♥At home cheesecake♥ #bluberrylemon #delightfullyvegan #cheesecakecravings #theducksbakingadventures #TBT

Today, the duck and I want to share the visual result of one of our past baking adventures. Truth be told, even though we usually improvise our own meals, when we bake, we don’t dare go without a recipe (our knowledge of the chemistry of baking is practically non-existent). Last summer, we wanted to eat bake a dairy-free cheesecake. This recipe from the fantastic Vegan Heaven blog looked simple enough for us to try out. Since the duck loves to experiment, we agreed that, as long as we stuck to the measurements, we might be able to create the exact cake we were craving: a lemon and blueberry cheesecake. The local grocery stores didn’t carry any lemon-flavored soy yogurt. So we added a pack of sweetened lemon peel and a few drops of lemon juice to our vanilla yogurt. We also used cream-flavored pudding powder instead of vanilla and swapped the raspberries in the original recipe for blueberries. The result was a surprisingly delicious (and omnivore-approved) German-style lemon and blueberry cheesecake, worthy of being shared alongside our images of some of the fancier outside foods we’ve eaten. 5/5 blueberries for the experience of baking a vegan cake that (in our opinion as dairy-skeptics) tastes even better than its dairy counterpart and for being able to share it with some of our favorite people ♡♥♡♥♡

At this point, the duck and I would like to thank nope, not Pam for encouraging us to share more photos of our at-home meals! And, if you’re wondering what makes a cheesecake German, here’s the duck and my take on it: There are numerous varieties of German cheesecake. Most of them sport a shortcrust base and rely on quark, rather than cream cheese, for the filling.

Snacks: Vegan pretzel chocolate

It’s no secret that the duck and I are obsessed with grocery shopping. As mildly miserly misers, we always know what is on sale at all local grocery stores. So, when we saw that Chocjes bars were offered at almost half their usual price one week, we knew it was finally time to try one. Chocjes is a vegan chocolate bar by Katjes, a German candy company known for licorice and gummy candy. A few years ago, they transitioned to only producing vegetarian and vegan products. Out of the three Chocjes varieties on sale, cookie lover, salty pretzel, and sea caramel, the duck and I didn’t even have to think about which one we wanted to try. We are obsessed with pretzels, after all (why else would we create an animation about them?). And we’ve just recently focused on a cookie flavor. Since we have only done one chocolate-related taste test this year, the duck and I saw this vegan chocolate as the perfect opportunity for another one of our super subjective chocolate reviews:

✳Vegan cookie box✳ #fancytokyosnacks #deliciousbakedgoods #carbsplease #inthemoodforveganfood #TBT

The duck and I rediscovered this picture on our phone the other day: About four years ago, when we were still quite new to Tokyo, our housemate brought a box of vegan cookies for us all to share. He got it at a Tokyo bakery called foodmood that specializes in beautiful and immensely delicious baked goods perfect for gifting or as omiyage. This mix of cookies, crackers, and granola tasted divine. And we felt extra fancy to be munching luxurious vegan cookies at home (I think this is the same box they are still occasionally selling these days – with peanut butter cookies, maple granola, chocolate-coconut cookies, nori-cashew crackers, ginger cookies, and black sesame sticks… and a serious price tag). If we ever make it back to Japan, the duck and I might actually invest in one of these fancy cookie boxes ourselves, and, ideally, share it with friends to literally pay it forward. 5/5 duck-shaped cookies for this amazing flavor experience and the opportunity to feel truly fancy. Thanks, old new housemate! ✳✧✳✧✳

When the duck and I first started putting these kinds of food posts on here, we did it as a bit of an inside joke because our friends knew that we weren’t the kind of people who would eat at fancy places and then post the aesthetically pleasing proof on Instagram. Well, as it turns out, we have started snapping photos in the few instances that we encountered photogenic food since. And we have come to mean it when we write that “we have started following @foodmoodshop on Instagram and are now obsessed with looking at all those pretty photos of cookies and cakes that they post.” I guess that’s like all those times I started using a word or phrase ironically, to later find it has snuck its way into non-ironic everyday conversation. Oh well…

Snacks: Vegan American style ice cream

Last week I reminisced about the hottest AC-less summer that the duck and I can remember. This week I want to write about another way to cool down when it’s hot outside: ice cream! When I was still good with milk, ice cream was a summer staple. I loved devouring the occasional tub of that extra creamy American style, preferably cookies and cream-flavored, ice cream. Unfortunately, that was the literal food that started my milk troubles some years ago. Gelato and frozen yogurt still worked for the duck and me for a while after, but these days, our ice-cold refreshment of choice when we’re out is sorbet (just to be safe). A side effect of not eating a lot of ice cream was the disappearance of our regular ice cream cravings which made encountering deep, beautifully bitter matcha soft serve on almost every street corner back when we were living in Japan decidedly more bearable. The duck and I had gotten used to life without ice cream until, some weeks ago, we saw that one of our favorite grocery stores, Aldi, had started selling vegan ice cream that looks just like the kind I was in love with many years ago. Of course, the duck and I had to throw our no ice cream lifestyles overboard and make this the subject of a subjective taste test – summer edition:

