We had a much needed volunteer day up at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary yesterday! Volunteers are ALWAYS needed, particularly during the winter months, so instead of laying around when it’s cold outside, head up to the farm and work on your muscles! Yesterday, a crew of us cleaned out the entire goat area… the goats are always a hoot. We then got to work in with the steer, where I was able to get a much coveted Dylan Hug. The best.
Just a drive-by post…
I recently was asked to guest-blog for the NYC Vegetarian Food Festival! Click the image below to check it out.
I’ll be attending this year’s festival as well, volunteering for the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary‘s table. Hope to see you there!
Vegans are all about compassion and love, so much so that we extend that emotion for all beings! Here are my picks for compassionate gifts for Valentine’s Day.
(Photo: BettyTurbo on etsy.com)
For the Nooch lover (aren’t we all?!)… need I say any more? Quite possibly the perfect Valentine’s Day card. (Vegan Macaroni Valentine by BettyTurbo, $4.00)
Pucker up!
Nothing says Valentine quite like a kiss! Sweeten up your pout with a new lip balm. I’m a big fan of LUSH cosmetics, and their new lip gloss The Kiss will do just the trick! Slightly tinted and full of goodness, it’s sure to leave a delicious mark on your lover (or kitty cat). (Lush Cosmetics, $7.50, Newport Mall, Jersey City)
(Photo: The Cinnamon Snail Facebook page)
If you’re local to Jersey City/NYC, you most certainly have heard of The Cinnamon Snail vegan food truck. If you haven’t, you need to really get out more because the Snaily is where it’s AT! They are offering a full Valentine’s Day goodie menu – everything from donuts (I must recommend the Hulk Hogan Fudgie Wudgie!) to chocolate to cheesecake! Must order by February 10th in order to pick up your order on February 14th in Red Bank, NJ or Manhattan. (Assorted, $3-34.00)
The Scent of the Wilderness
For those who enjoy the outdoors (or just the smell of them), Juniper Ridge makes a lovely line of bath and body products amongst other Wilderness inspired products. With scents such as Sierra Summer Pine and Red Rock Canyon, you’ll be smelling like the Great Outdoors from the comfort of your 3rd floor walk up. Added bonus: portions of the proceeds are donated to Wilderness preservation organizations. (Sierra Summer Pine Bar Soap, $12.00, online)
(Photo: Christy Robinson Design)
Wear your support around your neck with beautifully designed vegan-inspired jewelry by Christy Robinson Design. Featuring a variety of jewelry (for men and women) and is offering a special Valentine’s Day collection where you are sure to find a lovely bauble for your vegan honey. I’ve been eyeing her pieces for quite some time! (Vegan Heart Necklace, $35.00, online)
(Photo: Kayt Hester society6.com)
For the art lover, Jersey City artist Kayt Hester has some wonderful animal-inspired prints (as well as iPhone cases, pillows and stationary) available online. Her medium is masking tape (Yes! Masking tape!) and quite often does art shows to benefit local Jersey City animal rescues. She also is available for commissioned works (can you say pet portraits?!). (Kayt Hester Tape, Prints starting at $12.48 / Commissions starting at $250.00, online).
Love is sponsoring a rescued farm animal!
Feel good the whole year through by sponsoring an animal in honor of your true love. Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary offers a range of sponsorship levels, and you’ll know a little critter is well-fed for the entire year. Commemorate your sponsorship by spending the day with your special critter and volunteer for a day… you could even make that a monthly event, too! The couple that volunteers together, stays together… plus what could be more romantic than slinging pig poo for the day? (WFAS Sponsorship Package, $10-50.00/month, online)
And for those who are all about the kink, you can find vegan-friendly boudoir accessories at The Vegan Sex Shop… enjoy!
It’s no secret that I am hopelessly devoted to Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. It is a magical place that changed my life. I discovered it by chance, back in 2007. Melissa and I were getting ready to celebrate our one year anniversary. She had always wanted to take a class at The Center for Photography at Woodstock… so we ended up booking a weekend up in the area so she could take a class and we could spend some time away together. Her course was two days long, during the daytime hours, so I was on my on for several hours during the day. I knew the town of Woodstock was adorable, so I occupied myself discovering all the sweet shops and flea market on the first day up there. While I was walking around town, I kept seeing posters for something called “The Blessing of the Animals” at a place called “The Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary”… I thought, oh, I love animals, this sounds right up my alley! At the time, I was still eating meat and dairy full-time – the complete opposite of what I am now. I even remember going to Woodstock Meats to buy some bacon! Regardless, I decided to attend the Blessing ceremony, conducted by some peaceful Buddhist monks from the nearby monastery. That was when the seed got planted. I recall driving away from our rental cabin expressing feelings about wanting to give up eating animals. I felt timid and overwhelmed at first, but knew that there was something to be said with that, and it was going to be the beginning of my journey.
