Vegan Chocolates, Chai Tea, and Shea Butter

The Delivery: An assortment of vegan truffles from Energy Truffles, pure shea butter by Fran Kramer, Angell vegan candy bars, and a chai latte blend from Tipu's Chai Now
Staff Pick: The truffles

The DL: Ahh, Valentine’s Day. They might as well rename it National Chocolate-Lovers Day, especially around here, where all things cocoa reign supreme. With that in mind, you can imagine how jazzed we were to receive not one but two (!) boxes of Energy Truffles, which are made using organic and raw ingredients such as seeds, nuts, fruits, and even cayenne pepper. If you, like us, have chocolate on the brain today, feed your fantasies by checking out this feature on unconventional cocoa treats. Or work your way through this romantic three-course meal, featuring a ganache and raspberry-layered cake courtesy of cupcake queen Doron Petersan  of Sticky Fingers fame.

Books & Toothbrushes

The Delivery: Sticky Fingers' Sweets: 100 Super-Secret Vegan Recipes by Doron Petersan, The Yoga of Eating: Becoming a Food Yogi by Paul Rodney Turner, and Mouth Watchers' antibacterial powered toothbrush

Staff Pick: Sticky Fingers' Sweets

The DL: Watching vegan cupcake queen Doron Petersan win the Food Network’s Cupcake Wars (twice!) was cause for sweet celebration—not only did she and her Sticky Fingers sidekick Jenny Webb show the world how delicious cruelty-free confections can be, but she also made great strides in the world of puns. The recipes for Sticky Fingers' prize-winning and hilariously named cupcakes, Gilbert Ganachefried and George Caramelin, can be found in her new book, which we were lucky enough to preview. The book comes out February 16, but if you can’t wait another month to see what Petersan has to say, check out our interview with her here!

Flax milk and Hemp Treats

The Delivery: Vanilla flax milk from Good Karma Foods, a variety of hemp products from Hemp History Week, and Yummy in my Tummy: Healthy Cooking for the Whole Family by Fredrica Syren (not vegan)
Staff Pick: Vanilla flax milk


The DL: As delightful as it is to sample nutritional chocolates from the cocoa-wizards over at Derrick Sky all day long, sometimes it’s nice to have something milky to wash it all down. The vanilla flax milk from Good Karma Foods proved to be a refreshing palate-cleanser, and had us buzzing about its other potential uses. (Cereal with flax milk, anyone?) You might want to have some refreshing plant milk of your own handy when reading VN Editorial Assistant Hilary Pollack’s interview with cupcake maven Doron Petersan. Her description of Sticky Fingers’ coconut soy-custard cream cake will have you reaching for the nearest confection. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

Sticky Fingers Sweet Treats

The Delivery: Multiple boxes of cookies, brownies, and whoopie pies from DC’s Sticky Fingers Bakery

Staff Pick: Pumpkin whoopie pies

The DL: Seriously, Sticky Fingers? Pumpkin whoopie pies? You know a way to these vegan magazine editors’ hearts. In fact, anything pumpkin-flavored will win us over. While Editorial Assistant Hilary Pollack kicked off squash season with “Pumpkin Five Ways,” we’re all thankful that there are infinite ways to incorporate pumpkin into every part of mealtime. Whether it’s Sunset magazine’s vegan pumpkin curry, pumpkin pizza from Los Angeles, or a batch of classic Pumpkin Spice Cookies, we can’t get enough of the ubiquitous big orange squash. 

Sticky Fingers Cupcakes

The Date: Friday, July 15
The Delivery: Cupcake kits from Sticky Fingers Bakery
Staff Pick: The cupcakes. All eight of them.

The DL: Earlier this week, Sticky Fingers Bakery competed on an all-star episode of Cupcake Wars. While this time around they did not take home first place, Sticky Fingers will always, always be winners in our hearts. We are dying to try these cupcakes, some of which are flavors from Sticky Fingers' first appearance (ginger cake with blueberry frosting, anyone?), and others from this week's episode. Whiskey cake with vermouth frosting? Don't mind if we do. Have a great weekend everybody!

