Bethlehem VegFest 2019

Hi everyone! Last Saturday was Bethlehem VegFest, so I have plenty of pictures to share! Upon arrival, we headed straight to the Vegan Treats stall; it was early enough that there wasn’t a line and we were able to place our orders quickly. 

(My Vegan Treats haul! The chocolate mousse cake with a “succulent” on top got a bit bumped in transit, but it was still good. Also pictured are a red velvet donut, a lemon cookie sandwich, and a cinnamon roll.)

After dropping off our goodies in a cooler in the car, we got lunch; my sister and I joined the line for Freakin’ Vegan – I got the buffalo chicken mac & cheese (as is my tradition now haha), and she got the mac & cheese with an empanada. (Zach got a grilled cheese and lemonade from Bees Knees Grill, but I didn’t manage to get a picture.) 

After lunch we went to see the pigs of Pig Placement Network, and then walked around the rest of the festival. 

Once we’d seen everything we’d come to see and made our other purchases at non-food vendors, we decided to stop at the actual Vegan Treats on the way home for some ice cream – black raspberry – which was delicious! 

And unrelated to the vegfest (but what's a post without a kitty, after all?), here’s Rogue lounging in the (empty) bathtub… 

Peace. :)

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. :)

Bethlehem VegFest, Vegan Treats, and More

Hi everyone! Bethlehem VegFest took place on July 14; I was totally out of the loop and only found out the night before. With such late notice and plans later that day, I figured I’d skip this year, but Zach made sure we got there on Saturday for a bit. For lunch, I had the buffalo chick’n mac & cheese from Freakin’ Vegan – there was a long line but it was definitely worth the wait – and Zach had a grilled cheese & pineapple guava lemonade. 

Then we picked up some desserts at Vegan Treats; I got the triple berry cheesecake and Zach chose the s’mores cheesecake. 

In other news, I harvested my first ears of corn on Sunday!

And then on Wednesday, after we made a delicious batch of lemon spinach pasta, my sister Alena gave me the grand tour of the new Aldi near her, so of course I grabbed some fun vegan stuff – hashbrowns, two types of meatballs, and chicken patties. 

I also sketched some more fruit…

nectarine (original photo)

pear (original photo)

And here's Cringer; she takes the most dramatic cat naps... 

Peace. :)

Phoenixville VegFest 2017

Hi everyone! Today was Phoenixville's 2nd VegFest; I volunteered during the first shift, mostly helping vendors to unload and set up canopies before the event began. Then at noon I met Zach and my sister Alena; after we got our free bags from the Peace Advocacy Network table, we'd planned to get in line for Vegan Treats, but the line was so long that we decided to do lunch first. I ordered a mac & cheese from Soy Cafe, which ended up taking a while (they said they were heating it up), which I didn't mind waiting for but then it was still cold when I finally got it. It tasted good, but yeah, could have been better...

Alena got the BBQ seitan sandwich, which seemed like the better choice overall, haha...

Then we got in line for Vegan Treats, which was a long, long wait. I got an autumn old-fashioned glazed donut and the brownie chunk cheesecake...

Our last purchases of the day were t-shirts from Grape Cat...

mine

Alena's

And here's the contents of the free bag...

lots of treats...

...and info and coupons

Tomorrow's the first day of Vegan MoFo, so I'll be back soon! 

Here are all four kitties from tonight... (Leela was hunkered down under the bed and refused to come out for a better picture, haha!)

Cringer

Buttons

Daisy

Leela

Peace. :)

August MiniMoFo: Outdoor Eats

Hi everyone! Zach and I went on a roadtrip to St. Louis, Missouri, so we could be in the path of totality for the solar eclipse. The day before the eclipse, we had both lunch and dinner outside, so it was perfect for August’s MiniMoFo!

We arrived in St. Louis around lunchtime on Sunday, so we stopped at the all-vegan Seedz Cafe.

I ordered the rice & beans, and Zach got the last BBQ black bean burger. It was such a good lunch, but so filling that I could only eat half, so I had the leftovers for dinner the next night. Zach enjoyed his burger, but he said it was a bit spicy; I tried a bite & it was good.

Rice & beans, with a spicy, cheesy sauce, as well as salsa and avocado and greens.

BBQ black bean burger, with tortilla chips and salad.

For dinner, we went to the Bike Stop Cafe in St. Charles; the menu is mostly vegetarian.
 

I ordered the vegan hummus sandwich (“Hummina-Hummina” as it’s called on the menu, haha!), and it was really good. It was served with veggie straws.

On Monday, we watched the eclipse in a field at Cliff Cave Park. It was a really hot day, and at the beginning of the eclipse, in between taking peeks through the telescope, I hid under my umbrella to keep out of the sun. Once it got nearer totality, however, it started to cool off so I didn't need the umbrella anymore. The shadows began to look all weird, and then it got darker until it looked like sunset all around us; at the moment of totality, we could look directly at the eclipse. It was so neat, and everyone in the park was cheering, and then just like that, it was done. The sunlight returned; we looked through the telescope a bit more as the eclipse tapered off, and then we packed up. It was such an incredible experience, and I’m so glad we went!

Bonus outdoor eats: Today we went to the Bethlehem VegFest, and I got the buffalo chik’n & mac-n-cheese bowl from Freakin’ Vegan. The buffalo chik’n was a bit spicy, but it was so, so good!

Here’s Buttons sharing the bed with Leela and Daisy...

Peace. :)