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These go by many names. In our house we call them vegan rum balls, but I have also heard them called chocolate truffles.

Christmas Chocolate Truffles

For a gluten and sugar free rum ball idea I have also tried modifying the fruit and nut bite recipe. Instead of rinsing the fruit, just add 1-2 Tablespoons of rum to make the mixture moist.  Anyhow, back to the recipe at hand.  This recipe is very flexible and forgiving.  Just remember, it is easier to add more moisture than to remove it!

Ingredients

1 x 250g packet of vegan/vegetarian sweet biscuits

135ml of coconut cream (make sure you use coconut cream not coconut milk)

1 cup dessicated coconut

1/3 cup raisins (or you might like to used mixed dried fruit)

2 Tablespoons of dutch processed cocoa

1 Tablespoon rum

extra coconut for rolling

Method

1. Process the biscuits in a food processor until finely ground.
2. Add the cocnut, raisins and cocoa and continue to process.
3. Add the coconut cream and rum and process until a ball forms. This may take a little while but it will happen.
4. Roll teaspoons of mixture to form a ball shape and roll in extra coconut. You could also roll them in cocoa or vanilla bean powder.
5. Refrigerate

Makes approximately 30 (Depending on how many you eat while you are making them!)

Our restaurant page has now been updated to include an alphabetical listing of all the restaurants reviewed by vvoc.org. Please go and take a look! The ‘Restaurants‘ page appears under the ‘About’ tab on our home page. Hopefully this will make searching for a place to find veggie food near you a little easier.

163 Given Terrace, Paddington Qld

A meeting with an old friend was the occasion for a very happy dinner at an Indian restaurant  which we both remember fondly from days of old. We began with vegetarian samosas, of the thick variety and nicely flavoured with tamarind sauce (the sweet chilli promised by the menu didn’t eventuate, but we weren’t complaining) and an onion salad with plenty of ripe tomatoes, enlivened by rings of red onion and sprigs of coriander. For main meals we went for a beautifully spiced dal masala with plenty of bay leaves and an alu palak with very fine and presumably fresh spinach. Within reach lay thin spicy lime naans, cooked vegan-style, and a large bowl of rice. The sultan from whose kitchen these delights come is a lucky person, his staff are gracious and obliging, and feasting on such excellent food is the perfect accompaniment to the more important task of catching up. May this restaurant flourish for many more years!

Several days ago I came across a great book in a church bookstore, Drinking from the Hidden Fountain by Thomas Spidlik, A Patristic Breviary – Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World and upon seeing it, thought about “veganizing” it a bit:) It gives a very nice outlook of the Eastern Fathers and has reflections for every day of the year. What can be best just a day before 2012 starts? You can look it up and read it for yourselves. Exploring, one day at a time…

Film review

At the Vegan 2011 Festival, I was lucky to get a copy of “Making the Connection” short-film about the beauty of the vegan life style. It was such a pleasure to see all of the different people, sharing their experiences of how being and staying vegan had changed their lives! Produced by Environmental Films LTD in association with The Vegan Society it is a great compilation of stories and experience of people from all walks of life, working in different fields, who with their personal choice are making our planet a more compassionate place to live in.

You are able to see it also on YouTube and share it with both friends and family and/or people who are interested in veganism in general. A very positive and uplifting  half an hour guaranteed.

Please, – Make the connection!

Practical guide from pre-conception through to pre-school.

Author : Sandra Hood

A book review:

Done beautifully. Easy to read. Highly factual. Up-to-date masterpiece. Do I need to say anything else? Oh, yes, it’s vegan too. But you knew that already didn’t you? I honestly prepared myself for a boring read through, and to my surprise this book wasn’t.

Knowing the author from her workshop/discussion at the Vegan 2011 Festival in London, I firstly bought the book because of its high publicity. Thinking that, as it is one of a kind (for now anyway) it can get away with anything basically. And yes in many ways it was a “basic information” read, nicely presented with no revelations or big secrets to follow or be revealed in the process.  But in my opinion this is the power of it. And not a disadvantage at all.

