Uh oh! Marshmallow Alert!!

Tragic discovery: good ol' Linnaea's serves Marshmallow Squares. As a cafe that is otherwise vegetarian, how could the animal parts in gelatin be overlooked? Sure, many vegetarians still eat marshmallows, but oftentimes people don't know that the gooey puffiness of those campfire favorites comes from animal hide, bones and hooves. I would hope that most people would be at least slightly disturbed at this realization and a little more hesitant to feed s'mores to their kids.

Hooves.

Sweet Earth Chocolates

http://www.sweetearthchocolates.com/
1445 Monterey St, San Luis Obispo

What a glorious, vegan chocolate-filled day Kit and I just had. We just got back from Sweet Earth Chocolates on Monterey Street, a Chocolat-themed chocolate sanctuary that uses almost 100% local, organic, fair trade ingredients. I'd say about 1/3 of their chocolates were vegan. Their vegan chocolates, including the luxurious Coconut Truffle ($1.50) and sexy Salted Caramel are soy-free, organic, and fair trade. I can't tell you how orgasmic the smooth coconut milk chocolate ganache inside of toasted coconut pieces was. I cannot describe the buttery-ness of the caramel, with dark chocolate covered in large chunks of sea salt. You'll have to see for yourself. It's always great to experience flavors you may not have had for awhile, as a vegan, and Sweet Earth Chocolates has it all--vegan turtles, peppermint patties, bark, and peanut butter cups. The owner, Eve, and her husband own the place, as well as Splash Cafe down the street. Eve provides golden customer service, and is obviously passionate about chocolate. I just want to stand in the store and inhale the smell of chocolate and watch Chocolat, which plays in the corner.

Yummy desserts at Linnaea's

For those of you on the hunt for your chocolate fix downtown, check out Linnaea's Cafe at 1110 Garden St. in SLO. Kudos to Mimi, the head baker, who continues to deliver with a classic chocolate cake, banana coconut cake (a little sweet for my taste), spice cake, and the occasional batch of chocolate-peanut butter cupcakes. There is one vegan almond ginger cookie, but it is a crispy lil sucker and sometimes you want a chewy cookie, right?

While you're down there, grab an iced double soy (or rice milk) mexicano (basically a mocha with cinnamon)--it will keep you going through all those hours of studying through finals...or stalking on facebook. Plus, you can always people-watch while you sip.

Exciting news: there's a bangin' new vegan and gluten-free carrot cake with roasted coconut, walnuts, and lemon frosting...OMGGG diviiiinnneeee
..it runs about $3.50 a slice--well spent.

Mimi, once again, you've outdone yourself. Props.

Embrace your inner sweet tooth!