Copy Cat Fudge

'Ello lovies,
I hope everything is good in your neck of the woods.  Unfortunately, staying with a host family that is expected to supply all my meals, I have not been able to whip up any of my own vegan concoctions.  And I do not really have that many new things to report because I am served pretty much minor variations of the same dishes every day: veggie burger, salad, rice and veggies with a tomato sauce, pasta and veggies with a tomato sauces, broccoli and cucumber soup.  All of which are served with tofu (I guess since I don't eat meat with every meal she thinks I need tofu with every meal).
Anyways, I did not post all my vegan creations before I left the USA because of how busy I was.  So today I have the AMAZING, raw,  chocolate, vegan fudge without any added sugar!  And I can honestly say it was one of the best desserts I've ever made and I love baking.  I made it four or five times before I left for Spain because everyone in my family wanted some.

 But I cannot tell a lie, I used the recipe from Oh She Glows, I did not invent this. 
The walnuts are really key in this fudge.  If you have a nut allergy I would try adding something crunchy you can eat.  What are those things in Crunch bars?  Are they nut-less?  That would probably be good.  Maybe you could try Rice Crispies?  I don't know any good nut substitutes but I do know you need to try this fudge.
It looks like there is salt on it but it is actually the ice crystals reflecting the camera flash.
That is one thing about this fudge that was not really mentioned on the Oh She Glows post; it needs to be kept cold or it will melt and make a mess.
Although now that I think about it, this would be a really good vegan ice cream topping if you did not freeze it.
My mouth is watering at the possibilities.
I really wanted to try it with some caramel and sea salt but never got the chance to experiment that far because I had to leave for vegan-fudge-less Spain :(

On a happier note, I am going to VegFest London this weekend!!! I really wanted to go and no one in my program was interested.  But then I thought, what is the best way to make new vegan friends?  Go to a huge vegan event!  So, with the assistance of my father, I booked my flight and hotel and then I won free tickets to the event from TeenVgn!  This was the icing on what is sure to be an amazing vegan cake.
They also sent me these cute news letters they made.  I strongly encourage everyone to check out their site (teen or not) because they have a really cool thing going on there!
If anyone else is going to VegFest London let me know so we can meet up!
Love ya!

Spanish Lifestyle

Hello vegans, animal/earth lovers, do gooders, just people in general,
I hope your weekend was lovely.  I spent the majority of Saturday on the beach in Barcelona which was lovely except for the throngs of people climbing all over each other.  I am convinced I was a mermaid in a past life and thus feel a very strong connection to the sea; one of the many reasons I wanted to go to Barcelona.  Sadly, classes are getting in my way of decent beach time.  I guess that is the struggle of being a privileged American who gets to study abroad for a semester; poor me.
So, I decided to use this post to talk about the lifestyle of the Spaniards, or what I've seen so far.  One thing I saw that I loved, at first, was that on the streets there are so many trashcans and most are labeled with what they are for; plastic bottles, compost-able, paper, etc.  When I first saw that I thought it was so ingenious, line them all next to each other so people put things in the correct bins and save the earth!  However, more often that not, I've seen people just shove things in the first can they see, not the appropriate one.  THIS DRIVES ME INSANE!  Why would you put a plastic bottle in the paper bin when 3 feet to your left is the plastic container?!  It is so frustrating because there are all these great ways around to save the planet from liter and yet is normal to throw trash in the street.
As a self-proclaimed woman trying to save the world, I just want to run up to these people and make them dig their trash out and put it in the right bins.

 

 One thing I really love though is the extensive measures taken to save electricity.  In many public restrooms the lights are on timers, so either you flick it on when you're in there or it goes on by a sensor.  Although more often than not it goes out while you are still in the restroom, it is better to have to put it back on than wasting electricity.  And my host mom is really into turning lights off when not in use; and the internet.  (Which is actually frustrating sometimes because she turns off the wifi at night but then I cannot communicate with anyone from home.)  But saving the earth is more important than sending ugly face snap chats with my sister (even though we would argue to our dad that the snap chats are more important than paying attention to the road when he needs help finding signs).  Sometimes being the only male in the house can be really hard on my dad, he's always over-ruled.

My final Spanish lifestyle comment is on the topic of beverages.  The water here is safe to drink, it has been proven multiple times, and yet almost everyone just buys water bottles repeatedly instead of filling up bottles at water fountains.  It is considered strange to drink tap water, and it is not even available at restaurants.  This just creates more waste so I really do not understand the thought process.  One thing I do like though is that restaurants recycle all glass bottles for reuse (you can see them put the empty ones back into the crates they came in).

Maybe I am just experiencing culture shock, but there are so many good ways to conserve here that are not being implemented to their full potential.  This must be how the Spanish feel about Americans leaving their lights on when no one is home.

I saw this on the internet and just thought it was funny!

