Vegan Goldmine

Dessert Bar Party!

2011-07-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to have a dessert bar at a party but the only people I see using it are people who just got married, are about to get married or are having a baby. Since I am doing none of those things at the moment, I figured this was a good excuse to throw a random dessert bar party. I also decided to play a show in my living room. Thankfully, no one complained about either. :)

Decor wise, I decided I would keep it simple and by simple, I mean inexpensive. Thankfully, I have a lot of friends who know I love to bake. This means I've been gifted with all kinds of cupcake stands every single year for just about any occasion that requires gift giving. (Note to friends: no more cupcake stands but keep the cookbooks and fancy ingredients coming!) Then I went to Tar-jay and bought a box of mason jars for $10. It's the best deal in town. Use half for tea lights to give your pad that old swamp town feel (or...er...I might be thinking of the Blue Bayou at Disneyland...) and the other half can be used for cake pops or other confections. I already had string lights hanging in my kitch so I just supplemented with simple streamers. Also, turning your sink into a giant ice bucket is a cool trick for serving beverages. If you're having a big party, you can turn your bathtub into an ice bucket.

Then for cooking. I made one batch of mini chocolate cupcakes and topped with white frosting and raspberries. If you don't own Isa Chanda Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero's book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, run to Amazon and buy it. I'm not even going to bother listing recipes for cupcakes because that book has what you need for great basic cupcakes. (Although I will admit, I'm a big fan of using 1 tbsp. ground flax seed to 3 tbsp. water as an egg replacer versus soy milk and apple cider vinegar as they do in the book.)

I took their basic chocolate cupcake recipe and threw in fresh mint and mint extract to create what I call a Thin Mint cupcake. Instead of traditional frosting, I made a raw chocolate ganache I learned from my raw chef pal Judita. You just combine coconut oil, maple syrup, cacao powder and fresh mint to create a thick gooey raw fudge that tastes amazing.

Then I filled the mason jars with wafer cookies and S'more pops. If you've never had Dandies Vegan Marshmallows, you're missing out... but wait! You can get them right: here. S'more pops are the bomb and super easy to make. Just melt down some dark chocolate, dip your marshmallow in it, then dip in crushed graham crackers. I didn't have candy sticks so I used general wood skewers. Easy peasy.

Ps. I learned during this process that you never use water when melting down chocolate, it will make it curdle. If your chocolate isn't melting correctly or starts to look thick, just add a little vegetable oil slowly, stir and it will smooth it out.

I also had jars of goodies like lollipops, fortune cookies and Oreos that I dipped in dark chocolate. The big hit of the night was a strawberry brownie trifle that actually started as a total disaster. I had baked this giant peanut butter dark chocolate vegan brownie... and well, it was kind of on the crispy side. An experienced baker knows however, that unless it's black and burnt, there's always a way to salvage. I figured it was too crunchy to use as a brownie but if I layered it between vegan vanilla pudding and strawberries, it would make a great trifle! So I did and it was everyone's favorite thing. This is also a great quick fix if you screw up a load of cookies. I love tossing baking disasters on top of ice cream. There's no flat cake, cupcake, cookie or crispy brownie that you can't turn into a baking win. :)

On the left is an Oreo ice box cake on the right is what was left of the strawberry brownie trifle. I'm going to do a separate entry for an ice box cake recipe in a future blog because most of the vegan ice box cake recipes I see online are kind of eh. (In full disclosure, I'm veg not vegan so my icebox cake wasn't vegan. BUT, as 95% of my baking IS vegan I want to do another entry on icebox cakes. I also want to do one on vegan cake pops. :)

Anyhoo, that's about it. It was a lot of fun and thanks to my best friend Michi Tsunoda for taking the rad pix on this blog (it's her birthday today so HBD MT) ...including this one of my friend Keith who was either transfixed by my cupcakes or my pal Sona's bosom. Keep it classy Los Angeles.

Easy Peasy Summer Recipes! (that happen to be healthy)

2011-06-21T15:12:00.001-07:00

1. I *LoVe* this banana oatmeal cookie recipe on BodyRock.TV. It's like six ingredients and no refined sugar. What more could you want!

2. I love smoothies but hate that they're like 350 calories. I like to eat all day long so I've figured out a way to trick myself into getting my protein powder and supplements. I make fortified chocolate milk! It's totally nomz and easy to make (and no, I don't like pre-made chocolate almond or soy milk).

Superpower Chocolate Milk

1 cup of almond milk (or whatever non-dairy milk you like)

1 tsp raw cacao

1 tsp of maca (great for men and women, maca helps regulate testosterone in the body. I use it because, like a lot of women, I had issues with ovarian cysts. It helps even your hormones and chill you out! It also enhances libido but that's for another blog...)

1 tbsp of protein powder of your choice (I use hemp...)

Shake of Stevia (I opt for Stevia vs. agave because it's less carbs)

*then I buy supplements made in gelatin capsules (what!) but wait! what I do is, I break them open and pour the powder in my milk. That way I get magnesium directly without having to digest that grody plastic capsule.

Stir it up and drink it down. Bam. You just got a bunch of supplements.

Ice Qb!

