James McAvoy is Fine, but Cyrano is Bloated & Exhaustingby Randi / February 10, 2022I think we all need something wonderful to look forward to! With impeccable timing comes the 2nd Annual Vegan Family Reunion, the brainchild of host Rooted Vegan Cuisine of San Antonio, Texas. This special occasion is THIS WEEKEND, Sunday March 6, and promises to be an epic day of food, fun, festivities, and community building. Featuring more than 30 Black-Owned small businesses and artists, the event will benefit local nonprofits and support local charities, including the Black Birth Fund.
San Antonio’s Rooted Vegan Cuisine, once a pop-up vegan restaurant and now a maker of incredible frozen vegan foods, hosts the Vegan Family Reunion for the second year. From 12-5pm on Sunday, the pop-up market and party at the San Antonio Food Bank will convene more than 30 Black-owned and vegan small businesses, artists, entertainers, and more to celebrate “food, fun, and Black excellence!”
The event celebrates the intersection of Black equality and veganism, raising funds that will pour back into the local Black community through small businesses, artists, and charities. It will do all this while highlighting the importance and benefits of veganism and its direct impact on the Black community.
WHAT YOU’LL FIND
- VEGAN FOOD
- PRO CHEF DEMOS
- MUSIC
- LIVE DJ
- VEGAN RAPPER GREY
- DANCING
- PONIESSSSS (from Ponycycle)
- HAYRIDES
- LIVE ART PRESENTATIONS
- PET ADOPTIONS!!!
- BOUNCY HOUSES (YESSSS)
- NUTRITION SEMINAR
- VEGAN BEAUTY & HAIR DEMOS
- MINI SKATEBOARD PARK
Did I mention it’s free to attend? It’s free to attend! But please RSVP in advance so they can anticipate the crowd size. Book your space here and register either for your free space, or with a donation (omg you’re so awesome!), or as a VIC (Very Important Charity). More ways to contribute – including from afar! – are listed further down.
I must take this time, before I forget, to tell you that there will be two bounce houses – one for kids and one just for adults. LITERALLY THE DREAM.
The strength of a local community is so important, and that’s clearer now more than ever. So many different businesses, organizations, and various community members are coming together to make this happen. Host Naomi of Rooted Vegan Cuisine said the list of participants and supporters is “incredible and humbling”.
She also said she’s bringing to-go containers to make sure she doesn’t miss any of the amazing food…so…follow her lead!
Some of the food vendors expected to blow your minds on Sunday include: Wheatsville (I know, one of our faves!), Vegan Sushi Spot, Alamo City Cakes, The Vegancy, Chef Cidney, and Bake Love. Non-food amazingness includes Art by Sheri, Gardopia Gardens, Tracy J Jewelry, and Ionic Soul Spa. I MEAN. COME ON!
There’s a whole packed schedule for the day too, with kitchen demos, nutrition and fertility seminars, and musical entertainment. It promises to be an incredible day!
We’re all aware of how exponentially veganism has increased in recent years, and a large part of that is due to Black activists, who have been promoting veganism even back to the Civil Rights Movement of the ’60s. And African-Americans compose the fastest-growing vegan demographic. This event aims to respect and acknowledge these facts while cementing the connection between veganism and Black activism, especially on the community level.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the Black Birth Fund, created by the San Antonio Nurse Midwife Birth & Wellness center. The team said they learned of this organization through one of the Vegan Family Reunion committee members, who was herself a recipient of assistance from the Fund when she gave birth. This chance to give back to the fund that helped their teammate so greatly makes this event all the more special, they said.
Vegan Family Reunion has also teamed up with Black Restaurant Week San Antonio to raise money for the San Antonio Food Bank via donations and other funds raised. Attending the event is free, but guests are encouraged to buy t-shirts, buy raffle tickets (see below), and donate whatever they want to raise funds for these worthy organizations.
They are going even further this year in making the space accessible and inviting for so many types of attendees: There will be maternity lounges with doulas for expecting and new parents. There will will a special needs sensory retreat, with trained assistants, for people who need a break from the hubbub. There will be a sign language interpreter, and a toddler soft play area. The level of care is off the charts here. And there will also be a Zero Waste initiative, with the team measuring how much waste is saved from going into landfills.
HOW TO SUPPORT THE EVENT IF YOU AREN’T IN TEXAS
I’m sure many of you are, like me, watching and wishing from afar that we could attend. While we cannot eat its amazing food (or jump in the bouncy house) remotely, we can support it by doing the following:
- Spreading the word – on social media, use the hashtag #veganfamilyreunion and tag @veganfamilyreunion
- Buy raffle tickets – even if we cannot collect or use certain prizes, think of it as a donation, with the money going to truly worthwhile beneficiaries
- Or, Buy tickets to the event as a donation
- Buy the official tee shirt HERE
- Support Rooted Vegan Cuisine – their frozen vegan goodies are available to ship in the USA nationwide (someone please work on getting this to the UK!)
Whatever you can do to support this wonderful event is great, and let’s hope that we can be in San Antonio in person next year!
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Feelings, New Orleans: Solid Food, Wonderful & Romantic Atmosphere
This was behind our table!
Several people, both vegan and omnivorous, told us about Feelings, saying it was a great dinner spot for vegans and omnivores to go together. They have a traditional and very exciting main menu, along with an entire separate vegan menu! It’s pretty much the restaurant equivalent of when both parties in Congress sit together at the State of the Union.
The food didn’t blow me away like some parts of Seed did, but overall it was good and very enjoyable. Still, the best part, and why it’s so recommended (especially for couples on their honeymoon?), is because most of the tables are in an inner courtyard, filled with flowers, plants, little fountains, and a lovely, intimate atmosphere.
