Holiday parties and get-togethers are the perfect opportunity to try out a few new recipes (and possibly convert some of your meat-eating friends and loved ones). Here are a few easy vegan appetizer ideas to serve up this December.

Frosty’s Falafels

Though most people eat falafels as part of a main course, I think they make great appetizers. To get really creative, stick a large toothpick through three falafel balls stacked on top of each other, add humus eyes and a smile, and call it a falafel snowman.

Ingredients:

• 1 can of chickpeas, drained
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons flour
• Vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons cumin

Directions:

• Add chickpeas, onion, garlic, and cumin into a food processor or blender.
• Blend until relatively smooth and freeze the night before or in the morning.
• The next day, add plenty of oil to a hot frying pan.
• Add flour to the mixture and mix in with spoon.
• Roll the mixture into small balls.
• Fry on all sides until dark brown.
• Serve with humus and/or tahini.

Blitzer’s Bruschetta

Another crowd pleaser, bruschetta is easy to make and goes great with practically every meal. Italian food naturally incorporates Christmas colors (and, coincidentally, the colors of the Italian flag), so you don’t have to try too hard to call this holiday food.

The toppings should be added to the bread just before serving, or else the bread will be soggy. For a more tangy flavor, vinegar can be used as a substitute for or paired with the olive oil.

Ingredients:

• Lightly toasted bread of your favorite variety
• 3 large tomatoes, diced
• Salt
• Olive oil
• Oregano

Directions:

• Slice bread in pieces one inch thick.
• Place a spoonful of tomatoes on top of each slice.
• Next, drizzle a bit of olive oil on the tomatoes.
• Add a pinch of salt and a pinch of oregano.

Festive Fruit

If you’re running short on time, you can whip up this Christmas-colored fruit dish in a few minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of strawberries
• 6 kiwis
• 3 red apples
• 1 package of green grapes

Directions:

• Chop up kiwis, strawberries, and apples into bite-sized chunks.
• Pairing kiwis with strawberries and apples with grapes, arrange each set of fruits into holiday shapes like stars or Christmas trees.

Jasmine is a chronic traveler scouring the world’s streets for vegetarian and vegan street food. She is a guest blogger for My Dog Ate My Blog and a writer on accredited online universities for Guide to Online Schools.

Here are some cool things I’ve spotted:

For the Academic

• Nothing says love to a nerd like a fantasy or romance novel (speaking on behalf of my fellow lit. nerds, of course). Some of the obv. choices would be Pride and Prejudice, The Last of the Mohicans, The Princess Bride (notice all of these have DVD counterparts?! yea-yea!). If romance lit. makes you want to vomit, maybe try Pride and Prejudice and Zombies?
• A Macbook cover that makes it look like you’re lugging around an ancient hardback. Check it out here.

For the Chic One

• Check out MadebyGirl’s suggestions here. She is a graphic designer and has a rad etsy shop with “Love” artwork.

For the Foodie

• Bake adorable Valentine’s Day shapes with King Arthur Flour “Linzer Cutting Set” here (gift idea via Feb. issue of Vegetarian Times)
• Cook heart-shaped pancakes with a heart-shaped pancake mold from cooking.com here (gift idea via Feb. issue of Vegetarian Times)
• Bake tiny heart-shaped tarts with the Nordic Ware French Heartlette Pan from cooking.com here (gift idea via Feb. issue of Vegetarian Times)
• Bake cookies in letters that spell out “Love” with Off the Beaten Path’s nine-piece Love Cookie Cutter Set from cookiecutter.com here (gift idea via Feb. issue of Vegetarian Times)
• Bake up a flower-shaped bundt cake with the Nordic Ware Chrysanthemum Bundt Pan from amazon.com here (gift idea via Feb. issue of Vegetarian Times)
• Check out Target’s Valentine’s Day selection including heart-shaped mixing bowls and plates (aww!) here

For the Sweet-Tooth

• Check out Cosmo’s Vegan Shoppe’s ideas here, including Sjaak’s vegan chocolate (see Sjaak’s official site here for their own Valentine’s Day options).

For those w/ an Endless Budget (or price-defying ambitions)

• Book a flight to Beijing, China to visit their newly opened Chocolate Wonderland. damn. They should take the Biggest Loser contestants there to test their will power (Oh, and I can just picture the reaction if I were to show up *The Cranky One walks up to Chocolate Wonderland employee* “Hi, um, excuse me, is all this chocolate vegan?”)…

Home-Made Gift Ideas

• Um, if we’re talking arts and crafts, I can’t really help you in this department lol. My craft skills involve crayons, poster-board and an etch-and-sketch. So, giggle with me at bonding with Chandler from Friends over the agony of “making the presents” here
• But if we’re talking BAKING — then bake these vegan sugar cookies here! If you’re interested in veganizing a recipe, try using a “flax egg” or Ener-G Egg Replacer egg substitute in place of eggs. I used Ener-G for this maple pumpkin bread recipe and the bread came out amazing! Check out Post Punk Kitchen’s vegan baking substitutions list here for more ideas.

The boyfriend and I are getting a shared gift — a wii. Hey, as with most things, I truly condone the relativist sentiment — to each her own. Didn’t someone say if you wii together, you stay together? No? I’m making stuff up again? Eh well! We’re also going to cook a nice dinner though we’re still dreaming up our menu — I’ll keep you posted if you’re at a loss for menu ideas.

If you’re a broke-ass this Valentine’s Day (by “broke-ass” I generally mean “fellow grad student,” affectionately), there’s no need to enter the red threat zone of your bank account. I think hand-written notes and self-illustrated cards are way underrated and truly meaningful. If you’re not a poet and want to be, read this for some inspiration. Or, you could always stick to the “roses are red, violates are blue” starting point. Or steal from one of the greatest with this line…
[photo cred]
That would be Ralph from The Simpson’s. You’ve gotta remember that episode!

And, dude, Valentine’s Day is sooo not just a couple’s holiday. I still wish I could convince some of my girlfriends to do a seance with me like Phoebe, Monica and Rachel did on Friends where they burned pictures of their exes and almost burnt the apartment down, causing a barrage of hot firemen to come to their rescue. I’m just sayin’…

Some of my girls and I are going to go see Dear John next week. Are we lame for wanting to see a stereotypical sappy chick flick involving lovers separated by geography and war? Damn straight and I don’t mind a tad — it’s got Channing Tatum!

Shameless Shout-Out

Happy Birthday to papa of the Cranky One (and two other cranky children)!

Give-away Round Up

• Win a year subscription to VegNews and some other cool loot here for Kailey’s One-Year Blogiversary here
• Win an Orient Watch here

What are your Valentine’s Day plans, if any?

<3,

The Cranky One