Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe: March 2008 Newsletter

Hello Friends,

What were you doing three years ago? It's hard for us to believe, but we were a brand-spanking new vegan web store three years ago this month. Our humble beginning in 2005 has grown and changed into the wonderful and diverse little vegan shop that we are today. And of course we wouldn't be here if not for all of you. So hey, thanks! It has truly been our pleasure serving the vegan community and we will continue to do so as best as we can. If you ever have a question, comment, idea, or any other general feedback,please do not hesitate to contact us. We love you guys!!

Now, enough mushy stuff and on with the new vegan goodies. For those of you looking for Easter themed candies, we do still have some to choose from. A few of the chocolates are currently out of stock, such as the Sjaak's Solid Bunny and the Sjaak's Cream Eggs, but we are expecting a new shipment to arrive by Thursday March 13th. So you will still have time to receive them before the Easter holiday. Be sure to check out our entire Easter selection here.

We are very excited about very own new tee shirt design! Local Atlanta vegan artist Kenn TwoFour made this unique new "vegan" design for us, and it looks great as a shirt. This tee is available in both unisex and women's sizes, in army green. We hope you love them as much as we do!

Speaking of vegan artists, we are pleased to introduce you to Bexx. Bexx is a vegan bookbinder, and she makes some adorable vegan-themed books. We currently have in stock her pocket paperback, "How I Get My Protein". They're perfect to whip out when a curious omnivore asks that tired old question.

Is there enough room in the world for another vegan jerky? We think so. Roll out the red carpet for Terrapathic. Mmm... Mesquite-y.

There's always room for more vegan cookbooks. We are happy to finally have in stock the Dreena Burton's classic Vive Le Vegan! A new book onto the scene is Robin Robertson's Vegan Fire & Spice. The recipes in Robin's book look fantastic. We can't wait to try more from this title. Check out the bottom of this newsletter for a sample recipe from Vegan Fire & Spice.

Last up is the full line of Hemp Salves from Merry Hempsters. It's time to retire your petroleum-laden Tiger Balms and Icy Hots. Try these all natural, hemp oil based salves instead!

As usual, we do try to keep a good selection of new stuff for you to enjoy. Please see our New Products section for a complete list. And as always, we are offering a discount for newsletter subscribers only (see right sidebar).

One last thing about the store this month is we were lucky enough to receive some positive press here in Atlanta! We were contacted by a local morning news show because they were doing a piece on environmentally-friendly shopping. So of course we just had to use the opportunity to mention how going vegan is good for the environment! Leigh gets awfully embarrassed by this video because she was so nervous. But we were still happy to use the word "vegan" a half dozen times on morning television. To view the clip, please click here.

Chipotle Corn

Robin Robertson, Author of the saucy new cookbook Vegan Fire & Spice, was kind enough to offer up a sample recipe of our choosing to use in the newsletter. There are so many amazing recipes to choose from in this book that we had a tough time deciding! We finally landed on one of the most simple-sounding recipes, Chipotle Corn. But don't let it's simplicity fool you.... the chipotles in this dish add a tremendous amount of depth and just the right amount of heat to this pretty side dish.

The smoky heat of the chipotle plays nicely against the sweetness of the corn.

1 pound frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 canned chipotle chile, minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro or parsley
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook the corn according to package directions, then drain and return to the pot. Add the oil and chile, stirring to coat. Stir in the cilantro and season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving dish.
Serves 4

Salsa Rolls

Wanting something unique to eat with our special, spicy corn dish from Vegan Fire & Spice, we happened upon a great recipe for Salsa Rolls from vegan food blogger Celine of Have Cake Will Travel. Thank you Celine for allowing us to share your recipe and photo!

makes 4 rolls:

1/2 cup prepared salsa [if kept in the fridge, heat it up with the water in your microwave until it is at room temp or slightly warm]
1/4 cup pure water
1 T margarine, softened
2 cups bread flour
1 T light brown sugar, packed
1 t sea salt
1 1/4 t bread machine yeast or instant yeast

if you have a stand mixer, now would be a great time to put it to good use. with the dough hook, stir salsa, water, margarine, sugar, salt, and yeast together. add the flour, and let the mixer knead for a couple of minutes until the dough comes together.

if you don’t have a stand mixer, just use those muscles your mama gave you!

remove from mixer bowl, start kneading on a very lightly floured surface. knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.

place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with lid or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free area for 90 minutes or until about doubled in size.

prepare a baking sheet with either parchment paper or Silpat. 20 minutes before the dough has risen, preheat your oven to 375F to give it time to reach ideal temp.

punch down your dough, separate it in four equal parts. shape into rolls. place on prepared baking sheet. bake for 20 minutes, or until golden, sounding hollow when tapped at the bottom. if you have an instant read thermometer that’s even better: check for the “insides” to be at 200F.

let cool on a rack, and enjoy!