Yeah, there were some spiders, but it was worth it for this lovely setting
I started with the Emerald City Salad, solely because of the name and because it was kale-based. I hadn’t had kale in DAYS. The salad was tossed in an olive oil dressing with bell peppers, fennel, and a Cajun grain mix. There were a bit too many peppers for my taste and not enough fennel or grains, but it was still pretty good. The kale pieces should have been chopped a bit smaller, though. I did some very unladylike maneuvering of the larger kale pieces. NBD, I mean it’s not like I have any table manners anyway.
For my entree, I had the wonderful Potato Tempeh Patties. You have the option of getting two of these patties, one of them and one Eggplant and Creole Tomato Napoleon thing, or two of the latter. While the waitress didn’t believe that I understood – because I guess most people like to get one of each option – I vehemently stuck to my order of two potato tempeh patties because I read on LazySmurf’s blog that they were fuuuuunom. And she was right! They were wonderful, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, with a sun-dried tomato vinaigrette. I love tempeh, and blending it with potato sounds like the perfect thing to do. The tomato topping was a little too vinegary; I would have preferred something a little creamier, like a tomato cashew cream, rather than a vinaigrette. But it was still very good! The side of zucchini ribbons was kind of ridiculous. They should have been actual ribbons, sliced with a mandolin or a spiralizer, but instead they were just long chopped zucchini pieces. So that was kind of dumb.
We also shared a mushroom boudin, a vegan take on the very famous local sausage. I’m sure using seitan or soy would have produced a more realistic dish, but I liked the mushroom base. It was served with some decent bread. OH important note – the garlic bread that they put on the table at the beginning is NOT vegan.
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The different kinds of mushrooms were mixed with jasmine rice and coconut oil, and steamed in a corn husk. It was really fun to play with the corn husk, but I think it made it a little too soft. It would have been even better with some crispy edges. It was still pretty yummy though!
The desserts were just sorbet – restaurant cheating/laziness in my opinion – and a carrot torte that sounded good but I had that Whole Foods carrot cake waiting. The staff didn’t rush us at all, though, so we just sat and enjoyed the lovely atmosphere for a little longer.
Overall, Feelings was a wonderful dinner spot. While the food wasn’t amazing, it was solid and enjoyable. The courtyard setting is so beautiful with all the greenery and candlelight, so if you are looking for a romantic spot, this is where you should go.
FEELINGS, NEW ORLEANS
Water speed: Pretty good!
Bathrooms: Ahhhh I don’t remember!!! That’s probably good?
Service: Very very nice and helpful.
Food: Solid!
Bonus: Sit in the lovely courtyard and you will be so happy.
“Challenge Accepted”: Vegan Chocolate Rugelach (Ohh Yeahhh)
Welcome back to the “Challenge Accepted” series! Today, we are making vegan rugelach, a traditional Jewish pastry in which a triangle of dough is wrapped around a filling. My food guru Elli challenged me to make them, and because she is the wise expert on all good food in Philly, we listen to her.
In our discussion of the amazing treat, Elli warned that any decent rugelach must contain cream cheese in the dough. A quick internet search will prove that most people claiming to make authentic rugelach have no idea what they are talking about (i.e., no cream cheese in the dough). (They are probs the ones who don’t know how to say the ‘ch’ sound at the end of the word. #goy). Elli also said that, if making chocolate rugelach (which of course I was going to do; screw fruit filling unless it’s for hamentashen), wrapping the dough around a pile of chocolate chips is cheating. Hell no was I going to cheat, so we are using the same chocolate-cinnamon filling from our delicious babka experience. It adds a bit of work, but it is absolutely worth it. In fact, the extra work from using that filling actually makes the wrapping part easier: The filling is a big square to be laid right on top of the dough, so I rolled the dough into logs instead of wrapping 30 individual crescent rolls. I know, I know, after all the “I’m not going to cheat!” mumbo jumbo, you’re probably like, “Omigod you are so cheating with the wrapping!” Hush your face and go make some rugelach.
As you’ve probably learned, I do not like sharing recipes that have hard-to-find ingredients or that use ready-made things. For chrissakes, I made Cheesy Blasters from scratch. But this was my first attempt at rugelach, so I used ready-made vegan cream cheese. Now that I have some experience, I’ll work on a homemade substitute to use next time so those of you without access to vegan cream cheese can make these.. For those of you who can find vegan cream cheese, definitely buy a tub and use it all in this recipe! It’s worth it!
As you’ve probably learned, I do not like sharing recipes that have hard-to-find ingredients or that use ready-made things. For chrissakes, I made Cheesy Blasters from scratch. But this was my first attempt at rugelach, so I used ready-made vegan cream cheese. Now that I have some experience, I’ll work on a homemade substitute to use next time so those of you without access to vegan cream cheese can make these.. For those of you who can find vegan cream cheese, definitely buy a tub and use it all in this recipe! It’s worth it!
VEGAN CHOCOLATE-CINNAMON RUGELACH
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INGREDIENTS:
For the DOUGH:
For the FILLING:
DIRECTIONS:
While the dough is in the fridge:
Assembly:
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See: Step 2 (dollops) 
I still don’t think I know how to use a pastry cutter properly 
I was out of plastic wrap so I used a big ziplock bag. Also look at my adorable London Underground tea towel! I set it up so the photo highlights my station. 
I rolled it into several logs. You can too! 
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These came out SO well! I can’t wait to experiment with the basics more. They are really rich so you can’t eat the whole batch, which is good. They were much easier to make than I made it seem, I’m sure. Give it a shot and let me know how it goes!
