You can subscribe to our blog using our RSS feed.
Mistress Ginger Cooks: Love Songs to Turn Up the Heat
Justin Leaf, a longtime CAA volunteer, is pleased to announce his cabaret show, “Mistress Ginger Cooks: Love Songs to Turn up the Heat”, at Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater on Thursday, February 13th at 7pm and on Friday, February 14th at 10pm! In addition to this show, Justin (as Mistress Ginger) is also releasing a vegan cookbook in Spring 2014 called Mistress Ginger Cooks: Everyday Vegan Food for Everyone.
Junkyard Theater is presenting this special show at Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater, 810 West Lake Street, Minneapolis. Tickets are $15 at the door or $12 in advance or with Fringe button. You can get tickets at www.bryantlakebowl.com or call (612) 825-8949.
More about the show and cookbook
Award-winning performance artist Justin Leaf takes the stage as larger-than-life showgirl Mistress Ginger in this musical revue celebrating Valentine’s Day. With Charlie Smith on piano, Ginger sings songs to inspire love, lust, and laughter. The set list is comprised of a diverse collection of popular tunes, ranging from Cole Porter to Paul Simon to Pink. Whether soulful or comical, swinging or sultry, Ginger’s renditions aim to give the audience a night of full of fun and ripe with romance. This modern-day tribute to the quintessential day of love is designed for everyone, “whether single, coupled, or even tripled.”
Between the songs, Ginger tells a few titillating tales of her expertise in the kitchen, how she whips up meals for her many lovers and satisfies their appetites in more ways than one. With these stories, the show references Leaf’s soon-to-be-released vegan cookbook, written as Mistress Ginger and titled Mistress Ginger Cooks: Everyday Vegan Food for Everyone. The book will be published by Book Publishing Company and available in the spring of 2014.
“Mistress Ginger Cooks” marks the sixth production for Junkyard Theater, established by Justin Leaf in 2009 as a platform for the creation of multi-dimensional performance works that affect an audience through the intimacy of the cabaret experience. Junkyard Theater’s first production, “The Mistress Ginger Junkyard Spectacular” premiered at the Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater in 2009 and was followed by “Bedroom Eyes,” presented at the 2010 Minnesota Fringe Festival. In 2011, Junkyard Theater presented “Spell No. 2” and “Geek in the Pink,” the latter of which VitaMN called “a campy, bawdy, homofabulous romp with moments of real humanity.” In 2013, Justin entered a new realm with “Don’t Rain on My Panda Bear,” featuring Justin performing as both himself and with the character of Mistress Ginger.In March 2014, Junkyard Theater will present “Waters of March,” featuring songs to herald the spring, sung by Justin accompanied by jazz pianist Richard Erickson.
So, bring your sweetheart out for a night of fun and laughter and don’t miss this one-of-a-kind show!
Welcome to Our New Website
As you might have noticed, Compassionate Action for Animals has just launched a new website design. We think this site has a clean, simple design that will make it much easier for people to find the content they’re interested in. The new website software we’re using also makes it much easier for volunteers to edit and update the site, which makes us happy.
We’d like to thank Brita Bengtson, Ashley Flitter, Jeff Johnson, Matt Mackall, and Jake Nath for their help while we worked on this site. We’d also like to thank Cali Mastny for helping us refine the design from our initial rough prototypes.
We have migrated some of the content from our old site, but not all of it. We will transfer more content over in the future. If there’s something you’re really missing, please let us know so we can prioritize bringing to the new site. And of course, if you find broken links, images, or anything else broken, please tell us so we can fix it.
Valentine’s Vegan Bake Sale
Show your love for animals!
Come buy some sweets for your sweetie at our Valentine’s Vegan Bake Sale on Thursday, February 12, on the ground floor of Coffman Memorial Union, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 300 Washington Ave SE, Minneapolis.
Chili Cook-Off Registration Open
Do you make the best vegan chili in town? Enter the competition!
