Ok I have been bad a about the TILT posts lately, but let’s make this the BOOK EDITION! I will share some goodies from my cookbook reading pile:

• The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. Sometimes I check a book out from the library, only to decide later that OMG I MUST PURCHASE THIS BOOK. I flipped through this book with the intention of putting a sticky note on the recipes I was interested in and copying them down on a piece of paper. Thirty sticky notes later, I decided I should just buy the book.
• The Gluten Free Vegan by Susan O’Brien. Gluten and I have not been getting along lately. When you’re already vegan, and then you cut out the most popular grain in the country, you need a little help figuring out what you *can* eat.
• Babycakes by Erin McKenna. Have I posted about this one already? This is another one that I checked out from the library but I DEFINITELY need to buy. It’s all vegan, all desserts, all gluten free, and mostly low on sugar. My completely awesome husband, who is not vegan himself but has learned to cook vegan food like a pro, made a cake out of this cookbook for my birthday and it was fantastic! Even if you aren’t vegan, if you’re gluten free or just want to make desserts with less sugar, you’ll love this book.
• The Asian Vegan Kitchen by Hema Parekh. I’m going to let you in on a little secret. If you are vegan or you eat gluten-free, you need to learn the ins and outs of your local Asian grocery store. You’ll find a ton of new foods, lots of gluten free noodles, and rice flour WAY cheaper than at your health food store. Luckily, I live in an area with a huge Korean and Vietnamese population, so we have tons of awesome Asian grocery stores.  Vietnamese recipes are easy to veganise if you leave off the fish sauce!

What delicious vegan goodness have I missed?

Let’s face it, chances are pretty good that you like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Seriously, they are delicious. So if you want to start a campaign to encourage people to save the environment, who would you choose as your spokes-food? Yeah, good old PB & J. The PB&J Campaign is encouraging people to replace more meat/dairy based meals with plant based ones. Decide how many plant based meals you’re going to have this week, and the site will tell you how much water and CO2 you saved.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

• These cool vintage tatoo pictures! It’s nice to remember that every culture in history has had some sort of counter culture.
• The Global Rich list. It puts life in perspective when you discover you are in the top 5% of wealth in the world.
• Sea Otters! Especially one with her own Facebook following!
• Hugs! I love this video of police in Denmark handing out hugs and bicycle helmets!
• Gorillas! So YAY to the authorities who rescued a baby gorilla from an animal trafficker. You DO NOT shove a baby gorilla (or any other creature) into a bag and leave it there for six hours. Jerk.
• Food! The worst thing about the Standard American Diet is that we tend to get stuck in a rut, eating the same things all the time. VARIETY is the key to a healthy diet, especially for us vegetarians. Check out this list of Great Foods You Aren’t Eating (and notice, most of the list is vegan).

Our potluck today was AWESOME! Thanks to everyone who came! I wish those of you who had to work this weekend could have come, it was a beautiful day outside today! I like April in Georgia, it’s nice and warm outside but the bugs aren’t out en force yet. Even the pollen wasn’t too bad today! Oh yes, and of course I had recycled paper towel for napkins, biodegradable paper plates, and recyclable plastic cups! Most of the plastic party cups seem to be #6 plastic, which they don’t take at our local recycling center. These cups were #1 plastic, which is accepted anywhere pop bottles are!

What is great about having a vegan potluck?

• Spending a beautiful day outside!
• Getting to try authentic Indian food for the first time.
• Getting to try jicama for the first time.
• Having a whole table filled with things I can eat!

I am so freakin’ excited to tell you about our first event, hosted by DemetersGarden.com and TheModernista.com! I’ve been working on this idea for a little while, and it’s finally here!

VEGETARIAN/VEGAN POTLUCK!

Saturday, April 18 2009 1:30-4:30 PM

Bunten Road Park, Duluth GA

Vegetarians, vegans, veggie-curious, and foodies are all welcome! We would love if you brought a dish to pass, just make sure to label it as vegetarian or vegan so those of us who can’t digest milk know! Can’t cook to save your life? We’ll need beverages and some eco-friendly utensils too! Send me an email at mia@demetersgarden.com to RSVP so I know how many to expect. I’ve rented a pavilion that holds about 35-40 people, but there is a whole park to explore (and a playground right next to the pavilion for the wee ones).

So excited! Maybe I’ll make some vegan pound cake!

THINGS I LOVE THURSDAY!

• These adorable Gummi Bear pictures. Gummi bears have to be the world’s most adorable food, luckily the vegan ones are a bit hard to find, or else I would eat nothing else!
• This post from Treehugger about ways to recycle pantyhose! If there is any one product that never fails to disappoint me, it’s hosiery. They fall apart so easily!  I’ve taken to wearing opaque tights in the winter (they are thicker and much harder to rip) instead of pantyhose. I’ve tried only washing them with delicate things, in a mesh bag for delicates, and line drying them instead of putting them in the dryer (heat supposedly weakens them). At least now I know what to do with them after they get torn!
• What would you do if a stranger emailed you and asked to have dinner at your house? This cool story (with pretty artwork) is all about having dinner with a stranger – for charity!
• Mythbusters! And adorable Kari Byron is preggers! Congrats!
• This cute little girl, even though this video doesn’t make any damn sense! (via Cute Overload)

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• Raw Donut Holes! My friend China (from The Modernista) made some of these for me today, per Ani Phyo’s recipe. YUM YUM YUM!
• Green in Gwinnett Blog! A blog devoted to everything green going on in Gwinnett!
• Pygmy animals! Because everything is cuter in miniature!
• VegNews! It’s my new favorite vegetarian magazine!
• These super cute necklaces on Etsy! The seller is local to Atlanta and ships in recycled packaging!