|
January 2008 Edition
Brought to you by VegNews Magazine
vegnews.com
**New Year, New Magazine!
**V in the News
**Event Spotlight
**Recipe: Rosemary Home Fries
**Book Blitz
**Product Review: Frützzo Yumberry Juice
**January Question and Giveaway!
**Call for Writers
**VegNews Seeks Office Space
**February VegNewsletter Preview
We're glad you've discovered VegNews, America's premier vegetarian lifestyle magazine. The VegNewsletter arrives in your e-mailbox just once a month and clues you in on vegetarian news, dining, recipes, products, activist alerts, reviews, culture, giveaways, and all the other good things in life. It's the perfect accompaniment to a VegNews subscription.
New Year, New Magazine
 Here it is! And, sure, it's not a completely new magazine—of course it's really the VegNews you know and love—just a brand spankin' new issue. Our January+February Health & Wellness issue is packed with great info on keeping yourself healthy and happy in the new year. Is food medicine? Our nutrition experts and investigative journalists ponder this question in features concerning soy, how to fend off winter colds, and the potential immune system-boosting properties of a raw diet. Need a little inspiration to work out after so many holiday cookies? Check out our profiles of professional, extreme vegan athletes! Need to make a getaway after the onslaught of relatives? Check out our report from the streets of Toyko. Here's what you'll find:
**Extreme Vegan Athletes
**Stress-Free Spa Retreats
**Eat, Drink, & Be Raw
**Cruelty-Free Après Ski Indulgences
**Feature Book Review: Veganomicon
**Battle for the Ballot
**Taste Test: Chickenless Soup
**Sharkwater Makes Waves
**Super Snack Spreads
**Plus... All the great reads you're used to, including the latest vegetarian news, book reviews, new products, health advice, hard-hitting features, celebrity buzz, and so much more. It's all in VegNews. Haven't subscribed? What are you waiting for?!?
Order our brand new issue now for just $5
 Beantown Goes Veg
Well, okay. Not every single person in Boston is going vegan, but our numbers may swell with the new weekly feature Veggieist on the Bostonist blog. From now on, Thursdays will feature "some vegan love" according to an announcement from the site. Bostonist says they're launching the feature in response to feedback that followed a couple of veggie-themed holidays posts, which is great news for all us armchair activists!
2008: Most Vegan Year Ever?
That's right. The revolution has finally come, at least according to one UK-based consultancy firm, MiV. In a recent press release the company details why 2007 saw the explosion of media and consumer awareness of veganism, and why they believe this trend will only continue to grow in 2008. All we can say is, it's about time. According to MiV, the growing market for "ethical retailing" already grosses billions of dollars per year and is steadily increasing. The report focused on vegan-friendly companies like Lush and designer Stella McCartney, who helped to usher in veganism as last year's most popular trend.
Shoes for Yuse
Speaking of trendy, in case you haven't already heard, Natalie Portman has signed on to design a line of vegan footwear with the company Té Casan. Okay, so maybe Ms. Portman doesn't actually have a strong East Coast accent, but who could pass up the chance to appropriately use the Brooklyn-based second person plural? Yuse can check out the swank line on Té Casan's website, and while the shoes are available for pre-order, they won't be shipping until sometime in February.
First-Ever Buffalo Wing Eating Contest
 Yep, the grand tradition of stuffing more food than should ever be normally consumed down your throat has moved beyond hot dogs and pies and into previously uncharted territory: vegan buffalo wings. The January 16 event will be put on by Foodswings, a Brooklyn eatery with a vegan fast food menu, and co-sponsored by Frank's Red Hot. While it's certain that there won't be any animal products consumed at the contest, it's harder to say whether it can really be called "cruelty-free," as contestants will only be given water to quell their fiery palates. For full details, click here.
Speak Up for Animals
This two-day event promises to put the Can! back in your canvassing. Whether you've been sticking up for animal rights ever since your first word was "compassion" or you're just finding out how much fun protecting the innocent can be, this refresher course is sure to do the job. Held at San Francisco's Fort Mason Center on February 1–2, Speak Up for Animals boasts two days of activisty activities. On day one, you'll get inspired with a showing of I Am An Animal: The Story of Ingrid Newkirk and PETA, and on day two attend the Activism Seminar and Networking program, meet like-minded folks, and bolster your own resolutions, whether you made them on January 1, 2008 or any other old day.
