Ritteh Shport

Ritter Sport is not the brand of chocolate I inhaled the most of during my year in Germany. I was a Milka girl. (The Sahne Creme had me wrapped around it's little nonvegan finger) But nowadays anything of Germany excites me and takes me be back to that year abroad. I had heard so many vegans exclaim over the Ritter Sport Peppermint bar. It's one of the few vegan options that the brand carries. The other being Marzipan, and there's a couple more I believe. 

Mint has never been a big thing for me. I disliked it in my ice cream. I didn't much like mint tea. But then I start thinking about the mint things I do like: Mint gums such as Double Mint, Andes chocolates that I would get after an Olive Garden meal, I like it in my toothpaste with my cinnamon, Peppermint Patties, those red and white pinwheel mints you can get almost anywhere, and the best of all, Junior Mints. Geez, I do like mint! I might even love it....

For my birthday, Paula sweetly gave me a Peppermint bar. I didn't think too much of it, I was mainly surprised to be given anything at all. I forgot about it after putting it on a shelf in my kitchen and then after a few days in the 80s, I came across it. It had, of course, melted and it looked quite sad. I immediately put it in the fridge to firm it back up. A couple days ago, I finally broke into it. I was in the mood for something chocolatey and refreshing and it totally surpassed that goal. It was so delightful and delicious! The dark chocolate is of the nonbitter sort and matches well with the wonderful peppermint center. It totes tastes like a Peppermint Patty! I suppose if one would want to, they could make a tasty milkshake out of it, but I prefer to enjoy it naked. After all, I don't like mint in my ice cream!

Note: According to wikipedia the Peppermint one now contains butterfat, so check the ingredients before buying (if you're vegan, you're probably doing that anyways, we're a group of double-checkers....). 

Image found via Google Image search, from this blog. Thanks, Amey!

A Blogpost about This. And That.

Warning: long-ass post to follow....


I just noticed I have one less "follower" (yes, i am Quotation Mark Queen as of late...), who ditched me??? I demand to know! Ok, so I do pay attention to the number, but I was so proud to go from 6 to 13. I don't take much stock in those numbers since I myself have no idea how to do the Follower thing with any of the blogs I keep up on (I'm seriously RSS Feed illiterate). I like to think I have at least twice that amount that actually read my blog. But I could be totally off....

Anyways, so what's new with me since my May 4th post? Well, I've turned 29 (goodness! I'm less than a year from 30!! Less than 11 years 'til 40!!!) Many of my wonderful Portland friends came and met up with me at my favoritest bar ever, the all-vegan Bye & Bye. They may have come just to have a good reason to go there. Cute bartenders (they even have a mighty-cute girl bartender now, it's not just studs!), tasty food - BBQ Brussel Bowl, yum!, and delightful cocktails served tall. It's the only bar where I forget (and forgive) they don't serve the must-have bar food, french fries. My friends from Sweetpea, Jeff & Katie, brought me a cake:

Katie tried to make it as girly as possible, there's hearts, flowers and a butterfly. The cake was vanilla, with dark cherries in the middle layer, "buttercream" frosting. Oh, and maraschino cherries, of course! Deliciousness!

Me with Stockholm and cake

Before my birthday, I had gone to Asheville, North Carolina for a friend's wedding. I was psyched because I hadn't gone to Asheville since I lived in Chattanooga, which was about 8 years ago. I was sorta veg then, but I hadn't seeked out veg food and I had kept reading everywhere about how veg-friendly the city was and everyone talked about Rosetta's Kitchen and The Laughing Seed. I got there on a Thursday morning and an old friend from my hometown picked me up. We ended up at Rosetta's for the first meal. We both got the Tempeh Reubens, which I had been told were a must. I paired it with a PBR (from tap, fancy...)

This tempeh reuben was quite delicious. I had never had one before with red kraut and it also comes with their homemade walnut-something spread. This kraut was of the raw (you know, like Bubbies) variety and, though it was tasty, i would've liked a more soft sauerkraut. It was served with a side of tortilla chips, which you can sub out for a $1 more if you want fries. I would do that next time. To make vegan, you ask for it minus the cheese and they allow you to sub anything else for free, I chose avocado. The service at Rosetta's was friendly and helpful. On another trip there with some nonveg friends I got mashed taters and gravy and 2 different cookies- Cowgal, Cowboy, and Double Chocolate. The mashed potatoes/gravy was good and sorta healthy tasting. The two Cowpeople cookies got one skeptical friend believing that vegan cookies could taste good. They both had seeds and perhaps even nuts with dried fruit. Hearty and tasty. The chocolate one was dry and I was tempted to return it, but I am too shy to do that. I figure it's the risk of buying something.

