And that’s the challenge for the party go’er.. deciding what to bring.

Alicia, who is hosting a Vegan Food Party this Sunday in San Rafael, has a straight-forward guideline for deciding what to bring:  “Depends on location–if it’s close, I like to bring something hot.  If it’s far, then I bring something that can be served cold or at room temperature.”

One of her favorite dishes is a linguine with a peanut sauce with steamed broccoli. The peanut sauce has peanut butter, rice vinegar, crushed red pepper flakes, olive oil, soy sauce, and water or veggie stock.

Cheryl, who is hosting a Vegan Food Party next month in Pacifica, shares her strategy: “I have selected what I bring to a food part a few different ways.  The first time I went to a summer Vegan food party, I went online and searched Vegan Summer recipes and found a wonderful vegan potato salad and I still make it to this day.   It was a wonderful way to find a new recipe that became part of my classic recipes.  I have also made something that I had somewhere when I was out and decided to have a go and make it on my own without a receipe.  It was a Cold Asian Tofu Marinate over rice and it turned out to be a huge success.

I think it is fun to try new ideas and create your own recipes, but I have also made something that I have made for myself in the past too!  This upcoming party I am making something fun and that I have made in the recent past.”

There’s a variety of ways to decide what to bring.  Tammy and Chris, who hosted the first-ever Vegan Food Party, share a couple of their ideas on how to decide what to bring:  “Sometimes we need inspiration to try a new recipe, so we pick one that sounds interesting and bring it to the VFP to ‘animal test it’.  Or, maybe it’s an excuse to make a favorite dish that we haven’t had in awhile, like macaroni and cheese.  Because we both love vegan desserts, we’ll often bring something in that category, like brownies, chocolate mousse pie, cheesecake, apple cake, or pumpkin pie.”

So, join your fellow vegan food-lovers at an upcoming Vegan Food Party

02/06 VFP – San Rafael
03/12 VFP – Pacifica

Thanks to Cheryl for sharing her favorite potato salad recipe that she’s made twice for summer parties.

Vegan Calico Potato Salad

****SPICEY****

For the Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup vinegar (Red Wine Garlic)
1 1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp. Sea Salt
Dash of hot pepper sauce

For the Salad:
2 lb. red potatoes, peeled, cooked, and cubed (Organic)
1 1/2 cups cooked whole-kernel corn  (*Can)
1 cup shredded carrot  (Organic)
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup diced green pepper (organic)
1/2 cup diced red pepper (Organic)
1/2 cup sliced olives  (Can)

For the Dressing:
• Combine all the ingredients. Cover and chill.

For the Salad:
• In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients.

To Assemble:
• Combine the salad and the dressing and toss to mix.

Makes 14 servings

Space is limited and the classes typically fill-up fairly quickly, so please reserve your space today.

Date: Saturday, Nov 6th
Time: 1:00pm – 3:30pm
Location: Whole Foods Market, 1010 Park Place, San Mateo
Cost: $25/person *
Registration | Event Listing

When asked “What did you like most about the baking class?“, class participants replied:

“The taste and texture of the baked goods was very impressive. Very tasty.”

“It gave me confidence that you can make vegan dessert items that taste every bit as good as baked items with animal products.”

“Being with other vegetarians/vegans and learning how to make healthy desserts.”

“Learning all the tips/techniques you can’t get from just a recipe.”

“To meet an actual vegan baker — we need many more of these to progress the “cause” and get/perfect more options.”

“Christine has some good baking humor – she made me laugh”

To learn more about the Secrets of Vegan Baking classes, visit the SecretsOfVeganBaking.com website

For registration, please visit the Bay Area Vegetarians website – http://bayareaveg.org/cooking/

* Thank you to Christine for volunteering her time and expertise; all proceeds benefit Bay Area Vegetarians. In the spirit of promoting vegan baking, these classes are offered below market rate.

Join us for the 1st planning meeting for the Vegetarian Book Lovers Club! We will be meeting at Cafe Trieste (315 S 1st Street San Jose, CA 95113) in downtown San Jose on August 20th at 7pm. If you love to read and discuss thought provoking fiction while enjoying vegan refreshments, join us as we decide on our first book selection.

For further information and to RSVP, please contact Katherine directly (link)

Cinnamon Rolls from Secrets of Vegan Baking

Learn the secrets of baking amazing cinnamon rolls, banana walnut bread, and raspberry cream scones with Secrets of Vegan Baking instructor Dr. Christine Dickson

Date: Saturday, August 14, 2010
Time: 1:00pm – 3:30pm
Location: Whole Foods Market, 1010 Park Place, San Mateo
Cost: $25 per person
[ Register online ]

When asked “What did you like most about the baking class?“, class participants replied:

“The taste and texture of the baked goods was very impressive. Very tasty.”

