Fashion can be so cruel.

My dissertation has a knack for causing unintentional hiatuses in many aspects of my life, including this recent one from blogging. I am back, though. For now.

I have a few announcements!

1. This month's Bitchcraft Trading Post event was a huge success! It was held in Atwater Village in an outdoor courtyard, and there were approximately 20 artists/crafters vending, including foodchain. If you're local, come check out the next event in May! I'll post details soon.

2. West Hollywood may become the first US city to ban the use of animal fur for fashion, and hopefully it will not be the last. On Sunday, 2/20 from 2pm-7pm, foodchain will be working with Compassion Over Killing to raise money for the Fur Free Weho Campaign by selling vegan jewelry and accessories at a fundraising event in Glendale, CA. A portion of my proceeds will be donated to the Fur Free Weho campaign. Fashion should never be cruel. More details about the event here.

3. Be sure to vote on March 8th for candidates who support outlawing fur.

Like, why?

TODAY! foodchain selling @ Holiday Sale in Hollywood

Last-Minute Shopping | Local Artists | Vintage Sellers | Vegan Pizza

TODAY, Sunday, 12/19/10!!!

Holiday Craft & Vintage Sale 

To be held INDOORS at 1445 N. Gardner St. in Hollywood (Just south of Sunset, next to the firestation)

Come check out foodchain, my vegan brand of handmade jewelry & accessories!

Cash or Paypal only, please.

Go See Bold Native NOW

A few weeks ago, I had the luck of meeting Casey Suchan at a friend's birthday event. She told me about her new movie and said it'd be screening that following Saturday. I told her it was my birthday that day, and so I'd probably be doing something celebratory. This seemed to produce excitement rather than disappointment, which confused me at first, as I was basically telling her I wouldn't be able to make it. Her response?

"It's my birthday, too!"

As a wishful believer in the zodiac, I simply can't say no to someone that shares my birthday. This is what ultimately convinced me to go see the LA screening of Bold Native last weekend, and I'm so glad I did. Even though I've been vegan for over five years now, I felt transformed after leaving the theater that night. It's the kind of movie that leaves an imprint on your visual cortex and lingers in your moral conscience. It's also the kind of movie that leaves a small mark on your partner's hand, from squeezing it so hard.

I urge you, go see this movie. No matter who you are, it will challenge you. And it could change your life.

You know it's good when I buy the shirt.

If you happen to live near Brown University, you can see it today, for FREE, with FREE vegan Indian food. This is a wonderful opportunity!

If you don't see your city or university on the list, email them to request a screening.

Doooo it nowwww!

Vegan MoFo! Day 9: A review of last wkend's Bitchcraft Trading Post!

As I mentioned in this recent post, last weekend I sold my hand-made vegan accessories at the first ever "Bitchcraft Trading Post" event!

Basically, Bitchcraft Trading Post is a collection of Los Angeles-based artists (some professional, some not; some starving, some not) who live in the LA area and know each other. We wanted to have a FREE event where we could sell our stuff without having to pay the huge fee that we would've paid in order to sell at the typical local art fair (ya'll know how I love DIY stuff).

As many of you already know, chooseyourownfoodchain also has a small vegan 'biz called "foodchain." The business consists of...me...and I make and sell jewelry, re-usable lunchbags, totes, clothing, and more. I make my stuff with only VEGAN materials, so NO fur, feathers, ivory, shell, wool, leather, etc. I also try to use recycled materials as much as possible.

A close-up of one of the reusable lunchbags I sold. Designed and hand-stitched by yours truly. The felt is made of recycled materials, and some of the brown you see is actually from an old skirt I cut up.

I didn't just sell my vegan goods last weekend - I also did something I've been wanting to do for ages: I gave out FREE vegan baked goods. I whipped up about eight dozen vegan cookies and a dozen or so vegan cupcakes, and arranged them next to the stuff I was selling with a sign saying "FREE vegan cookies & cupcakes!"

Why did I do this? Well, it wasn't just a marketing gimmick - I really wanted to show people that vegan food can be AMAAAAZINGLY tasty. I knew that if I charged money for these treats, I wouldn't reach as many people, so I gave them away fo' free. Most people were sort of shy about taking free food, given that pretty much nothing is free these days... One very kind woman even insisted on paying me $1 for a cookie. 

