Happy Holidays from peta2! December 24, 2007

Posted by Ryan at December 24, 2007 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 2 ) | TrackBack

Hey everybody! With the peta2 HQ being closed tomorrow for Christmas, we wanted to take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy Holidays. Yes, it's time to break out the Silk Nog, convince our parents to have a vegan holiday meal, and sing funnier versions of traditional Christmas carols (Ok, "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells" one more time, from the top).

As a reminder though, it's still not too late to send along all of peta2's amazing holiday e-cards to your friends and family that still eat or wear animals. There's, of course, last year's classic "Santa Got Run Over by His Reindeer", as well as this year's instant classic, the peta2 Holiday Snow Globe.

Yes, it's exciting enough to make even the toughest "hardcore kids" get into the spirit.

Dance, hardcore kid. Dance like the wind.

- Ryan!

Just In Time For Christmas, Good News For Hens December 21, 2007

Posted by Pulin Modi at December 21, 2007 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 ) | TrackBack

Do you remember our Mepkin Abbey (a Christian monastery) egg farm investigation which shows hens crammed into cages, suffering with broken bones, and other hideous cruelty? The good news of the day is that the monks there have finally made the compassionate decision to stop enslaving birds. Yep! They're phasing out their entire egg operation and specifically stated that PETA's campaign (thanks to all of you) was a major factor in this move! You can read more about it here. Hooray!

In a time so close to Christmas, it's good to know that Christians in a position of power can use their lives to reduce suffering for others.

As my favorite author and animal advocate, Matthew Scully writes:

Animals cruelly dealt with are not just things, not just an irrelevant detail in some self-centered moral drama of our own. They matter in their own right, as they matter to their Creator, and the wrongs of cruelty are wrongs done to them.

If you haven't already read the book Dominion, I definitely recommend it—especially to anyone who has an interest in making the case that Christians and/or political conservatives should care about animals rights issues. It's a perfect Christmas present for that not-so-receptive relative who thinks you are crazy (you're not, by the way).

Again, especially in this holiday time it's essential to remember that kindness towards animals is one thing that transcends all boundaries of religion, race, gender, political party, sexual orientation and so on. Really, who purposely wants to be mean? No one (except the Grinch and probably Col. Sanders)! Let's stop making excuses and start acting with compassion.

-Pulin

Cookie Competition Winner and Recipes! December 7, 2007

Posted by Marta at December 7, 2007 1:33 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 6 ) | TrackBack

The votes are in from peta2's Christmas Cookie Cooking Competition, and while the competition was certainly close, Megan has taken the top honors with her Holiday Chocolate Mint Cookies. Congratulations, Megan!

We received tons of messages from people practically getting their drool on our keyboards in the hopes of getting all the vegan cookie recipes—and the holidays are all about giving, so as a special gift from all the cookie bakers to all of you, here are our recipes. Just do one thing for me: Make a batch or two for all those people in your life who like to assume vegan food is all about granola and bean sprouts—show them what's up!

Enjoy!

AntiSean's Pinwheels

Ingredients:

1 cup vegan butter or margarine
1 cup granulated sugar
Substitute for 2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
2 Tbs cocoa
Extra flour and confectioner's sugar for dusting the dough
Colored sprinkles (optional)
Wax paper for rolling the dough

In large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together; add egg replacer and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add flour. Divide dough into 2 equal portions; blend cocoa into one portion. Form each portion into ball. Chill the dough in your refrigerator for 30-45 minutes for the next step!

Place each ball between two sheets of waxed paper lightly dusted with powdered sugar or flour and roll each into a rectangle—the thinner you roll the dough, the smaller the spirals in your pinwheels will be. Put a light coat of sprinkles on both layers if you so desire.

Carefully layer one color on the other. Starting at long edge, roll into a log. Wrap the log in plastic wrap.

Refrigerate dough for at least 4 hours, until very firm (I might even give it a short run in the freezer, depending on how good your knife is). Cut in 1/4-inch slices and place on a greased baking sheet about an inch apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

Lara's Christmas Cut-Out Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar
1 cup vegan margarine
Ener-G equivalent to 1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
A lil shredded lemon peel

Cream sugar, margarine, egg replacer & vanilla together, stir in all dry ingredients until well combined. roll, cut out, sprinkle, etc. Bake 8-10 minutes @ 375 degrees.

Marta's Snickerdoodle Stacks

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
2 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar + extra sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbs vanilla extract
1/4 cup vanilla or plain soymilk
Cinnamon to taste
Duncan Hines Whipped Vanilla Frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix oil, both sugars, vanilla, and soymilk, then mix in flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined. In a separate bowl, combine extra sugar and desired level of cinnamon-y goodness. Roll dough into small-to-medium sized balls and roll in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Flatten cookies on a greased cookie sheet (I used vegetable oil) and space them out accordingly (For square shaped cookies, the dough can be placed close together. For circular cookies, space them further apart.). Bake for approximately 10-15 minutes.

Once cookies have cooled a bit, take sets of two cookies and frost the top of one with desired amount of frosting, then place another cookie on top. Voila! Yummy Christmas goodness. Makes about 10 Snickerdoodle Stacks or about 20 individual cookies.

Megan's Holiday Chocolate Mint Cookies

Ingredients:

8 oz vegan semi-sweet chocolate
1 tsp peppermint extract
3/4 cup vegan margarine, softened
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
Egg replacer equivalent of 1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour
Vegan chocolate frosting
Red and green peppermint hard candy

Place chocolate in a microwavable bowl. Microwave until melted (in 30 second intervals stirring between each). Mix in peppermint extract.

Mix margarine, sugar, and egg replacer. Add chocolate/peppermint mixture and flour.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

When cool, drizzle with chocolate frosting (soften by microwaving a few seconds) and sprinkle with chopped peppermint hard candy.

