• Sun in Bloom opened Saturday, January 2 and, because I am a man of my word, I went for brunch. It was good. Really good. I mean, check out that loaded burrito -- avocado, beans, tofu scramble, and all sorts of tastiness up in that bitch. And no nutritional yeast, thank you.
• On that same magical day, Vinnie's Pizza in Greenpoint opened. Almost makes you want to move back to Greenpoint, doesn't it? (Actually, no, Pizza Plus is right here and I'm laaaazy.)
• Babycakes opened its LA location Sunday, January 3. I know, you're in NYC and you can't do a thing about it except drool. Well, drool on this!
• And in restaurant closings, Red Bamboo Brooklyn closed.
• The New Yorker profiled Whole Foods co-founder and CEO John Mackey.
• Food, Inc. is online and free, so no more excuses.
• Hospitals in the UK's publicly funded healthcare system will take meat off the menu to cut carbon emissions and costs, The Guardian reports. Yes, less pollution AND less expense! ALL SIGNS POINT TO NOT EATING ANIMALS.
• 
  Sweden is using bunnies as fuel. They are shooting bunnies, "deep freezing" them, burning them, and then calling it biofuel! COME ON. BUNNIES, NOT BIOFUEL.

Paul Watson FOREVER

• Obama poster artist Shepard Fairey immortalized Sea Shepherd Captain Paul Watson with a print of his very own. Posters measure 18 x 24", are signed by Watson, and cost $55 each. Buy 'em at Obey Giant. PAUL WATSON CAN NEVER DIE.
• The California-based Animal Legal Defense Fund released its 2009 State Animal Protection Laws Rankings. (Old news? Yeah, sort of. Still worth reading? Totally.) ALDF ranked New York in the middle tier -- not laying down the law with the best or permitting certain atrocities with the worst. Illinois ranked highest and Kentucky lowest. Read the full report here (PDF).
• In other ranking news, the Humane Society gave the Obama administration a B- for animal protection. Full report right here (PDF).
• Ingrid Newkirk reminds us via Huffington Post why it's awesome to be vegan, and then she rhymes with food.
• Vegan Twinkies are BACK. No Whey! Kitchen is going to fill the hole left in your heart by the closing of Vegan Honey Bake Shop. No Whey! sells to restaurants and is taking private orders for a limited time.
• Karen Davis, president of United Poultry Concerns, will deliver her lecture "The Social and Secret Life of Chickens" at the New York Public Library's Mid-Manhattan branch on December 30. That's 40th Street and Fifth Avenue, 6th floor, 6:30 p.m. this Wednesday. BE THERE.
• Your average dog eats a LOT of meat, VegNews reminds us: "research teams found that a medium-sized dog consumes approximately 360 pounds of meat and more than 200 pounds of grain each year. The agriculture needed to sustain this kind of companion-animal diet emits twice the greenhouse gas emissions that come from driving an SUV 6,200 miles per year."
• MEANWHILE, Annalisa Lazzaro of NYC asks The Ethicist whether it's cool to feed her cat a vegetarian diet. Duh! And you've got to be resilient! If one vegetarian -- or better, vegan -- kitty food doesn't work out, try another one. Then try cooking for Mr. Pus. Why support animal cruelty or slaughter in any way if you can avoid it, right?
• Don't know what to do with your sad, leftover shepherd sticks candy canes? Vegan Cookies brings us this recipe for peppermint candy cane chocolate chip cookies AND shows us how to crush candy canes. Holiday anger issues: resolved.
• Cafe Blossom's UES location opened, so go there and eat everything.

• Farm Sanctuary isn't the only AR group seeking (matched!) donations by the end of the year. A Mercy for Animals supporter will match your gift, up to $25,000. MFA is fairly new to NYC; you can get familiar by checking out their awesome undercover work here (carefully, now--the footage is horrifying).
• We despise you, lobster-killing capitalist.
• Who doesn't love an end-of-year list? OK, some people shake and spit at the mere thought. But I like them! VegNews has compiled a list of the top veg stories of the decade. Kathy Freston posted a similar, top-10 list on The Huffington Post. What do you think? What are they missing?
• The New York Times posted an op-ed claiming plants are as deserving of consideration as animals. Sooooo smart, guys.
• Finally, get your bum over to Whole Foods next week and get $50 back when you spend $100 or more.

Donkeys don't have stripes. Via The New York Times.

• The Catalan parliament passed a vote to ban bullfighting by including bulls in an animal cruelty law that protects certain animals from any kind of torture. Yahoooo!
• In other animals-are-not-for-entertainment wins, a charity claims to have freed the last dancing bear in India on Friday, December 18.
• The Brooklyn Paper says Red Bamboo Brooklyn's eminent closing is a sign of dying cultural interest in vegetarianism, and notes that RB owner, Jason Wong, is no longer a vegetarian. (Did everyone know that? I didn't know that.) Wong told The Brooklyn Paper, "The concern now is more about locally grown and less of a carbon footprint. Being a carnivore doesn’t mean you don’t care." This is true. It could also mean you are ignorant. What's your excuse, Jason Wong? And where is the hard, non-incidental evidence that vegetarianism is on the decline?
• Pups can thrive on a vegetarian diet, a report published in the British Journal of Nutrition says. But you already knew that.
• This is NOT a zebra. Prepare to be depressed.
• New restaurant reviews on Peacefood Cafe, Cocoa V, Sacred Chow, and HanGawi. Leave your thoughts for posterity, people.

