I'd like to nominate Susan Asato for Super Vegan status. This lady submitted several hand-cooked vegan creations to the Orange County County Fair and took home some distinctions:

• Vegan Sun Dried Tomato Cornbread Muffins - 1st place Muffins, plus Division Winner for Quickbreads (muffins, scones, loaf pan breads, coffee cakes, etc.)
• Vegan Chili with Beans - Honorable Mention, Chili Cookoff
• Vegan Apple Pie with Crunchy Pecan Topping (recipe below!) - 1st place, Pie Contest
• Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pecans (recipe below!) - 2nd place, Chocolate Chip Cookies with Nuts

Keep in mind, these competed against "regular" foodstuffs, not in some "special needs eaters" category, so kudos to you, Susan, for raising the esteem of vegan cuisine!

Here are two of her award winning recipes for you to bake for me (double up and follow a "one for you, one for me" policy of vegan baking):

Ah, Fourth of July. The weekend when Americans celebrate their purported freedoms with...barbecues.

If you feel like getting democratic this weekend, vote for your favorite vegan this-and-that in VegNew's 2009 VeggieAwards now until July 31. And if you happen to notice SuperVegan anywhere, like, say, the website category, we won't say no to your vote! Feel free, also, to scribble our name into the blog category.

Vote (for us) and we'll get our much needed attention, while you, voters, will be automatically entered in VegNew's sweepstakes, for which the grand prize is a five-day vacation for two in Key West at vegan breakfast-serving Deer Run Bed & Breakfast. The other prizes are kickin' too: His and hers Matt & Nat bags, a vegan ice cream starter kit, a chocolate smorgasboard, and weekly giveaways of vegan pizza kits. Can't go wrong, so hop to it! Happy voting!

Too busy replaying the clip of Sacha Baron Cohen swooping into the MTV Movie Awards and landing his bare ass in Eminem's face to catch this gem? I understand.

During his acceptance speech for the award for best comedic performance, Jim Carrey told 5.3 million viewers what caused factory farm flu:

MTV Shows

Is Carrey vegetarian? Is this his partner, Jenny McCarthy, rubbing off on him? Is there any experience quite like watching Pet Detective for the eleventh time?

I don't really have any answers here.

We were recently nominated by VegNews for a 2008 Veggie Award for Best Blog! (A sweet antidote for the sour grapes I have for our not being nominated for Best Website, though you could write us in.) Why not mosey on over to the online poll and vote for us and all your other favorite vegan people, products, and places?

Not only may good things happen for us if you do it, but you'll have a chance to win fabulous prize packages. The grand prize is a New York City Urban Getaway. (Live in NYC? So what? You still get to pig out at veggie restaurants and go on a shopping spree at MooShoes for free if you live here.) Other prizes include a Glam Girl Goodie Bag, a Marshmallow Madness Gift Pack, and a Vegan Cookie Smorgasbord.

Perhaps I can bribe you with five new restaurant listings.

We're proud to have been chosen as a winner in the first annual VegNews VegBloggy Awards! We're also pleased to have the exclusive scoop on the list of other winners (full list below).

To celebrate, we're giving away two pairs of tickets to VegNews's Music Issue Launch Party (which is also the issue that will list the VegBloggy winners in print) on Thursday June 26 at the Electric Works Gallery in San Francisco. There will be lots of great food and drink on offer and music from Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers.

Twenty-one blogs were chosen as winners. Some of these are regular reads, but a
a few I'd never heard of. Many of them have been mentioned or linked on SuperVegan in the past, via our blog or the blogs section of our web directory.

To win those free tickets ($25 each otherwise!) leave a comment telling us about one of your favorite vegan blogs (whether it was chosen by VegNews or not) and mention that you're interested in the tix. And of course even if you aren't able to make the event, we'd love to hear about your favorite vegan blogs!

Here's what they had to say about us:

Now that "green" is mainstream, every May many publications roll out their Green Issues. It almost seems as if green is the new black, which has its pros and cons. Overall, Elle's third annual Green Issue was a hit with me. Additionally, thanks to Aveeno Active Naturals, the entire issue was printed on 10% post-consumer recycled paper. Corporate America, can we see that more often, please?

