Meet Local Vegans!

Even for those of us that live in big cities, it can sometimes be hard to meet other vegans. If your area doesn’t have some sort of meet-up type group for vegans or vegetarians, think of starting one! Or, you could always join one in the city nearest you and go hang out with them. I mean, it’s probably just once a month, so isn’t it worth the drive to experience the wonder of a vegan potluck?

In Atlanta, we have a group that meets once a month for lunch on the weekend. We either go to a restaurant or have a potluck at someone’s house or at a park. To give you an idea, a couple of things I remember making for potlucks: rose scented baklava and seitan chicken & waffles with chickpea gravy. Yeah. So if you’re an Atlanta area vegan, check it out.

And, Ashley Nicole is organizing a potluck picnic in Candler Park at the end of October. The last one rocked, so you should go!

Another vegan option in Atlanta

Kasan Red in East Atlanta now has a vegan special every Tuesday night 5-10pm. And it’s not a typical veggie burger, portobello mushroom, etc. that most non-veg restaurants offer you. Last week it was seitan stroganoff. I think tonight is going to be sandwiches of some sort. And yeah, they’re even going to make sure the bread is vegan, so they really are trying to do it right. So if you’re getting burned out on our typical options like I am, you should check it out. Oh, and I heard a rumor they might have vegan desserts too. 😉

Atlanta Metro Starbucks That Will Be Closing

At least the Ansley Mall one is safe. That’s the only local one I ever use. And, whew, the one by my mom in Virginia is safe. I would hate to have to travel there with my own coffee and coffee maker. Here’s the full list.

983 VININGS 2941 PACES FERRY RD ATLANTA GA 

8452 ROSWELL RD @ I-285 5841 ROSWELL RD NE ATLANTA GA 

8479 PEACHTREE @ 17TH 1375 PEACHTREE ST NE ATLANTA GA 

11843 GA AQUARIUM 250 PARK AVE W ATLANTA GA 

11870 EAST-WEST CONNECTOR & POWDER SPRINGS
2860 E-W CONNECTOR AUSTELL GA

13518 MALL OF GEORGIA II 3333 BUFORD DR BUFORD GA 

8385 PLEASANT HILL PLAZA 1630 PLEASANT HILL RD NW DULUTH GA

11675 GWINNETT MALL 2100 PLEASANT HILL RD DULUTH GA 

13341 VETERANS MEMORIAL PKWY & BUCKNER BLVD 836 VETERANS MEMORIAL PKWY MABLETON GA 

11177 EAST-WEST CONNECTOR & S COBB DR 4624 CAMP HIGHLAND RD SE SMYRNA GA 

Vegan Waffle Cones & Bowls

We had the perfect opportunity to work out the waffle cone maker yesterday when our friends had a vegan ice cream social at their store to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the retail location of Cosmo’s Vegan Shoppe. The recipe we used last time turned out cones that were a little too hard. So after a bit of googling, I found one that didn’t rely on a ton of eggs and was easily veganizable. And they turned out perfect.

box of vegan waffle cones and bowls

I think there were about 16 total, and they went fast. Hey, I ate one. I’m not shy about stuff like that. No one wants to be the first at the buffet, etc. I don’t mind getting things started.

vegan waffle bowl sundae

Turnout was crazy. Seriously, who were all those vegans packing the store for at least two hours? Pretty good for one of the top 10 least veg friendly cities, eh? *cough*vegnewssux*cough* Others were taking pictures of actual people, so those should show up on the intarwebs soon enough.

Oh, yeah, there’s a recipe too! It’s adapted from the one I found here. And yeah, you do need a waffle cone maker. Oh, and in case you’ve ever wondered, you can indeed put regular granulated sugar into a food processor to make powdered sugar.

Vegan Waffle Cones

1 box SoyaToo Topping Cream
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Oil, for the iron

In a bowl with a whisk, whip the SoyaToo Topping cream with the vanilla until thick. Beat in the remaining ingredients to make a batter. Let the batter sit for 30 minutes.

Heat up waffle cone iron and brush with a little oil. Pour some batter in and close the lid to bake and brown. Open the iron and remove the browned batter and fold over itself, overlapping it, on a wooden cone-form into a cone. Or, throw over an upended flat bottom bowl, lightly press it to the shape, and remove when cooled enough to be firm and cool on a cookie sheet or rack.

Or, if you’re lazy, you can just get cones from Let’s Do Organic. They have regular vegan and gluten-free sugar and cake cones and bowls. You can even get a party pack that includes bowls and sprinkles.