Fun Stuff :: Leslie Durso

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Behind the Scenes at Cupcake Wars

By Leslie · Comments (8) · March 5th, 2012

I hope you all enjoyed last night’s first ever Vegan Cupcake Wars—a show I was so honored to be a part of! The challenge posed to the vegan bakers was to create the ultimate array of vegan cupcakes fitting to debut at the Green Festival in Los Angeles. In case you missed Sunday’s show, the episode will be available soon on FoodNetwork.com. I had so much fun appearing as a guest judge! Today I thought I’d give you a little peek behind the scenes to see what goes on and what it was like tasting 30 cupcakes!

: Leslie Durso, Vegan Guest Judge of Cupcake Wars

I arrived at 6:30am and was escorted to my dressing room for wardrobe, hair, and make-up. I was so lucky to have my favorite Dean Roybal from Planet Salon do my hair and make-up He used all AVEDA products on me which were, of course, vegan.

At about 8am I was escorted on set, met the host Justin Willman and the other permanent judges Candace Nelson and Florian Bellanger. They were super nice!

And here was my view for most of the day:

This really wasn’t like any other set I had ever been on! Watching the contestants run around making their cupcakes… I don’t know how they do it! It was so stressful just to watch. I was sure happy to be sitting on the other side of the judges table.

We filmed all day and to answer the question you all have been asking, yes, I really did eat all of those cupcakes, plus a few dozen more! Such a sugar rush! I’m not sure how Candace and Florian do it everyday! More than 12 hours and 30 cupcakes later, we wrapped; it was truly a day of sweet indulgence but also quite an enlightening food television experience and one I hope to have more of!

**SPOILER ALERT**

The following weekend everyone at Green Fest LA got to experience and taste the winners cupcakes. Here I am with the winner Stephanie Sparkles from Bliss Cakes and her winning display:

PS if you like my dress it came from my friend Kris’s adorable shop in Manhattan Beach called Bella Beach! And here we are shooting a little promo clip for the show (how beautiful do these cupcakes look??):

It was such a fun experience and I have to thank Food Network and everyone involved in having me on the show! Be sure to catch me LIVE on stage at the GreenFest NYC on April 21 & 22nd, EarthDay Weekend!

xoxo

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Categories : adventures, featured, Fun Stuff

Restaurant Week 2012

By Leslie · Comments (0) · January 18th, 2012

It’s that time of year! If you live in a major city, chances are, you can participate in restaurant week! The cities top restaurants offer a 3 course lunch or dinner at a discounted price. It’s the perfect opportunity to check out a restaurant you’ve been curious about or treat yourself to a place that’s been out of your price range. I do recommend calling ahead of time to see if they are also doing a vegetable tasting. Most restaurants will happily accommodate veggie diners Here are links to some of the restaurant weeks happening all over the country:

New York City Jan. 16th to Feb. 10th

Chicago Feb. 17th to 26th

Los Angeles Jan. 22-27th and Jan 29th to Feb. 3rd

San Diego Jan. 15th to 20th

Baltimore Jan. 20th to 29th

Atlantic City March 4th to 10th

Charleston Jan. 12th to 20th

Pittsburgh Jan. 16th to 22nd

Philadelphia Jan. 22nd to 27th and Jan. 29th to Feb. 3rd

Boston March 18th to 23rd and 25th to 30th

Denver Feb. 25th to March 9th

Nashville Jan. 16th to 22nd

Charlotte Jan. 20th to 29th

Kansas City Jan. 20th to 29th

Oakland Jan. 20th to 29th

Definitely check out your cities website for more options and updates!

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Categories : Fun Stuff

Veggie Dreamgirl Does The Taste Awards

By Leslie · Comments (0) · January 16th, 2012

The other night I had the privilege of attending what can only be viewed as The Oscars of the Foodie World! The TASTE AWARDS, or TASTY Awards as everyone calls it, is the premier broadcast awards show celebrating the year’s top honors in food, fashion, and home lifestyle programs on Television, in Film, Online, and on Radio. It was a Veggie Dreamgirl’s dream come true to float among some of the top chefs and tastemakers in the biz.

The guy in the snazzy suit I walked the red carpet with, who also presented at this year’s Tasty Awards, is none other than the wildly popular Fabio Viviani. You might know him from Food Network’s Top Chef and Top Chef All-Stars, or his newly launched cooking show Chow-Ciao now airing on Yahoo! Fabio is a foodie force – I’m going to need some serious energy to keep up with him. Can’t tell you too much, but we are currently collaborating on a new project which fuses the best of both our worlds.

