The menu is definitely happy meat focused but I was gladdened to see that vegan options abound as well. We started with the Ginger Marinated Tofu Spring rolls. Since the peanut sauce wasn’t vegan we stuck with just the sweet chile vinegar and ginger jalapeno for dipping. Even with those sauces, I thought the spring rolls were a little dry, too heavy on the noodles and without enough herbs and vegetables. 

I think that the reason I was most excited to try the Elizabeth St. Cafe was in anticipation of their pho. I kind of became obsessed with pho when I lived in Washington and for years I was disappointed by every version in Austin that I tried. Recently I tried a recipe from Terry Hope Romero’s upcoming internationally themed cookbook and I it reawakened all the pho desire inside me. Elizabeth St has two different pho varieties and we went with the miso cauliflower version. It was delicious and I think would be perfect for someone that like the idea of pho but maybe not the Vietnamese version. We’ll call them fusion pho lovers. Next time I will try the tofu, mushroom, radish traditional version for sure. One thing I loved about this version was that it was completely packed with tofu and vegetables. A lot of times it seems like places skimp on all that stuff and just give you a ton of sprouts and herbs.

We skipped the bánh mì since they didn’t have vegan mayo and went onwards to the bún. The grilled tofu was a highlight for sure and there was plenty of vegetables in the bowl, in fact I think there were more vegetables than vermicelli. Everything was fresh and delicious and the vegan fish sauce was good enough, maybe a little tame. 

My favorite part of the meal was undoubtedly the bánh xèo (aka the Vietnamese crêpe) even thought it wasn’t on the menu and we had to special order it. Don’t you just love when restaurants are accommodating? The service, overall was great, our waitress was easily able to tell us what was vegan and what we could do special and when she wasn’t sure about the crêpe she checked with the kitchen staff. When the waitress returned to tell us they would make a special vegan version I was, in a word, stoked. This is the best bánh xèo I have ever had, although truthfully it was also only the second. It was coconutty, light and delicious and definitely what I will return for. 

We rounded out the meal with a delicious Lemongrass tea, although they do have a wide assortment of wine, saki, Vietnamese coffee, and drinks. 

It is a fantastic little spot, more expensive, no doubt then, a standard Vietnamese restaurant but with a charming atmosphere and excellent service.

photo by Jon bouldin

Over the weekend I was so happy to attend the Vegans Rock Austin sponsored ice cream social at the new vegan ice cream parlor Sweet Ritual. I had such a hard time deciding what to get you would think it was going to be my last meal on earth. They have so many fun toppings like wasabi peanuts and vegan marshmallows that I kind of started to panic. I really wanted a waffle cone, because hello waffle cone, but I knew Kristen was specially making brownies for Brownie sundaes. Should I get Amelia and Valerie to shove a brownie into the cone? I started to think I should go with one of the ready made sundae combinations on the menu to make the decision easier and go with something well planned out. They have a butterfinger style sundae with chocolate sauce and chick-o-sticks that sounded so fabulous. Then I saw Marie order the Affogato and I immediately changed my mind because, I too wanted to pour hot espresso on my cold ice cream. Then I noticed the Glitterbeast which has salted caramel sauce, strawberry sauce, edible glitter which sounded super awesome but I knew that my friend Nanette would have to get that one and I could try it because she is a glitter lover if there ever was one. The next thing I knew it was my turn! I just started saying things and when they brought my sundae to me a few minutes later I didn’t even know if it was mine! It sure sounded like something I would order. I figured I could have my waffle cone and brownie too when I noticed that waffle cones were one of the toppings. Then I topped it with chocolate ice cream and peanut butter sauce. It was fantastic.

I was so happy with my decision until I looked directly to my left and saw the Almond Joy Sundae, in a waffle cone.

When I saw Wes with his Not-Tella milkshake a minute later I made him give me some and then I knew I would be back up to Hyde Park soon enough for some hazelnut goodness. I’ll probably still be overwhelmed with the decision of what to get.

If you haven’t tried it yet, get down there! They even have a scoutmob deal for 50% off! And if you are just visiting Austin for a day I recommend you look at the menu ahead of time and ponder your options although probably anything you get is going to be delicious.

