Farm Sanctuary 30-Year Celebration Tour reaches Southern California, USA

"Big Maque" Sliders by Chef Dave Anderson of (the opening soon) Fresh Soul Restaurant...a cruelty-free no-beef patty, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a pretzel bun! 

Gene Baur is on a whirlwind tour to celebrate 30 years of Farm Sanctuary's work to help abused and neglected farm animals. We were lucky enough to catch him at his stop in Pacific Palisades, CA, USA this past Tuesday night, where the celebration included a gourmet vegan dinner by Chef Dave Anderson of Madeline Bistro fame (scheduled to open his new restaurant Fresh Soul in the fall of 2016!). The venue was gorgeous, the food was incredible, live music by Delfina was beautiful and moving, people we met were amazing, and the weather was absolutely perfect!  

Ryan's favorite appetizer of the evening -- potato blini with mushroom and vegan cream.  Wonderful smoked flavor!

A close second to the blini, in Ryan's opinion -- tofu cheese croutons with beet tartare.

One of the fresh, colorful, tasty salads at the buffet.

Actually, all of the passed hors d'oeuvres were great.  This was a phyllo puff with mushroom and cashew cheese inside.

Chardonnay cheese with, pear-glazed walnuts (if we remember correctly)  -- anyway, it was great!!

Catered food by Chef Anderson of Madeleine Bistro fame -- can't wait to visit Fresh Soul when it opens!

So much good food it barely fit on the plate...!

Mini chocolate chip chocolate ice cream sandwiches!

Dessert, too!!  Butterfinger cheesecake (vegan, of course)

All this great food was to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Farm Sanctuary, one of our favorite organizations.  Farm Sanctuary provides places where rescued farm animals can live out their lives in peace.  Their locations (Watkins Glen, NY; Orland, CA; Acton, CA) are open to the public, so please check them out!  Once you hug a cow, you'll never look at a steak the same way again.

Thanks for reading. Peace and love to all who live.

Susan & Ryan

Acoustic guitarist & vocalist Delfina performed beautiful and touching songs she composed in honor of animals, including one about a mother cow and her baby who are separated shortly after birth because the mother's milk is taken away to give to humans. We were so moved the music that we forgot to snap a pic, but here's a flyer for one of her upcoming performances.

Rescued dairy calf Safran when he was only two months old! At Farm Sanctuary in Acton, CA, USA.