Housekeeping

I had a very busy weekend! Therefore, there’s no winner yet for the Missionary Chocolates. Sorry! I’ll announce the winner soon, I promise. Meanwhile, if you haven’t yet entered, it’s not too late. Thank goodness for my procrastination, huh?! :)

Also, here’s a post of my easy vegan nachos recipe. I made these for Game Night last week, and everybody seemed to like them.

Also, I went out to Out to Pasture Farm Sanctuary yesterday. If you’re a friend on Facebook, I put up some pictures. The host was gracious, the animals were adorable, and the mud was rampant. It was beautiful.

Here’s one of my favorites:

Okay, I’ll be back later today or tomorrow with the winner of the Missionary Chocolates giveaway!

Thanksgiving

Being very family-oriented, I simply love spending Thanksgiving and Christmas with my family.
This year though, my older brother Ahimsa is in South Korea (ugh! Come home already!) and circumstances were not in favor of my mom, little brother and I spending time together.
Though several friends were kind enough to invite me to their celebrations, I wanted to something little and…family-like.
I ended up spending Thanksgiving with:

Shelley: my Southern Belle-we share a tattoo and memories of our recent Turkey trip.

Rob: my hilarious boyfriend.

 

Craig Steele: a really good friend and future roommate. 

It was a beautiful day. We had 6 bottle of champagne (and drank them all. though it took the four of us about 10 hours to do it.) and an extensive menu to prepare.

Our vegan Thanksgiving Menu:

·  Maple-glazed roasted Brussels sprouts with maple bacon bits

· Cremini mushroom gravy

· Sweet potato pie with crumb pecan topping

· Fresh green bean and button mushroom casserole

· Cashew cream mashed potatoes with chives

· Savory sausage and garden herb stuffing

· Mini vanilla bean pumpkin pies w/ agave-sweetened cashew whip cream

The day was spent chopping and boiling and slicing and baking and blending and drinking and experimenting and finally, eating. We all went went around the little table and gave thanks for what we are thankful for. I’m thankful that even though I couldn’t spend this Thanksgiving with my immediate family, I had loving and laughing friends around all day and had a simply wonderful time.
       
How was your Thanksgiving? Ours was completely vegan and completely delicious. I hope that whatever was on your plate was enjoyed and whether you spent the day with family, friends, or by yourself you had a wonderful and loving Holiday.

~~~~~

Don’t forget to enter the Missionary Chocolate Giveaway!

Chocolate Truffle Giveaway

Do you typically celebrate Buy Nothing Day….

…. or Black Friday?

 

Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum of anti-consumerism activist and early-bird shopper, there’s one thing we can all agree on: getting something FREE is better than buying anything. And FREE CHOCOLATE is better than pretty much anything.

Missionary Chocolates is a local Portland, OR company that specializes in vegan, gluten-free decadence. Started by two sisters, this little operation is quickly becoming known for their quality chocolates. With flavors like meyer lemon, salted caramel, toasted coconut and espresso bean, these may be are the best truffles I have ever had.

 

So what does this mean for you? Well, I recently sampled them for the first time at NW Vegfest, and loved them so much I tracked them down and asked if they’d be interested at selling their concoctions at Back to Eden. Vanessa, one of the sisters and the marketing director, brought in loads of samples for us to try. Since there were some left over, she kindly agreed to let me have a box for a blog giveaway.

YUM! One lucky reader will win this box of four hand-crafted locally-made truffles.

Rules:

• Open to residents of Portland. These chocolates are so nice I don’t want to let the post office or the weather mess with them and make them anything less than delicious.
• To enter to win: Leave a comment letting me know what you’re doing with your day. I know there’s all sorts of shopping going on, there’s the anti-fur rally, and then of course there’s standing in front of the open fridge and nibbling on left-overs all day (yum). Just let me know how you spent your Buy Nothing Day/Black Friday.
• Winner will be determined by a random number generator and announced at 12 noon tomorrow (Saturday)

Good luck, and I hope you had a wonderful and filling Thanksgiving!

 

Autumn Walk in Portland