Perfect Pizza + Talk Show Exploits

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Sara Constantineau and the rest of the VegNews crew
What: A pizza-filled lunch followed by a stint as a studio audience
Where: A local pizzeria and ABC studios, San Francisco, Calif.
When: October 20, 2009
Why: To put our Daiya shipment to good use and support a fellow veg superstar

The Scoop: When we received a 10-pound shipment of Daiya this week, there was no doubt that we had to make the most of it. Armed with two pounds or so, we headed to a local pizzeria for a full-on, dairy-free pizza experience. Our menu consisted of one huge, gooey cheese pizza, another pie piled high with artichokes, baby spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes, and a giant veggie-stuffed calzone for dessert.

One beautiful, Daiya-smothered pie

Thoroughly stuffed and fortified with many soda refills, we traveled toward the Embarcadero and lined up to watch the live taping of The View from the Bay, since Alicia Silverstone was making a guest appearance to promote her vegan lifestyle book, The Kind Diet.

Once comfortably seated in the studio, we learned how to clap and cheer on cue. After we were welcomed by hosts Spencer Christian and Janelle Wang, the show finally began. We were treated to segments including male-model makeovers and the CEO of 1-800-DENTIST, who taught us how to floss properly (hint: you use a lot of floss). Finally, the most anticipated guest arrived to talk about her book and show off some veg-friendly food.

Alicia Silverstone, VN Publisher Joseph Connelly, and SFVS president Dixie Mahy

Silverstone and Christian raved about Café Gratitude's Key Lime Pie, and she showed off her pantry must-haves, such as Earth Balance buttery spread, brown rice syrup, and Vegenaise. Christian and Wang sampled recipes from The Kind Diet, including tacos, peanut butter cups, and Caesar salad. The hosts raved about the food, and a few lucky audience members went home with a copy of the book. It was just another day all about tasty, veg-friendly eats. No biggie!

Mad Hatter Vegan Tea Party

Who: VN Publisher Joseph Connelly
What: Mad Hatter Vegan Tea Party
When: Sunday, August 23, 2009
Where: Secret Tea Garden House, San Francisco
Why: Fun Fund-raiser for SFVS’ World Veg Festival Weekend

The Scoop: Carmen Miranda didn’t show, though she would have been darn proud that much of her sisterhood was in attendance at yesterday’s Mad Hatter Vegan Tea Party, a unique fund-raiser thrown by the San Francisco Vegetarian Society to support its 10^th Annual World Veg Festival Weekend, coming up Oct. 3–4.

Maybe 40 or so guests squeezed into the adorable teeny-tiny Garden Room of the Secret Garden Tea House, mostly women, and almost all of them sporting fancy hats, stylish hats, silly hats—even a deep purple Dr. Seuss-style Cat-in-the-Hat hat (well, the cat wasn’t there. It must have been his human’s day to wear it).

The festive afternoon included a special menu prepared by Secret Garden with tea and vegan delights, such as scrumptious sandwiches (marinated cuke with dill; pesto and tomatoes; banana and walnut), salient savories (rice roll with basil; mini chili-lime corn-stuffed red and green peppers; curry-quinoa filled baby pitas), and smack-lipping sweets (sour-cherry-pear tart; vegan cranberry and blueberry scones; and choc-chip and sugar cookies donated by Violet Sweet Shoppe. More on them in a bit). The fare was as delicious as it sounds, which quite pleased me, since I'd just come from a social engagement where the only vegan items were the fruit salad and dry diner rolls. Thankfully, I held off until the tea party.

The Secret Tea Garden House goes vegan for a day!

Dixie Mahy, the Grande Dame of the San Francisco veg scene, recruited me to judge the Mad Hatter contest. I quickly convinced Millennium Restaurant owner Larry Wheat to be my sidekick, and Larry found the lone woman in the audience sans head-wear as the third judge, “to break the tie.” This was serious stuff. Our assignment was to pick the Most Unusual Hat, the Funniest Hat, and the Prettiest Hat. Nancy Loewen, SFVS’ vice president and a former VegNews intern (no judging bias here) was awarded the Prettiest for this over-the-top topper:

Prettiest hat winner Nancy Loewen, left, with SFVS' one-and-only Dixie Mahy

Next up was the silent auction (this was a fun(d)-raiser, recall). Shoehorned into one corner were about 20 items up for the bidding, including a two-night visit to Mendocino’s The Stanford Inn; gift certificates to such favorite restaurants as Candle 79, Herbivore, and Millennium; and an Almond Milk Chocolate Cake from San Francisco’s own Violet Sweet Shoppe. I’m happy to report that yours truly was the high bidder of this last item—surprise, surprise—which we will enjoy at today’s staff lunch. You can taste the cake along with us at our award-winning blog Café VegNews.

Vegan yums: The Violet Sweet Shoppe Almond Milk Chocolate Cake

Festive festival foodie fundraising. Is there a better way to spend a Sunday summer afternoon?