Special congrats to all the winners of the evening – I’m listing a few of my faves!

Tastemaker of the Year: The Chew

The Pioneer Award: Ming Tsai, Lidia Bastianich

Outstanding Inspiration: Steve Jobs

Outstanding Passion: Debi Mazar

Outstanding Entertainer: Stanley Tucci.

You can follow Fabio @FabioViviani and the Taste Awards @TastyAwards

PS Special shout out to my girl Briana for putting together my outfit super last minute! I love this Naven dress!! So sad I had to give it back

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Categories : Fun Stuff

Answers To Nothing

By Leslie · Comments (6) · November 30th, 2011

Answers To Nothing is coming to theaters this weekend!!! ATN is a film I’m in with the fabulous Dane Cook, Elizabeth Mitchell, Julie Benz, Erik Palladino, Miranda Bailey, and Barbara Hershey. Aja Volkman (lead singer of all time fav band Nico Vega) is also in it singing some incredible music!

It’s the little independent movie that could! We’ve all worked so hard on it and it’s finally getting out there for the world to see! Check out the official Answers To Nothing website for exact times and places where the movie is playing. Please, please, please go see it to support independent films (and it’s really good!!).

I’ll be going to screening of it this weekend in NYC so if you are in the city, follow me on twitter to see which ones I’ll be at!

Thanks so much in advance and PLEASE share with your friends!

Here is the trailer (If you watch really carefully you can spot me in my scene with Elizabeth Mitchell):

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Categories : Fun Stuff

I Decided To Adopt!

By Leslie · Comments (2) · November 6th, 2011

I Decided To Adopt!

Her name is Victoria. And I’ve fallen hard for her. Isn’t she lovely? Very excited to be working with Farm Sanctuary to promote their “Adopt-A-Turkey” program. I’ll let them deliver the harsh facts on what happens around this time of the year, every year. For now, I just wanted to share my exciting news about my new adopted Turkey.

I’ll let you know when my un-Turkey holiday recipes will be on their site. In the meantime, won’t you visit them and consider your own adoption?

And speaking of Thanksgiving, I’m very excited to be contributing to the wonderful eco world of Mother Nature Network or mnn.com – with my first feature: “How To Welcome A Vegetarian To Your Thanksgiving Table” – love it if you could comment on it, whether you’re a veggie or not.

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Categories : Fun Stuff

My Day at Green Fest LA

By Leslie · Comments (5) · November 1st, 2011

Green Festival happened this past weekend in Los Angeles downtown at the convention center. I had such a blast at this event! If you missed it, you definitely need to mark your calendars for next years event! And if you happen to be in the bay area, the San Francisco Green Festival is coming up November 12th and 13th. Here are some pics of me from this past weekend

Here I am hosting the "Good Food Stage":

There was so much amaaaaazing food happening at the festival on stage and off! Loads of my favorite restaurants and caterers had booths with vegetarian and vegan delights.

Here I am with one of my new bff's Brian Au who did a fabulous raw chocolate cake demo:

I also emceed the eco fashion show as well and got to wear this gorgeous vintage sari from Raksa Soul:

With over 200 vendors there, I found so many neat new products! I can't wait to share them all with you!! I'm sure some will be featured in this years "Things I Love: Holiday Edition"! Stay tuned veggies!

PS thank you to my friend Joanna for coming along and taking so many fabulous pics!

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Categories : Fun Stuff

Green Festival Los Angeles

By Leslie · Comments (3) · October 29th, 2011

Come join me this weekend at Green Festival Los Angeles! It's happening Saturday and Sunday at the convention center. With hundreds of exhibitors and speakers, there will be something for everyone. You know you'll find me by the food stage In fact, I'll be emceeing it as well as the eco fashion show. So come by and say, "hi!" I'd love to see you! xo -L

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Categories : eco style, Fun Stuff

Get Vegucated

By Leslie · Comments (1) · October 28th, 2011

When I heard the Vegucated tour was coming to Los Angeles, I knew I had to go. I grabbed my fellow veggie friend Fiona and we headed to the premiere.

