Born to Run Global Sighthound Rescue Vegan Bakesale

     There is a bake sale coming up on January 29th to benefit the Born to Run Global Sighthound Rescue. The goal of the group is to "ensure that Sighthounds in need to not suffer and are given a chance at life." Greyhounds are absolutely beautiful creatures and so many are left to inhumane conditions when their career takes a turn to the bleak. There will be a yummy spread of vegan goodies prepared by the fabulous bakers! Make a point to come down, check out the site and the facebook page! Hope to see y'all there!

Sorae Villiage Christmas Market

     Last weekend I met up with some wonderful friends (I'm loving this trend) and we trucked it over to the Christmas market that was happening in Sorae villiage. Sorae villiage is the French district in Seoul and is honestly a strip loaded with cafes, bakeries, French cuisine, and is thoroughly dusted with the French language. It's super cute, I recommend just checking the area out!
     The market was quaint, there were lots of tables and foodie items all over the place. Sadly there wasn't much on the Vegan front (Aliensdayout, let's collaborate)! They had everything from wine (^^*), breads, cakes, bindaeddeok (빈대떡), crepes, hot chocolate...ahhh I'll just lay the porn on you~

starry wine (photo taken by VeganBeats)

more vino!!! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

빈대떡 (photo taken by VeganBeats)

     The hot chocolate was made with dark chocolate chips and...butter. ugh~ 

hot chocolate (photo taken by VeganBeats)

all sorts of tinned items (photo taken by VeganBeats)

     There was a table LOADED with beautifully dressed pastries and warm crusty breads but...vegan lacks and wallet demanding...my eyes can gorge though right? (I mean, what's porn for!)

look at all that bakey jazz! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

photo taken by VeganBeats

Christmas logs! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

cheesy breads (photo taken by VeganBeats)

decadent (photo taken by VeganBeats)

lemon tarts (photo taken by VeganBeats)

"so good" and the model's gorgeous too! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

Christmas decoration! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

olive oil (photo taken by VeganBeats)

not vegan )O: (photo taken by VeganBeats)

     It was mighty cold so we wandered into a small cafe where we sipped on hot coffees and Mipa gifted us with some BEAUTIFUL treats from her bakeshop. Check it out~ buy buy buy!!!

ginger coconut muffins and Boozy Christmas Fruitcake (photo taken by VeganBeats)

hand-dripped coffee..ughhhh (photo taken by VeganBeats)

cute! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

It's around the bend...and these treats wrap it kindly~

photo taken by VeganBeats

Christmas is LESS THAN a week AWAY!!!

Make sure to get some DELICIOUS vegan treats from aliensbakeshop.com If you get some now, you may have time to order another batch of noms (because you may just eat it all prior to gift wrapping!!

1.2 million in 3 hours!!

     The bakesale was a success and thank you so much for the bakers and the supporters! There was such a wonderful (and FULL) spread of goodies and an awesome turnout. Cannot thank everyone involved enough for such a wonderful bakesale!!

gluten-free and other vegan goodies (photo taken by VeganBeats)

my gluten free treats! cowboy cookies, raspberry jam shortbread, and chocolate-dipped shortbread (photo taken by VeanBeats)

my gluten free lemon drops and Kia's brownies and blondies! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

     Mipa brought some of her wonderful and deliriously delightful Alien's Day Out goodies!!

from right to left: tropical bars, cocoa nib cranberry oat bars, chocolate orange biscotti, tropical biscotti, and thin mints! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

lemon pound cake, chcolate chip cookies, cranberry double chocolate chip cookies, oat bars! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

Fiona's mango cake, apple tarts, chocolate cakes!!! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

cinnamon rolls, chai cupcake, apple scones, pumpkin boscotti, cholate almond biscotti, blondies, and brownies! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

How beautiful is all of this?!!

So much fun and~~~Mipa delivers her Alien's Day out goodies!!!
Check out her bakeshop~~

Don't Forget to Come to the Bakesale~

The bakesale for the Horn of Africa is tomm! Make sure to make it for lots of vegan goodies~

I made a BUNCH of gluten-free jazz~~ All organic and only some things contain nuts~

Here's some of what will be around!!

rasberry jam shortbread cookies (photo taken by VeganBeats)

mint brownies (photo taken by VeganBeats)

lemon drops and chocolate shortbread (photo taken by VegsanBeats)

cowboy cookies (photo taken by VeganBeats)

I've been baking for hours! It's been a blast and there are so many vegan goodies that will be sure to satisfy your eyes and tummy!~

Hope to see you tomorrow~~

Vegan Bake Sale Fundraiser to Battle Hunger and Famine in East Africa~

     The FABulous and wonderful Mipa Lee of Aliens Day Out is hosting another Vegan Bakesale to raise funds for the famine in the Horn of Africa. Keep yours calendars booked...

africa poster2, a photo by mipa lee on Flickr.


