Saturday Veggie Saturday

Last Saturday I shunned all other activity in order to devote my afternoon to the Boston Vegetarian Festival. I'd been excited about this event for weeks, so finally when the day came I could hardly contain myself! M and I had fun trying to find a parking spot (the lot with free parking was a good walk away, we were just trying to get something closer) and discovered all wonderful hidden slices of Roxbury and Mission Hill.

[Okay, so it wasn't like a cute sightseeing expedition, it was more trying to find good places to either A. turn around or B. get back on to main roads]

Boston is a quaint city.

[Quaint being a nice way of saying something akin to 'pain in the tuchus']

We walked in and...WHOA! It was great. It was marvelous! I walked in and thought, are there this many vegetarians (or vegetarian friendy) in and around Boston? I couldn't believe it! I was thoroughly amazed. I mean, I feel like we are so gastronomically underrepresented in this area... I can count the number of strictly veg eateries on one hand (correct me if I'm wrong folks!), while the area boasts hundreds of steakhouses. Perhaps I exaggerate a little...

It was thoroughly packed when we arrived, and the first booth we went to was Grey 2K. The people there were so nice, and M pulled out his phone and showed off pictures of Sam to the people working the booth and to interested passers by. We spent some time trying to convince a nice couple to adopt a grey as well. This is always common for us...I think when we adopted Sam we also took on the role of 'greyhound ambassadors'.

After our improptu PDA assisted "Why You Should Get a Greyhound Now" presentation, we went off in search of food. I had promised M that I would get him a nice plate of Indian food as I knew that Cafe of India was supposed to be there. Sure enough they were, and he got a plate with pakoras and samosas. Cafe of India has some significance for us as a couple because we actually had our first date there four years ago!

I know, it's cute. :) I actually remember what I ordered that night, isn't that sweet?

Anyway, back to the fest. Tons of really cool products (food) to try! Here are some of the highlights.

Cheezly

This is by far the best vegan cheese ever. I can't WAIT until this is sold in the states. It is so rich and creamy and get this...it MELTS!



Trader Joe's

TJs had such a dynamic crew manning their booth! They were passing out samples of two of their creamy soups, Butternut Apple and Veggie Medley Bisque which were both really yummy. Not only did they give out little sample cups, but also the full size aseptic packages! Free! Yeah! Unfortunately they do have honey in them, but I will keep them around.



Turtle Mountain/Pure Decadent

This was my favorite freebie of them all. Turtle Mountain (maker of So Delicious Dairy Free Frozen Dessert) was giving away samples and coupon books. You could either get a soy ice cream bar, or a soy ice cream cup. I got a cup of the Peanut Butter Zig Zag, which was rich chocolate ice cream with peanut butter swirls. Yes, Belinda, heaven is a place on earth, and then it was in my cup. So good...and the coupons will help me to score more soon! :)



Mambo Sprouts gave out these great goodie bags filled with all sorts of stuff (lotions, coupons, chocolate crisps, beauty samples, luna bars, chocolate dairy milk, etc). We each got one and have been going through them slowly, M receiving the non-vegan items.



There was this great booth run by a family fortunate enough to have both a chef and a nutritionist in the group. I wish my family could be so fortunate! Their business is called Nutri Ahaar and they run it out of their homes. Their website url comes up with nothing, so I can't link to them. They make trail mixes and dried fruit treats and they also made some sort of saffron drink powder to mix with milk. I was assured that the saffron mix did well in non dairy milks, but I decided to pass. I got an assortment of their dried fruit treats, which reminded me of truffles! One treat was made with almonds and figs, another with apricot and nuts, and the last with figs, cocoa and sesame! Yum!




MartinOrganics had a great spread and was selling all kinds of great vegan cookies and some vegan cereals. We bought a ginger cookie that I tell you was a large ginger snap! Crispy and sweet and wonderful! The Silveira cereal which we tried is amazing. VERY sweet, and NO sugar. I was amazed!



I've always been addicted to pickles. It's a crazy addiction, and perhaps the toughest thing about keeping to a semi Fuhrman happy diet is staying away from all things salty, like my beloved. I threw caution to the wind and stopped by the Real Pickles booth with the idea in mind only to try them. Of course I walked away with a huge jar and a super cute t-shirt (as if I really needed to broadcast the pickle love!). These are so good and so different as they are naturally fermented and raw. So no vinegar! Very very good. Their products include all sorts of pickled treats, not just cucumbers! Check them out if you like those little ambassadors of brine as much as me!





Speaking of t-shirts, there were so many being sold there it wasn't funny! I wanted to get one of the super cute Herbivore shirts but they were a bit pricey. Then again, most of the shirts were pretty pricey! I did find one that I had to have! Little Vegan Monsters was selling these great "Choo-choo-choose Vegan" shirts printed on American Apparel t-shirts (yay!) and I absolutely had to have one. They were all super nice at their table and have a cookbook coming out soon! Oh, and the guy who sold me my shirt had some of the most beautiful tattoo artistry done on his arms. I was totally taken aback as it was just that breath taking. Anyhoo, here's what my cool new shirt looked like on!



In other wardrobe related news, No Sweat was selling their wares at a table and there were some serious discounts to be had! I really wanted a new scarf (scarves are a total obsession for me) and they were all selling for ten bucks a piece. I went through the selection carefully and chose the funkiest one they had.



I was trying to avoid buying any and all cookbooks with the exception of VCTOW, but they sold out WAAAAAYYY before I got to the table, but one of the other book tables was selling things for half price and they had a few of Bryanna Clark Grogan's books for sale, which I have never had the good fortune of coming across offline. I love BCG-all of her recipes come out wonderfully for me! So I got The Almost No Fat Holiday Cookbook

because I had heard some good things about it, but primarily because it had this recipe:


Growing up in a French Canadian-American family, this is a staple food around the holidays! Of course, its not something that a vegetarian could ever think about, but I'm hoping that Bryanna's recipe helps to fill that void!

Also on the book front, I stopped by Dr. Fuhrman's table and picked up a copy of Eat to Live for my mom. I chatted with him for a bit and he signed my book. Nice man but he looked totally out of it.

Who could blame him? I'm tired just writing about it!