Category: vegan bake off

6th Annual Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake Off in Toronto

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This weekend was the 6th Annual Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake Off, and it was bigger than ever. Every year I go, I have to think about the first one I went to at Harbourfront Community Center (the Third one.) I was so excited, since I had never been to a bake off before, let alone a vegan one at that point. These days, the idea that I only got ONE plate at my first one doesn’t even make sense, but I’ve learned my lesson. This year, the Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake Off was held at Daniels Spectrum in Regent Park. I liked that it got some of us east of Yonge Street for a few hours, and I really like that it was at a venue that was non-denominational and has actively tried to be accessible to people with varying levels of mobility and socioeconomic status, AND has been a great spot for local social and food justice events, meetings, and activities. In a moment of excellent pre-planning, JC and I brought along a blanket to sit on, and I purchased the maximum tickets allowed as early as possible before we even knew if we could go to the Bake Off or would be in the city. Either way, it’s a fun event, and we knew the money would be going to a good cause. We got to the venue early (we thought) but if there is anything I’ve learned – vegans like bake offs, and at around 1:30 there was…

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Toronto’s Fifth Annual Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake Off

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This weekend was the “Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake Off” and I think it was probably the best one yet.  Really organized, great treats, and an accessible indoor venue. I’ve been to three of the bake off’s (For a trip down memory lane: 3rd Annual Vegan Bake Off, 4th Annual Vegan Bake Off) and while I’ll never forget my first, I can see all the improvements from feedback from previous years. I know the 6th annual bake off will be even better and I can’t wait. This year’s Bake Off happened at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Center (though if you lived here, you’d probably just call it the JCC) 750 Spadina Ave, Toronto and at 2 pm things really got started. Over 47 amateur, professional, and professional amateur vegan bakers or bakeries put in hours and hours into preparing mini versions of their specialties. I had a slightly different experience from the previous years, since as per my 101 in 1001 days food goals, I entered the Vegan Bake Off this year. So in addition to coming to the bake off to eat several plates of delicious mini vegan treats, I also got to feel the intense bake off pressure, and then later taste that sharp flavour of defeat (not really, but I’ll admit it, kind of.) It was actually a lot of fun making 100 cannoli, in a zen kind of mindless repetitive task kind of way, but I don’t think I’ll ever do something like that again. At least not…

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Toronto: 3rd Annual Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake-Off and Nuit Blanche!

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Oh Toronto, what a day! A Vegan Bake-Off and Nuit Blanche all in one Saturday! Yesterday in early afternoon I went over to the Harbourfront Community Center for the 3rd Annual Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake-Off presented by the TVA. A group had already stated gathering outside the gymnasium doors, and you could feel the excitement in the air (I’m sure it wasn’t just me.) There were 6 different categories: Vegan Bars and Bites Vegan Cupcakes Vegan Tarts and Treats Vegan Cookies Vegan and Gluten-Free Desserts Professionally Crafted Vegan Classics I decided (barely) to get a plate of Terrific Vegan Treats, though it was a hard decision, and I changed my mind three times after I gave one of the volunteers the fee (it was three dollars per plate sampled.) I appreciate that she didn’t give me a sense of irritation though it would have been justified. I was impressed with the selection of beautiful and delicious vegan treats. I shouldn’t be surprised but regardless of how much veganized amazingness I try on my travels I’m always amazed at the ingenuity evident from creative vegan bakers and raw foodists. That creativity was displayed to perfection with the spread at the Bake-Off. We started off with the Vegan Tarts and Treats plate. I can’t imagine how hard it must be to be one of the final judges for this competition. It was hard enough writing it out on an anonymous piece of paper. Though, that said I gave a few things a…

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Fun in Toronto – Magic Oven (again), Sneaky Dee’s (again!), More TIFF stuff, and Kale Restaurant.

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It’s been an amazing few days. I had the opportunity to be an event scavenger for a few TIFF screenings after some friends were either too burnt out, or just not able to attend films. I saw Tamara Drewe the new one from Stephen Fears (which I didn’t like) and Jucy from Australia (which I loved.) Before I went and saw Jucy with an old friend, I dropped in to Magic Oven for a pizza. Last time I tried the “vegan magic” because well… why not. This time around I tried the “tropical magic” and I’m so glad I did. The pizza came out with a decent helping of Daiya cheese and big juicy chunks of pineapple. I even inspired someone else to order that one. Yum. One thing I’ve always wanted to do is be a member of a live studio audience (don’t judge 😀 ) So I signed up to go on The Hour through the CBC website. It seems like a great thing to take an out of town visitor, so I know I’ll keep an eye out for future shows if/when my family visits me. I have a long standing love of the CBC, ever since I little and called in to the Radioactive radio show for their quizzes (which by the way… I won stuff from them several times. Thanks redial button!) So it was thrilling to be in the building, where some of the magic happens. The audience on that day was lucky (and…

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