Vegan Baking Challenge: Dark Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies

I'm trying to stay awake until a decent hour tonight, so I can get a night's uninterrupted (and Gravol free) sleep. My house is clean, the laundry is done, I've already worked out once today, and what's playing on CBC Radio One right now is boring so...I bake.

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups flour (I used Bob's Red Mill GF All Purpose Baking Flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 Tablespoon flax meal (I have about 4 giant bags of this in my fridge I'm trying to use up)
1/3 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions

Sift together flour, baking soda and salt.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flax meal and almond milk. Add sugar and stir, add oil and vanilla and whisk.

Mix wet ingredients into dry, fold in chocolate chips and cranberries.

Drop batter by the tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake at 375F for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for a bit (5 minutes). Using a spatula, put them on a cooling rack or plate to cool the rest of the way.

Talk About Grace Under Pressure.

This is Tariq Jahan. His son, Harun, 21, was one of three men who were run down in Birmingham last night while trying to protect their car wash business. Really, is there anyone who can deny this man his request? Go home, people. Go home.

Vegan Cooking Challenge: Potato Scallion Pancake, Mustard Hoisin Tofu, Orange Scented Broccoli

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm trying to reduce my reliance on animal products and reduce my intake of naughty foods - I'm hoping that both will be helpful in treating my PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), a metabolic and hormonal disorder that I'm attempting to tackle.

In my research, I came across a book by Isa Chandra Moskowitz called Appetite for Reduction, a cookbook of low-fat vegan recipes that she developed after being diagnosed with PCOS herself. After reading some great reviews, I ordered the book on Amazon and it arrived yesterday. First up: Potato Scallion Pancakes (p.61), Orange Scented Broccoli (p.100) and Hoisin-Mustard Tofu (p.153). While it took slightly longer than one of Jamie Oliver's "Meals in Minutes" challenges, the three dishes took way under an hour to cook, and featured mostly fresh veggies and spices - very little oil, and only a smidge of soy sauce and mustard. And boy, was it flavourful.

The Potato Scallion Pancakes fell apart a little when I took them off their baking sheet - I think if I had made them slightly smaller that might have been avoided. Also, both the broccoli and the tofu recipes called for mirin, which I don't usually have just lying around - so I used white wine, which seemed to be a fine substitute. I'm noticing that vegan cooking requires its own plethora of condiments that I am gradually going to need to fill my cupboard with: these recipes called for sesame oil (both toasted and not) and panko...all things I don't normally have kicking around in my pantry.

Overall, I'd give this menu an A-. The Asian flavours were authentic, and the meal was hearty, although I kinda missed fried rice - there's a recipe in the book for "Unfried Rice" that I might need to try next time.

Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz is published by Da Capo Press.

A Pride Virgin No Longer

I know it's hard to believe, since I'm basically a drag queen trapped in a straight woman's body, but I have never been to Pride in any city I've lived in - until yesterday. I popped my Pride cherry in a big way by dancing on Fighting Chance Productions' float to promote their latest show, bare: a pop opera (which I've been blogging about here), a drama about two private school boys' torrid love affair.

Because bare takes place in a Catholic school, our costume direction was to dress like school kids. I jazzed up my black skirt and white button down shirt with a red bra, pink flower belt, purple hair flower, and of course, my beautiful 5 inch lilac stiletto motorcycle boots from John Fluevog.

It looked like it was going to rain, but as we gathered in the staging area at Burrard and Robson, the sun miraculously came out (pun intended). Slowly we started to make our way down the parade route, show tunes blasting from our float as we danced (on and off the float) and handed out promo cards for bare to the cheering, dancing, costumed (or naked) crowd. I danced and sang the whoooole way - from Burrard and Robson to Pacific and Bute. That may not seem very far, but it is when you're shakin' your bootie in heels. We were pretty much all sweaty messes by the time we got to the end of the parade route. The poor kids from the bare cast had to go right to a sitzprobe and run-through, while my friend Brandy and I had the luxury of heading for the festival at Sunset Beach for treats and a sit-down.

I loved the atmosphere at Pride. There were all nature of people there: LGBT, not, old, young - it really felt like an all-inclusive festival. This made me wonder how the LGBT crowd felt about the fact that their day had become co-opted by the wider community as a day of celebration, but honestly, I was happy to be a part of it. It felt like we were all celebrating our right to be individuals - and isn't that what it's all about? Now if we could just put that idea of universal acceptance into practice everyday, in all aspects of our lives... think how awesome (and sexy) the world would be if every day was Pride day.

