Today at Clark University, Johnny Cupcakes–T-Shirt designer from Hull, MA–is giving a talk about his biz and there will be free vegan cupcakes from Barely Legal Treats. Get there early, because I expect the cupcakes are going to go fast. It’s in Razzo Hall (in the Traina Arts Building) and doors are at 5:30pm.

Here’s the facebook event for the talk: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=169680008598

Isa Chadra Moskowitz, the woman who brought you Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, Vegan with a Vengeance, the Veganomicon, Vegan Brunch, has just published a new cookbook. Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar has 100 original animal-product-free cookie recipes. The book is all finished, but has not yet been release. However, it is available on pre-order from Amazon.com.

To announce the new book, Isa has release a quick video recipe. Here’s the video:

From the post-punk kitchen (Isa’s blog):

OK so I am getting back into the video world with a very appropriate, prim and proper little video about cookies! Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles, to be exact. And I blather on about the Aztecs and autumn a bit in the video so I won’t overdo it here. But let me just say that they are one of my absolute favorites in the book, you probably already have all the ingredients, and I hope you make them!

I am definitely pre-ordering this book. We’ll see how Isa’s cookies compare to the yummy vegan cookies from Barely Legal Treats.

This weekend had a ton of events. While Buddha Hut held the first ever buffet fundraiser for VegWorcester (photos coming soon), some VegWorcester members were down the street at the 2nd annual New Orleans festival. We had a booth and gave out free stickers, handed out copies of our 2009 vegetarian dining guide to Worcester, and held a vegan bakesale. (Thanks to Barely Legal Treats for donating the cupcakes and cookies!)

Here are some photos:

The music was fantastic. A lady in one of the bands was wearing a full-body washboard that she played as her instrument. Check it out:

From the event organizers:

There will be two stages of live music being played by 5 bands non-stop from Noon until 11:00 P.M. – a jam packed day and evening of NOLA Blues, Jazz & Zydeco music….. there will also be NOLA cuisine being served by EVO Restaurant & John & Son’s or Worcester & affordable Harpoon Brewery of Boston refreshments being served along with other NOLA style refreshments available at the festival and off-site at our sponsors locations.

12:00 – 2:00 P.M.   – River City Slim & The Zydeco Hogs
2:00 – 4:00 P.M.     – Hurricane Horns
4:00 – 6:00 P.M.     – The Chris Fitz Band
6:00 – 8:00 P.M.     -  Henri Smith & New Orleans Friends & Flavours
8:00 – 10:00 P.M.   – Lisa Marie & All Shook Up

Also VegWorcester will have a vegan bake sale with items from Barely Legal Treats.

Paulie’s NOLA Jazz & Blues Festival…New Orleans comes to Worcester, MA Reply to all Forward Reply by chat Filter messages like this Print Add to Contacts list Delete this message Report phishing Report not phishing Show original Show in fixed width font Show in variable width font Message text garbled? Why is this spam/nonspam? Reply | BAEvents@aol.com show details Jun 20 (5 days ago) Reply New Orleans is coming to Worcester, Massachusetts on Saturday, July 11, 2009 @ John & Son’s II Fairgrounds 226 Chandler Street, Worcester, MA via  Paulie’s NOLA Jazz & Blues Festival….this 2nd annual musico festival in the urban core of the city is the perfect venue for those looking for something nuevo to do this summer, for those looking for new cultural happenings in the City of Worcester and especially those who have an appetite for everything that is New Orleans!! There will be two stages of live music being played non-stop from Noon until 11:00 P.M. – a jam packed day and evening of NOLA Blues, Jazz & Zydeco music….. there will also be NOLA cuisine being served by EVO Restaurant & John & Son’s or Worcester & affordable Harpoon Brewery of Boston refreshments being served along with other NOLA style refreshments available at the festival and off-site at our sponsors locations. Paulie’s NOLA Jazz & Blues Festival is sponsored by Harpoon Brewery of Boston, The Chandler Street Business Association, Greek Gods Yogurt, Best Buy, Honey Farms, B.A. Event Promotions, Serrato Signs, Randell Package Store, John & Son’s II, EVO Restaurant, Keystone Plaza & Advantage Benefits. Paulie’s NOLA Jazz & Blues Festival benefits the National Autism Association. Please see www.baevents.com for more information on our 1 day music festival in the “Heart of the Commonwealth”….Worcester, Massachusetts an All-American City!! Download the AOL Classifieds Toolbar for local deals at your fingertips. Reply Forward Reply | BAEvents@aol.com to MassJazz, burke_stacy, emuurisepp, andrewma, PAW72754, kmcamel, Mectrimk, nick, khailer, kbouffard, ahmumaw, jill.tarricone, Annrowkel, alicialcamelli, lpetersma, taniagelormini, aliwinslow, klevy, liannebaldwin, seetonyrun, pantani_04, mbuege, lm2373, rdoran, lee.a.thomas, mkittredge show details Jun 20 (4 days ago) Reply New Orleans is coming to Worcester, Massachusetts on Saturday, July 11, 2009 @ John & Son’s II Fairgrounds 226 Chandler Street, Worcester, MA via  Paulie’s NOLA Jazz & Blues Festival….this 2nd annual musico festival in the urban core of the city is the perfect venue for those looking for something nuevo to do this summer, for those looking for new cultural happenings in the City of Worcester and especially those who have an appetite for everything that is New Orleans!! There will be two stages of live music being played by 5 bands non-stop from Noon until 11:00 P.M. – a jam packed day and evening of NOLA Blues, Jazz & Zydeco music….. there will also be NOLA cuisine being served by EVO Restaurant & John & Son’s or Worcester & affordable Harpoon Brewery of Boston refreshments being served along with other NOLA style refreshments available at the festival and off-site at our sponsors locations. 12:00 – 2:00 P.M.   - River City Slim & The Zydeco Hogs 2:00 – 4:00 P.M.     – Hurricane Horns 4:00 – 6:00 P.M.     - The Chris Fitz Band 6:00 – 8:00 P.M.     -  Henri Smith & New Orleans Friends & Flavours 8:00 – 10:00 P.M.   – Lisa Marie & All Shook Up Paulie’s NOLA Jazz & Blues Festival is sponsored by Harpoon Brewery of Boston, The Chandler Street Business Association, Greek Gods Yogurt, Best Buy, Honey Farms, B.A. Event Promotions, Serrato Signs, Randell Package Store, John & Son’s II, EVO Restaurant, Keystone Plaza & Advantage Benefits. Paulie’s NOLA Jazz & Blues Festival benefits the National Autism Association. Please see www.baevents.com for more information on our one day music festival in the “Heart of the Commonwealth”….Worcester, Massachusetts an All-American City!! Download the AOL Classifieds Toolbar for local deals at your fingertips. Reply Reply to all Forward

