The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life

I've been meaning to do a mini book review of Melisser Elliott's The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life. Because it's amazing. And if you're newly vegan, thinking about going vegan or a vegan warrior who just wants to confirm your beliefs and learn about other women all over the globe who share your ideals, this book has something for you.

As someone who's played around with a veg lifestyle for most of my adult life, I know the basics of going veg. But Melisser really breaks it down for you. She not only covers the food stuff (including pantry must-haves, foods to avoid, nutrition, and recipes), but all the other lifestyle issues a vegan needs to know: activism, clothes, shoes, beauty products, and even cleaning supplies. She lists the ingredients you need to look out for, as well as the companies that are 100% cruelty free. She even goes the extra step of telling you what products she loves the most. This girl is thorough. It's everything a lady needs to know to successfully navigate a vegan lifestyle.

My favorite part of the book are the interviews she does with vegan ladies, and vegan business owners from all over the world. It's wonderful to read about other gals who follow the vegan lifestyle, how they got there, and what they love about it. And the layout and design of the whole book is just adorable. And did I mention there's a section in the back with vegan and eco-friendly crafts? Seriously, I'm in love with this book. Well done, Melisser.

Following my goal of trying new recipes every week, I've been working my way through the recipes in the back of the Guide. Some are Melissers, and some were submitted by her many talented friends. So far, all are delicious. Last week I tried the Two Bean Confetti Hash. It was pretty yummy.

But the best I've tried so far? The Moroccan Chickpea and Kale Tagine with Quinoa. This dish is probably the most delicious thing I've ever made. I know that's not saying much considering my dinner track record, but seriously. I had to pat myself on the back for this one. It's so flavor and full of spice without heat, and with chickpeas, kale and quinoa, it's a nutritional powerhouse. Best of all, it's comes together really quickly. You prep the veggies, add ingredients, and let it stew and do its thing. My kind of dish!

I'll definitely be adding this dish to my repertoire, and probably bring it to my next potluck. And you should definitely add The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life to your "to buy" list. It's totally worth it. And if you've already got your copy, you should head over to the VegNews Book Club. The Guide is the book they're discussing this month!

Milk and Cookies

I heard Santa might be going vegan this year. He's gotta stay healthy too! Thankfully, I've got lots of alternative holiday milks and vegan cookies for him to choose from. Should put me right at the top of that 'Nice' list.

Most of you should be familiar with Silk's Soy Nog. It's been around for awhile. I use this in my eggnog frosting for gingerbread whoopie pies with excellent results. I think that the consistency is perfect; it has that thick, creamy, eggy mouthfeel that you look for in an eggnog (or as close as it can come without any actual cream or eggs). I'm not blown away by the flavor though. I find myself always adding cinnamon or nutmeg, or some holiday cheer to help kick it up a notch. Still, I bet if I left a glass of this with a little nip of bourbon to help keep Santa warm, he wouldn't complain.

This year I discovered Rice Dream's Rice Nog. I'm a big fan of rice milks since I'm always looking to reduce my soy intake. The flavor of this nog was perfect: lots of nutmeg with other spices to round out the taste. As expected, since rice milk is notoriously thin compared to other milks, the consistency was nowhere near your typical egg nog. But I kind of liked that. It was light, and allowed me to drink more than I would normally be able to tolerate with eggnog's usual thick consistency. I'll leave this one out for Mr. Claus in case he needs something lighter and refreshing to wash down that Chocolate Candy Cane whoopie pie I plan on leaving for him.

West Soy makes a Chocolate Peppermint soymilk. I don't keep regular chocolate soymilk in the house anymore, because I drink too much of it. West Soy's beverage combines my two favorite things and is equally dangerous. Creamy, chocolatey, and a hint of peppermint flavor makes this an ideal holiday drink. And you can drink it cold, or warm it up for some hot cocoa action! I think I'll leave a big tall glass with some chocolate chip cookies for the man in red this year.

I heard that VitaSoy also makes a Holly Nog, but I was unable to find it in Philadelphia. Silk also introduced Mint Chocolate soymilk this year, but I haven't gotten around to trying it yet. If you've tried either of these drinks, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to whip out my copy of Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, and bake up a batch of tasty, cruelty-free cookies for Santa to enjoy.

Merry Christmas!

Snackin' in Scranton: Gold Crown pizza

My kitchen's still an inferno and I haven't turned my oven on in over 2 weeks. So, while I'm itching for a baking fix, here's a little something to distract you check out from my Scranton trip. I apologize to Nicole Snyder in advance, who will now probably be craving pizza for the rest of the day:

We've discussed this before. I'm from Scranton, and I frequently travel home to see friends and family eat pizza. Sometimes it takes up my whole visit. Thankfully, it's pretty easy to round up a group to head to Gold Crown for pizza and beers. It's a two birds, one stone kinda thing in the most delicious way possible.

