If we have at least 25 Global Vegan Waffle Party 2012 hosts signed up by Friday, May 11, I’ll randomly select a winning host for each of the following three prizes. Hosts who have already signed up are included:

• $30 Amazon gift card to be used toward the waffle maker / waffle iron of your choice
• $20 Amazon gift card to be used toward the waffle maker / waffle iron of your choice
• cookbook two-pack: 1 copy of The Global Vegan Waffle Cookbook, and 1 copy of Vegan Chocolate Seduction

Technical, drop-dead, zombie-police-state-enforced deadline is 11:59 PM Eastern (GMT -5), Friday, May 11. But I probably won’t actually be awake then, so if a few last-minute hosts sneak in before I get up the next morning, I may have to let it slide.

Winners announced in comments here and on Facebook Vegan Waffles page by Sunday, May 13. So tell your friends to host a party, too! Per the 2012 Host List, we’re about halfway there as of the date of this post.

I realize that many waffle makers are much more than $20 or $30, but we’re low budget here, and this is just an extra little way of saying thank you for helping with meaningful causes!

The 2012 suggested Global Vegan Waffle Party theme is Chocolate ‘n’ Cheeze! Chocolate, of course, can include any sweet or savory waffle topping incorporating cocoa, ranging from fudge sauce to cocoa-infused chili or mole sauce. As for vegan cheese or cheeze, a range of commercial vegan cheese options are available, including a few that are quite meltable or spreadable. Homemade cheeze also presents an opportunity for creativity.

As always, there’s no requirement to follow the theme, or you can modify as you prefer. Please sign up to host and share/like/tell your friends.Why chocolate and cheeze? First, I really enjoy these two food categories, having started to explore them in more depth over the last year. Secondly, they’re relatively popular in general, but many people are hesitant to try vegan versions of their favorites.

If you’re in need of ideas for yourself or guests, a few sources immediately come to mind. Chocolate Covered Katie, to my knowledge, is the go-to site for vegan chocolate recipes. Not to mention great photos that will make you want to start each meal with dessert. There are also a few noteworthy topping recipes in both the Global Vegan Waffle Cookbook and my recent Vegan Chocolate Seduction, alongside recipes inspired by Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter and Liz Lovely’s Chocolate Moose Dragons.

As for cheeze-related topping recipes, Jo Stepaniak’s Uncheese Cookbook remains one of my favorites, especially as her spice combinations inspired a few of the savory waffle recipes in the GVWC. Alisa Fleming’s comprehensive Go Dairy Free
also includes recipes created from several bases.

I’d also like to experiment with some cultured (strong and sharp if possible) homemade vegan cheeses that would spread nicely on vegan waffles, and I’m hoping we can entice some creative guests of our local party to do the same. The Sunny Raw Kitchen has a basic cashew cheeze recipe that looks promising, along with several delicious-looking variations. I have yet to try some of the recipes from the Raw Nut Cheese ebook I recently purchased.

I look forward to hearing about your event, and your own vegan chocolate and cheeze waffle topping adventures!

I’d like to give a shout out to the first three hosts outside of Pittsburgh to let us know about their vegan waffle events this year: Fort Ashby, WV (Kerry S-D), Seattle, WA (Highway House), and Berkeley, CA (Karine B). I look forward to hearing more about them after they occur! It’s not too early to start planning yours, and feel free to mention it on the Vegan Waffles Facebook Page as well.

This one’s pretty simple and easy to enter. Just comment on this post’s link at the Facebook Vegan Waffles page * with the phrase, “vegan waffle parties are awesome!” Two entries will be randomly selected to win two cookbooks each: one hard copy of the Global Vegan Waffle Cookbook, and one hard copy of Vegan Chocolate Seduction.

Entries due by 11:59 PM Eastern (UTC -5) Sunday, Feb. 12, with winners announced by Feb. 14.

*If you don’t have a Facebook account, you can comment here on the blog below this post.

I’m giving away one hard copy of the Global Vegan Waffle Cookbook with its newly-designed cover, and one hard copy of the new Vegan Chocolate Seduction. (Both to the same person.)

