VeganMoFo

Maybe it’s the continued cold weather we’ve having here (why am I wearing a coat in September? Get it together, Australia), or maybe it’s my German heritage, but sometimes there’s nothing I want more than to load up on delicious European carbs while listening to the rain outside. And with MoFo-ers all over the world, the inspiration is almost endless!

Over at Melon Collies and the Infinite Sandwich (outstanding!), Kara is starting from scratch with her home-fermented sauerkraut. Hilarious descriptions of the process and its odours aside, this looks like the perfect starting point for some serious deliciousness.

And these sauerkraut and mushroom pierogi from Vegan Kitty Patrol look like the natural choice for that cabbagey goodness.

Kyleigh from the Good Karma Kitchen has the perfect hearty follow-up dish, with these tofu schnitzels– with pretzel breading, in true German style!

Over at the Vegan Kitchen of Dr Caligari, Luca has been making some of the most creative cupcakes (sweet and savoury!) that I’ve ever seen. It’s hard to pick a favourite, but these Sachertorte cupcakes with bitter orange jam and pistachios are calling my name today.

Of course, no German round up would be complete without Mihl’s classic German desserts at Seitan is my Motor. It’s not the first time we’ve featured Mihl’s decadent treats, but this theme has to be my favourite this year. Nougatringe were always a staple feature on my German family’s coffee table, so no late night beverages would be complete without trying to cram one of these into an already over-stuffed stomach.

Mmm, I’m feeling toasty warm and comforted already!

It may seem weird, but for me, mac and cheese is my quintessential vegan food. I’d never eaten it before I went vegan, and living in my opposite-side-of-the-planet bubble, I had no idea of its popularity in North America. But from having a look at my Pinterest or the scraps of printed-out recipe pages floating around my kitchen, you’d think I eat nothing else these days. What can I say- we vegans are just a creative bunch, and I can’t get enough of the different ways to make and eat this staple food.

Isa‘s BLT mac and cheese recipe was one of the first things I saw while checking Facebook on my phone in bed this morning, and part of me wanted to leap right up and get cooking. Eggplant bacon is a breakfast food, right?

Jackie over at Vegan Yack Attack has been cooking up a cheesy storm all month with her all mac, all the time theme. It’s tough to pick a favourite post, but I can’t say no to the glorious love child of two of my favourite foods, in her Mexican mac burrito.

Jojo has taken on the very important job of testing new mac and cheese recipes to find a favourite, as part of her Mac ‘n Cheese Mondays at Vegan in Brighton. This mac and shews reminded me that I need to make this one again immediately.

Elisa at Guy Gone Vegan is also tackling a month-long mac feast theme, and while I’ve loved every post, I actually let out an excited ‘WHAT?!’ when I saw these mac and cheese-stuffed jalapeno poppers.

Lastly, I was super happy to see one of my favourite themes this MoFo taking on one of my favourite foods. Laughfrodisiac has been veganising food from Friends (and yes, you’d better believe she made the not-so-traditional English trifle), and this time she played it a little safer with Chandler’s righteous mac and cheese. The perfect Thanksgiving food!

I know what I want for dinner tonight… now to narrow it down to one recipe.

No matter where you are, if you’re a politics geek like me then you’ll know that the sun rose on a pretty different Australia this morning. Last night was election night, and no matter how you feel about the outcome, there’s no denying that there have been some pretty major changes. In true Australian style, social media was abuzz- not so much with opinions about our new Prime Minister, but more about which polling station was offering the best cake stall or barbecue. So with the relationship between politics and a free feed in mind, I thought I’d see how some of my favourite blogging locals prepared for their election night.

Kate at The Spade and Spoon got passionate about foreign aid cuts (a girl after my own bleeding heart!) and reflected her views on the candidates by making these vegan devils on horseback appetisers.

Sandy from Vegans Eat Yummy Food Too put my junk food feast to shame with her healthy baked and blistered potato chips, as part of her great vegan bake-off theme. Perfect for watching the votes roll in on TV!

Keely has been preparing some amazing-sounding Egyptian food over at Gormandize this month. I’d probably been feeling a bit more chipper this morning if I’d had a pitcher of her orange blossom lemonade last night, rather than a case of beer.

Johanna from Green Gourmet Giraffe got deservedly outraged about the lack of vegan and gluten free options at polling booth sausage sizzles, and went home to whip up some sausages that we can all enjoy.

Linda at The Lentil Institution got through election night with the help of some healthy vegan comfort food– lentil burgers, baked potatoes and pumpkin with dukkah, and a rainbow salad… perfectly paired with a Coopers sparkling, of course. The beer helped Linda to look on the bright side, namely the re-election of a couple of great advocates for the ban on live animal export.

Lastly, Vegan in Melbourne embraced the election day sunshine and spring weather and put together these beautiful tofu rice paper rolls. I need to detox after my ‘eating my feelings’ binge last night and I can’t think of anything that looks more perfect than these.

Take care today, Australians! I think more than a few of us are feeling a bit delicate (read: hungover), so head outside for a pick-me-up beverage of choice in the sunshine. At least we’ve all still got that, right?