“It gave me confidence that you can make vegan dessert items that taste every bit as good as baked items with animal products.”

“Being with other vegetarians/vegans and learning how to make healthy desserts.”

“Learning all the tips/techniques you can’t get from just a recipe.”

“To meet an actual vegan baker — we need many more of these to progress the “cause” and get/perfect more options.”

“Christine has some good baking humor – she made me laugh”

To read more about the Secrets of Vegan Baking classes, visit the SecretsOfVeganBaking.com, and Register online at Bay Area Vegetarians.

For more info:
Ultimate Guide – Cinnaholic: read it, rate it, review it!
Cinnaholic Grand Opening information

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"Bay Area Veg Meadow" at Animal Place

Even before facebook started, we’ve been a fan of Animal Place for many years.

With Animal Place’s support, we’ve had an annual tour and picnic for several years at their Vacaville location.  So when we heard they needed to relocate, a few of us got together and organized a fun(d)raiser for them in June 2008.   ( See past blog posts for more info: The Fun(d)Raiser | The Fun(d) Crew )

Our fun(d)raiser provided much needed funds towards expanding to their new Grass Valley location, where they named a meadow for us.  Our meadow is very suitably in the picnic area, because we do love to eat

Their barm warming is tomorrow, and we’re heading up to check out the new sanctuary and definitely “Bay Area Veg Meadow”!  Email us if you’re also going, maybe we can rendezvous.

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BAVeg Jul 2010 Summer Events

To receive it directly, sign up at our website at http://bayareaveg.org

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Veg Info for LGBT Pride

We had an amazing & awesome first day at the BAVeg SF LGBT Pride booth!!  A huge number of folks interested in veg*nism came by for their Free Veg Starter Kit, and sampled delicious coconut milk ice cream samples and meatless jerky.

I’m really looking forward to Day 2, Sunday.  We’ll again have the BAVeg booth (we’re on Larkin in front of the Asian Art Museum), and will also be doing some leafleting to the crowd who are standing around and waiting for the Parade to start ( for those watching the parade, look for the EBAA veg contingent!)

For now, I’ve uploaded a few of the photos that I took of our booth, and there will be more to come that the other volunteers have taken.

http://www.bayareaveg.org/gallery2/v/pride10/

Our entirely all-volunteer crew made this day possible.   I am privileged to have collaborated with such a dedicated group of fellow veg*ns on our outreach booth.

Michelle & Dan

Let’s give them all a virtual big hand of applause:
- Michelle, Dan, George and myself did the setup
- Heidi and Donna staffed the veg booth
- Heidi was also busy taking photographs, and Donna made the most amazing vegan goodies for the booth volunteers
- Michelle and Dan gave out information & stickers galore
- Mila and Mike organized the hugely popular ice cream samples (dry ice is amazing)
- Chris designed the new banners that had people walking over to the booth asking for their Free Veg Starter Kit

We also owe thanks to:
- Turtle Mountain and Primal Spirit Foods for So Delicious Coconut Milk Ice Cream Sandwiches and Primal Strips donations, respectively, distributed to booth visitors
- PCRM, PETA and Vegan Outreach generously donated literature
- Individuals who donated in response to our plea, which so far partially cover our expenses for Pride

BAVeg will be back at SF LGBT Pride all day Sunday .  Our info booth is on Larkin, right in front of the Asian Art Museum  Come by and say hello, and grab some literature for you or a friend

- Tammy

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Ask Me About Meat

We started in 2003, and had a booth annually until 2008 when we did leafleting only. In 2009, the booth returned, as well as an entry in the Parade. 2010 is our 8th year of outreach at SF LGBT Pride, with a booth on both days as well as pre-parade leafleting on Sunday.

Our history of outreach at Pride is represented in these photo galleries.

2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003

SF LGBT PRIDE 2010
San Francisco Civic Center
Recommend BART or Muni (Civic Center Station)

Please visit our booth and say hello, and grab some literature for a non-veg friend!

Bay Area Vegetarians booth location – J13
In front of Asian Art Museum on Larkin

We are still in need of donations to cover the cost of our chicken display and other Pride expenses – please help if you can. (more info)

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We will be opening at 2175 Allston Way on July 7th (only a few weeks left!) Also, our brunch menu is now served during all hours of operation.

Ultimate Guide: Saturn Cafe (Berkeley)

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