Vegan Camping Guest Posting on Dog Island Farm

Today, one of my blog entries on vegan backcountry cooking/camping was featured on the Dog Island Farm blog.  I'm going to make up a few more entries to post to their site (and mine) so stay tuned and check out their really cool blog!

Vegan & Wheat Free Desserts!

Ricki at Diet, Dessert & Dogs has just announced the completion and impending release of her new cookbook Sweet Freedom. She's been tempting us for months with photos of delicious looking desserts and is also offering a give-away of several copies of her books - all you have to do is got to her blog entry and leave a comment. You can get additional entries by e-mailing the information to friends or posting it to your own blog. I'm determined to win a cookbook, so I've done both. :)

I AM A WINNAH!!!!! (and in New York)

DEAR VEGAN BLOGSPHERE: I take it all back. You ROCK!

I'm pretty excited to return to my e-mail for the news that I am a winner of a Lexan Juicer from the Legally Vegan blog giveaway. I can't wait to get this juicer - it's going to be so much fun to make fresh juice with leafy greens and wheatgrass. My cats are going to be so excited. I wonder if I could grow enough wheatgrass (ha!) and juice it to make kitty cat wine... stay tuned.

Right now, I am in New York, just for the weekend fresh on the heels of Thursday night's preview dinner for Eric Tucker's new wine bar, Encuentro, which he is opening near Jack London Square with partners Linda Braz & Lacey.

Thursday night's Encuentro preview dinner menu:

• socca with two toppings: pesto w/tempeh sausage & carmelized onions with smoked gouda, cauliflower bisque, little gems with avocaodo smoked almond & citrus mushroom ceviche;
• carrot & quinoa polenta topped garlic braised broccolini, kale, gigante white beans served with a syrah black chanterelle reduction and a sundried tomato gremolata;
• a cheese & chocolate plate from Vice chocolate

Ahh - New York City. Yes, I know it's crazy. It's only like a 5 hour flight and I promise to investigate carbon offsets. My friend who is showing me around lives in the Flatiron District over Madison Square Park.

I arrived in NYC on Friday night, we went straight to Counter Restaurant. We had an amazing dinner - all vegan - at 1AM IN THE FREAKING MORNING! I love this freaking town! Here's what we had:

• frites with catsup & harissa mayo (vegan)
• corn beignets with remoulade
• hand made papardelle pasta puttanesca
• house made seitan tournadoes with pureed potatoes & garlic seared arugula

Our server/bartender, Catherine (I think!) from Portland was a real gem - personable, dynamic and super on top of everything. We had a fantastic Paul Dolan biodynamic Chardonnay from Mendocino which was just my style of chardonnay (though not so much my friend's preference). We met some of the kitchen crew who were warm, personable and engaging. We had a thoroughly good time!

This morning, we headed to his favorite neighborhood starbucks where my friend read the paper and after finishing my latest National Geo in 30 minutes, went outside to talk to my mother and practice standing up on one leg on some pipes sticking out of the ground next to a fireplug and admiring the human traffic.

We went to brunch at Souen near Union Square - my friend had fruit pancakes and I had a delicious seitan shwarma in a bit of a soggy pita (I had to eat it with a fork & knife) and a yummy salad with the most amazing pickles.

From there, we had a long gorgeous walk through the Lower East Side and the Bowery, stopping for a 40 minute visit in ABC Home Furnishings on Broadway (love love LOVE that freaking place!) . We stopped at the Farmer's Market at Union Square Park and I saw the biggest freaking carrots I have ever seen in my life.

We set out for the Lower East Side and saw the tenement museum, crossed Delancey (ha!) and met two cranky cats at MooShoes - one of whom thought he was a guard dog and tried to threaten a pug wearing a shirt collar and tie through the plate glass window. I ended up with a cute small wallet by Queenbee Creations that will fit in the inside pocket of my borrowed motorcycle jacket which says "yes" on one side and "no" on the other and has snaps (looks like this wallet) as well as two new pairs of shoes: Lola heels from Novaca and Garmont high-top hiking boots.

