Chelsea’s first in-store demo took place at Food Front in NW Portland, where she proved adept at turning out slice after slice of deliciously golden French toast, enticing passing shoppers to give it a try, and – very important! – maintaining quality control by frequently sampling the goods herself.

Look for Chelsea here in Portland at Food Front, Food Fight and the Pearl, Hollywood and Fremont Whole Foods Markets, and give her a big welcome!

Reality: Making French toast for 8 hours straight with barely a moment to eat or drink, much less write or take pictures, then collapsing into an exhausted heap by 9pm.

It was crazy, it was fun, it was crazy fun. There were so many people . . . and they were hungry. Or else they weren’t hungry. Our table was in a back corner, which was a good thing for our first big-city adventure; the scene at the front of the room was sheer madness. Some people were so full of samples by the time they got to us, they could only take in the delicious fragrance of French toast on the griddle and wish they could try it.

One big difference between the Seattle and Portland VegFests is that in Seattle the table comes with volunteers. I didn’t think they would really be needed, but I was wrong, and I was so very grateful for them! The cute couple in the photo, Jen and Justin, helped out on Saturday and then came back on Sunday just for me. I cooked French toast and they served it, cutting it into sample sizes and adding a dash of maple syrup. There were three shifts of volunteers each day, and the last shift took all the washables to the kitchen and brought them back clean! This was so awesome, it was mindblowing!

Being in Seattle also provided an opportunity to stop by Sidecar for Pigs Peace and meet the manager, Doh Driver. Sidecar is Seattle’s only all-vegan store, and is located on a cute little street in the University district. They have a nice flyer with a map of Seattle showing all the vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants, and we had a stack of them at our table to help answer the question, “Where can we buy your mixes?”  We also had a postcard with a list of our other retailers, indicating which ones offer online sales (many of the attendees traveled into Seattle from out-of-the-way locations without local options).

Will we return next year? Too soon to say. We’ll be seeking wider distribution in Washington this year, so we’ll have a chance to see if the 6,000 or so French toast samples we gave out helped increase awareness and demand for our mixes. If so, we’ll have even more friends to visit while we’re there!

From the Sidecar website:

Pigs Peace Sanctuary is the proud owner of a store that is all about compassion and kindness towards animals! Washington’s only 100% vegan store is Sidecar for Pigs Peace, located in Seattle’s University District, on the corner of 55th and University Way.

And from the Sanctuary website:

Pigs Peace Sanctuary is a safe haven of love for pigs and their friends (other animals). It is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to providing a safe home for unwanted, abused or neglected animals in need and is committed to spreading the message of compassion and respect for all animals. Founded in 1994, the sanctuary provides medical care, a healthy diet, socialization and a permanent home with loving kindness. Its another main purpose is to educate the public about the characteristics and needs of the pigs as well as the abuses often associated with exotic pet fads.

Awesome vegan products and a good cause, too – it doesn’t get any better than that! Welcome, Sidecar!

Mom’s pancake mix beat any other vegan mixes around! The pancakes were very flavorful with all natural ingredients. Very easy to prepare.

Date Added: 01/22/2012 by Julie

Thanks, Julie!

Congrats to Rabbit Food on their successful opening, and don’t forget to visit them this March at the Texas VegFest!

While Rabbit Food Grocery searches for a bricks & mortar location, they are offering a selection of awesome vegan products online and in local retail outlets.

And guess what? That selection includes Mom’s French toast, pancake & waffle, and biscuit mixes!

You will also be able to visit the Rabbit Food table this March at the Texas VegFest! Even more awesome!

We are so excited for Oly Vegan, and for all the Oly vegans!

From the Oly Vegan Facebook page:

A Vegan Lifestyle Shop in downtown Olympia, WA. ! Cruelty free bags, shoes, clothing, makeup, body care. Jewelry, t-shirts, totes. Gourmet vegan chocolates cookies and treats. Specialty food items, gift baskets to order, toys and treats for every holiday! Vintage housewares and … owls? Come visit us !

Welcome!

It’s very gratifying to see folks being amazed at how good vegan French toast can be! Some come to the table skeptical that such a thing is possible, some are very excited to find it might be possible, and some are totally taken aback that anyone would think to see if it’s possible. Then they take a taste, their eyes light up, and they start pulling their friends and family over – “You have to try this! It’s so delicious!”

It was also a delight to meet fans who told us they already love our mixes! We had some interesting conversations, but this was my favorite:

Fan: I have the French toast mix at home, but I can’t figure out how to keep it from being so powdery on the bread.

Mom (puzzled): Um . . . what?

Fan: It isn’t anything like this when I make it. I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong.

Mom (confused, but wanting to be helpful): Well, since there isn’t any gluten, you don’t have to worry about over-mixing; you can really whomp on it and get it very smooth. I mix it in a bowl first, and then pour it into a pan for dipping. Do you do that?

Fan (very confused, then figuring it out): Oh, you know what I did? I dipped the bread in the wet ingredients first, and then in the mix . . .

Fan and Mom: That’s why it was so powdery!

Another lesson in the importance of remembering we don’t all look at the same situation in the same way! If you have any questions or comments about our mixes or the results you get when you use them, please post them here or on our Facebook page, or email them to mom@momsvegankitchen.com. We don’t want you to be less than completely satisfied with your critter-free comfort food!

On a final note, we have some leftover cinnamon roll recipe cards and we’ll be adding them to bags of biscuit mix until they run out. In fact, maybe we’ll . . .

Recipe

So, on the topic of favorite vegan comfort recipes (no? We’re always on the topic!), this is an amazing cupcake recipe we found on Shmooed Food Recipes From the Vegan Lunch Box years ago, and still are still using and loving.

I don’t know if it’s possible to find a better basic cupcake! VLB calls them “white,” but I would call them yellow. They are as close to my childhood favorites as you can get and still be vegan. You can even use the recipe to make vegan Twinkies!

We like to pair these cupcakes with another favorite recipe, Fluffy Vegan Buttercream Frosting from Chow. [Chow is not a vegan (or even vegetarian) site, so if you're sensitive to such things you may not want to go there.]  Using shortening makes the frosting more like bakery frosting than homemade; you can, of course, use any frosting you like.

A word of advice: Don’t turn your back on these cupcakes when an omnivore in the room . . . you will turn back to find nothing but crumbs. If that.