Win a Copy of Vegan Soul Kitchen

Want to win a copy of Bryant Terry's new cookbook, Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine? Just head on over to Vegans of Color where I am giving away one copy to any U.S. resident who leaves a comment telling me what their favorite soul-warming dish is.

Even if you don’t win the copy, check out this book, which includes mouth-watering food and drink recipes like Cajun-Creole Spiced Tempeh Pieces with Creamy Grits, Frozen Memphis Mint Julep, Roasted Plantain Pieces with Roasted Garlic-Lime Dipping Sauce, Sweet Cornmeal-Coconut Butter Drop Biscuits, and many more.

And the Winner Is...

Noemi at hermana resist! Noemi has won a copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway and has visited Mutual Menu. There will be another contest in the future. I'm thinking of giving away another vegan cookbook or vegan nonedibles like soap. What do you think?

Last Chance to Enter Cupcake Cookbook Giveaway

Entries for our first giveaway of a brand new copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero will close on May 12, 2008 .

If you'd like to own a copy of this award-winning book full of delicious recipes and helpful baking hints, all you have to do is leave a comment in response to this post. That's it. We will pick one winner at random. For more details, please go here.

What's New Around Here

I signed up for Twitter. You can see my updates on the side.

We now have a blogroll. As it grows, we may break it down into categories but for now, this is just a collection of blogs I read regularly and find inspiring, helpful, entertaining, and well-written. Some are by friends (Eats Well with Others, Ladypoverty), some are based in Philly (Ladypoverty, The Urban Vegan, Straight from the Farm), others are based in San Francisco (Eats Well with Others), and all of the food-related ones are vegetarian or vegan.

We’re giving away one free copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World. People are actually entering! You should too. All you have to do is leave a comment here. When you sign in to comment, make sure it links back to a Blogger page or your e-mail address.

First Mutual Menu Giveaway: Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero

Something I've wanted to do for quite some time on Mutual Menu is have occasional contests where we give away cookbooks and other items we really love. We're finally getting this rolling after being inspired by Vegan Soapbox's Cookbook Giveaway and Elaine Vigneault's post on why blog giveaways are great.

Our first giveaway is a brand new copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule by vegan cookbook heavyweights, Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero (they've also co-authored the recent Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook and Moskowitz created the seminal Vegan with a Vengeance: Over 150 Delicious, Cheap, Animal-Free Recipes That Rock) . Vegan Cupcakes seemed an obvious first choice for many reasons. One, who doesn't love cupcakes? Two, the book is compact, cute, full of scrumptious pictures, and written in a friendly tone. It's also the first vegan cookbook I ever purchased and every creation I've made so far--Golden Vanilla, Apricot-Glazed Almond Cupcakes, and Lychee Cupcakes with Coconut Glaze--has been delicious. Additionally, the book contains many practical tips and troubleshooting for successful cupcake baking so anyone looking to enhance their baking repertoire in general will find much to learn here.

A major deterrent for many when it comes to adopting animal-free eating is the idea that food will not taste good anymore or that some food items, such as baked goods, will be impossible to replicate. I can assure you, you don't need chickens' eggs, cows' milk, and butter to make delectable cakes, cookies, pies, and other treats. Vegan Cupcakes is a testament to this fact.

Brian and I bought this book on Sunday at Robin's Bookstore in Philadelphia, which was one of the places we went to on our first date. It was in Robin's where I first realized I was going to know Brian for a very, very long time.

OK, back to the book, we will pick one person at random and send the cookbook to them. To enter the giveaway, just leave one comment to this post (be sure to include your e-mail address when signing on to comment). Entries will close on May 12, 2008. Unfortunately, to keep shipping costs down and post office visits short, we can only ship the book to those in the USA. Depending on how the first giveaway goes, we may, however, open up later contests to other countries.

Visit The Post Punk Kitchen for recipes and community. Visit Robin's Bookstore and buy some books. Visit Vegan Soapbox and enter their cookbook giveaway too. Please do spread the word and invite others to enter and read as well.

*Picture courtesy of The Post Punk Kitchen.