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Berkeley Café Gratitude to stay open, Oakland Whole Foods Gratitude to close Feb. 28  »

Two bits of Café Gratitude news: According to Berkeleyside, the Berkeley Café Gratitude is going to remain open! Hey, all right!

According the the sign below, the Café Gratitude in the Oakland Whole Foods is closing on Feb. 28. What a bummer. I can’t believe that the Whole Foods Gratitude isn’t a major money-maker. It’s always packed! And packed with all different kinds of people, the kinds of people I don’t normally see in a Café Gratitude. I don’t know, it’s awesome seeing such a diverse crowd eating kale. And that includes me! I always buy a green juice while I’m shopping, and leave with at least one slice of cheesecake. My heart breaks a little at this news! Oh well, there’s always Rachel’s plan. Time to get raw, folks.

Venus and Serena Williams go vegan! (And why this inspires me to exercise!)  »

From the New York Times article on Vegan Body Builders to the news that Venus and Serena Williams are going to start a raw diet, I’m feeling like I should hit the gym in solidarity with these athletes! Not in a New Years Resolution kind of way, just in a “man, doing a crunch or two probably wouldn’t kill me” kind of way. And when I say “hit the gym”, I mean popping in a 10 minute Pilates video. What?! I’m extremely busy and also terrified of the thought of sweaty hippies in a very hot and confined space called a yoga studio. Or sweaty bros on the prowl in a gym. Actually, I’m just so very anxiety ridden about people seeing me work out.*

[The Laura dubbed ‘Super Smash Brothers’ being all cute and sisterly. As well as extremely buff. Not gonna lie, I’m jealous of that muscle tone!]

Alas, it is time to move onto people more famous than myself. I don’t know if you have heard of these sisters, supposedly they are really good at tennis — Serena and Venus Williams? I kid, I kid. Now, don’t get all mad like you usually do when I tell you that another celeb is going to try out a vegan diet. Apparently Venus is making this lifestyle change partially due to a New Year’s Resolution but also because she suffers from an incurable, immune disorder called Sjogren’s Syndrome. Yikes! She is hoping that the benefits of a raw diet will help alleviate some of her symptoms, like the inflammation of her joints. I sure hope that it does and also that she hires the right personal chef (ME!! Venus, I’m available! I have a Vita-Mix and a plethora of recipes!)

‘Where does Serena fit into all this?’ you ask. Well, she’s acting as her sister’s moral support by also adapting a vegan and raw lifestyle! Aww. Isn’t it the sweetest when sister’s are besties? My sister just gave me an Envirosax for Christmas! She totally supports my cause of trying to be less wasteful! Hurrah for sisters!

*Again, I kid. I was quite the tennis player myself at 12! (White kid in the suburbs, of course I played tennis!) I worked in a gym and was a swimmer in high school, but now? The complete lack of muscle tone and coordination is frightening.

Sidesaddle Kitchen’s raw vegan desserts classes are here!  »

Laura wanted me to tell you guys all about this fun S.F. activity because she said that last time all the classes completely sold out! So get in there quick! Plus she said the Laura who runs the classes is super nice (everybody loves a Laura!). Which always helps me learn! No, really. I can’t focus when a jerk is teaching. Why do people even teach if they are going to be jerks about it?

I don’t know exactly what’s going on in the picture below but I’m into it. If this is what the classes promise, I’m gonna fly out to S.F. just for them! The point is: raw vegan desserts! Yum!

Make this banana nog!  »

A couple of weeks ago, Laura taunted you with a skeleton of a nog recipe I was working on. Well, I am proud to say that it is complete and delicious! This nog doesn’t necessarily taste like the store bought stuff, but is delightful nonetheless. Even better, it’s vegan (duh), raw, soy-free, and gluten-free. G’damn!

Ingredients
2 cups soaked cashews (heaping 2/3 cup raw, unsalted cashews, soaked for at least six hours, overnight is best)*
3 cups water
1 banana
5 dates, pitted
1/3 cup agave nectar
1 Tbsp. lucuma (optional, but will give it a buttery taste and is a super food!)
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla powder (extract would be fine too, just add a little more)
If you have it, Maca would be a wonderful addition as well!

Instructions
Rinse your soaked cashews. In a blender (Vita-Mix is best!) pulverize cashews and water until completely smooth. If this is not possible to obtain with your blender, you may need to use a nut milk bag, or come to terms with the fact your nog will be a little chunky. Add the rest of your ingredients and blend together! Because this recipe has banana in it, the longer it sits, the more unappealing the color becomes. It’s best to make this the day of consuming it; however, if beige beverages don’t gross you out, it tastes awesome the next day!


Virgin banana nog, second day. Dusted with cinnamon.

Add brandy or dark rum and have at it!

*Short on time? Not caring if the nog is raw? Just boil the cashews.

