How to Keep a Green, Vegan Kitchen
As the holidays come to a head, the kitchen can become a watering hole of sorts as meals and gifts co-mingle in wintery goodness. And for the vegan, this can be a great time to try new recipes, too. Which of course means lots of ingredients, gadgets and cookbooks galore! We love this article on how to keep a green, vegan kitchen. It’s useful now and throughout the year!
How to Keep a Green, Vegan Kitchen, MNN.com
Do you know which animal-derived, eco-unfriendly ingredients might be sneaking around in your kitchen cabinets? If the answer is “no,” don’t despair. You’re not alone! Most people are surprised to learn that there might be whey (that’s milk curd runoff) hiding in their paper towels, or that their hand soap is harboring tallow (that’s rendered fat), or that there’s lanolin (sheep’s wax) lurking in their upholstery polish.
Animal by-products are a direct result of the factory farming machine, and that’s why ethical and environmentally-minded individuals, regardless of diet or lifestyle, are making the move towards natural, plant-based products. In my own home, I keep an eco-friendly, cruelty-free kitchen. It took a bit of research and a bit of reconfiguring to get all set up, but now it’s just as easy as vegan pie. Quite a bit cheaper, too! Here’s how I do it:
Things are pretty easy now that entire lines of cleaning products have gone green and vegan. Method comes to mind as the leader of the cruelty-free cleansers, but there are other popular brands, such as Seventh Generation, that are almost entirely animal-free (the Seventh Generation automatic dishwasher pacs may contain tallow). These are great options to pick up in a pinch. But the truth is, I prefer to make my own DIY cleansers using simple, natural ingredients. Baking soda, white vinegar and castile soap can be combined in any number of ways to create some seriously fabulous DIY concoctions.
Read the entire article on MNN.com
Hearty Thanksgiving Main Courses for Vegans
Despite the growing awareness and popularity of the vegan diet, we still face a disconnect in this country about how to cook without meat. And as most vegans will have to endure an emotionally stressful Thanksgiving by either feeling persecuted for skipping on the turkey or from the sheer sadness of seeing its carcass perched at the center of the table, we at least do not have to add starving to the list of reasons this holiday has traditionally sucked. Whether cooking for yourself or for guests, as today’s post shows, there is no shortage of delicious vegan recipes to make this holiday inclusive for all.
Hearty Thanksgiving Main Courses for Vegans
By Tara Parker-Pope, Herald-Tribune
While vegetarian diners are happy to fill their plates with Thanksgiving side dishes, many chefs still want to serve their non-turkey-eating guests a substitute for the meaty main course. For Well’s Vegetarian Thanksgiving series, Chloe Coscarelli, a vegan chef, offers two hearty vegetarian dishes packed with protein. The recipes, a lentil stew with squash and apples and a country “meatloaf” with gravy, come from Ms. Coscarelli’s new cookbook, “Chloe’s Kitchen: 125 Easy, Delicious Recipes for Making the Food You Love the Vegan Way,” to be published by the Free Press in March.
For dessert, Ms. Coscarelli, a winner on the Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars” for her vegan cupcakes, offers a dairy- and egg-free pumpkin tiramisù. For more main course and dessert ideas, see Ms. Coscarelli’s recipes from last year.
To read the recipes, click here.
And for more yummy vegan recipes, visit Allison’s Veganize It! recipes and check out other bloggers’ versions of her recipes, too! Happy Thanksgiving!
Fridays With Friends: Snarky Vegan’s Julia Moran Martz
We were so excited to have two featured guest bloggers last month making Allison’s “Veganize It!“ recipes for Vegan MoFo month! Julia Moran Martz, aka, Snarky Vegan was one of our amazing contributors and answers some questions this week in our Fridays with Friends episode.
Allison’s Gourmet: Were you always inspired to cook/bake or did that happen after you adopted a vegan diet?
Julia Moran Martz: I’ve been baking since I was a kid back in the mid-70s ”helping” grandma make grape jelly and complaining about having to help my aunts string beans from the garden. Back then I was also making Christmas goodie boxes for friends and family. They always contained soft pink peppermints, cookies, glazed lemon nut bread, turtles, Mexican wedding cakes, and one year I even made peanut brittle. 
I do remember becoming a much less picky eater after going to college and realizing how handy it was to make a huge vat of something cheap to eat throughout the week. That’s when I expanded to things other than candy and baked goods.
AG: What’s the biggest challenge in running a food blog?
