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!

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.

Belgium, Canada, England, Japan, and the U.S. will be having vegan waffle parties going on this weekend, as part of Global Vegan Waffle Party IV. I’m looking very forward to hearing about them, getting some highlights and photos to share, and so on! Lots of fun.

We’re excited to have some newcomers adding to the energy as well as returning hosts from one or more prior years, as can be seen on the finally-updated “past years hosts” page. One of them (other than us) has even participated all four years. In some cases, individuals within the same city or Meetup group have rotated hosting so their area continues to have an event. And some hosts have kindly contributed over multiple years in other ways, e.g., mentioning the event on their blog.

Crazy things are happening on Pittsburgh’s skyline this week. See the earlier explanation of the Pittsburghese.

Jen’s family and several friends got involved with this year’s Global Vegan Waffle Party, hosting a brunch party near Albany, NY last weekend. It featured all vegan waffles (Yeast-Raised Cinnamon-Raisin and Sinful Cheesecakey Waffles from the GVWC) and nearly all vegan toppings. Jen’s brother skillfully piloted the iron and took some great photos of deliciously creative vegan waffles. Her mom picked out an impressive assortment of toppings.

All that fresh fruit is making my mouth water! Love the “happy camper” t-shirt–how could one not be a happy camper with such food?

Rumor has it they’re planning a second event soon–when is yours?

Grabbing a last few bites of vegan waffles before heading out

The Vegetarian Society of Tulsa Meetup hosted the month’s first Global Vegan Waffle Party event on May 7. So I guess that means we’re now officially underway!

From Dedra, the organizer (center in photo):

“We had so much fun. Shanna made chocolate and regular waffles. I don’t remember what everyone made for toppings, but there was a great variety. I made a recipe from your book but tweaked it a little. The Carob Halvah turned into Chocolate Halava by substituting cocoa powder for carob. I also made a batch without the chocolate, just tahini and agave. It tasted just like the candy Halava from my youth. Yum!!

I have attached photos from when we were leaving because we were too busy having fun while the party was on. We were really happy with the turnout and hope to do it again next year.”

As the season progresses, I look forward to hearing about other vegan waffle parties!

Pittsburgh's Waffle Shop billboard (from waffleshopbillboard.org)

A vegan message will grace the skyline of East Liberty in Pittsburgh May 22-29, 2011, when we rent the large billboard atop the roof of the Waffle Shop building. The message, featuring traditional Pittsburghese:

GLOBAL VEGAN WAFFLE PARTY
BE KIND
BE HEALTHY
REDD UP OUR PLANET N’AT

“Redd up” means to clean up, and “n’at” is loosely translated to “and so forth.”

Perhaps some additional Pittsburghers will decide to participate in this year’s Global Vegan Waffle Party!

Waffle Shop, an experimental project run by Carnegie Mellon students and faculty, combines food with an array of social messages. They regularly feature a vegan waffle on their menu, and the associated Conflict Kitchen has featured vegan Afghan bolani.

Thanks to those of you who have already purchased The Global Vegan Waffle Cookbook, as you’ve helped to make projects like this possible.

Dylan, GVWC 2011 SpokesCow (courtesy Woodstock FAS)

We wanted to add a face to the important issues that our celebration seeks to address, including the treatment of animals in the dairy, egg, and meat industries, and the connections between these industries that are not yet common public knowledge.

Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary has kindly allowed one of their residents, Dylan, to serve as this year’s official SpokesCow.

Dylan’s story meshes particularly well with this year’s optional theme of Vegan Waffles, Ice Cream, and Sorbet. It conveys some of the common linkages between dairy and meat production. Dylan was taken from his mother, a dairy cow kept pregnant to sustain milk production, at only 3 days old to be confined and killed for his flesh. Most are not fortunate enough to be rescued as he was.

We’ve put together two one-page flyers for you to utilize at your event, if you find them helpful:

• The first describes Dylan’s story, connects it to our celebration, and refers the reader to any other informational or contribution-related resources you have displayed.
• The second includes more detailed information on Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, for hosts who wish to support or promote this specific organization.

WFAS and Dylan have generously lent their names without any specific expectations in return, as hosts are free to support whatever charity they wish, if any. Whatever the case, Dylan’s story is certainly not unique, and will hopefully add an educational component to some of your events.