Dining with Delta, Candy Craziness, Donut Mania, & Testing for Terry Hope Romero!

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While dining in Europe was a dream, there are these little things called plane rides you have to take to get to your destination. In the 2 weeks I traveled, I was on 10 airplanes, which meant I was at the mercy of airplane food more than a few times. Of course, I pack my own snacks, as I know it's unlikely I'll be satisfied or even properly fed while in the air, but I thought you might like to see some of the food given to me. I flew Delta Airlines for all of the following meals & requested the "VGML" or Vegetarian, Non-Dairy meal.

Vegan airplane dinners seem to be pretty standard across the board; a grain of some sort, vegetables in some unidentifiable sauce, an iceberg lettuce salad, & a bread roll. Often you'll be given a "non-dairy margarine" on the side, which has never been vegan in the history of my flights. Delta did a fine job with dinner food, I appreciated the fruit salad one night, & the beans in my entree the next, but they failed when it came to breakfast. Special dietary meals are brought out before the others, so I was handed my breakfast of a pre-packaged croissant with non-vegan margarine, high fructose corn syrup jelly, an unripe banana & juice from concentrate before everyone else. I inquired about the non-dairy status of the croissant & the attendant said it should be vegan, to which I responded, "butter?" & the attendant revoked it's non-dairy status. The rest of the airplane was served the exact same meal & despite mine being labeled VGML, it was very obviously not. The next disappointment came in the form of a sandwich. I unwrapped the plastic wrapped torpedo only to find a thick layer of what could have been butter or "non-dairy margarine" with only tomato & limp lettuce. Vegan or not, no thank you!

So, why am I complaining about this when all airplane food tends to be bad? It's important that airlines know that when they mark something non-dairy, they are expected to provide something suitable for not only vegans, but people with allergies, people with religious affiliations, & others refraining from it. I make sure to write a letter to each & every airline that gives me something in a VGML meal that is not vegetarian non-dairy. I'm diligent enough to check the labels of food they give me, but how many people have trusted them & had milk solids in their salad dressing? What if someone was to get sick? I encourage everyone who runs across similar issues to contact the company, as it benefits everyone.

On a lighter note, Delta's in-flight snack is the best ever! They serve Biscoff cookies, aka Speculoos Caramelized Biscuits. I first found these biscuits in a market in Prague, then the mania swept the PPK & the Speculoos spread was discovered. I can confirm that the spread is crazy good, as a generous friend sent me some it's difficult not to sit & eat it with a spoon. I love these biscuits & I had no problem collecting the un-eaten ones from my fellow flight goers to savor throughout the journey!

I'm sure I've mentioned in my many posts about Europe that I love shopping for food! I went in vegan shops, bio markets, & everything in between in search of exciting treats & boy, was I successful! The photo you see is all the sweets I purchased over the two weeks & brought home. I gave some of it away, but for the most part, we've been eating it & most of it is gone! While Ryan's happily chowing down on gummy cola bottles, for me the highlights include Peppermint Ritter Sport (which are no longer vegan, watch out for butterfat!), Lemon Cream Manner bars, Gelee Bananen, Maple filled Stroopwafel & my absolute favorite, Sonnina Pfefferminz Taler! Seriously, if anyone can find the Sonnina brand, I NEED more of these York Peppermint Patty replicas & will make it worth your while!

Donut Mania is here! Have you noticed? Maybe you've caught the fever as well? It seems Donuts are the new Cupcakes & everywhere you turn a vegan donut company is popping up. I am certainly not one to complain about this trend, as I spent many days sitting on 50lb bags of flour in the back of a donut shop as a child. I've been lucky enough to try most of the options out there, but two remain my top contenders & I just happened to have both of them hand delivered to me in the past few weeks. As I stepped off the plane from Europe, Ryan was coming home from Las Vegas, home of Ronald's Donuts, aka the best vegan donuts on earth. Needless to say, he brought back a dozen of these perfectly raised, doughy gems & I was thrilled. It's hard to say which is my favorite, I do love a basic glazed, or a cinnamon bun, but the apple fritter is pretty stellar as well. These are certainly not health food, they're the corner shop Sunday morning donuts you remember from your childhood!