We went back out the neighborhood to "Organic Avenue" which was a charming raw food restaurant & shop - but terribly pricey, even compared to Cafe Gratitude.

HELLA AWESOME WEATHER: I need to note: the weather was AMAZING today. It was like 70 degrees, and I was warm in my brown organic cords and short sleeve t-shirt which reads "I Hella ::heart:: Oakland."

Do I need to tell you guys that "hella" is apparently a very "West Coast" term? I had about 6 different people ask me what "hella" meant and "does that mean 'I love Oakland' - what language is 'hella'?" Seriously. "Hella" is West Coast. I thought my sister's girls were really cute for saying "heck-a" but... seriously. I did find one 70 year old guy who said he liked my shirt and knew what "hella" meant - "It's a cultural expression for 'very'" and laughed.

After a stroll about the Lower East side where we explored some natural grocery stores, chatted with a Seoul restaurant owner - interesting my friend in the possibility of a really Americanized banh mi (I promise, Eric - you will have real banh mi in Oakland!) - we ended up at his neighborhood where I got frites and he got a falafel and we had them with some killer beer at the "Burp Castle."

Time to go out to dinner now.... yum!

I am now going to head out to Pranna with my friend...

Crunchy Vegan's 100

I'm always up for a challenge and always happy to challenge others -- so here's a more eco-organic Vegan's 100 list -- this list eschews most highly processed and packaged foods (with some exceptions) and focuses on stuff you can find, grow or make yourself.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

1) Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.
5) Pass it on!

1. Fresh, home grown arugula (so radically different from Farmer's Market)
2. Pimientos de Padrón with homemade aoili
3. Wild Mushrooms (Fresh, local, non-cultivable like Golden Chanterelles, Candy Caps, etc.)
4. Golden Chanterelle Stroganoff with homemade pappardelle
5. Mangosteen
6. Avocado Tempura Uramaki
7. Fondue (chocolate, hot oil or broth)
8. Panzanella
9. Borscht
10. Homemade Baba ghanoush or hummus
11. PB&J sandwich
12. Pho (this can be found vegan!)
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Taco from a street cart
16. Homemade mushroom pate (Moosewood has a classic recipe)
17. Fresh black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Gyoza
20. Homemade ice cream, sorbet or granita
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Ceviche
24. Haggis
25. Knish
26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Muffalatta (olive) spread
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Spanakopita
33. Mango lassi
34. Raw fermented sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac (a really good one!)
37. Tamales dulces (strawberry, pineapple and chocolate are traditional in Mexico for the feast of the three kings in early January).
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Fast food french fries
41. Raw Brownies
42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans
43. Phaal
44. Raw coconut creme pie
45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Stroopwafle
47. Samosas
48. Vegetable Sushi
49. Glazed doughnut
50. Seaweed (hijiki or wakame make great salads)
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone mushrooms
54. Quinoa for breakfast with cinnamon, apples, almond milk and maple syrup
55. Belgian (style) beer, greater than 8.5%, locally brewed even better!
56. Gnocchi
57. Piña colada
58. Birch beer
59. Lemon bars
60. Homemade raw vegetable pickle
61. S’mores
62. Candied grapefruit peel
63. Hot pepper jelly with nut butter (plum habanero, apricot chipotle)
64. Curry
65. Durian
66. Homemade Sausages
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake
68. Homemade chutney (apricot, peach, lemon - the sky's the limit!)
69. Fried plantain (green or sweet)
70. Mochi
71. Gazpacho (so easy to make!)
72. Warm chocolate chip cookies
73. Absinthe
74. Moroccan tagine
75. Longan (like grapes with shells)
76. Pomegranate
77. Traditional Balsamico di Modena
78. Yukon Gold Mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Savory crepes
83. Saba and fresh local strawberries
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. (Michael Mina's does killer vegan!)
85. A meal at gourmet (or "high end") vegan restaurant, like Millennium
86. Sprouted grains or seeds
87. White chocolate
88. Flowers
89. Matzoh ball soup
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Corn chowder
92. Kimchi
93. Rose harissa (recipe)
94. Yellow watermelon
95. Mole poblano
96. Homemade fruit preserves
97. Apple pie, any variety (rum raisin? yum!)
98. Polenta
99. Raw lasagna
100. Homemade sweet tea with fresh or dried homegrown mint (tip - sweeten with simple syrup to keep the sugar dissolved)

Vegan 100

Hannah, from Bittersweet, recently posted a list of 100 things every vegan should try (adapted from The Omnivore's Hundred).