Another fun trick I've developed lately is buying my favorite juices like coconut juice or orange juice and pouring them into my ice cube trays. That way, when it's time to make any kind of fun smoothie, cocktail or even perrier - I have flavored ice. It's also a great way to make sure I use all my juice since I tend to not drink it all.

Mindfulness

My big goal with all my food is to eat it all and avoid waste - so if I have left over kale, I'm throwing it in a smoothie. Left over vegetables mean soup. Left over fruit mean cobbler, smoothies or the freezer. Especially bread! I freeze my pita, tortillas and bread so that I don't waste any of it. Be mindful of your body AND your money! :)

Happy Summer!

Lazy Sunday: Lavender Rosemary Shortbread Cookies

2011-04-03T20:42:00.000-07:00

This is a recipe I modified from Epicurious (and Cafe M de Chaya). :) It is super quick and tasty. Perfect for afternoon tea, particularly because I used tea inside!

Ps. I should have a show called "The Lazy Cook" because if there's a way to do it quicker, vegan and without buying stuff... I'll figure it out.

Lavender Rosemary Shortbread Cookies

6 tbsp. Earth Balance margarine softened
1 tbsp. agave nectar (Epicurious used honey, you can do either based on your vegan prefs. I did agave)
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour (All I had was whole wheat and rice flour, so... I used those.)
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. of lavender (All I had was a bag of lavender chamomile tea from Traditional Medicinals so I used that... and yes, you can cook with tea.)
1 tbsp. fresh chopped rosemary (Man, chopping rosemary is a pain. You can use non-fresh rosemary but I don't know why you would... oh, if you were lazy like me. Right, then. Thankfully, I had fresh stuff. :)

Garnish: Brown sugar and rosemary sprigs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a cake pan, I actually greased a cupcake pan and made it in that. :)

Whip the agave and margarine together until fluffy. Mix the dry stuff together in a separate bowl. Then combine the two... (Or, if you're lazy like me... whip the agave and margarine in a bowl, then throw the dry stuff in and whisk until the lumps come out. Ha.)

Knead the mixed dough together, then make little round cookie balls and put on the pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar and press small sprigs of rosemary on top.

Bake 15 minutes or until edges begin to brown.

Cool... as in, let them cool.

Next fire up the kettle, make a cuppa of PG Tips and enjoy your afternoon.

Lemon Olive Oil Mini Cakes With Rosemary and Blue Poppy Seeds

2011-03-27T14:45:00.001-07:00

taste the nom

Yeah, so I haven't posted in almost nine months. No big deal. Sheesh! I have been baking, I just haven't had time to post. However, since I decided to make Sundays "bake day" and made the most epic cake of all time today - I decided this deserved to be documented. Ps. It's soy free. What what.

One of our local sweet shops in Los Feliz, Village Bakery has this adorable mini cake called the Lemon-Almond-Rosemary-Olive Oil Cake. It looks like heaven but isn't vegan, so I went on a hunt to make my own version. I discovered this recipe from the Gluttonous Vegan blog and modified it to make my dream cake!

A. I don't like making cakes. I'm a disaster at anything larger than 3" wide so I decided to use large cupcake molds (mini bundts would work too).

B. I halved her recipe and instead of using soy milk, used organic coconut milk by So Delicious. (Note: This is not the type of coconut milk you find in the Thai section of your super market, it is proper cereal-type milk.) I think almond milk would work great too, I just didn't have any.

C. I added blue poppy seeds because lemon and poppy is a winning combination.

D. I also substituted blood orange oil for sunflower/canola oil because I didn't have sunflower/canola oil. I know that sounds random and exotic - my kitchen is a cornucopia of oddities, people. I imagine almond oil would work fantastic too. I think anything other sunflower/canola oil would be a good choice.

E. Don't tell your whiner non-vegan friends that it's vegan, they won't notice. It's super moist and sweet like all the junk they eat.

Here's my version of her recipe:

Lemon Olive Oil Mini Cakes
(Makes 4 mini cakes)

1 1/2 cups plain flour (I used whole wheat)
2 tsp fresh rosemary leaves finely chopped (you can't really taste it too much in the end so adjust if you want more kick)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2-3/4 cup your choice of milk replacement (I used coconut milk the first time, almond the second. Just make the batter is cake like and not cookie dough-like. Add more milk if cookie dough-like)
2 tsp finely chopped and grated lemon zest (I kept this amount the same to give some kick)
2 tsp blue poppy seeds
1/8 cup fresh lemon juice (I used both bottled and fresh)

1/8 cup sunflower/canola oil (I used blood orange oil)

Icing:
3/4 - 1 cup confectioners icing
1/4 - 1/2 cup lemon juice (her recipe says tbsp. which I'm sure is a typo)

Preheat your oven to 350. Spray olive oil (or use earth balance...) to grease your pan.

Mix all the dry ingredients. Add olive oil, veg oil and milk substitute then beat (I just used a whisk). Add the lemon juice, poppy seeds, lemon zest and stir it up. On the original recipe, it said it shouldn't look oily. I found that when I halved the recipe it came out kind of lumpy like cookie dough and not cake batter, that's when I increased my milk amount. You don't want the batter to be soupy, but it shouldn't be cookie dough like either.