JMM: Finding the time and energy after running my business all day, every day. When you own a company, as Allison knows, it doesn’t shut down for you at 5pm. This also poses an issue with photography because I do most of my cooking in the evenings after work. Natural lighting is non-existent at this time and my house is too small for professional lights.
Also, I should note that my blog is really about both vegan food AND vegan gardening because as vegans, we often grow our own food. Ethical vegans are also concerned about the animal farming by-products used in regular organic farming (all the meals: blood, bone, feather and then manure). My goal is to bring awareness to the entire vegan food chain: soil to plate. There are veganic options for an ethical and healthy edible garden; it’s just an unpopular topic with media so it rarely gets any mention.
AG: What do you love most about it?
JMM: Getting feedback from people who try my stuff and then post photos of what they did. That’s sooo cool! So far my most visited posts have been the quick and easy White Trash Tater Tot Casserole and the higher-end, more time-consuming, fermented cashew cheese.
AG: What was your favorite ”VeganizeIt!” recipe you made for Vegan MoFo and why?
Photo by Snarky Vegan Julia Moran Martz
JMM: The Shepherd’s Pie hands down because DH liked it. He’s so picky and hardly ever eats anything but salad or peanut butter sandwiches but he really liked the shepherd’s pie. Obviously, I have to work on my mashed potato ghost technique.
AG: What was it like to participate in Vegan MoFo? Do you think you’ll do it again?
JMM: I try to do it every year but it always seems to coincide with some big trade show we have to do for work. So it’s a struggle to find the time.
AG: Are there any whole-food staple grocery items you can’t live without? (Favorite fruits, veggies, beans or grains?)
JMM: OMG there’s so much that I consider critical to have on hand. Stuff that we keep in large quantities in the kitchen are: vegan mayo! always at least 2 big jars in the fridge; jumbo Tupperware containers of flour, rice and pasta; huge tubs of raw oats, nutritional yeast, dried black-eyed peas and black beans, pecans, sunflower seeds, and dried cranberries; unsweetened soy milk; lots of cans of garbanzo beans; a really good balsamic vinegar; and romaine, onions, potatoes, lots of bags of frozen peas and broccoli. I also keep a stash of homemade apple butter in the basement. Oh–I do keep some plant-meats in the fridge but it’s limited to just vegan sausages and also lunch meats for quick sandwiches and roll ups.
I did kinda go overboard this summer and grew enough garlic to feed 2 families for a year. Of course, I’m planting more this year. I plant a mix of early, mid and late-season varieties then keep them braided and hanging next to the bag of home grown shallots in the cool basement so they last longer throughout the winter. Storing home grown alliums at 55ºF max is the best way to make them last into winter. Store bought garlic has been treated so once brought above 32ºF won’t store as long. If you want to keep home grown garlic longer, peel, mince and freeze it double bagged and in small amounts that you can break off for soups or whatever.
There are a few things that can be harder to find and I snag several whenever I get the chance even though I don’t use them every week: vegan worcestershire sauce is a must have, organic chili sauce is handy, vegan cheeses (I like the ones that really melt), Ceylon cinnamon (from Penzeys), and vegan marshmallows of course. Whole Foods carries most things but are not always located in everyone’s neck of the woods.
AG: Do you have a favorite seasonal meal idea or recipe you’d like to share?
JMM: My hands-down favorite seasonal item is not one of my own unfortunately but it’s my most favorite recipe ever: Vegan Vanguard’s pecan pie. I grew up on traditional pecan pie and since becoming vegan, I’ve tried a lot of very bad vegan versions. VV’s version is the best I’ve ever had, including the ones I used to make in the 70′s with 6 eggs.
If you want one of my own recipes, it’s gotta be my version of black-eyed peas and collards for New Years good luck. By using chorizo seitan crumbles and a good veggie broth, it’s pretty amazing. Took it to an omni party one year and no one asked if it was vegan.
AG: Where do you find inspiration for new meal ideas?
JMM: I like looking at the food sections of news sites to see what trends would be fun to veganize and I try to stay up-to-date on other vegan blogs. I also have this really cool ancient 3-inch-thick cookbook that was my great grandmothers and it’s really fun to see what trouble I can cause with that. It’s falling apart of course but everything in it is the stuff our grandmothers and great grandmothers made. All traditional ideas just waiting to be veganized.
AG: Which Allison’s Gourmet goodie is your favorite or would you most like to try?