Now, before anyone gets their panties in a bunch, let me clarify. Gold Crown is not actually in Scranton. It's in Dunmore. Which is near Scranton. But just like a Japanese man would be offended if you said he was Chinese, Dunmoreans are proud of their borough. And I've got too many friends that live in Dunmore to start angering them. OK, now that's out of the way, let's talk about the pizza.

On this particular venture, we got a tray of plain and a tray with olives. I don't have much to say about Gold Crown other than it's extra yummy, in a very NEPA-pizza kind of way. Crispy bottom crust, slightly sweet sauce, gooey cheese blend. 

Their pizzas are smaller than normal trays, but not quite personal-pan size. I've thought about finishing one on my own, but I've never actually done it. Two pizzas will very easily feed 4 people, and you might even have left-overs. But you'll probably find yourself justifying that third, and sometimes fourth, piece. Do it. It's worth it. Also, I find their pizza is best while still warm, and looses some deliciousness the longer it sits. All the more reason to have that extra piece, love handles be damned. 

Yeah, yeah, I know. I shouldn't be eating cheese anyway. Ken reminds me all the time. But there are some things that are worth the pain. Pagash is one. Gold Crown is also on that list.

Gold Crown has a bar on one side, kitchen on the other. You can eat in, or take out. They only serve pizza until around 10pm though, so you need to get there before beer o'clock if you want to enjoy the gooey awesomeness. The bar stays open till 2AM, so you can continue drinking your calories. They've got a pretty good bottled beer selection for a NEPA bar, so if you're a beer lover and you find yourself stranded in Dunmore, it's not such a bad place to be.

Gold Crown is definitely on my top ten list for NEPA pizzas. It's good snackin'. 

Gold Crown Pizzeria

634 E Drinker St

Dunmore PA 18512

570-346-4481

Road Swallows: A Pilgrimage to Vegan Treats

It's approximately eleventy-billion degrees in my apartment. Between how crazy stressed I've been and the extreme heat, I haven't even thought about turning on my oven this past week, and can't imagine doing it anytime soon. Luckily for you, I'm behind on posts and I've got a backlog of pictures and goodies to write about to hold us over until the temps go down or I get an industrial fan. 

Two weekends ago I visited Scranton, and on the way up the turnpike I made an impromptu stop in Bethlehem. Yeah, Bethlehem, PA. Why? Because it's the holy land for vegans and the lactose intolerant. Stay with me here. 

If you're a vegan with a sweet tooth in the Northeast, Vegan Treats is your Mecca. Everyone makes a pilgrimage at some point or another. If traveling for treats isn't your style, they deliver to lots of restaurants from NYC to DC. I've tried some of their cakes before in Philly, and you may have too if you've ever had vegan dessert at the Royal Tavern or Cantina Los Caballitos. They can also be found at New Harmony Vegetarian, Kingdom of the Vegetarians in Chinatown, and lots of coffee shops like Last Drop and Mugshots. For a full list of locations in Philadelphia, or your town, that carry Vegan Treats, check out their website. They've got a google map feature that will help you get their goods in your belly. And trust me, you want these in your belly.

I decided to try a little bit of everything, and dropped around $20 on a mixed bag of treats. Then I shared them over the weekend with all my favorite people in Scranton: those wonderful peeps at Eden, Amanda over at The Fanciful Fox, and of course, my favorite Italian Carolyn. So, let's take a closer look at what we tried.

The Pumpkin Whoopie pie was ENORMOUS. I had it for dessert after another delicious meal at Eden- A Vegan Cafe. I shared it with about 8 people. It tasted like fall, and had everyone nervous that it might not be vegan. That's how good it was. Also, whatever it is that Vegan Treats is doing to get that filling so light and subtly sweet and delcious, I need to know. I. NEED. TO. KNOW.

These donuts blew my mind. Probably the best donuts I've ever had in my life. The one on the left is boston creme; the one on the right is chocolate with sprinkles. After the first bite, I immediately regretted not buying a dozen assorted donuts. I'm not a huge fan of donuts, but I'd eat these every day. The chocolate donut with sprinkles in particular had a really great texture, not too cakey, but soft and chewy. It was very chocolately and not-too sweet. I bow down to the bakers at Vegan Treats.

