Thanksgiving event

Hi guys,

Time to pin down the date for our Halloween potluck. The majority of group members who responded to the earlier poll seemed to strongly favor having this event the weekend before Thanksgiving. I just checked with the Humboldt Area Foundation and their space is free either day (Saturday, 11/21 or Sunday, 11/22), so we just need to pick a day and reserve the space. I just put up a new poll in the sidebar at the right, so if you could take a moment to register your preference, that would be great!

We'll be discussing ideas for activities to do after the meal at our upcoming business meeting; if anyone has ideas about that who won't be able to attend the business meeting, please feel free to throw them out now so they can be included in our discussion.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Tamara

HVS Business Meetings

Hello group members,

Hope you are all doing well and enjoying this lovely fall season.

At dinner last week, several group members expressed support for the idea of beginning to hold regular 'business meetings' for our veg society in addition to our ongoing social events. These meetings would help give direction to our future efforts and hopefully help us brainstorm some fun/educational events and projects for the group.

I'd like to get a sense of how many people would be interested in attending these types of meetings (I was thinking maybe every other month), and of those who are interested, what days/times and locations would you prefer?

If possible, I'd like to schedule the first HVS business meeting for early November, so please let me know ASAP if you're interested!

Take care,

Tamara

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.