A weekend of festivals!

This weekend is a three day weekend. I am thrilled, because 2/3 of it has been spent at festivals and I need a day to recover. Or do all my cleaning/cooking/homework.

Or recover.

I spent Saturday at the Renaissance Festival. It was unbelievably crowded, but we still managed to see a few good shows and have a good time.

The tops of trees changing colors.

One of two vegan options.

A giant! And a small child.

The festival grounds are nestled in the woods outside of Annapolis.
Super pretty.

I like octopi, and I love amethyst.
Obviously. 

My plans to spend some time at the Vegtoberfest today were thwarted almost immediately. Dakota is a very social dog, both with people and other animals, but the festival was stimulus overload for her. We only lasted about a half hour before I decided I'd had enough of her behaving like she was on crack.

I was able to get a vegan cannoli.

The cannoli came from Vegan Treats Bakery out of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I'd never heard of them before, but they had lots of yummy looking desserts that I'd never really seen before. Riverside Park is nice, too; I'd never been before. And it's close to our second favorite dog park, where we spent a good hour or so post-festival.

DID YOU SAY DOG PARK?!

National Apple Harvest Festival & Pumpkin Penne

I spent my weekend in Gettysburg visiting my friend Julie. She lives about 20 minutes away from the fairgrounds where the National Apple Harvest Festival is held, so we spent most of Saturday there. It was cloudy, insanely chilly, and a little rainy at some points. Still, we braved the weather to indulge in as many apple goodies as possible.

They sold apple everything. There were the usual suspects: apple butter, apple jelly, apple juice, apple sauce, apple cider. And then there were other apple things that I wasn't really expecting (and most of it wasn't vegan friendly): apple syrup, apple daiquiris, apple funnel cakes, apple fudge, apple cookies, apple cake. There were loads of autumnal decorations, too, and I loved every bit of it.

We met a bee and an apple along the way. Yeah, my eyes are closed. I'm good for that.

Just when I thought my hands were going to fall off, we found the hot apple cider tent. No way in hell was I settling for cold apple cider in 50 degree wet weather.

We saw a dance performance by the Hanover Children's Ballet Theater, too, and it was really cute.

There wasn't a whole lot of vegan-friendly to eat while at the festival, but it definitely sparked my interest in trying to veganize some things I saw (this is your warning). I was able to pick up some things to bring home, though!

Cinnamon apple syrup, apple butter, apple jelly, an apple scented soy-based candle,
doggie treats in the apple container, and apple syrup. 

Back at her apartment, we made pumpkin penne. Julie was a fantastic chef, I was a less than stellar photographer.

Garlic & Onion 

Crispy Sage

How was your weekend? What did you get into?

DC VegFest 2011

Yesterday was the annual DC VegFest at George Washington University. It was my first time going, and I was so excited. The anticipation made it feel like Vegan Christmas. Omni Mom and I had a mishap with the metro (read: don't ever let me read a metro map) so we missed the cupcake eating contest, but once we got there, I had a blast! And Omni Mom was the best sport about everything, she's the greatest!

Our first stop was at the Sticky Fingers booth. I got a Daiya Cheese/Tofurkey stromboli and a strawberry cupcake. Omni Mom got a peanut butter cupcake. Everything, obviously, was delicious. I didn't get to snap a picture of my cupcake because I brought it home, but it didn't survive the journey home intact.

Then we wandered around for a little bit. I met a carrot, who later gave us some vegan dog food samples.

And then I spotted an Indian food booth. JACKPOT. I got everything, except the naan.

Chana Masala with rice, samosas, pakoras (onion fritters).

It was then time for Isa Chandra Moskowitz's food demo. She was as funny and charming as her food is delicious. She made gumbo with okra and pumpkin cheesecake. There weren't enough samples of each, but you can bet I made damn sure to get a sample of each. Both were really yummy! A recipe for the gumbo can be found here, and the pumpkin cheesecake recipe will be available in the Vegan Pie in the Sky cookbook! She also passed out a preview with two or three recipes of that book. After the demo, she did a book signing! It felt like meeting a celebrity, and in my mind, she kind of is. She was my lifeline in my early vegan days, so it was great to tell her how much she's influenced my life.

I wrapped up my time there with a plate of vegan nachos from Bread and Brew. I really just wanted the damn frisbee for Dakota, but if I had to buy a plate of nachos to go with it, okay. We made a final stop at Sticky Fingers for cupcakes to bring home, and then made our merry way home!

I bought some of these goodies along the way. I may or may not have already eaten all of the jerky...

Primal Strips Vegan Jerky.
Hickory Smoked and Thai Peanut. I also had Texas BBQ.
The hickory smocked and BBQ were my favorites.

Pasta Valente - Tomato/Basil, Garlic/Parsley, Sweet Potato
V-Dog Food

The DC VegFest was truly awesome. My parents have always been wonderfully supportive, and the longer I am vegan, the more people around me seek out vegan foods for me at family events or the like. I am, without a doubt, so eternally grateful for their support, because there are still people who make snide remarks about the choices I make. Those comments would never sway me in my beliefs, but I shouldn't have to feel defensive about the choices I make, especially when I don't question your beliefs and choices. The support and inclusion I get from my family and friends is wonderful, and I don't think they'll ever understand the immense gratitude and relief I feel when I know I don't have to explain or defend myself over and over again. That being said, I don't think anyone truly understands why I make the choices I do. And while that's not the worst thing in the world, it was great to be with likeminded people who get that part of me. And who am I kidding? The plethora of yummy delicious vegan food that I neither cooked nor cleaned up was fan-freaking-tastic. It'll be a long year until the next festival, but I'm already looking forward to it!