The Elusive Green Vegetables

One thing I have learned in Spain is that green vegetables are hard to come by; unless you get a salad and usually the only green on that is iceberg lettuce, not very beneficial for your health.
There is a LOT of potatoes here, especially if you're vegan.  Sometimes the only tapas you can get is patas bravas which are "spicy" potatoes that have mayo dumped on if you don't think to ask for it on the side first.  (I put spicy in quotes because the only person I know that would find that spicy is my dog Mojo who steals food and then spits it out, drool covered, because he never likes it unless its bread).  Seriously, spicy is non-existent in Spain which pains me.  If you read any of my previous posts you would know how much I love roasted red pepper flakes and garlic.
Anywho, last night I was pleasantly surprised when my host mom gave me soup for dinner made from zucchini, and broccoli I believe.  I've found that I seriously need to work on my food vocabulary because I do not know the name of many foods which makes it even harder for me to communicate my dietary needs.

It was really good, especially with the croutons (I'm a sucker for carbs).

Then today, I went back to my favorite little vegan shop Santoni.  The owners now recognize me I've been so many times already.  They are such sweet people and very patient with my broken Spanish.  I was so happy today when I went because the place was absolutely packed!  Now not everything there is vegan but it was nice seeing so many people willing to try new things in meat driven Barcelona.

 

I got a bocadillo, which means sandwich, with vegan chorizo and avocado on really good multi-grain bread.  However, I shoved that in as fast as it would go because I was rushing to a class that ended up being cancelled.  Alas, no picture of that.  But I did photograph the side of pasta I got that had a pesto with tofu on it which was utterly delicious!  Even the fork they gave me is made from bamboo and is thus bio degradable.  How awesome is this place?!

And this last photo is from a few days ago that I wanted to blog but did not have a computer.  There is an self-serve frozen yogurt place across the street from the historical campus of my university.  I was told by other students of my program that Tutti Frutti is an American company, but I could care less because they have a frozen soy-yogurt that I got and piled with kiwis, strawberries, and dark chocolate shavings.  It was absolutely delicious and not expensive at all which makes me even happier!

As a completely unrelated note, I plan on going to the beach tomorrow and possibly the majority of the weekend.  I have to say one of my favorite parts of Barcelona is the weather.  This is the stuff dreams are made of; unless you're a polar bear than it might suck.  If I make it to the zoo, and they have a polar bear, I'll make sure to ask him/her.

Why Pasta Is a Savior

Buenas tardes todos (good afternoon all)!
See, I told you I would blog more now that I have access to my computer.
So, as I mentioned before my mom was here visiting in Spain, and it was so much fun I wish she could visit every week.
While it seems weird to have your family visit your first full week of being abroad, it worked out really well for a few reasons.
1. I have a horrible sense of direction and get lost A LOT, especially somewhere new.  With my mom and her BFF Marlyn (my second mom) here they helped me get around and I got a better feel of the city.
2. There are so many cool things I wanted to do, but wanted to do it with people I would cherish the memories with: so who better than my birth mom and second mom?  We did as much of Barcelona  as you could fit into 6 days.  My feet are still recuperating from all the walking.  We saw Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, the beach, the Picasso Museum, and so much more.
3. I got to see Madrid with them for the first weekend, and I don't know if I would have gone by myself.
4. I got a lot of great meals on the expense of my moms instead of out of my own pocket haha! (This is a joke, while it was nice to have fancy meals their company was much more appreciated).

My mother, Marlyn, and me at Park Guell

So while they were here they rented an apartment in Barri Gotic (the Gothic quarter) which was great because they got to cook for me too! Well, technically I believe they got the apartment to cook for themselves but I got to enjoy it as well.  So in this picture Marlyn had made delicious haricot verts, (which is really just French for thin string beans), pasta with tomatoes, olive oil, tons of herbs, and we had a salad not pictured.  We also had bread with olive oil and this Ibizan sea salt they bought with dried flowers in it (I have to get some of this for my cooking back state side).  While there is cheese in this picture, and in the ravioli I assure you I did not eat any of it; although it was very tempting.

Sadly on Friday I had to leave for the academic trip and they finished their time in Barcelona.  While I was gone I found that in smaller Spanish cities being vegan is non-existent.  So I tried to stick to either the vegetable platters (which are really expensive), or pasta with olive oil if possible.  When in doubt, I've found that going to an Italian restaurant in Spain can save your vegan soul.

This was 10 euros!

Pasta with olive oil, garlic, and oregano for 8 euros

So for those of you planning on traveling to Castilla y León, Burgos, or Sargossa, be ready to eat really expensive salads or Italian food.  Subsequently I've also found gyro places to be great for vegetarians but my food was covered in tzatziki sauce.  Sometimes being vegan is just not going to happen, but you need to learn to roll with the dairy punches and hope for a more humane meal next time.
Hasta luego, I need to get back to practicing Spanish.