JMM: This year for our client presents, I’m ordering a testing box of vegan toffee, peanut brittle and caramels for myself. Of course she doesn’t have a testing box per se so I’ll likely be ordering “extras,” it’ll be my own little Christmas bonus. ;-P
Are you a vegan foodie or know one we should catch up with for the Fridays with Friends series? Drop us a line on Facebook and Twitter!
Fridays with Friends: Better With Veggies’ Heather Blackmon
After a super fantastic month of recipes during Vegan MoFo, we caught up with Heather Blackmon of Better With Veggies to pick her brain on vegan foods, blogging and a super yumm chia recipe you have to try!
Allison’s Gourmet: Were you always inspired to cook/bake or did that happen after you adopted a vegan diet?
Heather Blackmon: As long as I can remember, I have enjoyed cooking. I remember helping my mom get ready to host a party at our house when I was young, which always included a lot of food. As I got older, I was often the one assigned to cook, while she got the house ready. When I lived by myself for a few months after college, I still cooked full meals for 1 (often with a lot of leftovers!). Moving to a plant-based diet has reignited my passion for cooking – there are so many new things to try and it’s exciting! Although I never stopped cooking, I’m in the kitchen more often now and loving it.
AG: What’s the biggest challenge in running a food blog?
HB: The time commitment is the most challenging for me. With a full-time job and an active workout schedule, devoting the time to developing interesting recipes, taking photographs, and sitting down to write daily can be overwhelming. I’m learning better ways to keep myself organized and taking full advantage of my calendar and to-do lists recently!
AG: What do you love most about it?
HB: I really love having an excuse to experiment in the kitchen and to learn more about food photography. My husband and I both really enjoy photography and have a growing collection of travel photography around the house, but food is a different animal. I enjoy the challenge of keeping things interesting and continually learning as I go.
AG: What was your favorite “VeganizeIt!” recipe you made for Vegan MoFo and why?
HB: This is a hard question – there are so many delicious choices to choose from!
The Grilled Tempeh Reuben is at the top of my list, with the flavors and texture I am looking for in a Reuben. The glazed tempeh crumbles nicely, creating the right texture to replace the corned beef. There is so much flavor in this sandwich and it’s the perfect warm meal for this time of year. It is messy, so bring lots of napkins if you pack it for lunch!
AG: What was it like to participate in Vegan MoFo? Do you think you’ll do it again?
HB: Vegan MoFo was a whirlwind month of activity. I had only been blogging for about a month before October started, so I had no idea what I was in for! With every post being food-centric, I really had to get creative to keep things interesting. I followed the RSS feeds and would wake up each morning with over 100 posts in my queue – so many fantastic vegan food blog posts to read! I will absolutely participate again, but next time I’ll be more prepared and have some content ready to go before October even starts.
AG: Are there any whole-food staple grocery items you can’t live without? (Favorite fruits, veggies, beans or grains?)
HB: I always have chickpeas, cashews, and salad greens in my kitchen. Chickpeas are a great source of protein and are in so many of my favorite foods: hummus, burritos, Mmmm sauce (from Peas & Thank You), salads, and so many more. Cashews are a close second, with all the cream sauces, cream cheese, heavy cream, and added crunch in salads. Which brings me to salad greens (kale, spinach, chard, arugula, etc.) that I include in everything from smoothies …to kale chips …to dinner salads. The possibilities are endless with these three!
AG: Where do you find inspiration for new meal ideas?
HB: Many of my inspirations come from ethnic foods I’ve enjoyed while traveling or meals I’ve enjoyed (or seen others enjoy) that are not vegan-friendly. It’s fun to find a way to remove the animal products and still enjoy the flavors that everyone is really looking for!
AG: Which Allison’s Gourmet goodie is your favorite or would you most like to try?
HB: I haven’t had an opportunity to try any of the goodies yet, but there are a few that have caught my eye. I LOVE spicy foods (I’m originally from New Orleans), so the Spiced Peanut Brittle & Chipotle Caramels sound really interesting!
AG: Do you have a favorite seasonal meal idea or recipe you’d like to share?
HB: Recently, I’ve been enjoying chia pudding for breakfast, which you can combine with so many different flavors depending on your mood. I’m still enjoying all the pumpkin recipes, so I added pumpkin to my chia pudding for a quick & easy fall breakfast.
Pumpkin Spice Chia Pudding – (serves 1)
Ingredients
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used Sunflower Seed Hemp Milk from Thrive Foods)
1/2 cup pumpkin
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 tablespoon maple syrup
3 raspberries
Directions
Combine chia seeds and water and let sit for at least 15 minutes. Here’s where I typically take a shower and get ready, while the chia & water soak.