To enter, all you have to do is comment on this post’s link at the Facebook Vegan Waffles page * with an answer to the following: For whom would these two books make great gifts, and why?

You’re allowed to include yourself as the potential gift recipient, and the gift-giving occasion could be Christmas, Winter Solstice and Yule, a birthday, etc.

I’ll pick the one I find the most convincing, and if I just can’t decide after checking the list twice, I’ll randomly select from the finalists.

Deadline is noon Eastern (UTC -5) on Saturday, and I’ll be sending them out USPS Priority Mail on Monday. Best wishes!

By the way, Seduction is now also available in epub format through Barnes and Noble.

*If you don’t have a Facebook account, you can comment here on the blog.

Hey, kid, I'm gonna steal your vegan waffle!

We would not be enjoying delicious vegan waffles today if it weren’t for the waffle iron, so those of us in the U.S. extend our annual thanks to Cornelius Swartwout for filing the first U.S. waffle iron patent. He’d likely be impressed with how far things have come since 1869.

This day is also a perfect opportunity to share highlights from two additional vegan waffle parties.

Brian and Lise in Seattle, Washington hosted an August vegan waffle party including a beautifully decorated waffle. Isn’t it a great photo?

Yeah, he may be an adorable kid, but I still might consider snagging part of his waffle–I mean, is he really going to eat the entire thing? He’ll probably just eat the blueberries and frosting, and be left with a hairless, eyeless, non-smiley face. And that’s certainly no image you want a kid to grow up with. Civic duty calls me.

On a more serious but equally fun note, following is a brief description of their waffle party:

“I found the website while looking for a recipe as one guest is vegan.  I read about the waffle parties and decided to go for it…all vegan. We had fun.

I made the sweet yeast-raised waffle (did the overnight version) and the peanut butter fluff which I placed in an icing piping bag…decorate your own.  It was a sweet success!

The photo is of our nephew before he took a first bite.  The tongue says it all.”

First, it’s cool for multiple reasons that you decided to go ahead and make them all vegan. Secondly, I say to your nephew, quit chewing on your tongue and start chewing on that waffle before it’s mine, mine, mine!

Alongside this, I also got a late report on what has probably been the most media-covered vegan waffle event over the last few years–the Sweat Records party in Miami. The scoop from Lolo Reskin, Sweat’s entrepreneurial owner, who makes bright red hair look ultra-cool:

“Waffle Parties as a monthly event have been truly great for our shop.  We’ve expanded the amount of toppings and treats we offer and are enjoying huge turnouts at each one. People tell us all month long they look forward to it!  One of the greatest aspects of Waffle Party to us is that vegans and people looking to enjoy more veg foods can meet, network and make new friends.

Some press:
http://itsveganlicious.com/2011/06/27/sweat-records-vegan-waffle-party/
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/events/waffle-party-2838653/
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/citylink/events/sfl-best-bets-for-june-2228-2011-20110621,0,3310902.story
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/26/2186467/monthly-waffle-parties-draw-vegan.html

Here’s the link for the local New Times’ photo gallery of the last one: http://www.miaminewtimes.com/slideshow/waffle-party-at-sweat-records-33634245/

We’ve also had some sponsors come on board – last month we gave out Magner’s Pear Cider (the Apple isn’t vegan ) and before that So Delicious gave out scoops of coconut milk ice cream.”

As I’ve mentioned in the past, I love the diversity of types of waffle parties, ranging from small home events to some larger business and organizational events. Just these two events alone illustrate that. Congrats on the fun events, and thanks for sharing some highlights!

Following are a few vegan waffle party highlights to report from the last several weeks.

Since the vegan waffle party began to go worldwide in 2008, several hosts have returned to throw parties in consecutive years. One, vegan pro cyclist Christine “Peanut” Vardaros, has hosted events all four years. What makes her party unique is that it’s in Belgium, which is particularly well known for its waffles. This includes the exceptionally rich Liege-style waffles that she likes to make. They use pearled sugar and are more challenging to make than your average waffle.

