Check it out!!! Vegan cookies at starbucks!!!

So I had read that Starbucks was going to carry a line of Vegan & gluten- free cookies. I had assumed it would be a west coast only thing.... Yet here I am in Maryland, on the EAST coast with a soy latte AND vegan cookies!!!!! They weren't terribly expensive either. A package of 4 smallish cookies set me back $1.50, which in the realm of GF & Vegan is not too bad. Plus when I turned the package over I saw that they were manufactured in Norfolk, Virginia; mere minutes from my hometown!

A happy sign of the times!

On Saturday I dragged my husband on an eight mile trek across Baltimore so I could collect a coupon for my next hair appointment. ( yes I am that cheap) Along the way I saw several things that (I hope) were indications of a possible swing in public opinion about veganism!

The first I saw was the Kooper's Chowhound Burger Wagon. This Baltimore based burger bar has a rolling van that sells their burgers at festivals, busy corners, etc.... On our walk we happened to run into this wagon AND (drum roll please) they offer a VEGAN veggie burger. The also offer some nice toppings besides just lettuce and tomato! The gentleman working was very friendly and more than willing to let me read the packaging on their veggie burger patties just to be sure they were vegan. As a result, I was able to enjoy a vegan burger with salsa, onions and baby greens for lunch!

My next exciting moment was when we stopped for coffee at the Daily Grind in Fells Point. Although they have always offered soy milk for coffee, previously my choices for vegan sweets were limited to a banana or perhaps Swedish fish. Today however they were offering vegan sugar cookies AND vegan apple pie! When I asked, the girl behind the counter was under the impression that they would be offering these goodies for as long as they continued to sell... so BUY UP LITTLE VEGANS!!! BUY UP!!!

So I was so excited that I just had to share these little moments from my Saturday! They certainly made me smile!

A review of the Helmand

Tonight I had the privilege of being taken out to dinner and a concert by my boss. Every year we do this annual fundraiser for our students that includes singing music that has been strung together cabaret style. Tonight's concert was a chance for a group of the music teachers and musical staff to see someone else in action and it was wonderful. Since this is a food blog though, I will focus on my dinner.

Prior to the concert, we ate dinner at the Helmand, an Afghani restaurant on Charles street in Baltimore. The name comes from a prominant river in Afghanistan and the owner is Mahmood Karzai, brother of Afghani leader Hamid Karzai. This is one of Baltimore's favorite restaurants, if you can judge by the crowd at the door on the weekends.

It's easy to see why. Everything I had was wonderful and the people around me seemed equally pleased. The vegetarian section of the menu was very vegan friendly. I ended up eating a veggie korma that came with rice and spinach as sides. The server was very helpful in helping me veganize everything and the service was great. A member of our party was considerably late and yet they still got us out in time to make it to our concert.

If you live in the Baltimore area, I would highly recomend the Helmand!

A review of Dukem's deliciousness

Yesterday a friend and I went to Dukem Ethiopian Restaurant in Baltimore. The food was lovely! I have always been told that Ethiopian food is very pro-vegan and I couldn't have been more pleased. Dukem had an entire "vegi menu" as well as a special fasting menu which were both vegan (as long as you didn't order the optional fish). Apparently during fasting, Ethiopia's many Orthodox Christians abstain from all animal products so the vegetarian food on this day was entirely vegan. When I found out I was so astonished that the waitress laughed at my gaping shock! There were so many choices!

In the end I ordered a combo which included beans, greens and other mixed vegetables. It was so good! The flavor combos were slightly unfamiliar and very tasty. Due to its isolation , Ethiopia has developed a very unique flavor palate, one that certainly agreed with me....everything was delicious!

Just so you are prepared though... there is no silverware in an Ethiopian restaurant. Everything is eaten with your hands using Injera, a traditional sourdough flatbread. Injera is made with Teff and is slightly spongy and slightly sour. It just made for an even better experience if you ask me!

Man am I cheesing out!

Last night, prior to my blog-a-thon, I went to my second Baltimore Vegan Drinks which was very fun. Obviously I was jazzed about trying my new vegan cheese DAIYA and my lunch experience with rice cheese so of course cheese came up, AGAIN. In the process, I learned that Baltimore's own BOP (that's Brick Oven Pizza to non Baltimorons) serves pizza with a vegan cheese option. Although, I think I had heard this before, I had never gone in.

A long time ago, prior to moving to Baltimore, prior to being a vegan and prior to really even being an adult someone had told me that BOP had the "best pizza in Baltimore". This was another fact that I stored away without using.

