Livin' La Vegan Loca

Fairfield County Weekly: Livin' La Vegan Loca:

One recent night at a Lower East Side book signing, all was not as it appeared. About 50 people shouldered into a storefront to peruse funky shoes, gnaw on chicken drumsticks and take a gander at a subculture celebrity author. The chicken, however, was a culinary imposter--a really tasty fake-meat facsimile. And not one pair of shoes--all of them stylish, sexy, practical or all of the above--was crafted from an animal's hide. (Though some were artfully decorated with hair from the several rescued kitties who live in the store, Mooshoes, and lounge among the footwear.) The author, though, was the real deal, all five-foot-nothing of her with her lit-from-within smile, body art-a-plenty peeking out from her vintage sweater, and cute Canuck accent.

Sarah Kramer was in New York promoting the third in her trilogy of vegan cookbooks, La Dolce Vegan! (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2005). With their sassy retro design, kitschy cheesecake photos by Kramer's husband, Gerry, of the author in vintage ensembles, and punny titles ( How It All Vegan! , The Garden of Vegan ), hers stand out amidst the crowded market of guides for making animal-free grub. And though the covers will make a person of a particular sensibility or curiosity pick them up, it's what's inside that earns these books a home in many a compassionate kitchen. In addition to the recipes themselves, all three books feature low-downs on the whats and wheres of vegan ingredients; poignant (and never preachy) personal reflections of this life path; answers to FAQs asked via her website (www.govegan.net) or while she's out greeting and feeding her readers; and lists of the multitude of uses--household cleaning, pest control, health aides--for pantry staples, such as baking soda and salt.