From the monthly archives: October 2008
Like many strange and unusuals, Halloween is my favorite time of year. As I made 2 batches of these Halloween cupcakes, I, in accordance with ancient folklore and pagan ritual, listened to the Halloween soundtrack at full volume and prank called my boyfriend. The cupcakes would be for my students, who’ve been discussing Halloween since October’s calendar page was revealed, and for pre-Greenwich Village parade activities at my apartment. These activities included my first ever…
Cupcake Challenge!
3 participants (2 male omnivores, 1 female omnivore) were blind-folded and given a small wedge of the best-selling Entenmann’s Halloween cupcake. (The cupcake’s huge top of icing was minimized for the challenge.) After cleansing their palates they were then given a wedge of my VCTOTW golden vanilla with chocolate ganache cupcake.
They were then asked which cupcake was better. All three agreed that the vegan cupcake blew the Entenmann’s out of the water. It was then revealed to the participants that they had selected the vegan cupcake. Woohoo!
Here are some highlights from the parade:
A motley crew
Alien
L.L. Big, hairy monstrous things (Ladies love…)
Medusa, Medusa…
I’ll let you guess what this is.
The most original costume I saw.
Huh?
Oh what a frightful evening!
I am now in care of a Phalaenopsis orchid. My co-workers gave me the beautiful plant as a birthday gift. It is one of the most beautiful gift I’ve ever received. Its sepals are bright fuchsia and striated, like the palm of a cold hand or stretch marks on the hip’s skin. They explode on the end of a slender stem like in-love faces. I feel nervous holding its pot. On the long subway ride from school to home, riders moved aside for me and my orchid as I settled into the train, uncharacteristically considerate and careful. Looking at it high atop my book shelf, safe from my cat, I’m nervous I’ll lead it to a swift demise. I need some guidance.
I wish I lived near a 19th century botanist who spent his days staring through magnified lenses, a scruffy and wretched recluse more adept at communicating by way of cultivating plant life, grunting affirmations or negations.
Internet research just doesn’t do it for me.
My class of 4th graders remind me how deep pizza passion can run in children. One student writes creative fiction about Pizza Guy, a pizza delivery guy whose is shaped like a pizza, others scream and reverberate to the chant of “pizza! pizza!” at the mere mention of it. Personally, I’ve never been big on it. From an early age I was creeped out by the orange oil dripping from the triangle slice’s point. I remember chewing on wads of mozzarella for seemingly hours wondering why it wouldn’t get smaller. I enjoyed the crust and the sauce… the budding vegan.
But I’m not big on vegan pizza either. Occasionally I’ll forget how finicky I am. I’ll buy a slice and remember quickly: “Oh yeah, thin wet crust is not the best vehicle for the pounds of wet vegetables that usually make up a vegan slice.” Then I won’t have pizza for a long time, save for the occasional Amy’s roasted vegetable pizza which I love. But heading up Broadway to class, my belly is in charge. She’s forgetful, irrational and sometimes cruel. She makes me do things, like pay $6.45 for a pile of pizza. 
Aren’t goals much easier to accomplish when you announce your intentions to the world? When you have to submit your name, click buttons and see a confirmation page? Kidding aside, I’ve sworn off bottled water. Because its production is wasteful. Because its packaging is wasteful. Because NYC’s tap water comes from the Catskills and is naturally filtered in the protected forest region. Because tap water is at my faucet (how’s that for local) and costs me nothing. Because I do anything New American Dream tells me to do. Because, unlike the adorable Thai romantic comedy, Citizen Dog, a mountain of water bottles is no picnic.
After weeks of planning a surprise birthday get-away, Wok Man only revealed the above hints.
“Section 6″, which I thought maybe be a seat location at a concert, was the segment of the Metacomet-Monadnock trail we were to hike. This 114 mile trail that spans Connecticut to New Hampshire and has been on my “before I die” list of things to accomplish for some time now. Though I hiked up a small segment of the trail to climb Mt. Tom on my birthday last year, section 6 of the trail would be my first official hike. Section 6 begins in Holyoke, Massachusetts. This is a short distance from hint number 2.