Since I seem to be on a vegan cheese kick AND since I had a hair appointment in neighboring Canton and would be walking past the place, a lunchtime visit seemed like the perfect plan. BOP was amazing. They have over 58 toppings and many of them are actually vegetables. When I went to the counter and told the nice employee I was a vegan, she actually seemed happy to be accommodating and answered all of my questions. You can even get vegan pizza by the slice with your choice of toppings here!! (And unless you are really and truly starving or travel with a small posse trailing in your wake, this is what I would recommend. Wait until you see how big the slices are!)



The pizza was great! In fact it was so great that I am taking my husband back this evening. Its no hardship to eat this pizza twice in a day and I think he will love the place! The restaurant is casual and the walls are covered with posters and accolades. In addition to pizza, they serve salads, subs and pasta; so it is a good place to take a mixed group of people as their is likely to be something for everyone.

Liquid earth......take two

Ok, so true to my word I gave Fell's Point's Liquid Earth a second chance. This time I dragged my DH along for a second opinion. I don't want to waste too much time on a second review because unfortunately my opinion wasn't changed much. So like they used to say on dragnet here are "Just the fact's ma'am":

• 12:50- We sat down at a clean table
• 12:54- A server brought over menus. This was an improvement over my last visit at least.
• 1:00- A waitress comes to take our order. It is the same waitress I last time. We order:

Me: Vegan Filly Cheeze Fake, water
Hubby: the picnic a vegetarian brie and fruit sandwich, espresso

We also both cough up $3 for side salads and decide to share some chips and salsa.

• a few minutes later (I didn't write this time down, sorry): Our drinks and chips come. My husband nearly chokes on his espresso, which is served in a little metal pitcher. He claims it is incredibly bitter and asks for some milk (which he normally would never use).
• 1:23- Our food arrives and all of the servers promptly disappear. DH was not terribly pleased or impressed with his food. Mine was actually very good, if not a little greasy. However, it doesn't seem fair to complain about a Filly Cheeze Fake being greasy, vegan or not. The sandwich is huge and I couldn't finish it. Neither of us are too happy about the tiny salads we got for the $3 extra, though. They amounted to 3 slivers of apple, onion, 1 slice of cucumber and a few leaves of lettuce blend.
• 1:39- We came in starving so we have actually finished our food by now. My husband (who is much less patient than I am) gets up and starts wandering around looking for someone to pay.
• 1:43- DH pays (and picks up two vegan cookies to go, for the sake of the blog of course) and we leave. Total bill is around $40.

The Vegan Filly Cheeze Fake, which is delicious and a little greasy

Ok, so those are the facts. I tried to limit my commentary. If you don't want commentary, stop reading now though, because here it comes!

My food was actually good today. The service was bad again. There were not a lot of customers in the restaurant. There were five tables of 3 or less in the entire restaurant plus one single person sitting at the counter. We could clearly see the employees chit chatting with each other from our table. For a $40 lunch, I expect better service. Especially when nothing we ate was more difficult than a sandwich. As we left we agreed that we would never go there again. For my money, I would always recommend Red Emma's, which has a similar menu with a similarly casual vibe. Their prices are way cheaper and they always seem to want my business. Plus their coffee is awesome.

By the way about those cookies... I never got one. I left the bag on the counter next to my husband and something happened to them! I can't imagine what, but I imagine they must have tasted just fine!

Red Emmas.... Anarchist bookstore? Internet Cafe? Vegan Restaurant?

It depends on who you ask....

One thing is true though, whenever I feel like a small treat: coffee, a bagel with hummus or a vegan doughnut, I head to Red Emma's which is a "worker-owned and collectively managed bookstore and coffeehouse". I lifted this description directly from their website, because if you ask the average Joesephine on the street, these are the range of possible descriptions you might get:

"Oh... you mean the communist book store?"

"that place is run by a bunch of hippies"

"That's a vegetarian internet cafe"

"I think its some sort of anarchist coffee shop... they have meetings and stuff"

Regardless of what people call it, Red Emma's is a pretty cool place. The menu is vegetarian with many vegan offerings. They offer tons of good coffees and teas. My personal favorites include their wide selection of vegan baked goods from Brunie Bakery,especially the cupcakes, doughnuts and now the vegan cinnamon rolls!!

I also imbibe a ton of their iced coffee and enjoy their bagel sandwiches. If I am going to eat hummus in a restaurant this is one of my top two places to go! The food is never fancy but it is tasty and their prices are fair.

They have a small selection of books, magazines, "zines" and CDs as well free internet. The overall vibe is cozy and laid-back.