I filled the molds to 3/4 full and it came out perrrrrrrfect. The little guys rose just above the top.

Bake for 20-25 minutes depending on your oven. I have an old school 1950s style oven (with no window boo hoo) so I baked 18 minutes, tested the cake then put it back in for 6 more minutes. Just don't open the oven the first 17 minutes. When they're ready, the edges will be slightly brown and the top will be golden brown.

Next up. Icing! This icing recipe rullllllez. It's so easy. First you sieve (aka use a shaker) the powdered sugar into a bowl. This is super important because if you don't (and you're lazy like I was), your icing will have little sugar lumps, so don't be that guy (or, me). Then slowly add in the fresh lemon juice and stir. The sugar will naturally dissolve leaving you with a gorgeous icing (peep her blog if you need a pic). That's it! No sauce pans. No chilling. Nada!

Then let them cool, for reals. Patience is a virtue for baking. After 15 minutes or so, spoon half of your icing over the tops of the cakes. Wait a couple minutes until it hardens, then spoon the rest of the icing. This will give it more of an opaque look. I chose to garnish with poppy seeds, lemon wedge and rosemary.

I think this would be pretty ideal for an afternoon tea. In fact, I might just brew up some PG Tips right now.

Thank to the Gluttonous Vegan for the initial recipe (peep her blog if you need extra pix of the baking process - she's a way better food photog than I). Thanks to God for lemons, they are seriously tasty.

Almondine Spice and Hibiscus Rose Cupcakes

2010-06-03T13:19:00.000-07:00

A culinary mishap (I had planned to make coconut cupcakes then forgot to put the extract in! Ha) turned into a wonderful surprise when I made pretty almond cupcakes with cinnamon spice frosting. The other set are vanilla rosewater "Love" cupcakes with a spice frosting accented by hibiscus and tart strawberry powder I made by crushing dehydrated strawberries. :)

Sweet and Sour Patch Kid Cupcakes + Blue Hearts!

2010-05-17T11:55:00.000-07:00

My latest flavors are Sweet and Sour Patch which feature a golden vanilla cupcake with a tart frosting and sour patch kids! Btw, sour patch kids are vegan... that makes them accidentally awesome! Second flavor is a marble chocolate vanilla with chocolate berry frosting and blue fondant hearts.

Side note: also made my roomies Strawberry pie with vanilla/almond pudding (almond because I used almond milk:)

Cats! Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes W/ Peanut Butter Frosting

2010-05-13T09:03:00.000-07:00

My supervisor Mark hates when a big fuss is made for just about anything... so my baking cohort Angie and I decided to celebrate his birthday in an understated fashion. Angie baked cookies and made a fort. Since Mark loves cats, I made extra special cat decor for the cupcakes I baked and might have also added photos of Liza, Dolly and the Golden Girls. Not gay at all, no.

The cupcakes are chocolate chocolate chip with peanut buttercream frosting. And yes, vegan. Dear God, plz. help me not eat anymore frosting, thanks.

I'm A Lover, Not A Pirate

2010-05-02T13:25:00.001-07:00

If you know me, you know I've got a rather childlike sense of wonder and curiosity... so it should make perfect sense that I decided to make pirate cupcakes. :D

This week's flavors were Red Velvet Lover cupcakes with old fashioned vanilla frosting (and filling!) and Soy Milk Chocolate Pirate cupcakes with chocolate/vanilla frosting and vanilla filling.

La Dolce Tati Cupcakes at the Meet Market

2010-04-27T10:04:00.001-07:00

So by a random act of synchronicity, you can now get my vegan cupcakes at The Meet Market in Silver Lake. This is awesome because that means I can now afford to take way more dance classes at the Heartbeat House in Atwater. That's right, I'm baking sugary good stuff in order to comp my dance addiction. Win.

Vegan blogger/champion/foodie par excellence Quarry Girl did a lovely review with pretty pictures right here.

(Btw, the photo above of me is by Phillie's own Mayra Garcia).

I suppose I'll post more pix from now on as I'll be baking weekly... and because I'll have a new camera phone soon and I'm lazy about taking pix with my digi cam. Hey, I'm honest. :)

Spirits In The Sky Cupcakes

2009-09-22T19:19:00.000-07:00

Here's my cupcake pix from one of my outings with Spirits in the Sky, a side project of my friend Billy Corgan.

I made custom cupcakes for their Long Beach show for fun. They were pumpkin spice flavored, which wasn't a SP reference actually, it just so happened that I was moving that weekend, was out of vanilla extract, had a whole can of pumpkin and some new spices...so voila. God had a plan for that can o' pumpkin. I didn't tell Billy what flavor they were because the cheese factor was way too high for me on that one.

My friend Linda Strawberry designed the poster for the tour (if you read my previous posts then you saw the cupcakes I made for her wedding too). I tried to recreate the poster in cupcake form... and quickly. :) Oh luster dust, how I love thee. Dave Navarro ate the first one...and unbeknownst to me, Billy did too (or just licked one). I didn't see that pic of him until weeks after the show. :) All of these photos are by our pal Kristin Burns.