     Mipa and Kia will be baking loads of treats and I'm on top of the gluten free treats! Hope to see you there~~


When: Saturday, Sept 17, from 11AM - 4PM (or until everything is sold out)
Where: Infront of Suji's Restaurant at Noksapyeong Station, Line 6, Exit 3
What: Delicious all-vegan baked goodies, made by myself, Kia, and several other vegan volunteers! All proceeds will go to the United Nations World Food Programme


Check out the Facebook Events Page~~

Vegan Love filled weekend(s)^^*!~

     Ugh, it's been a while since I've posted anything, apologies. Life happens right...and my computer has been a teensy bit sick lately. First, it wouldn't take/upload any of my pictures, viruses, slowness, picture issues...it needed a break, I should be patient with it. So I gave my hard working computer a vacation and hopefully it will be a bit more cooperative.
     A lot has been happening and been in the works since last time I wrote. More vegan treats, teaching fun, adventuring, catching up times...general genuine bliss...it's been good.
I've been spending time with a lot of WONDERFUL people, and cannot express my love and feelings of gratefulness enough. I hope you know who you are...^^*~
A while ago, I wandered over to Sean and Kia's place and being the talented baker she is, Kia whipped up a bunch of adorable mini donuts for an ARC bakesale...

rainbow sprinkles *^^* (photo taken by VeganBeats)

chocolate dipped with sugar caps (photo taken by VeganBeats)

While helping decorate the mini cuties, Kia was more than generous and let me use her oven to make some Mediterranean olive walnut and sun-dried tomatoe bread...

yeast free, super simple and delicious! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

     The bread was moist, full of flavor and yeast free! Kia dried the tomatoes herself and...ugh I miss the olive bars back int he states where you could get sun-dried tomatoes by eeek the pound!!
   
     Last Saturday, there was the HBC fest (Hae Bang Chon Fest) where there are loads of live music happening in all sorts of cafes and bars. Along with that there are a lot of artsy stuff being promoted, independent artisits, etc. There are apparently two festivals a year, one in May and one in October. According to their site:
"Local pubs and local artists, have a day of celebration, music, life and art."
I went with Kia and Sean and bumped into all sorts of friends, connections, old coworkers, artists...it was fun!
      Kia and I wandered over to Indigo for a glass of wine and some noms...vegan friendly and yummy!! Scanning the menu there were a decent amount of vegan friendly options, edamame, tortilla salad (omit cheese), side salad, etc. Everything was decently priced too, about 5-10,000W a plate and the staff was more than friendly. We went with the steamed edamame and the hummus plate.

edamame!! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

And the hummus plate was delicious. The hummus was creamy but still kind of nutty, and it was salted just enough. I HATE over-salted hummus, it loses so much when it's over spiced...and the salad that came on the side was served with an amazing balsamic dressing. I was literally scooping the dressing up...uhhh balsamic ^^* Olives are a bit pricey here, so I was surprised to find so many olives with our dish...thankee!

hummus plate! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

How to get to Indigo:
Line 6 Noksapyeong, walk out of exit 2. Walk straight for about 5-7 minutes and when you come to a fork on the road, veer to the left and continue up the hill. Indigo will be on your right side about 200 meters up!!

HBC fest pretty much closed up last weekend and this weekend I spent time with Sean, Kia, and Mipa~ along with some other wonderful people! Sean and Kia had a house warming party FULL of vegan noms that Kia and Sean made and were all delectable. Sadly, my missing camera and technical issues prevented me from even trying to document everything...regret now!
raspberry lemonade (with vodka), basil lemoncello, olive tempanade, babaganoush, roasted herbed potatoes, tofu scramble, vegan sausage, vegan deli meat slices, blueberry coffee cake, blondies, pesto gnocchi....jezum, the vegan love, the stuffed bellies, and my tipsy demeanor...

Another weekend finished, enjoyed, and positively reflected upon!

Worldwide Vegan Bakesale and the Cancer Kids Marathon

     WOW~~ The worldwide Vegan Bakesale:Fundraiser for Japan was PHENOMINAL*!~ 

So many wonderful people came together to support this event! There were amazing eats created, eaten, purchased, and donated!