A Cookbook, Pizza, and Sticky Fingers

The Date: Thursday, June 9
The Delivery: Eat Vegan on $4 a Day by Ellen Jaffe Jones, vegan frozen pizza from Tofutti, and assorted baked goods from Sticky Fingers Bakery
Staff Pick: The box of baked treats!

The DL: The best gifts are those that keep on giving, especially if those gifts are boxes filled with some of the best vegan sweets money can buy. Birthday lady and VN Managing Editor Elizabeth received this goodie box in the mail today, the contents of which include Cowvin Cookies, Little Devils, and brownies, not to mention chocolate chip, pecan, and oatmeal raisin cookies. Let's just say we usually take the photos for This Just In after lunch, but after this morning's delivery, we made an exception.

 

Sticky Fingers Surprise

The Date: Friday, May 13
The Delivery: A box full of goodies from Sticky Fingers, including Cowvin Cookies and Jenny's Brownies
Staff Pick: The Cowvin Cookies

The DL: We're not sure of the occasion for this special delivery, but we're not complaining. The lovely people of Sticky Fingers must know that the favorite cookie of the VN staff is the Cowvin Cookie—they are just so delicately sweet and delicious. Thank you Sticky Fingers and happy Friday to everyone!
 

Baby Food and Vegan Crackers

The Date: Monday, March 7

The Delivery: Organic baby food in assorted flavors from Peter Rabbit Organics and whole-food crackers from Jovan's Pure Nutrition

Staff Pick: The garden pesto crackers

The Goods: Between getting ready for Natural Products Expo West, gearing up for Wednesday's VegNews Twitter Chat where we'll be talking Cupcake Wars with two vegan bakeries, and working on the May+June issue (hint: you're going to love it!), we barely have time to sleep, let alone to eat a snack. Luckily, this bag of all-natural crackers looks like a great source of grab-and-go sustenance. Maybe we'll carve some time out of our busy day to taste test. Crackers and faux gras sounds like a great design meeting snack to us!

Chocolate Teas and Skin Care

The Date: Wednesday, March 2

The Delivery: Assorted chocolate teas from The Republic of Tea and the Dr. Alkaitis Organic Skin Food line from Holistic Dermaceuticals

Staff Pick: The red velvet chocolate tea

The DL: We're sorry, but red velvet chocolate tea? Could a cup of hot water be any more tasty-sounding right now? We hope that a delectable red velvet cupcake appears when we drop these tea bags into our mugs. Speaking of cupcakes, next week's episode of Cupcake Wars will feature two vegan bakeries. Join us on March 9 at 6pm PST for our second VegNews Twitter Chat with the owners of Sticky Fingers Bakery and C'est La Vegan to hear all about the episode! It's a cupcake's world, and we're just living in it.

WineTime Bars, Noodles, and Seaweed

The Date: Tuesday, January 25

The Delivery: Dark Chocolate, Date, and Almond and Chocolate-Raspberry WineTime bars from ResVez, Inc. and Brown Rice Noodles and Seaweed Snacks from Annie Chun's

Staff Pick: The Chocolate-Raspberry WineTime bars

The DL: Okay, we are flummoxed. A vegan, gluten-free nutrition bar that contains more resveratrol (an extremely potent antioxidant found in grapes) than 50 glasses of wine? Wait, we forgot to mention: it's chocolate-rasperry flavored?!! If we were cartoons there would be huge bumps on our heads with little blue birdies flying around. We are truly intrigued and excited to try these little powerhouses—almost as excited as we were when we found out about Sticky Fingers Bakery on an upcoming episode of Cupcake Wars. Maybe when we open the wrappings a glass of cabernet will appear. Wouldn't that be lovely?

More Vegan Cupcakes

The Date: Friday, January 7
The Delivery: Sticky Fingers Bakery cupcakes
Staff Pick: The cupcakes, yet again!