Below you can check out neat photos from the cupcakes, the show, me (+some of my tats) plus my pals Dave, Ginger "I love being pregnant" Pooley (who played that night!) and a neat shot of Perry Farrell visiting with us all backstage. It was a fun night in a musty, little bookstore.

I support a public cupcake option!

Lagger!

2009-09-21T13:01:00.000-07:00

Dudes!

I got so much to post! Stay tuned for my post on the cupcakes I made for Billy Corgan's Spirits in the Sky tour... in the meantime, read my interview with him and Dave Navarro right over here.

Also interviewed the cast of Jennifer's Body and Diablo Cody... who was super duper rad. She's a cool chick. Too bad the scariest movie I ever saw and will see... is Scream. Oui, I'm a chicken... that's why I don't eat 'em.

Also made cupcakes for a charity bake sale...which I'll post. They were red velvet and baby maple.

I also found the radness that is Humanitaire in Costa Mesa... an all vegan shop. They carry Samsara bags btw, the new cheaper version of Matt n Nat... which is good because I don't think Matt n Nat bags look like they're worth $300 anyway.

In the meantime, you'll probably get quicker info. if you: follow me on Twitter as I tend to be quite the live blogger.

A salaam a leykum!

T

Yay me! Berry Coulis!

2009-08-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

Because I lag!

I've been meaning to post for ages... oh my gee. So here's a quick one on how to make awesome berry coulis along with some ghetto photos of my food. These ones got a little sloppy but sloppy is French for "tastes awesome" so there ya go.

I'm always on a hunt for things that taste good and have the least amount of sugar possible and I think my organic and sugar-free recipe for an easy berry coulis that you can use over waffles, pancakes, cupcakes fits the bill! If you keep the temp low on this one it could even be considered raw...

Tatiana's Yay Me! Berry Coulis!

2 cups frozen (must be frozen) organic raspberries or blackberries
1 cup organic agave nectar or organic maple syrup
1 cup fresh organic strawberries + 1/2 cup later
mint spring - for garnish

Toss the raspberries and nectar/syrup into a small sauce pan (I keep the fire around medium) and stir slowly. Behold the magic! As the raspberries defrost, they break down into tiny pieces which creates a thick syrup when combined with the agave/maple. Strawberries won't give you this effect so be sure to make raspberries or blackberries your base (unless you feel like mashing frozen strawberries).

This coulis is rad because it avoids the need for a thickener like corn starch, soy lecithin or agar agar. Let it bubble up a bit but not too much as you don't want it to evaporate. When you're almost done, toss the 1 cup of fresh organic strawberries in. When you're ready to plate, simply spoon out your coulis and garnish with the remaining strawberries and a sprig of mint...

...then if you're like me, destroy with a ton of soy whip. :D

Don't forget to toss a few berries into your batter to add some extra flavor to your pancakes, waffles etc. :)

I made those guys this morning, I love my $20 waffle make from Target!

The Shojin Five Course Dessert Prix Fixe

2009-07-26T22:17:00.001-07:00

Oh man, I've been meaning to post about the Shojin for ages. It's so wonderful to have a vegan place downtown, I can't even tell you. Considering the most popular restaurant my guy and his friends go to is a sausage joint, I am sooo thankful for the macrobiotic tastiness of the Shojin.

What makes the Shojin great is not only the food but the people. I went there one evening to have one of those consolation "pity, party of one" meals (you know what I'm talking about - the whole, "I'm feelin' down, c'mon cake, let's do this" routine). The waitress Riyo spent awhile chatting with me and when she finally brought out my green tea moss cake, this was how it looked: Guess who felt better? Me!

Now, as an obsessed vegan cupcake and dessert maker (or "cupcake pixie" as one of my more statuesque friends calls me), I was more than intrigued when I heard the Shojin was having a five course dessert prix fixe! Even better, it was only $25 and included beverage pairing (non-alcoholic). That is an unparalleled deal my friends!

As I told my pal "Quar" (thank Hunter for the nickname), "If pizza is your specialty, then sweets are mine!" So dear veegs of L.A., I did the hard work and gritty investigative journalism of eating five courses of sweets so that I could bring you this thorough report. Step aside Jonathan Gold, I'm anglin' for the Pulitzer.

Anyhow, prepare your eyeballs for the amazingness that is about to ensue. It will not make sense, there will be flavors mixing with other flavors that you thought had no business mating but guess what, they work! I now totally support interflavored vegetable-fruit couples! No on H8!

To prepare your mental palate, keep in mind that because this was a macrobiotic vegan meal there were no refined sugars used ergo, it wasn't like eating five courses of pie. Each course was part vegetable, part fruit and sweetened naturally. The result was a subtle sweetness that was not overpowering. It left you feeling refreshed and clean. The whole affair pretty much convinced me that I need to dig out my macrobiotic books and get to it again. Personally, I think macro veganism strikes the perfect healthy balance between cooked food and going raw.

Event info. flyer

Before the first course there was the "amuse bush"...I think they meant "amuse-bouche" which is French for "mouth amuser" meaning a bite-sized hors d'oeuvre that hints at what is next to come. Bush or bouche, it was a lovely and surprising combination of flavors.

