VEGAN MOFO Is Almost Here! Get Pumped!
If you aren’t familiar with Mofo, read about it on the official blog! You’ll also find a list of all participants there. VeganMofo is a fun yet challenging, well, challenge to blog every day (or at least most days) of the month! So, check out Laughfrodisiac throughout September for posts with the following themes:
MONDAY: On Mondays, we will veganize things that Monica (Courteney Cox) made on ‘Friends’!! I think I’m most excited to make the infamous English Trifle/Shepherd’s Pie disaster. (I know Rachel made that, but it counts.) So much fun!
TUESDAY: On Tuesdays, we will get new travel guides for locations all over the globe! If you plan to go anywhere ever, this information will save you! Like the bahble!
WEDNESDAY: On Wednesdays, we will play Restaurant Wars! New restaurant reviews will be posted — including the review for one of top 10 restaurants in the world. You’re going to want to read that one!
THURSDAY: On Thursdays, we will review special meals for holidays occurring in September, as well as discuss other big events (like weddings!).
FRIDAY: On Fridays, we will return to “Friends” and make some more fun things!
SATURDAY: On Saturdays, we will get a mix of style blogs and entertainment blogs, from theatre reviews to ravings about TV shows that are soon returning!
SUNDAY: Finally, on Sundays, we will bake breakfast foods! From muffins to my special protein-packed energy bars, these blogs will be delicious!
I might also throw in second posts on certain days, about random things that come to my attention!
So, there you have it! I’m mainly posting this in advance in order to hold myself accountable to what I’ve outlined here. Help keep me to it, and I hope you enjoy all of VeganMofo!
Related Posts
How NOT to Make an Ice Cream Cake
However, don’t do what I did. Follow the instructions of someone who knows what they are doing.
Or…
If you don’t like being told how to do something, and you prefer being AWESOME, read on.
My birthday this year was quite uneventful, so I decided that my birthday cake would be special: Ice cream cake! I’ve never made one before, and haven’t had one since elementary school, when other kids had those Carvel cakes at their parties. So now it was my time. (THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN MY TIIIIME!) However, I didn’t think the process through enough. So, this post is more of a ‘What Not to Do’ version of ‘How to Make an Ice Cream Cake’. Some truly amazing cake wreck pictures wait ahead.
What’s hard to tell, though, is that the frosting melted into the top, coloring the cake, and then all of it slid off into those soupy corners, mixing with the ice cream to make admittedly delicious, viscous plasma. The top looks iced, but it’s mostly just the cocoa that seeped into the pores.
It doesn’t look too bad when it’s sliced, does it? But it was, oh it was. Have faith.
BEST EVER VANILLA CAKE
Adapted from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Vanilla Bean cupcakes
- 2C unsweetened non-dairy milk (vanilla almond is my choice)
- 3t apple cider vinegar
- 2½ C all-purpose flour
- 2t baking powder
- 1t baking soda
- 1t salt
- 2/3C canola oil
- 1¼ C sugar
- 2t vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350°. Pour the milk and apple cider vinegar into a measuring cup; let it stand for at least five minutes until it curdles. I usually leave it for longer to ensure quality curdling action. Mix the dry ingredients (minus the sugar) in a mixing bowl. Add the sugar, then the oil, vanilla, and curdly milk and mix until just combined; do not overmix. Pour into two 8x8inch baking pans, or two round ones, or do what I did and do one square pan and one circular. (You should also wear 2 different shoes.) Bake for 45 minutes.
LET THE CAKES COOL. Like, for hours, not for 15 minutes like I did. Holy crap, I’m serious.
ONCE YOUR CAKES ARE COOL.
Take out your ice cream of choice. I used Trader Joe’s Cherry Chocolate Chip soy ice cream. It’s gooood. It reminds me of my childhood favorite, Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia, but it’s better because it’s doesn’t hurt animals OR your stomach! By the by, is there a website yet that has veganized the Ben & Jerry’s flavors? Because I’d buy an ice cream maker for that purpose. K maybe I’ll do it. I’m on it!
Getting back to the task at hand…
Let your ice cream thaw for a good 30 minutes. If it’s really super crazy hot in your kitchen, you’ll probably only want to leave it out for 15-20. We don’t want milk here. Also, I’m sorry you’re so hot!
I mixed a bag of Trader Joe’s confectioner’s sugar (a pound) with 1/4C cocoa powder and 1/3C Earth Balance, plus splashes of almond milk. And then, as you can see at right, I mixed it with a hand blender.
Tip: Put the bowl in the sink, because this will shoot powder, both the sugar and cocoa variety, all over the place.
*If you were a goody two shoes and you assembled it properly, you still need to put the whole thing in the freezer. You just don’t have to scream while doing it.
London’s Best Vegan Mexican Food: Club Mexicana in Residency at Pamela
So, overall this was a fantastic meal. There are some aspects I would rework and some issues to hammer out, but I definitely want to return, even though I got shorted half a taco due to a lack of communication all around. It’s for sure the most interesting Mexican food for vegans in London, and it’s wonderful if you are on the taco cleanse in the near future, as we all are at some point.
Water speed: This is where sitting at the bar pays off! We had a carafe and when it was empty (every five minutes) we put it on top of the bar and a new one came like magick. Wheee! I would sit at the bar again for this reason even though I had drinking yoots hanging in my personal space.
Service: Fine, considering how busy they were. Then just the failure to communicate about the two different tacos on the one plate wahhhh sadface.
Bathrooms: It is still a bar, with a bar toilet. Not the worst I’ve seen in bars by far but still.
Food: Overall, great!
Bonus: If you drink, the cocktail menu was maybe even more interesting than the food menu, and I’m sure much harder to decide on as everything sounded awesome.
**now who got THAT reference??