Vegan Drinks Pizza Party!

Warning: This post contains graphic images of pizza and booze. 

Tonight was Vegan Drinks night again! In honor of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie (which I still haven't seen yet), I figured we should have a pizza party, so I scheduled us for Mellow Mushroom. Memphis has a number of places offering vegan cheese pizza, but Mellow Mushroom is the only one with a full bar. And they have plenty of room for crowds.

Most of us started with beers, because, well, pizza just isn't pizza without a cold beer. I started with Sweetwater 420 Pale Ale (on the right) and Greg got a Curious Traveler Shandy (on the left). I took one drink of his lemony summer beer and decided that's what I'd be ordering next.

Of course, Autumn got a frilly cocktail, like she always does. This was the Elderflower Palmer (Maker's Mark bourbon, St. Germain, elderflower liqueur, sour mix, and a splash of tea).

Pam got girly with a margarita.

And then Greg and Stephanie had to have margaritas too. They opted for the Fiery Margaritas, served with a slice of jalapeno. The margs at Mellow Mushroom contain honey, and Greg never reads anything, so he accidentally got honey in his, but he drank it anyway. Stephanie, however, ordered hers with agave in place of honey, and she raved on and on about how good it was.

Susan ordered a Hendricks Refresher (Hendricks gin, cucumber, basil, agave sour, and maybe something else, but the notes I took in my phone didn't make sense).

Autumn went in for seconds with a Frozen Margarita. As you can see, she really liked it. And there's Stephanie in the background, all photobomb-vogue-ing for the camera.

We had a nice turnout this month. Here's an action table shot.

A couple people ordered salads and sandwiches, but sadly, I failed to photograph those meals. I did, however, take way too many pictures of pizza. I went with the Thai Dye Curry Pizza with curry tofu, cucumbers, tomato, basil, Daiya vegan cheese, and an olive oil/garlic base. I had the Thai chili sauce that typically comes drizzled over the pizza served on the side so my leftovers wouldn't get soggy. That's why you only see sauce on one slice.

I had planned to eat the whole 10-inch pie tonight, but I only made it through two slices. Pizza and beer are filling.

Pam went with the Holy Shiitake Pie with shiitake mushrooms, button mushrooms, portabellas, caramelized onions, Daiya vegan cheese, and an olive oil/garlic base.

Greg opted for the Mega Veggie with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, green peppers, mushrooms, onions, black olives, Roma tomatoes, broccoli, banana peppers, artichoke hearts, tofu, Daiya vegan cheese, and a red sauce base.

Stephanie was feeding her whole family, so she got a large pie. I'm not sure what all was on this, but definitely Daiya vegan cheese. Peter doesn't look too happy about pizza for some reason.

Mellow Mushroom has Tuesday night trivia, and just as we were wrapping up our meals, the trivia guy came by and asked if we wanted to play. Sure! Our team name was awesome — Better Late Than Pregnant. Ha! I'm horrible at trivia, and I was busy running my mouth and being chatty, so I didn't end up participating. But Ken, Susan, Nathan, and Pam were great at it. And guess what? They won! They got a $30 gift certificate!

Vegan Cheese Pizza in Memphis!

One year ago, I'd have laughed in your face if you'd told me, in 2011, I'd be able to score vegan cheese pizza in Memphis. If you'd told me I'd be able to find said vegan cheese pizza in not one, but FOUR restaurants, I'm sure I'd have laughed so hard, I'd pee myself.

But here we are in 2011, and you'd have been right. First, there was Mellow Mushroom in Germantown, a cutesy chain joint that added Daiya to their menu last fall. It's about a 45-minute drive from my house, so I don't get there often enough. But the Mega-Veggie with Daiya is well worth the drive:

Then came the Hi-Tone Cafe, a Midtown rock club/hipster hangout that serves pizza, sandwiches, and a delicious veg-friendly brunch. They added Daiya for pizzas and calzones this past winter. The Veggie Pizza with Vegan Cheese is to-die-for, but sometimes they're out of Daiya. So call ahead to be sure it's in stock:

Around the same time the Hi-Tone began offering vegan cheese, the Trolley Stop Market added Daiya to its locally-famous pies. I've still not tried the vegan pizza from their regular menu, but this Thai Pizza with Peanut Sauce and Daiya was offered on special one Vegan Night Monday a few months ago:

They serve vegan specials every Monday, fyi. I tried ordering the vegan pizza from the regular pizza menu a few weeks ago, but they had a party dining in and pizza orders were backed up. So I ordered their Spinny Shroom Sandwich with Daiya instead (spinach, mushroom, tomato, and mozzarella).