The DL: We were actually short on deliveries today, but thankfully—and surprisingly—there were still a few cupcakes left. Are we ever going to argue with cupcakes? No. Here's hoping that everyone has a totally sweet weekend, since we know we will with these goodies around!

Vegan Cupcakes and Tea

The Date: Thursday, January 6
The Delivery: Chocolate, vanilla, carrot cake, and red velvet cupcakes with tons of frostings, Cowvins Cookies, and brownies from Sticky Fingers Bakery, and two flavors of Runa tea
Staff Pick: The cupcakes!

The DL: You know how people are always calling some confection or other "the new cupcakes," as in, whoopie pies are the new cupcakes or pies are the new cupcakes? There are more theories on this than we can keep straight. Here at the VNHQ, we're pretty certain about one thing: cupcakes are still cupcakes. These mutli-flavored goodies from Sticky Fingers are sure to disappear faster than you can come up with whatever the new cupcake is today.

Super Sticky Treats

The Date: Wednesday, April 28
The Delivery: Ice cream from Blue Mountain Cashew Creamery, mail-order treats from Sticky Fingers Bakery, several copies of American Vegan Kitchen (future giveaway to come), and some incredible hazelnut butter bites from Sjaak's
Staff Pick: Nothing can beat the Sticky Fingers Cowvin Cookie

The DL: Take it from us, Sticky Fingers is probably the best thing about Washington, DC—at least food-wise. And now it has brand-new mail-order packaging! If you haven't tried this delicious cookie, hurry to the website now and order a bunch. You won't regret it!

A Sporty Good Time

Date: Tuesday, January 26
The Delivery: A variety of Clif Bar products (some not vegan)
Staff Pick: The White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Clif Bar

The DL: We really enjoy Clif Bars at the VNHQ, so we're super-excited to highlight one of our favorite flavors. Bring on the energy!

There's an exclusive Sticky Fingers Bakery giveaway going on at our Facebook page. Don't forget to become a fan of VegNews!

Cuckoo for Cocoa

Date: Thursday, October 1
The Delivery: Some Vitatrition beverages
Staff Pick: The Protein Cocoa drink from Columbia Gorge

The DL: This drink seems like it will satisfy both your sweet tooth and your protein requirement. The cocoa is also fair trade, which is a definite plus.

Happy World Vegetarian Day! To celebrate, we have a great Sticky Fingers Bakery giveaway going on at VegNews.com. Good Luck!

Hot Buns!

Date: Wednesday, June 10
The Delivery: A very special box of sweets from one of our favorite bakeries
Staff Pick: The Sticky Cinnamon Buns from Sticky Fingers Bakery

The DL: Ms. Elizabeth of VegNews has recently been promoted to Managing Editor, and she has literally been showered with gifts—this box of goodies being one of them. Consider these some of the best cinnamon buns known to man! If you haven't tried them, get over to their website and order them—now.

Sweet 'n' Sticky

Date: Thursday, June 4
The Delivery: Three bottles of Vigoa's 100-percent infused olive oil, packages of Perfected Foods soy jerky, and a box full of baked goodies
Staff Pick: Baked yumminess aplenty with Sticky Fingers Bakery's box-o-fun

The DL: The rich, chocolate scent that wafts from the box every time we walk by is simply intoxicating. With a sweet note inside welcoming our newest staffers, Kailey and Charlotte, this box of baked decadence is almost too sweet. Almost.

Models and More

Date: Thursday, February 19
The Delivery: Some casual, earth-friendly clothing from Indigenous Designs and scrumptious baked goods from Sticky Fingers Bakery
Staff Pick: Both products brought pure delight to the VNHQ

The DL: We couldn't decide which were our favorites: the cool, organic dresses, tunics, and cardigans modeled here by our two interns, Stacy and Melissa, or the big box of goodies from our 2006 Veggie Award winner of Best Vegan Bakery. Both are equally tasty and stylish!