Holiday Gift Guide From Panda With Cookie

It's that time of year! Time for the annual Panda With Cookie Vegan Christmas Gift Guide. It's the perfect time of the year to support small businesses and to support the people who are out there putting good into the world all year round.

First up! Get on down to Veganville for their delectable candy cane joe joe cupcakes. Gigi has lots of good treats in her shop with plenty of assortments and gift certificates to please anyone.

Herbivore Clothing Company has brand new teal good luck elephant sweatshirts. Michelle and Josh donate year round to animal sanctuaries and if you've ever been in their Portland, OR, storefront they are always willing to help out with recommendations.

Have a frosty glass of peppermint chocolate soymilk in a tall button tumbler from Olive Pit Pottery.  The owner blogs at Cadry's Kitchen, so you can also get another recipe for mac and cheese while you're at it.

Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day! Tami Noyes and Celine Steen are two of the nicest and longest running vegan online personalities I know. Their books are all great and Celine's photography is absolutely gorgeous.  Celine can be found at Have Cake Will Travel while Tami blogs at Vegan Appetite.

My partner loves his Rex Organics cocoa balm for dry lips and hands. Easy to apply from a small reusable tin and lasts a long time.

A Studio By the Sea does gorgeous lampwork glass beads like this cupcake pendant with chain. Her craftsmanship and attention to detail is lovely. Support handmade!

First Friday Pop Up Shop Portland Oregon

Panda With Cookie will be vending at the First Friday Pop Up Shop this Friday, December 6th,  at 7 pm. We'll be in Sweetepa Baking at 1205 SE Stark St. at the corner of 12th Ave.  Come check out my holiday ornaments and enjoy some hot chocolate. There will be cards, jewelry, photography, paintings and more for sale. Support artists and crafters!

Isa Does It: Lemon Blueberry Loaf

Everyone knows I love a good loaf. So I have of course made the lemon blueberry loaf from Isa Does It many times since testing last year. With a newly thrifted $4 mini loaf pan and an orange in the fridge that had seen its better days I decided to change the recipe up a wee bit and make blueberry orange mini loaf. Most delicious!
Isa will be at Powell's in Portland, Oregon Monday, November 18, at 7:30 pm for a Q & A and book signing. Don't miss out!

Awkward Food Photos: Pigs in a Blanket

I love me some food wrapped up in other food. So tasty. A classic example of this is the pig in a blanket. Now, this is a vegan blog so the only pigs in blankets are the ones sleeping at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary in the big barn. But take any old veggie dog and wrap it with some dough or crescent dough and you go from a boring meal to a fun event in which your tastebuds will be wowed.

But what's with that food porn photo from your bocce potluck? A pile of wrapped dogs in a limpid tupperware that doesn't showcase the fun of eating food wrapped in other food.

This photo needs help!™

Put it on a piece of wood! Nothing says fun like a rustic wooden board. And double wrap those dang dogs. Two in one. Make sure it's a bit blurry or your eyeballs will be burned out by the sheer fun it is emanating.

Awkward Food Photos: Seitan

Oh heavens! What horror is this? A delicious batch of simmered seitan, straight from that must have cookbook Vegan With a Vengeance. But the flash! The brownness! The lack of any color whatsoever. The 50 year old Revere Ware (for life, baby) instead of a Fancy Pot from Fancy Store.

This photo needs help!

Look at that! Just throw on some random filter you find in your Photoshop and now it looks like a fun pot o' good times. Hell yeah!

I'll be here every Tuesday with more Awkward Food Photos.

The Local Food Review: Papa G's

I don't see this restaurant mentioned a lot in Portland but Papa G's has become one of my favourite places to visit. They are an all vegan, all organic deli and restaurant located on SE Division Street near 24th. They have a full menu to order from as well as some cold salads, daily specials, desserts, and a by the pound salad bar. You can find their flavoured tofus in local stores like Food Fight and People's Co-op.

I most enjoy the plate pictured above, which features locally made tempeh with gravy, mac and cheese and beets. The tofus and mashed potatoes are all tasty as well. The staff has always been super nice when we go in and they have ample seating to enjoy a quick crossword puzzle.

Friday Fun Halloween Theme: Pumpkin Roll

I love a good pumpkin roll. I have not seen a vegan version floating around until this spring when I stumbled upon one in the Sweet Vegan book. Comes an autumnal October Sunday and it was time to try my hand at pumpkin rollin'. My biggest concern was that the cake would crack when it was unrolled to spread on the filling and, sure enough, crack it did.
We added some extra spices and this thing tastes amazing. The large crack on top is only one of about 3 so you might not want to take it to the Pretty Food Shindig you were planning on but it would fit right in at the Hell Yeah Tasty Food Get Down.

Panda With Cookie is pleased to announce that tofu pirate onesies are now available at Herbivore in Portland, OR! Stop by and grab an exclusive tofu pirate on a brown onesie. Available in sizes 3 to 6, 6 to 12, and 12 to 18 months.

Sanctuary Century 10% Fundraiser Today!

Today is the day! 10% of all sales at Panda With Cookie is going to the Sanctuary Century Benefit. The tofu scramble gang has never been so proud.

