Locals Share Their Secretly Vegan Holiday Gift Ideas

This year, all of the gifts under my family's tree from me will be vegan. Does this A.) Make me a crappy sister/daughter/niece because I'll be slyly pushing an animal-loving agenda on my family disguised in hand wrapped caramels and fancy dark chocolate gift sets or B.) Give me the perfect...

By Terra Sullivan

December 23, 2011

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This year, all of the gifts under my family's tree from me will be vegan. Does this A.) Make me a crappy sister/daughter/niece because I'll be slyly pushing an animal-loving agenda on my family disguised in hand wrapped caramels and fancy dark chocolate gift sets or B.) Give me the perfect response to a loved one who wants to share their recipe for Beer Can Chicken or discuss the wonders of baconnaise with me?

Whatever the case (and let's just assume it's the latter of the two) we can agree that this time of year around family can be difficult enough to navigate without adding any heated discussions of the "this meatloaf had a mom" variety. Enter: The Secretly Vegan Gift Guide.

We checked in with resident vegans from Sublime, Hippocrates Health Institute and Choices Vegan Cafe to see what gifts they'll be getting for their family and friends, both veg and non-veg alike.

Sublime Restaurant Manager, Jeremy Shock: "La Parra Saugivnon Blanc or La Parra Cabernet Sauvignon tops my list of vegan must-haves. It's one of the few wines that is certified vegan, imported by AMG Organic Imports in Miami."

Sublime Culinary Team Leader John Lenhard: "A Vitamix blender. It's pricier than ordinary blenders but it's well worth the money. It makes soups, sauces, vegan cheeses, raw items, flours, desserts and the list goes on. It makes life in a vegan kitchen much easier."

Sublime Manager Lori Kirby: "A nice collection of easy to find staples that any kitchen can use like an assortment of quality beans (garbanzo, pinto, black), quinoa, nutritional yeast and Bragg Liquid Aminos."

Hippocrates Health Institute's Ester Libes: "A vegetable Spirooli Slicer is a great gift. It's really popular here for raw zucchini pastas."

Choices Vegan Cafe creator Alex Cuevas: "Perhaps a three day juice fast gift for a loved one."

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