September 25, 2020
The next V.V. Nostalgic Classic would be the Charleston Chew, a childhood favorite deep-seeded in my memory–like all of my V.V. Nostalgic Classics (new tag!) Like those other treats, the texture and taste has remained vivid for decades. But more importantly, the associations and related details also pour back. I Read more…
July 19, 2020
July Birthday time! First on the menu, some summertime parfaits. This only made 3 because I was also making a cake, so feel free to double or triple. The Basil and Lime-infused Coconut Whip 1 can full fat coconut milk, chilled overnight 1/2 Tablespoon maple syrup (adjust for non-my sister Read more…
June 21, 2020
After using cacao butter in my s’mores babka, I knew I had to try to make a cake with it. Because if I passionately huff the stuff in ecstasy, it’ll most likely make a delicious cake, right? So on this Father’s Day, my first trial of a Vegan White Chocolate Read more…
June 14, 2020
June must go on! And that means rainbow Pride treats to celebrate LOVE in all its varied forms. Gazing upon a bright rainbow bundt, who wouldn’t agree that diversity is so much better than same-same. I must give some credit to McCormick who inspired this bundt, even though they are Read more…
May 10, 2020
A beautiful day to celebrate Mother’s Day through the door… Let’s start with the cupcakes. Though I love to show my affection with tremendous baking undertakings, my Mom doesn’t like complicated baked goods. For her day, a basic vanilla and a fudgy chocolate frosting, reminiscent of Duncan Hines. They’re like Read more…
May 9, 2020
The Vegan Gastronomy Culinary Academy has updated their informative vegan macaron Master Class on Youtube, incorporating their vegan egg white mix, Gerbet. Gerbet, a proprietary powder mixture of plant protein, fiber and gums, was created specifically for vegan macaron making. Having had a recent macaron fail with aquafaba, I really Read more…
May 1, 2020
This Angel Food Cake trial below is over 10 years old, but ranks #5 of my most popular posts to date! Since there are so many who still look at it, I feel I owe another, and perhaps better, attempt… Yes, vegan Angel Food Cake has been a quest of Read more…
April 17, 2020
A big bummer that the French macarons I attempted to make, a two-day process, were a big fail. 😢 So I made a batch of cupcakes to adorn them with my failure… and ordered some ingredients for my next attempt. Stay tuned! The extra Italian meringue would be piped into Read more…
March 1, 2020
I am happy to report on some new vegan options on Long Island. Starting with Sweet Soul Bakery in St. James, an all-vegan bakery utilizing real and natural ingredient goodness. The result: deliciousness. I tried the vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting after basking in all the v-vombs. The cake was Read more…
January 24, 2020
Though I was more a Yankee Doodle dandy, Drake’s being my choice in snack cakes as a child, Little Debbie holds a special place in my heart for her hexagonal twin cakes. The waxy white chocolate giving way to creme-filled yellow layers—pure nostalgia. And now, a vegan version here, from Read more…
January 21, 2020
Staten Island’s vegan offerings keep me coming back. And now vegan donuts?! Yes, vegan donuts. But first another kickbutt Golden Milk latte at New Dorp’s Sips + Maker. This may be my favorite Golden Milk latte in New York City! And they seem to always have housemade vegan sweet treats Read more…
December 30, 2019
Visiting the Rockaways off-season you get a better sense of its lure. The folks who live in this area have created a very special community, a community that one might believe they’d need to move far from New York City to obtain. It was my privilege to spend the afternoon Read more…
December 15, 2019
As a blogger, I am excited about uncovering vegan options in sneaky places. “Sneaky” as in places where you would least expect it. So vegan options in the East Village? Yeah, yeah. But vegan options in Staten Island? How amazing! To follow is yet another report on vegan treasures on Read more…
November 28, 2019
This was my first spoken sentence apparently. I wanted a banana. I liked bananas (see below) and I still do very much. Banana desserts, especially. So on Thanksgiving dessert duty, a pie. A banana pudding pie with a Golden Oreo crust. Vanilla pudding, another childhood favorite So my ripe bananas Read more…
November 25, 2019
A decade of teaching, a decade of turning the classroom pumpkin into cupcakes. These are my all-time favorite cupcakes to make. Maybe because my students are always skeptical about how the pumpkin on my desk can become a delicious cupcake. Maybe because most have learned of my being vegan by Read more…
October 4, 2019
It’s about time Baked By Melissa, home of the two bite tie-dyed cupcake, expanded its line to include vegan flavors. And since I had never had cause to eat their stuff until now, I wasn’t sure how many of them little things would be appropriate for my appetite. I opted Read more…
August 25, 2019
The potential of one day is pretty mind-blowing. Waking up in our adorable green pastel RV in Key Largo’s Sunset Cove Resort we headed to the renowned John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, the country’s first undersea park. Though our snorkeling tour had been cancelled the previous day due to Read more…
August 22, 2019
Ah, a day of rest. Having settled into West Palm Beach, all that was on the itinerary was some food and some rest. We stayed local, sampling some of her new neighborhood’s eats. A light lunch at Celis Produce: Here is the TATA: tempeh, avocado, tomato, arugula with sunflower seeds Read more…
August 5, 2019
Summer eats are a celebration of color and freshness. After a long weekend of repeated trips to the shores of the Rockaways, here is what I ate. Above, avocado toast on a thick slice of housemade bread from La Fruteria at the bustling 97th Street concessions on Rockaway Beach. And Read more…
July 12, 2019
New Jersey often gets a bad rap. But it has so many wonderful places! And I just love to uncover and report on them. Plus, really great vegan options. So prepare yourself for tons of pictures on my pretty journey south to Atlantic City. Because Jersey deserves some cred. One Read more…
June 20, 2019
Tomorrow, Summer is here. So the teachers drink. And some will eat my cupcakes: vanilla cupcakes with a pineapple-rum compote and a cream cheese frosting. In their cabana wear. Pretty please with a cherry on top… The last of the dried pineapples I made. Cocktail mermaids A word about edible Read more…
June 19, 2019
When I was a little kid I used to huff vanilla extract from the cupboard. And to this day I’m very vanilla with my taste in cake. Nothing beats it. In my vegan life, I’ve tried many vegan vanilla cake recipes and now I am finally in love with a Read more…
June 16, 2019
The summer baking season is on! Which means berries are a-plenty. This corresponds exactly to what my Dad enjoys eating on his special day. So the guy in stripes and plaid gets layers of vanilla cake, tangy cream cheese coconut whip cream and a ton of fresh from the farm Read more…
June 5, 2019
The all-vegan Planted in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn has some great bites. It is a nice addition to a neighborhood I’m often in, given its proximity to my hair gal and my old job. My Vegan Egg Sandwich with its cashew cheese eggs, some greens, pickled beet, avocado, and some dried Read more…
April 25, 2019
When you drive all day, the path of your thoughts can be amusing. Like this morning–I took a picture of this stop sign in Marfa before I hit the road. I thought I could get it printed all nice and big for my classroom. But as the day progressed, the Read more…
April 20, 2019
Easter is like Christmas but with pastels! Well, in a secular sense… Easter used to be one of my favorite holidays as a child. For one, my Mom made thee best easter baskets for us, including two of my all-time favorite confections: Cadbury Cream Eggs and Peeps. She also made Read more…