Upon reflection my 2011 was a mixed bag. I wonder where that expression came from? The first half was super fantastic, I got to present with Laura Beck of Vegansaurus at SXSW . We had the most vegan events, I think ever, at South By. Even Moby hosted a day party, the whole fest was really fun!  This year we also had more bakesales then ever before that raised a ton of money for various charities. I helped organize some of the vegan sales and two city wide bakesales with my fellow Austin food bloggers that we had for disaster relief. Actually with the droughts and the central Texas fires it seemed like life was all about raising money for a while and we put together the Sunny Days in Texas cook zine which, by the way, is still available!

The best part of my year was definitely my extended trip to Hawaii and I also was really excited to go to Vida Vegan Con in Portland to meet all tons of vegan food bloggers, see a bunch of my friends and eat at so many great restaurants. The second half of the year I am still recovering from. It was filled with family tragedies and I majorly injured my foot so I haven’t been able to walk since June so no fun there.

The vegan scene in Austin soldiered on, check out the Lonestar Plate’s Year in Review. All sorts of places, like Sweet Ritual and Arolo’s, opened up and a few favorites, like Iggie’s Texitarian, closed down. At Vegans Rock Austin they did a poll of the communities’ favorite eats which was a lot of fun to read….and disagree with! That is what I love about having a blog; sharing my biased opinion! I realized that my personal top ten was starting to look the same from year to year, and though I could keep telling you how much I love Counter Culture, Whole Foods Breakfast Tacos and Food For Lover’s Queso I decided this year the theme would be NO REPEATS! So the 2011 list is all new!

2011 TOP 10

1. Wasota Vegan Platter

The first time I went to Wasota it was all I could think about for days after. The vegan platter has one of my favorite foods in the world: deep fried plantains along with a new favorite akara which are black-eyed pea fritters. The beans, greens, and rice are all different from one another and combine into a wonderful plate. Then everything is topped with spicy Benin sauce which is totally the Sriracha for 2012. Plus it is all served up by the nicest guy ever so save your appetite for a couple days and get down to south first for a feast.

2. The Juicebox Green Monster Smoothie

I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed the juicebox yet! Probably, after the Fair Bean, the Juicebox is the place in Austin that I went the most in 2011. In many ways it is the opposite of Wasota because there isn’t anything deep fried and it is all super organic raw vegan. Green Smoothies have been all the rage for a few years now among the healthy vegan crowd but I had never had much success making them at home, probably because I don’t have a professional blender. I am not buying one any time soon, I would much rather make the juicebox maintain their machines and search out fresh produce so I can just pull up and grab one whenever I am feeling like I need something healthy. Plus you can compost their cups! The Green Monster has broccoli and all sorts of other things that don’t belong in a smoothie and yet it is so tasty and creamy that it blows my mind every time. Their other smoothies are good too, but that is the one that I get the most. Some of the Daily Juice’s split off this year too and became Juiceland and I highly recommend their new menus as well, I had a smoothie with Kale, Durian, and Pecan Butter!

3. Uchiko Fried Avocado Sushi

This year I discovered the Uchiko happy hour and it made me really really happy. Many of the vegan items are available at happy hour and they have the most amazing fried Brussels sprouts. And the staff is always quick to tell me what is vegan and modify anything on the menu for me. And their sorbets are usually vegan too and they have fun flavors like sweet corn or tobacco. The lightly fried and oh so amazing avocado sushi roll was definitely my favorite although everything you have there is guaranteed to be good. The pictures, however, are guaranteed to be terrible. Damn you restaurants and your mood lighting!

4. Brixton Vegan Brunch

Our brunch options in Austin are getting better and better all the time. When the Brixton, a bar in East Austin, announced that it was going to start hosting a monthly all vegan brunch I was pretty excited. When I tried the first spread that included tempeh bennedicts and real maple syrup I was hooked for life. Then this last weekend I had migas and a cinnamon roll, now that is an Austin combination I have been waiting for. And the bar is so accommodating to vegans. It warmed my heart to see so many vegans drinking bloody marys without fear.

