How can you help? Check out these links for more information:

Middle TN Red Cross
Nashvillest.com
Hands On Nashville

For more photos of the disaster, check out president raygun’s Flickr page. Also, check out this video on YouTube.

Positive thoughts for Middle Tennessee, the areas affected by the oil spill (and the world in general) are also much appreciated.  Thank you!

Here in Nashville, we can finally get the Go Max Go bars, which are amazing.  We have several places to buy Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss and Purely Decadent coconut milk ice cream and we have several options for vegan baked goods.

Vegan junk food lovers (and those of us who eat really healthily most of the time, but splurge every once in a while) in the Nashville area, rejoice again!

Word on the street is that Whole Foods in Nashville will start carrying Daiya vegan cheese soon, but in the meantime, Lazzaroli Pasta in the Germantown area has the Italian blend.  I just bought a pound the other day!  Lazzaroli’s will also make vegan pasta for you if you give them 24 hours notice.  I hear it’s awesome, and Tom told me yesterday he’s thinking of filling some ravioli with Daiya and other yummy vegan stuff.  Give him a call if you’re interested.  Sure sounds good to me!

I also have heard good things about the vegan donuts at Get Sconed in Murfreesboro.  I swear I’m going to get down there soon to try them, but I just haven’t been in the mood for all that sugar, flour and oil…  Still, I can’t help but feel like Middle Tennessee deserves a big pat on the back.  I tell people all the time that it’s not a bad place to be vegan, but hardly anyone seems to believe me.  Sure, it’s not California, but we’re making progress!

Now tell me again how I’m missing out on anything by being vegan?  Ok, convenience?  Yeah, sometimes.  But incredible, delicious food?  Nope.

My Daiya from Lazzaroli

Not only do I own at least seventy pairs of non-leather shoes, I also have a whole bunch of handbags as well.  Some of my favorites are by Matt & Nat and Crystalyn Kae.  (Not all Crystalyn Kae bags are vegan, so check before you buy.  Better yet, why not write to the company and request that they go vegan!)

One great thing about vegan fashion today is its evolution to more eco-friendly materials.  PVC isn’t exactly the best stuff to wear or carry around with you, but animal skins aren’t exactly eco-friendly either when you consider the methane given off by all those cows, the pesticides that end up in the water and earth around factory farms and the chemicals used to tan the leather.  Still, brands like Crystalyn Kae use glazed fabrics, which look and feel like leather and there are always products made of canvas, hemp, etc. to be found.  Matt & Nat is now lining their purses with recycled water bottles.

A simple Google search makes it all easier than ever to keep your accessories in line with your ethics.

Vegan Drinks Nashville is happening!  Come to the Bound’ry on Tuesday, February 2nd from 7-9 pm to meet, network and socialize with other Nashville vegans.   The Bound’ry will be working with us on vegan drink specials and appetizers.   If you’re vegan or even veg-curious, I hope you’ll join us!

For more information on Vegan Drinks, click here.  If you’d like to help, invite friends, etc., please see our Facebook page.  See you there!

For the last few weeks I have been musing over the last year and how fantastic it’s been.  Here are just some of the highlights:

I started the year with my first vlog and a road trip across the country with a friend.  Ate some incredible food, met up with fabulous people and saw a good portion of the U.S.

I was interviewed by VeganCulinaryExperience.com and VegetarianWomen.com.

Traveled to Phoenix and Seattle before heading out to Australia for the month of March.  What an experience that was!  I ate so much great food and met so many awesome Aussies and fellow travelers.  Check out some of my photos here.

In April I took a road trip from E. Lansing, MI to Oklahoma City, OK.  I was home for a day, then I went to Tahoe for a weekend getaway with my best girlfriends from high school.

One of the biggest things to happen to me all year was appearing on the cover of the Nashville Scene in May.  That photo opened a lot of doors for me and was so much fun!  I’m so thankful for that.

Speaking of photos, I went to Bonnaroo in June and ended up on the Maxim Facebook pictorial Babes of Bonnaroo 2.  My bikini photo from the Nashville Scene also earned the honor of one of the Hottest Girls on Facebook at Maxim.com.  Ecorazzi and Vegetarian Star picked up the story as well.  Fun!

My site was nominated for the second year in a row for a VegNews Veggie Award (Favorite Web Site) and was also named one of the Top Ten Vegetarian Web Sites.  Thank you, VegNews, for your continued support!

Summer also brought my second trip to Vegetarian Summerfest, where I got to speak about vegan travel, reconnect with old friends, make lots of new ones, and witness one of the best weddings ever.

