Overheard

in the elevator today...

Woman #1: They made me eat some vegan cake at the party this weekend.
Woman #2: Vegan cake? What is that?
Woman #1: It's cake with, like, the meat products taken out.
Woman #2: It's been a long time since I made a cake, but I never heard of a cake with meat in it!

Believe it or not, meatcake actually exists. Now who is going to volunteer to make a vegan version of this--maybe with a smiling cow on top?

Tidbits

Not too much going on this month. I'm having friends over for a vegan dinner this weekend; I'll post about that next week. My meals haven't been particularly inspiring lately otherwise. I've been eating things like pasta salad, stir-fries, and veggie burgers. I've also been using the yogurt maker I got for my birthday. I'm making dairy yogurt, but the instruction booklet includes less than enthusiastic directions for using soy milk to make soy-gurt. It does its best to warn you away from that option, since only certain types of soy milk can be used to make soy-gurt. I'm having enough trouble with regular yogurt as it is. It's delicious in flavor, but the consistency is still decidedly thin.

Anyway, I thought I'd write about a few of my favorite vegan spots in DC for anyone who might be visiting this summer. A Northern Virginia installment will follow!

Breakfast/Brunch
Asylum(Adams Morgan): As HS knows, I kind of hate this place. It's a biker bar by night, but they're locally famous for their vegan brunch on the weekends. Even though it's a favorite place for HS' friends to meet, I always think the food is mediocre at best, and the ambience...well, it's pretty clear that it's a bar. But apparently they have a new chef and things might improve. On the link, scroll down to see the vegan menu.

Dos Gringos (Mount Pleasant): Well, I like Dos Gringos much better. It's actually my favorite brunch place in DC. It is tiny and the most prominent menu is in Spanish. It's not primarily vegan/vegetarian, but there are plenty of options. The great thing about Dos Gringos is that everything is customized. You build a sandwich starting with the bread, and adding yummy things like bean mash or chipotle grilled tofu.

Lunch or Dinner
Java Green (Downtown NW): Guest blogger Hot Slice says: "Try the rice bowl with spicy vegan sausage." I never go to this place since it's out of the way for me (ironic because it's downtown), but I'm going to try to make it there soon. It's a vegetarian cafe where most things are vegan. Everything possible is organic, fair trade, and biodegradable, and it uses carbon offsets.

Tonic (Mount Pleasant): OK, so this place is fairly meat-centric, but what puts it on my heavy rotation list is the half-price burger special, which includes vegan black bean burgers. They're served with tater tots and the half price means your dinner can cost as much as a trip to Starbucks. The dining room is well laid out, with nice booths, and is rarely crowded.

Dessert
Sticky Fingers (Columbia Heights): This place is a freakin' national treasure. I am usually highly suspicious of ersatz foods such as tofu cheesecake. However, Sticky Fingers is an awesome bakery first and vegan second in my mind. All of the baked goods taste totally authentic. They've also branched out into savory foods. HS and I picked up lasagne and peanut noodles there last week. Everything is vegan. They also make wedding cakes (pictured above). We decided not to have a wedding cake because dessert is already included, but I am set on getting a cake from Sticky's for a special occasion in the future. They have a genius copywriter who uses words like "slathered" and "nestled" to describe their cakes. Mmmm!

Kill your television

I don't watch much TV. Maybe 2 hours a week, plus a DVD about twice a month. My current TV is about 6 years old, and when I turned it on last week, it made a popping sound and a red light fluttered urgently for a few hours. The next morning, the light was gone and the thing was completely dead. (NB: I don't recommend Philips electronics. The companion DVD player died about 2 years ago.)

I was thinking of going without a TV until HS and I shack up in a few months, but HS, for one, was not too keen on the idea (something about the NBA finals, but also, we're really enjoying Flight of the Conchords on DVD).

I rummaged around in my parents' basement for an old TV to hook up in the interim. I unearthed my old TV, a Signature 2000 (two thousand!), which dates from the early 90s. It works fine, but seems to have no DVD hookup. Ah well.

I'm writing this because I've lived without a TV for years in the past, and I'd like to hear from people who have chosen not to have a TV. If you don't have one, are you glad? If you do have one, do you ever want to turn it off for good? I often notice that when the TV is on, all attention in the room is focused on it. I don't think this is good. I used to leave it on most of the evening for background noise, but now I much prefer quiet.