Add non-dairy milk and mix until combined.
Add pumpkin and mix until combined.
Add maple syrup & pumpkin pie spice, mix until all combined.
Top with raspberries and enjoy!
Vegan MoFo 2011: Ghoulish Shepherd’s Pie
Just in time for this Halloween, one last Vegan MoFo Recipe from our lovely guest blogger, Snarky Vegan (aka Julia Moran Martz). She had a super time with Allison’s Vegan Shepherd’s Pie recipe as you’ll see below. It’s such a warming and comforting meal any time of year, but we absolutely LOVE the Halloween twist Julia adds to it! What do you think? What are your favorite recipes for Autumn? Halloween? Let us know over on Facebook and Twitter!
Ok, so I’m on a ghost roll. I love Halloween and just couldn’t come up with any other ideas for the mashed potatoes on Allison Rivers Samson’s Shepherd Pie recipe printed in her award-winning VeganizeIt! column in VegNews magazine.
Of course, other folks have created better mashed potato ghosts than mine. My first effort at making mashed potato ghosts is a bit amateurish but I’m sure with practice they could resemble those ghosts by these other masters.
Use a zippered sandwich bag with the corner cutoff to squeeze out easy ghosts made from mashed taters on shepherd’s pie. Push in lentils for eyes before baking.
This Shepherd’s Pie is perfect, even DH said so.
You may have read here that my hubby is rather picky about food so if he likes something, it’s got to be good, right? Yep. This is a great Fall/Winter dish that will definitely become a regular around here because it’s healthy and something hubs will eat.
Reprinted here with permission by Allison Rivers Samson and VegNews magazine. Any changes on my part are noted.
6 servings
Ingredients:
- 3 1/2 cups yellow potatoes, dices, cooked and mashed
- 1/4 cup non-hydrogenated margarine
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
- 1/4 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3/4 cup chopped onions
- 1 cup slices mushrooms
- 1/2 cup diced carrots
- 1/4 cup diced celery
- 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons barley flour
- 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup vegetable broth
- 2 cups cooked French lentils, drained well
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 4 teaspoons tamari
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, combine mashed potatoes with margarine, 1 teaspoon salt and non-dairy milk. Set aside.
- In a large saute pan over medium head, add oil and onions. Saute for 2 minutes. Add mushrooms, carrots and celery. Cook for 2 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 1 minutes. Add flour and stir until absorbed. Stir in marjoram, celery seed, thyme, paprika, remaining salt, and pepper. Cook for 1 minute, and then stir in broth. Continue to stir frequently until the mixture comes to a slow boil. Stir in lentils, parsley, Worcestershire, tamari and peas, then remove from heat.
- Transfer mixture to a deep pie dish or a 9×13-inch casserole. Spread the mashed potatoes on top of the vegetable mixture in the dish. Use the tips of a fork to rake across the top of the mashed potatoes, making a rough surface to facilitate a brown crispy top.* Bake for 40 minutes, or until potatoes are browned. Serve hot.
*I used ramekins to make single portion pies with an individual ghost for each pie. Glad I put them on a baking sheet to bake because they did cook over the sides.
Just look at how yummy the pie is under the ghost!
Tired Wench Tips:
- Make a stash of lentils up to 3 days prior.
- Use frozen carrot and pea mix to cut back on some chopping.
- Buy pre-sliced mushrooms.
- Make both the taters and vegetable mixture in advance and assemble for dinner after work. Not sure I’d put the mashed potatoes on the veggies ahead of time because I don’t know if they’d merge into a goo. You can nuke a side dish of veggies and set the table while this is baking.
Now pardon me while I go determine how many leftovers to eat for lunch. It’s difficult to determine this when you have to share with someone else.
Great job, Julia! It’s ghostly delicious looking. 
18 Vegan MoFo Recipes You Have to Try!
October has flown by… like a pumpkin with wings. Of course, the vegan food options just get better as we get closer to the 
holidays. And October was a pretty delicious month too, especially if you were participating in Vegan MoFo! We enjoyed the interpretations of Allison’s very own VegNews Veganize It! recipes from Julia Moran Martz (Snarky Vegan) and Heather Blackmon (Better With Veggies). Check out their recipes below and let us know your favorites. Did you try any of these at 
home? What was your biggest yummm during Vegan MoFo? We want to know about your favorite vegan recipes on Facebook and Twitter. Have a spooky, safe and sweet Halloween!