This list includes things that are vegan or easily veganized, but it includes a lot of packaged products and soy. I'm going to post a green-non-processed Vegan 100 (more true to the original sentiment of the original list) .

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:
1) Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.
5) Pass it on!

1. Natto
2. Green Smoothie
3. Tofu Scramble
4. Haggis
5. Mangosteen
6. Creme brulee
7. Fondue
8. Marmite/Vegemite
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Nachos
12. Authentic soba noodles
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Taco from a street cart
16. Boba Tea - I fuckin' hate tapioca. Bleargh!!
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Gyoza
20. Vanilla ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Ceviche
24. Rice and beans
25. Knish
26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Caviar
29. Baklava
30. Pate
31. Wasabi peas
32. Chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Mango lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Mulled cider
37. Scones with buttery spread and jam
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Fast food french fries
41. Raw Brownies
42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans
43. Dahl
44. Homemade Soymilk (allergic!)
45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Stroopwafle
47. Samosas
48. Vegetable Sushi
49. Glazed doughnut
50. Seaweed
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Tofurkey
54. Sheese
55. Cotton candy
56. Gnocchi
57. Piña colada
58. Birch beer
59. Scrapple
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Soy curls
63. Chickpea cutlets
64. Curry
65. Durian
66. Homemade Sausages
67. Churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake
68. Smoked tofu
69. Fried plantain
70. Mochi
71. Gazpacho
72. Warm chocolate chip cookies
73. Absinthe
74. Corn on the cob
75. Whipped cream, straight from the can - did it as a kid with regular canned stuff, but soy allergy and aversion to horrible processed foods prevents this one from ever being fulfilled.
76. Pomegranate
77. Fauxstess Cupcake
78. Mashed potatoes with gravy
79. Jerky
80. Croissants
81. French onion soup
82. Savory crepes
83. Tings - oy, again with the processed foods?
84. A meal at Candle 79
85. Moussaka
86. Sprouted grains or seeds
87. Macaroni and “cheese”
88. Flowers
89. Matzoh ball soup
90. White chocolate
91. Seitan
92. Kimchi
93. Butterscotch chips I had my share of butterscotch chips as a child -- unless there's a solid organic, vegan alternative, I'd take a pass on these!
94. Yellow watermelon
95. Chili with chocolate
96. Bagel and Tofutti
97. Potato milk - I'll stick with almond milk.
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Raw cookie dough


I got most of these... and now, stay tuned for my Organic-Eco-Friendly Vegan 100 list....


Edited to add: Maybelle's Mom's Vegetarian 100 List

1. Edamame (?)
2. Cha Soba (?)
3. Arame (?)
4. Earth Balance Buttercream (soy allergy)
5. "Homemade" sprouts
6. Green Bamboo Rice (?)
7. Absinthe
8. Eat at a raw restaurant
9. Fresh (real) wasabi
10. Deep fried pickle
11. Fiddleheads (?)
12. Garlic stuffed olives
13. Smen (?)
14. Goji Berries (?)
15. Shiso or Perilla (?)
16. Amaranth (?)
17. Pomegranate molasses (?)
18. Water convulvulus (Water Spinach) (?)
19. Pea eggplant, Thai eggplant, green eggplant, Japanese eggplant, Indian eggplant, Sicilian eggplant...
20. A Zen Buddhist Vegan Meal (?)
    
21. Kohya Dofu (?)
22. Wild Asparagus (?)
23. Elderberry (?)
24. Candlenuts (kemiri) (?)
25. Salsify (?)
26. Nutritional Yeast (?)
27. Pandan (?)
28. Roman cauliflower (?)
29. Anything with acorn flour (?)
30. Poi (?)
31. Chaya (tree spinach) (?)
32. Pitahaya (dragon fruit) (?)>
33. Asafoetida (?)
34. Fried plantains
35. Basil seeds (?)
    