A few years back Christine posted a great basic vegan Liege waffle recipe that I highly recommend. I recently posted some info and tips on vegan Liege waffles along with a few flavored Liege waffle recipes. Highlights from Christine’s 2011 “Belgische Wafel Feestje”:

The waffle party was  a big success! Jonas and I invited a few Belgian friends over and naturally made typical Belgian (vegan) waffles with pearl sugar which forms the typical gooey pockets in the waffles. Yum!  For toppings, we had a wide variety to choose from. We had a tray of freshly sliced fruit such as bananas, apples, peaches, apricots, and some strawberries from the garden. For the non-fruit-eaters, we served powdered sugar, brown sugar, strawberry sorbet, Vermont maple syrup, coconut flakes,  and melted dark chocolate – Belgian chocolate of course! We dipped the waffle pieces in the bowl of chocolate in fondue style. The most popular toppings were bananas, strawberries, brown sugar, maple syrup and chocolate. And in fine Belgian form, accompanying the waffles was mainly cold beer!

Sounds like it was delicious! It is interesting that even in Belgium, where waffles and chocolate are excellent, they sometimes use maple syrup from Vermont.

We also hosted a small follow-up to our own event. The weekend after “peak waffle party weekend,” my parents visited from Ohio. Because we had several leftover toppings remaining, we enjoyed an outdoor vegan waffle brunch. There were more toppings than they were able to sample before getting full! Afterwards, we took a long walk to utilize all the waffle energy.

The May-June 2011 Global Vegan Waffle Party Season has already included celebrations in more than 20 cities worldwide. Wafflers gathered (or soon will gather) in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. I very much enjoyed getting updates and/or photos from several hosts, including Andrea in Boston, MA, Dallas in Minneapolis, MN, Earl in Tokyo, Japan, Ida in New York City, and Carrie in Santa Barbara, CA. (More descriptions and links to external photo albums below.)

The Boston waffle party features some of the best photos of companion animals having a great time. Andrea in Boston reports: “We had three kinds of waffles, tons of fruit, tempeh bacon, smoothies, pan fried potatoes and a couple of toppings. [One photo] is my friends visiting from Austria; hopefully the WP will be really global in the future…After the party, we took our friends for a walk on the beach with the dogs who burned off some waffle calories.”

The Tokyo Vegan Meetup Group decided to connect with one another and have a bit of fun, despite the harsh difficulties experienced in Japan this year. Earl shared this:
“Our waffle party went well this year. Not too big, just 12 of us, but everyone showed up and we had a nice time. We tried a few different recipes this year. Banana-oatmeal-raisin, Carob, some plain, and Matcha waffles. Matcha is a kind of traditional Japanese tea. We made a mix of the naked waffles and then just added some Matcha powder to it. Tasted great and made for an interesting color (see the photos). The best topping this year was a cashew nut cream. We also used another kind of machine that makes bite sized shapes.”

Tokyo’s photos are the first to include a keytar (it brought back old teenage memories of trying to create my own keytar with a belt and duct tape), and their waffle maker is even more creative than the fish-shaped waffle maker they used last year.

I’m a bit envious of the Go Vegan Santa Barbara Meetup’s party because they even had a pool to enjoy alongside all the amazing food. Their photo collection gets the award for the brightest costume ever worn to a vegan waffle party.

The Minneapolis Animal Rights Coalition’s Wafflepalooza Twoza, which gets this year’s award for most musical-sounding event name, attracted a broad range of ages. Some pictures show individuals enjoying waffles, while others appear to show individuals with an intense craving for them. Once again, some very cute kid ‘n’ waffle pics! An impressive assortment of toppings and some colorful plates as well.

Ida in New York City reported that their gathering this year was a low-key event with a few friends. No photos, but it would have been hard to top the delicious vegan waffle photo she posted from last year’s party.

The Brisbane Vegan Meetup’s waffle party, organized by Grover himself, included chocolate waffles and a range of toppings. There was even a dietitian present to answer questions about vegan nutrition–what a great resource.

