January Birthday Celebrations & Teese Trials.

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

While my planned birthday dinner at ubuntu in Napa was less than spectacular & resulted in a mad dash to Millennium to escape ubuntu's sub par offer of soup & salad as the only vegan option, there were luckily other plans to celebrate my birth. My husband Ryan is also a January baby, as is Megan from The Sisters Vegan, so we decided to plan a joint birthday party. Ideas swirled around & the result was a PIZZA PARTY, a la the coveted childhood celebration, often at some horrible place like Chuck E. Cheese's. Further discussion revealed we were all avid Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fans, so we threw them in to the mix as well. Unfortunately, Megan fell ill a few days before the party & couldn't attend, but we did our best to do her proud!

Pizza stone at the ready, I made a few "Isa Pizzas" from Vegan with a Vengeance, as well as various combinations from Potato Pesto to mixed Veggies, topped with Mozzarella style Teese, the perfect vegan cheese for pizza making. Friends were kind enough to bring pizzas to share, such as an incredible Barbeque Chicken pizza, one with homemade Seitan Pepperoni & creamy Cashew Cheese, & a Mexican Pizza in a cornmeal crust. The pizzas were stacked high & as each one came out of the oven, people declared they couldn't fathom another piece, yet they still disappeared.

Dessert was quite the adventure, as I decided to try my hand at making an ice cream cake! I've sang the praises of Double Rainbow Soy Cream in the past & here I go again! I used two of their flavors as bases to create my fillings for the cake. Cinnamon Caramel was mixed with homemade Graham Crackers & spiced Apples to create Apple Pie ice cream & Vanilla Bean was transformed with Chocolate ribbons, Sweet & Sara marshmallows, & more homemade Graham Crackers for S'mores ice cream. They were downright delicious & I laid the two ice creams side by side to create a filling for the 10 x 15 layers of vanilla cake topped in vanilla frosting. I had to keep the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle theme going beyond the pizza, so I tried my hand at piping Michaelango, my favorite turtle, on top with his common exclamation, "Cowabunga!". As you can see, I'm no artist, but it could certainly could have been worse!

On Ryan's actual birth date, we had a quiet night, opting for dinner at Minako Organic Japanese, a local restaurant with an extensive vegan menu. While they surprised us with a fruit jelly dessert, complete with a candle in the agar cubes, we both knew we had another treat waiting for us back home. After the delicious cheesecake we had in NYC, I decided to try my hand at this decadent dessert for the first time & make a mini Peanut Butter Cheesecake. A crust made with homemade Graham Crackers housed layers of peanut butter & plain filling cheesecake filling, chocolate ganache, & peanut butter frosting. Ryan loved it & I will definitely be making cheesecake again, as it yielded many ideas for the future!

As I mentioned, mozzarella style Teese Vegan Cheese makes for a killer pizza topping. When I heard they had released other flavors, I found myself anxious to try them & luckily was able to do so. In the world of vegan cheese, these are a stand out & even as someone who tries not to consume mass quantities of processed food, Teese is something I find myself indulging in from time to time.

Those looking for the fancy wine & cheese experience, look elsewhere, but for American cheesy goodness, Cheddar style Teese is on point. Our first impression was "whoa, Kraft Singles", so we decided to make grilled cheese sandwiches in our sandwich press, or shall we say Grilled Teese Sandwiches?! In the past week, this has been a great snack or last minute meal when we're on the go. Who can resist a melty pocket of cheesiness?

Nacho Teese made a perfect topping for chips, of course! Similar to the cheddar style, but with a hint of jalapenos, it easily melted in a saucepan over medium heat, then was poured over layers of chips & salsa, then topped with olives for our birthday celebration. A giant platter was gobbled up quickly, with no complaints from attendees. Ryan continued to melt Nacho Teese for dipping chips days later & even found it tasty on taquitos!

In other news, in March, Ryan & I will be off on another foodie adventure in Europe! While we couldn't help but make a return to Berlin, one of our favorite cities, this time we'll also see Copenhagen & Vienna, plus my dear friend Marijke & I will be checking out Stockholm. Suggestions on places to see, go, or EAT are always welcome!

Chicago, the Sugar Shack; part one.