“Noble is the view” referred to Noble View Camp‘s 1831 farmhouse that was our home for the weekend. The farmhouse in Russell, MA had no electricity, no running water and was set within 360 acres of “rural solitude”. Paradise.
And of course, “Charge your phone.” hinted to our being without a electrical source for the weekend.
Many logs later, here is my photo recap of my wonderful birthday weekend.
Our farmhouse, exterior shot.
“Someday my logs will have something to say about all this.” The new Log Lady.
The farmhouse kitchen, powered by butane lamps.
The wood-burning stove. I loved this thing.
Fire, fire, fire! Watching the light show in the stove was far more entertaining than any network t.v. show.
On the M-M trail, for every mile I added a leaf to my hair.
Relaxing on one of the many cliffs and peaks overlooking the countryside. The grey overcast pounded us with rain and strong wind during our descent.
Strange mutated leaves.
View from 1,000 feet up.
Fall foliage, dull against the grey sky.
Orange umbrella.
After calling a car service for a pick-up, a limousine arrived at Avis to bring us back to Brooklyn. After 3 days of not showering and kicking it old school, it seemed an excessive mode of transportation.
The East Village’s Organic Grill serves a mean tofu omelet. In my previous visits, spanning a few years now, they’ve always used a proprietary blend of vegan cheddar cheese. I was a bit disappointed to learn they have now converted over to Follow Your Heart‘s cheese. The omelet is still the best of its kind but I miss the smooth texture and heat-retaining capabilities of their old cheese. Wah.
Here are their Seitan Skewers…
…and grilled tofu sandwich. Both very delicious.
…and grilled tofu sandwich. Both very delicious.
Onward to Northampton, Massachusetts. In the adorable Florence area is a wonderful cafe and bakery: Cafe Evolution. Though their food offerings are a bit limited, the space is also home to Oh Sweet Mama’s Vegan Bakery. What a delight the place was! Wok Man and I spent the entire morning at the Ms. Pac Man table admiring the local art on the walls and inspecting the flurry of vegan activist pamphlets alongside the locals. Our breakfast sandwich, which refused to rotate (below), was a nice bite of mostly grocery items: Tofurky slices, Veganaise, Follow Your Heart cheddar.
The real draw was the baked items. So many wonderful items to chose from! Knowing that I’d soon be leaving town, the pressure was on. I chose the lemon cupcake and Wok Man had the peanut butter chocolate chip cookie.
Came, saw and cupcake-conquered! My country-wide tour of America’s vegan bakeries continues…
The real draw was the baked items. So many wonderful items to chose from! Knowing that I’d soon be leaving town, the pressure was on. I chose the lemon cupcake and Wok Man had the peanut butter chocolate chip cookie.
Came, saw and cupcake-conquered! My country-wide tour of America’s vegan bakeries continues…
Next (actually after a long, all-day hike on the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail) was dinner at Bela Vegetarian Restaurant. This place blew my heavily dampened mountaineering socks off. The corn chowder, which I ordered only because I was ferociously hungry and knew I wouldn’t be able to think straight waiting for my meal, was, hands down, the best soup I ever had! So creamy and hearty. The Boylan King Cola also kicked butt.
My harvest burger, made of lentils, tofu and other such goodies, was of the crumbling variety which meant… seconds! It was absolutely fab. After eating a full cubed potato in my chowder, I donated my rosemary potatoes to Wok Man because he’s a bottomless pit.
Here Wok Man inhales the aroma of spaghetti with soy sausage, Swiss chard and diced tomato. And in the end, he’s full! A hard goal to accomplish.
When CandyPenny sent me the link to Lula’s Sweet Apothecary in Manhattan’s East Village, I thought: this could be the one! The one I’ve been waiting for. Can New York City finally represent on the vegan ice cream front? Could the little truck that could in West Philly do it in the streets of New York’s City when it comes to frozen delights?