5. Red Rabbit Mexican Chocolate Doughnuts

Speaking of Cinnamon Rolls, Red Rabbit, the anarchist vegan co-op behind the best donuts in town has just started selling Cinnamon Rolls at the Hope Farmers Market in East Austin. I haven’t tried them yet but I have tried the doughnuts and they are fabulous! It was so wonderful to see Red Rabbit grown from selling their doughnuts at bakesales to half the coffee shops in town. Now they are all over the place. God I love them. The spicy Mexican chocolate is definitely my favorite but I will eat them all! I hope they open a store soon.

6. Hyden Park Tomato Tartare

Another exciting development this year was the advent of the Hyden Park Supper Club. These four-course dinner parties have been increasingly popular in Austin but I think the second one I went to might have been my favorite and it was all because of this tomato tartare. I really don’t know how Chef Elizabeth made this tomato taste so delectable and meaty. Maybe it was just peak of ripeness perfection but I loved the texture too.

7. Sunflower Vegan Crepe

I have wanted to try Sunflower, a Vietnamese restaurant in North Austin since I moved here but I never got around to it. Then, I finally got my act together after 9 years and made it up to North Austin to find out that it burned down. Thank goodness for everyone that they were able to reopen and I have been back a few times since I got to try their Vietnamese Crepe. If you haven’t tried it don’t wait 9 years to go. Restaurants close down before you know it in Austin and this is something you don’t want to miss.

8. Asters Ethiopian Platter

Aster’s is another Austin institution, along with Wasota and Sunflower that closed down and then, after we all wished hard enough, seemed to magically reopen. I love this place but I always want to go for lunch because the only thing better then getting a platter of delicious Ethiopian food served on top of Injera is to make one yourself off their fabulous lunch buffet. I love trying a little bit of everything there although my eyes are always bigger than my belly.

9.  Bananarchy frozen bananas

I love that the idea for the cart of frozen bananas dipped in chocolate and covered in delicious toppings was formed inspired by Arrested Development almost as much as I love eating here. All right, that is a total lie. I could never know the Arrested Development connection and still eat these bananas every day. They are delicious! I like to get one coated in chocolate and then dipped in oreos when I am seriously craving chocolate or going to the Alamo. It is the perfect thing to eat when it is 120 outside.

10. Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse- The Rennedict

photo by @veganchai

Oh the elusive rennedict, how I love you. This year our most famous most delicious vegetarian restaurant moved across the street from it’s previous shack into a converted tire shop. Even though I have been to the new one probably 20 times I don’t think I will ever get used to the newer nicer Bouldin Creek. Lucky for us, the food is exactly the same. AND they added the rennedict to the menu. It is their world famous tofu scramble atop english muffins layered with spinach, the best tofu bacon you will ever have, and then covered in a noochy hollandaise sauce. If you finish it you won’t have to eat again that day and you won’t even want to because nothing will compare to the goodness that is the rennedict.

Best New Product- Celeste’s Best Cookie Dough

I adore Celeste’s chocolate chip cookies. I get them at the Fair Bean along with my morning coffee when I know I’ll need chocolate later. I was just thrilled when I learned Celeste was going to start packaging the dough and having it for sale at Wheatsville and other independent shops around town. The best part about vegan cookie dough is that since it doesn’t have any animal product you can eat it right out of the container. Probably the best thing to do is buy at least two so if you want to have cookies you will have plenty of dough for snacking.

Most Missed Dog Almighty

So many places I loved closed up this year, Iggie’s Texitarian, Emerald City, Somnio’s Cafe, and even the screaming goat but nothing hits closer to home than Dog Almighty. Their vegetarian chili cookoff winning chili is my most favorite frito pie in town along with the best tater tots in the world. It was the best place to get fast food style vegetarian food and I will miss it every time I drive down south Lamar. Or settle for a less perfect tot.

So that’s it for 2011. I didn’t even get to try Arlo’s or go to Sweet Ritual before the new year but I have heard they are both great. This year I also want to get to Moaz Falafel, A Taste of Ethiopia, The Elizabeth Street Cafe, and of course the new Counter Culture.

Happy Christmas! Peace on Earth.

