Posted by Nicole on February 3, 2013
Before I get to the subject of this post, I need to announce the winner of my Vegan Eats World cookbook giveaway! According to Random.org, the winner is #19…
Amanda of Hungry Vegan Traveler! Congratulations!
Now on to other exciting news…
Yesterday was a pretty fabulous day in Toronto. It was the 5th Annual Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake-Off, which also just happened to fall on my birthday.
I was one of the close to 50 volunteers of the Toronto Vegetarian Association who helped pull off the event, and what an event it was.
About 45 amateur and professional vegan bakers put countless hours of work into their entries for this very tough competition. At 2 p.m., a hungry mass arrived at the event space on Bloor Street West, ready to sample treats and deliver their judgment on the best in nine dessert categories, including professionally crafted classics, raw desserts and gluten-free sweets.
After just a couple of hours, well over 5000 samples disappeared, each taste tester added their vote to the ballot box to be tallied by a trusted team of volunteers, and the celebrated titles were ready to be awarded. A panel of judges, who included co-owner of Fresh restaurants Ruth Tal and owner of vegan bakery LPK’s Culinary Groove Lesia Kohut, rated the culinary confections for Best in Show and Best Pro in Show.
Posted by Nicole on January 20, 2013
Terry Hope Romero‘s latest book, Vegan Eats World, came into my life on December 25th and was the best gift a girl like me could get. I’ve been a longtime fan of Terry’s diverse collection of cookbooks—from Viva Vegan! to Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and everything in between. Her new book continues the food revolution, covering 300 international dishes made vegan.
The shear breadth of this cookbook is incredible. Truth be told, I found myself flipping through this bible each night before bed, folding page corners and making grocery lists. Needless to say, this book has made me a little obsessed with exploring dishes and flavours from food-loving cuisines of Morocco, Thailand, India, Africa, Jamaica and many more. So far, I’ve made:
Pad Thai with Spicy Greens—My husband is a huge fan of pad thai, and so I knew this one was a winner when he declared this delicious and perfectly spiced. For this recipe, Terry shares the secret to success: prepping all components ahead of time and frying each serving individually, which is definitely worth the extra effort.
Posted by Nicole on January 16, 2013
Six years ago today, I met my sweetie for coffee for the first time. We had met two months before, seen each other a few times, but hadn’t yet clicked. The last time I saw him was at a holiday party I hosted at my apartment, where he accidentally left his scarf behind. The coffee meetup was meant as a way to return his scarf. I can still remember that timid, getting-to-know-you conversation over steaming cups of chai tea lattes and his cute reaction when I gave him a bag of homemade cookies.
Exactly two years later on that day, we held hands on a private beach in St. Lucia and professed our lifelong commitment to each other.
I still believe it was the cookies that led his heart to mine.
Happy anniversary, darling.
Posted by Nicole on January 13, 2013
I mentioned briefly in my last Treat of the Month Club post in December that, while Lisa and I were sad to say goodbye to our regular meet ups—in which we delivered six homemade vegan and gluten-free treats to each of our club members each month—we were also excited to share some news.
This year, we will be creating special celebration packages for the holidays, starting with Valentine’s Day next month! This means you can surprise a friend or loved one with a gift box of eight gourmet vegan and gluten-free treats prepared especially for the holiday. Of course, you are also welcome to sign up and keep the treats all for yourself. We won’t judge.
Here’s how it works:
Posted by Nicole on December 30, 2012
It’s hard to believe another year has come and gone so quickly. It was an amazing 2012. I have met and become friends with a number of awesome people through blogging and my local veg community, and I’m feeling pretty grateful.
I’m also proud of the outreach projects I was able to accomplish this year, including launching the Treat of the Month Club in Toronto, participating in Toronto’s Vegetarian Food Festival and publishing my first ebook with the beautiful and always inspiring Lisa. The support we have received through the sale of Tiny Treats has left my heart bursting with joy. Since September, we have raised enough money to help feed 12 elephants in 2013—but we’d love to continue sending help to those precious animals on an ongoing basis. Let’s hope we can continue the momentum.
Blog-wise, I have a number of favourite recipes I was able to create and share here on ADC, most of which are dessert-inspired creations. This blog is always a work in progress and a means of growth for me, and although I’ve always enjoyed working on my baking and raw dessert-making skills, I recently became inspired to start sharing more savoury recipes and I’m super excited to change things up a bit around here. It’s also better to start the new year with a salad rather than a dessert, right?
