That's Oh My Gosh Cupcakes, and yes, they will make you shout their namesake phrase. This afternoon I sat down with a couple of friends to enjoy the goodies Andie and her crew baked and delivered (on time and beautifully packaged in corn-based plastic cupcake holders). Let's meet the edibles!

Carrot Cake
The first cupcake we tried, the carrot cake concoction, is my favorite, and I'll tell you why: it is perfect. I know you can barely stand superlatives so I have to explain myself the only way I know how -- with a list.
1. The carrot flavor is king to the raisin and vanilla peasantry.
2. It has a tight crumb without being too dense.
3. The sweet, decadent icing complements a cake that could knock a man down on its own.
4. Extra points for mini carrot decoration on top.
My only complaint is that it contains raisins, but I can't criticize it for that since most people like raisins and wouldn't call this carrot cake without them. If you like raisins, or even if you aren't hot on them, take it from a woman who usually can't stand 'em: you will love this cake.

Didja hear? It rained in LA. Don't worry! It's right back to 92 and sunny, but for a few days there, it was a sure sign of the apocalypse. People were FREAKING OUT.

I, on the other hand, put on long pants and close-toed shoes for the first time in a long time, went to Trader Joe's for provisions, followed the directives of my fauxtein ("Cook with me!") and made stew with the beefless tips provided by the good people at Gardein. I loosely followed this recipe, adding way more veggies (peas, two kinds of green beans, mushrooms, tomatoes), some extra spices (salt, garlic, thyme, rosemary) and swapping out the onion soup mix for some "beef" broth.

Results, Day 1: (There will be many days worth of stew.) It looks better than it tastes. It's disappointingly bland. The Beefless is also flavorless. Or, the flavor it has is not what I want in m'stew. I thought about marinating them beforehand, but I kinda wanted to see how it would turn out used as-is. Lesson learned: do not use as is. But even the veggies are bland. I'm not sure if this is due to crock pot cooking, which I have never done before, or the flash freezing process they surely endured. Save yourself appx. $25 on groceries, and just saute some $3 mushrooms, cause that's all I taste.

Results, Day 2: No magical vegan elves came and fixed it overnight, but it's improved slightly. "The flavors have gotten to know each other" as my mom says, but not nearly enough. I'm still not proud to have birthed it. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to eat it. The texture's good, it's thickened up a bit, and well, it's there.

Results, Day 3: I heard a some high pitched giggling, jingling, and pitter pattering in my kitchen during the night--I got up, sharpened my elbows, and went to check it out (I had been cat food burgled by a hungry raccoon last week, so I'm on high alert). I found the crock pot out of the fridge, a tiny pouch of Magic Yummy Dust on the counter, and one abandoned elfin slipper near the cat door. The stew is delicious! Robust and full of various tastes! I think there's even more of it than there was before!

(Okay, I haven't had any since day 2, but I wanted to end on a posi note.)

Next up: Chicken Scaloppini.

This is one of Supervegan's posts for Vegan MoFo 2009.

The fine people over at Gardein sent me a box so that I may be your Super Guinea Vegan. Inside that box was a box made out of styrofoam. Inside the styrofoam box there were some frozen meatless technologies on ice! First up:

"marinara chick'n good stuff." Or, as I like to call it: Chicken Marinara!

Two to a pack, these cutlets are breaded balls with sauce and cheese in the middle. The package said, "Enjoy me" on it, so my mock meat was giving me orders. Now here's what I did, and I'm not claiming to be a Top Chef or anything (Heeey, Jennifer! You don't MESS in that kitchen.), but I will say that in my preparation for making this, my life has been altered forever. And because I love you, I'mma share:

Did you know that if your local Whole Foods uses Daiya Cheese in their prepared foods department like mine does, that you can saunter over to them with a smile and a soup container from the soup bar and they will fill it with the shredded cassava wonder and charge you for it by weight? A medium tub cost me $3.27, which by vegan standards is basically free.

So, I placed the cutlets on a baking sheet, surrounded by an army of broccoli so that they couldn't flee, (broccoli sprayed with olive oil Pam and sprinkled with salt and pepper) and baked them at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. then I took them out, covered the cutlets in some marinara sauce, covered the marinara sauce in Daiya cheese, and baked them for 5 minutes more.



Verdict: I enjoyed you. I burnt the broccoli; nay, my very very tardy dinner guest caused me to burn the broccoli. I preferred the sauce I put on top of the cutlet over the one already inside, but the chickenry was convincing and the breading was pretty perky for having just gotten off a plane, truck, and my freezer.

This is one of Supervegan's posts for Vegan MoFo 2009.

When I was a vegetarian, I was fat and unhealthy. There was one reason and one reason only: CHEESE. No, seriously. My cholesterol count rivaled the one belonging to my carnivorous dad, and he eats the really gross stuff like liver and tongue.