By the end of that day's Bitchcraft event, most of my baked goods had been eaten. Of course, I told *everyone* who ate one that they were vegan, and explained that "vegan" meant that I'd made them without milk, butter, eggs, cream, or any other animal-derived ingredient. Some people who ate these had never tried a vegan baked good before. I like to believe that I accomplished my goal of turning some people on to the idea that "vegan" does not have to equal bland. Happy sigh. True to the Vegan MoFo spirit.

My foodchain table.

Let's talk about the food. Here's a list of the treats I made:

1. Lemon Icebox Cookies
I found this online recipe for raw lemon cookies and decided to give it a go. Loved these! They're basically lemon zest, raw cashews, and agave nectar, so you can eat them for breakfast OR as a treat. My only problem was that I couldn't get them to keep well unless I kept them in the freezer at all times.

2. Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Carob Walnut Cookies
Thank you, Muckford, for providing the basis of this recipe. I've only tweaked it a little bit. 

3. CYoFC-Approved Chocolate Chip Cookies
As I've said, I'm not a huge chocolate chip cookie lover, so I invented a kind that I *do* love.

4. Pumpkin Cookies
These are an all-time favorite of mine. I make them every fall, at least once.

5. Coconut Cupcakes (recipe from Vegan With A Vengeance)
This was my first time making these. Oh my god. They're delectable. Very creamy, and not overly coconut-y. I topped mine with store-bought coconut shavings. Vegan Cupcakes 4 LFE!

The coconut cupcakes, in all their delicious, vegan glory.

The event overall was a HUGE success, too. There were art-makers, there were pizza-makers, there were sangria-makers, there were merry-makers. There were also quite a few people who brought their cute puppies along.

Let's talk about the other vendors.

There were about 20 of them. People were selling potted plants, hair accessories, paintings, vintage items, silk-screened posters, candles, jewelry, mulled cider, pizza, ties, etc. Allison Davidson was selling her photography, Oh Boy Cat Toy was selling buttons, beer kozies, vegan cat toys, "fake messes," and postcards, Lori Jackson was selling potted plants, Rachel Pitler was selling her paintings, Monica Katzenell was selling her silk-screened posters...

...Mignonne was selling hand-stitched baby onesies, Ryn Rina was there selling felt hair accessories, Molly Sullivan was selling vintage purses. Mystic Pizza was selling vegan and other pizza (Mystic Pizza is a covert, one-man operation, making and selling pizzas from his home near Silver Lake/Los Feliz...you can find him @mysticpizzala on Twitter ).  This is just a sampling - let me know if you'd like to be listed or linked to! 

For more info about my tiny, one-woman vegan business, aka "foodchain," click on the "Merch" page at the top, or go directly to my etsy site.

peace & carrots,
CYoFC

Vegan MoFo! Day 7: FREE CYoFC-Approved Cookies!

I'm not sure exactly what day of MoFo it is, but I do know that this is my 7th post! I am determined to catch up, however, and catch up I WILL!

Anyway, here I'm going to share with you my new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. I think it merits saying that I don't actually even like chocolate chip cookies that much, but I like these. They're that good.

Here it is:

C Y o F C - A p p r o v e d  C h o c o l a t e  C h i p  C o o k i e s

Ingredients:

2 cups flour (white)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp cinnamon <--the crucial ingredient, in my opinion!!!
1 cup sugar (either the "evaporated cane juice" or "raw turbinado" kind)
2/3 cup olive oil, yes I said olive oil

1/4 cup orange juice or soy milk
2 tsp vanilla extract1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips, but add more if you like!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add the chocolate chips. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar and oil. Add the vanilla and orange juice/soy milk. Form small patties (for larger, flatter cookies) or balls (for smaller, rounder cookies) with your hands and put on a baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes, then rotate the baking sheet 180 degrees and switch it to the other oven rack. Bake another 4 minutes and then check every 2 minutes. Be careful not to overbake - take the cookies out while they are still soft! They will harden once they cool.

I made one sheet of bite-sized cookies, which started out as balls of dough.

Then I made one sheet of bigger cookies, which began as plump patties of dough.

A warm plateful of cookies on blue China makes me feel all domestic.