Last week I mentioned our 5th Annual Vegan Chili Cook-Off, and now we’ve opened up registrations to contestants! There are just 13 spots, and we expect them to fill up. Sign up today! If you simply want to attend and rate the chili, it’s free to attend. It’s on Saturday, February 22, at 7 pm at the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis (900 Mount Curve Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55403).
Our cookbook reviewer is back with a review of Betty Goes Vegan. What cookbook will Michelle review next? You can find out on Minnesota Public Radio!
We have a special dine-out on February 11 at 7 pm, at Galactic Pizza (2917 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55408). For everything we order, Galactic will donate 25% to Compassionate Action for Animals! Even better, they will contribute all day if you simply show them a coupon on our website.
Mark Your Calendars for Our Annual Banquet
I have a lot of events to announce! I hope to see you soon!
- First, we have a potluck on Thursday, January 23 at 6 pm at our office, 2100 First Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55404. Warm up with great food and company!
- We’re hosting our 5th Vegan Chili Cook-Off on Saturday, February 22 at the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis, 900 Mount Curve Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55403. We’ll open up registration to contestants soon!
- We’re hosting our 10th Annual Banquet on April 3, 2014. I look forward to celebrating another successful year with you! You can register right now.
We have more events including a Valentine’s potluck and bakesale to announce soon.
Do you live outside of the Twin Cities, Minnesota area and want to plan your own festival like the Twin Cities Veg Fest? We’ve created a new website on how to plan a veg fest! We’ve included all details on how to form a committee, find a venue, coordinate advertising, and more!
Betty Goes Vegan Cookbook Review
“[Betty Crocker]…has always been an advocate for the modern kitchen….[W]ith the rise of veganism and vegetarianism, and a wave of new vegan-friendly products on the market, there’s another new wave of modernity sweeping over the cooking landscape – and many of us need a hand adjusting, in the way our mothers and grandmothers did in their day.” – Betty Goes Vegan: 500 Classic Recipes for the Modern Family by Annie and Dan Shannon.
Annie Shannon captures the spirit of Betty Crocker in Betty Goes Vegan with her personal notes on recipes and tips on gadgets and vegan products. More than the recipes, Annie’s story of being in a professional rut and being re-inspired through her Betty Crocker blog project resonates so loudly throughout the cookbook it inspires the reader to dive in with abandon too. From blog project to VegNews’ Best New Cookbook 2013, Betty Goes Vegan is an inspiration for modern day “Bettys”.
The recipes in Betty Goes Vegan harken back to my childhood growing up on Minnesota’s Iron Range. Familiar dishes like stroganoff and meatloaf are remade compassionately with vegan ingredients. If you miss your family’s mayo-based salads, have no fear, Chapter 3 on lunch has you covered. Many of the recipes showcase faux meats and cheeses, and the Shannons offer several overviews of the products for the novice throughout the book.
In addition to the usual chapters on breakfast/brunch, lunch, dinner, baked treats (aka desserts) and appetizers/snacks, there is a section on holiday favorites that offers quick ideas if you find yourself hosting a holiday meal. With 14 pages dedicated to Thanksgiving, you’re bound to find something new to add to your current rotation. Maybe a beer can tofurky (p. 444) or mini pumpkin cheesecakes (p. 454)? The baked treats chapter will also make you wish you had a whoopie pan with 9 recipes ranging from tiramisu (p. 346) to dreamsicle (p. 344).
I tried seven recipes from the cookbook and found them more of a starting ground for inspiration than a follow it to the letter guide. The vegan ranch dressing (p. 110) was flavorful (non-vegans couldn’t tell it was vegan), but its consistency was more like a dip than a dressing. The artichoke dip (p. 408) was a lemony, slightly funky and richly gooey dip that satisfied a need for overindulgence. I doubled the chocolate chips for the chocolate chips cookie recipe (p. 296) and was surprised at the whipped consistency of the dough. The cookies had crisp edges and fluffy centers and were devoured at a party by vegans and non-vegans alike. You can read more about my experiences with the recipes on my blog, Accidentally Meatless.