Lula’s bills itself as a entirely natural vegan formulator and dispenser of frozen confections. That is: flurries, soft serve, shakes, malts, floats, “egg” creams, parfaits, banana splits… magic shell, whipped cream, toppings galore. Being only three weeks new, however, menu items (as well as the hours) are in flux. When I visited the small, hidden shop on East 6th street I ordered a vanilla soft-serve sundae with marshmallow, fresh banana, whipped cream and a cherry on top. It wasn’t the ultra rich and creamy dessert of decadence I had built up in my imagination, no. It was realistically good. They’re new to town and I’m gonna give them some time to fulfill my fantasies.
There is a long coffee table in my folks’ house. The entire surface area of this table is covered with deep pools of Snickers miniatures, individually-wrapped Hostess cakes and Little Debbie treats. This is all year round. It is enough to secure dentists, doctors and food scientists within their lucrative fields for a lifetime. But this past visit, in celebration of my birthday, it was my mission to show them just how delicious dairy/egg-free could be… what better way than to get VCTOTW on this household! The gang all pitched in: Here is the older KZ filling up the liners. 
The result: sweet success with an orange pudding center. So good that the pops asked for thirds. Hmmm, can I squeeze in yet another round of cupcakes for my birthday? How long do I have before this card expires?
We are amidst Bklyn Goes Veg!, didn’t you know? Although the list of participating restaurants is a bit sparse, I most likely would not have stumbled upon Papacitos in Greenpoint so soon had I not been on the BGV mailing list. Papacitos is a spectacular addition to the north side, serving up one killer vegan burrito. In fact, this place blows every burrito joint in NYC out of the water! The seitan asada, cubed vegan cheese (Follow Your Heart I think) and tofu sour cream are not expensive add-ons to an otherwise bland basic burrito. The rice, beans, salsa and guac are all worthy enough for their own starring role within the warm tortilla… but you get ‘em all! 
The mexi-kitsch decor of the place exudes a west coast vibe. And, let’s face it, the west does burritos a helluva lot better than the east coast.
Salsa and chips are must-haves but not complimentary. You’ll shell out $4 for a basket of fresh made chips and a salsa that isn’t just red and wet, it’s yum. Guacamole will also cost ya. It may have been an error, but this part of our meal was more than our main courses. $10 for one order of chips, salsa and guacamole? 
The dim light doesn’t do much to illuminate this burrito’s beauty but trust me here… muy delicioso.
It’s my birthday today and I want vegan cupcakes! Having the foresight that this would be the case, I rented a car to deliver me, finally, to Sweet Avenue Bake Shop, Rutherford, New Jersey’s vegan cupcakery. The place has been on my radar for quite some time now, in electronic form, sitting patiently in my “favorites” folder. It was time to see what the voted best cupcakes in Bergen County, NJ taste like.
Wok Man and I each selected two cupcakes from the display case. They looked fake, like cupcakes you see in a dream or in Lisa Frank stickers. I chose the Rocky Raccoon, a marshmallow-filled chocolate cakester, and the chocolate sundae cupcake with a cherry on top (sitting pretty below).
Realizing I hadn’t tasted the vanilla cake, I ordered a THIRD cupcake. The Snowball, a vanilla cake with vanilla coconut icing, turned out to be my favorite one! Wok Man took several awkward pictures of me enjoying its fluffy goodness, the least awkward of which is below. Note the adorable pink decor and display case, the vegan bakery must-haves.
Sweet Avenue cupcakes are indeed a treat. My only qualm would be the icing to cake ratio. We wound up knocking of the big heads of icing from our cakes and enjoying them even more. I brought the icing home to spread on my own cakes… is that weird? Although I am not big on the big icing, it really adds to the cupcakes’ beauty. Here is my icing stash:
My nieces are often scared of my home-stitched gifts. Looking nothing like Dora or the Princesses, my plush crafts are often confusing to them, even scary. (Last Christmas my stuffed owl gift was thrown in sheer panic and fear!) With this in mind I began to stitch them up some colorful masks from my huge pile of fabric scraps in the hopes that they’d enjoy my gifts more in the season of creepy, oddball Halloween. Minor success.
I will continue to fight Toys R Us and the notion that little girl childhood is pink, plastic and mass-produced.
Vegan Reporting By Location