Mylie's Fancy Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1 cup vegan margarine, softened
1 tsp vanilla
Ener-G-Egg replacer equal to 1 egg (egg replacer is widely available in stores, check for a store near you here)
2 1/3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

For decorating the cookies:

Vanilla Frosting (I used Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Vanilla
Vegan decorating icing (I used some from Betty Crocker, but check ingredients) and sprinkles

*Wait until cookies are completely cool before decorating them with frosting or frosting will melt.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In large bowl, beat sugar and margarine together on low speed using a mixer (or spoon) until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla and egg replacer. Next stir in flour and baking soda. Shape dough by teaspoonfuls into balls, then using the bottom of a glass or mug, flatten the balls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet (they should be fairly symetrical and look like round cookies). Place them approx 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Bake for about 9 or 10 min, checking them to make sure they don't burn. The bottoms will start to brown slightly, so checking on them a couple of times is good. When they are done, remove them gently using a spatula and place them on a cooling rack (if you have one). This will help them to cool quickly so you can decorate them.

I hope you enjoy the recipes as much as we do. Now get out there and get baking!

♥ Marta

Get a Job! December 7, 2007

Posted by Marta at December 7, 2007 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 2 ) | TrackBack

We always love when people yell at us to 'Get a Job!' The funny thing is we LOVE our jobs and we have tons of fun while we work. We travel the country, gobble all the great food, go to awesome shows, and help animals. Check out some of these pictures to see what we do.

I mean, how many jobs can you say you get to balance a table on your hand and not get yelled at by your supervisor? Sorry, Caleb.


If you would like to join us make sure you check out this page and find out how.

Well, the holidays are coming up soon, so make sure you send an e-mail to all your family and friends and let them know they can find some great animal-free foods to cook here. I know I sent it to my family and it worked—they said they would make some vegan food for me when I go home. Yyeeaaaaaahhh!


- Paul & Cody (The Hammer)

What Do You Want for Christmas? December 5, 2007

Posted by Lara Sanders at December 5, 2007 4:05 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 6 ) | TrackBack

I already have my Christmas list set. For anyone who wants to know (hint hint), it includes:

1. Membership to Vegan Honey's Holiday Dessert of the Month Club.
2. Isa Chandra Moskowitz's new cookbook Veganomicon.
3. And these purple boots!

If you haven't already sent off your list to Santa, here are two lovely suggestions:

1. The peta2 gift set. This pack offers the best peta2 merch we have to offer including: the new peta2 Nugget tee; a peta2.com black T-shirt; two new peta2 bumper stickers; and a set of mini-buttons.

2. The Stay Vocal peta2 tote. This organic cotton shopping bag features the amazing winning design by Rachel Caldwell, which you can see to your left. $3 from every bag gets donated to peta2, so get to shopping!


Comment below with what cruelty-free goodies are on your holiday wish list (yes—the iPhone counts as being cruelty-free).

Happy Holidays!

xoxo-Lara

peta2 Christmas Cookie Cooking Competition! December 4, 2007

Posted by Marta at December 4, 2007 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 22 ) | TrackBack

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a fan of Christmas. Okay, so maybe obsessed is a better word to use when describing how I feel about Christmas. And no, I'm not talking about the greedy aspect of Christmas, I'm talking about spending time with your friends and family, listening to cheesy Christmas songs and singing along loudly, watching holiday movies (A Christmas Story, anyone?), the friendly spirit in the air, and of course, vegan Christmas cookies!

Are you harboring a secret grudge against your family because you think you can't partake in the cookie baking deliciousness since you went vegan? Let me be the first to tell you that vegan Christmas cookies are just about one of the best things in life. And to prove that very point to you, I decided to hold the first-ever peta2 Christmas Cookie Cooking Competition.

So there were a few people who didn't compete (I like to refer to them lovingly as "the suckers"), but check out all of the scrumptious options below, and let me know which batch of cookies you'd most like to pull a Santa on (you know, eat a few and wash 'em down with soymilk before stuffing your happy belly back up the chimney) by leaving a comment with your favorite. Pick wisely because the batch of cookies with the most votes will give someone here in peta2 land major bragging rights—and oh yeah, I'll post the winning recipe here on the blog for you to make for all those hungry little elves in your lives.

AntiSean's Pinwheels


Lara's Christmas Cut-Out Cookies


Marta's Snickerdoodle Stacks


Megan's Holiday Chocolate Mint Cookies


Mylie's Fancy Sugar Cookies
I tried many of the cookies, and trust me, they're as good as they look. Leave a comment with your favorite!

♥ Marta

Help Animals By Shopping! November 20, 2007

Posted by Lara Sanders at November 20, 2007 2:41 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 ) | TrackBack

Black Friday (a.k.a. the busiest shopping day of the year) is fast approaching. If you are like me and get shivers just thinking about going into a mall during the holiday season, then you are in luck!

This year, peta2 is making it easy for you to give the perfect gift from the safety of your home (away from the crowds, lines, and screaming children)! What is the perfect gift you say? The gift that helps animals of course!

Give a special gift to peta2 in the name of the person of your choice, to help peta2 get more oh-so-cute stickers into more people's hands! When you buy this gift, you get a peta2 holiday card (pictured below) to present to the lucky giftee, along with a peta2 sticker sheet to show them what their gift really is.

Even though it is fun to give, we also know that sometimes it is just fun to get too! So ask your family and friends to give a gift in you honor too!

There are several gifts to choose from including:

The "Go Vegetarian Gift", the "Peace for Animals Gift", the "Happy Dog or Happy Cat Gift", and the "Fur-Free Gift".



Happy shopping!

xoxo-Lara