Someone poke this man with a knife.

• Vegan Drinks is TOMORROW. Free stuff, and booze, and vegans, and what else could you want for a Thursday night?
• Teany's coming back, y'all! The teahouse/maker of delicious baked goods and light meals just began rebuilding the space, more than six months after a fire put them out of business. Pleasepleaseplease, chicken salad melt, come back!!
• Feeling generous? Or, hey, feeling like a greedy, selfish scumbag? 'Til the end of the year, your donations to Farm Sanctuary will be matched TIMES TWO by some secret and super generous donor for the rest of '09. Easy math: $1 for you = $3 for a cuddly lamb or frisky pig. So if you were planning to give nothing because you thought $20 wasn't good enough (which it totally is!), now you're giving $60, and that's, what? Food for a family of four (goats) for a week or two, right?
• OK, guys, more easy math: Buy one of Isa's cookbooks and she will donate ALL the proceeds to Out to Pasture Animal Sanctuary. Christmas shopping: done.
• Governor Paterson spoke at an NYLHV VIP reception held in his honor. Take a looksee at Ecorazzi's interview with him.
• So there's an octopus...snatching a coconut? I don't know. I mean, I've never seen an octopus run like that.
• One of us (Patrick? Maybe?) ate vegan fried ice cream at Soy and Sake. Devourable or detestable? YOU DECIDE. (I've already decided that every system in my body would shut down if I got near that thing.)
• A Ringling Brothers employee outted those elephant-abusing clowns, the Washington Post reported.
• Garden blend mock meat from Gardein appeared at Chipotle in Chelsea! Vegan mainstreaming, YES.

Ms. Moskowitz's recipes don't cause nausea.

[Out to Pasture has] a ton of animals to take care of this winter, including horses, cows, pigs and llamas, and could really use the cash right now!

I'll sign the books to whomever you like! And I will include a lipstick kiss for 10 bucks extra. Kidding. Sort of.

To get your signed book, send a PayPal to ppkshop@gmail.com and include the book(s) that you would like. If it's a gift, remember to include the recipient's address! And please let me know who to sign it to.

100% of the proceeds go to Out To Pasture and directly to the animals so order a book for everyone you know!

Shipping included, prices are:
Vegan With A Vengeance - 28
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World - 28
Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar - 28
Vegan Brunch - 32
Veganomicon - 42

Hot new coffee table book from Herbivore Clothing. Hot, I say!

• Ecorazzi announced their picks for top five animal victories of 2009. Check it!
• We ate Match Meats. I wasn't there, but I think I missed out on a good thing.
• Herbivore published a new book, The Art of Herbivore, or Somebody Give the Vegan Corndog a Handclap!. It's got every design they've ever made. Oooh la la.
• Missourians for the Protection of Dogs launched a signature drive to prevent puppy mill cruelty. Missourians: sign it. Everybody else: do what you can. Woof.
• Food, Inc. is now available on Netflix. That's it. I'm getting an account. Yes, I am that behind the times.
• Red Bamboo Brooklyn will close this month. DANG. Owner Jason Wong will re-open the spot as a non-veg restaurant with some of the same veg offerings.
• Sweet & Sara brings us more delicious, fluffy treats, now in the shapes of snowmen, angels, and reindeer! Santa, baby, please add the original s'mores to my stocking.
• New restaurant reviews on 71 Irving Coffee, Cocoa V, and, love of my Midtown lunch life, Green Symphony.

Image via VegNews

• Did somebody say VEGAN CHALLAH?  Oh yes, VegNews just did! It's going to be a good Hanukkah this year, Jews! (Is eggless challah possible?) Psst...I think I also heard them say "vegan gingerbread cookies." Who's up for a vegan gingerbread house bake-off? Hmmm?
• Farm Sanctuary reminded us to sign their Petition for the Pigs, a letter that asks President Obama to demand that the USDA extend legal protection to downed pigs. Yeah, um, did we all just assume that pigs were covered like certain other large mammals?
• Terry Hope Romero's vegan Latin cookbook Viva Vegan is available for pre-order on Amazon. See how dangerous—and hot—that knife makes her look?
• Metromix declared Dirt Candy's Amanda Cohen Chef of the Year. Amanda Cohen sounds like Samantha Cohen, which means THAT COULD TOTALLY BE ME ONE DAY.
• USA Today reported on school lunch standards: somehow less stringent than fast-food standards! Even KFC won't buy the chickens kiddies are eating as chicken plywood nuggets.

• Jonathan Safran Foer and food critic Frank Bruni talked food and sex at the JCC. Yowza!
• Babycakes founder (but y'all knew that) Erin McKenna shared baking tips and (probably delicious) samples at the 92Y. Did you go? What'd you think?
• CNN did a segment on this Humane Society (visually and aurally graphic!) video of downer pigs.
• New restaurant reviews on Blockheads (Midtown East), Angelica Kitchen, and Willie's Dawgs.
• Slate's Prudence advised a vegan on hosting her family for holiday meals. (Yeah, go with your gut, Boston! DO NOT CAVE.)
• Finally, we showed you how to make meatballs your grammy would approve of.