Over the next few weeks, I had this nagging thought that was always in the back of my mind… I really don’t think I want to eat meat anymore. It only took a few weeks before we took the plunge and gave up eating animals. We made attending the Blessing a yearly anniversary tradition. Each time I went, the nagging changed, and got louder and louder, urging me to go vegan. Finally, last year we made the connection and went vegan. And it’s all because of a woman named Jenny Brown, her husband Doug Abel and their magical farm sanctuary.
Jenny Brown’s journey was similar to mine in the fact that her enlightenment came in increments. The path might have been different, but the final destination was the same. And it is all recounted with joy, humor and honesty in her first book, The Lucky Ones: My Passionate Fight for Farm Animals. Co-written by Gretchen Primack, Brown recounts her journey from a cancer-stricken 10-year-old amputee to her thriving career in film which led to passion projects for PETA and finally turned her into a full-time animal activist, hero and co-founder of the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary.
Interspersed with her personal journey, she includes mini-biographies of past and present residents of the farm. She tells their story, as well as hers, in truth and with love. She doesn’t shy away (nor does she ever) from exposing the truths of animal agriculture. The key thing, though, is that she does so with such finesse that she leaves you willingly questioning your own contribution (read: consumption of animals) to the industry. She makes you think. She helps guide you to make that connection. While she admits that she didn’t always have this knack of graceful truth-telling, it is something she can do now with ease.
This book was a pleasure to read. It reminded me of my own journey, why we do what we do, and inspires me to continue in my own form of activism whatever it might end up looking like. This world is a better place because of Jenny Brown, Doug Abel, and the other devoted animal caretakers and volunteers at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary… and for that, I am grateful.
If you live in or close to the New York City area, there will be a party to celebrate the release of The Lucky Ones tomorrow night (August 7) at MooShoes. Jenny will be there, signing and selling her books. Stop on by for some vegan camaraderie and to celebrate the release of such a wonderful book. Hope to see you there!
Quite some time ago, on the same day I visited Rutherford Pancake House (a fantastic diner with a whole slew of vegan options), I also made a stop at Sweet Avenue Bake Shop. 
Sweet Avenue Bake Shop is NJ’s premier vegan cupcakery. Starting off as a mail order only operation in 2006, Sweet Avenue opened their brick and mortar store in August of 2007. They boast six varieties of everyday cupcakes, and a changing menu of special cupcakes every day of the week, and also offer gluten-free and soy-free options.
Upon entering the shop, my brain knew that everything was vegan… we had looked it up online prior, and Happy Cow was telling us that it was vegan. However, there was no mention of “vegan” anywhere in the shop. Being the paranoid vegan that I am, I had to ask, just to make sure. I have mixed feelings about places not outwardly displaying the word “vegan” on their items. On one hand, if the product is delicious, you almost don’t want to scare people off by labelling it vegan. Sadly, it is widely accepted in the non-vegan world that anything vegan is going to taste like cardboard. Of course, us vegans who live and breathe this lifestyle know this isn’t the case! On the other hand, by not labelling it vegan, then having someone try it and letting them discover how delicious it is without their preconceived notions, leads to a “mind blow” on the part of the non-vegan. That is the ultimate compliment for any vegan cook/chef/baker.
It was hard to choose, but we picked four scrumptious cupcakes to bring home to try.
Clockwise, Little Cutie (chocolate cake with chocolate Bavarian cream filling and chocolate & strawberry frosting), Sexy Sadie (Red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting), Snowball (vanilla cake with coconut frosting, topped with shredded coconut) and lavender lemon (lemon cake filled with lemon curd and lavender frosting).
Melissa and I each shared them all so we could try every single one of them! We both had our personal favorites. Here are mine, from least favorite to most favorite.
Sexy Sadie, the red velvet, looked delicious, but ended up being my least favorite. Maybe I’m just not a huge red velvet fan, preferring bolder & stronger flavor combinations.
The Little Cutie was great! I loved the chocolate filling, and I mean really… who doesn’t love a chocolate cupcake. Melissa chose this one as her favorite. This one came in second for me, but only because the next two just totally and completely delighted me!