What I liked most about Betty Goes Vegan is Annie Shannon’s personal touch and vulnerabilities. She shares women’s history lessons, arguments for veganism, and a study of Betty Crocker in an introspective tone that challenges the reader to see beyond stereotypes and be a role model through compassionate, inspired living.
Betty Goes Vegan: 500 Classic Recipes for the Modern Family
by Annie & Dan Shannon
First Edition: February 2013
Grand Central Publishing
Vegan Eats World Cookbook Review
Through 300 bold international recipes, this cookbook answers the question, What if the world were vegan? It encourages the reader to open their plate to food from around the world no matter where their kitchen is.
Written by Genevieve Gamlin, author of TwinCitiesVegan.com and Compassionate Action for Animals volunteer
Vegan Eats World starts with asking what if the world were vegan?, followed by a quick "How to Use This Book" section which includes a key for icons used to label recipes. The book is divided into three parts. Part One, Kitchen Cartography, includes six sections: Before Cooking; During Cooking; After Cooking, Chill Out; Ingredients; Shopping Lists; and Kitchen Equipment. These thirty-four pages can be a life saver for the novice home cook as they are filled with countless how-to's and cooking terms defined. Part Two, The Recipes, is broken down into twelve chapters: Spice Blends; The Three Protein Amigos: Tofu, Seitan, & Tempeh; Pickles, Chutneys & Saucier Sauces; Salads, Spreads & Sandwiches; Soups; Curries, Hearty Stews & Beans; Dumplings, Breads & Pancakes; Asian Noodles to Mediterranean Pasta; Hearty Entrees; Robust Vegetable Entrees & Sides; Rice & Whole Grains: One-Pot Meals & Supporting Roles; and Sweet Beginnings. Part Three ends the book with menu ideas, online resources, recipe by icon index, thanks & acknowledgments, metric conversions, index, and an about the author section. As you can imagine, this is a large book reminiscent of a college textbook.
Diving into such a large book can be overwhelming. I thought about picking a recipe from each chapter, but I ended up going to the "Recipe by Icon" index and picking a few from the "On a Budget Section". While making my shopping list I was greeted by unfamiliar ingredients. They are referenced in Part One, but I still had to figure out where I could get these ingredients in my neck of the woods. I started with my usual grocers, Trader Joe's and Kowalski's, but wasn't able to find many of the spices. The next day my sidekick dropped by Indian Spice House in Eden Prairie and was able to find many ingredients on the list. This cookbook will most likely make you venture to specialty grocers. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of spending a small fortune on spices at Kowalski's before realizing how cheap the spices are at places like Indian Spice House. I think the "On a Budget" icon only applies if you already have most of the spices or can find a good online source.
It was finally time to cook the first recipe on my menu, jerk-roasted seitan strips, which calls for the seitan coriander cutlets. I did not read through the cutlet recipe since it had the "under 45 minutes from start to finish" icon. Big mistake. The forty-five minutes does not include preparing other recipes needed for the final recipe or pre-soaking of beans or nuts. So even though the seitan has the "45" icon the recipe calls for three minutes of kneading, ten minutes resting, thirty-four minutes baking, and at least forty-five minutes cooling before use for a total of ninety-two minutes. The jerk-roasted seitan called for blending up all of the ingredients then cooking for thirty minutes. That is a grand total of one-hundred-twenty-two minutes, not including miscellaneous time for prepping ingredients for a recipe I thought would take fewer than forty-five minutes.
Aside from the misleading icons, the recipes were delicious as well as fairly straight-forward and easy. I did run into one snag during a recipe that called for spices to be ground in a coffee grinder. Not having a coffee grinder, I figured I could use my one-cup food processor, but it didn't work so I ended up just putting in the spices whole.
