Toronto Vegetarian Food Festival 2012

A couple weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend the 28th Annual Toronto Vegetarian Food Festival. It is without a doubt one of the most successful Veg Fests in North America, if not the world. The impressive Toronto Vegetarian Society is the driving force behind this yearly mecca. My first visit to Toronto just happened to be during the 24th Annual Veg Fest four long years ago and I was really excited to return and check out all of the venders and speakers. Oh, and did I mention it's free?  
   

One of the first places I had to stop was the Field Roast table. Field Roast is one of my all-time favorite companies.  I've never eaten something of theirs I didn't love. I was told that Field Roast distribution is a little wonky at the moment in Canada, but keep asking your local stores to carry it. Their table was packed with people all weekend!

Apiecalypse Bakery, located straight outta Toronto, was a pleasant surprise. Not only did they have Vegan Marshmallows out the yin yan, they also had S'more Pie! Really nice people who rock!

You know I had to stop by the Vega table! It was crazy packed most of the weekend, which is awesome. I've been using Vega products for 5 years now and it's amazing to see how much the company has grown in that time. I guess if you have a great product it's going to be successful.  

A couple products from Bio, MozzaRisella and Muscolo De Grano that looked interesting to me. I'm not sure if I'll ever see these in the states, but you Canadians can gloat that you have something we don't!

Of course, a lot of the heavy hitters were in Toronto, too. I had my first taste of the Jalapeno Garlic Havarti Style Wedge from Daiya and I liked it! Gardein brought some Teriyaki Chick'n Strips that I thought were amazing. But the Coconut Earth Balance is freakin' out of this world! I've never been an Earth Balance connoisseur, but you gotta' try this stuff.

But  the greatest product of the entire Veg Fest, by a long shot, was this Aureeva Creamsicle Soya Beverage. It was liquid gold, I swear to god. If anyone can get this imported to the US, I will love you forever. It seriously tastes like creamsicle, kids will love this stuff!

I wasn't able to see most of the speakers, but I did get to go to most of the cooking demos. Strangely, even though I don't like to cook, I find cooking demos entertaining and informative. The genius known as Isa Chandra Moskowitz (no, she didn't make me say that) was funny as usual. Terry Hope Romero made Seitan Gyros and won the crowd over. Taymer Mason introduced everyone (especially me) to Carribbean cuisine. I found out Taymer is a fan of my blog which is totally awesome and unexpected!

So that was a little snapshot of my experience at the Toronto Vegetarian Food Festival. I barely scratched the surface because there is so much going on. If you've always wanted to go to Toronto, you should totally go during the Veg Fest. It's a humbling experience that will reinforce your choice of going Vegan or Vegetarian.

The Canadiana Chocolate Bar

Earlier this month I interviewed Sarah Kramer for my Laziest Vegans Top Ten and she mentioned the Organic Fair Candiana bar was her favorite chocolate bar of all time. I was interested to see if it was really that good. Sarah, being the sweet person she is, sent me a bar to see what I thought.

I know at some point I've stated I'm not the biggest chocolate fan BUT when chocolate is mixed with something I love it. One example I can think of is Nestle Crunch. The rice and chocolate combination is off the hook. So when I bit into the Candiana I was pleasantly surprised that it had a little crunch. The reason for that is the sundried apples mixed into the bar. Also the maple syrup and alder smoked salt really shine through. If you are looking for a chocolate bar that is different from the rest of the pack, pick up a couple Candianas! They are for sale at Sarah's Place right now. Thank you Sarah for introducing me to these delicious bars.

The Laziest Vegans Top Ten Asks Sarah Kramer

We're back with the January edition of The Laziest Vegans Top Ten! This month I'm talking to renowned Vegan cookbook author Sarah Kramer. This Victoria, British Columbia resident's amazing cookbook catalog includes How It All Vegan, The Garden of Vegan, La Dolce Vegan and Vegan A Go-Go. You can also catch Sarah in her new 2011 Go Vegan Calendar and the newly revamped GoVegan.net. Not only is there autographed copies of Sarah's books at Sarah's Place, but now Sarah has integrated her love of thrifting and collecting and her favorite Vegan products into a store so you can purchase unique and hard to find items. Let the questions commence!

What is your favorite veggie burger?
My favourite burger is a recipe my Mum used to make me when I was a kid called Big Ben’s Lentil Burgers (pg. 116 in How It All Vegan). The recipe is soooooo easy to make with easy to find ingredients. You can probably make these burgers faster than opening a box of pre-made veggie burgers.

What is you favorite frozen dinner?
When time is tight my hubby and I eat what we call “CURRY IN A HURRY” which is a pre-made curry that comes in a box/bag that you microwave and eat in 2 minutes. It even comes with pre-cooked rice!! :)

What is your favorite ice cream?
My Mum raised me in a sugar free house so I never ate sweets as a kid and as a result I’m not a big fan of ice-cream or sweets in general ... but I do end up eating ice-cream when The Germans are staying at my house. *laugh*

We have friends from Germany who come and visit every summer and they can’t believe the amount of “vegan choices” we have in flavours. They go a little nuts with the ice cream when they visit. My freezer can’t contain all the ice-cream they buy.

Long story short ... My ice-cream of choice is Vanilla Coconut Bliss. :)

What is your favorite chip or cracker?
I love Old Dutch Dill Pickle Chips. They are accidentally vegan and contain no msg. I also love their Ketchup chips. I think they are a Canadian phenomenon.

What is your favorite cereal?
I am not a fan of boxed cereal. No matter how fresh the box; it always tastes dusty to me... like it’s been on the shelf too long.

My favourite cereal is home-made granola. My Mum made all our food from scratch when we were kids and home-made granola makes me squeal with joy. Plus it’s soooo easy to make. :)

What is your favorite candy?
I don’t have much of a sweet tooth but I LOVE the Canadiana chocolate bar which is locally made here on Vancouver Island. It a dark chocolate sweetened with maple syrup and has sundried apples with alder smoked SALT! Oh my dog. It’s incredible. The perfect combination of sweet and salty. I carry it in my store: www.govegan.net.

What is your favorite cookie?
I’m not much of a sweets person ... did I mention that already? :) If I had to choose a cookie or a pickle; I’d choose the pickle. I love Bubbies Kosher Pickles. I think they are the perfect pickle.

What three pre-packaged food items would you take to a desert island?
God ... my answers are so practical. How embarrassing. *laugh*

1. Coconut Oil (so I could cook and moisturize my face at the same time).

2. A giant bag of nutritional yeast (so I could bake cheezy kale chips on the hot rocks :)

3. A variety box of Luna Bars...

Name a product you would like Veganized?
I want someone to veganize a GF/SF vegan cottage cheese. When I was a stoner teenager we used to make baked cottage cheese on toast and then garnish it with ketchup. Ahhh the munchies. :)

What are your favorite local and/or online stores for Vegan products?
Can I pimp my own store? *laugh* I just opened a vegan curios shop online (www.govegan.net) which is a collection of some of my favourite “must have” vegan products as well as vintage items that I find thrift store shopping.

And that concludes The Laziest Vegans Top Ten. Thanks Sarah!