(Side-donut note: I shared half of the chocolate sprinkles donut with Amanda at the Fanciful Fox, and I totally made her week. We started talking, and I had this pseudo-celebrity moment where she was all like, "OMG, you're Sweet Swallows!?" And I was all like, "yeah, you want a muffin and some donut?" and she was all like, "YES!" and then she tried to convince me to move to Scranton and set up a vegan bakery on Adams Ave. I'm still considering it. Also, expect to hear more about the ladies and the goods at the Fanciful Fox soon. Their products are vegan and fair trade and awesome.)

I waited till the next day while baking with Carolyn to try anything else. We did a tasting of the rest of the items, and left the rest for her family to enjoy. First up, we tried the truffles.

I thought I had bought cookies and creme truffles. I guess I heard wrong though, because these tasted like mint cake truffles. When you're expecting dark chocolately truffles, and instead get a minty, chewy cake, it's a pretty big let down. Carolyn and I were both a little disappointed in these.

We tried the brownies next. I had gotten two different kinds, cookies and creme and peanut butter bombes. The brownie itself wasn't much to write home about. It was a little dry, very thin, and not as fudgy as I like. If you've been following along with the blog, you'll know I've been in search of the perfect brownie recipe, and it actually made me feel a little better to know that these brownies weren't great either. The cookies and creme topping tasted like a light buttercream mixed with crushed up Newman's O's. It was ok, but not amazing. The peanut butter bombe, on the other hand, was over the moon dreamy! Light-as-air peanut butter mousse, covered in a chocolate, and a peanut butter drizzle all over. Holy Moly, was that delicious! 

Last, we tried a little Lemon Strawberry cake. It looked adorable, the cutest little size (about 3", maybe). The taste was pretty under-whelming. Keep in mind that I'm not a big fan of cake to begin with, but the cake was much to dense for my liking. The strawberry filling was very good, but because the cake was so small, there was not much filling to be had. The icing was similar in taste and texture to the icing on the cookies and creme brownie. Like most of the treats I tried, it had a nice light texture and wasn't too sweet. Unfortunately, this cake failed to impress me. 

Overall, the trip was DEFINITELY worth my time, and I'll probably do it again soon. Some final thoughts:

• Carolyn and I both agreed that the donuts and the whoopie pies were the best. Truffles were the least favorite. 
• I thought that some items were over priced, but some were a great deal. The mixed box all balanced out in the end. 
• The shop was really cute, the display case looked beautiful and there was a big variety of treats to choose from.
• However, nothing was labeled in the case, and no prices were displayed, so I had to ask about everything.
• The girl working behind the counter was as friendly as she needed to be, but not very helpful. I explained to her it was my first time there and asked for advice on what I should try. She was pretty vague and failed to excite me about anything. I mean, I get it, you're working and would probably rather have Saturday off. But I feel that if you work in a bakery that's been written about in national publications, has been lauded by the press, and is carried by restaurants in major cities on the east coast, you could muster a little enthusiasm, and tell me one or two things that I should definitely try. Maybe I'm just spoiled by the service I get at Eden.
• I hear they deliver donuts to some coffee shops in Philly. I need to do more research on this...

Vegan Treats

1444 Linden St

Bethlehem PA 18018

website: www.vegantreats.com 

phone: 610-861-7660

Snackin' in Scranton: Eden, a vegan cafe

I love vegan food and baked goods. But let's be clear about one thing: I'm NOT vegan. I hope I didn't break any of your hearts. I was vegetarian for about 10 years, and vegan for 2 of them. And of course, there's that whole lactose-intolerant thing. But every once in a while you'll catch me eating potato pizza or fish tacos or using butter in my pie crust. (My vegan crust is pretty tasty, but you just can't beat butter sometimes! sigh...) 

In Philly it's pretty easy to eat vegetarian. Most of the bar/restaurants I frequent have awesome menu standards and specials that are cruelty-free and delicious. But a place that's 100% without a doubt, no ifs-ands-or-buts about it VEGAN? None in Philly. You've got to go to Scranton for that. 

Yeah, you heard me right. SCRANTON. It's quite lovely up there. And they've got yummy places to eat. Like Eden- a vegan cafe. If you follow along with this blog, you'll know I stayed home an extra night while visiting for Easter just to make sure I could grab lunch there. That's how delicious it is. And the service is super friendly, and the place is bright and airy and pretty and they're on the coolest block downtown (on Adams Ave, right across from the best bar in town and the awesome Thai place, but those are for another post...). And the owners are big PHILLIES fans. And if you live in the Scranton area or if you're like me and from Scranton but go home frequently to visit, then you need to go. Immediately. And thank me later. 

Eden's got a full menu with soups, appetizers, salads, sandwiches (hot and cold), and desserts. They've also got weekly specials. I've yet to have anything from here that I didn't think was snack-tastic. 

