DC is a latecomer to the cupcake war. It’s been raging in New York since Carrie Bradshaw introduced the world to cosmos and Magnolia Bakery. Blessedly, we’ve moved on from the pink drinks but the cupcakes remain.
Here, the cupcake war reached a frenzy in October and November 2008, when the Washington Post sampled cupcakes from Arlington to Georgetown to Shaw, in its effort to crown the King of Cupcakes.
All of which makes Yellow House very late to the game. But, our latest entrant refuses to fight fair. Word-of-mouth advertising. An intriguingly barren website. No storefront.
Enter the cupcake speakeasy.
Finding themselves victims of the economy, roommates Thuan, Ilana and Eric created Yellow House cupcakes to make ends meet. Their friends — and, increasingly, strangers — are finding themselves the beneficiaries of the roommates’ bad fortune. The three serve up cupcakes for $2 a piece at their monthly happy hour and continue to take orders all month long for a mere $20 per dozen. Among their monthly offerings is a vegan selection.
Although Yellow House has no intention of establishing a permanent location, this month’s cupcake happy hour was held in the roommates’ home: a delightful space that showcases the group’s creative personality and has clearly hosted some rockin’ theme parties. This month’s vegan offering is a chocolate cupcake filled with — wait for it — Thuan’s amazing, homemade raspberry jam, and sprinkled with a powdered sugar heart. (We immediately began pressuring her for a jam making class.)
Yellow House’s goodies surpass many of the city’s retail cupcake shops, and the fun of the hunt certainly adds to the experience. It seems that there’s a viable new contender in DC’s cupcake war. They’re bringin’ us cupcakes, guerilla style.
Things you should know before we start: Amber McDonald is a DC Vegan who became so about a year and a half ago after working with the Humane Society and reading about the similarities in emotions between dogs and cows. Viewing dairy farms equivalent to puppy mills, she started gradually cutting animal products out of her diet, beginning with dairy and beef, then pork, chicken, and finishing off with fish as the last one to go. Amber has recently drafted the legislation for a resolution to declare DC Meatless Mondays, working on getting restaurants and eventually the DC public school system to eliminate meat consumption on Mondays…CONTINUE READING
Should our dog and cat companions be vegan as well? This debate seems to be never ending in the vegan world because being the animal lovers that we are, we want what is best for our furry friends. I haven’t had to come to a conclusion because for now, I have a bird who loves to eat tofu (Seriously). However, I plan to adopt a dog in the near future. So, what should I do? From doing the research, it seems that dogs can receive the appropriate nutrients from a vegan diet since they are omnivorous. But, cats are carnivores and the transition over to a vegan diet must be slow and made with caution. If cats don’t have taurine in their diet then they could go blind or suffer heart disease. 