AR 2009 was a blast too!  I met some of my vegan idols, had a great time with awesome folks I had met the year before and I interviewed my good friends Michelle Taylor and Robert Cheeke.

Michelle interviewed me for her online TV show, Vegan Break, and I also appeared on the Robert Cheeke Show.  I had the privilege of speaking with Ed Coffin on the Eating Consciously Podcast and Vance Lehmkuhl’s VegCast #70.

In September I was part of the Tennessean experiment Vegan for a Month.  I got to be the unofficial Vegan Lifestyle Coach for five members of the Tennessean staff as they ate vegan for thirty days.  It was a lot of fun, and great exposure for veganism.

September also brought me to Toronto for the 25th Annual Vegetarian Food Fair.  So much fun!  I got to hang with some of my favorite vegans as well as some old friends I have known online for years.  Great trip!  Toronto is a fabulous city and very vegan friendly.  Can’t wait to go back.

October was a busy travel month.  I went to Portland, where I spent time with family and hung out with my friend Robert Cheeke.  Robert and I saw Gary Vaynerchuk at Powell’s and of course ate some amazing food.  I also got to speak about Why It’s Easy to be Vegan at the Central Florida VegFest, which was a great experience.  VooDoo Fest in New Orleans during Halloween weekend was super fun too.

I came to Nashville in 2000 to pursue my singing career and this year I started working on my first album with Producer/Guitarist Extraordinaire Biff Watson.  Vance previewed my first single “Let Go” on VegCast #75 and I’ll be releasing more music via MySpace and iTunes very soon.  Yay!

November and December were pretty quiet as far as travel is concerned, but I found lots of amazing vegan food right here in Nashville, as you can see by my latest blogs.  Nashville is becoming more and more vegan friendly and it’s exciting to watch and experience!

I am so thankful for my life.  I get to travel all over the world eating great vegan food, I have amazing friends and family and a rich, full life in Nashville.  In just one year I got to eat in these forty cities:

Memphis, TN
Plano, TX
Austin, TX
Big Bend, TX
Tucson, AZ
Joshua Tree, CA
Palm Springs, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Phoenix, AZ
Tempe, AZ
Sedona, AZ
Asheville, NC
Seattle, WA
Sydney, NSW, AuS
Manly, NSW, AUS
Melbourne, Victoria, AUS
Brisbane, Queensland, AUS
Mullumbimby, NSW, Australia
Gold Coast, Queensland, AUS
Hamilton Island, Queensland, AUS
Hot Springs, NC
Knoxville, TN
East Lansing, MI
Joplin, MO
Oklahoma City, OK
Truckee, CA
Incline Village, NV
Oakland, CA
San Francisco, CA
Manchester, TN
Johnstown, PA
Santa Rosa, CA
Napa, CA
Toronto, ON, Canada
Atlanta, GA
Portland, OR
Denver, CO
Orlando, FL
New Orleans, LA
Nashville, TN

Thank you all so much for your continued support.  2010 is looking to be amazing and I look forward to sharing my experiences with you.  Happy New Year!

I have already blogged about Fiddle Cakes and the awesome treats I had there on my first visit, but I went back and tried more of their cupcakes and wow!  The chocolate with peppermint “buttercream” frosting and toasted coconut cupcakes were awesome.  So tasty and beautiful.  I also had a lovely vegan soup and sandwich there.  The vegans from Born Empty and I were happy with everything we had.

The Wild Cow had their Grand Opening party last Saturday and I left with Vegan Spicy Chocolate Cake, Vegan Ginger Macadamia Coconut Carrot Cake (say that three times fast),  Vegan Oatmeal Cherry Cookie and a Vegan Zucchini Chocolate Muffin.  Yummy!  All desserts at The Wild Cow are outsourced and everything I tried was very good.

I have complained in the past about Whole Foods’ lack of vegan cupcakes, but to their credit, they now have a Vegan Chocolate Coffee cake that is amazing, they had Vegan Apple and Cherry pies for Thanksgiving (I had the cherry and it was great!) and their baker has just informed me that soon they will have Vegan Whole-Grain Pastries.  Yes!

Go, Nashville!  It’s always a good time to be a vegan, but things just keep getting better and better for us.  For those of you afraid to go vegan because you think you’ll be missing out, try some of these awesome cholesterol-free-but-full-of-great-flavor desserts!  And if you’re jonesin’ for some ice cream to go with your cake, stop by Whole Foods or Turnip Truck and buy some Purely Decadent with Coconut Milk or Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss.  I swear, it’s better than dairy ice cream!

