Gardeners' Market

This Sunday, September 27th, from 11:00-1:00, there will be a Gardeners' Market at the Manilla Community Center. Home gardeners can bring their surplus produce and swap with other home gardeners.

Planning for Thanksgiving already...

As mentioned at last week's potluck, we'd like to plan a vegan Thanksgiving feast this year. We need your input to decide when to hold this event, so please vote in the poll on the right side of this page (just below the Yahoo Group and Facebook icons). If you're viewing this post in a blog reader, you'll need to hop over to the actual blog to vote. If there is more than one date that would work for you, feel free to select more than one.

Raw Cheesecake Recipe

Kindrick was kind enough to pass along this recipe for the fabulous raw cheesecake he brought to the potluck last Friday.

I Am Cherished
CASHEW LEMON CHEESECAKE

FOR THE CRUST
2 cups almonds
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
A heaping 1/4 cup chopped dates

FOR THE FILLING
3 cups cashews soaked for 4 hours
1 1/2 cups almond milk
1 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 pinches salt
3 tablespoons lecithin
3/4 cup raw unscented coconut butter

GARNISH
Lemon zest/grated lemon peel/fruit of your choice

TO MAKE THE CRUST
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the "S" blade, process almonds, vanilla, and salt until finely crumbled. Continue processing while adding small amounts of the dates until the crust sticks together. Press crust into bottom of greased (with raw unscented coconut butter) 9 1/2-inch springform pan.

TO MAKE THE FILLING
Blend all ingredients except lecithin and coconut butter until smooth. Add lecithin and coconut butter and blend well until incorporated. Pour into the springform pan with prepared crust and set in fridge/freezer (about an hour) until firm.

Recipe from "I Am Grateful" by Café Gratitude.

(I use a little more dates and agave nectar, a little less lemon juice, and no salt, and let it set up overnight in the fridge. KO)

Our September Event

On Friday, September 18, the Humboldt Vegetarian Society will host a vegan potluck and free screening of the film, Vegetarian Cooking with Compassionate Cooks, at the Humboldt Area Foundation Community Center, 373 Indianola Road in Bayside.

This event is open to the public and is free of charge. Attendees are welcome to attend either the potluck or film screening alone, or enjoy the entire evening. Potluck participants should bring one vegan dish to share and their own plates, cups, and utensils. (Vegan means no animal products, including meat, fish, dairy, eggs, honey, etc.) Dinner will begin at 6:00, followed by the film screening at 7:00.

Vegetarian Cooking with Compassionate Cooks, hosted by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau and Alka Chandna, is an engaging, energetic, and informative film that demonstrates six tantalizing yet easy-to-make dishes, including nutritional facts and shopping tips. The Compassionate Cooks also answer a number of frequently asked questions regarding vegetarianism. Colleen and Alka emphasize fast and healthful meals, create decadent dairy-free desserts, demystify tofu and other soy products, and present a gorgeous centerpiece that is perfect for the holidays or any special occasion.

Free child care will be provided during the movie.

Strawberry Blueberry Crisp

Our garden is overflowing with strawberries! We planted about a dozen strawberry plants last year and they produced about a dozen small berries, but this year has been amazing! We also visited our favorite organic blueberry farm - Wolfsen Farms* last week and picked three pounds of delicious berries. So to incorporate these two berries I decided to make a crisp and found a recipe on Discuss Cooking by Debbie. I switched up a few ingredients. I prefer crisps to cobblers and this crisp recipe has two layers for extra crunch!

Berry crisp

1 cup uncooked oatmeal (we used muesli which contained oats, raisins, dates, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, almonds, etc.)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar (didn't have brown sugar so used 1 cup of regular sugar mixed w/ 2 tbsp of molasses)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup Earth Balance butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups strawberries. 1 cup blueberries ( could just use all strawberries, or whatever other fruit you would like, probably like blackberries, or maybe just all blueberries)

Mix together oatmeal/muesli, flour, and brown sugar. Add nuts. Cut in butter until crumbly. In another bowl mix the berries and white sugar together. Butter an 8 inch square pan. Spread 1/2 the crumb mixture on bottom. cover with berries, then spread the remaining crumb mixture on top. Bake 350 degree oven for 40 minutes or till bubbly.

*Wolfsen Farms 2103 Baird Road, McKinleyville, CA. Phone: 707-839-2017. A small, family-owned organic Blueberry farm located in Humboldt County, very near the Pacific Ocean in Dows Prairie, McKinleyville.

Hope to see you there!

On Saturday, July 18, the Humboldt Vegetarian Society will host a vegan potluck and free screening of the film, Meat the Truth, at the Humboldt Area Foundation Community Center, 373 Indianola Road in Bayside.

This event is open to the public and is free of charge. Attendees are welcome to attend either the potluck or film screening alone, or enjoy the entire evening. Potluck participants should bring one vegan dish to share and their own plates, cups, and utensils. (Vegan means no animal products, including meat, fish, dairy, eggs, honey, etc.) Dinner will begin at 6:00, followed by the film screening at 7:00.

Meat the Truth is a documentary intended to form an addendum to earlier films on climate change, which have succeeded in drawing public attention to the issue of global warming, but have repeatedly ignored one of the most important causes of climate change - intensive livestock production.

For more information, please visit the Humboldt Vegetarian Society website at
www.HumboldtVeg.blogspot.com.

Free child care will be provided during the movie.

Vegan Grilling!

It's summer in Humboldt! For Father's Day we bought a nice gas grill for dh and have been enjoying the taste of grilled veggies, tofu and pizzas - yes pizzas! It's amazing how easy grilled vegetables are to prepare and grill. The following are a few tips for grilling, along with a quick and easy grilled pizza recipe.

Onions:
Cut into think slices and pierce with a toothpick to hold the rings together.

Bell peppers:
Cut into quarters. Anything smaller runs the risk of falling through the grill holes.

Mushrooms:
Wash and plop these tasty morsels onto skewers. I've read that you're suppose to soak the skewers in water so they don't catch on fire. Ours haven't caught on fire, but if you have the time, it seems like a good idea.

Zucchinis:
Cut into thick, oblong strips

Brush sides of the veggies with olive oil and place on a hot grill. Watch to ensure they're not burning. Always cut more veggies then you think you really need. It's great to have left over grilled veggies to use on sandwiches, on top of pizzas, etc. Though in our family, there haven't been any leftovers yet!

Tofu:
Use extra firm tofu,press tofu, and slice into 1/4" sections. Marinate tofu in your favorite marinade for at least 30 minutes before grilling. I use a combination of tamari, rice wine vinegar and jarred ginger. Grill over a pre-heated grill for 6-7 minutes on each side, brushing occasionally with extra marinade or oil to ensure it doesn't burn.

Grilled pizzas: These grill pretty fast, so make sure you've got the veggies grilling before you start grilling the pizzas.

Ingredients:
4 pitas
pasta sauce/pesto sauce
favorite pizza toppings
vegan cheese (optional)

Brush oil on the bottom of the pitas.Pour sauce on tops of pitas, then cover with favorite toppings and cheese. Grill over a pre-heated grill for ~ 5 minutes. Makes 4 personal pizzas.

Some pita pizza ideas:
1) Pesto sauce, with spinach, zucchini, and artichokes
2) Layer of refried beans, topped with olives, tomatoes and salsa. When done grilling put some avacado on top
3) Layer of bbq sauce, some marinated bbq seitan, onions and bell peppers.

Some other vegetarian/vegan grilling articles:
The Vegetarians guide to a grilled 4th of July
VegCooking - includes yummy dessert recipes like grilled pineapple and peaches

Happy Grilling!