On the healthier side of donuts are my favorite cake donuts by Mighty O Donuts in Seattle. Once again, a business trip brought Ryan home with an assortment of donuts & there were no complaints here! Everything from French Toast to Nutty Chocolate to Cinnamon Sugar was at my fingertips, but my favorite is the good old Vanilla Cake Glazed, simple & delicious. Not only are these tasty morsels all vegan, they're organic too! If you're in Seattle, don't miss a stop in to their shop or if you have a friend visiting, do as I did & demand some donuts!

Despite all the sugary foods, I have been cooking as well. Shocker, right?! I'm a tester for a few cookbooks right now, which is always fun & keeps me from making the same 5 dishes over & over. Terry Hope Romero of Veganomicon & Vegan Cupcake Take Over the World fame is writing a Vegan Latina cookbook & it's already knocking my socks off! The most recent dish I made was the Chipotle Seitan & Potato Tacos. Terry's homemade seitan is marinated in a beer, lime, chipotle mixture, then grilled & piled in to soft corn tortillas with Roasted Potatoes, crunchy veggies, & topped with a Lime Yogurt Crema! I'm not a drinker, but the flavors of everything played so well together, I didn't even notice the beer. Ryan flipped for these! By the way, Terry & Isa have a new book coming out called Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, have you ordered it yet?

Next week, I'm headed out to Chicago to hang with my favorite Baker & Destroyer, plus partake in potluck & Dandies eating with the folks at Chicago Soy Dairy. Any recommendations on things I shouldn't miss are always welcome! I know new businesses have popped up since my last visit, so here's what I saw last time; Part 1 / Part 2. As always, if you're in the area & you want to meet up, just get in touch!

Crazy in Copenhagen & Mingling in Malmö!

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Well, I've made my way back to the United States & have had a few days to recover. While I wouldn't say the jet lag is entirely behind me, I can't let that deter me from bringing you the goods on vegan treats all over Europe! While it wasn't my first destination, I thought I would start with Copenhagen, Denmark & also cover my day trip to Malmö, Sweden.

Copenhagen is a gorgeous city full of bike riders & amazing architecture! We made the quick journey from Berlin to Copenhagen & were greeted at the train station by our hostess Ditte & Jojo, who had come from Brighton to hang out as well! Once we arrived at her flat, we were thrilled to find Ditte had made brunch for us! A spread of pancakes, fresh fruit, Alpro yogurt, jams, bread, & the infamous chocolate croissants from a local organic bakery were covering the table & we were downright thrilled! In fact, Ditte continued to be a fabulous hostess as she made us quite a few meals during our stay. How did we get so lucky?

Det Rene Brød an organic bakery with 3 locations in Copenhagen. While not everything is vegan, they have quite a few things that are, including plain or chocolate filled croissants, cinnamon rolls, traditional Danish pastries, & breads. The pastries are amazingly flaky & light, a texture not easily produced, & I found myself back in the bakery daily. The staff is helpful, although they may give you a crazy look when you come in for the 3rd time & take away another round of pastries. Just ask them what is vegan & you'll be all set. If you find yourself in Copenhagen, do not miss this place, or you'll be sorry!

Det Rene Brød is located at Elmegade 6, Rosenvængets Allé 17, & Ndr. Frihavnsgade 54.

Christiania is a neighborhood in Copenhagen built in the 1970's on a former military area. It's considered controversial as the residents built houses there without permission, are self governed, & drug use is not uncommon to see on the streets. Within this fun & quirky area, you'll find Morgenstedet, a vegetarian cafe with a daily rotating menu & many vegan options. Ryan & I opted to split the daily entree; mixed rice with a bean sauce & steamed vegetables, a bean salad, plus some carrot & leek soup with bread. Everything was hearty & filling with organic vegetables & although nothing was amazing here, it was a solid meal that really hit the spot. Known as one of the inexpensive spots in town, we were a bit surprised when this set us back $25, but quickly found out Copenhagen is a pricey city.