Waiting in the staging area to begin. We realized when we got together in a big group that we kinda looked like we were the ensemble from The Book of Mormon, not Catholic school kids.

Waiting to go...we waited a long time.

Mr. Ryan Mooney and the incomparable Jenn Suratos.

Me n' Arielle Tuliao

Balloons on our float.

God bless Hal Rogers.

My favourite float - for an outdoors camp. A sign on the Boler read "Get your woody serviced here."

Another reason to love my bank.

Victoria Visits: Beacon Hill Park

On my last day in Victoria, Alex and I picked up some takeaway from Foo (Pad Thai for Al, Lentil Dahl for me) and headed to Beacon Hill for a picnic.

In my eight years away from Victoria (!), I'd almost forgotten about the peacocks that roam the park freely:

Seeing this peacock made me recall a walk I took, long ago, through James Bay. I was alone on a side street, not too far from the park, when a peacock came ambling up the sidewalk towards me. At a certain house, it turned, pushed open the gate, and walked up the path towards the house. I guess it was expected for tea or something.

Alex has a reputation as a bit of a cat whisperer - he can get any cat to adore him within seconds. He tried, but I can't say the same magic happened between him and this peacock.

We sat underneath this tree to eat our picnic. I got to spend time with my brother, and the sun had finally come out and it felt like summer. That makes this tree one of my most special places.

Victoria Visits: Nourish Garden Bistro

I spent a few days in Victoria this week, hanging out with my brother Alex. He and my sister-in-law Laura had asked me to come over to help them pick out some decor for their house in the Cook Street village and I was more than happy to oblige - my brother is one of my most favourite people in the world and I'm always happy to have an excuse to spend time with him. Also - shopping with other people's money?! Well, I'm happy to do that too.

I headed over on the ferry early Wednesday morning, and Alex and I immediately started our rounds of shops: Urban Barn, Homesense, Nood - anywhere that carried *stuff* really, including the Maritime Museum in Bastion Square, where we satisfied Al's craving for an antique map of some kind to hang in his office.

We also satisfied my craving for yumminess by visiting

Nourish Garden Bistro

("Local! Wholesome! Yummy!) at the Glendale Gardens. My friend Mike had given me an excellent review of the place, and even though it was a little out of the way, I was eager to try it, as it's vegan and GF friendly.

We were immediately charmed by the decor, set in the grounds of the gardens in a little annex covered with plants and flowers:

"Secret Garden" entrance to Nourish.

Repurposed barbecue.

The menu at Nourish is small, local and seasonal. Alex and I both ordered gluten-free wraps - Al had a chicken sausage wrap, and I had "Summer in a Sari," which features hummus, apples and veggies (the original comes with goat cheese, too, which I omitted). Both came with enormous fresh salads, and the wraps themselves were amazing! GF breads can be hit and miss, but we both agreed we'd be happy to take home the wraps plain for our own cupboards, they were so good.

Part of Nourish's charm comes from its unique locale, set in the middle of Glendale Gardens. It is pastoral and serene - almost

too

serene for this Gastown girl - I could hear myself chew, it was so quiet!

The view from Nourish's patio dining area.

The view from Nourish into the Glendale Gardens. Even on a cloudy day it's pretty spectacular, non?

For dessert Alex and I took one of Nourish's GF brownies to go, as we needed to continue on our shopping mission. The staff asked us, repeatedly, if we only wanted

one

brownie, to the point where Al joked, "Ask me that again and we'll take two." We got in the car and took off, breaking the brownie out of its bag as we pulled out of the parking lot. We took one bite and looked at each other, laughed, and chorused, "Oh,

sh*t

." Let's just say, you don't want to share these brownies. Moist, delicious, amazing. We should've ordered two. Or a dozen.

You can visit Nourish's website

here

. They're open 10 - 4 Tuesday through Sunday, and definitely worth the trip out to Glendale Gardens.

A Reason to Get Up: Carrot Cake Pancakes

I am not a good sleeper. Since I was a kid I've suffered with insomnia, and now that I set my own working hours, it's gotten even worse. Who cares if I don't fall asleep until 6 am? I can sleep until noon! Nap in the afternoon? Yes please! My sleep patterns are so off track it's gotten a bit ridiculous.

I resolved last night after another almost sleepless night, that I had to try to get back in sync with the rest of the world; I am not a hamster, I should not be sleeping all day. So, despite not falling asleep until 5:46 a.m. this morning, I set my alarm for 9:30 a.m. (still late for the "real world," I know) and determined that I was getting up, come hell or highwater.

