Dinner for the Chimps

On Friday night, I attended the Apron Activists' latest presentation: a 4 Course Benefit Dinner for the Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. I've dined at a couple of these previously and volunteered as well, and I was delighted to see them back in action with the support of the Portland vegan community.

It was an evening of great food, great friends, great conversation and fairly good wine (BYOB).

I sat at a communal table with the sweet representative from the Sanctuary, and she told us tales of the chimps, like how she intended to buy one of them cowboy boots for her birthday because she loves shoes so much!

Here's the spread, pretend everything isn't mellow yellow. The room was filled with smiles.

Mushroom Walnut Pate & Curried Carrot Spread

Baguette, Matzoh and Flatbreads

Must make this pate asap! Divine! I think it's the one from Vcon..

Root Vegetable & Caramelized Fig Salad

Mixed greens, endive, creamy garlic dressing, cilantro pesto drizzle

That's how it was supposed to look. I was in the No Cilantro, Please club.

The figs were so lovely!

Here's our super awesome and super adorable waitress, Karla, aka Veganshizzle.

Butternut Risotto

Sweet cashew creme, roasted brussel sprouts, toasted hazelnuts

Love brussels & hazelnuts!

Apple Pie with Peanut Butter Caramel with Coconut Bliss. Wonderful!

Thank you, Apron Activists!

PDX: Upcoming Wonderful Things!

Of course I'm going to this:

September 19, 2009

October 3rd, 2009 = Fakin' Fest! A potluck style celebration of vegan bacon and bacon flavored delights! Awards for Favorite Dish, Most Creative Fakin' Dish, and best Pop Culture Pig costume! There's talk of a tempeh bacon speed eating contest!

Donations will go to Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary, which I visited last year.

Maeve and I decided to put this together on a whim after hearing about Baconfest, ewww - Come join the vegan fun! Tempeh Bacon! Coconut Bacon! Seitan! Tofu! Eggplant!!!

The somewhat official site is here: Fakin' Fest 2009

The Facebook Event is here.

Tempeh Bacon is the best, Am I Right?

October 16, 2009 = The Next Apron Activist Dinner, hosted by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I've dined and volunteered at these in past, and they're always fantabulous. And for a cause! This time, it's for Monkeys.

Check out the menu and more information about the Chimp Sanctuary Northwest Dinner here.

The delicious tempeh dinner from a past benefit

Hello! - look at how much fun Katie Jayne & I had!

I'm sure something SUPER FUN was coming out of our mouths at this moment, or some extreme praise about the dinner...

Speaking of fancy dinners, later this month, I'll also be going to an exclusively vegan, multi-course, family style dinner at the newly vegan-friendly, esteemed Belly Timber in SE Portland. I'll report back, for sure! My first meal there was lovely.

Red Cabbage Gazpacho from Belly Timber

Whiffies pies, dinners, friends, riceballs

Do you see what is photographed below?  It is a mini, deep fried, apple pie.  I can't believe I've been eating quite healthy the past few weeks, and yet, those words are being typed, that those words were experienced!  The Whiffies deep fried pie cart opened up at SE 12th and SE Hawthorne (walking distance from my apartment!) last weekend by Potato Champion!, and Ms. Strawberryrock and myself just happened to walk by during their first evening.  It was a soft opening and poor us, only the vegan fruit pies were being offered.  My apple pie was hot, flaky and filled with small chunks of apples and delicious apple ooze.  That's right.

Vegan apple pie

We sat outside the cart and enjoyed the late night liveliness around us.  There was a DJ cart for pete's sake.  Of course, afterwards I felt a little...deep fried, and I knew this wasn't something that could be a frequent indulgence from the get go, but I liked it.  I would have died had there been a drizzle of icing, so it's probably best there wasn't.  I've been immersed in focused greens consumption to preparation for trying their new savory vegan chicken pot pies and, in the future, they're supposed to have vegan fried chicken seitan.  Come on.  

Whiffies on twitter.

SE 12th carts.  The fries at PC! are the best, 

and the Creperie *just* started offering a vegan crepe!

DJ...cart...

The new Whiffies cart

Since I'm already skipping the final NYC food porn post til next week, let's continue onto more food in PDX I've enjoyed & created.  Daylight! photos! gasp!

The jdfunks burrito

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I was in the mood for a burrito, and that is rare.  I'm really a crispy person.  Me + texture = great friends.  This tortilla held lightly seasoned short grain brown rice, baby spinach, smoky pinto spread, hot sauce, homemade almond cheeze (based on the recipe from Real Food Daily) and noochy breaded seitan. 

Seitan sausage, garlic, mushrooms & collards

This dinner features two types of homemade steamed sausages, both of the spicy variety.  One was based on Isa's Chorizo in Vegan Brunch and the other from Artful Vegan.

Hodge podge meal including the dish above, a leftover tamale from Paula of Semicircular Vegan, brown rice, smoky pinto dip, etc. etc. etc.  She brought them to a party I threw last weekend with a sub-theme of late 1990s WB shows I watched and it was a super fun time! I can't even begin to describe how productive cutting out Buffy and Felicity quotes made me feel.

