Dessert with nothing in it...

I am believer that you are what you eat. It doesn't help that I have the Internet at the tip of my fingers and have found site after site discouraging me from feasting on trans fats, refined sugar and other flavorful delights. I am also an avid watcher of Martha Stewart. Laugh all you want, but I do love that woman! It was on an episode of Martha that I was introduced to BabyCakes NYC. Erin McKenna, Owner, chef and fellow allergy sufferer, made a batch of her allergen-free brownies. I tried them at home and was hooked..... for life!

I was recently in New York to scope out the Stationery Show. At the top of my list of New York to do's was of course visiting BabyCakes Bakery in person. With a steady line of customers, BabyCakes is a quaint little place. Only someone with dietary restrictions could relate to the joy I felt knowing I could order any cupcake I want. Vanilla, chocolate, banana, coconut... They were moist and flavorful, and were topped off great with a brownie! BabyCakes has an extensive sweets menu, but a girl has to limit herself!

There has been rumor that BabyCakes NYC may be coming to Los Angeles. We've plenty of cupcakeries here in LA but none that may boast vegan, sugar-free and gluten-free all in one cup cake. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would visit a West Coast BabyCakes shop. Come on! We're waiting!

The Perfect Cookie

They just opened a Whole Foods near our house. To say I am thrilled would be a gross understatement. I try to buy most of my groceries at Trader Joes to take it easy on the pocket book, but there are those hard-to-find essentials you can find only at Whole Foods. On one of my treasured trips to WF I came to face to face with a cookie made by Liz Lovely. I'll never pass up the opportunity to try a new cookie that is vegan.

I bought the cookie half expecting it to taste much like a cardboard box with chocolate chips and to have a leathery texture. You can imagine my surprise when I bit into the Liz Lovely cookie and found myself reminiscing of my last escapade with cookie dough ice cream. The cookie was almost like cookie dough; moist, and certainly not low on the taste spectrum. Now, after this first bite I went straight to the wrapper to understand exactly the loveliness I was consuming.

Liz Lovely's tag line is "Baking a Difference," and they've certainly baked a difference in my world and the whole wide world. I've have found a little piece of heaven with a cookie that is vegan, sustainable, socially responsible, Fair Trade, Non-GMO, and organic. Come on people, what's to stop you? Check out Liz's cookies on www.lizlovely.com You can shop online or check to see if your local natural grocers carry them.

Liz Lovely

www.peezandques.com