5 cookbooks in 5 days, 1: 500 Vegan Recipes

It's such an exciting time! Those of you who are cookbook addicts, and I dare say that's more than a few of you, might be aware that a ton of new vegan cookbooks have been published recently. This week, I've decided to give a few of these books some love- so I've decided to do a series called 5 cookbooks in 5 days, one each day until Friday.

The schedule will be as follows:
Mon (today!) - 500 Vegan Recipes by Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman
Tue - The Urban Vegan by Dynise Balcavage
Wed - Potluck Mania by Joanna Vaught
Thur - The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes by Kris Holechek
Fri- Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero

Just a quick note to let you know that I know all of these authors, I have tested recipes for most of these books, and as a result have received free copies of some of them. I won't lie to you, I'm going to highlight what's good about these books! However, I think you'll agree that there just isn't much bad to say about any of them.

On to today's book!

500 Vegan Recipes is brought to you by the lovely and prolific bloggers Celine (of Have Cake Will Travel) and Joni (of Just the Food). Just as its name implies, this is a big book, and has an encyclopedic selection of recipes for every meal, mood, and occasion. The book gives lots of background on ingredients and techniques, enough to give beginners the knowledge to begin and more advanced cooks confidence to experiment. The recipes, however, are anything but basic- both Celine and Joni are creative enough to write truly enticing and unusual recipes. A broccoli salad with candied nuts? It's good! A muffin made from a cookie? It's possible!

Here are some of my favorite recipes:



Cannellini All'Italiana (hearty, stick-to-your-ribs, lip-smacking yet oh-so-simple to make)



Homemade bacon bits (much better than the overpriced chemical stuff at the store!)



Braised brussels sprouts and apples (so simple, but so good)



"That" broccoli salad (a perfect old-school blend of healthy and decadent, savory and sweet)



Agave bread (a wholesome bread with a light and delicate taste)



Mole bread (a wonderful complex bread with cocoa and spices)



Mexican hot mocha (a hot and comforting drink- with a kick)

5 cookbooks in 5 days, 1: 500 Vegan Recipes

my little veganmofo tradition

Happy October, everyone- VeganMoFo III is upon us! It's so thrilling to be part of such a large group of bloggers participating in this yearly event. For the last 2 years, I have had a tradition of kicking off MoFo with a post dedicated to my favorite hot and comforting beverage- well, mine and a few billion others' ... tea! (Click here to see the 2007 and 2008 posts.)

I love any kind of tea (actually, I don't love that many herbal teas, but give me black, green, white, red...) any time of day. But I have to admit, a hot cuppa kicks some seriously special ass on a cold, wet day.

Which is where I found myself late last October, in the town of Bath, England...

clouds and rain? check. umbrella? check. wellies? check. all that was missing was... you guessed it...
Daiku and I ducked into a coffee shop, where I was pleasantly surprised that they had soy milk. Yay for random vegan finds in random cafés in random cities! So without further ado...

my little veganmofo tradition

belfast!

Oh hi! Where was I...? Oh yes, well, before my computer crashed (major boo...) I had almost caught this blog up to all my travels from back in the Fall and Winter. Last I left you, I was finishing up my trip to Copenhagen. As I was flying to from there, my friend Meghan was flying from Washington DC. We met up in London to fly together to Belfast the next day.



Can you tell we were a little exhausted by the time we were getting in? But Northern Ireland immediately welcomed us- even though we were there practically in winter, look at this green greeting we got as our plane was landing!



greeeeeeen!



Once again, our stay was made possible because of the generosity of a fellow PPK-er, Loretta, a.k.a. fezza. She and her partner graciously welcomed us into their home, where we got to have a great time with them, play their wonderful cat and puppy, and eat lots of wonderful vegan food!



Here's Angus the awesome.



And Poppy the pup! They were beyond adorable.



Fezza took us around and we got to see some of Northern Ireland's greatest sites, such as the Giants Causeway, above. This place was amazing.



