caroleena2 (http://vegweb.com/index.php?action=profile;u=98687) personally delights me to no end. In addition to giving some of the best, most well thought out answers to the Superstar VegWebber questionnaire, she says that since joining VegWeb her egg and dairy consumption has gone way down. This warms my heart and makes me want to hug puppies and give away money in the streets! Okay, maybe not that drastic, but how cool is she??? caroleena2 is quickly becoming one of my favorite VW'ers and I think you'll see why when you read below. Man, why is everyone on VegWeb so awesome? Seriously, why?? It's a mystery of the universe!

VegWebber since? November-ish 2007, but lurked for a good 2 years or so before that.

Vegetarian, Vegan or ? Ovo-lacto vegetarian for 14 years, but I've cut way down on dairy and egg consumption since being introduced to Vegweb!

Where do you call home? Currently? Kansas City, MO. But, I am originally from Philadelphia and spent 26 years all around the mid-Atlantic seaboard.

What do you do when you're not on VegWeb? I'm riding the tenure track as an Assistant Professor, so these days the answer is work, work, and more work. When I'm not doing that, I'm scoping out farmers markets, cooking (of course), working out (I love yoga and going to the gym, or even just a DVD if time is tight), playing the viola in a local orchestra, and talking with family and friends both locally and spread out throughout the world.

Do you have blog or website? Pretty much just Facebook.

Do you tweet? Nope

One unique thing should know about you? I kill plants in a horrible way.  I would love to grow my own veggies—or even just my own herbs—but I simply cannot. They die. I think it's hereditary, as my mom is the same way.

What's the best thing about being vegan? (if you are!) I'm not vegan, but my two favorite things about vegan cooking are 1) experimenting with food and surprising people when you tell them it's vegan and 2) being able to lick the spoon/bowl while baking! (OK, really the last one is the biggest!)

Favorite romantic recipe on VegWeb?  Is it horribly UNromantic that the first thought out of my head with this was cornbread (and more specifically, the Amazingly Delicious Holiday Cornbread)? This was one of the first Vegweb recipes that I regularly cooked for my husband, since he really loves cornbread. And it's still a staple in big meals I make just for the two of us. So not romantic in a sexy way, but more in a cute, I-know-you way? Maybe?

Favorite recipe on VegWeb to make for non-vegans to show them how amazing vegan food can be? Tofu Pumpkin Pie

Favorite holiday recipe on VegWeb? Lately: vegan green bean casserole. Before I started posting on Vegweb I made a small ton of Christmas cookies using a few different recipes, and that was lots of fun too.

One thing you wish you could make vegan but haven't succeeded at yet? I'm still perfecting vegan quiche. I have made ones for the past two Easters and I can never quite get the consistency right, although the taste is quite good. Also I have yet to make a really great homemade veggie burger.

#1 Cooking secret/tip? Find ways to enjoy the whole process, from shopping to serving. I find I enjoy the dishes so much more if I start out with stuff I purchased at the farmers markets, just because I like the experience of shopping there so much more than at the supermarket. (I imagine for many others this means cooking with what you grow yourself but, well, see the unique thing about me.) At the other end of the process, I make a point to use the "good dishes" at least a few times a year, because they're so much more enjoyable with delicious food on them.

Best music to cook by? Anything!!  This past Thanksgiving it was the 24-hour Christmas station. On Easter it was Tori Amos. Other than that it's usually my Ipod, which is lots of chick-alternative and classical with some jazz and other stuff thrown in, or an alternative station on XM.

Three people you'd most like to have dinner with? My husband, who is currently spending the year overseas, my grandmother, who passed away a few years ago but who I would love to cook veggie for, and either of my two best friends from junior high who became veggie when I did but with whom I've lost touch. (If they both showed up that would be four, not three, but that is okay).

All time favorite restaurant? Way too hard to decide! Oh, here's one… During a 4-hour layover in JFK this summer I went to the Happy Buddha in Flushing Chinatown and had the most amazing mock duck ever! Really, I like any place that can give me something that I can't be bothered to make for myself at home. Amazing mock duck is definitely on that list. The vegan cashew cheese at Eden Alley Cafe in KCMO is also on that list, so I'll add them too to have a local restaurant represented.

French fries or ice cream? French Fries. Despite several references here to baking I have a very small sweet tooth.

Soy milk, rice milk, almond milk? Soy milk for the protein content.

Tofu, tempeh, or seitan? All three! If given the choice I'd pick tempeh because I love it and I don't get it nearly often enough.