The next day I ended up at the Laughing Seed with the friend that picked me up, who I shall call Tiffany henceforth....because that's her name. We shared pankoras, one with squash and the other with broccoli and cauliflower (surprisingly I liked the latter more) and we both had Mercury Not Rising, a fish-style seitan sandwich. I choose fries w/jalapenos and onions as my side. Tiffany got the healthy, pretty side salad. So yeah, my whole meal there was all fried stuff. The pankoras were delicious fried Indian goodness. They had a soy yogurt sauce available for vegans. The sandwich was...all right. I don't think seitan is the right faux meat for this. It's not of the same texture. It came with a dill sauce and I'm not a huge fan of dill so it was a little much for me. I ate almost all my fries before even getting to my sandwich. I had hoped that the jalapenos and the onions would be breaded, but they're just fried straight up in with the fries. Still good though! For a beverage I got the pint-sized Dark & Stormy, "Reed's Ginger Brew and Cruzan Black Strap Rum with a splash of lime." I think the "splash of lime" was just the lime they put on the glass. I could've used more. It was a bit strong for me. 

I also came across The Chocolate Fetish chocolate shop and purchased some of their dark chocolate dipped dried fruit. I got banana, red plum and cherries. My preference in that order as well. Bananas and chocolate go so well together, don't you think?

I tried to eat at the Green Sage but their kitchen was closed when I had room for it...

I did like Asheville, but I gotta say that Portland kicks it's ass when it comes to ambiance and general all around awesomeness. 

Pecan Maple Turtle? Yes, Please!

The PSU Farmer's Market is my favorite market in town. It's also the only one i can go to because of my work hours. Ok, that's not true, i believe the Hollywood one in the Grocery Outlet parking alot is on the weekend as well...Anyways, it's my favorite because of the vendors and because the people watching is the best. I used to work at the Hot Lips Pizza booth a couple years ago and trading with other vendors made it worth the early hours and having to work on Saturday. It just feels awesome to get produce and goods directly from the farmers/producers. 

Black Sheep Bakery is a local bakery that sells all vegan baked goods, but their cafe also sells meat sandwiches and other nonvegan items. The owner isn't vegan and says she created the bakery back in 2000 because she knew there was a niche that needed to be filled. A lot of the vegan community don't support this bakery for a couple reasons. One being that she's not vegan and some think it's not appropriate to support her. We vegans used to not have much to choose from, but now with the opening of Sweetpea Baking Company, Dovetail (they make delicious pecan sticky buns! buy them only fresh, because they suck when they're not), and Monkey Wrench, there's a lot selection and you have the ability to choose who you want to give your money to. 

I, however, give money to whoever makes tasty non-animal things. Unless they're killing babies or puppies (and a few other cute things) i will buy. People talked shit about giving money to Nutshell because their owners also owned a restaurant that sold foie gras. After a brief stint of adding dairy and eggs to the menu, the place closed. Businesses will supply whatever's in demand, so if you buy vegan items they will continue offering them and coming up with more options. 

But whatever you believe is right, do. I'm done with my babbling...

Back to what i started yakking about...Pecan Maple Turtle. mmm....i was walking the market and i peeked in the Black Sheep Bakery case and there was some chocolates i hadn't seen before. I saw the PMT and it called my name. I love caramel and chocolate and pecans. And this palm-sized chocolate was a good deal at $1.75. And so good! The caramel did that stringy thing that's annoying but awesome at the same time and each layer was delicious. 

Yum! I want one now!

Would i like to try some chocolate?

I was asked this question. I replied by saying something to the effect of "is the pope catholic?" I'm a bit of a whore when it comes to free samples. Maybe not a whore, because i don't have to actually do anything for it....except talk about it, and that's not even mandatory. 

So the Missionary Chocolates have been around for quite a few months. I believe they officially debuted at the VegFest in May. Jess (of GetSconed) and Webly (of Fueled By Popcorn) invited me to be on their podcast that they were doing for the their collective blog, StumptownVegans. We talked about VegFest, which we had just been to and we oohed and ahhed over the Missionary Chocolate truffles we gotten to taste there. 

They have a lot of flavors and they're sold in various shops here in town in Portland (Food Front and that store in Jantzen Beach that sells local stuff....can't remember the name! it's in the Target building with the carousel and food court...) 

Vanessa kindly dropped off 10 flavors for me to try. I don't know which one i was most excited to try, they all sounded delicious. I had a few friends and coworkers to help me out. (i couldn't do it all myself! they're too rich! it would've taken me a long time to get through them all. ) Almost all the ingredients are local and some are organic, the chocolate is fair trade and they're all handmade. 

Peanut Butter Passion (according to the website it's called Treasures now): i actually couldn't really detect the peanut butter in this, so i wouldn't consider it very "passionate", but that didn't mean it didn't taste good! I thought it was creamy delicious. My friend Anna declared it "fuckin' delicious!" and my roommate Missy said it was rich. 

Boule d' Amandes (Almond Ball): The center of this one was almost fudge-like and it was creamy chocolate goodness. Anna was a fan of the fudgyness and said it was pretty much perfect. Missy really liked the crunch of the nuts that coated the outside of this truffle and i believe it was her favorite.