Frittata (version 1-Snarky Vegan)
Frittata (version 2-Better With Veggies)
Lentil Loaf (version 1-Snarky Vegan)
Lentil Loaf (version 1-Better With Veggies)
Tuna Free Salad Sandwiches (version 1-Snarky Vegan)
Tuna Free Salad Sandwiches (version 2-Better With Veggies)
And you can check out all of Allison’s original Award-Winning Veganize It! recipes here.
Allison Creates a No-Fart Frittata: Yummy in the Tummy and Easy on the Gut
Well, we maybe wouldn’t have been so…snarky by calling it a ‘No-Fart Frittata’, but leave it to Snarky Vegan to say what many of you were probably wondering! This is one of our favorite recipes from Allison, and we love how Julia breaks it down here for her Vegan MoFo version. Have you made a soy-free vegan frittata yet? It’s a fluffy, creamy treat any time of year.
When I think of veganizing frittata or quiche, I automatically think of tofu as the egg susbstitute and then I give up because I’m not a big fan of tofu. It’s almost become the standard vegan crutch and too much soy can cause gastronomical issues in some people.
So when I saw that Allison had created a frittata without soy, I got super intrigued. Then I saw how simple it was to make and got really tweaked about the possibilities. I began fanticizing about using the basic mixture for quiche, terrines…even savory custards.
Then I got even more excited because I could use Allison’s recipe to make mini-frittatas for lunch bentos. This would be not only healthy but a yummy compassionate protein to go with a salad or side veggies. AND it would be easy to manage portion control, something I struggle with daily…ok, hourly.
I doubled the recipe so I’d have enough batter to make some mini frittatas in a muffin tin. I lined the tin with parchment to make them easier to remove later.
A great thing about frittata is that you can use almost any vegetable in the mix so it’s totally seasonal. Spring spinach and asparagus, Summer tomatoes and eggplant, Fall beans and zucchini, they’d all work well.
Italian Frittata
Reprinted here with permission by on Allison Rivers Samson from her VeganizeIt! column in VegNews magazine. Any changes on my part are in parentheses or noted with asterisks.
6 servings, if you aren’t a hoarder.
Ingredients:
- 4 cups water
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 cups garbanzo bean flour
- 1/4 cup margarine
- 1 cup onion, quartered and cut into thin slices
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 2 cups broccoli florets cut into small pieces*
- 1/4 teaspoon kala namak
*After doubling the recipe, I added 1 box of chopped frozen spinach in lieu of doubling the broccoli. I also added about a cup of Daiya mozzarella shreds to the hot mixture and then used some extra as topping with the asparagus spears.
Steps:
- Oil a 9-inch tart pan (I used a pie plate). In a medium saucepan (large if you’re doubling recipe) over medium heat, add water and salt. Gently whisk in the garbanzo bean flour to combien completely. Whisk occasionally as the mixture begins to boil to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. As it begins to thicken, reduce heat to low and cook uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, place a saute pan over low-medium heat and add margarine and onions. Saute for 5 minutes, then add basil and marjoram and cook for another 5 minutes. Add broccoli and cook for an additional 5 minutes (this is where I added my defrosted spinach as well). Turn off heat.
- In a large bowl, combine cooked garbanzo bean mixture, vegetables and kala namak until well mixed. Spread evenly into oiled dish. Cool completely in the refrigerator for two hours. This step imparts the egg-like texture so don’t skip it.
- Preheat oven to 350, then bake frittata for 20 minutes (I baked for 30 because my oven is weird). Move frittata to broiler rack and broil for 3-5 minutes, until the top has browned (I have a small apartment-sized stove and skipped this step because the last time I used the broiler the smoke detector took issue).
The overall texture after baking is fluffy and creamy. The taste is also very yummy and savory due to sauteing the vegetables before blending.
When warm, the slices are a tad loose but they do firm up after cooling which will make them perfect for including in lunch bentos. I really gotta get a decent stove with a broiler that doesn’t cause too much smoke.
Tired Wench Tips:
- This recipe required a set-up time of no less than two hours in the fridge. Overnight if possible. That means that it’s an easy make-ahead dish that only takes 20-30 minutes to cook when you’re ready. So make it Sunday for Monday morning breakfast or a quick comforting dinner after work.
- Likewise, make ahead mini-frittatas in muffin tins to use in lunch boxes throughout the week. Accompany with a side salad and some fruit (strawberries, banana, apple, etc) for a healthy lunch.
- Or do what I did and double the batch, make a frittata in a pie dish for dinner then make the minis for lunches.
