How cool! I was chosen as one of this months “Featured Foodies” today by Foodbuzz! I just wanted to say thanks to whoever was responsible for that brilliant decision, and I also would like to welcome all my first time Foodbuzz visitors… hi there! Come on in, have a look around… leave happy & hungry, and hopefully come on back for more once you’re ready for another helping. While you’re here I would be ever so grateful if you would please help a gal out by clicking on the “Vote For Me” Foodbuzz button over on the right. Enjoy your stay!

This is just a quick reminder to let you know that the final date to submit your Couscous Cake recipe to Robin Robertson’s contest is fast approaching. Your entries must be received by May 10th… that’s this Saturday (and it’s also my birthday!).

You’ve still got a few days left to concoct your delicious creations, so hop to it! For more info visit the contest page over on Robin’s Vegan Planet website. Good Luck!

Running this blog can be so much fun. The best part isn’t the great and positive feedback I get from 99% of my visitors… no, the best parts are the random comments and emails I occasionally get from the other 1% who stumble in here somehow (mostly likely in between halftime commercials on the way to the fridge for another Bud-lite) and feel motivated to crap out their intolerant, dimwitted observations.

Take for example the following comment I just received from a rather devoted and passionate fan of Anthony Bourdain, identified only by his chosen moniker of “Carnivore“. Isn’t that clever?

Hey here is a thought… How about all you hippies come up with your own recipes? Bourdain is an incredible chef who disagrees with your ways totally. He has that right. Doesn’t he? If you don’t like him or his ways then don’t buy his books or even bother changing his recipes. The fact that you are investing so much time and effort in it whatsoever proves you must be obsessed with him on some level. Just jealous because you aren’t as cool or as famous as he is… or is it the fact that you lack the ability to cook like he does so you just change around his recipes instead of coming up with your own?
Jeez…Get a life
Losers.

Wow Carnivore sure told me, huh? Way to put us hippies in our place man. You’re right, I am so totally jealous of and obsessed with Anthony Bourdain because I’m not as cool or famous. You’ve totally figured me out… how did you know? The best part Carnivore is that you seem to think you’re on the Hezbollah Tofu website, considering that those are the folks veganizing Bourdain’s recipes and having a fine time ridiculing him, not me.

For what it’s worth Carnivore, as far as time invested is concerned, it’s taken me about 10 minutes to write this response, while it probably took you about 3 or 4 hours to string those few sentences together… so let’s not be pointing any sticky fingers.

It’s funny to me how Anthony Bourdain seems to inspire such a following of devoted dudes ready to annihilate any hippie in their path who dares to say anything negative about him. What’s with all the straight-boy man-crushes these guys have for Bourdain? Is it his lanky, stunted-into-skinniness by cigarettes and too many years of consuming diseased duck liver physique that gets them all hot and bothered? Or is it just the thought of his crispy-fried-pork-skin breath kissing away their fears of broccoli and dark leafy greens that really gets them going? Whatever it is, I find their misdirected ire rather amusing. I wish these guys would just accept themselves for who they are, come out of the closet (or in this case, the meat-locker), and perhaps seek out advice from a gay love columnist instead of an obsessed hippie vegan food blogger who can’t cook.

Anyhow, I’m going to go ahead and assume that Carnivore is reaching out and that his comments are really just a cry for help. It appears that he’s desperately in need of some healthy, vegan recipes to help cool down that hair-trigger temper born of unrequited Bourdain-love. It’s ok Carnivore, I know what it’s like to have a broken heart (though mine was caused by getting dumped while yours is probably due to clogged arteries). In treating Carnivore’s condition I’d say it’s best to go for something raw and cleansing considering there’s probably a whole mess of ground beef, ketchup and lard stopping up his colon, no doubt adding to his cranky mood. Probably something gluten- and sugar-free too… the last thing our friend here needs is another spike in his blood sugar. If you’d like to help Carnivore who is so clearly in need, you can send your recipes, vegan lifestyle tips and animal rights/factory farming information to him at this address (which probably doesn’t really exist): pilotboy25@mail.com
IP: 68.60.205.217

(Update:) Thanks to Foodtrance for letting us know that indeed the email address for the Cowardly Carnivore was bogus.

(Update 2:) Ok, I’ll take the high road. Apparently I gave at least one person out there the impression with my farcical rebuttal here that I am an intolerant, militant vegan, and a homophobe. The good news is that none of those are true, which is obvious to anyone who knows me or reads this blog. If you’ve read homophobia into my little rant about the straight-boys with boners for Anthony Bourdain than, well, you’re wrong.

That’s right comrades… you heard it here first at To Live and Eat in L.A…. forget about cupcakes… it’s the couscous cakes that are taking over the world!