I had read about Marisa Miller Wolfson (writer/directer) and all the amazing work she does in the vegetarian community before and I couldn’t wait to see what she had to say in a film… I was not disappointed! Marisa delivers a film that is not only educating, but hilariously funny. Yeah, I know, how do you make a movie about veganism funny, but somehow she does! The film follows three average New Yorkers who volunteer to go vegan for six weeks. Marisa cast the movie perfectly! The three characters Tesla, Brian and Ellen are very easy to relate to and most importantly keep it light and are funny. Which is very difficult to do with the films content.

Check out the Vegucated website for details about when the film will be coming to your city.

The premiere was so much fun! We got to eat so many fabulous vegan delights! My favorite vegan restaurant in LA, Sun Cafe was there serving canapes and kale smoothies (which are out of this world!) If you live in Los Angeles and you haven’t been here, you are missing out on the best raw vegan food I’ve ever had!

There were also delicious treats by Obsession Confection Disorder, So Delicious, Earth Cafe, and Frey wines. Such a fabulous evening!

Make sure you check out the movie!!

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Categories : eco style, Fun Stuff

Inspired by Art {giveaway}

By Leslie · Comments (14) · October 24th, 2011

Inspiration… it's really all over if you are open to it. For me, foodspiration can come from just about anywhere. It could be a walk through the farmers market, a color palette for a party, going through my Grandmothers old recipe box, or even art at a museum. In fact, I highly encourage you to look for inspiration at museums and galleries. Painting techniques have long inspired many chefs when plating their food. It's not uncommon to see paint brushes, squeeze bottles and other artists tools in the kitchen. Even if you are not into "fancy pants" plate presentations, art can evoke a memory or a dream.

This painting takes me back to Italy in seconds and immediately I can taste all the glorious sauces, pastas, and pizzas. The color palette makes me want to create a big warm pasta dish with tomatoes and greens. Having an Italian heritage makes me dream of what my life would have been like if I grew up in Italy versus the United States…

The second I saw this photo my mind wandered back to times I spent in France eating croissants and macarons (which is really the staple of my diet whenever I visit France!) I went there for the first time with my oldest friend Jennifer when we were eighteen. We were so young, but we thought we were so cool. I experimented eating just about anything I saw. We literally wanted to drink up Paris and experience all it had to offer.

I love this photo of spice sacks. I think it was taken in Morocco, but it really could be anywhere in the world. I love the experiences of the senses when you go to a spice market. Smells dance in your mind creating new flavor combinations. Spice markets are a little harder to find here in the US, but see if you your local farmers market has one or an import shop.

Have you ever been inspired by art? Do you want to be inspired by art? It could win you a $50 gift card to art.com. Which just so happens to be one of my favorite places for inspiration. I found these three pictures there and with thousands to choose from, you'll be inspired as well!

A winner will be randomly drawn on Friday October 28th 2011. Open to US residents. And as always bonus points for facebooking and tweeting about this giveaway Make sure to tag @veggiedreamgirl

Congratulations to Caitplusate for winning this giveaway!!

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Categories : Fun Stuff

Link Award

By Leslie · Comments (3) · October 14th, 2011

I've never done one of these things before, but when your sister in law tags you in one, I guess you do it So thank you Kelly. (PS Kelly's blog is a fabulous documentation of her family and parenting adventures) I'm suppose to choose blog posts that fit all of these categories and share then with you… Here you go:

Most beautiful - Well not sure about beautiful… but I guess this is one of my favorite food photos. It's of my white wine and peach sangria. It was one of my first posts using my new photo software.

Most popular - hands down has to be any post I write about veggie burgers or mac n' cheese…

Most controversial - Are my posts really controversial?? I'm not sure how to answer this one… I'd say the post where I decided my top five favorite vegetarian restaurants in LA. Not so much controversy, but lots of discussion!

Most helpful - I can't tell you how many times I get emails about how to cut onions

Most surprisingly successful - Who knew so many people would be interested in Mexican Lasagna??

Most under-rated - I guess my peach pancakes… they didn't get that much love, but I'm telling you it is seriously the best way I have ever discovered to make pancakes! And you can use any fruit or none at all.

Most pride-worthy - Probably any of my posts where I have recreated family recipes, but this one in particular

Now I'm supposed to pass this on to six other bloggers… There are so many blogs I love! My sister Lisa suggested my sister in law so they are out, but here are some of my best friends (in alphabetical order):

Ashley's Coco Rose Events blog and the soon to be SilverlakeMom

Autumn's Move Lifestyle

Jenn's Way of the Wong

Jenny's Dessert Darling

Lynn's The Actors Diet

Tania's Hit It and Quit

xoxo