Easter Basket Surprise!

The Delivery: An early Easter basket full of vegan, gluten-free treats from Allison's Gourmet

The DL: Just because Easter isn’t until April doesn’t mean we can’t bust out the chocolate bunnies now! At least that’s the message we’re getting from vegan confectionary Allison’s Gourmet. The arrival of this festive feast of sweets just happens to coincide with San Francisco's unusually hot February weather, which is making the first day of spring feel just a bunny-hop away. Still battling the late-winter doldrums? Ditch boredom for board games by hosting a veg game night—complete with a menu that’ll gear you up for that fifth round of Scattergories. Get some inspiration by checking out our feature on Gluten-Free Vegan Bites for Game Night!
 

Vegan, Gluten-Free Cookies

The Delivery: Organic, gluten-free chocolate chip pecan cookies, whoopie pies, brownies, chocolate chip-hazelnut blondies, pumpkin cookies, and oatmeal sandwiches from Conscience Confections
Staff Pick: The chocolate chip-hazelnut blondie

The DL: Today we hit the gluten-free jackpot. Every single one of these freshly baked treats are soft and and look scrumptious—so much so, in fact, that many of the staff voraciously demanded a taste test post-blogging. Even as this intrepid VN staffer types, others are circling the Conscience Confections goodies like, well, VN staffers over any baked good. It's what we do. Our love of baked goods is one of the many reasons we can't wait to test entries in our Holiday Cookie Contest. Does your vegan cookie recipe wow everyone this time of year? Enter now for the chance to win a KitchenAid stand mixer, a vegan cupcake kit from Divvies, or two dozen cookies from Allison's Gourmet!

New Meat Alternatives

The Date: Thursday, November 18

The Delivery: Meat alternatives

Staff Pick: Meat alternatives from EcoVegan.

The DL: After tasting some of the EcoVegan meat alternatives at both the SF World VegFest and the SF Green Festival, we were more than excited to receive these samples today. EcoVegan has created ready-to-serve meat alternatives containing non-GMO wheat and non-GMO soy, and they sound delicious! Come on, who doesn't love ready-prepared vegan convenience foods on those lazy nights when you want a stir-fry and you want it fast? Well, we might be able to help you out with your no-effort Thanksgiving. Enter our Thanksgiving giveway to win a Native Foods Wellington roast and Apple-Pie fudge from Allison's Gourmet!

Emily's Desserts

The Date: Tuesday, November 16

The Delivery: Decadent goodies from Emily's Desserts

Staff Pick: Emily's new cake truffles.

The DL: Take chocolate cake, douse it in a thick coating of dark chocolate, and sprinkle with pecans or peanuts, and you have perfection—or so we're assuming just by admiring these adorable teacup-shaped confections from the always-dependable Emily. Emily also sent along a preview of her upcoming vegan dessert cake cookbook, Sweet Vegan. Speaking of cookbooks, have you purchased the VegNews Holiday Cookbook yet? We're getting so excited about the Holidays that we are also holding an incredible giveaway—follow the link to win a Native Foods vegan Thanksgiving Wellington delivered straight to your doorstep! Oh, and we'll also throw in a pound of Allison's Gourmet Apple Pie Fudge. Good luck!

Gourmet Goodie Basket!

The Date: Thursday, September 16

The Delivery: An absolutely decadent display of sweets and treats from Allison's Gourmet
Staff Pick: How could you ever choose just one of these desserts? We're going to have to say...all of them.

The DL: After suffering from a case of the Wednesdays (is that a thing?), the moods at the VNHQ were seriously lifted when a surprise gift basket arrived moments before our departure last evening. It was from our good friend and columnist Allison of Allison's Gourmet, sending us thanks and well wishes as we gear up for the big move. Are you ready for your mouth to water? Because here is what was included in the basket: Apple Pie Vegan Fudge, Toasted Coconut Wheat-Free Brownies, Peppermint Drinking Chocolate made with fair-trade cocoa, Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Wheat-Free Cookies, Vanilla Caramels, and English Toffees. Can you say delicious? Yes. Elastic waist band tomorrow? Probably.

Batch o' Brownies

The Date: Tuesday, May 11
The Delivery: A box of brownies, and a couple bags of Potato Flyer baked-potato chips
Staff Pick: Allison's Gourmet's new Double Chocolate Wheat-Free Brownies

The DL: VN columnist Allison Rivers Samson has done it again, though this time without the gluten. We're pretty sure they'll taste delicious, but we just might have to eat the entire box to make sure. Here's to a sweet afternoon!

Pie Oh My

Date: Tuesday, February 16

The Delivery: Pecan Brownies from Allison's Gourmet, Oatmeal Cream Pies from Sweet V Confections, and Zia Natural Skincare products

Staff Pick: In honor of our childhood, the Oatmeal Cream Pies from Sweet V Confections

The DL: These pies brought a squeal of delight from a certain VN staffer, reminding her of the lunch box treats of her past. We're thinking that Little Debbie has nothing on these little numbers!

This is your last chance to go to VegNews.com to guess who's going to be on the cover of the upcoming March+April issue of VegNews. Don't miss out!

Something to be Thankful For

Date: Tuesday, November 25

The Delivery: A boxful of sweet confections

Staff Pick: VegNews "Veganize It!" columnist extraordinaire Allison Rivers Samson has once again pulled it off with her brand-new treats from Allison's Gourmet

The DL: The VegNews staff literally ripped open this box of sweets when it came through our door! We were oh-so-pleased to see that it was stuffed to full capacity with holiday goodies including toffee, caramels, and peanut brittle. Suffice it to say that any collective office willpower has gone out the same door that these sweets came in.

Sensory Overload!

Date: Monday, September 8

The Delivery: Utilitarian blender, totes, veggie peelers, tasty soy milks, awesome sandwich spread, crazy fudge, cute books, pro-activist DVDs, and green body products (phew!)

Staff Pick: Delectable, freakin' butterscotch fudge from Allison's Gourmet

The DL: We had the motherlode of cool items delivered today, but consider us hypnotized the moment we laid eyes on this late arrival—new vegan fudge! There's one box for each of us, right?