Goodbye 2010

Adieu, adios, bye-bye, cheerio, ciao, godspeed, parting, so long, swan song- toodle-oo 2010!

I hate to start my post so cliche, really I do but- where the hell has 2010 gone??  I swear I blinked my eyes and, suddenly, it’s New Years Eve.  This is the post where I’m supposed to reflect on 2010, recanting my successes and failures. After which I’ll switch gears and move into what’s in store for me in 2011. Truth is, I don’t know what’s in store (yet), and the thought of recanting failures/successes just….well, it’d be boring wouldn’t it?

I mean, I suppose I could tell you about how we revamped our website.  I could talk about our new kick-ass vegan product reviews (goatz are cool) or our kick-ass guest contributors (guest authors are cool).  Or, can talk about winning the 2010 Veggie Award?  That was pretty. freaking. cool.

We could talk about our broken email system that affected months of emails.  Seriously, did you send me an email?  Did I ever respond?  No?  I didn’t get it.  I’m sorry.  Send it again. Please.

Maybe we should just stick to talking about some of the most popular posts of 2010.  There’s that Vegan Unification one, and that Candy Coated Veganism is giving me a bellyache one- both made top spots this year.  My vegan pallies love caffeine as much as I do, making Fall Ushers in Hidden Dairy Products one of the most read posts of all time.  When Bloomberg Businessweek talked about wealthy Power Vegans, we fired back with In Defense of the Power Vegans.  And when voracious-vegan-gate broke, we responded with Vegan Defenders talk back.  Ya’ll seem to like Angelina Jolie way more than the possible extinction of the bluefin tuna– and, strangely, you guys went wild when you read that Bob Barker donated $2.5 Million to PETA.  But one area of YdV was visited more than any other, read more than any other- Commercial Street.

Wow.  That is so awesome. Seriously.  Awesome.

Honestly, it’s all awesome.  YdV has been a work in progress during 2010, we’ve changed everything!  I’m looking forward to a new and shiny YdV in 2011.  I’m thankful ya’ll are with me.  But I said I wasn’t going to do a post about successes and failures, see how I got carried away (shaking head)?

I meant to start this post out by telling you to have a Happy New Year, so….do that.  I also wanted to say thank you.  Thank you for sticking around in 2010 while we were a mess.  Thank you for supporting us in the Veggie Awards.  Thank you for tweeting with me every day, for reading the site, for sharing it on Facebook.  Thank you for being an awesome supporter of YdV.  But most of all, thank you for being a vegan.  I know what it takes, what it means, and what you give to be a vegan.  Your compassion is changing how the world views animals.  I can’t thank you enough for all that you do.

Naw, man, I’m joking again.  I meant this post to be about vegan caramel corn, aka- vegan cracker jacks. After all, you’ll need an awesome vegan goodie to snack on while you wait for the ball to drop tonight, right?  Happy New Year Everyone! OX

Get the recipe, after the jump!

Vegan Caramel Corn – Vegan “Cracker Jacks”

• 1 cup unpopped popcorn
• Olive Oil (enough to coat bottom of pot)
• 1/2 cup shelled, roasted Virginia Peanuts (break halves apart)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3 tablespoons unsalted vegan butter
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°.  Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper (for easy cleanup).  Coat bottom of popping pot (large pot w/lid) with olive oil.  Add popcorn and pop.  Place on cookie sheet once popped.  Mix halved nuts in with the popcorn on the cookie sheet, forming a single layer.  In a separate pot, heat brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, vanilla, and maple syrup until bubbly and the sugar is dissolved.  Please be careful, hot sugar is SO HOT and can BURN you.  Stir gently!  Once done, drizzle over popcorn and peanuts.  Don’t worry about stirring just yet.  Place in oven.  Bake for 5 minutes.  Remove and GENTLY stir mixture, coating all sides.  Put back in oven for an additional 5 minutes.  Remove and stir.  Bake for a final 5 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before touching.

Enjoy!