Somewhere Between "Stuffed" and "Slightly Less Stuffed" // Summerfest Food: Part II

After another day of stuffing ourselves silly, we were invited to cook and bake with Roberta Schiff, co-author of The Vegetarian Shabbat Cookbook and president of the Mid-Hudson Vegetarian Society. Amber and I got crazy-lost getting to her room, so it was sometime between 11 and midnight by the time we found our group. (Mind you, it was already a late-night gathering to begin with. We were just fashionably later in our arrival.) Roberta already had olive biscotti in the tiny oven, but we helped her mix up some dips, and then we mostly just sat around, chatting.

We were still so full from the day's meals that we could just barely taste the dips we were mixing. For those of you building a timeline, this happened Thursday night. The following day brought the following meals...

Lunch was light. Corn tortillas with roasted red pepper hummus and spinach. The tortillas weren't cooked in any way, so they had a strange texture. I ate one and gave the other one to my gluten-free friend, Susannah.

Fast forward to dinner

Spinach with "sea-czar" dressing (Vegenaise-based), walnut-crusted tofu (AMAZING), and brown rice and veggies with some kind of gravy business.

Corn chowder was decent, though super-salty

Dessert was ooey gooey strawberries and "cream" (very sweet and very gloppy, but the cream was good)

Up next: an ultra-sweet "breakfast" with a TV star!

All vegan buffets, twice a day // Summerfest Food: Part I

Did that title catch your attention?

Seriously, folks. If you go to Vegetarian Summerfest, you will be WELL FED. In fact, that is a gross understatement. You will be gluttonous. You will be stuffed. You will never feel "hunger." Instead, you will just feel "slightly less full."

From our first meal there (which was lunch on Wednesday), I did not feel hunger.

Day One's lunch featured raw zucchini "puttanesca" in the center (honestly, I wasn't diggin' the sauce. Too watery), a raw taco to the left (would've been better with sauce), and stir-fried veggies with brown rice (classically delicious!).

All of that was followed with the gluten-free option from the pizza bar: a corn tortilla stuffed with ooey gooey Daiya mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, and tomato sauce (this was really freaking good), along with more veggies (can't go wrong!) and a taste of black bean-quinoa salad.

The dining hall was pretty busy for the first day. Later we found out that around 500 of the 713 registered attendees were already there.

And now I'm not sure which meal these next plates are from. I know I missed photographing a meal or two (naughty blogger!!), so this could be the first day's dinner or the next day's lunch. Whatev -- the day doesn't matter, just show us the food!

So here's some sauteed Swiss Chard with sesame seeds on brown rice, a spinach-avocado salad from the raw bar (so simple and delicious! I think it had a tahini-based dressing), and raw chocolate pudding (avocado and date-based) with bananas.

And then there was this EXQUISITE gazpacho with pumpkin seeds on top

followed by another gluten-free not-pizza from the pizza bar, this time with cauliflower and broccoli speckled amongst the Daiya.

And this is just the beginning, folks!

"I don't think we're at Vegetarian Summerfest anymore, Toto."

I woke up this morning, dazed and confused.

There was a dog staring at me.
My entire body yearned for more rest.
I was laying on a comfortable bed, my head upon thick pillows.
There was a ceiling fan turning above me.
I was in a room with a lot more stuff than seen here.

I was alone.

I dragged myself out of bed to let the dog out, and the fog still did not lift.
Everything was quiet.
I staggered into the kitchen and did not find multiple buffets of steaming plant-rich food, waiting for me.
There was no wood-fired pizza.
No jam-packed salad bars.
No buffet of crafted raw foods.
I opened the fridge and only found almond milk and wilted greens.
(I wasn't hungry, anyway.)

Instead of rushing off from one lecture hall to another to listen to inspirational and talented activists and authors and chefs, I went to work. And I did not laugh until tears were streaming down my face, nor did work motivate or inspire me. It was just...work.

I'm definitely not at Summerfest anymore.

Out to Lunch (and then dinner... and then lunch again...)

Hearing a lot of crickets around the ol' blog lately, eh? That's because I'm at Vegetarian Summerfest! Yes, as I mentioned on Facebook, I am attending for the first time this year, crossing an item off of my own personal Vegan Bucket List. I'm so stoked to be here, and I have plenty to share with you! The days are long and jam-packed, so it's hard to find time to blog, but you'll get the full scoop soon!

Enjoy your weekend, and stay tuned!

Kickin' It

Isn't it great when dreams come true? When all of your blood, sweat, and/or tears and hard work pays off? When you get to see your vision become a reality? I love when people give all of their focus and energy and passion into what they believe in. This is why I love Kickstarter.