Before hitting the turnpike on Tuesday, I grabbed lunch with friends. This time around, I got one of the specials- the Waldorf Chicken Salad sandwich. Soy Protein "chicken" salad with Vegenaise, diced apples, sliced grapes, walnuts, romaine lettuce and tomatoes. It came on a multi-grain wrap, but I got mine on a hoagie roll. (Sometimes I just want some bread, and they're really accommodating at Eden.) The result was super delicious. The textures and flavors blended so well: the tart apple crunch, sweet squish of grapes and earthy chewiness of walnuts. The "chicken" was also spot on. I'm always really impressed with the faux meat products Eden uses. I usually get freaked out by the texture of seitan (which most restaurants use for their veg dishes), but I don't think they use it at Eden.

With their sandwiches you get your choice of side. I usually order a super double secret side dish whose name I can't divulge, but I will show you pictures of it. As for the rest of you mortals, I'd recommend the slaw. I dream about their coleslaw some nights. OK, most nights. Alright, EVERY night. For REAL. Their smashed potatoes are most excellent too. (Surprise! The Irish girl loves potatoes too! Moving on...) I've never seen anyone order another side because both of those are so tasty, but I hear they have other options. 

Carolyn got the unofficial "Michelle Williams" turkey club, which is a typical turkey club but with avocado slices. Why is it called the "Michelle Williams"? Because that's what Michelle ordered when she stopped into Eden before the Wilco show in Scranton. Yes, that Michelle Williams. Yes, that Wilco. Yes, in Scranton. Yes, I was confused too. Let's get back to the food. 

The turkey club at Eden is the kind of thing that's so good I have a hard time ordering anything else. And I'm a firm believer that avocados can improve anything, so they managed to take this mighty sandwich to the next level of delicious. "Turkey" slices, vegan bacon strips, lettuce, tomato, Vegenaise, and avocado slices layered on whole wheat bread. But the avocado may have sent it over the edge, as it was pretty messy and Carolyn said she needed a bigger mouth to eat it (and she's got the biggest mouth of anyone I know). 

This led Carolyn, the philosophy professor, to start talking about the turkey club paradox: "How could there be a sandwich too large for the largest mouth to fit? If you take a layer off is it still a turkey club? Does it's essence change in any way?"... and then Louie started arguing with Carolyn (like they always do) about her Aristotelian snack-theorizing, and I stopped listening and continued eating my hoagie. At the end of it all she said the turkey club was like a "sandwich explosion, but an explosion of deliciousness." Which are the best kind, obviously. 

Louie had a Turkey Cobb Wrap (with avocado, bacon bits, ranch and lettuce) and Matt had the Waldorf wrap, both of which got two thumbs up. Dan joined us later and tried the Agave Nectar Mustard Salmon Wrap- grilled salmon strips, glazed with an agave nectar and Dijon mustard sauce, grilled pepper strips, and leafy greens on a multi-grain wrap. He was too busy snacking to get a comment, but it looked super yum!

Of course, before we left I had to try some dessert (it's research, people!) and got the Banana Chocolate cheesecake. I'm not a fan of cheesecakes (real or vegan), but I know the girl that they buy the cheesecakes from and I promised her I'd give them a try. I'm so glad I did. The filling was nice and soft, with a mild banana flavor marbled with smooth chocolate on a thick bed of graham cracker crumbs. Kelly, please keep making these delicious cheesecakes. So I can keep putting them in my belly. I also took some slaw for the road, and had a super yummy post-drive snack in Philly. 

I've only got one gripe about eden, and that's their hours. I wish they were open more! They close early most Saturdays and they're closed on Sundays and Mondays, which make it difficult for me to get there during my visits home. And leads me to stay in town longer than planned or beg friends to pick up orders. The slaw is that good! If I still lived in Scranton, I'd eat there everyday, and harass them into selling my treats. (Maura and Christian, I've gotta bring you guys some Casbah cupcakes or some Diddy cookies next time I'm home...)

So go to Eden! What are you waiting for? That trip you've been meaning to take to Scranton to take the "Office" tour? Do it now! And stop in Eden for lunch and you might see the sexy crew above. Or if you work or live downtown or at the University of Scranton, order some takeout and a cute boy who looks suspiciously like Buddy Holly will deliver it to you on his bike (though don't get too excited girls, his lady-friend is way hotter than Mary Tyler Moore). But whatever you do, eat there soon!

Eden- a vegan cafe

344 Adams Ave

Scranton PA 18503

570-969-1606

www.eden-cafe.com

(Become friends with them on facebook too!)