It helps to have incentive. So, I decided to make these amazing vegan carrot cake pancakes, recipe courtesy of the Post Punk Kitchen:

This was a really good way to use up the carrots still left in my fridge before my new bin of organic produce comes tomorrow. I also substituted whole wheat flour for regular flour, and olive oil for canola oil - so my pancakes probably had an earthier, nuttier flavour, but they were still delish. And I served mine with sugar free syrup, to cut down on the sweetness. Still, the verdict is: AMAZING!

2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
1 cup almond milk (or your fave non-dairy milk)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice

1 cup peeled grated carrot, about 6 ounces (Dani's note: I shredded these up in my little food processor - that was definitely the way to go.)

In a small mixing bowl, using a fork, beat the flax seeds together with the milk for about a minute. Add the vinegar, water, maple syrup, oil and vanilla. Mix well.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Make a well in the center and add the wet ingredients. Mix with a wooden spoon just until combined. Fold in grated carrot. Let batter rest for at least 5 minutes.

Preheat a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Lightly coat pan with cooking spray or oil. Add batter in scant 1/4 cup scoops. I use an ice cream scooper for this and it works magically. Cook three at a time for about 4 minutes (or until the tops look mostly cooked), then flip and cook until lightly browned, 2 more minutes. (Dani's note: these take WAY longer to cook than what is provided for here. Don't turn up the heat, keep it at medium, but be prepared to cook each batch for at least 5 minutes EACH SIDE).

Keep on a plate covered with tin foil until ready to eat. Serve with pure maple syrup.

Meals in Minutes: Vegan Edition

So at Casa Lemonata we're trying to cut down on our reliance on animal products, for various reasons: health, environment, love of the Curriecat. This week all dairy went out the door - sniff - goodbye, cheese! I'm trying to phase things out slowly, so I'm not setting myself up for failure. It would be an understatement to say I'm usually a "go big or go home" kind of girl, but I think a gradual transition might be the best way to succeed.

I've been a big fan and user of Sarah Kramer's vegan cookbooks for a long time, but they are coming in extra handy now. La Dolce Vegan focuses on easy recipes that can be thrown together in literally, minutes - and really, Sarah puts Jamie Oliver to shame in this department. Tonight's meal - "Cousin Natasha's Everything But the Kitchen Sink Vegetable Curry" (p. 140) took 20 minutes from start to finish, and helpfully used up all of the organic veggies in my fridge. I substituted celery for red pepper, and bok choy for spinach, but everything else (sweet potatoes, onions, zucchini, chickpeas, carrots, veggie stock, raisins, spices) was already on hand in my kitchen and ready to rock.

This is a SPICY dish though, kids - Sarah calls for a tablespoon of curry powder, and I think next time I would half that for a milder curry. I served this on brown rice, and it was awesome. And there were leftovers. Score.

La Dolce Vegan by Sarah Kramer is published by Arsenal Pulp Press.

Welcome to the Neighbourhood: The Juice Truck

Over the past two years the City of Vancouver has launched a new street food program that has been bringing delicious eats to various parts of the city: The Re-Up BBQ, located near the Art Gallery, and Arturo Mexico to Go, at Canada Place, are two of my favourites. However, Gastown has, until now, not really been a beneficiary of the street food program the way other neighbourhoods have, which is a shame given the amount of food traffic down here, especially on weekends and evenings.

However, the corner of Abbott and Water have gotten considerably more exciting thanks to the arrival yesterday of the Juice Truck. Yesterday I stopped by while Juice Truckers Zach and Ryan were handing out free samples of their juices. I worked in a juice bar years ago, trained by the good folks who opened ReBar Modern Food in Victoria. I'm familiar with the carrot-apple-beet combo, the wheatgrass, and such. In fact, working in a juice bar kind of put me off juice for years, and awful places like Jugo Juice and Booster Juice that add sugar, ice cream and all sorts of not-good-for-you additives to their products really turned me off commercial juice. However, in the interests of being a friendly neighbour, I stopped by and tried a sample of the Juice Truck's Hybrid Smoothie: carrot-ginger juice with homemade almond milk, banana, and cinnamon.

Come rain, come shine, there is juice. In a truck.

The Hybrid.

Well hellooooooooo, Juice Truck! The juice was delicious, not too sweet, and the almond milk didn't mask the flavour of the carrots at all. I thought about that damn juice all day yesterday, and this morning, in a torrential downpour, I headed out to Abbott & Water for my fix.

This could be a problem.