Plus they even have their own wikipedia entry!

A review of Paul Chen's in Baltimore

Anytime we want Chinese takeout here at home we order it from Paul Chen Hong Kong Restaurant. They have one of the most extensive vegetarian menu's for Chinese takeout that I have even seen. In fact... their menu is so extensive that it has ruined me for other restaurants.

When I am forced to eat at other Chinese restaurant's I am stunned that they do not offer as many choices! The have vegan springrolls and dumplings, four vegan soups and mock meats galore. If yu check out the online or in-house menu they have also labeled the vegetarian options throughout the regular menu (be sure to remember to get your fried rice without egg). They even offer brown sticky rice!!

Of the vegetarian delight entrees, the only thing I am pretty sure is not vegan is the pancakes in the Monk's Mu shu chicken. So I order the dish without pancakes. Nearly everything is perfect and low on the grease and delivery is almost always prompt. My husband and I love this place and I encourage you to give them a try. My personal favorites are: Monk's beef with Broccoli, Monk's Mu-shu chicken (no pancakes), Monk's Kung-Pao Chicken, broccoli in hot garlic sauce and the Sno Peas and Bok Choy with Mushroom. I also almost always get spring rolls.

Delicious!

A vegan goes on a road trip....

Earlier this week, I found out that I was going to have to make an unplanned trip to Virginia to visit my folks. While it is always a pleasure to travel, travelling as a vegan comes with its own set of obstacles. For example, I don't believe Amtrak has any vegan offereings in their cafe car and I now know that the coffee shop in the Baltimore station doesn't offer soy milk.... regardless of the pleas of this vegan prior to her 6:10 AM departure... (why won't Dunkin Donuts get with it???)

Anyway, I shouldn't whine too much. I had planned ahead and packed my own food and a small mug of coffee. Its just that at 6- anything in the morning a person needs more than one mug! Luckily I arrived safely and without injuring myself or anyone else despite my coffee shortage.

Now...imagine my pleasure when I learned that my parents had scoped out a nearby vegan friendly restaraunt from the awesome website HappyCow.net!! Score! Are my folks the best or what? Plus the restaurant was totally awesome.






The restaurant Nawab (pronounced Nah-Vahb), was a delightful Indian restaurant with a vegetarian menu with clearly marked vegan items. When I indicated I was a vegan, the hostess/ server quickly pointed out that they could also veganize most of the vegetarian options as well and told me not to hesitate to ask. When I ordered she even reccomended a vegan bread option (the roti). Everything about this restaurant was accomodating and perfect. My mother (who doesn't really eat "ethnic" food) asked a million questions and each one was patiently answered. My father and brother both seemed to love their meals as well. I had the Vegetable Jhalfrazie and plain roti. The dishwas good and had tons of flavor. I am a real fanatic about rice and was especially pleased to have some delicious aged basmati with my dish. This may seem silly to write about rice but still after a long train ride... it was great to have something comforting and familiar like this. The other vegan possibilities included Chana Masala, a vegetable curry and Eggplant Bartha.


The restaurant itself was clean and subdued with tables that were well spaced out and comfortable. My mother especially like the lighting on the walls and the tiles. All in all it was a great meal and I suspect that my parents will actually continue to eat here without me.

That was the high point in the day, foodwise. Dinner was at a place called Szechuan Inn. If you are a Vegan or Vegetarian..

DO NOT EAT HERE!!!!

The trouble started when we walked in the door:

Me: I am a vegan, do you have any vegetarian food on your buffet?

Hostess: No, but you can order from the menu. We have a vegetarian section.

Me: I am a very strict vegetarian. Are there any chicken stocks or fish stocks in the sauces?

Hostess: (with a slightly odd look) No, but if you tell your server she can make sure everything is all vegetables.

So the "Vegetarian Section" turns out to be an 8 item section marked simply "vegetable". It includes Ma Poo Tau Fu which is "cooked with a small amount of fresh pork". Hmm... this should have been a clue. But I see they offer Buddha's Delight which has always been 1) vegetarian 2) a combination of tofu and vegetables

You know what they say about assumptions.....

My parents order the buffet and I order steamed vegetable dumplings and Buddha's Delight. The waitress seems very perturbed that I am not eating from the buffet, so I explain that I am a vegan and what that entails. She nods, confirms my order and leaves the table. After about 3 minutes she returns to inform me that all sauces are made with chicken stock. So now my order is changed to the dumplings, rice , steamed veggies and (I assume) tofu. She still seems quite annoyed but I am still unsure why. In an attempt to make the best of this, I mentally tell myself how HEALTHY this low-sodium, low-fat meal is going to be.