I recommend this book to anyone who loves going out to any international restaurant and is interested in recreating dishes at home. The author states that she took some liberties with regard to what is authentic, but I did not notice anything that was too far off. One improvement would be if this book had an index that sorted the recipes by region. The author states that vegan cuisine does not live on a map, but it sure would be nice to pick recipes based on a dinner guest's favorite region.
Jerk-Roasted Seitan Strips: Despite the length of this recipe, it was fairly easy. The seitan had a meat like texture and was delicious. The hardest part was trying not to cry uncontrollably after food processing the onion mixture. The finished product was very flavorful with a mild kick. The book suggests serving this dish with Island Brown Rice and Peas. I already had some cooked brown rice I wanted to use up so I just threw in some frozen veggies, coconut milk, and spices.
Coconut Black-Eyed Pea Curry: This recipe also calls for an onion to be food processed, convincing me that this book should come with a pair of goggles. For a recipe with coconut in the name, there was not a strong coconut flavor. This recipe was fairly bland, but makes a good side dish.
Lemon Garlic Potatoes: I had some extra potatoes to use up and I love garlic so I decided to make this dish as a side. They were really good mainly because you cannot go wrong with potatoes, but they weren't as lemony or garlicky as I expected.
Sri Lankan Red Lentil Curry: This dish was hot! The strong flavors from the various spices were new to me. I loved the texture, perfect for scooping up with naan.
Yogurt Naan Griddle Bread: This was by far the best naan recipe I have ever tried. This naan was made with garlic and cilantro, but the book offers many different variations.
Japanese Soul Food Menu: Tonkatsu Sauce, Sesame Panko Tempeh Cutlets, Shredded Green Cabbage, Lemon Wedges, and Steamed Rice: This is my new favorite tempeh recipe. Normally I am not a huge tempeh fan because of the texture, but the way it's prepared in this recipe creates a perfectly crunchy outside and meaty inside. The tangy, salty sauce was easy to make and really made the whole meal, who doesn't love dipping?
Last Chance to Donate in 2013!
Please make your donation before the end of the year!
CAA is the new wave of animal activism, blending a winning combination of ingredients including youth, intelligence, professionalism, media savvy, and contemporary technology to advocate passionately and successfully for its chosen constituency.
Joe Connelly, editor, Veg News
Twin Cities Veg Fest is growing. In 2012, 1,200 people attended. In 2013, 2,000 attended. We expect 2,500 to 3,000 in 2014. But we can only accomplish this with your help. We’re engaging thousands about the horrors of factory farms by handing out leaflets and showing videos. At our potlucks, dineouts, cooking classes, at our presentations at middle schools and junior highs, we’re giving resources to people so they can change their diets. But we can continue this only with your financial contribution.
As far as donations, there is no better return on your investment … than through CAA, who effectively reach out to young minds questioning the ways of our culture. Both their efforts and impact are highly focused and result-driven. A truly amazing group.
MVR
Thank you for your support!
For the animals,
Unny Nambudiripad
Executive Director
Please join us
Our crucial animal advocacy work happens with your participation.
There are just a few more days to make a contribution before the end of the year! We appreciate all levels of support. When you contribute, you can feel good about helping animals and about being part of an organization and movement that's vibrant and growing. Thank you!
Leave a legacy for animals
Please consider leaving a gift for Compassionate Action for Animals.
You can give farmed animals a very special gift by providing for Compassionate Action for Animals (CAA) through a bequest, trust, annuity, or insurance policy. Planned giving is a powerful way to ensure your longtime legacy of protecting animals while continuing CAA’s important mission into the future.
Sample bequest language is easy for your advisor to include: “I give, devise, and bequeath to Compassionate Action for Animals, federal tax identification number 41-1846192, 2100 1st Ave S, Suite 200, Minneapolis, MN 55404 ____% of my estate [or describe sum $____ or the real or personal property ____] to be used for its general purpose.”