Product review: Rhythm Superfoods’ kale chips win; sweet potato chips do OK  »

I’m a broken record about my love for bears, but did you know that I also enjoy snacks? I’m talking chips, cookies, and crackers, not so much any sort of healthy food, like fruit (blech) repurposed as snack food. Given the choice, I’ll usually choose the trans fats, the high sugar content, the empty calories.

Rhythm Superfoods provides the best of both worlds: filling my crunchy snacky urge and giving me less gas than Frito-Lay products. Rhythm Superfoods produces raw, gluten-free, vegan, and non-GMO snacks. To me, a person who grew up on Twinkies and Cheeto dust, that’s not exactly promising.

They sent a nice box with a bag each of Zesty Nacho kale chips and Sea Salt sweet potato chips. I popped open the sweet potato chips first. Although the chips were perfectly seasoned, I think the oil-free quality of the chips made them less than crispy. I don’t enjoy a bendy, chewy chip. I need CRUNCH, motherfuckers!

Although the kale chips were rather crumbled from their trip in the box to me, they saved the day. Crunchy with a cheesy flavor from being smothered in nutritional yeast, I ate the entire bag in one sitting (which is only two servings, sadly). Rhythm rekindled my passion for the kale chip, to be honest. And now we are involved in the most sordid of love affairs: snaxploitation.

Need a post-Café Gratitude job? Check out the Tree of Life in Arizona  »

Our pal, Vegansaurus raw correspondent Sarah E. Brown, is possibly the nicest person we know. She just wants everyone to be healthy and happy! She rocks the raw vegan lifestyle like a boss, but you know, a totally peaceful and nice boss. To that end, after reading the unhappy news about Café Gratitude closing its eight Northern California locations, she wrote us with the following offer:

The Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center, a raw vegan retreat center located in Patagonia, Ariz., run by Gabriel Cousens, M.D. is currently hiring for volunteer and paid positions in the 100 percent organic, live vegan cafe, in the natural dispensary, videography and I.T. department, veganic garden, and other areas at our center, and would love to extend an invitation for Café Gratitude employees who will lose their jobs due to the closing of all Northern California locations to apply to join our team.

Working at the Tree of Life includes many benefits, including all organic, raw, vegan meals included, access to yoga classes, an InfraRed sauna, pool, hot tubs, daily meditation and regular qi gong, access to our gorgeous scenic facilities and more. Click this link to find out more about opportunities, and for information on how to apply for open positions.

Thanks so much, Sarah! Please don’t steal all the awesome raw vegans away to Patagonia!

This is Vegansaurus raw correspondent Sarah E. Brown’s latest post! Read more by Sarah on Vegansaurus, and visit her personal blog, Queer Vegan Food.

Café Gratitude Bereavement Plan  »

It sure sucks that Café Gratitude is closing. Lucky for me, I said my goodbyes a few months ago with a slice of raw cheesecake, right after I said goodbye to S.F. Pride and right before I got on a plane and moved to Denver.

Lucky for you, I’ve had time to figure how to live Life without Gratitude. And because I’m the nicest person ever, I’m going to share that hard-won knowledge.

Gather round, grasshoppers. Here’s what you do:

WARNING! REPLACING CAFÉ GRATITUDE IS HARD AND EXPENSIVE AND WILL MAKE PEOPLE THINK YOU’RE WEIRD! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK! BUT IT’S HELLA TASTY!!!

1. Admit that the best thing about the restaurant was dessert. Then buy Sweet Gratitude, the book that will tell you how to make said desserts.
2. Flip through the book. Cry a little when you realize how hard and complicated they are and how much better it was to just pay for them.
3. Take a deep breath and COMMIT. It will be worth it!
4. Buy Irish Moss.
5. Buy a kitchen scale.
6. Buy raw coconut oil.
7. Buy soy lecithin.
8. Buy raw cacao butter, powder, and maybe nibs.
9. Buy raw vanilla beans.
10. Buy a VitaMix. Or don’t but you’ll wish you had one. Trust me.
11. Choose a recipe. Buy the rest of the stuff you’ll need, like almonds and cashews and dates and agave and coconuts, from the grocery store. 
12. Plan ahead. You’ll probably need to soak things for various amounts of time, from one to 24 hours. Maybe make a Gantt chart?
13. Whip! Blend! Chill! 
14. EAT AMAZING FOOD! 

That’s a lot of steps, partly because I’m making fun of it. To be honest, it really is worth it, at least for special occasions. I still haven’t tried making the tiramisu at home. But I will. And you’ll hear about it.

Look what I made! Raw lemon-blueberry cheesecake! It rocked!

Pro tips:

• Start with some of the simpler recipes. The cheesecakes, for example, don’t need Irish Moss. 
• Making this food will make you covet a better blender, unless you have a great one already.
• Blend longer than you think you need to.
• If you’re not a raw food purist, don’t be a raw food purist. Use canned coconut milk. Use the almond milk you always use. Screw raw vanilla, use regular. Yeah of course it’ll taste different but you’ll be more sane.

Thanks, Gratitude. I am grateful you existed, and grateful for the challenges you’ve left us. Though I’d still rather just let you do the work.