I was always a picky eater; I eschewed most of the animal products offered me growing up in a S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) household--even as a baby. But cheese was a different story altogether. We were friends.

I officially went vegetarian in my early teens and basked in the excuse to eat cheese all the livelong day. Then, when I went vegan in my mid-twenties, the sudden omission of cheese was pure culture shock: it seemed you could get a substitute for just about everything--even caviar and haggis--but not simple cheese. While many vegan items on the market surpassed their non-vegan counterparts, the cheese options were just place fillers.

Former Sanskrit professor and Freudian analyst Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson is a prolific author who has focused on animal issues in many of his books, including The Cat Who Came in From the Cold and Altruistic Armadillos to Zenlike Zebras. In his latest, The Face on Your Plate: The Truth About Food, Masson examines factory farming, the animals who are exploited as a result and the human denial that allows it to continue.

SV: Jeff, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with SuperVegan. I was very excited to read The Face on Your Plate, especially after I saw the video of the reading you gave in San Francisco back in March.

You were raised vegetarian, started eating flesh when you became a Freudian analyst, then returned to vegetarianism while writing When Elephants Weep. You then went vegan while researching The Pig Who Sang to the Moon, a result of visiting dairy farms and egg-laying facilities. Do you think you would have gone vegan had you not seen what you did?

JMM: Well, I knew about the horrors before and did not doubt that raising animals for milk or eggs is terribly cruel and cannot be otherwise. But seeing it with my own eyes really did have an enormous impact on me.

SV: Since most people will never have the opportunity to see a slaughterhouse or an animal agriculture facility, how can we open their eyes to the horrors of the industry and that it’s within their power to change it by going vegan? Is that the goal of the book?

JMM: Yes, that is the goal of the book. I am hoping that the people who read it will become convinced that I am telling the truth and will save themselves the horror of seeing the animals suffer and simply go vegan. It really is the only logical conclusion to the information now freely available to everyone.

Vegan marshmallow confectioners Sweet & Sara announced the arrival of their newest products earlier this month: Strawberry Marshmallows, Cinnamon Pecan Marshmallows, and Rocky Road Bark. We toted them around the city for vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores to taste (and of course indulged in some ourselves).

First, it must be said—no—shouted down the aisles of your local supermarket: The bark is amazing. This is not your average candy bar; this is roasted almonds and chunks of soft marshmallow encased in gourmet, organic Belgian dark chocolate. Too gourmet for the palates of some, who thought the chocolate was slightly bitter. But overwhelmingly, vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores alike raved about the Rocky Road Bark. One omnivore called it "the most delicious thing I've ever tasted."

And did we mention the Cinnamon Pecan Marshmallows? A punch of cinnamon complements salty caramelized pecans for a sweet treat. We loved these, and so did our taste-testers. Some questioned what occasion they'd have to pop a marshmallow. For those folks who can't appreciate the sugary, fluffy, gelatin-free goodness on its own, we suggest tossing these in ice cream.

The Strawberry Marshmallows are the real thing. Real strawberries, that is, seed flecks and all. Like Sara's original marshmallows, these are denser than the air-puffed grocery brand concoctions. "I wouldn't have known these weren't regular marshmallows if you hadn't told me," said one ominvore. "Wow, can I snag another?" said one vegan as she savored her second.

Sara's goodies are on the expensive side, at $5.95 for an 8.5-ounce box of marshmallows and $3.50 for a 2.5-ounce package of bark. But, like I said, they're not regular marshmallows or mass-produced candy; they're heavenly handmade creations from a woman who clearly puts care into every aspect of her foods, from mixer to packaging.

You can find Sweet & Sara products at Whole Foods and at these retailers, or order them online.

Finally, a reason to wake up in the afternoon.

After much loved Vegan with a Vengeance and two delightful cookbook collaborations with Terry Hope Romero, Isa Chandra Moskowitz has done it again: amused, enlightened, and fed us with the sassy and scrumptious recipes in her second solo cookbook, Vegan Brunch: Homestyle Recipes Worth Waking Up For—from Asparagus Omelets to Pumpkin Pancakes. Actually, this time she amazed and even frightened us with this book's comprehensiveness. What other cookbook, vegan or otherwise, includes recipes for from-scratch sausage, bagels, tofu and tempeh scramble, waffles and pancakes (even some gluten-free), breads, muffins, and essential brunch drinks, like mimosas and bloody marys?

To get intimate with our newest best friend, we tested a bunch of Vegan Brunch's recipes last weekend potluck-style. Laura packed Potato Spinach Squares, the Shiitake Dill Fritatta, and the fixings for Pumpkin French Toast; Cat cooked two recipes of Basic Tofu Scramble; Summer baked Cinnamon Rolls; Jason toted Bloody Moskowitz materials and Tomato Rosemary Scones on his bike; and Matt and I made Diner Home Fries, a Classic Broccoli Quiche, and Old-Fashioned Chelsea Waffles.