Oat Milk Matcha Latte ♥ #matchalove #mymilkisoatmilk #veganoptions #berlincafesarethebest #TBT

Last year, when friends were visiting Berlin, the duck and I suggested meeting at this cafe that we’d been meaning to check out for weeks which is known for its #famous smoothie shakes and hipster sandwiches. We entered Two Planets planning on getting a #David Hasslehoff because peanut butter ♥ but, unfortunately, they were out. So we accepted our fate and got a Matcha Latte, as we always do whenever we see it on the menu. This one we could order with oat milk, though, which is our favorite milk by far (I know it’s technically not milk, but for us it is). Best. Decision. Ever. We had a great time catching up, making new friends and recording a short video for our old friend M (whom the duck and I had profound conversations in Japanese and burgers with back when we lived in Tokyo) who knows the three of us and had no idea we were meeting up. Great times, great drink. 6/5 oat and matcha ducks ♪

Earlier this week the lovely Joy from Rabbithole Comics nominated us for a Sunshine Blogger Award. Thank you, Joy! The duck and I feel so honored!
As per our New Year’s Resolutions the duck and I are still super lazy and slow, so it will take us a while to think up our own questions and nominations (hopefully we will eventually). However, we decided that, for now, we could at least answer her questions in a little added bonus section of this (normally rather short) post (format):

☆ Falafel Burger ☆ #burgerbeauty #waytoendabusyday #agluttonsdelight #mykindahealthyfood #TBT

Do you remember the duck and my quote from way back in December? Well, turns out that, in a way, we actually did come back. This time, about ten weeks ago, after a loooong day of work, we decided to try out Ain Soph.ripple, a vegan burger place in Shinjuku, with wonderful company. And, what can I say, it had been way too long since the duck and I feasted on a burger, and even longer since our taste buds got to bathe in falafel with hummus, tomato, lettuce and sour cream; consequently we combined that – and a cup of tasty corn soup – to eat so much that we later had trouble making it to our train without rolling down the stairs we had just spent way too much time and, admittedly, energy climbing.
The falafel burger was glorious and, as our friends have assured us, the ripple cheese burger is just as great. I can’t wait to go back to this magical burger land! 5/5 super stuffed Ducks! ☆★☆★☆

That’s it for our burger-venture! Of course, a burger is not really super healthy, but the ‘vegan’ aspect helped us ignore that. Yay! Yet another healthy day in Tokyo!

⁓✧Macrobiotic Deli Plate✧⁓ #healthy #delicious #veggievariety #colorsoftherainbow #TBT

On our fancy adventure around Ginza the duck and I got to try yet another nice place for a wonderful lunch with wonderful company. Here is our precise and elaborate report on this exquisite experience.

Two months ago the duck and I had a nice lunch with our wonderful Ginza-guide at Chaya where we ordered this pretty little seasonal macrobiotic deli plate with lots of colorful vegetables in salad-, mash-, soup- and smoothie form.
Everything tasted great, but the mashed beets and the smoothie were our favorites! After eating all this healthy food, we felt energetic and at least ten years younger. Because of that we cannot help but award yet another 5/5 Ducks rating for healthy heartfelt happiness ♪

We’ve also been to the Chaya Restaurant in Shinjuku, but, to be honest, that one is a bit too fancay (also in terms of price) for us, compared to the Ginza restaurant and cafe with this nice urban flair to it.

☆ Green curry ☆ #sodelicious #accidentallyhealthy #curryislife #vegan #TBT

Now that the end of the year is nearing, it’s time to think about all the good food that the duck and I have eaten this year. This beauty of a meal was the first thing that came to mind!
When we meet friends for lunch our go-to food is curry – and this vegan version from Ain Soph. tasted heavenly! It’s been more than two months now that our taste buds could feast on this green goodness that seemed to have descended from the heavens straight onto our plate (I could have sworn that I faintly heard a choir of angels sing when I took the first bite – the duck heard it, too!). Anyway, because we love curry and this had a pleasant sourness to it and made us feel super healthy in an instant, we just have to give this 5/5 Ducks! (♥‿♥ ) ~♪

There is only one thing left to add (and I’ll be borrowing a little-known movie quote for this): I’ll be back!