Ten additional minutes later she returns to tell me that although the vegetable dumplings are on the menu, they do not actually serve them. Now I am having rice, steamed veggies and (hopefully) some tofu. The server still seems annoyed. Well, I didn't really need the dumplings anyway so thats fine by me...

The food finally arrives. I am served... white rice and steamed veggies... no tofu. Ever hopeful, I ask for some Sriracha hot sauce and I am informed that there isn't any. Instead I am told they have hot oil. The still annoyed server brings me some other (very hot) hot sauce. It turns out that this hot sauce was the highlight of my dinner.

Finally I dig in. The food is plentiful. Thanks to my lack of sauces it is healthy. Oddly it is tofu free.... Remember my thing about rice? Well I guess I am spoiled because in most Chinese restaurants I am served jasmine sticky rice, brown rice or some other high quality rice. This appeared to be Uncle Bens. Now if you are not a rice person, this wouldn't matter but.... for me it was just one more thing.

The final blow though was that as we were leaving I see a huge industrial size bottle of Sriracha hot sauce sitting on the bar!

Lunch at Liquid Earth

Today I had a hair appointment in Canton. Because I am a little bit crazy I decided to walk (its about 3 miles one way and about 98 % today). It was a good walk and it afforded me a chance to take my fabulous new hair out to lunch at Liquid Earth in the neighboring Fells Point. If I had been in a car, I probably would have been to frustrated to bother after about one sweep for parking. (Just to clarify for non-Baltimorons: parking is always at a premium throughout the downtown areas, traffic is terrible and thanks to our mayor the roads are always under construction. As a result it is often better to walk.)

Now onto lunch...
Liquid Earth is a hip place with a laid back vibe. The all-vegetarian menu boasts a decent vegan section and my waitress assured me that they could veganize almost any of the other offerings. There was a huge juice and smoothie selection with the fresh herbs and wheat grass growing right on the counter for everyone to see. They also had quite a selection of vegan desserts.

After perusing the menu I opted for a scoop of the tofu salad over a green salad and sat back to wait.... and wait. About 30 minutes later my salad came. The salad had no cooked components, so I was little confused about what took so long. I suspect that it had been forgotten somewhere because the little cup of dressing had separated into individual layers of oil and vinegar. The restaurant wasn't terribly busy... but I wasn't in a large hurry either so who's to complain.

The green part of the salad was wonderful with a really nice selection of vegetables to complement the lettuces. The scoop of tofu "mixed with Nayonaisse and spices" really tasted like tofu with lots of Nasoya mayonnaise. I saw spices in there, but I never did taste them. I want to point out though that I tend (as you may have noticed) to eat my food much more heavily spiced than most.... The texture of the tofu was excellent though. Somehow through freezing, baking or pressing they had managed to create the meatiest texture I had ever had in a tofu based dish.

When I finished I thought I might have one of those exciting juices or desserts. I love vegan cupcakes too... Except after my plate was cleared and you guessed it... I waited and waited...

Finally I just asked for my check and left. It was a little disappointing to be honest. I really wanted to like this place, not just like, LOVE this place. However the service was weak at best and since everyone around me was getting the same service, I imagine it wasn't my server, but the general atmosphere. I might try this place again, but I would be sure to eat a small snack first and perhaps bring a book to fill my time.

We've returned!!!

We made it! Everything we own is wet and my husband says he is never, ever camping again..... but he survived and I had a blast. We camped on the island of Chincoteague, Virginia and while there I learned a few things about mosquitoes.
1) They can grow to be the size of small house flies
2) they can be black and white striped
3) Apparently they think vegans are the gourmet versions of humans


For every one bite the omni's got, I received between 7-10 bites. My husband says I look like I am recovering from "the pox".

From the food end, the potato salad and slaw were very well received. There were also alot of farm stands selling sweet corn, watermelon and peaches. I also got to make my vegan version of buckwheat pancakes from the hillbilly housewife blog. They are such a time saver and the recipe was simple to veganize. Overall, cooking at the campsite was a breeze.

What was a very pleasant surprise were the vegan offerings at a few local restaurants! Most of the restaurants on the island were of two varieties: fish-houses (my husband was told by several that the only vegan thing they could offer me was the "house salad") and ice cream parlors. So it was with great joy that we discovered:

Sea Star Cafe- The sign out front says "gourmet carryout". However, after seeing the big pink arrow underneath that said "vegetarian food" and the outdoor tables I nearly dragged my husband down the block and across the gravel parking lot. This restaurant had a substantial vegetarian section with all of the vegan choices clearly marked. They also had vegan desserts and unsweetened iced tea. How could we NOT have lunch here?