Amuse-Bouche
Asparagus Rice Cream with Carmelized Pecans.
See, now you're seeing what I meant about the whole inter-vegetable relationship thing. The asparagus flavor wasn't overwhelming and the carmelized pecans added a great dynamic. I really don't think this combination would have worked with dairy so lucky us, it wasn't.

Course 1: Red Bell Pepper Mousse with Lemon Sauce
Drink pairing: Clementine juice (Lemonade/Orange juice)
The strawberry-melon garnish added a great flavor.

Course 2: Cucumber Honeydew Soup With Shiritama Mochi
I'm a lousy food photog so I stole a photo from the Shojin's blog because this cold soup was AMAZING! The floating melon balls combined with mochi balls (not ice cream filled) were such a treat! Mochi tastes so gelatin I got a bit scared but Chef Chie showed me how she makes them! Rice flour! Who knew.

Course 3: Soaked Tomato With Mint Compote w/ Balsamic Reduction and Rosemary Cracker
Drink pairing: Banana granita

Now, this one was a shocker for me. I loathe uncooked tomatoes but since this one had been soaked for half a day in marsala wine (then boiled to burn off the alcohol), it didn't have the acidic taste I abhor. The sweet-mint filling was like a fresh salad and the balsamic reduction provided a great high note (yeah, I said it).

Course 4: Edamame Montblanc
Drink pairing: Sencha green tea
Ok, um, so yeah... I took a photo of this with my phone and got so excited to eat it that I forgot to take a proper picture until after I got half way in ergo, I'm stealin' a nicer shot from the Shojin.

This strange concoction was amazing!! Chocolate covered cakes made of vegetable. I believe it was a spinach/sun dried tomato but I can check with Chef Chie. On top was an edamame whipped cream. The cake was resting on a vegan creme Anglaise with berry accents and a cookie. It was amazing times 1000. Such a creative mixture of flavors. I honestly felt more excited than I did when I had an eight course vegan meal at XIV.

Course 5: Sweet Potato Carrot Mango Cheesecake with Carrot Orange Rice Cream
Drink pairing: Freshly made Raspberry tea sweetened with Beet Syrup
Oh man, I wish I had three pieces of this. The sweet potato texture is so so so amazing. I'm not the hugest orange fan so I wasn't too into the rice cream but the flavor of the cheesecake won me over. You MUST petition the Shojin to add this dessert to their menu!!

Overall, I can't endorse the prix fixe flights at the Shojin enough. It would be impossible to get such a value at any other fine vegan restaurant in Los Angeles (and you know which ones I'm talking about). If you're a devoted foodie or curious eater on a budget wanting to develop a more cultivated palate, then do yourself a favor and hit up the next Shojin event. I, for one, am going to hit up their next cooking class whenever it is.

(...and after Chef Chie told me about the macrobiotic cooking school at the Kushi Institute, I might just make the trip out for one of their weekend courses.)

Side note: new favorite site for baking obsessions... (not a vegan company by far but if you're a cake maker, she has great pix to lurk for ideas and a blog with decorating technique instruction).

Lastly, another thing I love about the Shojin is the art.

A lot of L.A. restaurants and cafes put up what I call "art," aka generally bad local crap and mediocre photography (i.e. girls running through fields in cowboy boots smoking Parliaments...oy).

However, the Shojin has GOOD art. A fellow named Kio curates the shows there and I was sooo in love with the stuff from Ken Tanaka (who is not Japanese from what I can tell... you gotta look into this guy, you'll be LOLing) that I bought the following print below. Check out Batman's six pack. Nice.

So yes, peeps, I am now offically an art collector.
Eli Broad, watch out.
Next stop: major philanthropic donations from my vast riches.

The End.
Now hand over the Pulitzer.
What.

Much thanks to Riyo, Chef Kimiko and Executive Chef Chie at the Shojin!

Linda Strawberry + Justin Coloma = Wedded Bliss (and Cupcakes)

2009-07-22T22:57:00.001-07:00

My dear, sweet friend Linda Strawberry just got married and had asked me to make vegan cupcakes for her wedding. Knowing the theme was lots and lots of violet (like her hair), I decided to make violet velvet cupcakes in violet liners with violet magnolia flowers. This is the (violet) end result. I think I like giving cupcakes away as wedding presents because you sure put more love into them than a toaster.

And yes ladies, I've included some wedding porn to go with the food porn. It was one of the most touching, heartfelt weddings I've ever gone to and reiterated my belief that a wedding is not about how much money you spend but how much love is in the room and there was so much love at Strawberry and Justin's wedding. :) There was also lots and lots of butterflies all over the walls, Linda's family singing a beautiful hymn a capella...and exciting stuff which you can read on Linda's blog here.

(Click to enlarge photos)

(cupcake shots by me, black and white wedding photos by smashley walters, color by planet swan)

Hunter's Handy Dandies Rice Krispy Treat

2009-05-18T17:00:00.001-07:00

My friend Hunter aka @tranquilmammoth just had a birthday. He also already has a lot of cool stuff so I decided that my present to him would be using my Dandies vegan marshmallows (courtesy of @chicagosoydairy) to make a fancy rice krispy treat!

