I've been absent from blogging due to feeding my non-addiction and another busy work schedule. It's been almost a week since I went to the Toronto Vegetarian Food Fair.
My friend Stephanie moved to Toronto last year and at the first of the month, had moved to a new apartment.
While she was moving, her dog, Jersey, was vacationing with an auntie in Burlington. It worked out that we met up and all went on the train together into TO.
This is Jersey riding the rails on the GO Train. He's a Miniature Pinscher & is just over a year old. He was wearing his winter coat because it was a little cool for him that day. Plus we were going to be down by the water & Steph didn't want him to get a chill.
He was very good on the train. In fact he was good all day. He came to the fair with us and was well behaved. He seemed relaxed and relished in all the attention he got. 
Here he is looking out the train window & enjoying the sights. He is just too cute for words.
The fair was very similar to last year and I went this time with a limited amount of cash as I tend to spend too much money at these sorts of things. I put some into donation boxes,
bought some miso,
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and got Simon some dog cookies. 
They were packaged in a cute container that looked like Chinese take-out. 
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I also bought some cookies for us, but ate them on the train coming back home, so I don't have any pictures.
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One of the great things about the food fair is trying food samples. Some places will charge a nominal fee and some just give tastes away. Two things stood out for me as being the worst veg items I have ever tried. 
This was the first. I'd heard about hemp milk and was super curious. So much so, that about a week before the fair, I saw some at a health food store I frequent. It's was really pricey. A litre container was $4.99. I wish I'd waited until I tried it. BLECH! Even the chocolate flavour was gross. Steph didn't like it either. Jim wouldn't even try it. I was telling one of my sisters about it and she said that she'd gotten some and between herself and her husband they couldn't even finish a glass. So now I'm stuck with the container of Hemp Bliss (boy did they get that name wrong) that I don't know what to do with. 
This was the other thing. OMG - this was so disgusting, I couldn't even swallow it! I had to spit it out into a kleenex and throw it in the garbage. Stephanie wasn't even as dainty as I was. She just spat it right into the garbage can. Jim at least swallowed his. I haven't had anything this gross in a long time. I can't even describe it to you it was so bad.
Mostly everything else we tried was good. Especially the Tofutti Cuties, but you all know how delicious those are. MMMMMMM!!
I saw this T-shirt and really liked it. I couldn't seem to find one for sale, then we got distracted talking to some of Stephanie's friends from Wild at Heart. We moved on and I kind of forgot about it until after we had left the fair. Has anyone ever seen this? Do you know where I could get one?
(click photo for a larger view)
The Toronto Vegetarian Association had tables and booths set up all around. One caught my eye and we went over to have a look. They had a poster set up with photos of celebs and we had to guess which ones weren't vegetarian. People were making guesses and were surprised to find out that Shania Twain, Lenny Kravitz, Lisa Simpson, etc. were vegetarian. I guessed that Canada's Environment Minister, John Baird, was an omnivore. I was WRONG!
I've seen this guy ranting and raving on TV in the House Of Commons many times (that seems to be the norm up there) but I did not know he was a vegetarian. He's jumped up a couple notches in my opinion of him. The two celebs on the poster who were NOT vegetarian were George Clooney and David Suzuki. I have heard that Dr. Suzuki has taken the veg challenge, but don't have actual confirmation. 
Even Jim had a good time. I think he was happiest about me now possibly liking a Conservative a little bit. Give it time honey, I'm sure it will pass.
13 comments:
Glad you guys made it to the fair. next year, I am definitely going!
You know what is funny? I had gone to Vega site to request a free sample from a VegNews advertisement. Because of that and the bars are so expensive, I never tried one. ---I'm glad that is the case now.
Cool shirt and cute pooch. I hope Simon is enjoying his new treats.
I've heard that Toronto is a great city to be vegan and the proof is in your posts. Ihave to come up and visit your city one of these days.
Oh golly, I just bought some of that Hemp Bliss stuff, and now I'm afraid to try it!! And I sooo want to like it too!
I'm guessing you could probably try baking with the hemp bliss. Maybe use it to make some muffins or banana bread or something like that. All the other goodies that usually go into muffins might mask the flavor. Maybe you could make smoothies with it. Or blend it with a banana and some peanut butter and freeze in little cups and give to Simon as a homemade "frosty paw."
That shirt is great! Let me know if you find one online.
I suggest giving the Living Harvest brand of hempmilk a try - I'm addicted to it!! I've never tried the Hemp Bliss brand, but I don't think I will now :0)
Looks like a great vegan food fair!! I love Toronto, and this makes me want to visit there again, even more!!
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That looks like it was so much fun!
Jersey is so cute in his coat!
The pic of the dog is SO cute.
Too bad the Vega bar wasn't good. I've had raw bars and they've all been good. I actually saw Brendan Brazier (the guy who started Vega) speak last weekend. His book is great with lots of yummy recipes including recipes for bars. He said that the bars sold in the stores are the same as the ones in the book, which I really like. Too bad.
I think Baird eats fish. At least he did during the last election (I read something on him).
The Veggie Vixen
Hi Carrie! What a fun post - thanks for taking us along. Jersey is such a cute dog and in that coat looking out the window -- really is too cute for words. I bet you could bake up something fantastic with the hemp junk -- surprise us! :)
Awww, I really wanted to come up to Toronto for veg fest! Oh well, maybe next year. I'm glad you had a good time.
Oh, and Jersey is so friggin' adorable!
Carrie, try the hemp milk in smoothies. I've been using it in my smoothies and like it that way. I first tried it straight and didn't think it was great, and our kids don't like it straight either. But, I now love it in smoothies - lots of frozen bananas do the trick. uh-oh, you don't like frozen bananas, right? Hmmm, frozen strawberries would work well too - worth a try to at least use up the container you have. :)
Sounds like a great time.. even with the horrifc products...
What a cute little doggy!
Does Simon get along with other dogs? Jorda doesn't unless they are HUGE and tough and can deal with her overly dominant personality.
By the way, you can make your own hemp milk with water and hemp seeds. Brendan Brazier mentions exact amounts to use in his book, The Thrive Diet. Of course, you can just play around with amounts. I think the 'milk' will last for a while when it's refrigerated. Just give the jar a good shake before using.
The Veggie Vixen
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