Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Vegan Mofo - Final Few Reviews

This month seems to have escaped me much quicker than I was hoping!
So today I will give a final few reviews of a couple more books that I thought deserved a mention.

Firstly I'm going to give a big shout out for Chloe Coscarelli.
Chloe became well known for being the first vegan to win cupcake wars, and that is how my love of her started too. 
Her books are the perfect cookbooks! 

........However, I don't have any recipes to show you today!
You see, she has the most amazing recipes and the most beautiful photos. Part of me doesn't want to destroy how wonderful they are but attempting my own ;-)
These are great books to sit and read on the couch. You simply can't be miserable while you have one of these books in your hand!
These would have to be my top "therapy cookbooks"!!! You know those ones that you just sit and read and know that even if you never cook anything from them you'll be completely satisfied that you own them and they fulfill your life in a funny sort of way ;-)
That said, I have cooked a few recipes in the past from them and definitely will again in the future!

She has a new book just released a few days ago which I look forward to adding to my collection.

You can view Chloe's website here - Chef Chloe



Next in line is Isa Chandra Moskowitz.
She is very well-known in vegan-land. She has written many books - my collection is pictured below. Everyone raves about her!
The vegan cupcake/cookies/pie series are cute little handheld size books that have wonderful pictures through out and the recipes are super easy to make. These recipes are sure to impress anyone who thinks that vegans miss out on treats! 



Shown below is "Blueberry Spice Crumb Bars" from the Vegan Cookies book. My batter didn't spread as well as I was hoping so I didn't layer the top with crumbs as the recipe calls for. They were so so delicious. A really nice dessert to finish our meal with. My husband really enjoyed these and yet "claims" he doesn't like blueberries, then again I don't particularly like them fresh either but frozen ones seem to be quite different ;-)

I was so excited when Appetite for Reduction was released and I got it straight away. I have cooked several recipes from this book. It doesn't have the beautiful photography that the mini books have, rather a few photos in the centre of the book. So some of the recipes require a good understanding of how you hope they will turn out. All the recipes in the book are low-fat, although for our purposes they still require the complete elimination of oil and some other ingredients. Everything we have tried so far is delicious.
As I hear all things from Isa are!
Below is pictured "Smoky Split Pea Soup".

And shown here is "Lasagna with Roasted Cauliflower Ricotta & Spinach".
Both of these recipes were amazingly delicious and I'll definitely be making them again.
I loved the roasted cauliflower. I have often used cauliflower in white sauce, but roasting it first gave it a wonderful taste.

You can view Isa's website here at the Post Punk Kitchen. She has a wonderful range of recipes on her website.


And last but not least is Leah Leneman.
I can't say that she is an overly popular vegan writer, possibly because she passed away in 1999 and I don't think that the vegan boom had taken off then. None the less, her books have a special place in her heart because her book "Vegan Cooking for One" helped me in those very early stages of changing my diet. I could not of done it without that book.

They are not fancy or flash cookbooks, just basic books with no pictures but they are a great starting point. They have many wonderful recipes, all using basic ingredients and most things I've tried I've really enjoyed. 
They are packed FULL of recipes that require little time or effort to prepare.  



Pictured below is Mushroom and Tomato Pie.



Well that's it from me for Vegan Mofo this year!
I hope you have enjoyed my reviews.
Is there any vegan cookbooks that have stolen your heart?

14 comments:

  1. I'm currently reading through Isa Does It; everything looks great & I know I'll be using lots of her recipes! :)

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    1. Great news! I have heard so many positive reviews about Isa Does It! Will have to check it out sometime :-)

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  2. I'm so sad that Vegan MoFo is already coming to an end. But I LOVE the books and food pics you posted! Isa is great, isn't she!? I see a few others on there I haven't checked out yet so I will have to look into those soon! Thanks so much for posting them :)

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    1. Glad to hear that you've enjoyed the reviews.
      A little bit sad the month is over.... and a little bit relieved to have some time back again!!! ;-)

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  3. I have all the Isa books but I don't have Chloe's books, something I will remedy asap!

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    1. Pleased to hear it! You won't be disappointed ;-)

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  4. I have come across chef chloe but not know much about her so it is helpful to hear your views. I love Isa - couldn't get into appetite for reduction but am loving Isa Does It. And I have a soft spot for Lena Leneman cookbooks which I bought years ago when there was not the same tyranny of choice in vegan cookbooks. These days there is an amazing selection and I have loved seeing yours and hearing about some news one

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    1. Glad to hear you've enjoyed the posts.
      And sooooo pleased to hear of another 'anicent' Leah Leneman fan! I honestly wondered if I was the only one!
      I must check out Isa Does It - glad I'm not the only one who struggled somewhat with Appetite for Reduction - great book, but honestly it was just missing 'something'!

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  5. My son loves Chloe, perhaps because she looks so gorgeous! I have her baking book and made chocolate cake and tested them on my workmates. They had no idea they were vegan. For my son's birthday I would like to make the cake she has in it, I think it's chocolate. I have just bought her Italian cookbook and cant wait for it too arrive. I've be testing vegan baking so my son can eat anything I make and I'm really surprised how easy it is and how you don't need eggs to make great cakes

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    1. I agree - its definitely a myth that you need eggs to make great cakes, I may be bias but I think cakes are far more moist and scrumptious without eggs!
      Chloe is gorgeous that's for sure!
      I am going to add her Italian book to my Christmas wish list I've decided!!!!!

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  6. Vegan cupcakes take over the world is a book I love to curl up on the couch with :) I don't own it but have borrowed it from the library a few times - the flavours are all so amazing!

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    1. Yes it does make a good couch book - and glad to hear I'm not the only one who takes cookbooks to the couch ;-)

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  7. I've loved your Mofo posts and truly appreciate all the hard work and effort you've put into the reviews ♥ You have one incredible cookbook collection (probably the most extensive of anyone I know!) so it's been really useful to read your experiences of them. I'm especially excited about Chloe's books. I love cookbooks that you can curl up with and read cover to cover. I'm definitely adding these to my Amazon wishlist. They sound like the perfect reading material for the Christmas hols :)

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    1. Thanks Sharon :-) I'm glad you have enjoyed the post. I must admit I enjoyed the time re-loving my cookbooks again!
      I hope Santa gets you the Chloe books - I know you will definitely love them if you get them :-) xxx

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