When I heard a couple month ago that not only was Lawrence better but he was opening a new vegan friendly west African trailer just south of the river I think I cried. I’m emotional. I was so excited to see the Wasota African Cuisine trailer and Lawrence was nice as ever offering Dan free samples of everything when he couldn’t make up his mind. The thing is the menu is vast and there are so many vegan options that you should just bring all of your indecisive friends are get one of everything. All the vegan food is made separately from the meat so you can use 100 percent of your brain power figuring out what sounds best.Of course, the easiest option is to go for the Wasota platter. Although I really want to try other things on the menu every single bit of the platter is perfect. The chopped spinach was so succulent and delicious, the black-eyed peas were cooked to perfection, and the Jollof Rice could be a meal in itself. Rice and beans and greens are such a perfect meal but it is impossible to pass up the Akara and the plantains. Trust me. Get both of these no matter what you order. I promise you will love it. Even if you are a super healthy raw food quantum level vegan and pass on deep fried stuff, this is the time to get down with the rest of us. You can just eat a bunch of goji berries tomorrow.Everything is smothered in spicy Benin sauce, if you fear the spice though you can get it on the side. Or if you love it you can get more on the side. He’ll ask you regardless and then all you have to do is wait in anticipation.

There are open daily from 11-9 and if it is too hot or too cold to sit outside order ahead and bring it home. Or bring some to me. It can be your good deed for the day.

Oh and just when you think things can’t get better, there is a vegan ice cream trailer called Kat’s in the same trailer park of course then after that you might need a long Thanksgiving style nap.

Tagged: austin vegan restaurant, austin vegan trailer, awesome vegan food, nigerian cuisine, plantains, Wasota African Cuisine, west african cuisine ]]> http://lazysmurf.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/get-down-to-wasota-african-cuisine/feed/ 8 lazysmurf http://lazysmurf.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/did-nacho-mama-steal-food-for-lovers-queso-recipe/ http://lazysmurf.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/did-nacho-mama-steal-food-for-lovers-queso-recipe/#comments Sat, 17 Dec 2011 00:41:37 +0000 lazysmurf http://lazysmurf.wordpress.com/?p=2035 Continue reading →]]> I am such a huge fan of Food For Lovers Queso, I have blogged about it probably 10 times and have mentioned it on twitter, I don’t know, every day? Last year I voted it my favorite new vegan product. The queso makes everything taste better and it is a total obsession. I have never really liked any vegan cheese product but their queso is different, smooth, creamy, noochy, spicy and utterly delicious. I met the creators Chris and Crystal just this year, though I have “known” Crystal for many years from reading her blog Vegan Explosion, and from posting on the PPK and VRA. I have watched the entire process of them setting up their business, making amazing queso, and getting distribution slowly starting in Austin and moving throughout the world. They are always working hard to promote veganism, help animals, and improve the vegan community in Austin.

I remember waiting for the queso to hit the stores last summer. I would check every time I went to Wheatsville and at Whole Foods and one day I noticed a new locally made product, Nacho Mom’s Vegan Queso. I was really surprised because I hadn’t heard anything about another vegan queso, certainly not another one from Austin Texas so it seemed really strange. I also thought it was weird that her label was similar to the Food For Lover’s design with the heart and the banner. I mean, I wouldn’t think of hearts and queso usually go together normally, it only makes sense in the context of Chris & Crystal being so crazy in love.

Also, I had never heard of Nacho Mom and I follow the Austin vegan scene pretty closely. They were billing themselves as the “world famous vegan queso”. To me, the world famous one was obviously Chris and Crystals. People talk about it all the time.

Now, today I am completely disgusted. I read on Crystal and Chris’ facebook the whole story, with links and the timeline, that seems to prove that Nacho mom didn’t just copy their idea, they might have stolen the recipe to begin with and even might have actively tried to hold off production of Food For Lover’s product which made it second to the market place after the holdups.

According to them, Chris & Crystal met with Whole Foods on June 1, 2010. I even remember her excitedly posting about it because on the same day they launched the site and the label design. Whole Foods told them to get in contact with Gourmet Resources, a food manufacturer here in Austin and they met the owner Alex Weeks. They had to submit their recipe along with an NDA (non disclosure agreement) so they could determine the cost per bottle and create the recipe in larger quantities.  They all signed the NDA on June 8th, 2010.