Morgenstedet is located at Fabriksområdet 134 in Christiania, 1440 Copenhagen.

The weather was mainly good to us, but if it began to drizzle, we would pop in to a cafe or coffeehouse from time to time. Folkets Hus, aka "house for the people" is a hub for art & culture & their Café Under Konstruktion is a great place to grab a beer, cup of coffee, or vegan hot chocolate & hang with friends until the weather clears up. While we didn't have any food here, I have heard they have vegan options for very reasonable prices. You'll also find free classes, movies, & other events in this great spot.

Folkets Hus is located at Stengade 50, 2200 Copenhagen.

About a 30 minute train ride away from Copenhagen is the Swedish city, Malmö. Not only is Malmö a beautiful, veg friendly place, it's also where we met up with the lovely Emmie of VegBitch & her fiancé Alex! While we had planned to go to Vegegården, it turned out it was closed for holiday. Additionally, a new all vegan cafe Astrid & Aporna– KÖK was opening the day AFTER we were there! No worries, though there were still many options to be found.

Kaptensbrons Kiosk is a large, unassuming box located in the middle of a square near the busy shopping area of Malmö. Hardly a place you would consider looking for vegan food, they actually have a full vegetarian menu, most of which is vegan! While Ryan went for the "Vegan Cheeseburger" with onion rings, I opted for a vegan version of a traditional Swedish dish called a'la Lindström. The dish consistent of two patties made of beets & beans & came with scoops of mashed potatoes topped with Lingonberry Jam, as well as a salad & pickles. It was almost like a Thanksgiving feast for lunch! For a quick meal in between sightseeing, this kiosk is a great option.

Kaptensbrons Kiosk is located at Lilla Nygatan, 211 38 Malmö.

After our tasty meal, we headed to Astrid and Aporna, a large vegetarian grocery store. I love to explore grocery stores, so this place was right up my alley & I found myself getting lost in the aisles for far too long. Every European veg product you could want from Cheezly to Alpro, gummy coke bottles to white chocolate bars is contained here. Each product has a guide on the label letting you know if it contains dairy, wheat, soy, or other allergens, so you need not brush up on Swedish to shop here! I snagged a bag full of goodies, including Tofuline Banana Chocolate ice cream to share with everyone & we headed out to our next destination.

Astrid and Aporna is located at Gustav Möllers gata 2, 211 51 Malmö.

A bit of rain started to fall on us, so we headed to a vegetarian cafe for warm drinks & ice cream eating. Kulturcenter Glassfabriken is a spot for local activists that holds meetings & demos, sells animal rights merchandise, & serves vegetarian / vegan food & drinks. While we stuck to our delicious ice cream & didn't partake in the food, the warm drinks hit the spot as we hid from the weather outside. The atmosphere was cozy & it was the perfect place to chat with our new found friends!

Kulturcenter Glassfabriken is located at Kristianstadsgatan 16, 21435 Malmö.

All in all, vegan dining in Copenhagen, Denmark & Malmö, Sweden is a breeze! I highly recommend visiting these beautiful cities for the architecture & culture, especially if you can score some croissants while taking it all in, yum! In addition to delicious food, you'll find fabulous people as well & I'm lucky to have spent time with some of them. Stay tuned for adventures in Berlin, Vienna, & Stockholm!

VegNews 20 under 30, Sweet Earth Chocolates, Delicious Danishes, & Food Not Bombs!

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As some of you may have already seen, VegNews magazine did a feature on 20 activists under 30 years old in the March / April issue. I was lucky enough to be one of the people featured in the article! They mainly talked about my culinary activism, which is one of the ways I advocate for animals. People love food & I love to show them it's easy & delicious to partake without the use of animals. Thank you to those who have sent me notes about the article! If you haven't seen it, you should be able to click on the picture for a larger version, but you can also support a vegan business & pick up a copy! Thanks again to VegNews for including me with an amazing group of people.