Queso Stuffed Seitan Burger with Guacamole

Dinner comes with a Food For Lovers queso stuffed seitan burger topped with guacamole and baked onion rings. The burgers are a modified seitanic stuffer from Joni Marie Newman's The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet and are my go to veggie burger. Most delectable.

Sanctuary Century 10% Fundraiser

Panda With Cookie is pleased to be joining the Sanctuary Century 10% Fundraiser on August 11th, 2012. A number of businesses are donating 10% of their sales that day to the 100 mile bike ride that is in its 5th year of raising money for animal sanctuaries in the Pacific northwest.
The ride will benefit Out To Pasture, Hope Animal Sanctuary and Chimpanzee Sanctuary NW. You can see the complete list of businesses participating at the Fundraiser site.

I will be donating 10% of all sales and will take orders for onesies if I don't have the size/style you need in stock currently. Support some great vegan businesses and help raise money for a great cause!

Many thanks to Josh from Herbivore for putting this all together!

Test Kitchen Lemon Blueberry Loaf

I am pleased to be testing for Isa Moskowitz's upcoming book Isa Does It. I've been enjoying a number of recipes thus far but this is the fourth time I've made this lemon blueberry loaf and I thought it garnered a mention on the ol' blog. You could do shots of the batter from this and pass out happy for a few hours. The cat might steal some sips out of your iced tea but you won't mind.

Vegan Muffins on the Move Monday

Celine Steen and Tami Noyes started the Vegan Muffins on the Move blog to encourage people to share muffins with people once a month. Bake up a batch and take them to your mechanic or yoga class or work potluck. I've got the amazing cinnacrunch muffins from Tami's American Vegan Kitchen ready to go this month. Check out their blog for a new recipe every month or make up your own and then post back to let them know that a wave of vegan muffins is making its way across the globe!

Personalized Cat Ornaments at Panda With Cookie

I'm making custom cat ornaments for the holidays! Head over to Panda With Cookie to find out how to get your own cat immortalized in eco felt.  Taking orders now!

Quick Fix Vegan Up in My House

I was very pleased to win a copy of Robin Robetson's Quick Fix Vegan during Vegan Mofo. I still haven't completely gotten through reading the book but the Indian Shepherd's Pie caught my eye right away and I happened to have almost everything on hand to bake it up yesterday. The picture is less than stellar, but I don't think shepherd's pie ever photographs well anyway. It doesn't matter. This was absolutely delicious! I had fire roasted tomatoes on hand which added a nice kick and the combination of potato and cauliflower topping was perfect without being too heavy. I have plans for another recipe or two in the coming week and will have a more thorough review up later. But for now I am completely happy to have a whole pie to work my way through this week. 

Vegan Companies I Like

My final vegan company I like is not one company but rather a collection of small etsy shops that I am part of. The Vegan Etsy Team is a group of etsy sellers who are both vegan themselves and also maintain all vegan goods in their shops. Sellers range from paper goods from My Zoetrope to Art by Susmitha jewelry to baked goods from Sweet V Confections and plush toys by yours truly at Panda With Cookie. If you search for Veganetsy Team on etsy you'll get an entire list of shops and items that are vegan, made with love just for you.

Amazing Savings Find O' the Week

Lemon infused avocado oil! So fancy I don't know what to do with it, but for $2.99 how I can I not buy it?

Little Panda on the Prairie: Vinegar Pie

Vinegar Pie! It is mentioned in Farmer Boy and possibly other books. Almanzo digs into slices of apple and vinegar pie. It seems that vinegar was often used in place of citrus, since those fruits weren't readily available in the US until fairly recently. An orange and a penny in the stocking at Christmas were considered mighty special. I liked the sound of this pie, so I chose it as my last challenge to veganize.

Common Family Paste for Pies
You'll need: 1 1/4 c flour
1/2 t salt, scant
1/3 c lard (I used 1/3 c. shortening)
1/2 t butter (I used Earth Balance)
Chill all ingredients and bowl
Mix flour and salt
Spoon shortening into flour and blend with fingers dipped in cold water. Continue to toss as you add 3 T ice water. Press into a ball and chill whilst preparing the filling. Roll out and lay in pie pan.

Vinegar Pie
You'll need 1/4 c butter (I used Earth Balance)
2 eggs (I used a mixture of agar and Instant Clear Jel. This was the tricky thing to sub here.)
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c flour
few grindings of nutmeg
3 T vinegar, cider

-Melt Earth Balance.
-Blend sugars, flour and nutmeg with 4.5 T instant clear jel
-Boil 1 c water with 1/2 t agar
-Stir into the sugar mixture the vinegar, Earth Balance and 1 c water til well mixed. Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 400 for 30 minutes.

As you can see, this held its shape nicely when sliced. The flavour is quite strong and unique but I enjoy it. The amount of filling was less than needed for a 9 inch crust, so you could use 8 or maybe even 7 inches here. I like the ratio of crust to filling in the 9 inch pie plate, though. It isn't too thick and keeps the vinegar flavour from being overpowering.

Amazing Savings Find O' the Week

The fabulous find for this week is mimicreme for 49 cents. That's amazing!

Amazing Savings Find O' the Week

This week we have Biscoff Spread for $1.49. Sweet, sweet Speculoos.