Well, here’s one more reason why it’s not hard to be vegan.  I’ve talked about Cheezly and Teese before, and both are great products, but Daiya vegan cheese has a few qualities that really make it stand out.  One is that it’s soy free, which is good news for anyone trying to avoid soy or at least cut down their intake.  (Read the ingredients here.)  Another is that it melts and stretches like dairy cheese.  Thirdly, while I don’t think it tastes exactly like dairy cheese, it really does taste pretty darned good, especially the cheddar variety.

I ordered mine from Pangea, The Vegan Store and quickly started making the yummy things pictured below.  It lasted a long time in the fridge too, which was nice since it took me a while to use it all!

I am thrilled that there are so many vegan cheeses to choose from and that more and more keep coming on the market.  Bring ‘em on!  Here’s a list of places to find Daiya.  Hopefully the day will come soon when a pizza place in Nashville will offer Daiya as an option and we can start changing hearts and minds about vegan cheeses.  Hear that Mafiaoza’s or DaVinci’s?

Daiya Quesadilla

Daiya over veggies and rice

Daiya Nachos

Daiya Mini Pizzas on Crackers

Daiya Pizza - Easily one of the best pizzas I've ever made

Daiya Pizza with Lightlife SmartDeli Vegan Pepperoni

I called around noon on Wednesday and told the nice man who answered the phone that two vegans would be in for dinner and that we would like a multi-course meal.  He enthusiastically assured us that it was no problem and I got off the phone confident that it would be an evening to remember.

We arrived at 7:00 and chose a table on the patio.  Our server Jeff introduced himself and dropped off drink menus.  I’m not sure he knew what to do with a couple of vegans, but he warmed up to us quickly when we ordered beer.

First course was a lovely veggie summer roll with chili sauce.  I was pleasantly surprised that there was no mint as I’m just not a big fan of mint leaves that always seem to overpower rolls.  Delicious dish and great sauce.

Second course was a gazpacho that was presented creatively.  The soup was in a little creamer and there were fresh tomatoes and onions in the bowl.  The color of the gazpacho was yellow instead of the usual red.  Now, I have to admit that I’m not the hugest fan of raw tomatoes and onions and the first taste of soup was surprisingly onion-y and tomato-y, but it really grew on me with every spoonful.  Different than any other gazpacho I’ve ever had, and different in a good way.

During the gazpacho I told my dining companion L that I wasn’t that into raw tomatoes, so we laughed when we got course number three, which was a plate full of raw tomatoes!  These were local heirloom tomatoes though, and the sea salt, cracked pepper and olive oil that they were served with made them quite tasty.  They looked stunning on the plate too.  L is a huge tomato fan, so he really enjoyed this course.  Surprisingly, so did I.

At some point Otis the manager (the man I talked to on the phone earlier) introduced himself to us and made sure everything was ok.  The staff was so attentive to our needs, but never over-bearing, which was greatly appreciated.

Otis brought out our fourth course, a falafel dish, which was actually a regular menu item.  (I was a little bummed to find out they no longer had the tofu dish that I loved, but it’s a good thing that they’re changing things up and experimenting.)  The falafel came with tabouli, a bit of hummus, roasted baby eggplant and mini pieces of naan.  Really nice, interesting presentation.  I’m a big fan of Mediterranean food, so this was great.  I loved the texture of the hummus and the naan was delightfully chewy.  Win!

At this point I was really full and ready for dessert, but we had another course coming…  And what a course!  Number five was tempura tofu with veggies and a spicy soy sauce.  My only complaint about this dish was that the tempura was a little gummy, which I think was caused from undercooked flour, but the veggies and the sauce were so flavorful and fabulous!  Plus, I heartily applaud any chef who is not afraid of tofu.  I took half of my portion home because I was so full and it made a great lunch the next day.

Course number six, dessert, was fresh fruit.  Ok, yeah, I would have appreciated something a little more inventive, but to be fair, I did only call that day and really, I was so stuffed it didn’t matter.  I do hope that they’ll add a vegan dessert to their regular menu, especially because we are so lacking in the vegan dessert department in Nashville.  If they need suggestions, I’ll gladly help because vegan desserts are really quite easy.

All in all, a delightful evening.  We were there for nearly two and a half hours, which is my kind of dining experience.  I wonder if they would do wine pairings if we gave them enough notice?  That would rock my world.

Otis, Jeff and Chef Lee Guidry took amazing care of us and the food was delicious.  I am so grateful to my friends Kate and Karsten for telling me about their experience and thanks to the great food and service, I will spread the word about Bound’ry as an unexpectedly satisfying vegan destination in Nashville.