Another stop on my little weekend trip to Southern California was in anticipation of a guest. Knowing Evan, king of all things peanut butter, was headed to San Francisco, I decided to stop at Splash Cafe in San Luis Obispo, a spot Amey blogged about in the past. While Splash Cafe is not exactly known for it's vegan options, it does house a large selection of vegan chocolates by Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates. These delicious, fair trade morsels come in a range of options from Cranberry Ginger clusters to Peppermint & Roasted Coconut cups & everything in between. In my opinion, the showstopper of their line is the Turtles; dark chocolate clusters filled with caramel, rice crispies, & cashews! These little babies are so good, I may have to order some online to tide me over until my next trip South!

Having another baker in your house can be an interesting experience, especially when they're baking for you. Evan of BjorkedOff came over & took over my kitchen for a night & the result was insanely delicious danishes! I made some of the fillings, so I didn't feel entirely useless, but I must admit it was tough watching someone else do the dirty work! We opted for 4 different flavors; White Chocolate Macadamia, Lemon Curd, Apple Butter, & the elusive Speculoos spread, an amazing treat & a gift from a friend in the Netherlands. The danishes all turned out flaky & buttery, just how a pastry should be! We took some to a Food Not Bombs meeting & everyone was floored by how good they were. I'm pretty sure I'll be trying my hand at danish making in the future, especially if I can get my hands on Evan's recipe!

Lately, I have been working with my local chapter of Food Not Bombs to serve vegan food to the homeless & hungry. San Francisco Food Not Bombs is very active & currently serves 6 days a week! It's a great way to get people to eat a vegan meal, but it also utilizes food that would otherwise go to waste. We're lucky enough to have local shops that donate the goods they pull from their shelves, from day old bread to bruised produce. Every week is like an Iron Chef challenge! You may only have rice, beans, & a few mushrooms one week, then the next you have 5 boxes of food, including 30 loaves of artisan bread to work with! Last Friday, we had an abundance of goods to choose from, so Jordan, Jenn, Evan, & I set to work to create a meal. We made a Moroccan Couscous Salad with Pear Ginger Dressing, a hearty Bean Stew, & Banana, Apple, Walnut Bread Pudding and headed out to "Hippie Hill" to serve it all up. We also had bagels, bread, & fresh fruit for the taking. Seeing how much food could have gone to waste when there are hungry people is an eye opener. If you like to cook & want to do something good for the community that also promotes peaceful animal free dining, consider getting involved with your local Food Not Bombs!

Well, it's only 2 days until I jet off to Europe! I'll be making my triumphant return to Berlin, but not to worry, I already have my eye on new spots to dine & report on! Additionally, I have been sussing out Copenhagen, Vienna, & Stockholm, so be ready for a full report when I return. As usual, if you want to meet up or have any must see places, please get in touch!

Prague Veg Life, Berlin blunders, & Testing time!

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The final phase of our European holiday brought us to the Czech Republic to explore Prague, known by the locals as Praha. One would think vegan food would be nonexistent in a city that's specialty is "Roasted Pork Knees", but once again, many vegan options are available. In fact, we didn't get a chance to go to all of them!

The most common place people mention is Country Life, a restaurant & grocery store run by Seventh Day Adventists. With two locations, one eat-in & one take-out, it's likely you'll find yourself nearby one of them at some point. We opted for the eat-in location & were greeted with a large vegan buffet of salads, soup, pre-packaged sandwiches, hot dishes, & desserts. I opted for a little bit of everything on my plate, while Ryan tried a tofu burger & a salad. Nothing here is amazing, but it's certainly nice to have a large selection of items to choose from.

After our meals, we headed in to the grocery shop to check out the goods & buy some items to take back to our place. While I found quite a few interesting things, I was surprised to find not everything was vegan; lots of honey & milk powder to be found! Luckily, all of the food is in the restaurant is vegan, but it makes you wonder, doesn't it?!