The lavender lemon and Snowball tied for my favorite! First of all, the Snowball is my ultimate in cake — anything with coconut and frosting with yellow/vanilla cake has me sold. Bonus points for extra moist cake. It’s my favorite combo. The lavender lemon was such a unique combination for me, I had never had a cupcake like this. The frosting was delicious – not too sweet, not too floral, and the filling also was the perfectly lemony lemon curd. I died for this cupcake.
All in all, I was so pleased. I am grateful that there is a vegan bakery within a reasonable distance from my home, and that it serves as a great vegan ambassador in its own home neighborhood.
Have you had a vegan cupcake from Sweet Avenue? Which one is your favorite? Where have you had the best vegan cupcake?
I spent an extended weekend with some dear family and friends up in Woodstock last weekend. Of course, we paid a visit to see my critter friends at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary! We went on full tour, with co-founder Doug Abel leading the pack. I brought along a bag full of goodies to share with my friends, including some grapes, watermelon and celery! If I can’t win their love by slinging their poo, I sure as hell will try winning their love through their stomachs. ;) All photos by Melissa Cacioppo
Do you “Like” Jersey City Vegan on Facebook? No?! What are you waiting for?! I’ve uploaded the photos there, too. Come and gush your love about the critters!
Got nothing to do tomorrow? Want to love on some critters and eat some yummy vegan food?
Come join us tomorrow at
From 11am-4pm you can visit with the critters, listen to some great live music, participate in arts & crafts, get some humane education, storytelling, face painting, kids yoga, VEG-E-Q!, PLUS a BOUNCY CASTLE! Now who doesn’t love a bouncy castle?! Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for kids (members and toddlers are free!) and I’d love to see you there (I’ll be the one telling stories!). On a food note – there will be the brand new, revolutionary, delicious, succulent BEYOND MEAT chicken salad, so if anything come to try that! It isn’t even available on the East Coast yet. If you don’t have a car, WFAS is easily accessible by bus (just click the link for detailed directions).
Hope to see you there!
East coast vegans, particularly Northeast coast vegans, even more specifically, metro NYC vegans know the glory that is the bakery Vegan Treats. Veg News has rated it Best Bakery and Company of the Year, Time Out New York has sung its praises, and vegans far and wide salivate at the mere mention of it.
Founded by Danielle Konya, Vegan Treats (in Bethlehem, PA) has been the premium purveyor of vegan baked goods for over ten years. They have perfected the art, in fact. Konya, an ethical vegan, had a mission of making not only delicious vegan cakes, but vegan cakes that are better than any other cake – vegan or not. She succeeded, and with flying colors, having won Best Overall at PBS’s Feast of Sweets, beating out over fifty non-vegan bakers!
Their most famous dessert, from my perspective is their incomparable Chocolate Peanut Butter Bomb Cake. A fantastically moist chocolate cake, topped with peanut butter whipped deliciousness, entirely enrobed in chocolate and drizzled with peanut butter. It. Is. Divine. It even won the approval of my discerning carnivore brother-in-law!
We got to visit the hallowed bakery on our way to my parent’s house over Memorial Day weekend (they live in Central PA). After oogling and giggling and sixty dollars later, we walked out with a selection of mini-cakes, cannolis and donuts. Being that I have had the Peanut Butter Bomb cake many times before, I was most impressed and delighted with the Boston Cream Donut that I quickly devoured. Yes, VEGAN Boston Cream! See photos below for all the vegan baked goods glory! (Pardon the appearance of the Bomb cake! It kind of exploded on the car ride!)
Have you had Vegan Treats? What is your favorite thing you’ve had from there?
Right around the block from my apartment building is the Brownstone Pancake Factory. It’s a place I used to frequent multiple times a month, particularly for weekend breakfast. However, since taking on a vegan lifestyle, I haven’t been there in almost a year. Diners are often one of the hardest places to eat for a vegan, usually having to stick to salads only. And everyone knows you don’t go to the diner for a salad!
But now, Ladies and Gentlemen, I have the Rutherford Pancake House in Rutherford, New Jersey!
Less than a thirty minute car ride from Jersey City, Rutherford Pancake House offers an entire breakfast menu with vegan options. Their breakfast menu includes vegan pancakes, vegan CHALLAH (freshly made in-house!) french toast, a variety of tofu scrambles, vegan scones, vegan Belgian waffles, vegan sausage… its everything a vegan could want in a breakfast menu. Their lunch/dinner menu also has a variety of vegan options including a vegan seitan cheese steak with Daiya cheese, a whole vegan-ized Tex-Mex section, seitan Marsala & Parmesan, and veggie burgers.
