Candice is a foodie through and through, so creating vegan versions of her favorite meat or dairy-heavy recipes gives her a lot of excitement and satisfaction. She is a very passionate animal activist and foodie and loves that she was able to turn both her passions into a thriving business with meaning and purpose.
I started the blog and YouTube channel after I made the decision to go vegan. I found that (8 years ago) there weren't any fun, exciting, indulgent recipes and that the vegan world was very much aligned with health, wellness, and extreme-diets, instead of simply being a compassionate way of living. I saw a hole in the industry for delicious, indulgent and, often, junk-food-like dishes.
I had a very unique childhood. My dad was in the Canadian Armed Forces based in Germany and that's how he met my German mother. I grew up traveling between Canada and Germany on a regular basis but really identify with the European culture, lifestyle, and, of course, food.
I grew up on simple foods made with heart and soul. For example, when we ate pizza, we went to a pizzeria, we never ordered in, and the pizza was real, Italian-style pizza made by Italians, and my meals were very traditional. Breakfast was always homemade wheat bread or German pretzels with cheese, honey, or jams, and lunch was a hot meal, usually soups, pastas, or the like, always with a fresh salad, and ingredients my Omi and Opa grew in their garden. I became very picky with ingredients at a very early age. Our dinners were very similar to our breakfasts--light but hearty, and eaten very early in the day.
My favorite meal growing up was German-style, super-thin pancakes (not crepes) with powdered sugar and jam. My Omi made the best pancakes in the world. They were the size of a large dinner plate, and it didn't matter what time of day it was--when she asked me what I wanted to eat, it was always pfannkuchen. To this day, I still have a very emotional connection to German pancakes, and eating them brings back many childhood memories.
I wear a backpack everywhere I go. I am a minimalist, so my bag is never very full, unless I've just gone grocery shopping. I always carry my laptop, 2 hard drives, phone, multiple vegan snacks, lipstick, a wallet, and a notebook.
In terms of kitchen essentials, I can't live without my stand mixer. I make everything from homemade seitan to pizza dough and ice cream in that thing.
I also cannot live without my cast-iron pan. It is heavy, deep, and oh-so-pretty! I use it on the stove as a frying pan, but can also bake in it! It also photographs well, making for easy, pretty food photography.
Luckily, because I'm vegan, I haven't had to be exposed to many odd foods. But, the best food I've ever had was from a 2 Michelin star restaurant in Spain. There was a union strike, so we were able to get in last-minute and had the entire restaurant and all the Chefs to ourselves.
The Chef created a personalized, 13-course vegan molecular gastronomy meal with wine pairings, which included liquid mushrooms and deconstructed apples. It was the best food I've ever eaten.
Being able to leave a corporate, traditional 9-to-5 career, and create a business with a meaning for social good. I wake up every day with a purpose and drive, and it feels great.
My dream kitchen is a minimalistic, all-white granite kitchen with copper or mixed metal accents and hardware. It would have tall pantry-like cupboards to hide all the appliances and ingredients and ideally have a large, antique rolling ladder to reach the tight spots. Think Belle from Beauty and the Beast and how she slides across the library shelves, haha. It also would have a huge resto-size gas stove with a large copper hood and exposed brick backsplash.
I would describe my style as clean and modern with a touch of antique charm.
Spent in bed eating pastries and drinking mimosas, falling in and out of sleep.
High-quality tequila.
Spending way too much on gourmet food products, like high-end jams and jellies, oils, and exotic spices.
To teleport because I want my travel time back, haha.
I love everything about lasagna, from the cheese sauce to the meat sauce and overall sounds of “OMG THIS IS SO GOOD” that my stomach makes!
Just be yourself. I started YouTube trying to be very professional, and to mimic the cooking shows I saw on TV. The end result was a show that I didn't enjoy and that didn't reflect who I was as a person. Create content that you enjoy and chances are many other people will also enjoy it! Let your personality shine, and then create content consistently!
