A {Vegan} Love Letter to LA in Two Parts

As a New Yorker it’s become apparent that I’m not supposed to fall in love with, or even really like, Los Angeles. Bestowing any type of warmth on LA beyond a stoic eye-roll is tantamount to declaring a fatwa on the crowded, filthy, noisy city that I call home. I mean, there’s a reason why the East Coast/West Coast Biggie/2Pac feud raged so hard during my youth, right? Even Chloe Sevigny agrees.

Nonetheless, at the risk of sounding like I’m betraying The City of Dreams, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and declare that I love Los Angeles. Like, seriously, LOVE it. Not enough to consider leaving NYC, mind you (even after being hit by a car!), but enough to wax poetic about it for at least two very long blog posts…

Buckle up.

{VeganMoFo} Vegan Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Muffins

Bananas are a staple in our house (ahem... very small apartment).  If we don't have them, it's a pretty safe bet that something crazy has happened.  Yet, because they're always around, they sometimes get passed by for more novel fruit, which means that overly-ripe bananas occasionally plague my kitchen counter.

Whenever I notice said offender(s), my mind instantly flashes to an episode of 'The Simpsons,' where Marge says to Lisa, "We have black bananas, and you know what that means!"  To which Lisa gleefully shouts, "Banana bread!"

Instagram Pics: Cleo's Peanut Butter Cups

Let me be frank: I take a lot of Instagram photos, none of which has ever made it onto this blog.

Why?  The simplest answer is that I'm often too lazy to write up a lengthy post to go along with every single picture, so I figured it'd be kind of silly to put any of them on my blog.

However, it recently occurred to me that there's no rule stating that each and every Veggie Terrain post must absolutely, unequivocally contain "hard-hitting" (read: overly-verbose) analysis.  This is my blog, after all, and if one of my Instagram photos is itching to be shared, then gosh darnit, share it, I shall...

See that package of candy, above? It contains Cleo's vegan, gluten-free peanut butter cups.  They're made of "creamy peanut butter in a rice-milk chocolatey coating," and, I suspect, crack.  They're super-sweet, decadently melty, and highly addictive.  Proceed with caution.

Get your hands on Cleo's Peanut Butter Cups at:

• Whole Foods
• Fairway Market
• Lula's Sweet Apothecary (NYC)

Not near Whole Foods or Fairway? It's okay! Try online:

• Vegan Essentials
• Food Fight Grocery

The Best in NYC: Dun-Well Doughnuts

coconut + vanilla w/ sprinkles

You know what I kinda hate? When I haven't posted in eons, and I (like so many other bloggers) feel compelled to apologize profusely before even attempting to get back into the game. 

Yea, it kinda sucks...

So, let's just skip over that whole thing, shall we?

On to the sweet stuff: Dessert at the famed Dun-Well Doughnuts. (Well, technically it's breakfast, but we all know that isn't quite true...)

Vegan Puppy Chow

image borrowed from Pug Blog

Ah, yes, Puppy Chow...

It seems like the perfect "olive branch" to extend as my apology for being blog-sent (absent) for so long. And truthfully, while it has only been about 2 weeks since my last post, it feels more like an eternity.

Since my Jan. 8th (birthday!) blog entry, Winter Break has ended and I've returned to school. In fact, Monday marked the beginning of my last semester of law school, which means that the pressure is officially on. (Not as if it were ever "off" to begin with!)

O' Chocolate Cupcakes

Well, so much for being on a roll re: frequent posting!

Like many of you, I've been visiting family and friends for the holidays, which has caused my posts to slow down a bit. However, although I haven't been posting much lately, it actually feels like I've been cooking more than ever...