Chow Vegan

My Sweet Mid-year Status Report

July 24, 2014 By chow 7 Comments

It’s past the mid-year point and well past the time most New Year’s resolutions have fallen by the wayside. Me? I’m still going strong on my resolution to try every cupcake flavor from the vegan bakery, Sweet Aha! And not just the cupcakes, I’ve extended the goal to encompass everything that’s available including the muffins, scones and cookies.

Bet you thought I couldn’t keep such a resolution and that I would crack under such decadence. But no, I’m a trooper and so far I’ve stuck to it and with going to the gym regularly so I can keep up with the resolution. Experts say accountability is the key to reaching your goal. So here goes, the latest flavors I’ve tried:

Pictured above, a classic flavor combo – chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting, drizzled with chocolate. The peanut butter flavor is a bit on the subtle side and like all of their offerings, it wasn’t overly sweet.

Chocolate frosting on a chocolate cupcake is just like taking a big bite of devil’s food cake. As always, the cupcakes are all ever so light and super fluffy.

Another chocolate cupcake, but this time with chocolate buttercream frosting with German chocolate topping. I’ve always loved German chocolate cake back in the day, especially the topping. It’s exactly like it but in a cute cupcake form.

I’ve had my share of vegan muffins, can’t say I’ve enjoyed each one. It actually took me awhile to branch out and try a Sweet Aha! muffin (pictured above is the chocolate chip). I don’t know why I hesitated so long, like their cupcakes, the muffins are airy and light and made with all natural, organic, vegan ingredients.

In fact, for their lemon poppy seed muffins, they actually squeezed and zested fresh lemons, by hand no less, for a pure, real lemony taste.

Lest you go away thinking there’s only chocolate, chocolate or chocolate cupcakes available, I also tried a banana cupcake with coffee buttercream frosting with peanuts. Out of their many flavors, there’s usually a selection of three options: a vanilla one, some sort of chocolate one and one other flavor. You really can’t go wrong with any one of them.

Next check-in, end of the year, until then I’ll be striving to stay the course…

Related Posts
A Sweet Resolution
Sweet Aha! Vegan Cupcakes

I’m Minecraft-y

July 14, 2014 By chow 5 Comments

Lately, I’ve been on a fresh strawberries binge. Ever since Tomatero Organic Farm started selling their strawberries at the farmer’s markets. They usually have a few different varieties available, you can sample them all to see which one you like the best.

So with all of this strawberry eating, a collection of green baskets and paper boxes started piling up in the kitchen. That’s how I got the idea to turn the lovely 3-pack of strawberries above into the below Minecraft Creeper piñata.

Minecraft is a video game that builds up and breaks down blocks in various 3-D worlds. And in it are creatures called Creeper and Enderman. I don’t really get it but my niece and nephew are obsess with the game and those are their favorite characters. I made the piñatas for their birthdays.

First, eat the strawberries. Recycle the green baskets with one of your local farmer’s market vendor. Save the white paper carton. Repeat. Now you have two paper cartons, this will become the body of the piñata.

I also found a 4-inch square box for the head and a couple of small rectangular boxes for the feet lying around that just happens to be the right proportions for the Creeper.

Fit the two strawberry cartons together. Since the ends flare out, just cut and tape to get the whole thing to fit together well. The square head will go over one end. Glue and/or tape the two feet boxes to the other end so that the body rests a little bit on each for support. As I didn’t intend for the piñata to be smashed, I made it sturdier so it would last longer as a decoration/centerpiece.

Instead of painting an undercoat, I wrapped the whole thing in a layer of green streamer paper (crepe paper) using a glue stick. A glue stick was easier and less messy than white glue which caused wet spots in heavy-handed areas which never really went away (it dried darker in those areas).

I was able to plan ahead and only worked on it a little bit each day as free time permitted, so there was plenty of time for drying in between.

Measure out a length of streamer paper long enough to wrap around a foot with a little extra for overlap. Fold the length in half and cut fringes in it. Without unfolding, glue the fringed streamer paper around the foot starting at the bottom. Glue the next row of fringed strips slightly overlapping the first row. Keep adding rows until you get to the top edge, then cover the flat portion. Do the same for the other foot, then the body and lastly the head.

I did the head and body separately and attached the head at the very end with velcro. On the head, glue black construction paper cut out in the shape of Creeper’s face onto one side. Drill two small holes in the top of the head and put through a plastic loop before attaching to the body. I like to fluff up the fringes a bit to give it that “devil may care” look.

I also made an Enderman piñata using the same method but with streamer arms and legs. That’s it, all done. I already had everything except the streamer paper making it a fun, cheap, and green project for the summer.

This post contains Amazon links, I get a few coins tossed my way if you click on any of the links and make a purchase of anything.

Manresa Bread Project

June 29, 2014 By chow 6 Comments

Is it bad to eat nothing but bread for lunch? And for dinner too? This is what happens when you get a loaf of bread from Manresa, a Michelin two-star restaurant in Los Gatos, California.

Dubbed the Manresa Bread Project, they’ve been selling their restaurant bread at the Campbell farmer’s market. And they recently opened up a booth at the California Avenue Palo Alto farmer’s market. I’ve seen the long lines and thought “What’s that all about?” But loaded down with fruit and veggies for the week, I had no desire to wait in line to find out.

Then, one fine morning, I happened to be in front of the booth without such a line. Now’s my chance to see what’s all the fuss. All of their bread is vegan except for the brioche and obviously, anything with cheese.

I got the pumpernickel rye for 8 bucks. Taking the paper bag, I was surprised at the hefty weight (1 pound and 8 1/2 ounces). Looking into the bag, it’s not a large loaf by any means, only 4 x 4 x 4 inches. Hmmm, it seems to be quite heavy for its size, I hope I didn’t just spend 8 dollars on a brick.

I heaved the loaf home and have a slice. Packed full of seeds, as you can see, but it’s not dense tasting at all. In fact, it’s flavorful and delicious. I may be biased though as rye is my favorite type of bread. I thought I would make sandwiches but it’s good just by itself all on its own. Hence, lunch and dinner.

P.S. I had a slice as a snack too.