We got to tour the city of Belfast and see the reminders of the not-too-distant troubles that went on there. Here is something I've always wanted to see in person, the mural in tribute to Bobby Sands.



We got to go to the famous Crown Bar, the most beautiful bar I've seen.



There, I got to try my first hot toddy- and fall in love with Irish whiskey! Mmmmm. Perfect on a cold winter night.



There aren't that many vegan or even vegetarian restaurants in Ireland, and this underscores the awesomeness of staying with vegans. Local delicious food! Above, you see Meghan and me snacking on delicious home-made sandwiches on our flight back home. (Ha ha, other EasyJet passengers!)



Here's a delicious curry that Fezza's partner made for dinner. It was so delicious and warming on a wintry night. (I apologize for the blurry photo- I was in too much of a hurry to start eating!)



Perhaps my favorite Belfast meal: This Ulster Fry-up, the breakfast of champions, vegan style! Here you see beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, sausage and bacon, and best of all some grilled potato bread. Mmmmmm! This was my first "proper" British breakfast and it was so lovely.



Lastly, Belfast was an awesome city for shopping. It is where I scored the cat dress, above. Festooned with funny kitties, it is my favorite item of clothing now!



Meghan and I want to thank Fezza for her incredible hospitality, friendship and most of all, all the delicious vegan candies and biscuits that she fed us! Thank you also for letting us play with your adorable pets. 6 months later, I really miss Belfast, and hope I have a chance to go back one day.

For more Belfast photos, including more mural images, click here
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belfast!

a good cuppa

Day 1: Canterbury, England

You know what they say- the more things change, the more they stay the same. As I jump into VeganMoFo and begin blogging about my culinary adventures here in England, the first thing that popped into my head was to blog about the perfect cups of creamy tea I've been enjoying. Well guess what- my very first VeganMoFo post last year was about... creamy tea! Specifically, chai lattés. 

But I digress. Here in England, tea isn't tea unless it's creamy- most people add milk to their tea, although quite a few up the ante by using cream. As a vegan, I've learned to love and appreciate black tea, but being here in England has stirred up cravings for a creamy cuppa. And guess what- the soy milk here is SO GOOD. It creates the perfect, smooth, luscious, creamy cup of tea- I was actually quite amazed. The soy milk I'm used to back in the states just isn't quite the same, taste-wise or texture-wise. 

Now I'm at the point where I'm having at least 3 or 4 cups of steaming creamy black tea every day. In the top photo you see me with my morning cup. In the middle photo, you see a carton of Marks & Spencer soymilk (and my foot). This was during the sky dive, and I was excited to see that my friend Lucy, herself a vegetarian, had carried this with her all the way from London just so she (and I!) could enjoy a proper cup of tea. On the bottom photo, you see another tasty brand of soy milk - So Good- and the cup of tea that it has been poured into. I don't bother adding any sweetener to my tea, since the soy milks are already sweetened. They have a flavor that's hard to describe- burnt sugar, perhaps, or toffee- but a flavor that I'll miss once I'm back in the U.S.

At first I was concerned that these milks are somehow less wholesome than their American counterparts, but after comparing the nutrition information, and seeing that the calories, vitamins and minerals are all the same, and that my soy milk actually has more protein than Silk, my mind is at ease.

a good cuppa

2nd bloggiversary!

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Yes, folks, Where's the Revolution is 2 years old today! Little did I know two years ago that blogging and the vegan online community would become such a huge part of my life. I look forward to more years of sharing my life, my thoughts, and my food with you all. However, tonight's post has to be short and sweet. You see, Daiku and I are preparing to go camping tomorrow with 14 fellow veg-heads! So tonight, to celebrate the blog birthday, I bring you a simple and nostalgic summer treat:

Take some premium vegan vanilla ice cream...

...and some natural and authentically brewed root beer. Mix them together and what do you have?