Let's swiftly move on to the food.

Tomato Rosemary Scones
The savory flavors of tomato and rosemary were delicious on their own and complemented the other dishes nicely (thanks for the tip, Deb!). Our two regrets: 1. we didn't make mushroom gravy for these, and 2. it seems like we over-mixed them; they were less scone-like and more biscuity. My first batch of Banana-Date Scones from Veganomicon turned out the same way. Lesson learned: Mixing scones to perfection is an art that we haven't mastered. Isa, we'd appreciate it if you could spell it out for us: when do we stop mixing?

Dear Babycakes,

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love you at your Broome Street store, where I can stop in and get a lemon cupcake or a biscuit with jam anytime I’m feeling low. I love that I could get my fix after a meal at the V-Spot, and now you have an even more convenient outpost at Stogo. I love that I can now enjoy you at home, whenever I want, thanks to your new cookbook, Babycakes: Vegan, Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes From New York’s Most Talked-About Bakery.

I was lazy, Babycakes, so I tested four fairly simple recipes from your new book. But as expected, you did not disappoint. First I made your Blueberry Muffins, they with the hint of lemon, and the omnivores in my office swooned. Next up were your savory Biscuits, and even though I did something wrong and they didn’t get flaky, they still tasted amazing. Your Brownies, which I baked to somewhere closer to the consistency of fudge, left everyone speechless, except for when they pleaded with me for the recipe. (This even though I substituted tapioca for the potato starch!) And then we washed it all down with your Agave Lemonade—sweet, liquid gold.

O Babycakes, I will never stop loving you! You give me no reason to. My one qualm is that your subtitle should read “(Mostly) Gluten-Free” or “Wheat-Free,” since so many of your recipes call for spelt. But no one’s perfect. And love means never having to say I’m sorry.

Until we meet again, my darling.

Love,
Me

With so few options (read: Amy's, Boca) available for prepared vegan fare, Jason, Laura, Olivia, Olivia's beau Rich, and I were psyched to gather last week to cook a box full o' mock meats and soups from online vegan frozen food service Veggie Brothers. And what a pleasure it was.

Veggie Brothers Mark Rasmussen, acclaimed (and Jason-approved) vegan chef at Veggie Works, and Michael Balducci, a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, brought the goods to our birthday party, so we were spared the wait for UPS to deliver the food. (If you've placed an order on their site, let us know what you thought of the service; we have no idea what it's like!) Packaged with dry ice as it would have been for delivery, each item in our big brown box was individually wrapped in a minimal airtight plastic bag with a simple sticker to identify it. No cardboard or elaborate labeling, thanks. Also included were easy-to-follow cooking instructions and nutrition facts—mostly fatty and protein-heavy, if you're wondering.

The instructions suggest oven, stove-top, and microwave methods, so we went with the classic oven method for the mock meats and stove-top for the soups. Skeptical of the short (10- to 20-minute) oven cook times from frozen to finished, we prepared ourselves for a long wait with some snap peas. But after just ten minutes, the barley soup was warm in the pot and the mock meats were tender.

Beneath the cut, our impressions of each delectable dish: Low-Sodium Vegetable Barley Soup, Soy Chicken Noodle Soup, Hot & Spicy Soy Chicken Buffalo Wings, Grilled Mahi Mahi Fish Steak, Flame-Grilled Soy Chicken Cutlet with Garlic Lemon Herb Sauce, Soy Chicken Cacciatore, and a Wellington Supreme.

I got a copy of The Vegan Cook’s Bible for my birthday, and it left me perplexed.

TVCB was written by Pat Crocker, an herbalist who’s neither vegan nor vegetarian, to provide plant-based options for veg*ns as well as people who want to eat less meat. Rather than use analogs, Crocker chose to “embrace the divineness of the ingredients I had to work with,” which means the stars of the recipes are vegetables and “whole” foods. From what I’ve tasted, Crocker has succeeded. I made the Roasted Garlic and Artichoke Spread, Maple-Glazed Cabbage Greens With Pecans, Sweet and Sour Tempeh and Eggplant Stir-Fry (I loathe eggplant, so I used zucchini and green beans instead), Chickpeas and Potatoes in Cashew Cream, Red Lentil and Buckwheat Waffles, and the Berry Chia Smoothie, all of which were delicious.

An informative directory of whole foods takes up the first third of the book; the entry for each vegetable, fruit, grain, etc., includes buying and storing information, culinary uses and a list of the recipes that call for that particular ingredient. There’s also a chart on what and how to substitute for white sugar, which is incredibly helpful if, like me, you’re trying to kick the stuff. (Among Crocker’s suggestions is honey, which isn’t vegan, but that’s easily replaced with agave.)

But while I enjoyed the dishes I tried, I take real issue with the book’s title.