Holiday for Hanging

Who: VN Senior Editor Elizabeth Castoria
What: An auspicious art opening
Where: M. Coffee, Half Moon Bay, Calif.
When: January 8, 2009
Why: Art for heart's sake

The Scoop: Sometimes, you just happen to be related to someone who has what people like to call "talent." When this person happens to be your sister, and she happens to have an art opening at your hometown coffee shop where you happen to have spent innumerable weekends together—her working, you taking advantage of her incredible soymilk-frothing abilities—it's pretty imperative that you attend. Oh, and you know that since the artist of the evening shares the same mother you do, there will be no shortage of delicious vegan food.

The evening got going around 6pm, after-hours at M. Coffee, where Sheila—aka the artist—used to work. As predicted, the first thing I saw when I walked in the door was a huge table of food, and then my super-effing-cute sister, flocked with admirers. Since one of Sheila's all-time favorite foods is olive spread, my mom whipped up about eight gallons of it, which I eagerly tucked into with sliced bell peppers and La Panzanella Rosemary crackers. Also on the menu were a couple ginormous trays of roasted vegetables, my mom's signature carrot cake—a traditionally vegan cake recipe, and with a little non-dairy cream cheese, voilá, cream-cheese-frosted carrot cake—and a few bottles of wine.

Sheila's art was mostly compiled from class assignments, and there was a distinct heart theme going on. In addition to red being her favorite color—hence the crimson mounting—she herself has a finnicky ticker that likes to act up on her every once in a while. One day, it started racing a bit and put her out of commission for the afternoon, so the next day she did what any reasonable artist would do: create something awesome. See above for the results.

A few of the pieces sold, all of the wine was drunk, and about an eighth of the food was eaten. It was a well-deserved evening of fun for one super-fantastic sister. Oh, and did I mention that she's just about the cutest thing on the entire planet? Yeah, she is. See below for proof. As art openings go, I think it's safe to say in the words of Rilo Kiley (the band that reigned as Sheila's go-to music on hectic Saturday mornings of latte-making), it's a hit.

Portrait of the artist (left) and her sister

Lasagna-palooza 2008!

Who: The VN staff, the Castoria family, and hungry hordes from throughout the San Francisco Bay Area
What: Lasagna-palooza!
Where: HMB Parks & Recreation Department Community Center, Half Moon Bay
When: May 10, 2008
Why: Um, unlimited vegan lasagna!

The Scoop: While most of us VN staffers have families who support our animal-friendly lifestyles, no one on staff is more enthusiastically supported than our lovely Elizabeth Castoria of the now-legendary Castorias of Half Moon Bay. While still living with her folks, she would arrive home each evening to an abundant, homemade vegan spread. But it wasn’t enough for Louis and Susy to honor their daughter’s personal ethical choice; they decided to open their arms (and kitchen) and throw an open-community food festival to celebrate veganism. The entire family, having spent several weekends slaving over enough tofu-ricotta filling and secret-recipe tomato-“meatball” sauce to feed a small army (okay—make that 160 hungry people), served up heaps of green salad, fresh bread, and great hunks of warm, flavorful lasagna smothered in Teese (pounds of which were donated by the generous gents at Chicago Soy Dairy). After mingling with a diverse crowd of vegans and the veg-curious—not to mention a surprise run-in with Zepparella’s Gretchen Menn, one of our featured vegan musicians in the upcoming July+August Music issue—a few heartfelt speeches, and a meal so delicious it had many of us adjusting our belts and lining up for more, we all left inspired, sated, and a tad sentimental. Here is Elizabeth's fabulous familia: Susy, Louis, and sister Sheila:

Seaside Rendezvous

Who: VN Senior Editor Elizabeth Castoria and VN Editorial Assistant Lisa Mickleborough
What: A weekend by the sea
Where: M. Coffee's, Half Moon Bay, Calif.
When: April 5, 2008
Why: Because everyone needs a leisurely coffee-filled Saturday morning

The Scoop: Growing up in Half Moon Bay, I took for granted that every coffee shop carried soymilk and served something delicious and vegan for breakfast. M. Coffee's, a local institution, makes sure that all your vegan needs are met with their bevy of soy-based beverages, bagels, and buns. Yes, even the extremely fluffy and wonderful rosemary buns—procured daily from the bakery next door—are vegan. Lisa and I, having thoroughly enjoyed ourselves the previous night at fellow editor Jen Picken's art show and website-launch party, decided to head down the coast and see if we couldn't find ourselves something for breakfast in my hometown.

There's nothing like having an "in" when it comes to the coffee shop. My gorgeous sister Sheila (see her cuteness for yourself, above) is the weekend manager at the shop, and she made sure that Lisa and I got the most delicious breakfast sandwiches the kitchen could provide. We both got variations on the "Mac special," a menu item that's always vegan and involves the aforementioned rosemary buns, tomatoes, kalamata olives, fresh basil, avocado, and seasoned salt. Lisa's also included a Boca burger, and mine was topped with grilled artichoke hearts and bell peppers.
Yum! If there's a better way to start the weekend than washing down delicious sandwiches with soy Mexican mochas, I don't even want to know about it. As Freddie Mercury would say, what a damn jolly good idea!