Now... I have eaten at many restaurants where the others at the table sit looking at my sad wilted veggies and say with sympathy "I could never be a vegan". This is not that kind of place! My husband had some sort of chicken sandwich and chip combo. I had a pile of fresh chopped raw veggies (not just lettuce!!!), hummus, tabbouleh and whole wheat pita, a glass of UNSWEETENED iced tea and a vegan chocolate-espresso cupcake for dessert. I only mention my husband's dinner to illustrate my point. After about five bites, he said to me, can I try some hummus? Seconds later when I slipped him a few pieces of red bell pepper and snap peas, he got up, threw his lunch away and helped me finish mine (well except for my cupcake.... I kind of have a thing about sweets!) The food is that good.

Saigon Village- This Vietnamese restaurant is one of the first ones you will see when you get on the island. Do not pass it by. There are many vegetarian/vegan options on the menu. (I would suggest asking for advice from your server so that you can be sure to pick something without fish sauce. ) The day I went, a nice young woman sat with me and completely marked up a menu for me, so that I would be certain of what was vegan. I was stunned by all of the choices. They serve a great deal of tofu dishes that were already vegan and were willing to leave the eggs etc... out of anything upon request. The food was really tasty and flavorful too! Way better than a "house salad". (not that I have any problems with salads mind you...)



Mainstreet Shop and Coffeehouse- Finally
if you are a coffee-nut like we are, it is always great to find a coffee shop that not only has soy milk, but also has excellent coffee. The coffee and espresso was so good that we went here six times in three days!






Oh and on a different note, on the way home we stopped at an Amish farmer's market. It was too hot for produce (no AC in the car....) but I was able to get some pumpkin butter, blackstrap molasses and blueberry preserves. I just spent the last twenty minutes flipping through cookbooks trying to decide if I wanted to make cornbread, muffins, biscuits or scones to use as a vehicle for my Amish goodness.

Lunch in New London

One of the hardest things about visiting this part of Connecticut is finding restaurants to eat in that are vegan friendly, close to my in laws and still serve food that everyone will eat. Today I found a wonderful cafe in New London, CT called Mangetout Organic Cafe . Although it is not 100% veggie, this is the most vegan-friendly restaurant I have found near their house. Sadly by the time I found it I had already eaten lunch, but we still had room for coffee and cake!



The menu changes daily but if today's menu was any indication they regularly have 2-3 vegan choices.

Today's Menu:

Lunch Items
(11:00am to 4:00 pm)
Soup
($6.25)
(to go prices: bowl: $7.00; cup:$3.50)
Roasted Vegetable Soup (vegan, gluten free)

Entrees
($7.25)
Buffalo Chicken Quesadilla
New York Goodwich (vegan)
Quinoa & Mango Salad Wrap (vegan)

Desserts
($4.50 per serving)
Vanilla Bean-Coconut Cupcake with Vanilla-Bean Coconut Buttercream
Hummingbird Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ginger Shortcakes with Strawberry-Rhubarb Sauce & Sweet Greek Yogurt
Italian Ricotta Cake with Raspberry Sauce
Rhubarb Pie
Red Plum Tarte Tatin
Monkey Love Chocolate Tofu Pudding (vegan; gluten free)
Chocolate Cupcake with Peppermint Frosting (vegan)



Cookies
($2.00 each)
Alpha-Omega Oatmeal (wheat free) ; Chocolate Caramel Chews;
Chocolate Peanut Butter Crisp Bars (gluten-free, vegan); Kudos

My husband had one of the regular non-vegan cookies and loved it. I had the Vegan Choc Peanut Butter Crisp Bar and it was everything that is good and perfect. It was sweet, gooey, creamy and rich with little crunchy bits of goodness worked in between. I nearly fell over in pure chocolate induced ecstasy. The coffee was equally excellent and the server even made a new pot just for us. It was all I could do to keep from buying one of the Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with peppermint frosting on the spot! Since we were only having desserts, I can only tell you that the other food around me looked incredibly delicious as well.

The atmosphere was bright and sunny. The menu was written on chalk boards hanging around the restaurant. Each table had a white cloth and and there was brightly colored mismatched napkins on each table. I really look forward to eating here again soon.





After lunch we stopped by a small health food co-op called Fiddleheads. This growing co-op had a wide range of foods, including tons of organic veggies, dry goods and soy products. I even found vegan fluff!!