Chester County Vegan Festival and More

Hi everyone! On the 25th, I went to the Chester County Vegan Festival with Zach and my sister Alena. We hadn’t been there for a few years, but decided to try it again. It used to be a picnic buffet, which was really cool – you got to pick what you wanted to eat and fill up your plate from the great variety of food – and it used to cost $10 (or $9 if you brought your own place setting). This year it was in a different park, catered by El Burrito, and more expensive ($15, or $13 if you brought your own place setting, which we all did). Unfortunately but unsurprisingly, you ended up with less food. At the start of the food line, you were asked to pick either a vegetable tamale or a mushroom tamale. Both sounded good but you could only get one, so I went with the vegetable and Zach got the mushroom and we ended up sharing them between us. I would have loved to be able to get both because they were amazing! The mango salsa was pretty good, too, but the corn was just OK (I’ve been spoiled by the corn I grew in my garden this year haha) and the salt didn’t stick to it (they rubbed lime over the corn before sprinkling the salt on). Additionally, the whole mango was a) a bit redundant since we’d already been given mango salsa and b) way too sweet to eat all of it. 

I felt bad that there was no compost nearby (or at least not one that I could find, maybe I missed it) for the corn husks (from the tamale), corn cob, and leftover mango; it felt like such a waste throwing all that out. As for the rest of the festival, which we explored after lunch, there weren’t as many vendors as in the past, and only two offered free samples (one had small pieces of Violife cheese and one had bread topped with a vegan cheese and also cups of potato salad, which were awesome). There was a food truck there (Self Love), and their menu seemed nice; I don’t know if I plan to go back to the Chester County Vegan Festival next year, but if I do, I think buying from the food truck makes more sense than paying for the catered lunch. All in all, though, it was still a nice day; we got to hang out and see cute dogs that people had brought with them, and we got some free snacks to bring home, too – these were pretty good… 

Some other fun things I’ve enjoyed this week include these ice cream popsicles…

And these veggie burgers from Aldi… 

Here are some of my sketches from this week…

bell pepper (original photo)

potato (original photo)

snow pea (original photo)

spinach (original photo)

And here’s Leela… 

See you all tomorrow for the start of Vegan MoFo!

Peace. :)

VegFest Food

This year I made it to three vegfests in PA: Philly VegFest (June 6), Chester County Vegan Festival (August 8), and Bethlehem VegFest (August 22).

Philly VegFest

Philly VegFest was really exciting because it was my first time going. I took the train in with Alena and we enjoyed a bunch of free food samples (including cookies, tahini, maple syrup, bread, coconut fries, and pickles all from various vendors, as well as other goodies in a reusable grocery bag). For our lunch, we got BBQ seitan tacos ($4 each) from Vstreet, which we enjoyed while sitting at the fountain. They were really good, even if they were a bit messy, haha! 

We'd hoped to get something from Blackbird Pizzeria and Dottie's Donuts, but the lines were long; next year we'll be sure to stick it out! Philly VegFest wins for best food samples!

Chester County Vegan Festival

This was my second time going to the Chester County Vegan Festival, and Alena made it this year for her first time, so we had a lot of fun and made sure to pile up our plates at the picnic buffet. My plate included a hot dog, portobello mushroom, rice, potato salad, green beans, spicy cabbage, vegetable skewer, and sausage on a hamburger bun. 

Alena's plate.

While the smallest of the three events, Chester County Vegan Festival wins for best value for the most food ($10 entry, $9 if you brought your own place setting, which we did). It also has a really nice and relaxed atmosphere since it takes place in a park.

We bought ice pops at the end from Mompops (2 for $5). 

Alena got the mint chocolate chip.

I got the orange coconut, which was like a creamsicle.

The blogger as seen in the wild! Hehehe!

Bethlehem VegFest

Alena, Zach, and I went to the Bethlehem VegFest today (our second time going). Alena and I got some free samples of veggie chips (a small bag, not pictured, which we ate right away, and a larger bag which we got later in the day, seen below).

After walking around for a bit, we decided to get lunch from Freakin' Vegan, sharing an order of mac & cheese and a cheesesteak empanada. Both were delicious ($5 each).

I later bought two cupcakes from Mo'Pweeze Bakery; they got a bit bumped along the way home ($3.50 each). 

double vanilla delight

moo's choco choc, which has now been devoured, was so good, especially the icing

And then of course we made our way over to Vegan Treats' tent for more goodies to bring back with us. We stood in line for around 20 minutes but it was worth the wait and we placed our order quickly. I got a "chicken" and waffles donut and an almond pretzel donut; Alena got a cannoli and a chocolate chip cookie ($18 total). 

almond pretzel donut

"chicken" and waffles donut

Bethlehem VegFest wins for best variety of food and baked goods, but it was definitely the most expensive one for me, haha!

Well, that's it for this year's vegfests; thanks to Alena for taking lots of photos! And of course, I'm already looking forward to next year's vegfests!

Finally, here's Leela in her cat tent and Buttons being silly.

Peace. :)

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Last week, our neighbor came over to trim back his hedges that had grown over onto our side and also trimmed some of our bushes nicely, so to thank him, I decided to bake him a chocolate zucchini cake. I used this recipe, leaving out only the chocolate chips and the raisins/cranberries. 

It turned out really well (I got to try it when he invited us in to have some with him, haha!), and so the next day, I made another one for myself, baking it for only 35 min this time to keep it a little more moist. Delicious, delicious! 

In other news, look what came in the mail yesterday...

...it's my proof of the book I am self-publishing about Mystery! I've already torn through the first 20 pages with my red pen, and I'm going to work more on editing it again today; I'm so excited!

Here's Leela in her box-fort from Alena... 

...and Buttons hanging out at the base of the fan. 

P.S. The Chester County Vegan Festival takes place TOMORROW (Saturday, August 8) from 12-4 p.m. at Hoopes Park in West Chester, PA. If it's anything like last year's, it will be awesome for sure!

Peace. :)