- If you’re a penny pincher, grate the broccoli stems and incorporate into the batter with the florets.
- And my favorite tip, if you don’t feel like chopping a bunch of veggies, buy chopped frozen veggies instead. All you really must chop is the onion. Sorry, there’s no way around that.
Great tips, Julia! We love the side ideas!
Vegan MoFos in Allison’s ‘VeganizeIt!’ Kitchen All Month Long!
October marks the month also known as “VeganMoFo.” (Vegan Month of Food). The lovely ladies at the Post Punk Kitchen devised it as a way to pay homage to the art of writing, by committing to write about vegan food somewhere around 
20 times during the month. We dig. And we’re super excited to announce that throughout October, we’ll be featuring contributions from VeganMoFo writers Julia Moran Martz and Heather Blackmon. They will be recreating Allison’s VeganizeIt! recipes featured in VegNews Magazine. Read on to learn more about these brave women. And let us know if you’re participating in Vegan MoFo or simply making scrumptious vegan eats by visiting us on Facebook and Twitter!
Raised on lard, bacon, and overcooked green beans, Julia Moran Martz (a.k.a., Snarky Vegan) didn’t discover whole wheat bread and steamed veggies until leaving home for college. By her mid-30′s, she became vegetarian, then married and freaked out her new husband by adopting a vegan diet at 41. Trolling the few vegan blogs available in 2004, she developed a wider awareness of cultural foods and cooking methods. Her blog is her way of giving back to the online vegan community that unknowingly supported her during the big transition.
This will be Julia’s 3rd year participating in VeganMofo. Her theme this year is “EZ Comfort Food for Tired Wenches” — essentially creating easy, fast ways to whip up Allison Rivers Samson’s VeganizeIt! comfort food recipes from VegNews Magazine after a long stressful work day.
Heather Blackmon is a long-time food enthusiast who recently transitioned to a (mostly) vegan diet after reading about factory farming and how we mistreat animals. She created the Better With Veggies blog to share her love of cooking, eating veggies, and living an active life with others. When she’s not in the kitchen, she is often found outdoors running or biking.
Currently participating in her first VeganMoFo, she will be cooking her way through the “ Veganize It!” recipes, created by Allison’s Gourmet founder, Allison Rivers Samson, originally published in VegNews Magazine.
Weekly Wrap-up: We Have Blogger Fever, Contest Update and More!
In case you missed the news, Allison made her way up to the first Vida Vegan Con in Portland last month. She was sending us 
play-by-play pics throughout, but her Wednesday wrap-up really takes the experience to another level…and makes us a little hungry! Good times and lots of good food gave the glorious vegan blogger community so much to talk (and write!) about. We’ve all been kneeling around Allison listening to her stories as if she’s come back from a visit with Santa (and, no, that’s not Santa in the pic–that’s Bob from Bob’s Red Mill!). What a treat indeed. Whether you’re a blogger or just a vegan—and especially if you have plans to visit Portland anytime soon—we definitely recommend checking it out.
Gah! We’re just a week away from the deadline to submit your designs to our first Tee and Tote Design Contest! In case you haven’t heard us yapping on about it over the last month, we’d love to see your creative design to be used on signature Allison’s tee shirts and tote bags. You also have the option (but not required) to design a new Allison’s Gourmet logo as well! The grand prize winner will receive $500 and lots of yummy yummies
, so get your submissions in by September 15th.
We really love the conversations on our Facebook and Twitter pages, so please keep the comments coming and let us know what you’d like to read and discuss. More vegan recipes? More stories from Allison? More product specific info? We’ve got some inspired ideas on the way, and always love your input in the process. Until next time…
Order Now for Mother’s Day (It’s This Weekend!)
Spring is finally really starting to spring here in Northern California. We have oak trees putting out bright green leaves, the lilacs and redbud bushes are beautifuly in full bloom, and all the new seedlings are starting to push up in our gardens. 
Amidst all this growing and flowering, it seems a perfect time of year to celebrate all the strong and beautiful women in our lives: the mothers of all kinds who nurture and support us.
Mother’s Day is this weekend, and there is still time to order decadent vegan chocolates, melt-in-her-mouth vegan fudge and 
our luscious new Salted Lavender and Chocolate Rose Caramels in time for Sunday. Order before 9am on Wednesday and choose 2-day air shipping to guarantee on-time delivery.
What are your Mother’s Day plans? Any wildflower walks or sunny meadow picnics in the works? We’d love to hear your ideas and recipes!