We went smack in the middle of brunch hour on a saturday – just about noon-ish – and were seated right away. We had previewed the menu online, so I kind of had an idea of what I might want. But first, I was delighted to be able to order coffee with soy milk at a diner! I wouldn’t have to drink my coffee black!
I placed a kind of gluttonous order – vegan pancakes AND the seitan cheese steak. I just had to have both! Melissa opted for the vegan Challah french toast. They make everything to order, so it takes a little bit longer to get your food than a traditional diner, but that is totally OK with me. I appreciate that extra effort, particularly if you are offering vegan options. The other thing I appreciate is that they seem to have really educated their staff about what it is to be vegan. Our waitress, who had only been there a month, had “never heard about vegan” until she started working there. She was quick to assure us that they take precautions for folks who order vegan menu items. I think that is absolutely fantastic.
Finally! Our food arrived.
I accidentally dug into the pancakes before taking a photo… I was really hungry. Mel & I ended up sharing the pancakes, and I gave her a couple bites of my cheese steak, but I was kind of hogging it. It was so totally yum. It was everything I had remembered a cheese steak to be, but without the sadness of meat included in every bite. And I ate every single bit of it. The pancakes were exactly what I was looking for as well… nice and fluffy! I had a bite of the vegan Challah french toast as well, and it was also very fluffy, cinnamon-y and delicious.
When we went up to the counter to pay, I asked if the gentleman working the register was the owner – he was! I thanked him and his GM (also at the counter) for making such an effort to include the vegan community. He said he has people who come far and wide to come and eat at his diner, and now I understand why. I told them that this diner is a great example and that I hope more establishments catch on. After all, us in the vegan crowd WILL travel for pancakes – and other delicious vegan fare.
We travel down to Point Pleasant, NJ on a regular basis to visit my partner’s mother and husband. When we travel to either of our families, we usually always travel with a goody bag of our basics: a carton of soy milk, package of tofu, Earth Balance butter and then whatever else we might want to prepare ourselves to eat. It saves our families a little bit of stress when we visit, because they tend to get a little nervous about what to feed us.
We arrived today mid-afternoon… Too late for lunch, too early for dinner. But we were hungry. So, Melissa does as we always do when traveling to a city or town we aren’t familiar with – she Happy Cow’d Point Pleasant. (Happy Cow is a vegan/veg food finder that basically works globally… You start up the app, it locates you, and tells you where the closest vegan/veg friendly places to eat). Our eyes about bugged out of our heads when it returned the result of Jason’s Organic Pizza Cafe. Could this really be true?! Vegan pizza in Point Pleasant?! Indeed, vegan pizza in Point Pleasant.
My mother in law took a ride with us over to their location at 1314 Richmond Ave, a short ride over the bridge in a cute plaza full of Italian specialty stores and a random taco joint. Not only do they cater to vegans, but offer gluten-free options as well. And, of course, everything is organic. Their brochure states, “We believe that all natural foods help you feel better. At Jason’s our wish for you is to eat good and feel good.” I couldn’t agree more!
We took a look at the menu, which is full of wonderful options for vegans and omnivores alike. Specialty pizzas, salads, appetizers, and sandwiches, I felt like they really made a conscious effort to include the vegan and gluten-free crowd, which was worlds away from your typical pizza parlor. I opted for a “Create Your Own” pizza, selecting a whole wheat crust, organic spicy tomato sauce, Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese, topped with organic crimini mushrooms and Field Roast sausage. Melissa got the same crust and cheese, topped with basil, red pepper and crimini mushrooms.
While we waited, the owner, Jason himself, treated us to a sample of his homemade vegan meatballs. I thought this was extremely kind and generous, and before I even had told him about Jerseycityvegan.com! The meatballs were delicious, made from veggie protein, had a perfectly seasoned Italian flavor exactly like what you’d expect from a meatball! My mother in law even gave them a taste, and she was thoroughly impressed. That’s kind of a big deal, in my book – An omnivore giving a seal of approval on a vegan meatball.
And I’m sure you’re wondering how the pizzas were? Well, have a look…
The cheese was perfectly melted, toppings were full of flavor, and the crust was crispy. I was absolutely delighted. I would love it if Jason’s opened a location in Jersey City, but for now I will settle for it being my Jersey Shore go-to for pizza. Summer is coming, so trips to the shore will be plentiful very soon… As will my visits to Jason’s Organic Pizza Cafe!
