Showing posts with label yes on prop 2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yes on prop 2. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Taquito Party & how you can help Prop 2!

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

Oh no! Where has the time gone? Plans for posts seem to be tossed by the wayside, as time slips through my fingers & next thing you know it's been far too long since I've updated. I could give you excuses (like I just spent 5 days exploring vegan-friendly Chicago), but I think I'll let the food do the talking.

I'm not one to fry food. A bit of a klutz in the kitchen, the last thing I need is hot oil sputtering & adding to the many culinary battle scars on my arms. The issue with my no-fry policy is Ryan loves fried foods, namely taquitos, which were a huge part of his San Diego area upbringing. His story about a dozen taquitos with a huge mound of guacamole for $5 has been told so many times, I can recite it word for word now. Luckily our friends Mark & Carmen are not afraid to fry & when Ryan's story had been told to them a few times, they decided to have a taquito party in honor of Carmen's birthday!

It's rare that others make food for us, so I was thrilled to be offered dinner, but another upside is Mark & Carmen are professionally trained chefs! Needless to say, we were in for a great treat. Joined by fellow vegans Alex & Kristen, all six of us brought ingredients to the table & came up with taquito filling combinations. Armed with corn tortillas & a range of options, we decided on black bean, kale, & yuca, as well as tvp chorizo & roasted corn.


As the filling were being crafted by Mark, Carmen set to work on the world's largest bowl of guacamole, much to Ryan's delight. With the fillings finished, a large pot of Spanish rice simmering, & the oil coming to temperature, Carmen piled each tortilla with our delectable concoctions & inserted a toothpick to insure no morsel could escape. Mark took his position of frymaster in front of the oil, & the first round was plunged in to the swirling liquid. Golden taquitos rose to the top of the pot & were quickly whisked on to a waiting towel lined baking sheet. Crispy taquito success!

We all ate piles flavorful taquitos topped with mounds of guacamole, much like those of Ryan's youth. Our plates were also filled with a side of vegetable laced Spanish rice, & amazing roasted tomato salsa, courtesy of Mark. Everyone was thrilled, including taquito loving Strummer, & the TVP chorizo & roasted corn decidedly the favorite of the night. For dessert, we had scoops of Double Rainbow Soy Cream in Vanilla Bean, Cinnamon Caramel, Dulce No Leche, & Mint Chocolate Chip with chocolate & caramel sauce. It was a gluttonous feast for all & we're already crafting up ideas for new fry parties!

By the way, there's less than 50 days left until the November elections & Prop 2 is still working hard to ensure better conditions for farm animals in California. The opposition has collected million of dollars, mainly donated by large factory farms, to stop this modest proposal, while the "Yes on Prop 2!" support has been coming from the people! We're being massively outspent, so we're taking to the streets to gain support from citizens, but need more funds to run television commercials & get the word out. What can you do to help? Donate a few dollars! Even a $5 donation is wonderful, anything you can do to help! I am trying to find 20 people to donate $20, a modest goal of $400 to help this deserving cause. Please consider making a donation, you don't have to be in California & just a few dollars can help to improve the lives of millions of animals!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

July 4th Ice Cream Social & Potluck, Prop 2 Fundraiser success!

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

Potluck mania is alive & well in my home! I love a good potluck, from the monthly brunch I attend, to a Holiday get-together, an excuse to have a spread of food & hang out with friends is alright by me. The 4th of July was utilized as a reason to have people over & due to my current obsession with frozen treats, I hosted an Ice Cream Social & Potluck!

We started with a fabulous food feast with everything from Ethiopian food, noodle & potato salads, & sweet potato fritters, to homemade guacamole & other dips, faux meat skewers & BBQed seitan Shawarma! Everyone dug in to the display with fervor & managed to clean out most of the food options & I found myself reminding people to, "Save room for Ice Cream!".

Initially, I worried about a lack of ice cream, everyone seemed to be bringing dishes instead of a store bought item, which is wonderful, but makes for a bad Make-Your-Own Sundae party. In the end, no worries were needed as we had 17 pints & 7 quarts of vegan ice cream! Imagine opening your freezer to all of those containers! I also made a spread of treats & toppings such as brownies, whipped cream, fruit, nuts, custard, caramel & chocolate sauces, & 2 types of cones.

Once it was ice cream time, a line formed from the kitchen in to my living room, as people took turns approaching the sundae station & loading up on goodies. The clear winner was Double Rainbow Soy Cream, 12 of the pints were their delicious confection & they were quickly demolished! (If you haven't had a chance to try Double Rainbow Soy Cream, seek it out, the Vanilla Bean is BY FAR the best vegan vanilla ice cream I've ever had, no soy beany flavor!) In the end, I had 4 loaded up ice cream sundaes & an upset stomach, but it was totally worth it. I love "make-your-own" parties & this certainly won't be the last one I host!


As I mentioned in my last post, Californians for Humane Farms had a fundraiser to benefit Prop 2, a ballot initiative on the upcoming November election which would allow farm animals to stand up, sit down, & turn around in their enclosures. I'm happy to say the event was a success & raised DOUBLE our expected donation amount! The silent auction went amazingly, thanks to the help of donations from Julie Hasson at Everyday Dish TV, Hannah Kaminsky of My Sweet Vegan, Joni Marie Newman of Cozy Inside, & Isa Chandra Moskowitz of Veganomicon!

In addition to helping plan the event, some sweet treats were also whipped up, courtesy of Sugar Beat Sweets; over 100 mini Vanilla bean cupcakes topped with Peach Mousse! Sadly, I was too sick to attend the event, but Ryan was kind enough to take this photo of the mini cupcakes set up. Thank you to everyone who made the fundraiser a success & don't forget, YES ON PROP 2 in November!