36. Cardoon (?)
    
37. Durian (?)
    
38. Ground Cherry or cape gooseberry (?)
    
39. Fresh waterchestnut (?)
    
40. Cashewnut cheese
41. Nettles (?)
    
42. Fake duck from a can, tofurky, or any prepared vegetarian product to resemble meat
43. Kimchi (?)
    
44. Masala Dosa (?)
    
45. Lotus Seed (?)
    
46. Matcha (?)
    
47. Loubie Bzeit (?)
    
48. Quince (?)
    
49. Blue Potatoes (?)
    
50. Injera (?)
51. Nasturtium (?)
    
52. Turkish Delight or Lokum (?)
    
53. Spruce tips (?)
54. Breadfruit (?)
    
55. Mangosteen (?)
    
56. Swede or Rutabaga (?)
    
57. Garlic Scapes (?)
58. Lavash (?)
59. Candied Angelica (?)
60. Rambutan (?)
61. Sambal (?)
62. Bhutanes Red Rice (?)
63. Candy-cane or Chioggia beets (?)
64. Mango
65. Ras el Hanout (?)
66. Vegan marshmallow (?)
67. Umeboshi (?)
68. Red Currants (?)
69. Puy or French lentils (?)
70. Millet (?)
71. Fresh Bamboo shoot (?)
72. Jerusalem artichoke (?)
73. Wild strawberry (?)
74. Jambool (?)
75. Po cha or Yak butter Tea (?) (not vegan! I can't tolerate cow, doubt yak would work)
76. Adzuki beans (?)
77. Shirataki (?)
78. Manioc, yuca, cassava (?)
79. Quinoa (?)
80. Ramps (?)
81. Chufa (?)
82. Purslane (?)
83. Curry Leaves (Kadipatta) (?)
84. Sorrel (?)
85. Sumac (?)
86. Vegan cupcake
87. Montreal bagel (?)
88. Peri-peri (?)
89. Syllabub (?)
90. Chartreuse (?)
91. Kamut berries (?)
92. Kalamansi Lime (?)
93. Aloe (?)
94. Morels (?)
95. Raw “bread”
96. Dandelion wine
97. Rosti (?)
98. Loomi (?)
99. Stinky tofu (?)
100. Something grown by you -- Every day!
     

Domain Added

The domain for this site has now been updated to reflect the title -- http://www.livegreenwearblack.com and http://livegreenwearblack.com/ now point to this blog correctly. Please update your RSS readers accordingly...

True story - the "options" offered by my domain registrar included:

livegreenweardark.com
livegreenwearopaque.com
livegreenwearviolent.com

I kid you not!

Fair, Sunny and Breezy with a side of juicer

Happily, lovely weather prevailed on Saturday! I first went to pick up a like-new (used 5 times) Breville Juice Fountain Compact from a craigslister in the Lower Haight for $80 - and got to meet her stunningly beautiful cat, Simon -- a medium-long hair, long flowing curly whiskers and the palest, green-white eyes. *swoon* Such a gorgeous cat and nice people.

My sweetie took me to Dolores Park to meet up with the visiting Arduous, and other Bay Area green bloggers. FakePlasticFish and Car(bon) Free in California were the first to arrive, scoring parking right on 20th between Mission D. and Church. We opened some nice wine, cut up some bread, and had some of FakePlasticFish's hummus and then realized -- hey! where's everyone else! Arduous, Kale for Sale and Green Bean Dreams were all standing on the corner, scratching their heads. We flagged them down the hill and we had a lovely picnic, opening up plum habanero jelly, pistachio butter, white peach jelly and apricot jam and wolfing down Dagoba lavender chocolate and red wine. We had a great view of San Francisco, and despite a bit of wind, it was still warm enough to be comfortable and we had a fine visit. I promise - photos and more recipes coming soon!