What I loved:
Guest editor Laurie David's poignant message about making "global warming the reason you pull the lever at the polls in November." Their "Green Stars" article (pg. 210), featuring the best natural beauty products out now. Many are organic and vegan. Too many to list here, but if you're a product junkie, watch out! "Big Gulp" (pg. 232) covers the growing interest in cleansing with juice fasting (aka juice feasting). Their 2008 Green Awards (pg. 252), noting the philanthropic and eco-conscious projects of Brad, Stella (and Sir Paul McCartney for making her), Cate Blanchett, Fiji water, those Google guys and NYC's local meteorologist Sam Champion. The Madonna cover story (pg. 279), and her work with the HIV-afflicted in Malawi.

What I loathed:
"Beauty And The Beast" (pg. 245) was a major let-down for any "green" issue. The article covers "Beast," a popular restaurant in Portland, Oregon, where allegedly the chef "has found an elegant, dare we say feminine, solution to the ethical eater's dilemma: how to eat pig without being one." Umm... excuse me darlings, but ethical eaters and anyone claiming to be an environmentalist doesn't do animals. Period.

The June issue of Elle is already on newsstands. The subject of being green is not in the press as much now that Earth Day has passed and we're halfway through May. I still continue hoping this green thing continues gaining steam so that we don't have to wait until May for the media to note more ways to save the day.

Keep democracy alive: Take a few moments to vote for PETA's Sexist Vegetarian Next Door.

Candle 79 patrons might recognize Michael, a snowboarding NYU student who works as a manager at the upscale restaurant. My friend Marisa, who seems to be his campaign manager, writes, "He deserves our vote if for no other reason than having served thousands of giggling girls (and guys) delectable dishes and drinks with a dashing smile. Oh yeah, and he's been vegan since he was twelve. Now that's HOT."

So I schlepped out to Williamsburg for the Vegan Buffalo Wing Eating Contest at Foodswings. I missed the first few minutes, but was still able to squeeze into the packed room. I don't think I missed much--15 minutes is a long time to just watch people stuff face. The stereo was pumping, mostly jock-rock anthems, but also in the mix was Bob Marley's Buffalo Soldier. This would have to be about the only forgivable context for playing that song in public.

Congratulations to winner Dan (17 wings!) and runners up Marc (15 wings!) and Corey (13.5 wings!). And congrats also to Freedom and the Foodswings team for pulling this off. Vegan New York needs more fun ridiculousness like this!

Even though it's nearly a week after Thanksgiving, I'm sure lots of us have Tofurky on the verge of molding in our fridge or cast away to a frost bitten future in the freezer. I don't blame you. Who can eat the same campy Holiday loaf day after day? The irony gets lame when you wake up around 2PM on Sunday to eat your third Tofurky sandwich to recover from a long holiday weekend of binge drinking.

Well, I hope that the Tofurky sponsored Leftovers Contest will inspire you to create something great with the scant remnants of your holiday loaf. The grand prize is a bitchin' new Apple 8GB iPhone!!! Plus, 5 Honorable Mention winners will receive Tofurky care packages that include: Custom embroidered Tofurky bowling shirt, Tofurky lunchbox, Tofurky Jurky, Tofurky baseball cap, coupons and more! Entry deadline is March 15, 2008.

Couch potatoes who prefer watching food production to getting busy in the kitchen should keep an eye out for the Discovery Channel program Modern Marvels, which will soon feature an in-depth look at how Tofurky Deli Slices are made. The episode is tentatively scheduled to air on December 18th, but check network listings as the date approaches to confirm.

It's yet another peta2 contest! This time they want to know the most veg-friendly college. The winning school will get a big peta2-sponsored party, and those who vote will have a chance to win a prize pack full of peta2 swag.

NYU was nominated, which I can't say impresses me too much, unless things have really changed in the three years since I graduated. I mean, sure, NYU has those monthly vegan dinners, but I couldn't even bring myself to eat that mass-produced cafeteria stuff on a monthly basis, let alone daily.

On the plus side, the neighborhood is overflowing with vegan options... but that's hardly to NYU's credit.

Anyway, place your votes here.

Update 11/20/06: And they've announced the winners!