Baseball

Welcome to my son's newest passion! Shmoo started Coach Pitch Softball this season and the team's second Big Game is tonight. Hubby and I both observed that we would have wailed in misery if our parents had made us play baseball (we're more the library/chess club crowd), but shmoo says wistfully, "I wish we could have softball practice every single day!"

So take shmoo out to the ball game with an Yves Veggie Dog on a whole wheat bun and a small ketchup on the side. The baseball is a Zucchini-Raisin Muffin from The Vegetarian Family Cookbook by Nava Atlas -- a whole wheat muffin filled with zucchini, applesauce, walnuts, and flax. I frosted the muffin with a basic white icing and piped on baseball stitching using icing tinted with natural food coloring. And I couldn't resist throwing in some (yes, it's vegan!) Cracker Jack, complete with a Surprise Inside.

Speaking of baseball, are you looking for a vegan baseball glove? Target carries inexpensive vinyl baseball gloves for kids (in pink, even!). And if you're looking for a top-of-the-line finest-of-the-fine all-vegan glove, visit Carpenter Trade.

Verdict: This was a fun lunch, and shmoo loved the baseball muffin. He had never heard of Cracker Jack, so I had to sing him the song and explain what it was. 5 home runs.

P.S. Tomorrow is yet another noon release -- see you Wednesday!