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

On a whim, I booked a trip to Chicago recently. I always like to explore new cities & Chicago has long been on my list of places to see. Not only do they have a selection of vegan options, they also have the awesome Natalie from Bake & Destroy & the posse at Chicago Soydairy! When contemplating dates, I noticed an upcoming listing for Renegade Craft Fair. How could I resist?

The trip started Thursday afternoon, when I flew in to town & caught the El to my friend Joy's house to stay with her & her dog, Rosetta Cheese. After a bit of rest, Joy & I headed over to Handlebar to meet up with Joel & Meave who also happened to be in town from San Francisco. Handlebar is a pescatarian bar & grill frequented by bicyclist & has a menu with a selection of vegan options. The Buffalo 'Chicken' wrap & seitan Tortellini were ordered among the table & despite the lacking amount of buffalo & ranch sauces in my wrap, all satisfied with our selections. Joel opted for mini apricot hand pies for dessert, which I was lucky enough to get a nibble of; they tasted like jelly filled donuts!

The next day I headed out in to the rain to the Chicago Diner, famous veg dining spot since 1983. Between suggestions from Steven, my dining companion & some online research, I chose "The Radical Reuben" & boy, was it a good choice! The combination of the grilled seitan, sauerkraut, & thousand island dressing was wonderful & I've been trying to recreate it at home ever since. I also had "Stuffed Potato Skins" with melty Teese all over them! Of course, I had to try the baked goods, since the diner has quite the selection of vegan cakes, cheesecakes, & other treats. The first thing I noticed was the cakes were refrigerated. As someone who's not a fan of cold cake, I asked them to pull my selections out of the case before my meal, so they could come back to room temperature. I insisted Steven split the Cocoa Mousse cake & the Cookies & Cream cake with me & luckily they were almost at room temperature when we were ready for them. The cakes have a hearty, wholesome taste to them, likely due to the wheat flour used. Unfortunately, the refrigeration had got to them a bit, so they were on the drier side, but I enjoyed all the different frostings & wondered how they made the nice whipped cream-like frosting. Rumor has it, the weekend specials are the best treats to try, so I'll be sure to check those out next time!

Later that night, Steven & his friends had a potluck! You know I love a good potluck, so I was thrilled to be invited. The Chicago crew knows how to do it up & I was stuffed with tons of amazing food including "Isa Pizza", mini cucumber sandwiches, roasted potatoes, Teesey bread, & more. Much like myself, everyone loves to make dessert, so the sweets spread was phenomenal! Apple pie, Mint Devil dogs, Zucchini muffins, homemade Caramels, & 3 awesome types of Temptation ice cream filled my plate! I think I surprised everyone with the amount of dessert I consumed, but I may have shocked them even more when I couldn't resist going back for another round of ice cream; Lemon Verbena & Blueberry Temptation?! I mean, c'mon, amazing!

On Saturday, the gruesome twosome, aka Natalie & myself, embarked on a sugary tour of Chicago, that would make even the sweetest tooth cry. Chicago decided to hate on me by pouring down rain, but we were determined to get sugared up & started off at The Bleeding Heart Bakery! The Bleeding Heart Bakery may be the coolest pastry shop I have ever laid eyes on. I felt like I was walking in to my dream bakery, from the brightly colored kitsch to the cupcake tables. After browsing around & meeting Michelle, we settled on 2 organic, vegan cupcakes; Chocolate peanut butter & Chocolate vanilla. The cases here are kept at room temperature, thankfully, & while the moisture of the two cakes was inconsistent, the chocolate peanut butter was downright lovely! If nothing else, it's worth a visit to see the amazing shop, but I say grab yourself a treat. I only wish I had made it to Chaos Theory Cakes as well since it's the home of unique flavors.

Next, we braved the rain again & headed to Renegade Craft Fair where we got soaked, I spent a bunch of money at Circa Ceramics, & I ordered a custom bag from Made by Hank. Who I am kidding? I bought a lot more than that, for I am a sucker for cute. For the rundown of awesomeness, check out Natalie's guide to Renegade which includes a ton of links to businesses & is far better than I could scare up.