Happy belated World Vegetarian Week!

OK, so I'm a little slow on the uptake re World Vegetarian Week. But I'm at least happy that my birthday fell during it, so I can say I celebrated. This article on Alternet is meant for non-vegetarians, but it still taught me a few things, most notably, that chickens can "worry about the future" and are at least as smart as cats and dogs. I mean, holy crap, if chickens get stressed out, what hope is there for the rest of us?

I have extra reason to celebrate WVW because my father, truly one of the most carnivorous people I know, has decided to cut down on his meat consumption. My mom says he read an article in the New Yorker that talked about all the bad stuff that's in meat and turned him off of it. I'm a little surprised that he is just now finding this out, but better late than never, I guess! If I find out which article he read, I'll link to it.

Probar testing

I conscripted HS to help me test the new Probar flavors that I recently received as a freebie (thanks, guys!). HS is a big fan of Probar, but I don't believe I'd ever eaten one until our test. Here are some testing notes.

Overall: Probars are tasty and satisfying. I had 1.25 Probars for breakfast (1/4 bar of each of 5 flavors), and that kept me full and alert, with no blood sugar weirdness, for several hours, including an hour-long workout. Since that was about 500 calories, though, it makes sense. Probar is marketed as a meal replacement bar rather than a snack bar. Unless I'm going on a long flight, though, I prefer to eat meals that are in non-bar format. I generally have half a Larabar or Gnu bar before a workout, so I'm not ravenous when I finish. That amount of calories (just under 100) is about right for me in that situation. I wish that Probars came in an optional smaller size, to better match my caloric requirements. However, aside from being yummy, the Probar ingredient list is beyond reproach, containing lots of fiber and nutrients.

Favorites: I've listed them below, with my most favorite first.
Maple Pecan: The clear winner. I'm a sucker for maple flavor and this bar has it in abundance.
Sesame Goji: Goji berries are not very strongly flavored, but they are antioxidant powerhouses. The predominant flavor is sesame, so if you like that, you'll like this bar.
Cherry Pretzel: One of my favorite flavor pairings is cherries and chocolate. This bar has dark chocolate chips in addition to pretzels, so points for that. The cherry flavor was not strong enough for my liking, though. I think Probar should add some almond extract to complement the cherries.
Cocoa Pistachio: The dark chocolate in this bar is unsweetened (according to the label), so it's gorgeously intense. The pistachios looked green and fresh, but their flavor was just not strong enough for me. Pistachio ice cream is one of my favorite flavors, and I don't know what they do to amp up the flavor in the ice cream. But whatever that is, this bar would benefit from it.
Kettle Corn: I'm not a big fan of kettle corn (popcorn coated with a sugary, buttery hard shell) to begin with. I don't like the sweet varieties of popcorn much. This bar did taste like kettle corn, but the taste seemed artifical to me. This is probably the only bar I wouldn't try again.

If you've sampled these bars, let me know what you thought too!

That's how I roll

It was a rainy, quiet Sunday here. I made one of my favorite recipes, whole wheat seed-y rolls, and took a nap while they were rising. This is a good recipe for people who are intimidated by yeast. The rolls contain yeast, but they are pretty much foolproof. I've never had them turn out badly. They're yummy with their sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and hint of garlic flavor, and just the right size for a veggie burger. I'll send the recipe to anyone who wants it!

Get happy

Things that have rocked my week so far:

1. Manzana Chili Verde from Veganomicon. It's a white/green chili hybrid, containing unusual ingredients like apples, potatoes, tomatillos, and white beans. I was a bit dubious about how all this would taste as a savory chili, but it is damn good. The flavors are complex and the amount of heat is just right.


2. My new Envirosax bag, purchased at Greater Goods. I've accumulated way too many bags from stopping at the market a block from my place on my way home. I'm coming from work so I don't think to carry a shopping bag with me. Enter Envirosax. The beauty is that it folds up small enough to easily fit in my (quite small) purse, so I always have it with me,



And it unfolds to a huge, sturdy shopping bag:



3. My hemp hoodie, made by Livity and purchased at the newly opened Capitol Hemp store. It's perfect for the chilly, rainy days we've had this week.

4. Finding that Probar did not forget about me, and made good on their promise several months ago to include me in a testing group for new Probar flavors. I received a package of 5 new flavors and will review them next week, since HS (one of Probar's biggest fans) has begged to be part of the review process.