After that they started testing the recipe and things got problematic. They said they would submit a recipe and then the batch would turn out badly because the manufacturer miscalculated something. They couldn’t figure out why things kept going wrong, and it seemed that Alex was avoiding them and after blowing a ton of money they switched to another manufacturing company at the end of July. They even had to get a lawyer “to request she send over all documents/recipes/formulas belonging to us.”

Then at the beginning of August they were told by their buyer that another company, Fat Goblin, had approached them with a new vegan queso.  So they started to research this new company. Here I am going to quote directly from FB what they found:

- FatGoblin.com was started on June 17th, 2010.

- The WHOIS Registry states FatGoblin.com, NachoMoms.com and VeganQueso.com is owned by “Chef Alana at 5416 Agatha Circle”:
http://veganexplosion.com/img/fb/fatgoblin-whois.jpg
(Source: http://who.godaddy.com/whois.aspx?domain=fatgoblin.com)

- Chef Alana’s full name is Alana Leigh Chandler. If you google Alana Chandler and Alex Weeks you will find this article about the home they own together Source: http://igreenbuild.com/cd_3156.aspx)

- Here is Alana:

(Source: http://www.magazine.tcu.edu/)

- And here is Alex and Alana together:

- You can see Alana talk about her partner Alex and her business here: (Source: http://www.olivia.com/Connect/forums/3/106750/ShowThread.aspx)

I don’t know what fat goblin could possibly say in their defense, I hope they speak up. The thing is, Crystal posted every single bit of her whole experience of creating the company on the internet. It is all right there on twitter for anyone to see. For years I have watched as she came up with the recipe, when it became so freaking popular, when they started selling it at Bouldin Creek, to when they had that meeting with Whole Foods. They have worked so hard to make such an amazing product.

It is such an outrage that anyone might do this to them If it turns out that the story is true I hope that Whole Foods, Wheatsville, Food Fight, Vegan Essentials, and all the people who sell a product from such a shady company will have the integrity to stop carrying it. [Ed cause Food Fight already stopped carrying it!]

My first reaction was that I wanted to break every jar of Nacho Mama’s that I see.

Then I got worried that I would get kicked out of the co-op so instead I am just going to write some letters and buy some queso.

I hope that you will too.

If you want to support Chris and Crystal buy some queso for the holidays. They have a gift pack with adorable ornaments and queso cozies. And if you live in South Austin, like me they carry it at the Live Oak market now, thank goodness.

Update 12-21-2011 If you want to read the other side of the story, Nacho Mom writes a lot in the comments below. I am closed the comments now because I feel like everyone has had a chance to say what they want to and it is tough to moderate on vacation.

image courtesy of Nanette Labastida

Since I was pretty much bedridden for the last month due to an injury, I thought I finally had a good excuse to eschew all that excessive grocery shopping and order the service. As luck would have it, I also got a huge discount on the service courtesy of the wonderful folks at Greenling, I ended up setting up and then canceling my order several times and talked to a few people in customer service and they were really great.

The whole service is kind of amazing. Of course, you can pick out groceries yourself like locally grown Swiss chard and radishes but you can also get all sorts of regular grocery products like coffee blended here in Austin and chocolate too. Being a lazy lush I was particularly excited to see that they had a nice beer and wine selection that you could even filter by if it was vegan! Sadly, none of the wines offered were vegan and hopefully in the future they will pick some up like Vegan Vine.

The super cool part, though, is that you can also select ready made boxes. The local box, obviously, contains whatever farmers have a lot of at the moment. It is kind of like a CSA box, except since Greenling works with so many local farms you get more variety then any one farm. They also have a bunch of recipe kits including four different all vegan Engine 2 Diet themed boxes which is what I decided to try (after changing my mind 9000 times). Box Two had portobella fajita tacos, vegetable enchiladas, lentil soup, sweet potatoes with greens, and mac & not cheese so I decided it was the perfect box to order. 

I was stoked to see my green box filled with labeled ingredients. Everything was divided by the day you would make it and most items were pre-chopped. It also came with a little recipe booklet that even had pictures of how the final dish would turn out. You don’t have to do any measuring except sometime you use half of an item, like for my portabella fajitas I reserved half the can of black beans. 

