Spork Online
Today I come bearing awesome news for vegans across the country. The lovely ladies of Spork Foods have brought their amazing cooking classes to the web with Spork Online.
I’ve written before about how awesome and insightful their cooking classes are, but I can’t stress enough how talented these two are. Their recipes are innovative and delicious, showcasing how great vegan cooking can be.
So here is the rundown, with a membership to Spork Online you get access to their themed four course cooking classes as well as a bunch of other goodies. You’ll get to see them cook with special guest appearances, travel out of the classroom to see how some vegan products are made and have access to Food 911 where they’ll answer your food emergency questions.
Basically, if you’re not in Los Angeles and aren’t able to go to one of their classes in person, you now have the opportunity to take probably the best vegan cooking class around. The Spork sisters really know their stuff. Even if you are in LA and haven’t been able to check them out, here is your chance.
Just look at how lovely this tiramisu is. Let me tell you, I know from experience, making tiramisu is not easy. Especially beautiful vegan tiramisu.
If you’re a long time vegan or just want to learn some more about vegan cooking Spork Online is definitely the place to go. Not only do the Sporkies create fantastic recipes and make them easy for anyone to follow, but they also have a wealth of information about nutrition and food history.
So here they are, Jenny and Heather. They’re really that smiley and fun in real life. Trust me when I say, if you take one of their classes, you’ll feel as good as they look in this photo. Not even kidding.
Need to convince your family that vegan food is super tasty and doesn’t taste like cardboard? Take one of these classes and surprise them with your newly acquired cooking skills. I think this would also be a an awesome holiday gift, but that comes from a girl who loves to cook.
Now go to Spork Online already and sign up!
LA Vegan Beer Fest
This past Saturday was the first LA Vegan Beer Fest. We went with our dear friends Jannatha & Kyle. They’re beer fest pros.
Check out their beer mug beads! They also have some pretzel necklaces (which didn’t make it to this fest) for snacking while you drink.
Alicia and Baxter came along too. They were there to keep us in line. You might call them the law.
We got these handy little mugs for sampling the beers. At about 4 oz each, they were the perfect size to get to try all the beers while still getting to enjoy each one for a little bit.
My top picks of the day were the Duvel Green, the Solace from Firestone Walker and a special edition coffee beer from Speakeasy Brewery. I was totally in love with the coffee beer actually.
While I enjoy beer, I was even more excited about the food. With a ton of trucks, serving exclusively vegan snacks, I was ready to get my grub on.
We started with the lemongrass tofu bahn mi from Mandoline Grill. You can’t go wrong with a ban mi really, but Mandoline grills up their tofu just right. Super tasty.
We drank some more beer. We got hungry again. This event went on for a few hours, so you have to try everything possible.
Next up was the jackfruit tofu taquitos and the beer battered avocado taco from Seabirds Truck. Holy crap. I’m still in awe that there’s a completely vegan food truck, let alone one that is better than half the restaurants in Los Angeles. Beer Battered Avocado Taco. Do I have to say more? Every word is delicious!
We also got a few things from Doomie’s, which we learned is finally back in action and opening a new location in Hollywood. Stoked!
I tried their sushi, which was amazing. Who knew Doomie’s made sushi? Anyway, it was fantastic: faux tuna and faux shrimp with cream cheese, all topped with that awesome sauce.
Shawn hung out with his buddies at the Frankenstand. We had a lot of franken dogs. My favorite is the witch.
When you drink a lot of tiny cups of beer, sometimes your pictures get a little silly.
When you run out of beer and have to go home it is very sad. All good things must come to an end though.
Off we rode into the sunset with Kyle & Jannatha on their sweet tandem bike.
If you want to see more, Shawn has tons more photos over at Shawn’s flickr. Check ’em out.
Dia de los Muertos cookies
I wanted to make a few special cookies to celebrate Dia de los Muertos. I searched for a skull cookie cutter but to no avail. The closest I could come up with was a skull and cross bones. Not quite the same.
I went ahead and just drew the skulls on larger cookies with some royal icing. I’m still working on my technique, although I think these came out nicer than my Star Wars cookies. I would have liked to draw on some roses and other decorations but I don’t think I couldn’t have managed the detail. Thinking maybe next time I can paint food coloring on for more delicate lines.
Most importantly, they tasted awesome and were still pretty cute.
Cookie recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar
Icing recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking
Halloween Treat roundup
Halloween is just around the corner and I thought we all could use a little dessert inspiration.
I’m thinking of making a fancy Halloween cake this year, just have to find the time. I really like the idea of painting on a cake or using some stencils.
Here are a few of my favorites I’ve made over the years.
Cutest, easiest ghost sugar cookies. If you can frost a cookie you can make these.
Chocolate zombie cake. Gotta show the zombie love.
And zombies need some brains to eat.
Dandies Marshmallow ghost cake. I love anything that’s creepy and cute at the same time.
Or you can get really crazy with pumpkins, spiderwebs, bats and more.
Personally I always want to make chic-o-stick cupcakes around Halloween, but can’t ever find them.
What are your favorite Halloween treats?
Pumpkin curry
It’s pumpkin season. Hooray!
This is the year I had to actually roast one, not just get the puree from a can. I wanted to make something different than the usual pumpkin bread or the like.
I would like to introduce you to my version of pumpkin curry…also lovingly known as the orangest of orange curries.
So it started innocently with this little pumpkin. It was sliced in half, all it’s guts removed and then placed face down on a baking sheet.
Baked in a preheated oven for about 45 minutes until it was tender and left it to cool.
Then the fun part…peeling the skin off. Well, I thought it was fun.
Then this pumpkin got chopped up and ready to meet it’s other orange friends…
Two sweet potatoes. (Also appropriately chopped for the occasion.)
Even an orange cauliflower showed up for the party.
Where was I going with this?
Sorry I was hypnotized by the swirl of coconut milk and curry paste.
There’s all the orange veggies having a party in a pot. Making curry love. Ok, that’s creepy.
Some carrots were supposed to come to this party too but they may have been eaten on the way there.
Oh dear. I think it’s past my bedtime. I’m writing about vegetable parties.
Here comes the recipe!
Orangest of Orange Pumpkin Curry
1 roasted pumpkin innards
2 sweet potatoes chopped
1 head of orange cauliflower
2 Tbsp coconut oil
3 gloves of garlic, minced
2 cans of coconut milk
1/3 cup curry paste, or more if you like
1 cup vegetable broth
Heat oil in a stock pot over medium heat. Add garlic and curry paste and stir to combine for about a minute. Carefully add the coconut milk and then the vegetable broth and stir together. Add in the pumpkin. I decided to smoosh it in, but you could leave it as chunks if you preferred. Add in the remaining chopped vegetables.
Let simmer covered for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. When your veggies have softened, remove lid and simmer for 5 to 10 more minutes.
Serve over rice.
