Hi y'all!
(Intro: vegan femme recently transplanted from the deep south to LA, so my head and waistline have been exploding with the abundance of completely brazen and out-in-the-open vegan stuff here.)
If you are in the SoCal/Los Angeles area, there are a few vegan and vegetarian meetup groups that meet regularly and have quite the respectable turnout:
Vegan Drinks is the biggest:
http://www.meetup.com/vegandrinks/
Vegan/Veggie Women's Meetup:
http://www.meetup.com/Vegan-Ladies-Meet-Up/
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The newest cookbook to my collection is the
American Vegan Kitchen and it has been pretty reliable when it comes to home-cookin' like foods. Call me a less evolved vegan, but I still fancy a good, greasy Hamburger Helper recreation now and again.
xosqueak