The problem for me was that since they were keeping things soooo easy some of the flavor was sacrificed. I have never read the engine 2 book so I don’t know if this was the fault of the recipes or the if it was just the recipes they had for the greenling service. The directions were literally, “warm the beans in a pot” and that’s it! No spices or cooking techniques were added. For the fajitas you just saute the mushrooms and the onion in cooking spray, warm up the beans, and dump on the toppings so the tacos ended fairly plain.

I liked the next days greens with cashew sauce, roasted peppers and sweet potatoes better even though it was probably simpler. The cashew sauce was premade and the instructions were just to roast the potatoes, peppers and onions. The greens were boiled and then topped with the sauce. Since roasting brings out so much natural flavor and the sauce was pretty good I liked this meal a lot. My only problem was that the kale was cut into strips crosswise without removing the stem so the fibrous stalk was in every bite. I also learned that Dan likes the fibrous stalk! What a world.

The rest of the meals were all similar to these first two, and for me I would have had to doctor them a lot with herbs and spices to really enjoy them. I did love how colorful and fresh everything was. In all reality, though, I am a total foodie and used to spending at least an hour making dinner every night so my expectations might have been just too high for an engine 2 style menu. I guess I’ll never be plant strong. This box would be great for parents, engine 2 dieters, single people looking to eat healthy and easily, or anyone that didn’t want to spend time in the kitchen or money on eating out or buying prepackaged meals.

For me, the part that takes the most planning and the most wonderful convenience of this service was that you use every single bit of the groceries. How many times have I followed a recipe that used a tablespoon of coconut milk or handful of cilantro only to forget about the rest until it get disgusting in the back of the fridge and Dan and I argue about who should throw it out. I have tried many times to plan everything I am going to make for a week but I have never done such a great job as Greenling. I kept thinking, if only they used a better cookbook like Appetite for Reduction for the inspiration, it would be the most glorious service of all time and I would undoubtably become a regular customer. As it stands, I probably wouldn’t get a meal kit again but definitely the local box. With wine. And coffee. And olives…..

Tagged: engine 2, greenling, vegan greenling ]]> http://lazysmurf.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/greenling-delivery-a-review/feed/ 4 lazysmurf http://lazysmurf.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/working-austin-favorites-into-your-vegan-meal-plan/ http://lazysmurf.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/working-austin-favorites-into-your-vegan-meal-plan/#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:55:27 +0000 lazysmurf http://lazysmurf.wordpress.com/?p=2011 Continue reading →]]> Today’s blog post comes from Carolyn from the blog content guild who wanted to share with you how to make restaurant dishes at home. I do love migas and I sure miss the version they used to have at Snackbar. 

For vegans especially it is really nice to get gifts that go to a good cause so may I first suggest the Sunny Days in Texas which helps a farm animal sanctuary and was put together by myself and a bunch of awesome folks here in Texas.Or the Hungry Monkey Vegan Cookzine which I just got the other day and benefits rescued lab monkeys!

I really really want the Beagle Freedom Project 2012 calendar, because they are doing amazing work freeing beagles from animal testing operations and they are doing such a great job raising awareness of the issue. And I love beagles like crazy.

Another great gift idea that supports trap and neuter programs for feral cats is the Teal Cat Project, which reclaims or I guess claims old cat tchotkes and makes them beautiful. They are out of cats this second but more are surely on the way and they have cute T-shirts and other items. 

If you’d like to support a wonderful vegan artisan and know someone who longs for the days of Mystery Science Theater 3000 check out this awesomest of awesome Tom Servo Apron. Panda With Cookiehas the cutest stuff on ety including moose onesieis, tofu pirate pillows, and even personalized cat ornaments made to order!

Panda With Cookie also teamed up this year with Food For Lovers, aka the makers of the most addictive and greatest queso in the world to make a little gift set that includes a little felt ornament or a queso cozy (soooo cute)Another one of my favorite crafty vegans, my zoetrope had the cutest paintings, pins, plushes, and even a 12 month wall calendar on sale it her shop. I <3 the space dachshund!

If you know someone who is always cold Treewool could change their life for the better! Headbands, scarves, hats and even an ear warmer are all on sale inside her shop and it’s all vegan and handmade.

A lot of vegans are big Buffy nerds and most of them would be stoked to find these Yummy Sushi Pajamas so that they too can make rousing speeches while wearing them.

