Greetings from Cupcakefest 2010

Cupcakefest. Noun. A day of music and vegan cupcakes to benefit Passaic Animal Shelter held annually by Sweet Avenue Bake Shop in Rutherford, New Jersey.



Flashback to last year's festivities. Now to this year's:

Donations of food and supplies. Have unwanted bedding and towels? Bring them to your local animal shelter.


For the Animals Sanctuary, located in Blairstown, New Jersey, was on hand.


Wear your love for animals.

Check out Compassion Over Killing's Easy Vegan Recipes. Find everything from an egg-free scramble, French toast and carrot muffins, "chicken" salad sandwiches and Sloppy Joe's, and apple enchiladas and chocolate peanut butter pie.

There were free mini cupcakes outside (chocolate and red velvet). Inside, the shop was more crowded than I'd ever seen it. It was great to see a humane business flourishing.

Modern science has veganized Snickers and Milky Way bars.


Cheers! margarita and piña colada cupcakes, $3.50 each. I sampled both. Two paws up! Heck, four paws up!

Two of my favorite summer flavors, lavender lemon and lemon raspberry, also $3.50 each (prices vary depending on flavor).


How I feel after eating a vegan cupcake from Sweet Avenue Bake Shop.

Cupcakefest: Music, Doggies and Free Cupcakes!

A little rain didn't deter animal lovers from enjoying the festivities at Sweet Avenue Bake Shop's Cupcakefest 2009 in Rutherford, NJ.

Why? To benefit four-legged friends like Chico.

Chico is up for adoption from the Liberty Humane Society, who was collecting monetary donations and supplies. I brought along some cat litter from Trader Joe's. Did you know June is Adopt-a-Shelter Cat Month?

Free mini-cupcakes!!! I only ate one of these. Okay, two.

Flavors very daily at the vegan cupcakery's shop. I was there on Saturday. In order of deliciousness: Little Cutie, Strawberry Fields, and Carrot Cake, all $3.

Vegan Cupcakes and Activism

Remember that scene in Chocolat when Juliette Binoche's dinner party guests (even the dog) are all devouring their meal in a moment of unbridled food ecstasy? That was me at vegan cupcakery Sweet Avenue Bake Shop on Sunday.

Flavors vary daily. Lemon Raspberry (lemon cake, lemon frosting and raspberry preserves), and Mocha Madness (chocolate cake with mocha frosting), both $3.

To go: Lemon Raspberry, Peanut Butter Chip, Lavender Lemon, all $3, and Sexy Sadie (Red Velvet), $2.50. Yes, I shared.

While there, I dropped off some Farm Sanctuary literature.

Lit dropping is a super easy form of advocacy. Animals rights groups don't have the budget of the multi-national food giants and big agribusiness, so it's up to us to help spread their message of compassion to the masses. My friends at Farm Sanctuary's ACT (Advocacy Campaign Team) hooked me up with this literature. Consider dropping literature from them or your favorite animal rights groups. PETA also offers a great selection, including a monthly leafleting pack and literature in languages such as Spanish, French and Japanese. Cruelty in any language is unacceptable.

Visit Sweet Avenue Bake Shop, 153 Park Ave., Rutherford, NJ. Closed Mondays. Flashback to my first visit there.

Mark your calendars: Cupcakefest, a day of cupcakes and music, will be held on Saturday, June 13th, in Lincoln Park in Rutherford. Bring your donations of pet food, litter, and toys for the Liberty Humane Society in Jersey City, NJ.