For my non vegan readers, rice krispy treats are a prized commodity for vegans because a.) we don't eat marshmallows since they're not vegan and b.) vegan marshmallows are hellllla expensive!

I decided to add some decorative fondant (of course) and a little bday message.
The result was magical!

Close up image of the "HB" for Hunter Burgan
or... Happy Birthday.
How handy is that?

Me n' Hunter's favorite part of the treat was a little Band-aid I made because um, well, part of the treat broke...and I tried to reattach it with agave nectar which...resulted in rice krispy fail so... I just decided to cover the boo boo with a Band-aid.

BTW, I give Dandies a big thumbs up. One suggestion I'd make when making the treats is to melt half of your batch in the skillet with your Earth Balance but then take the other half and put in a small mug with 1/2 cup water and microwave for 20 secs. Once the microwaved batch is all melty, add it to the skillet. It will help the full batch to melt faster and it gives it a better consistency. If you're running low on Dandies, supplement with agave nectar.

And in my vegan Martha ways, I had to make a card too. I used to sell custom greeting cards back in the day. This one had a vellum image I printed of some deer below Hunter's name. Inside it said, "Happy Birthday Deer Hunter." He's got a deer tattoo so I thought it was a nice touch. No deer were harmed in the making of this card. :D

In other news, I am so ridiculously behind in posting and adding links to other blogs etc. etc. because my vegan cupcake biz is taking off. :) For now I'm calling it S.C.R. Baking aka Sex, Cupcakes and Rock 'n' Roll. (Acronyms make my Jesus-loving mom much happier than hearing the full name.) I'm doing cake and cupcake orders right now on the fly so hit me up if you live in L.A. and want to get your cake on.

***If you want to sample some ahead of time, I'll be selling cupcakes May 21st at @theRoxy for the Tender Box show and also May 27th for the War Tapes at Club Moscow.

Also, if you're in SF, I'm coming to TWTRCON! Woo hoo! That's right, @ladolcetati is going to g33k it up @twtrcon on May 31st. Let me know if you're going and let me know where vegans eat on the hella cheap up in SF. I don't mind couches to crash on either. I'm a rock 'n' roll girl y'all, I ain't proud to take a couch commitment.

Recessionista!

2009-05-09T11:54:00.000-07:00

So the upside of the crap economy is that more people will be getting their cheap on and nothing is cheaper than faux stuff, something we vegans know all about. Unfortunately, there is still a notion in the non-vegan world that if you're vegan that means you don't shave your arm pits and have a decidedly "earthy" fashion sense. Two words: not true. I know plenty vegans who boast designer taste and more than a few who quietly confess difficulty in having to say goodbye to designer leather heels still lurking in their closet from years ago.

So whether you're an omnivore looking for a way to save some bucks (and in the meantime, spare some animals! Woo hoo!) or a vegan looking to step it up fashion-wise, here are some of my picks for animal-friendly fashion... and some other fun vegan stuff.

1. Pink Studio

I adore Pink Studio shoes. They have man made soles and their heels have a neat curved shape like Costume National... except they're about $300 cheaper. Pin stripes are all the rage for the summer so snap up these $80 Bradshaw heels from Endless.com and you're good to go. I think pairing it with a white dress would be adorable.

So, I actually own these wedge heels (below) in teal and get compliments on them quite often. Unlike most vegan heels, they aren't round toe or mary jane's. Thank God. This pair in orange is on sale at Alternatve Outfitters who also have an adorable tie back patent pair in dark brown. I love wearing mine with summer dresses or skinny jeans.
2. Handbags

Ok, so well alllll know Matt & Nat and Stella McCartney do great luxe vegan bags so I'll skip those two but here's some off-the-beaten path vegan-friendly designers.

The Sisoi Shop by Mehran on Etsy is a great find! A former engineer and professor turned handbag designer, you'll find classy yet very affordable day bags and even a whimsical owl-flap messenger bag in her shop.

At $60, her fabric shoulder bag from is a steal. I love the lines and the construction looks much more high end than most vegan bags (in my opinion). Plus, the beauty of a good fabric day bag is that its easy to clean.
Her asymmetrical corduroy pouch for $20 ain't bad either.

Shiraleah makes pretty good vegan bags as well. I'm not a fan of all of them but if you scan the line, there's always a few that stand out. I'm a big fan of anything in silver and I think this metallic wallet for $30 in vegan leather is a find.

3. What's It Toile About?

Toile (pronounced "twahl") is one of my absolute favorite patterns. I have collected odds and ends of it for years. This dress by Whistling Sparrow on Etsy is an adorable use of toile that can easily be dressed up or down.

4. Bling

Get your ghetto fab on with vegan name plate necklace from Peta's online shop. While I may not be a fan of all their approaches, I do think their online shop has some neat finds.

5. Shirts and jeans

My daily combo is jeans, heels and t-shirts and for the latter, I love the shirts by Secret Society of Vegans. SSOV shirts are far more rock 'n' roll vegan than hippie. And being a blue collar bougie, I pretty much love anything that infers I'm in a secret society. I own their punk rock looking tee that says, "Pretty Vegan Nevermind the Bollocks" but they have a ton of other cute tees.
The skull shirt below glows in the dark. Um, awesometown.
Pretty sure I'm going to snap up this one that says, "Saving the unicorns since the 90s."