On another day, we popped in to Country Life again for a quick snack. Ryan went crazy for the goulash, while I opted for soup &.. you guessed it, a dessert!

Fruit Tart- A nice, lightly sweetened, slightly flaky crust with a sweet jelly-like filling, topped with fruit. Despite the seeded grapes canned pineapple, unrecognizable berries, this was nice & refreshing! 4 stars

Country Life is located at Melantrichova 15, Praha 1 (dine-in) & Jungmannova 1, Praha 1 (take-out).

A far less known place for vegan food just happened to be right down the street from the apartment we rented. Veganka is easily missed when walking by & even once you enter the building, it's a bit confusing to figure out where to go! This tiny little teahouse serves a rotating all vegan menu, as well as a selection of baked goods & in addition to the extensive tea options. There's no English menu, so hopefully you'll have the same luck we did & have someone at a nearby table give you some guidance! We both ended up with soy schnitzel, as we couldn't quite figure out our other options. While it was a bit greasy for our tastes, the side of potato salad was downright delicious! I decided to try an assortment of their dessert options, not knowing what any of them were in advance; you only live once, right?!

Black Currant Pastry- A bland bread base with an interesting, but mushy & seemingly flavorless topping, the center was nice & sweet from what I thought were dates, but turned out to be black currants. 2 stars


Apple & Blueberry Muffin- Still a bit warm from the oven, this wheaty muffin filled with apple & blueberries bits was surprisingly unsweetened, except for the confectioners sugar on top. 2 ½ stars



"Banán steplou ćoko-polevou"- Who knew this meant banana slices with warm chocolate sauce?! Surely not I! After a bit of a laugh, we dug in & were pleasantly surprised that something so simple could be so delicious. 4 stars

Veganka is located at Hálkova 8, Praha 2.

Another place to dine with vegan options is Clear Head, also known as Lehka Hlava. Down a side street in Prague's "Old Town" is where you'll find this dimly lit oasis with faux starry sky ceilings. It's a nice place to have an evening out, as the atmosphere is bit fancier than the other veg offerings we experienced. Menus are available in English & everything is vegetarian with the vegan items clearly marked & not lacking in selection. We opted to share two entrees & very much enjoyed them both; a bulgar risotto with fresh vegetables & smoky tempeh strips & an Asian inspired stir fry with peanut sauce & fluffy rice. Another thing we shared was a dessert, the carrot cake is made vegan by removing the chocolate sauce & adding caramel flavored soy pudding.

Carrot cake- This was chewy & nutty, filled with coconut, ginger, raisins, & crunchy seeds, we wondered if it was a raw dessert, as we were expecting cake! The flavors in this were far too overpowering & we found it to be overly moist & have a strange texture. 1½ stars

Clear Head / Lehka Hlava is located at Boršov 2/280, Praha 1.

Still in Prague & having been away for so long, we were a bit sick of dining out, so we opted to stay in our rented apartment for a few meals. Mornings started with a fresh fruit salad of apples, oranges, pears, & pineapple were amazingly refreshing after weeks of restaurant food. We found rice cakes covered in carob at Country Life & inspired by VeggieGirl, we picked them up & ended up loving them! I also stowed a can of Heinz Beans from Germany, so we had beans over toast as we hid from the falling snow outside. Overall, Prague was gorgeous, but a bit tourist heavy for our tastes. It's worth exploring at some point in your travels, but is easily completed in just a few days, so is best as a place to pass through on a larger trip.

Based on my previous post, I noticed many people's shock at the veg friendliness of Berlin. While there's plenty of vegan foods to eat there, it's not all Vöner & Cupcakes! Check out these two vehicles I saw packed on the street & was less than impressed by. You can't get much clearer than "CARNIVORE", especially when it has a knife right through it & somehow I don't think this pig wants to be pimping herself out?! That being said, Berlin is an awesome city & I highly recommend going there if given the chance. Like I've mentioned, I've been dreaming of moving there or at least spending the summer riding bikes & having veg picnics in the park!