Or is it? Juice Truck uses organic and where possible, local ingredients. They make their own almond milk. I didn't see a mention of ice cream, yogurt, or scary "power boosts" on their menu. Juice Truck's prices are in line with, or a little higher, than other juice bars or coffee shops - I paid $7.00 for a 16 oz smoothie - but that's a price I'm willing to pay for locally made, locally sourced juice.

Juice Truck, this might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Welcome to the neighbourhood. And thanks for not being the Donut Truck. That really would have been a problem.

Cute juice truck branding! Follow the Juice Truck on Twitter at @juicetruck.

New Fashion Favourite: Cherry Velvet

This is why I love social media.

So I'm lying at home feeling very sick and sorry for myself last week, when I get randomly followed by @cherryvelvety, whose bio reads: "Retro inspired dresses tailored to the curvy fashionista."

Well. Retro? Tailored? Curvy?

I quickly clicked on their website and found Cherry Velvet Plus, maker of beautiful little summer dresses.

I immediately followed back and arranged to visit their studios on Railway Street the next day, nausea bedamned. When I spoke to the designer, Diane Kennedy, on the phone, she said she wasn't sure if they'd have anything small enough to fit me (something I hear so often), but to come in anyway. I was so excited, I felt better than I had in a week.

Whether I've been a Size 0 or a Size 16 (and I've been everything in between), I've always complained about the lack of beautiful, on-trend, figure flattering clothes for curvy women. We've got enough prejudices to navigate in this world, with people who think if you're chubby it means you're also lazy, overeating, unathletic, and a potato-chip lover, and feel it's OK to tell you this to your face (Really. People do this.) We already have to stare longingly at clothes in Vogue and realize we probably can't fit our boobs, let alone our hips, in them. We don't need to also be in tears every time we hit the shops and all we can find are muumuus, caftans, or items tailored to a senior citizen. It's a challenge, and one that I've always been passionate (slash angry) about.

Diane Kennedy's studios on Railway Street (just down the street from me - how local can you get?!) are chock-a-block full of her various lines. I was more than a little surprised to see Fashionista Extraordinaire Barb there, formerly of Bodacious fame, but was NOT surprised to hear that she was behind the marketing of this sweet little Cherry Velvet line. Diane found me a few things to try on in my size, and I was instantly in love:

I bought this dress, which is called "The Geisha," and another in a print called "Love Letters." Both are cotton, but different enough in terms of the print and fabric (the Geisha has a sheen to it that Love Letters does not which dresses it up quite a bit) to look and feel like very different dresses. The fit is absolutely flattering on the waist and the bust, with nips and darts in just the right places, and these dresses have POCKETS. They also just scream for crinolines, which I'm hoping to try with one soon. I felt like an absolute siren in these dresses.

Here's me (sans make-up and hair!) getting ready for my birthday party in my "Love Letter" dress - just so you can see how cute the print is, and the cute lace details around the neckline (bra showing as usual - good job, Danilemon). People asked me all night where my dress came from, and I felt like a million bucks (once I'd done my hair, thrown on some lipstick and tucked my bra away). Unfortunately I was too busy partying to take full-blown pictures, but I'll post some soon. These dresses are way too adorable to keep secret, although I did briefly contemplate keeping them a delicious secret all to myself...

Cherry Velvet's blog can be found here, and their online boutique is here. I cannot WAIT to see what they come up with for fall...

31.1/31.2

I turned 31 two weeks ago and time seems to have sped up since then. I've been busy doing this n' that, so here is a quick update:

I travelled to Victoria on my birthday, June 29, to surprise my dad, who was being installed as the President of the Victoria Harbourside Rotary Club. This was a big deal for him and I was glad I could be there to share his special day, even if it meant being at the Union Club at an ungodly hour, as Rotary normally hold breakfast meetings.

Smiling president Rick Lemon, L, being congratulated by Troy Alexander, R.

Just a day later and it was off to Kelowna for my brother Alex and his lady-love Laura's wedding on July 2. It was a very small, family-only affair as these two aren't really into making big spectacles (I'm not sure how Alex can be related to me). We joked that after 10 years, Laura is really already part of the family so this was really just another "installation ceremony." I got to spend some great quality time before the wedding with my brother, drinking beer and blacking blackjack (that was our "stag night"), and even though the wedding was tiny, it had all those traditional wedding elements: tears, joy, romance, and cake. Alex and Laura are now off on a wonderful honeymoon at Disneyworld and the Bahamas. I got an ecstatic airport update a few days ago from the Junior Lemons that they were dining beside Geraldo Rivera and his glorious moustache, so really, doesn't that make it all worth it?