They also have aprons, mugs... and condoms. That's right, vegan condoms... animal-friendly for her pleasure.

6. Dirty Ass Soap!

Useful? Kind of. Neato? Absolutely. With shapes like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the Fight Club logo or cookies and milk, these handmade soaps by %100 vegan Etsy seller Dirty Ass Soaps will get your dirty ass clean with vegan-friendly precision! Perfect for gifts, I'd recommend buying the dentures-shaped soap for your next friend who's about to turn 30, 40 or 50. Good times.

Dusty's Beach Bash Birthday Peanut Butter Cupcakes

2009-05-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

Ooh!

I have like five entries I need to write but here's a quick one. I made peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate frosting and a beachy starfish accent for my friend Dusty's birthday!! I don't know about you but peanut butter and chocolate anything is generally my favorite combination. And luckily, vegans can enjoy it. Woo hoo!

Thanks to global warming, it's warm enough in Southern California right now to do a beach party.

The real miracle of these cupcakes is that I didn't even eat one... although the dough is another story!

Ok, I gotta jet.
Love and vegan cupcakes!

Tatiana

The O.C.'s Best Salad and Raw Cheesecake

2009-04-30T08:05:00.000-07:00

Oh Orange County... it gets such a bad rap from Angelenos (I'll admit, the whole "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" thing is ridiculous) but when it comes to all things vegan there's a few perks behind the Orange curtain. These perks include lower sales tax and cheaper products at markets. My favorite market in particular is Mother's Market in Huntington Beach. It's an average size market catering to the Whole Foods type crowd with several locations and a super tasty restaurant that serves one of my most favorite salads ever.

Behold, the Tofu Fusion Salad.

Aside from Flore's Avocado Seitan salad, the Tofu Fusion at Mother's is my jam. It's a super crunchy, very filling salad loaded with snap peas, celery, other green things and lightly fried tofu. I get it with a side of Tahini and Miso dressings. It's around $10 but it also comes with your side of bread. Their biscuit is vegan and if you request Earth Balance instead of butter you're good to go. It also comes with Boysenberry jam which I had never tried before but now give a thumbs up to wholeheartedly. It's pretty impossible to eat the whole thing if you get a drink as well but I certainly try. I dig their Teeccino coffees too. (I've tried to make that stuff at home but it always turns out gross so I let the professionals do it for me.) My only complaint about the Tofu Fusion is that you absolutely can't take it home because it gets soggy in like a minute flat if you've already put dressing on it. Common sense salad knowledge, but just a heads up.

You can check out all of Mother's tasty offerings via their menu link... although... sigh, it's in PDF format. (Dear restaurateurs, please make your menus HTML-based so people accessing through a PDA can view them easier.)

Come To Mama

Now, sometimes when I'm in the mood for dessert, I'll half finish my salad so I can scarf down one of Earth Cafe's Who's Your Daddy raw cheesecakes. My pal Astara from Elf Cafe in Silverlake tipped me off to the awesomeness that is the Who's Your Daddy cheesecake. I'd tried other flavors from Earth Cafe (they're a line of raw cheesecakes you can only get at markets/a few restos) before but never bought the Who's Your Daddy because it's not exactly a very descriptive flavor title. So allow me to describe it for you: it's a magical chocalatey cinnamon-ish mousse with a sweet crumbly topping and nutty crust. Mm hmm. It's pretty much one of my favorite vegan desserts of all time.

The best part of all is, if you get it at Mother's in HB it's around $5.89 whereas at Nature Mart in Los Feliz it's near $7 (or over, I can't remember). I really wish raw desserts weren't so expensive but that's the rub.

Those with soy or gluten allergies will be stoked because the cheesecake has neither item. The ingredients are simply carob, agave, soaked almonds, etc.

PS. did I mention the cheesecakes come with a sticker that says "Tastier" on it? Yeah. I have no idea why, especially since it infers that there's something less tasty it's competing with, but whatever...it's funny.

PS2. Dear Earth Cafe makers, I told one of your main dudes before to make a peanut butter chocolate flavor and he said if you did, you'd name it after me. My taste buds beseech thee to get on it! Thx.

The Shape of Cupcakes To Come

Lastly, if you don't know me personally, I dabble in a bit of vegan baking on the side. Not tryin' to open a shop or run a business, I just like the idea of making small orders for coffee shops and/or friends. My love these days is fondant. You can view some of my latest offerings on my Flickr food porn album. I've started saving pictures of shapes and designs I'd like to replicate on a cupcake and the one below is my next target.

Being obsessed with minimalist design in particular, I'm very into the idea of making vegan desserts that not only taste good but have an interesting aesthetic. It's not enough for me to simply lop some frosting on top. I work in small batches out of my mom's kitchen (which means, you know it's clean) and I call my treats, "High maintenance cupakes" because either the design is high maintenance or the components are. I try to use organic ingredients, agave for sweetener or avocado for frosting so I don't feel sooo guilty about loading people up with sugar. The downside is fondant... well... it's all sugar so I may have to lose that battle to work with it.