While that concludes our European vegan coverage, there's plenty more I'll be writing about in the coming weeks. My list of things to share with you has been growing daily, especially having been back for a month now. I've been tasting & testing a lot, including a Lemon Vinaigrette for a new book from Joanna Vaught of Yellow Rose Recipes. I drizzled the tangy vinaigrette over Asparagus laying on a bed of Celeriac Puree, yum yum! Also, Isa Chandra Moskowitz has been throwing down Indian inspired brunch fare such as Samosa Mashed Potato Pancakes & a Curried Cauliflower Frittata that converted my tofu-for-breakfast hating husband in to a lover, not a fighter! Until next time!

Southern Fried Tofu, Make Your Own Marshmallows, & Europe!

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

Sometimes you just crave fried food! Inspired by a poster on the PPK, I decided I needed some breaded & fried goodness. I had fresh tofu from Hodo Soy Beanery on hand, so I thought it would be the perfect recipient for this flavorful coating. I hate to admit it, but I was a fan of a certain fried fast food chain back in the day, mainly for the mashed potatoes, but regardless, this was far superior to anything I consumed from them!

Southern Fried Tofu
Ingredients:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup panko
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 ts. salt
1 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp dijon mustard (yellow is fine as well.)
3 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 to 2 blocks of firm or extra firm tofu, preferably pressed, sliced in to strips.
Oil for frying (Canola or vegetable are ideal.)

Instructions:
In a large bowl, mix the flour, panko, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, & pepper.

In another bowl, whisk the mustard in to the water. Add 2 Tbsp of the dry mixture & stir.

Add the baking powder to the dry mixture & incorporate.

Use one hand to dip the strips of tofu in to the mustard mixture, then transfer them in to the dry mixture, using your other hand to coat & press in the seasoning. Ideally, you'll have a "wet hand" & a "dry hand".

Fry the coated tofu on medium high heat, turning repeatedly, until nicely browned & crispy.

Move them to a paper towel or other absorbent surface until done frying.

Serve & enjoy!

My Notes:
I used fresh tofu, so it didn't have to be pressed. If you have access to fresh tofu, I think it was really lovely with this, as it's lighter than packaged tofu, making this not feel heavy. I hate having tons of extra coating left over, so this should get you through 2 blocks of tofu easily with less waste than many other recipes. You could also use this on mock chicken or seitan, of course!

I always enjoy receiving mail & you can imagine my excitement when an envelope landed in my mailbox declaring, "Make Your Own Fresh Vegan Marshmallows!". Alice from Angel Food was kind enough to send me a marshmallow making kit & I was more than willing to try it out!

While the process isn't difficult, I found myself a bit daunted by the use of a stand mixer & two pots on the stove. Luckily, it was a breeze & I found myself moving right along without issue. The kit comes with two packets of powder & you supply water, sugar, syrup, vanilla, & starch for the outsides. The kit makes a whopping 50 marshmallows, so be prepared to share with loved ones!

Vegan marshmallow making has been something that's escaped many, myself included, but with this kit, I was finally able to make my own fluffy little sugar pillows! They were softer & sweeter than Sweet & Sara & I found I liked them best after a bit of refrigerator time to firm them up. I took them to an impromptu vegan picnic in Dolores Park last Sunday & they were quickly devoured along with the Hazelnut Cake Truffles I made. One thing I found out the hard way though, is these aren't for toasting over a flame, I'm still nursing blisters & burns on 4 fingers after my attempt awry.

If you want to try your hand at making marshmallows or don't have access to other vegan marshmallows out there, consider trying these out! The kit comes from New Zealand & with shipping to the US is well under $10. Check out Angel Food for details.

On Monday, Ryan & I are headed to Europe for 16 days!
London, Berlin, & Prague will be our destinations & I cannot wait to go on eating adventures & report back. Suggestions on food to try & things to see are always welcome & if you're in one of these places & want to meet up, get in touch! Until next time! xo.