Tired of the rain & ready for sugar shock, round 2, we headed to Sweet Cakes Bakery. While they don't advertise as being a vegan destination, the owner is actually vegan herself, so many of the cakes are as well, despite not being labeled as such. Luckily, her father runs the counter & can tell you what is vegan. Being the end of the day, the case was a bit bare, but we each had mini Mint Chip & Orange Vanilla cupcakes & I ordered a small Peach pie. Once again, the case was refrigerated, so the cupcakes were a bit dried out, but the orange had some nice flavor to it. Outside Sweet Cakes, Natalie & I had some fun in the courtyard taking pictures with the odd stacks of trucks & giant horse statue. I hope the owner will make use of the patio in the future, it was a great space!

Jittery & ready to be out of the rain, we headed back to Natalie's house. You may be surprised to find out, we headed to yet another vegan baked goods spot, but I'll be saving that until next time!

By the way, many of you asked for tips on the taquito making from my previous post. One of our chefs that night, Mark, was cool enough to post 10 taquito making tips on his blog, so you can get your fry on!
Also, for those of you in the San Francisco area or those who are planning to come visit, check out Vegansaurus.com for an often hilarious guide to eats & treats in the Bay Area!

Teese, Teese, the magical.. product!

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

The vegan blog world is quite the hype machine, it seems there's always a new recipe or product making the rounds & Teese has been exception! While my 1st taste of Teese was back when I returned from Europe, I was lucky enough to have a package arrive at my door with an amount sufficient for proper taste testing! (Yes, that label says "Bloggy McBloggerson"!)

I'll admit, I was quite the cheese lover in my vegetarian days, so I tend to approach vegan cheeses with caution. While there are some decent options on the market, most are rubbery nightmares that don't melt or taste anything like the original. For the most part, I am more than happy to do without these imposters, but watch out sub par vegan cheeses, Teese is here to blow you away!

Anxious to try the Teese right away, I opted first for a quick & easy meal; grilled sandwiches! Using my handy sandwich press, I spread Earth Balance lightly across slices of bread, filled them with slices of Teese, & pressed them in to the grill. What emerged was crunchy pockets filled with ooey-gooey melted Teese centers & I must say, they were wonderful! I was concerned the sandwich grill would not work to melt the Teese, but it actually worked so well, there was some spillage! C'est la Vie! By the way, next to the sandwich is one of our favorite things; Kale Chips!

Next stop, PIZZA! I mean, c'mon, Teese was made for this stuff. Teese comes in Mozzarella at the moment, with Cheddar in the works, so we should all be making pizzas while we wait for the new flavor to arrive. I made a sourdough crust & topped the pizza with tomato sauce, garlic, zucchini, bell pepper, tomato slices, & a few pieces of Julie's Spicy Italian Sausages. Once again, I went with large pieces of Teese, instead of shredded & it worked out well. This was one killer meal that satisfied even my pizza obsessed husband!


The pizza was such a success, we made Calzones next. I set up a little spread of toppings; more sausages, artichoke hearts, garlic, bell peppers, zucchini, tomato sauce, & we each made our own ideal combinations. That is Ryan's hand you see there, even he had fun coming up with flavor ideas. Doesn't a "Make Your Own Calzone" party sound fun? The calzones baked up nice & golden brown & although the Teese tried to escape from them, they were delicious! For an extra decadent treat, I could see Teese & tofu ricotta making an amazing combination!

Finally, I had to try something outside the Italian inspired genre. Previous to going vegan, "pregan" if you will, I used to make Enchilada casseroles often. While I still make them these days, I typically skip the cheese subs & focus on spices & extra vegetables. This time, I piled layers of black beans, corn, shredded carrots, zucchini, onions & garlic between strips of corn tortillas soaked in enchilada sauce & topped it with shredded Teese. Thank you, Chicago Soy Dairy, the Enchilada Bake is back! Once again, it melted easily & brought the dish a new & improved taste!

So, you're probably wondering, how does it taste? What's the texture like? Can you eat it plain? Teese is a soft, fresh mozzarella-style cheese, it's quite moist, but not slimy & doesn't smell bad like Follow Your Heart. It has a creamier, more complex taste than FYH, it's almost buttery. While I noshed on a few plain pieces, my guess is most people wouldn't like it this way, it really is at its best when melted!

Want to get your hands on some Teese? Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe, Vegan Essentials, & Pangea have it available via mail order. Also, Chicago Soy Dairy has a listing of places stocking it or using it HERE. Finally, if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, I've convinced Rainbow Grocery to carry it, so look out for it starting as soon as June!