     Everything made was vegan and there were gluten free options! I don't think I can respectfully describe the beauty of a table full of glorious and SAFE edibles~~

a portion of the table. from bottom left clockwise: chocolate cupcaked with orange bits, chocolate chip and snickerdoodle cookies, brownies, lemon bars, chcolate covered pretzels, thin mints, chocolate afgans, and jelly muffins (photo taken by VeganBeats)

from bottom left clockwise: chocolate covered pretzels, brownies, blondies, carrot spice muffins, lemon poppyseed muffins, rockyroad bars, and coconut cupcakes (photo taken by VeganBeats)

     The bakers are all wonderful women and more than talented. I love how everyone collaborated to support such a positive and beneficial event!! We had everything...I managed to steal some shots before everything flew off the table...I love being surrounded by so much talent and brilliance^^*!~

coconut cupcakes (photo taken by VeganBeats)

Kia's Cupcakes~~Beautiful!! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

Fiona's jelly muffins (photo taken by VeganBeats)

chcolate cupcakes with candied orange bits (photo taken by VeganBeats)

The cookies were...super cute and I'm not usually into sweets but I found myself oogling the spread...O_o

chocolate afgans made by Fiona! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

     There were some gluten free options..Kia whipped up some truffles (that were a HIT) and I made the cookie batches ^^*!~

Kia is a wonderful baker and has so much experience in terms of baked goods...she made so much...and uggggghhhhhhh(Homer Simpson moans!!

on top are my Cyndi Lauper girlfriend sugar loves, and below are Kia's truffles! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

gingerbread biscotti made by Kia (moan out loud amazing!!) (photo taken by VeganBeats)

Kia's blondies (photo taken by VeganBeats)

Kia's snickerdoodle and chocolate chip cookies (photo taken by VeganBeats)

     Kia woke up SUPER early to whip up a GIANT box of snickerdoodles and chocolate chip cookies....another hit. Some of my buddies made a point to call me requesting chocolate chip cookies specifically.
     I think chocolate chip cookies are a direct reminder of home..stirs up a lot of nostalgia. Those days (pre-vegan) eating fresh baked chocolate chip cookis dipped in milk or after a long bike-ride. Desserts were never at my house but the were at my nanna's! Everytime my brother and I would spend the day with Nanna and Papa there was some kind of freshly made dessert; chocolate chip cookies or chocolate pudding pie... Lots of cartoons, playing in the park, eating too many sweets, snacking on hummus..not all int his order but my general point~ chocolate chip cookies bring up a lot of childhood memories, they remind us of comfort, safety, happiness...Once vegan, finding these childhood desserts aren't easy to find, we can't run to some store and pick up anything that tastes as good, if we can find anything. Another hit...and Kia, very very yummy!!

     I made the gluten free jazz (besides Kia's truffles.) I made GF sugar cookies, a tropical trail mix cookie, and carob-teased chocolate chip raison cookies.

Cyndi Lauper Girlfriend Sugar Loves (photo taken by VeganBeats)

The tropical trail mix cookies and carob-teased chocolate raison cookie pictures I took came out FAR too blurry but..yumm! I miss baking and playing with an ovens to...I have to say, I'm still buzzing from this!!
The bakesale was a HUGE success, we raised 942,000won, and it will be evenly split and donated to MercyCorps and JEARS. Thanks to all that supported, baked, provided...etc...thank you!!


MORE AWESOMNESS...Today is Sunday and this morning started with the Cancer Kids Marathon!

I was signed up for the 5K and was SUPER nervous. I twisted my ankles up about two weeks ago and haven't been able to get in any running in. But luckily and wonderfully Mipa was also running today so I was able to kick it with Beautiful Seouls!!

octopus man!! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

     Due to general anxiety about this race, I have been searching all sorts of blogs for how to prepare for your first 5K.

Helpful hints:
~drink LOTS of water, you'll be thankful for it when you're at that starting line. Dry mouth...ugh
~Get plenty of sleep (I got more than my normal amount and felt GREAT this morning!)
~Stretch, my muscles were so stiff and sore this morning and after lots of stretching running was much kinder to these joints of mine.
~Be around positive energy. I was with some newly made friends and Mipa, my anxiety was ignored and I was in a pleasant position from the get go. Takes the focus off of race anxiety and you have more to look forward to post race**good people to kcik it with!
~Bring layers, it's always better to have too many than too little.
~Have fun...

There were SO many people at this event. On facebook not many were signed so I was a bit nervous that it would be a small event..I started adding so much mental pressure upon myself that I couldn't be gentle with myself at all, I mean, I can't be super super slow, I'll just embarass myself..not saying seeing all these people made me not put in a lot of effort, but, it was nice to allow a little extra breathing space. I knew for sure I wouldn't be the last person...eeek

post race! FIGHTING!! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

Solid finish, I got under half an hour for my time and was not last place!! Such a GREAT morning...wandered a little ran some errands and...I have the entire day!!

HUZZUH!!