In the last two months or so, I've backed three different Kickstarter projects, and I'd like to take this opportunity to share these three documentary projects with you. (And I just now realized that they are all documentaries.)

The first one is Roots of Rescue, a documentary about animal abuse in the South. Clearly this will be a painful, emotional doc, but how can we change something if we don't know anything about it?


Roots of Rescue met (and surpassed) their fundraising goal, so this film is in the process of being made!

Next up is one that I'm pretty sure I shared on Facebook and/or the blog. It's called I'm Fine, Thanks. It's described as "a new, feature-length documentary about complacency. It's a collection of stories about life, the choices we all make, and the paths we ultimately decide to follow." Watch the trailer and let me know if it stirs up anything inside you.

Gosh, I want to hear the stories of these people! This project has met and surpassed its fundraising goal, but is still accepting pledges until June 22nd. (If you pledge $5 or more, you get a free digital download of the movie!) Keep up with the film's progress on Facebook.

Have you read the blog, Advanced Style? It's a fantastic blog of fierce, stylish older women of NYC. Go check it out - their outfits are AMAZING! I only recently learned that they're making a documentary about these women, and after watching the trailer, you'll see that these women were meant to be seen AND heard.

Advanced Style have met and surpassed their fundraising goal, but they are still accepting pledges until June 23rd. (Pledges of $25 or more get a copy of the DVD!) Keep up with the Advanced Style blog on Facebook.

There are so many Kickstarter projects worthy of support. If you can't pledge a few dollars, just spread the word! Share links and videos via Facebook, twitter, blogs, etc. Help make dreams come true!

What Kickstarter projects are you supporting?

9 veg*ns walk into a Japanese steakhouse...

Amber's boyfriend had a dream. He wanted to round up "The Vegetable Friends" and descend upon one of the local Japanese steakhouses for a vegan-style habachi night. We assembled, excitedly, for this culinary adventure.

When I was The Lone Vegan, I had been to many a habachi-style dinner, but I never ate the food. As The Lone Vegan back then, I would order vegetable sushi while sitting with a group of omnivores beside the grill, sizzling with meat and butter and eggs, ducking every time the chef would fling chicken bits around the table.

Naturally, I was totally on board with reserving an entire habachi table to our vegan selves. Our destination: Kobe Japanese Steakhouse in Brandon, Florida.

I have to say, communicating our dining request was very easy. When I called to make the reservation, I explained to the person on the phone what we wanted: no meat, no butter, no eggs. He indicated on the reservation that we were all vegetarian, and he told me to explain everything when we checked in, as well. When we arrived, the host I spoke with was super understanding and helpful. After clarifying the no meat-no butter- no eggs request, he added that we would want the miso soup (as the onion soup was made with beef broth) and that the ginger salad dressing was vegan. He gave me that information without me even asking!

When we were seated at the table, I went over everything again with our server, who apparently was not given any of the reservation information. He wrote down everything we said, and seemed slightly amused that all 9 of us were eating tofu and vegetables.

Miso soup


salad


And then our chef came. He cracked a few jokes about our party ("So, I don't know if you guys saw the sign outside, but it says 'Steakhouse'...") and admitted he wasn't all that savvy in the tofu cooking department, but he did a fine job. We all had a good laugh when the tofu slabs came out.







finished product


During his cooking, the chef commented that it felt so weird for him to not be cooking with butter, and that he typically goes through a tub of butter for each party. He gestured toward the "tub" on his cart and it looked like close to two pounds of butter!

Overall, this was a fun and delicious experience. Making the reservation was ultra-smooth, and we all had a great time. I love my Vegetable Friends!

Let's talk about menstruating while traveling

Hey friends,

How do you like that blog post title? I figured I may as well get to the point, rather than draw someone into reading a post calling for input and they become disappointed or confused that I'm really asking people about their periods.

But that's what I'm doing: I'm asking you about your periods while traveling.

Tell me about an experience you had -- mortifying, excruciatingly painful, empowering, whatever -- about traveling during "that time of the month."

Send me an email at HungryVeganTraveler [at] Gmail dot com and tell me your story. Be sure to include your name and your website/blog, as I MAY use your story in an upcoming article. (But if you'd rather remain anonymous, which is totally cool, be sure to clarify that in your email as well.) Put "Period Travel" in the subject line, por favor.

So, what is your most memorable (for better or for worse) menstruating moment while traveling? What helped you get through it?

Dudes: You can contribute to this, too. Maybe you, uh, witnessed something while traveling, or you were there with/for your best gal pal, or something along those lines.

For everyone: Check out this awesome article on Jezebel on how a tampon is pretty much a Swiss Army tool of Awesome. Everyone should keep tampons nearby!

I'm looking forward to reading your stories! Please invite friends to share, too!