Recipe: Rosemary Home Fries
 Everything should begin at the beginning—it just makes more sense that way. In this spirit, let us celebrate the beginning of the new year with the beginning of the day, meal-wise. Of course, this could be strictly interpreted to mean breakfast, but let's not get too hasty. Ease yourself into the day/weekend/year with these amazing home fries, a bona fide brunch star. Straight from her new cookbook, Yellow Rose Recipes, Joanna Vaught shares with us her fail-safe recipe for a fill-you-up brunch. In addition to being Vaught's first book, it's also the first book publishing effort of Herbivore Magazine. Let's hear it for good beginnings! Serve up these savory fries with tofu scramble and some fresh fruit. Joanna says, "You can sub dill for the rosemary in this recipe if you're a dill freak, or you can do half and half." Other options include leaving the garlic cloves in the finished dish, which is best if you don't have a date later in the day. Make sure to look for a full review of Yellow Rose Recipes in an upcoming issue of VegNews!
What You Need:
1-1/2 pounds small red potatoes, scrubbed and unpeeled
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 to 6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablepsoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
What You Do:
1. The night before: In a large pot, cover potatoes with salted cold water, then boil until tender or easily pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes. Drain potatoes and let them cool in the colander, then transfer them back to the pot and put the pot in the fridge with plastic wrap on top to chill overnight. (If you want to do this on the morning of your brunch, drain and let the potatoes cool for 10 minutes or so before cutting them, so they're cool enough to handle.)
2. In the morning, take the potatoes out of the fridge and halve or quarter each potato into 3/4 to 1 inch chunks. Heat oil in a large heavy-bottomed skillet on medium-high heat. Add potatoes in a single layer and reduce to medium heat. If you can't fit them all in one pan, do this in batches, as it's critical that potatoes are in a single layer. Resisting the urge to move them around the pan, cook until golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes.
3. Add garlic to pan. Use tongs or a spatula to turn the potatoes over and cook the other side for another 5 to 7 minutes. Crumble the rosemary between your fingers into the pan and use spatula to toss potatoes again. Cover and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes.
4. Turn off the heat. Remove garlic cloves, add salt and pepper, stir to coat the potatoes, and serve immediately.
Click here to order hot-off-the-press Yellow Rose Recipes
Book Blitz
Early reports indicate that 2008 will be a very vegan year. To wit, there are two vegan books in the top five of The New York Times bestseller list. As previously mentioned, Skinny Bitch in the Kitch is sitting pretty at number five, while the writing duo's first effort, Skinny Bitch, is right at the top at number one. While the Bitch's successes are certainly noteworthy, they are hardly alone in the record-breaking-and-making category. (See below for how to win your own copy of Skinny Bitch in the Kitch!)
 Fellow VN columnist Robin Robertson's book Quick-Fix Vegetarian was recently awarded the title of Best New Cookbook in PETA's 5th annual Proggy Awards. The book, which was published last March, contains 150 dishes that are ready-to-eat in less than 30 minutes. In a year busting with vegan cookbook publications, this is a big-time achievement. Congrats to Robin!
Speaking of successful cooking manifestoes, there are three vegetarian cookbooks currently in the top ten bestseller list of Amazon.com. If this isn't a harbinger of vegan greatness in the year to come, we just don't know what is. Now that the market is primed and ready for a deluge of fantastic animal-free feasts, it's the perfect time to get out and pen that cookbook you've always wanted to write but never thought would sell. Kudos to all the amazing authors, and here's to more to come!
For a quick refresher of the bounty of vegan cookbook publication goodness that graced us in 2007, check out these outstanding titles:
The Joy of Vegan Baking (VegNews' Cookbook of the Year)
Veganomicon
Eat, Drink & Be Vegan
Quick-Fix Vegetarian
My Sweet Vegan
Cozy Inside
I Am Grateful: Recipes and Lifestyle of Café Gratitude
 Product Review: Frützzo Yumberry Juice
We don't know anyone who didn't swear off eating entirely after consuming outrageous amounts of holiday goodies last month. In the spirit of maintaining some influx of healthy calories, how's about a nice cold bottle of juice to help your body regain its normal functioning? Of course, not just any juice is going to cut through the layers of soy-nog latte that have built up in our systems. For those in heavy-duty nutrient need, try Frützzo Yumberry juice. Firstly, yes, there is such a thing as a yumberry, which grows in subtropical climates. This tart treat is like cranberry juice gone berzerk, and you may want to add it to a smoothie rather than take it straight up. But with a healthy dose of antioxidants this juice boasts the powers of keeping your skin looking good, bolstering your immune system, and keeping your blood pressure low—quite the triple threat. Frützzo offers three varieties of their organic yumberry line: 100 percent yumberry, yumberry pomegranate, and yumberry blueberry. Whichever you chose, you're sure to get that fresh, puckery face that means the holiday bingeing is officially over.
