I am so incredibly tired of people asking me how I get enough protein as a vegetarian. Everyone in the U.S. seems to assume that you need to eat meat to be healthy and fit. Even with the ever growing list of world class athletes and trainers who are completely vegan, including Venus Williams, Bob Harper, and Scott Jurek.


With millions of Americans vowing to lose weight and get in shape with the new year, knowing how to fuel your body is an important part. More and more information has been coming out lately about how being vegetarian or vegan is not only good for you, but can also help you meet your physical goals. 


A few days ago the New York Times posted an article,”Sculptured by Weights and a Strict Vegan Diet,” about a body builder that has won championships, and also happens to be vegan. 

“[Veganism] has even entered bodybuilding, perceived by many as a population of vein-popping men and women thriving off meat and artificial enhancements. Competitors like Sitko are forging a distinctive subculture of antibeef beefcakes who hope to change more of their competitors’ eating habits.”

With many people deciding to become vegan for countless different reasons, including health, animal rights, or sustainability, there are great resources online for recipes or even support. 


Although I truly admire those who have gone completely vegan, with all of my food allergies I am not willing to completely commit. I am mostly vegan already. The only things I still sometimes eat are eggs and butter.  But this year I will become more aware of vegan options and see what I can do. 

I don’t know what it is lately, everything I bake turns out to be horribly ugly. The Angel Food Cake that I made with leftover egg whites is honestly the ugliest thing I have ever baked. It turns out that a bundt pan is not the same pan that should be used for an Angel Food Cake… 

The good news is that it tastes way better than it looks. 

I am mourning the loss of sleeping in, eating hordes of baked goods,  being able to read the books I wanted instead of ones that were assigned, and being able to watch hours on end of How I Met Your Mother. 


In order to fuel my mourning session I am making homemade angel food cake and chocolate cupcakes (although I am giving away the cupcakes). I ended up having 12 egg whites left over from making a birthday cake, which I did not post about because it was quite the failure. It was somehow bitter, didn’t rise enough, and was not that flavorful. 

Once I am done baking (and kicking myself for completely forgetting about an appointment that I had this morning), I will not only move on from my pathetic attempt to hold on to the wonders of Christmas Break, but I will also share an interesting article for anyone hoping to shed some holiday pounds, sustainably of course. 

Last year I got my wisdom teeth removed a week before Christmas. On Christmas day I still could not eat solid food, and I missed the chance to eat all of the amazing holiday treats. To make up for my missed chances last year, we made a lot of cookies and peppermint bark. The snowflake cookies above are drizzled in chocolate and topped with crushed candy cane that was left over from our peppermint bark. We made them on a whim, but they turned out great. 

For our birthdays we always have a homemade cake and dinner of the birthday person’s choosing. This year I went all out on the cake for my mom’s birthday.

Every year my mom gives me my birthday or Christmas gifts before the actual date, or at least tells me what they are. She and I have some sort of gene where it is nearly impossible for us to keep secrets. This means that I often get my gifts a few days before Christmas or my birthday because my mom can’t wait to give it to me. This year she gave me a book this week that was supposed to be in my stocking. It is a book from a local San Francisco based bakery, and we picked out the cake that was on the cover to make for her birthday.

Image courtesy of Miette

This cookbook is absolutely incredible. It is beautifully designed, from the adorable scalloped edges to the stunning photography and page designs. It is a great book to leave out on the coffee table or on a shelf as a piece of art and interest. The recipes in it all look incredibly delicious, and if I had more time I would probably try to make them all before the end of break, but I will restrain myself for now. It was such cool gift that my excitement about it will last until at least Christmas. (I plan on going to visit the shop in the Ferry Building in downtown San Francisco – it looks incredible in the book.)

With my inspiration from the book I set off to make the cake on the cover, the Tomboy. It is a moist, amazing chocolate cake with a raspberry buttercream frosting. My cake however, does not look much like the one of the cover… turns out I am terrible at piping. But I will work on that by making many more cakes like this one… once I get over how hard this one was. This is truly the most difficult thing I have ever set out to bake. I love the size, it is a 6 inch cake with 1 inch layers. It is absolutely adorable on the small cake stand my mom bought. All in all, even though I spent 3-4 hours on it, it was rewarding and worth it.

It may not be beautiful, but I am definitely proud of it.

You can find the whole recipe here.

With my last final tomorrow my brain has been less than creative at coming up with homemade gift ideas, but thankfully my friends were ready to help me out. My friend came up with the idea of homemade preserves, which I love!

I fell in love this summer with INNA jam, and since then it has made me crave homemade jam. When I was younger my mom would have my brother and I help her make delicious strawberry jam that we would give away and eat for the rest of the year. It was always so hard for me to wait for it to cool and solidify a bit before I could eat it.

Jam or preserves are a great homemade gift that is incredibly easy to make in bulk. It’s always an incredibly fun way to spend a few hours. The only problem is that it is hard to get fresh fruit in some places during the winter, but if you can find fresh, organic fruits, then happy jamming.

Thanks Heather for the great idea!

Every year my mom and I pull out our favorite recipes and plan out what we are making for family and friends that year. We make an assortment of cookies and pastries to mix and match for each person depending on their personal tastes. We put all of the goodies on platters or plates that can be reused by the person (we try to stay away from holiday themed items so that the recipient can use the dish year round).

We usually make amazing short bread cookies that can be customized in countless ways – my favorite is with jam. We also make at least 2 other kinds of cookies, sometimes cream puffs, and biscotti, but really anything can be made. Just keep in mind how far something might have to travel to get to the recipient and choose accordingly. Happy baking.