And Imagine Vegan Cafe's super-loaded Pizza with the Works makes four! Memphis' only all-vegan cafe opened in April, and I'm working my way down their massive menu. I can't order the same thing twice until I've tried everything. Tonight, my friend Greg and I split this yummy pizza loaded with Follow Your Heart mozzarella, vegan sausage, vegan chicken, vegan pepperoni, peppers, onion, pineapple, broccoli, tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, and spinach:

You can choose less toppings, but we went "The Works"-style with every topping they had. The crust was soft and flavorful, and my slice was so heavy, I had to eat it with a fork! I love that Imagine uses Follow Your Heart for something a little different. I love both Daiya and FYH, and it's nice to have a choice.

So if you live in Memphis or you're visiting here and craving a pizza, you know where to go. You can find more info, like addresses and phone numbers for these places, in my Memphis Vegan Dining Guide.

Daiya-Fueled Relapse!!

When I woke up Saturday morning, I was a free woman. After 21 days on a no-processed food/ no refined sugar/no beer/Vegan Kickstart meal plan, I was finally free to eat whatever I damn well chose. So what did I choose? A couple of melty slices of vegan Daiya-covered Mega-Veggie Pizza from Mellow Mushroom:

OMG, y'all! Relapse tasted so good. I met Stephanie, her husband Richard, and their baby Peter at the Mellow Mushroom in Germantown. Steph and I split a large Mega-Veggie, which was generously covered in melty Daiya mozzarella. I managed to down two slices, washed down with a Ghost River Wee Heavy porter (a local brew made from the waters of the Wolf River). I saved two more slices for lunch the next day.

After I got home, I ate a well-deserved vegan peanut butter cup. Remember these that Stephanie made me for Christmas?

Oh yea. Saturday was a good day. It was really the first chance I had to celebrate the send-off of my cookbook manuscript, which happened a week ago Friday. Yea! The book should be published within the year.

What would be your ultimate relapse food after 21 days of healthy eatin'?

Mellow Mushroom Has Daiya Cheese!

So this may not be news to everybody, but in case you hadn't heard, the Mellow Mushroom pizza chain has begun offering Daiya vegan cheese!

For those who already live in awesome big cities where vegan cheese is readily available, this may not be big news. But I never, ever, ever thought I'd be able to order a vegan cheese pizza at a Memphis restaurant. Yet last Thursday, I did just that. Stephanie (aka Poopie Bitch) and I split this massive large Mega-Veggie Pizza with Daiya:

OMG! The only way to describe this pizza is, um, orgasmic. Seriously y'all. I've never put a tastier pizza in my mouth, not even in my cheese-eatin' days. This sucker was piled high with Daiya Italian shreds, tofu, sundried tomatoes, spinach, green peppers, mushrooms, onions, black olives, tomatoes, broccoli, banana peppers, and artichoke hearts. The original Mega-Veggie comes with feta, but we subbed out the Daiya instead. Look at that sexy slice:

Washed down with a frosty pint of Magic Hat #9, this pizza was my ultimate dream meal. If was on death row, this would be my last meal request ... for real.

The Mellow Mushroom location in Germantown (a suburb just outside of Memphis) didn't have Daiya listed on the menu yet. So if you go to a location in your hometown, be sure to ask if you don't see it listed. All the vegans with nearby Mellow Mushrooms need to order Daiya as often as possible so the pizza chain won't consider ever removing it from their offerings.

By the way, this post wouldn't be complete without a shout-out to vegan buds Lindsay and Jordan (I think Jordan was in a conversation across the table when I took this, hence the silly facial expression):

These two just moved to Chicago over the weekend, and we met up with them at Mellow Mushroom for a goodbye dinner. Lindsay was the one responsible for telling me Mellow Mushroom had Daiya! In fact, Lindsay is on top of all the vegan news ... I'm really gonna miss that bitch. I'm sure she'll be happier in Chicago though (land of vegan opportunity ... like delicious dinners at the Chicago Diner ... sigh).

If you're local (or visiting Memphis soon), you can find Mellow Mushroom at 9155 Poplar Ave. (901-907-0243). But if you're not in the Bluff City, you can find Mellow Mushroom locations in 16 states. Click here for a location guide.

Tuesday is the last day to enter my Artisana coconut butter giveaway. Click here for details.