Houston Represented! Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale Recap

Houston's Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale this past weekend was a huge success!! Despite temperatures that could melt vegan buttercream in a matter of minutes, we drew in quite the crowd of hungry vegans and non-vegans looking to satisfy their sweet tooth for a good cause. Proceeds from this Society of PEACE sponsored event are going to Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary in Colorado (a place both near and dear to my heart). I think our electric blue "Vegan Bake Sale" sign really got the point across!

Check out our goody table! This was taken before even more cupcakes and brownies arrived. We had some seriously skilled bakers throw down for this bake sale. Embarassingly enough, I think I tried one of almost everything and there's no way I could choose a favorite (though John is still talking about the mexican wedding cookies and the pineapple upside cake).
Want a close-up? Of course I'm sure you're all wondering what I baked. Suprisingly enough I chose not to make cupcakes (shocker, I know), and instead made some healthy low-fat banana bread with pecans(Vcon), banana split brownies (VWAV), and coffee cake (VB).
In addition to all the tasty vegan morsels for sale, we also had a literature table chock full of information on why we should all go vegan, including pamphlets from Peaceful Prairie, how to bake without eggs/dairy, vegan recipe booklets, and upcoming vegan events in Houston.
At the end of the day, we sold almost everything (plus, for those of us lucky enough to stick around till the end, we got our pick of the leftovers!). And in the process we spread the vegan word and raised $650 for our friends at Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary!!
Thanks so much to our wonderful volunteers and talented bakers for making this happen, Mango's Cafe for hosting (more on them in an upcoming post), the coordination efforts of the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale folks, and everyone who came out to support us!

Houston Represents! Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale Tomorrow!

Hey Houstonians! Join Society of PEACE tomorrow as we represent the Bayou City in the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale! We will be at Mango's Vegetarian Cafe (where you can also grab some excellent vegan brunch) tomorrow, June 20th, from 2:00-6:00pm. Proceeds will benefit Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary and Society of PEACE. Here's just a sampling of some of the goodies we are going to have:

• Rice krispy and fruity pebble treats
• Chocolate chip, mexican wedding, and ginger snap cookies
• Cherry pineapple squares and pineapple upside down mini cakes
• Plenty of cupcakes to choose from, including red velvet, chocolate, and coconut lime
• Traditional and banana split brownies

Not in the Houston area? Check out the mega-list of other vegan bake sales happening all around the world in the next week. Hopefully there is one in your area, if not, throw one together yourself!

I will of course post a full report on the bake sale next week!

The Brunch Crawl

Every Sunday afternoon, my neighborhood is overtaken by drunken yuppy hipster brunchers literally crawling from one brunch hangout to another. Unfortunately, just about the only vegan item on the menu is a mimosa or a bloody mary (which I'm happy to partake in, but it leaves a girl needing some food!). So now join me on my own mini brunch crawl, courtesy of the fabulous new Vegan Brunch cookbook, as I take you from the savory all the way to the sweet.

First up are the Chesapeake tempeh cakes with a tangy remoulade sauce. Holy moly these things are tasty. For those of you that are tempeh-haters, give this recipe a try and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Really, you can't go wrong with capers and panko. If you don't have Vegan Brunch yet, you are in luck because this recipe is online.
After a few failed previous attempts at making vegan omelets, this recipe made it so easy! I filled my omelet with roasted plum tomatoes, grilled asparagus, melted teese, and fresh basil. I could have eaten ten of these things they were that good. On the side are baked hashbrowns, a nice variation to the typical fried version.
Oh, the bagels. Now I know making bagels sounds a bit daunting to some but you must try it (plus people will be impressed). I literally ate three bagels 20 minutes after they came out of the oven, I couldn't stop myself. The toppings were a bit finicky with them coming off in the boiling water, but it was all worth it. I made an assortment of cinnamon-sugar, poppy seed, and sesame seed bagels. They were perfect plain but my favorite way to eat them was toasted and slathered with some tofutti.
And now moving on to a few sweeter items.... these are the bakery style berry muffins. I used a mixture of frozen raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and a few frozen strawberries. These muffins had a delicate crumb... so delicate that a few of the berries exploded out (result of no muffin liner, but hey, that's bakery style!), but they were eaten regardless.
And the sweetest of all, really a dessert, the East Coast coffee cake. I followed Isa's suggested variation of adding both frozen raspberries and chocolate chips. This is a sure way to win over your friends and family when hosting vegan brunch.
So don't crawl, don't walk, run and get a copy of Vegan Brunch. You will have people lining up at your door for good food and good times on a Sunday afternoon! Oh, and don't forget the mimosas.