Click here to visit Frützzo's website
January VegNewsletter Question of the Month + Giveaway
 With the new, super-vegan year in full swing, the time just feels right to let loose with all your fantastic, ambitious, creative ways to support the vegetarian cause. The VN editorial team came up with eight of our favorite ways to show our veg pride—which you can find on pages 80 & 81 of our January+February issue. This month, we want to know: How do you support vegetarianism? Of course, the exclusion of meat from your menu is step one, but what other ways do you go about setting a great example for how fun, easy, and rewarding the vegetarian lifestyle can be? Anything is fair game here, from being kind to someone on the bus (showing compassion for all animals) to making your own stencilled t-shirts with creative pro-veg slogans. Whatever it is that you do to take the future success of vegetarianism into you own hands, tell us!
Of course, we'd never expect you to hand over all your brilliance without some sort of incentive (aside from showcasing the good you do!), and this month we are thrilled to reward the most compelling response with a signed copy of the best-selling cookbook, Skinny Bitch in the Kitch! As per usual, please email us your responses of no more than 50 words.
VegNews in Special Newsstand Promotion
As you may know, VegNews is more than just a vegetarian magazine. We care deeply about the environment and have implemented green practices across the board at our organization. From using boths sides of every sheet of paper to having strategically placed recycling bins throughout the office to only using green cleaning products, we constantly strive to do as much as we can for the planet. But we're especially proud of the fact that we're one of the first national magazines to use recycled paper. The sheet we have chosen is comprised of 75% post-consumer, recycled content, some of the best specs in the industry.
 And how nice it is to be honored for our decision to go recycled (actually, there was no decision to be made ... we wouldn't print on anything else). In a special newsstand promotion from January 1 to February 5, VegNews is one of 10 titles to be showcased at Barnes & Noble stores across the country for our use of recycled paper. So if you're a newsstand buyer, please pick up a copy of VN at your nearest B & N store! And don't forget to thank them for promoting these progressive titles. Imagine the trees, water, and energy that could be saved if the entire industry went recycled. Yeah!
P.S. You may notice our choice of graphic to the right. We're not trying to make light of Mother Earth, but who doesn't love those delicious vegan Earth Balls? Any chance to be reminded of such sweet bliss, well, we take it. We love and respect you, dear planet!
Call for Writers
So, you like us, right? We certainly hope so, considering that you are reading this newsletter. Well, we'd very much like the chance to like you too, and on an even more intimate level than our regular magazine-reader relationship. That's right, we're ready to move to the next step: we want you to write for us!
If you're a serious freelance writer, or even if you've just got a really phenomenal idea but no clips to show for it, pitch us your most amazing, brilliant, veg-angled story. It's very important to us that the magazine stay as fresh, fun, and intelligent as possible, and that means we love discovering new writing talent at every opporunity. Make sure to read over our submission guidelines, and then submit away! We're totally ready for it.
Click here for our submission guidelines
VegNews Seeks Office Space
Yep, your favorite veggie magazine is expanding leaps and bounds, and we're quickly growing out of our current office space. Although we love our beach-front location, we're in need of more square footage (3,000+ to be exact) with ample room to grow. Know of an affordable office space for rent in San Francisco? Contact VN Associate Publisher Colleen Holland with details.
Preview of the February VegNewsletter
Satisfy your between-issues cravings with this complimentary supplement, featuring exclusive product reviews, musician, artist and event spotlights, slammin' recipes, giveaways, plus the lowdown on how vegetarianism is bettering the world—one delicious bite at a time.
Share the VegNewsletter with your friends. Or, if it was forwarded to you, sign up yourself at vegnews.com to join the thousands of readers who are tuning in to America's hottest vegetarian publication. Can't get enough? Read up on past editions FREE by clicking on "See our past VegNewsletters" at vegnews.com. Because you are what you read, and don't forget it.
Back to past VegNewsletters
Back to home page
|