Yesterday I stopped by the Eastbank Farmers Market for goodies including basil, Hot Lips black raspberry soda and one of Toddbott's rice triangles.  One my my favorite stands, no question.  

Follow Get Sconed! on twitter!

Sweet; Grilling

Sweet.  

Irish Whiskey Creme Kisses.  

Another Post Punk KitchenVegan Cookie Book tester.

The second Vegan Cookie book tester of the day - 

I made both of these to take to a fancy vegan dinner party last weekend.  

It was Indian themed and fabulous.

Espresso Fudge Brownies

Grilling.

I live in an apartment with no immediate place to grill outside, so I contently do all of my grilling in a  cast iron grill pan on the stove top.  I bought it almost 2 years ago for less than $15 at Ross and it's consistently fun to use.  I have a foreman grill stored somewhere but those lines and flavor do not compare. 

Sadly my handy and environmentally wise oil mister died so I've resorted to packaged olive oil spray again lately, but that's a poor excuse and I'm aiming to get a new one soon.  Briefly marinate some tofu or seitan, toss some veggies in oil/herbs/salt or dressing and bam, you have dinner to grill and eat alone, over pasta, grains or in a sandwich.  

On Sunday, I grilled the following for my lunch at work:

Grilled Golden Balsamic and Braggy Tofu, 

Asparagus with olive oil, coarse sea salt and pepper

Grilled Eggplant slices with olive oil and coarse sea salt.

Sandwiched withVegenaise, flavorless tomato that I picked out &  field greens on a french baguette.  Enough for two meals!

more...Sweet.

Nature's Path AgavePlus Granola.  

Their newest addition to the cereal game - with sunflower seeds and oats!  I received two boxes from the company and as Evan from Bjorked Off! knows, I rarely buy or eat cereal - but this stuff is great.  Not too sweet at all.  Personally I'll take agave over honey any day, ethics and flavor-wise.  I thought the sunflower seeds would annoy me, 

because they're just annoying, but they didn't~

cookies, portabella cheezesteak & snow

Cranberry White Chocolate Biscotti -

 a tester for Terry and Isa's upcoming Vegan Cookie Book - cookie testing is back!  I believe the book is due out in late 2009.

Karla and I volunteered this past weekend as waitresses at the most recent Apron Activists dinner at Sweetpea - Dinner for the Doggies.  We poured 400 glasses of water and brought plates to and fro tables - I had Vegan Addict at one of mine, how a-dor-a-ble!  We were lucky to take home a cookie doggie-bag each after the guests had departed with theirs.  We usually go on a date to these dinners, like we used to at the Red & Black benefits, but our wallets needed a break and we decided to help out as we could.

The cookies: including sparkled ginger, peanut butter, chewy chocolate chocolate walnut and another cranberry white chocolate biscotti.

Philly Portabella Cheezesteak - a test recipe for Urban Vegan's upcoming cookbook! 

Bear with me with for the poor photo, but last week I made another one of 

Isa's Swiss Chard Frittatas.  I had previously made it as a test recipe for Vegan Brunch last winter and posted it here.  I had chard, tofu and wanted to use my oven and there ya go.  I love how easy it is - keep an eye out for this book!

And Portland has snow! Real snow!  It's may not be snowball fight snow, but it has yet to be rained or slushed on, and for that I'm giddy.  Photo by Karla.

More test cookies on my next post!

I went to a fancy benefit dinner in the name of cats

That's how vegan I am.  And Portlandy.  And a fan of Isa's vegan food and Sweetpea.  

But mostly, cats.

The benefit dinner was to benefit the House of Dreams Cat Shelter, where my friend Sharin volunteers.  I had been having a horrible day and this night out for kitties with friends like the Shiz really helped turn things around.  

Every table was adorned with at least one ceramic kitty to take home - here's a group shot of the ones passed on at the end.  How sad at an event to benefit a No-Kill Cat Shelter, right?

White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup with Fresh Rosemary

Roasted Shallot and Golden Beet Salad with walnuts and apples

Between courses, I sent my camera all by its lonesome into the kitchen for

 behind the scenes action.

The busy staff.

The entree was an Autumn Plate: Acorn Squash with cornbread stuffing and chorizo sausage, Smoky Grilled Tempeh and Wild Mushroom Ragout over Garlicky Kale

I think about moaning whenever I eat tempeh that Isa has prepared.  I think I have.  It's the woman responsible for bringing homemade tempeh bacon into my life!

Dessert was a bowl of Warm Apples in a Caramelized Maple Sauce with vanilla soy cream, candied ginger and a homemade Gingerbread cat cookies.  

Knowing the chef= an extra cookie!

My table also sent Veganaddict an extra cookie from across the room.  

Check out her blog for more pretty photos!

The Master Chef, hanging out back.  

Check out the PPK blog for her thoughts on the event and some fun photos.  Thanks, Isa!

Squash Prep Station - including blogger Kimmykokonut.

Phew.