Twin Cities Veg Fest 2013

TC Veg Fest 2013 Goodie Bag

Yesterday, was the second annual Twin Cities Veg Fest. As last year, it was held at Coffman Union on the U of M campus. I was excited to try some new vegan food. Veg Fest is all about the tasty food right? Look at all the goodies in the grab bag!

Hot Indian Food Truck

Hot Indian Food Truck

A couple weeks ago, I went with some coworkers on their regular food truck pilgrimage. They had made mention of some vegan food, so of course I had to investigate.

Blueberry Pancakes

blueberry pancake

Sometimes, a nicer breakfast is in order rather than rushed. Taking the time to make some fresh blueberry pancakes is the thing to do. I drenched mine in maple syrup from my friend’s forest. I helped gather the sap to make the syrup earlier this year. You can read about it here: sap fest 2103. The pancakes and syrup were just what this morning needed. Tasty!

Cute Cupcake Oven

Cute Cupcake Oven

A friend gave me this cute little oven a few days ago. It’s a few inches tall and made from paper. She didn’t make it, but got it at a local shop. It was neat by itself, but what was waiting inside was even better.

Three Bean Salad with Curry Vinaigrette

Three Bean Salad with Curry Vinaigrette

My friend Brandy over at Trobairitz’ Table d’hote just posted her recipe for this salad on her blog. It sounded good and I was craving beans, so I made it last night. I took some liberties to make it my own based on what I had in the kitchen. It was good to eat last night, but even better after resting in the fridge overnight. Thanks for the recipe idea!

Hail Merry Lemon Tart

Hail Merry Lemon Tart

What to say about this lemon tart? I mean it’s really tasty and full of lemony goodness. Oh yea, and it’s vegan. I had several of them on my trip last year, but my wife didn’t have one until last month.

Happycow.net–Find Tasty Veg Restaurants

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I’ve been using happycow.net for several years, but I don’t think I’ve written about them yet. They are my favorite place to look for new vegan restaurants locally and when travelling. They have a great interface on the web and mobile. The android app is also good. It’s one of the few I’ve purchased.

They claim to have the largest free directory of vegetarian restaurants and from my experience I would agree. I’ve used the site for all my travelling in the last five years both in North America and Asia.

The site is entirely community supported with reviews, photos, and restaurants added by the community. I’ve added several restaurants, photos,  and reviews. You can check out my happycow profile here: http://www.happycow.net/members/profile_pb.php?id=43705

Check them out! http://www.happycow.net

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Baked Summer Squash

Summer Squash

Our garden has been cranking out the crooked neck summer squash for the last couple months. It’s really a nice cultivar. It is easy to care for and easy to eat. Our favorite way to eat it is to bake it. If you have a young squash, which isn’t necessarily small, you can eat the skin. As they get older, the skin darkens and gets tough. We like to eat them plain for dinner. They have a delicate sweet flavor that is easily masked by seasoning.

Kitty Corner Cafe

Kitty Corner Cafe

Thanks to twitter, I found out about a new vegan-friendly restaurant serving waffles and Panini's in Minneapolis. Last weekend we ventured out into the rain to sample the offerings of Kitty Corner Café.