Being that veganism is a very carb-friendly life style I want to try and do my best to not become an awesome baker who does nothing but substitute a shite load of animal products with mounds of sugar and shortening... y'know? I also want to make my stuff friendly for allergy peeps (since I'm pretty sure my allergy test results next week will see me joining the ranks of the gluten free). So stay tuned for amended recipes and treats.

Any recommendations/requests from fellow veegs are welcome!

In the meantime... stay tuned for more posts. I plan on doing one for the ladies on my favorite vegan heels (or the lack thereof), the raw smoothie I swear by and my friend Judita's raw food class I'm assisting (today!).

Bye!

Why hello there...

2009-04-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

So. Here's how this works: rock writer + vegan = this blog. I'm guessing this is going to be 80% about vegan foodz, 10% fashion or organic lifestyle stuff (I only use organic skin/hair products) and 10% music/random meanderings. Percentage estimates are approximate and can be revised by author at will.

Since this is an introductory entry (which means I have low expectations for myself), I'm gonna post a series of shorts - coolots if you will.

A. "But I like cheese"

Ok, if there is one phrase vegans hear all the time from friends who lament they could never be vegan it is, "Oh, but I like cheese!" It's gotten to the point that I want to make a shirt that says, "I'm Vegan. Let me guess, you like cheese."

When I was a non vegan (and wino), I used to lurk the cheese aisle at Whole Foods with loving abandon. For every bottle of Francis Ford Coppola Claret (ooh, you were good my friend), I'd stock up on some fancy cheese.

Now, I know cheese quite well. We used to be friends. And last night, Lucifer's pizza in Los Feliz tried to pass off real cheese as vegan cheese to me. I took one look at that melty slime and said, "You sir, are no vegan cheese".

The worst part was, we had been sitting for forty minutes dying of hunger as we waited for our food. Not only did they forget the basil on the pizza, the pie had been sitting for 15 minutes on top of the stove because they forgot we were there (wha?). Did I mention I had double checked to make sure home dude heard me say "vegan cheese" as he was making it because I noticed I had not been charged for vegan cheese. Yep.

So, I got my money back and we left. It was Bummerville 2009 but then a miracle occurred. While driving down Vermont trying to hit Pure Luck before they closed, we noticed an "open" sign at Taste of Life. Holy mackerel, vegan soul food open until 2am on a Friday night! Commence the hallelujah choir! Take that Lucifer, the army of light has won! (How I missed Quarry Girl's post on this spot, I know not, but if you want some good pics of their food click that link.)

Anyhow, so we ordered the mac 'n' cheese, steamed kale, cornbread and bbq tofu. The mac 'n' cheese was beyond awesome and comes with the kale on the side. I suggest going kamikaze and mixing it all up together. I wasn't totally feeling the cornbread but I was so full of mac 'n' cheese magic that it didn't matter. As if that wasn't enough food we then ordered the almond cheesecake. It was tasty. It was also way past midnight and I was full to the brim.

To sum up this short I'd say, to business owners who don't think it's a big deal to lie about whether cheese is real or not - it is. Especially since vegans have big mouths (and even worse, blog and tweet like mofos). The quickest way to hurt your business is to lie to a customer. Will I go back to Lucifer's? Totally. But I'm going to be super careful next time and triple check that they heard me correctly. I'm also going to wear a day glo neon outfit so they don't forget I'm there.

B. Recessionista

Bought two new amazing vegan bags. One is the Matt n Nat Hamburg. Man, I love anything silver. Probably because it reminds of space... and I like space... literally, figuratively, you name it.

The other is the Essential Day Bag by Stella McCartney for Le Sportsac. My fashion sense really shouldn't be guided by rationale as simple as, "Ooh neat! A deer!" but if you see the aformentioned blurb on silver bags you'll get an idea of how I operate.

C. Me Me Me

Here's some closing business on me. I have a metaphysics blog I've kept for three years called Savatra. It's the name of my grandfather spelled backwards. He survived the Armenian Genocide as well as Dachau death camp during the Holocaust and was a good example of overcoming a hard knocks life. That blog is primarily about my journeys in mind-body stuff re. improving one's self. I'm obsessed with the concept of becoming a better person. While I'm an academic and can name drop theorists left and right, I think the most important ways to affect change in our lives stem not from head knowledge but heart knowledge combined with inspired action. After all, "If nothing changes, nothing changes." Or even better, as Pablo's dad/Dangerbird Records owner Jeff Castelaz would say,

"A.F.D.I.

Actually F***ING DO IT."

Talking doesn't change lives, action does.
Why is homegirl so preachy up in the heezy?
Well, since Jan. 2008, I've lost my dad, grandma, a friend, my mentally ill mom battled stage 3 breast cancer, I was almost killed in a car accident, got robbed, moved, changed jobs etc... I also quit smoking, drinking, got more hardcore about my veganism, meditated like a mofo and devoted myself to bettering my life. Savatra is my journal of that journey and it's meant to help other people which is the most important thing I think I can do with my life. I know, it sounds really Pollyanna but whatever, my idols are Oprah and Bono... what can you expect. :)

So lurk there for inside stuff... and lurk here to hear me talk about vegan foodz, music and fash.

X to the O
Tat