Robin Robertson has just announced the “Creative Couscous Cake Contest” over at her blog. The grand prize winner will receive a free copy of her Proggy Award-winning vegan cookbook, Quick-Fix Vegetarian. See what I started? Now aren’t you glad I’ve been yammering on and on about these cakes?

The contest closes on May 10*. For more info on the contest and to find out how to enter, click here to read all about it. Good luck and viva la revolucion!

* = my birthday. I’m soliciting presents early.

Well, you know… I think I may have started something here with all my couscous cake talk. Couscous cake this, couscous cake that. It all started with my “Pumpkin Couscous Cake That No One Almost Ate” adventure. By the time I’d gotten done telling everyone who would listen about this yummy cake from Robin Robertson’s Vegan Planet cookbook, I’d received lots of great feedback and heard from a number of people stating that they were going to have to try this for themselves. Robin herself even stopped by and offered more great suggestions for the recipe in the comments (like using millet instead of couscous) and another cake based on the same concept for “Apricot Pineapple Couscous Cake“. Yum!

Now it seems that I may have unleashed something great because Robins craving for sweet and luscious couscous cake has been newly re-awakened and inspired! She’s just blogged about some delicious new variations that can be made with this same basic idea, including the “Couscous Breakfast Cake with Pear and Dried Plum Compote” also from Vegan Planet, as well as (are you sitting down?) “Mango Couscous Cake“. Oh joy… mango is the king of all fruits as far as I’m concerned so I can only imagine how good this is. She even goes so far as to say that this mango version is the easiest one out of all of them to make… and I kid you not when I tell you that the basic recipe is beyond easy.

You can read all about it and find the recipes in her succinctly titled post: Craving Couscous Cake. Don’t let anyone ever tell you that couscous and dessert don’t go together… the revolution has only just begun!

This is very exciting news! Nearly a year and a half of running this blog and I just got my first hostile anti-vegan comment… awesome! When I started this food blog I sort of expected a lot more of this sort of negative stuff. I was pleasantly surprised however to find that nearly all the feedback I’ve received has been exceptionally positive.

A charming fellow going by the name of “Leonard Bungard” dropped by to comment on my post about the Veganizing of Anthony Bourdain recipes that’s been going on over at Hezbolla Tofu. Leonard, clearly a master of the English language, took time out of his busy schedule of competitive baby back rib eating to say the following:

“fuck vegans long live the pig eater”

Short but sweet, don’t you think? And Leonard, you are so right… I’d love to fuck a vegan! Vegans smell nice and they taste good too. The next time I meet a sweet and sexy one that I take a liking to, I might just go for it. For a single vegan gal in Los Angeles, looking for some quality vegan lovin’ can be tough Leonard, so I appreciate the encouragement.

As for the longevity of pig eaters… well Leonard, I’ll leave you to do your own research in regards to the health effects of eating pigs. Here’s a good place to start: Top 10 Reasons Not to Eat Pigs. But Leonard, what I don’t understand is why it makes you so unhappy that we vegans do not eat pigs… after all, it means more bacon for you and Anthony Bourdain, right? Clearly it’s a win-win situation for us to stay vegan Leonard: less heart disease and colon cancer for us, more chicharrones for you.

While Leonard’s eloquent commentary has now been deleted (though I will cherish it forever in my heart), perhaps you’ve got something you’d like to say to him directly? Considering that he took the time to leave his email address I’m going to assume that means he’s interested in receiving more information about veganism, the health benefits of a vegetarian diet, animal rights, cruel factory farming, etc… You can contact Leonard at his more than likely bogus email address: lbungard@gmail.com

Do you ever feel left out by the whole Pinkberry thing? What’s a vegan to do in an age of mass frozen yogurt proliferation with nary a vegan option to be found among them? One option would be to head on back over the hill to Valley Village on the edge of NoHo for a dairy-free treat at Menchie’s.

Menchie’s could be considered one of the many Pinkberry knockoffs but they’ve got a pretty cool twist. Everything there is self service, from the yogurt to the toppings. You pick your size of cup and fill it with however much softserve goodness you want of whichever flavors you like, then pick your toppings. Your culinary creation is then placed on a scale and priced by weight.

They’ve always got at least one dairy-free flavor to choose from. This is the reply I recieved when I sent an email to ask if they carry anything vegan: “We typically have at least one non-dairy flavor everyday. Our non dairy flavors are sorbets rather than yogurts. Currently our sorbet flavor is Kiwi Strawberry.” The ingredients are not posted so I do not know if the dairy-free means it is 100% vegan or not. However given that it’s a sorbet (fruit+sugar+ice) and is advertised as dairy-free, I’m not concerned about something hidden being in there. Caveat emptor.