I do love a good picnic -- I wish we could do this once a month for the Bay Area green bloggers. At the very least, FakePlasticFish have vowed to do a monthly kitty visit & picnic at each other's homes, though it could be more often since we only live 1 mile apart.

Extreme Eco Throwdown

Crunchy Chicken has proposed an extreme eco challenge -- I'm thinking about setting up some goals to participate in this one though it's already well into the first week. I think the idea is, for the most part, to give folks who have never lived in a rural area without water or electricity, the chance to see that it can be done. Other parts of the challenge are really eco-friendly changes. Here's what I'm planning to do:

1. No plastic - I avoid plastic as much as possible, but there are some exceptions -- buying from the bulk bins at the grocery store. Also, chips are always in plastic -- so, no chips for May. No tortillas, either, since those come in plastic. That doesn't seem right. I will continue to use things that are in plastic containers at home. Cat food and cat litter are in plastic bags -- can't get around that (World's Best and Feline Pine are both in plastic; bentonite clay is in cardboard).

2. No paper products - I'm not giving up toilet paper. Too late to cancel magazine subscriptions for May. Not giving up tampons (those are cotton, anyway, right?).

3. No driving - I don't drive very much these days. My goal is to leave my car parked in front of my house and I have been finding myself feeling very territorial about that space, and get upset when someone else parks in MY spot.

I keep a car book -- I record every the date, quantity and cost of every gas purchase along with trip odometer and odometer readings. I also throw in oil change dates, brake pad and other work. I've done this for almost all my cars. I've had this car since January 2004 -- this year, I have bought gas once each month, compared to twice a month last year and about once a week the previous two years. I'm probably doing 25% less driving than last year, and easily 50% less than 3-4 years ago. Last month I had a goal to not drive or use my car for three weeks. I ended up driving once or twice.

I might drive one day a week to collect big heavy things and transport things to the boyfriend's house (5 miles away) or going into San Francisco late at night when public transportation is not feasible. The rest of the time I carpool, bus, train, run and walk. I will get on my bike more this month though - I'm getting fat, so more bike is good.

4. Local food only - I currently focus on buying local produce -- at least local to California when it comes to things like avocados and other fruit. As a vegan, I try to buy things produced locally, but sweeteners, tofu, nuts -- those aren't always available within a 50 or 100 mile radius as local produce. Going locavore is enough of a challenge for vegans!

5. No garbage output - I already have a very minimal garbage output. It consists of cat poop in bio bags, and any non-recyclable plastic from cat food, litter or other acquisitions (like 20 glass and metal spice jars which all had plastic shaker inserts that I had to toss).

6. No excessive water usage - having grown up in Napa County during a very bad (like 10 years bad) drought, I'm already a very conscious water user. I will go back to filling a pot of hot water for washing dishes instead of washing them under running water (lazy!). I'm a pretty short showerer -- and I swim 3x/week so it's hard to give up showering at the pool or manage that kind of water. I could easily carry two 5-gallon buckets of water 1 mile. A mile is a very short distance. I've carried four bags of groceries weiging 40 pounds back to the office from Whole Foods before. It's the advantage of my size, I suppose.

7. No electricity - again, with the drought and the fuel shortage in the late 70s, I was strongly imprinted with "shut off the light." I lived in a house for many of my formative years that had no electricity -- we used a generator and we used battery powered and kerosene lamps. I am very conscious of electricity consumption. My job depends on my access to the internet, so I'm not going to give up electricity for the computer. I do shut it off during the day, and shut off the power strips when I am not home. When I am not heating my apartment, my electric bill is $25/month (I wish my landlord would install legal heat!). I'd say that's pretty good. I'll pull out my solar powered camp lantern and use it at night to light my reading and general movements at night, along with candles. I will continue to blow dry my hair at the pool and at home because if I don't, I end up with ear infections (it's mostly a way to get water out of my ears after swimming).

Blackout Sabbath

Here's a great idea -- "Blackout Sabbath" -- unplug for 12 hours, from noon to midnight, on the summer solstice, June 21st. I don't suppose they mean refrigerators, though.