Thanks again to those who have shared some great highlights! They’ve been a pleasure to see and read about. Highlights from the Tulsa, OK, Albany, NY, and Pittsburgh, PA parties appear in earlier posts.

While I’m always eagerly excited to hear about the fun and creativity of others’ waffle parties, our own annual event also continues to be a high point of our year. The basic house party format hasn’t changed much over time, outside of growing in size a bit. I enjoy the combination of serving freshly-baked food, chatting with guests between baking shifts, and experiencing all the wonderful toppings that guests bring.

Here in Pittsburgh, the weather was wonderful for the evening of the party, and even the plants in our garden and yard seemed to be excited about the event.

In line with this year’s suggested theme of vegan waffles, ice cream and sorbet, we displayed literature on Dylan the Cow, and gave a copy of The Global Vegan Waffle Cookbook to anyone pledging $20 or more to Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary or another organization focusing on animal rights, welfare, or environmental issues. Thanks to those who contributed!

Nearly 40 guests attended, including neighbors, long-time and new Pittsburgh Vegan Meetup members, Pittsburgh Cohousing Community members, and others. Many of the guests have moved to the ‘Burgh from other states and countries. (Highlights continued below photos.)

While there were more sweet toppings this year due to the suggested theme, savories were also represented. The tasty variety included:

• amazing amaretto sauce
• apple-pear sauce
• black bean-mango tango
• blueberry sauce
• cherries soft and dried
• cherry fruit spread
• raw chocolate spread with coconut
• lemony cashew kream
• chocolate cashew-based ice cream
• chocolate hazelnut spread
• chocolate pudding
• dairy-free chocolate chips
• coconut manna
• coconut spread with cinnamon
• cran-apple topping
• chocolate hemp milk ice cream
• deep dark chocolate waffle syrup
• garlicky tahina
• granola
• kicky syrup
• madras sambar
• mango sorbet
• mango-coconut sorbet
• mint-chocolate chip soy ice cream
• mint chutney
• mixed fruit sorbet
• neapolitan soy ice cream
• peanut butter fluff
• vegan queso
• roasted and salted pepitas
• ratatouille
• ravishing rhubarb sauce
• raw raspberry sauce
• shredded coconut
• Southwestern mix: black olives, salsa, salsa verde, guacamole, and spicy black beans (in an impressive homemade dish that I should have taken a picture of!)
• strawberries
• strawberry-rhubarb brown rice syrup
• vanilla soy ice cream
• vegan whipped cream

As I look back over this, I’m getting very hungry again! Wow.

Alongside delicious homemade toppings, store-brought brands included Nutiva, Love Street Living Foods (right here in Pittsburgh) Sharon’s Sorbet, So Delicious, Tempt, and Whole Fruit. If you attended the party and don’t see your topping(s) included in the list above, feel free to let me know in a comment.

I can’t really identify a “favorite” topping, because a number of them stood out for different reasons. But I will say that I was particularly intrigued by the coconut manna, and have since experimented with mixing it with cocoa powder and agave. Delicious–although still not quite as good as the Love Street chocolate spread, which makes a yeast-raised waffle taste kind of like a chocolate glazed donut.

Because they got good feedback last year and represent a good variety of relatively neutral waffles, we again featured three recipes available on waffleparty.com: Molasses Yeast Feast Waffles, Zero Excuse Rice Coconut Waffles, and Buckwheat Barley Malt Waffles. The gluten-free rice waffles were particularly popular alongside the vegan ice creams and sorbets.

Several kids attended—after carbing up on waffles and toppings, some played in the front yards alongside the garden boxes while some of the adult guests lounged beneath the lighted patio umbrella.

In the future, I’ll be posting highlights from other parties from this season, for hosts who wish to share this information.

Happy vegan waffling!

waffle irons ready for waffle party

I don’t know what an eager waffle iron looks like, but ours are freshly cleaned and seem ready to go. Luckily, I was able to repair one that lost two screws during a very busy day of waffle baking and photo taking a few months ago.