A rich concoction known as... a root beer float. So simple, and yet so satisfying. These photos are from a party at our friends' house, and it was my first time trying the new coconut-based flavors of Purely Decadent ice cream. The ice cream was fabulous- coconut, vanilla, and even a hint of butterscotch perfectly offset the zing of the root beer. I raise a glass to all of you!

P.S. Thank you all SO much for your support and donations for my sky dive! Because of your generosity, I have raised over $700 of the $975 goal. I feel confident that I can raise the full amount which means *gulp* I get to jump out of a plane after all...
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2nd bloggiversary!

tropical drinks, tropical creatures

As promised, this post brings you some of my favorite drinks from St. John and the Virgin Islands, as well as a few bonus pics of all the cute creatures running around the islands! One of my favorite parts of the vacation was getting to come into such close contact with animals that I don't otherwise get to see every day.

Ok, on to the drinks. If you want to party, Virgin Islands stuff, first start out with a nice bottle of dark rum, preferably Cruzan, which is made there (on St. Croix). You can probably google any of these recipes, but it is funner to improvise to make drinks that fit your taste.

First you have the painkiller. It is a delicious drink comprised of pineapple juice, orange juice, coconut cream, and rum.

However, it is not complete without a generous sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg on top. You can see Daiku grating nutmeg into a couple of painkillers in the photo above.

Next, you've got the lime 'n coconut, a more acerbic twist on the beloved piña colada- coconut milk, rum, and the juice and zest of a lime. It is refreshing without being too sweet.

Next up, a passion fruit mojito- again, a twist on the classic. To your mojito (rum, sugar syrup, lime, and mint) add some fresh passion fruit pulp. Blend and serve chilled.

Another twist on the piña colada, perhaps my favorite: the kiwi colada. I watched the bartender add an entire kiwi to a the mix and voila- something that tastes more like a milkshake or smoothie than a cocktail- awesome!

Of course, it wasn't all alcoholic beverages. Here you see my guava drink from the Fire Foods Ital food stand.

It wasn't just important for me to stay hydrated, but also to alleviate my motion sickness. St. John's roads are very bumpy (bad for motion sickness), and best navigated in sports-utility vehicles (even worse). Add to that boat and ferry rides, and you've got yourself one dizzy Bazu. Well, I managed to keep things calm by sucking on ginger candies, having a stash of saltine crackers on hand at all times, and most of all, drinking a LOT of ginger beer. Ginger beer is like a much more intense ginger ale- the combination of ginger and carbonation really help to settle my stomach, and I would recommend it to anyone with motion sickness. Ginger beer is also an essential component of that other famous drink, the dark and stormy.

And now, creatures!

We made the mistake of giving this guy some crackers. Well, he came back to our room every morning yelling and squawking and demanding to be fed.

Which wasn't so bad because there were chickens and roosters running all around the island. And you know what that means, right? Every morning, the roosters crowed us awake at the crack of dawn. It was annoying for some people, but I loved it! By the way, lest anyone try and tell you that chicken are stupid or uncaring animals. I was walking along a back road in St. Thomas and came upon a rooster and a young chick. I gave them crackers. After cautiously grabbing a cracker from me, the rooster ran back and gave it to the chick! I was really touched by that.

There are also a lot of cats running around on the island- this one jumped into Daiku's lap during dinner at a restaurant.

You would think the combination of chickens and roosters would be disastrous, right? Well think again. Here you see a chicken and her chick (on the right) scaring away a cat (left). The cat ran under the shack rather than face the mama chicken!

Speaking of mamas, here was a goat with her two kids, crossing the road leisurely. We saw goats everywhere.

Even behind a restaurant. I had to get up and join the kids who were feeding the goats- they were too cute.

After they were done, they settled on chairs to go to sleep for the night- too much goat cuteness for me!

Then there were the lizards:

small,

and big. These beautiful iguanas were everywhere, and I couldn't stop staring at them.

I hope you enjoyed these photos! If you're somewhere warm, why not make yourself a nice rum cocktail today?

tropical drinks, tropical creatures