Meyer Lemon Explosion: The won the award for the #1 People's Choice at the Northwest Chocolate Festival. I wasn't too excited about this one since i'm not big on citrus-y things, but i liked this one. It was surprisingly tasty and it had a nice tart flavor. Anna said it was the perfect amount of tanginess and was clean and refreshing. Missy wasn't a fan and said people with TMJ need to be careful with this one.  :o)

Coconut Haystacks: I thought this one was going to be my favorite, but i was wrong. Don't get me wrong, it was good, there wasn't a bad chocolate in the bunch. I think i just like a creamy/fudgy inside to my truffles and this one had shreds of coconut in it and didn't have as much coconutty flavor as i thought it would. Anna liked it alot, but did wish it had more coconut flavor to it. 

Sweet Raspberry Heart: I took this to work with me. I have a gluten-free coworker that i thought would enjoy trying out some chocolates (these are all gluten-free....i'm not sure how many chocolates actually have gluten in them, but it's nice when they're labeled as such). I liked this one more than i thought i would because i'm not a big fan of raspberries and mixing fruit with chocoate(though i have been known to love cherries in my chocolate). Vanessa told me they simmer the berries for 6 hours and then mix it with chocolate ganache. Another coworker of mine really liked the flavor of this one and said she couldn't tell it was vegan. 

Dark Chocolate Delights: this was the other one i took to work and my gluten free coworker liked this one a lot. This may be my favorite. I was told by Vanessa that it's usually a little different but i can't remember how. Maybe something about how it's not usually as soft? I liked that it didn't have a shell around it, just some cocoa. So it was like eating a ball of fudge. 

Smooth Espresso Spheres: Smooth, indeed. A little more coffee taste than i'd like but maybe if there was more chocolate i would like it better. Though my roommate Missy had the exact opposite reaction, she wished for more coffee flavor and chunks of bean. She really liked this one. Our friend Corinn said it was a smooth mix of coffee and chocolate.

Peppermint Perfection: i thought this one tastes like an Andes mint, which i kinda miss eating as a vegan. It was Corinn's favorite of the ones she tried and she said it was a good combination of flavors. 

Ginger: Tasted like the pickled ginger that you get with sushi.....that's all i could really taste. I couldn't really taste the chocolate part. Not bad, but not something i'm looking for in chocolate. Missy, on the other hand, said "OMG"....yeah, she liked it. She likes ginger a lot more than i do.

Cinnamon & Chipotle: Spicy! Tastes like burning! ok, it's not that bad, but i sat there kinda waving my hand at my mouth until the burning stopped. Missy liked this one, subtle and delicious. This is a girl that uses Aardvark Sauce on everything, so it was right up her alley.

These were really good chocolates and for about $4 each, a good treat when you want or need one. You can really tell they are high quality and made with really good ingredients.  I look forward to some of the other flavors, such as the seasonal Champagne and the Black Cherry Bombs. 

 

Sweet & Sara S'mores

I had heard of these S'mores for a long time, but every time I had gone to buy one at Food Fight they only had the Peanut Butter type and I was just really wantin' the Original. I love peanut butter and chocolate together as much as the next person, perhaps even more, but when it comes to a s'more I want to keep it simple.
The other week I finally got one. They cost $4.00, which, yeah, is a lot, but everything in moderation (including pricey things), right?
It seems like my expectations were set too high. Not that I wasn't amazed at the marshmallow part. I feel like it's a big joke or something, like how can it be vegan? It's soo marshmallow-y! And I liked it, but I didn't $4 love it. Maybe there wasn't enough chocolate? The graham cracker part was crumbly, but that's to be expected when it sits in the fridge and has come across the U.S. for out tasting pleasure.
I have had the coconut marshmallows that Sweet & Sara make and they were awesome. I think what i would prefer to do is just buy some of their marshmallows and make my own s'mores. Or make Isa & Terry's S'mores Cupcakes (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World), which are tasty-delicious.

The inside:

another ice cream rave....

UPDATE: Trader Joe's now sells this as their own brand, still the same ice cream, but cuter packaging..

i don't think i've talked about this ice cream yet. i'm starting to lose track of what ice cream i have blogged about and, of course, i'm too lazy to look it up.
This here is the Double Rainbow Very Cherry Chip that seems to only be sold at Trader Joe's in these here parts. I think it's $3 something? all's i know is that it's cheap in comparison with the pints you can buy (this is the bigger "pint"...a quart, right?).
so this stuff reminds me of when my dad and i used to drive near our house to a drive-through Farm Store (pretty much a convenient store that has their own brand of ice cream) and he would buy the Cherry Vanilla 1/2 gallon. But this here stuff has chocolate bits in it, which makes it even better. also there's no animal products in it, so less guilt for me (the dairy industry is a bitch, in case you didn't know. Read Meat Market or The Food Revolution to find out what i'm talking about) so i can truely enjoy the ice cream. the ice cream itself is of the most love-a-lee consistency. almost chewy. which sounds gross, i know, but you'll have to try it to know what i'm talking about. then there's the dark cherry halves that are delicious and makes you eat more ice cream than you intended (because i don't scoop out into a dish, i eat out of the container, b/c heck, i live alone, i can drink straight out of a carton if i want to...and the less dishes the better) because you're digging around trying to find more cherry halves...
go get you some!