people you hold dear. Other February favorites include cherry chocolate organic brownies, double chocolate chunk organic cookies, and our elegant Chocolate Lover’s Gift Set. Order now!

In this new year, as we strive to live healthier, happier and more conscientious lives I have great hope that the positive forces working for compassionate and humane treatment of animals in this country and worldwide will increase and grow. Let’s strengthen the already expanding vegan revolution, one sweet bite at a time. Introduce your friends, colleagues, and loved ones to just how excellent (both in flavor and in health) animal-free eating can be. One step at a time, one person at a time, one meal at a time. It’s so easy to eat vegan, especially when the options include outrageously awesome vegan recipes and cookie of the month flavors like Vanilla Almond and Double Chocolate Chunk.

From Allison’s kitchen of heavenly delights: Happy New Year!

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

As a fellow sweets lover, I have long admired Hannah Kaminsky’s dedicated work in the world of vegan desserts. Her skills as a recipe creator and photographer are out of this world. Often, when I have a spare moment, I pop over to her enticing blog just to see what she’s up to. I was thrilled to sit down with Hannah to talk to her about her genius.

Allison’s Gourmet: What inspired you to adopt a vegan diet?
Hannah Kaminsky: Well, at first I went vegetarian simply because I suddenly found myself with many new veggie-powered friends when I entered high school. I found it intriguing, as I hadn’t really considered it a viable lifestyle before, and was impressed at how easily it came to me. After finally doing a bit of research as to why one would become a vegetarian, and all those horrible websites about the cruelty of the egg, dairy, and meat industries popped up… Well, there was no looking back, and I went vegan straight away, after only a month of being vegetarian. Now it’s been about 8 years and I haven’t regretted that decision once.

AG: How in the world did you decide to write a cookbook for your Senior project at the tender age of 18?
HK: Actually, it wasn’t so much that I decided to write a cookbook as a senior project – I lucked out that I had some of the most open-minded teachers in the world. I was going to work on that cookbook to the detriment of all other assignments, but they graciously allowed me to submit it as a final project anyway. So I could have just as easily failed; the cookbook was way more important than school in my eyes!

Hannah recently released a gorgeous new full-color cookbook, Vegan Desserts, that’s arranged seasonally, has lots of lovely holiday and gift-able treats, and includes her own enticing photographs of every recipe. She’s generously allowing us to give away a copy of this volume to one lucky reader. Read on!

AG: What’s the biggest challenge in running a blog?
HK: Keeping up. Keeping up with both the lovely comments, other inspiring blogs, and regular postings with new and exciting content. Sometimes it becomes too much, and my email piles up like some horrific multi-car accident on the highway, but it’s always worth it to sort through in the end, whenever time allows.

AG: What do you love most about it?
HK: I couldn’t survive without the feedback. The reason that I keep blogging is not for money (I only make a meager amount from Amazon referrals every month, as cruelty-free and committed advertisers are hard to come by), nor the freebies for review (though they are a nice perk), but for the community. On the days when it’s hard just to get out of bed, and I have to wonder why I keep writing recipes, a glance at the comments always lifts my spirit. Small compliments really do have a huge impact, and I treasure the thoughtful words from my “regulars” especially.

I hear you on this, Hannah. Cyberspace can feel a touch solitary at times and the human contact through feedback is essential for me as well.

AG: You’re an amazing photographer and have taught me a lot! I especially love what you’ve been doing with my ‘Veganize It!‘ recipes in VegNews. Do you have a preference between taking pictures and writing blogs or recipes? Why?
HK: Why thank you! I’ve definitely begun to identify more as a photographer than cook or writer at this point. It’s mostly due to my increased focus on it, thanks to school, and other freelance jobs that keep on graciously popping up. I’m a very visual thinker as well, and I find it entirely satisfying to take an image in my head and recreate it in real life, generally relatively faithfully to my original inspiration. To be able to share my vision with others is one of my favorite parts of the job… Plus, on the styling end, I love having an excuse to play with my food!

Sounds like similar reasons to mine for cooking/baking/candy-making!

AG: Are there any whole-food staple grocery items you can’t live without? (Favorite fruits, veggies, beans or grains?)
HK: Well, this is probably pretty weird, but I adore cucumbers. There are always at least two or three in the house. I just slice them up, salt them, and munch on them as needed. Simple and refreshing, it’s my idea of healthy comfort food!