My beautiful Momma - we're on the ferry on our way to Kelowna for the wedding!

On our first day in Kelowna we found this - "Rick's Garden World." My Pop was ecstatic - if you've seen his gardens then you understand. I have a feeling this might be his Christmas card this year...

Me n' Al on our "stag night." We (OK, AL) made us some significant cash at the blackjack tables!

On our way to the ceremony - we are SO EXCITED!

My brother is a handsome groom.

The newlyweds.

Honeymooning in the Magic Kingdom.

While I was in Kelowna I also got to visit my cousin Kathy and her partner Nick at their new property. They have bought a few acres so that Kathy, who has been horse-crazy since birth, could bring her 3 horses home, and so that Nick, who has a love of all things mechanical, could have the garage of all garages. Their property is beautiful, with a log cabin home, space for more animals than they have (Nick wants to add a donkey and sheep to their menagerie), and amazing views.

Kathy with a trophy she just won for...err...Kath? Something about hacking? And a horse? I'm proud of you anyway!

One of the stunning views at Kathy and Nick's place.

I was miserably sick for the better part of a week after I got home from Kelowna, thanks to some new meds which a specialist had put me on to help me deal with some of my symptoms of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), a metabolic condition that has gifted me with, among other things, insulin resistance, weight gain, fatigue, anxiety, hormone surges, horrible PMS - lots of loveliness, in other words. However, the medications that the specialist put me on were horrible - I couldn't keep anything down - and after 6 days of being housebound, I decided there must be a better (i.e. medication free) and natural way for me to deal with my PCOS. Within three days of going off the medications, I felt back to my old self, and strong enough to host a wine and cheese to celebrate my belated birthday last Friday night.

Thanks to Les Amis du Fromage and Acme Cafe, my friends and I celebrated in wonderful style with various cheeses, charcuterie, and of course, lemon meringue pie. It was just the way I wanted to celebrate being "31-derful," with my friends from all walks of life getting together to enjoy some laughs and of course some cheese.

Last weekend was another whirlwind of family events. Saturday my mom and her 5 brothers and sisters were all in the same place for the first time in several years, and we had a family barbecue to celebrate. It meant I got to spend quality time with my godkids at the barbecue, and thankfully I left before the family waterfight broke out. Yikes. That night my parents and I attended a party on the roof of the Loden Hotel to celebrate my lovely Auntie Claire's 60th birthday party - another night of family, friends and food (are you noticing a theme to Year 31 so far?!)

Sunset at the Loden.

My lovely Auntie on her 60th.

This past Monday I spent house-hunting with my friend Cathy, who is looking to move downtown. We started out with the best of intentions, but our will to search kind of gave out as the day went on...we nipped in for a bagel at Solly's, then I remembered it was free Slurpee Day so of course, we had to get one of those, and then, well, we were hungry again, so we met our friend Caitlin at the Foundation on Main for vegetarian food...

OMG free Slurpees!

After a spontaneous afternoon tea with my friend Eliza at Nelson the Seagull (more on that place later!), I headed off last night to Theatre Under the Stars at the Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park to see the premiere of "Bye Bye Birdie" (picture below courtesy the beautiful Louisa Phung - I stole it from her FB page). It was a long night (3 hour running time), but a lovely one, running into lots of theatre friends and of course enjoying watching some of them hoof it onstage. TUTS is a great way to spend a summer evening.

We love you Conrad, oh yes we do...

So that's the first two weeks of 31-derful. Not bad, even with a sickness hiatus. Now if only the weather would cooperate so we could have a bit more summer; Vancouver has reverted to its normal cloudy, wet and grey status this morning...

Down n' Dirty on Alexander Street

On Saturday I participated in a community gardening project on Alexander Street, sponsored by the Vancouver Public Space Network. We had agreed to show up rain or shine, but I have to admit, I was not pleased when I woke up that morning to grey skies and drizzle. Still, off I went, and really, it was a blast.

I had this vision of dancing around planting lovely flowers. Instead, I got this 10 cubic-yard pile of dirt, which we had to shovel.

Team Dirtpile: Anne, Caroline, and Brent.

I couldn't resist, unflattering photo bedamned.

We had to wheel our dirt over to where the city had cut away the sidewalk to make room for our garden.

The beautiful plants!

I can't wait to go back and see how our little plants are doing. We planted a number of raspberry bushes; does anyone know if they'll produce fruit this year? How amazing would that be?!