Oh and by the way, I made these for the Bitchcraft Trading Post that I'll be participating in this Sunday. How much will they cost, you ask? Oh, they'll be going for FREE.

That's right. Free. I am going to be baking like a mad woman and bringing the vegan goodies with me to hand out to anyone who stops by my table. My "shop" is called "foodchain," and I make and sell jewelry, re-usable lunchbags, totes, clothing, and more. I make my stuff with only VEGAN materials, so NO fur, feathers, ivory, shell, wool, leather, etc. I also try to use recycled materials as much as possible.

By the way, Bitchcraft Trading Post consists of me and a bunch of other Los Angeles-based artists, artisans, craftsmen/women, and vintage collectors.

Tell your friends and family who live in LA, Glendale, Pasadena, Long Beach, etc. That would be awesome. :)

Once more for good luck: FREE VEGAN BAKED GOODS FOR EVERYONE*!

:)

Peace,
CYoFC

*While supplies last. So come and get 'em while you can!

Interviews: Ashley Chafin: Don't Try to Out-Veg The Veg*ns

CYoFC: Describe your current diet/lifestyle (vegan, lacto-ovo vegetarian, pescetarian, freegan, flexitarian, omnivore with vegan tendencies...etc.).

Ashley: I'm a strict vegetarian but not quite vegan. There is no cheese or dairy in my house, but I will have pizza or mac and cheese occasionally when I'm out. I try to stick to goat cheese.

CYoFC: For how long have you been a strict vegetarian?

Ashley: I've been vegetarian since I was 16, so 18 years.

CYoFC: What prompted you?

Ashley: The scene in The Silence of the Lambs where Hannibal is asking Clarice how she felt when she heard the lambs screaming. For real.

CYoFC: I hear you, that scene is enough to convince anyone. What were the challenges to becoming this sort of vegetarian? What about current challenges, or aspects of being an almost-vegan, vegetarian that you don't like?

Ashley: It's never been hard for me to not eat meat. There were things I didn't consider, like broth in soups, etc. So there were some accidents. In college, I would have to walk back into the kitchen to look at the soup ingredients. I was a horrible vegan in college, just eating fries and bagels, it's easy to carb overload. What I don't like now is so much vegan food is soy based. Also asking if rice, etc has broth in it, I never know whether to believe the cooks!

CYoFC: There are a lot of soy-based vegan products out there, and there's such controversy over it. I've yet to determine what to believe myself. And with regard to hidden meat, it is always a leap of faith to trust that cooks and wait staff have your dietary interests in mind. Good for you for checking the kitchen's labels yourself! Do you plan on remaining vegetarian? If so, what motivates you?

Ashley: Yes, forever. It never even crosses my mind to eat animals. Sometimes I have nightmares I have eaten a cheeseburger and I wake up in a cold sweat. I get nauseous when I see people eating chicken, it just freaks me out.

CYoFC: Why should other people strive for a vegan diet?

Ashley: There are so many reasons to list. For your health, for animals, for the environment.

CYoFC: Do you have any tips or advice for people who are just starting out with a vegetarian-type lifesytle?

Ashley: Don't forget hidden ingredients. Also, try not to be judgemental. I have met vegetarians who eat gelatin, or who eat bacon in ice cream, and I want to scream "then you aren't vegetarian!" But try to remember that every little thing helps. Don't try to out-veg someone.

CYoFC: I completely agree - every little bit DOES make a difference. What are your favorite foods?

Ashley: Hummus, Broccoli, Spinach, Curry, Sunshine Burgers. Guac, Kettle Chips.

CYoFC: Describe what the giving-up-cheese process was like for you.

Ashley: I've been vegan twice, cheese wasn't so hard, but giving up regular cupcakes, foods that had milk in them was hard.

CYoFC: Now for the age-old question: Are you getting enough protein?

Ashley: Probably too much, like most Americans.

CYoFC: Thanks, Ashley!!!

For more information about the misconceptions about protein in America, check out this article written by Monique Gilbert, a certified personal trainer/fitness counselor. (I warn you, though, she's says mostly good things about soy. ;)) You can also check out this article at The Cancer Project, which is a part of The Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine.


You can read more about Ashley here.  Please commission her for pet portraits or buy some paintings!