It clearly carries through that veganism is easy, doable, safe, fun, healthy and even exciting.  And how much better can it be then?

Now when we are approaching Christmas season (depending on the Calendar of course) it is nice to know that this book may be included in Christmas lists of some people and then many more will benefit from it.  Check it out for yourselves. Share it. Smile while reading it, but most of all spread the message of the beauty of a vegan lifestyle in everything & everywhere, even and especially if/when you are expecting…

May God bless you and guide you in His Love and Wisdom,

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Shop K4, SunnyPark Shopping Centre, 342 McCullough St, Sunnybank Qld

This is a smart Taiwanese restaurant that was packed on the night we visited. For starters we ordered a dish described on the menu as balsam pears in plum sauce, but were in for a surprise, for the pieces were as crunchy as a gherkin, and the waiter later told us they were slices of bitter melon. Indeed, these ‘pears’ do not grow on a tree but on vines, and are members of the family that includes melons and cucumbers; there’s always something more to learn. The restaurant also offers fried battered mushrooms as a starter. When it came to a main course the menu offered nothing vegetarian, but the cook kindly prepared a special dish for us, made up of pieces of soft tofu with small pieces of mushroom and red chilli. It was bubbling as it was brought to the table and, when it had cooled down a little, delicious with rice. A most enjoyable, as well as educative, dinner!

42/342 McCullough St, Sunnybank Qld

Some the dishes at this popular restaurant are actually quite mild. The green onion pancakes, for example, seem free of chillis, and the tofu and bak choy soup, which contains more of the latter ingredient than the former, is if anything on the delicate side. But the chilli and seaweed salad, crunchy and dark green, packs a real punch, and the sauce that comes with the potato shreds and chilli is seriously hot. Top of the range, however, is the dish of cauliflower that comes with large pieces of fresh green chilli, dried chilli, lumps of garlic and shallots. It would be fair to say that the original taste of the vegetable has been lost; whereas the spices used in Indian cooking can add value to the mild-flavoured cauliflower, what’s been thrown at it here has smothered it.  Lovers of strong tastes will relish this restaurant, others may feel it’s not really their scene, but everyone will be glad to have a big glass of water standing at the ready.

VVOC.org is happy to announce that a new author is signing up as a content contributor to the site. His name is Jason Derry and he is a vegan Orthodox Christian based in, Michigan – U.S.A. Jason’s main focus will be Orthodox Saints’ (and religious figures) approaches to animal rights and caring for creation.

He comes to us as a Communication graduate who’s currently finishing his masters degree in Environmental Education. Jason is looking forward to starting a PhD in Communications next year. VVOC.org is most fortunate to have someone of his calibre putting together content for the site.

Jason’s journey is of particular interest (to many of our readers), as it involves becoming both an Orthodox Christian and a vegan, almost simultaneously. Please visit the testimonials page at: http://vvoc.org/about/testimonials/ and read how he embarked down this path.

On behalf of the site’s contributors – welcome to the team Jason. We’re all looking forward to your postings.

Tell UNESCO: Bullfighting isn’t culture, it’s cruelty.

Every year, about 250,000 bulls are killed in bullfights — stabbed multiple times with barbed lances and banderillas (spiked wooden sticks) before suffering slow, agonizing deaths in front of an audience, including children.

Back in July 2010, the parliament of Catalonia, a region of Spain, voted to ban the “sport” of bullfighting in their region. What a huge step forward that was, in the fight against the cruelty of the bullfight.  You may remember it was highlighted on this blog – WSPA urged the general public around the world to join their campaign to seek the voters within the Catalonian parliament to see that many people around the world regarded it in a strongly unfavourable light.

Despite the fact that attendance at bullfights is at an all-time low (a great indication that people are rejecting this as a “sport”), and that many cities and countries have in fact banned bullfighting, the French and Spanish governments are seeking to protect this cruel bloodsport by asking UNESCO to give it a “cultural heritage” listing.

By going to:  http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/235/701/860/?z00m=20130990

you can sign a petition asking The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) NOT to sanction this cruel activity under the banner of “cultural heritage”.