Cookbook = Good

Well, mes amis, I know I have mentioned before that I have a dear friend who was one of my inspirations for becoming a vegetarian. The other two main influences were my mom (who is not a veg*n but is health-conscious and open-minded when it comes to food), and a little cookbook she once bought called How it all Vegan. And this year actually marks the 10th anniversary of the book, so what better time than now to review it?

I was pretty impressed when my mom bought the book. The cover features the co-authors (Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard), decked out in tattoos and piercings, proudly displaying an array of delectable-looking foods. My first thought when I saw the book: Those girls are bad-ass! My second thought: When did my mom get cool enough to buy a book with such bad-ass people on the cover? Aaaaand then the other thoughts poured in: Is that cake they're holding really vegan? Can vegan food actually taste as good as that looks? Should I try it? If my mom thought this book was a good purchase, does that mean she approves of piercings and tattoos? Can I get pierced and tattooed?

No, I didn't get tattooed, but I did end up going veg*n and turning to the recipes in this book. And hey, it turns out vegan food really can be that good! (And yes, that cake is of course vegan - Mmmm.) How it all Vegan doesn't just feature recipes either. The girls provided thoughtful introductions to the book, as well as a measurement conversion chart, a list of veg*n no-no ingredients (gelatin, castoreum, etc.), and much more. The whole thing is styled really nicely too. It has sort of a retro vibe to it, with lots of pictures and a fun colour scheme.

How it all Vegan spawned a few sequels, all of which I have loved. Tanya departed after the second book (The Garden of Vegan), leaving Sarah as the sole author of La Dolce Vegan and the latest Vegan A Go-Go, but the writing and recipes have in no way suffered in her absence. I actually had the pleasure of meeting Sarah at Toronto's Veggie Food Fair in 2007, and she was lovely - very funny and gracious. She even agreed to take a picture with little old me and signed my book.

The 10th anniversary special edition of How it all Vegan will be released in September, and if you don't own the book yet, I highly recommend buying it. There's a reason they call it the "vegan bible". So get ye to your kitchen and pray! Er - cook. You know what I mean.

Sarah Kramer's website: http://govegan.net/