Or maybe the vegan in your life is a Star Wars nerd, if so they will probably love you for the rest of your life if you get them this R2-D2 planetarium. You can watch the stars while listening the John Williams soundtrack!

Or maybe your vegan is that other kind of nerd that has fantisized about wearing an original Star Trek uniform her whole life. Here is an etsy seller who will make them to order!

Or maybe you want to wear it for that special someone which could lead to needing these next Christmas.

Or if you know more of a general nerd baby, not necessarily star trek, then perhaps this narwhal plush is the way to go. 

Other gifts that your friend might like, or maybe your friendly neighborhood hippie is this amazing mushroom growing kit which has everything you need to get started.

This kitchen tape timer is another great idea for the person in your life who maybe would be classified as a kitchen nerd. Or a foodie or whatever. 

This robot tea infuser is the perfect gift for the tea drinker who is anti-lace and pretty flowers but pro robot and stainless steel.

Or maybe you know someone who loves mushrooms, woodland scenes or terrariums, or all of the above! You could buy this super cool one on etsy or you could probably make one yourself for a few dollars and googling “moss terrarium” 

It is a fact that most vegans love cookbooks and a lot of us have a TON so if you are buying one for Christmas, be on the safe side and get them one that came out in the last couple months like Vegan Pie in the Sky (maybe they will make you a pie)

Or the nice glossy Candle 79 (maybe they will make you seitan piccata)

Or if they want to learn to grow their own food or flowers I highly recommend Garden Anywhere. 

A fantastic idea for the child in your life it “A Christmas Horse Named Cairo“  It’s about Cairo, the Palomino who was rescued last December, and told thru the eyes and voice of Brooke’s youngest, Gracie, age 5. Sunny Day Farms receives all the profit.

If you still have no idea because the only thing you know about this person is that they are vegan it’s hard to go wrong with Rescue Chocolate, who donate money to animal rescue organizations

Or if the only thing you know about them is that they stink, a nice Lush gift box will make them very happy, make sure to get one with the V symbol.

Don’t forget to that your four legged friend needs to feel love this holiday season as well, check out these adorable pet bowls, that are nice and elevated so your friend won’t have to struggle to eat. 

Or if your cat is scratching up the place might I recommend this turntable for him to try. 

Finally, if you know a human out there who wants to ROCK check out the Monster Ballads Xmas. 

And if you really do want to get me something check out my pinterest board. You will learn that I really like blue and orange.

I love hazelnuts, cranberries, and filo dough but none of those tastes really came through for me in the roast. It just seemed like a giant seitan sausage which would have been fine except it was thanksgiving! Next time I will buy Mr. Natural’s roast or just get a tofurkey if I can’t make my own roast like I usually do. The star of our show is always the stuffing and this year was the best ever, I found this “Diner Dressing” recipe in Vegan Diner, I think on Thanksgiving day and it sounded a lot like my Mom’s so we tried it out (sans cranberries) it was absolute perfection and most of our dinner conversation was about why we only have stuffing once a year. The other big standout of the day was the cranberry orange dressing which I bought at Wheatsville. It had slices of almonds and was easily the best cranberry sauce I ever had. We both absolutely loved it. I’m glad I got the giant container!We also had the cauliflower mashed potatoes from “Appetite for Reduction” and though I usually adore these, for Thanksgiving I should have stuck with the traditional kind with a half cup of earth balance because they didn’t seem quite right. I can’t wait to make mashed potato pancakes with them though. We had gravy to go with them of course so I shouldn’t complain about the added health of the cauliflower! They were still really good!We also had miso glazed brussels sprouts, like we always do but with onions because I forgot shallots at the store. The were tasty as always. We are kind of Brussels sprouts fanatics in my house so I am glad there is some still leftover.Here is my plate in all it’s glory. I did not have any room left in my belly for pie, but I ate some anyway.We got out pie from Kristen of Sugar-Skull and it was so so good. I loved the crust, and the filling… and the whip cream. It went so well with coffee for breakfast the next day. It’s almost 24 hours later and I still don’t want to eat. Oh, Thanksgiving, how I love thee. This year I am especially thankful to Dan for putting everything together while I lounged in the hammock. Check out his plateHappy Thanksgiving!