Veggie Garden

Mis amigos, I swear I have not forgotten you or my quest.  Believe it or not today is actually the first day since coming to Spain that I have been able to use my laptop!
First, I was living out of a hotel, and then I moved in with my host mom (who is super sweet and trying very hard to understand what vegans eat).  The converter I have only works for 2 pronged appliances and my computer plug is 3 pronged.  So, I had to wait for my mom to come to Spain (more on that later) to give me a 3 to 2 prong converter so I could plug that into my European plug converter!  See, it is very complicated.  Then, I stayed with my mom while she was here, and my program had an academic trip from Friday morning till this Tuesday evening.  Consequently, I have a lot of catching up to do of blog posts that I've wanted to write.
This post will be about a diamond in the rough of meat and cheese filled restaurants.  I found, through the amazingly useful tool Google, a restaurant in Barcelona called Veggie Garden and I was determined to try it out.  While I may have gotten a wee bit lost getting there, and very lost getting back, it was totally worth it.  Not only is the place so cool to look at, murals all over the walls and ceiling, but the food is tasty, healthy, and cheap(y).

A little peak inside with all the murals

I got the "menu" which is basically the daily special.  I got to choose an appetizer, main course, dessert, a drink (water or wine) and it came with bread.  And the best part of all of this was that it was for 8.25 euros, or about $11.  This is very reasonable considering the quantity and quality of food you get.


So first up was my appetizer of marinated vegetables with a pesto sauce on top!  While I really enjoyed it, I thought there was a bit too much eggplant.  But otherwise it was quite delicious, and a nice cool start to my meal on a hot day. 

 Next was my main course.  I do not remember what it was called because I pointed at someone else's table and said "yo quiero" which literally translates to "I want."  (As a side note I've found I need a lot of practice thinking on my feet in Spanish).  So while I do not know the name of the dish I can tell you more or less what it was, and how much I loved every bite.  Obviously the bottom left is rice, next to that are two large pieces of very thin bread.  It seemed like the naan version of tortilla chips.  Then some breaded veggies, in a tempura style with pickled onion and a nice curry sauce that was cold.  On the top, from left to right, there was my basket of bread (I did not eat much of it because it really did not go with my meal), then two hot curry dishes with veggies and lentils!  Those two were my favorite parts of the meal.  The green on the right was a hot spinach and seitán dish which I was not so much a fan of because I was hoping it would be something like paneer saag.

 Finally I had a choice of dessert, and i chose the chocolate mouse.  This did not have the consistency of mouse, more like a thin pudding.  And it was clearly made with some kind of grape juice.  So while it was not what I was expecting, it was very delicious and a great sweet treat to end my meal.

Being vegan in Barcelona is much harder than in Washington D.C. by far, but places like this make it worth the struggle.

Hola from Barcelona!

Mi amigo, ¿está bien?

I arrived in Barcelona just on Monday. So far it is great and everyone on my trip is very nice, there are only 10 of us but we are getting to know each other well. I meet my host mom tomorrow, which I am nervous and excited about. I was still a vegetarian when I filled out my housing form, and trying to explain that I am now vegan is not going to be fun. Hopefully she understands, and doesn't try to sneak cheese in my food like my tricky boyfriend did last week (I made the lentil tacos again, seriously one of my favorite vegan dishes). 

Anywho, while my flight was better than I was expecting (I absolutely hate flying and get very nervous) there was no vegan option for food. So I had to eat a cheesy pasta meal. Then when I got to Spain the lunch we were served was ham on bread and cheese on bread. I was starting to worry that being vegan was not going to happen in Spain. For dinner I had a salad and French fries (the meat eaters also got a sausage). We suspect they think this is what Americans eat and that's why we are getting these strange, not at all Spanish, meals. Then breakfast today we had a croissant, a roll, and toast with butter and jam. I skipped the butter but was really hoping for something with less starch. Then lunch was the same thing only with salami this time. I was beginning to panic, had all my work at becoming vegan gone to waste? Not to mention the combination of jet lag and newly added dairy made me feel really out of it and groggy. 

But alas! My vegan prayers were answered. At one of the metro stops for the Universitat de Barcelona there is a restaurant proudly displaying a sign "we <3 vegans"! I was ecstatic. On the way home I stopped in and used my broken Spanish to order a vegan "white sausage" bocadillo( sandwich) with avocado on a multigrain small baguette.   While waiting on my bocadillo the owner was showing me all the vegan options on the menu and there were so many I couldn't believe my eyes. And it was especially confusing because none of them said if they were vegan or not; so the chorizo was but the brown sausage was not. But who cares because now I know I'm not the only vegan in Barcelona!

I hope it will be easy for my host mom to understand because my Spanish has a log way to go before I'm truly conversational. 

I think I can post more regularly now that I am not running around trying to do a million things at once. After DC I was home for a few days, NYC for my visa, Ocean City NJ for a family vacation, Saratoga NY on a different family vacation, Virginia to see my friends and boyfriend, back to NYC for a night on the town for my other friend's birthday, a going away dinner on Saturday, then Long Island to see family before I left for Spain Sunday night. WHEW! It seems crazy even just to type it all. 

Anyway here are some things I've seen so far, adios until next time!

The king stays here when he comes to Barcelona. 

Me and a dragon gate made by Gaudi!

And a billboard I thought was cute.