When the Main South farmers market launched in early June, I asked: Are you getting your food from one of Worcester’s farmers markets? Well, now all of our city’s farmers markets are in full swing. You can find more info about the Main South market and the details for the other 5 markets in the new issue of Worcester Magazine.

Worcester’s 2009 Farmers Markets:

Mondays
June 15-Oct. 30, 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
306 Chandler St., Beaver Brook parking lot

Tuesdays
July 7-Oct. 27, 1-5 p.m.
51 North Lake Ave., Umass Medical

Wednesday
June 15-October 30, 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
306 Chandler Street, Beaver Brook parking lot

Thursday
June 18-Oct. 29, Noon-5 p.m.
215 E. Mountain St., Salem Covenant Church

Friday
June 15-Oct. 30, 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
306 Chandler St., Beaver Brook parking lot

Saturday
June 6 –Oct. 31, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Corner of Benefit & Main streets

We’re lucky here in Worcester, because you can find a farmers market open every day of the week (except Sunday). They’re a great way to get affordable, fresh, locally-grown fruits and veggies. Plus you can get some vegan pastries from Barely Legal Treats at the Main South market. Yum!

Worcester’s farmers markets
Here’s what I love about Worcester: It has a lot of interesting things, but you have to do a little looking to find them. Did you know that Worcester has 6 or more weekly farmers markets? Each one offers fresh, organic produce and yummy baked goods. And you can’t beat the prices when you’re buying directly from the producer.

The Main South Farmers Market
Of them all, the Main South farmers market really stands out. 2009 is its second year and this weekly event will definitely be the most interesting farmers market in Worcester. What sets it apart from the others is that it has more of a festival tone to it. Yeah, you can buy your groceries there, but it’s also a weekly celebration of sustainability and Massachusetts foods. There’s live music, cooking classes, yummy vegan treats, and some nifty educational-type things.

When is it?
The Main South farmers market starts June 6 and lasts 22 weeks–that’s all the way through October.

Where is it?
It takes place at the corner of Main Street and Benefit Street, right across the street from the Artichoke food coop.

Are you going to be there?

Attention vegan bakers of Worcester:

Worcester’s vegan bakery is now looking for a bakery manager. If you think you’ve got what it takes, email info@barelylegaltreats.com.

From the craigslist’s post:

“This person is in charge of managing the design, planning, execution of the weekly baking. They take a lead on the baking and help assign tasks to other bakers and volunteers. It takes roughly 10-15 hours per week.”

This is a great opportunity, but don’t expect it to pay off your student loans or your mortgage.

Barely Legal Treats, Worcester’s only vegan bakery, now has a flickr photo page. And the photos look amazing. Barely Legal specializes in cupcakes, cookies and custom cakes. All the ingredients are vegan, organic, and fair trade so you can feel good about it. You can place an order by emailing barelylegaltreats -at- riseup.net or by calling 508-762-2578. No order is too big or too small.

photo cred: http://flickr.com/photos/samfelder/

Just updated the veg-friendly restaurants list. We added Belmont Vegetarian Restaurant, a new all-vegan soul food take out joint on Belmont Hill and updated some of the other listings.

Also check out the new Cafés and Bakeries page. You’ll find a list of vegan-friendly coffee shops, cafes and bakeries. It’ll come in handy if you’re looking for a place for a morning meeting. Get a soy latte and a vegan chocolate chip cookie. Now on the Cafés and Bakeries list: Barely Legal Treats, The Q Cafe, The Bean Counter, Acoustic Java, and The Artichoke.

Know any more that should be on that list? Comment below or email info@VegWorcester.com.