AG: Do you have a favorite seasonal meal idea or recipe you’d like to share?
HK: Come winter, I make giant vats of stew at least every other day of the week. Whatever’s in the fridge or pantry gets piled in, and every batch is a little bit different. It’s just a wonderful way to wind down my evening; get a big pot of stew bubbling away while I work on a few last emails for the night, enjoy one bowl full with some light reading, and then pack away the rest for quick meals later. The leftovers are excellent to freeze for long term storage, too.

AG: You combine your love for making crafts with food, is that a natural fit? How do your readers respond? Are there different audiences?
HK: There are definitely different audiences that visit my blog, and I try to appease them all whenever possible… Although I can tell you right now, I’m grateful for all the crafters that hang in there, because that section has been rather quiet for some time now. It’s tough to balance everything out, so I just post edibles and crafts whenever they happen, rather than forcing sub par stuffed animals. It’s harder to find the time to just sit and craft these days, so although the blog started out only as a craft blog, without any recipes, it really is more of a food blog with a few crafts thrown in now. I hope that foodies and crafters alike can appreciate both sorts of posts, though!

AG: Which Allison’s Gourmet goodie is your favorite or would you most like to try?
HK: Well, I had the incredible luck of receiving your peppermint brownies one year as a holiday gift from a co-worker, and I still can’t get them out of my mind! I love chocolate and mint together more than most flavor combos, and the crunchy topping of crushed candy canes on those fudgy brownie squares just made this marriage perfect. I wish they were available year-round!

Just wait until you try our new artisan truffles and caramels!

Now for the Giveaway! In her new book: Vegan Desserts, Hannah cracks the code of formerly elusive vegan meringue, which, in it’s non-vegan form, is made with only egg-whites. To win, post here on our blog telling us what you would create with this revelatory discovery? We’ll choose a winner Wednesday, the 7th. Good luck!

UPDATE: This contest is now closed. Esther, of  A, B, C, Vegan won!

Finish off a big family meal with your favorite decadent dessert whether it’s a tray of organic brownies, a platter of gourmet cookies, or something more involved like a coconut ice cream and double chocolate chunk brownie Sundae topped with caramel sauce and vegan toffee. Complement your dessert with a perfect cup of organic fair-trade tea or fair-trade organic coffee. For holiday-inspired sipping, we like Peppermint Drinking Chocolate or Coconut Nog.

Now, for the other nights of the holiday week, or if you have kids who won’t eat anything green, these “VeganizeIt!” versions of classic pasta favorites (like amazing Mac ‘n’ Cheese) are cholesterol-free and even include some hidden veggies, but still have the rich and creamy flavors that everybody loves. For Italian-style family meals try Baked Ziti or Lasagna (available in the current issue of VegNews). Or, for an easy meal for kids or kids at heart, whip up some Alfredo sauce, pour over your favorite pasta and serve with a side of steamed veggies.

For those loved one too far distant to share a holiday meal, consider our many elegant and delectable holiday gifts for the season. Happy Compassionate Thanksgiving!

20 years ago, before I began my journey toward healthful, compassionate eating, I ate low-quality food because it was what I had grown up eating and I didn’t know any better. I was unhealthy, 15 pounds overweight and suffered from acne. In 1989, I discovered healthy foods and started experimenting in my own kitchen. Later, I studied at The School of Natural Cookery in Boulder, CO and continued growing my skills throughout the years. What I learned is that good-tasting, nutritious, premium-quality food is worth so much more than the few extra dollars one might pay for it. Take the astounding differences between store-bought tomatoes and home-grown ones, for example, or Wonder Bread compared with a whole-grain artisan loaf.

Inferior-quality food makes for inferior health in the way my body looks and feels as well as my mood, and a less satisfying eating experience. If you haven’t yet experimented with it, maybe it’s time to try. It’s no secret that I love food and I don’t eschew fat, salt or sweet, yet I’m healthier today than ever in my life and I attribute that achievement to my healthy lifestyle and eating habits. For me, an enjoyable and delectable meal is as important as the nutrition found in it.

When I opened my vegan bakery in 1997, I knew from the beginning that I would serve only the kinds of foods I would want to eat myself: real food made from whole, organic ingredients that anyone can easily pronounce and find in her own kitchen. Doing so allows the body and palate to feel satiated with much less. Contrast that with eating fat-free cookies, which attempt to trick the taste buds and brain into thinking they’re getting what they want. But, instead of eating one fat-free cookie, many people end up consuming an entire box in the hopes of achieving the enjoyment they would normally gain from one full-fat cookie.

You see, pure, whole foods like our organic cookies and vegan brownies are satisfying after just a small amount. This saves money, health, and your waistline. Choose top-quality foods and discover for yourself: a little goes a long way.