They also have delicious smelling waffle cones which I’m certain are not vegan… but they sure do make the place smell nice as they’re cooking. Ok, so then after you’ve got your cup of yogurt/sorbet stuff, you head over to the toppings sections. The first one’s got a nice selection of fresh locally grown fruit. Amongst the yummy yet non-vegan goodies like brownie pieces and cheesecake I was overjoyed to discover that they also had soft little bite-sized mochi nuggets (Japanese glutinous rice treats). The flavor is mildly sweet and the texture is perfectly chewy like a soft gummybear. The second toppings station has all the dry stuff like sweet breakfast cereals, nuts, sprinkles, candy pieces, etc… trust me, there’s a lot there for people to choose from and vegans will not be feel deprived.

On the occasion that I was there, the dairy-free flavor was “Mango Tango Sorbet”. I topped it with fresh mango and plenty of mochi- this combo made me one happy foodeater. The sorbet is very nice with strong mango flavor, slightly sweet yet also a bit tart. The fresh sweet mango on top livened up the whole affair and the chewy, gooey mochi-ness of it all was really making it work for me.

The colors inside are somewhat garish and I feel bad that the people who work there are made to wear those awful costumes uniforms. Also, if you’re going to try and take a picture inside like I did, be prepared to get chastised by the manager who will tell you that photographs are not allowed. Isn’t it ironic how some of these places flip out on you for taking pictures when most likely all you’re going to do with them is turn around and send some free advertising their way? That said, I liked my mango-tango and mochi indulgence a bit too much to let the no-photography smackdown police get to me. After all I still got my picture, didn’t I?

Anthony Bourdain was a fancy-pants New York City chef back at one point before he sold his soul to the Travel Channel. What he’s apparently interested in being remembered for most though is his love of foie gras, his one man crusade to eat every pig on earth, and most especially, his sage wisdom regarding vegetarianism:

Take for example this little nugget:

“Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, and an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food.”
- Anthony Bourdain, “Kitchen Confidential,” p. 70

This coming from a man who’s “pure enjoyment of food” entails gulping down a still-beating cobra heart cut fresh from the snakes living body. Hmmm. Did he do that because he’s got such a “decent human spirit” or did he do it because eating gross food is good for his ratings? Oh wait, let me guess… he must have needed the protein.

Some clever folks out there are responding to Anthony Bourdain’s ignorant remarks and incessant badgering of vegetarians by turning the tables on him and creating something positive in the process.

The new Hezbollah Tofu blog has just appeared on the scene and they’ve hatched an ingenious plan to transform all the recipes in Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles cookbook and turn them into vegan recipes. So great! Here’s an excerpt from their message to Bourdain:

…Anthony, you’re kind of tragically wrong about us. But don’t worry, we’re not going to do something silly like picket the Travel Channel or go around bookstores drawing giant penises on your book covers with Sharpies. We have two key advantages over you in this game: we’re easily mobilized, and we can cook.

So we aren’t just going to “enjoy” food, we’re going to enjoy vastly improved, veganized versions of your masturbatory, blood-oozing recipes. And then we’re going to compile them, sell them in zine form, and donate the proceeds to vegan outreach organizations and farm sanctuaries–in your name. Anthony, I have to say, I’m really looking forward to the great work we’re going to do together for veganism.

This is an open call to vegan cooks of all stripes: professional chefs and bakers, cookbook authors, food bloggers, amateur cooks, and–perhaps most importantly–ordinary, everyday people who just want to live their lives and eat their dinners without unnecessary heckling from the heroin-addled peanut gallery.

Brilliant, I say. Visit these guys and join the resistance at: www.hezbollahtofu.blogspot.com - No reservations required.

Similiarly inspired, Bryanna and her friends over at The Vegan Feast Kitchen held a vegan “splinter faction” pizza party (again in response to the ridiculous comment made about vegans being the “splinter faction” of vegetarians). Very cute… and if bashing Bourdain’s bashing of vegans isn’t a good enough reason for throwing a vegan pizza party, well then the terrorists have already won.

I’m pleased to announce that my post on how to make Mugicha has been included in Veggie Chic’s awesome Vegetarian Blog Carnival. Not only that but she included my little article as part of her Top 5 favorites! w00t! w00t!

There are many other interesting and tasty posts to discover in her blog carnival listings, from fabulous vegan and vegetarian recipes, info on raw foods, apartment gardening, and a very interesting discussion on vegan snobbery and “veg*ner-than-thou” attitudes.

So click on over and check out all the fine stuff that Veggie Chic has included in this most recent blog carnival collection of links, where you’re more than likely to discover some great new blogs you may have not noticed before. Enjoy!
http://www.veggiechic.com/vegetarian-carnival-13-something-for-everyone

USDA recalls 143 million pounds of beef from California slaughterhouse under investigation.

And yet, I’m considered a “naive vegetarian”. If not wanting to eat the disease infested flesh of tortured animals makes me naive, I’m perfectly ok with that.

(photo: Roscoe the cow at Animal Acres)