Bites of the day

I actually cooked today. I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. I made a baked pasta primavera with leftover Alfredo sauce from the other night, rotini noodles, carrots, spinach, sauteed mushrooms, some grated parmesan and a lovely provolone cheese melted on top and a sprinkling throughout. Seasoned, mixed together, and topped with cheese; it baked to lovely golden browned top. More a decadent treat than an everyday occurrence. I'll probably stay simple for dinner like a salad. Yum.

Plans for my birthday have been in discussion. Since we were little birthdays have always been celebrated with a family dinner of our choosing. Sometimes we go out, sometimes it is something more at home. My birthday dinner discussions often include a sometimes heated discussion about meat being included. I get the whining about being fair to everyone else and how you can't have a family meal without meat, blah, blah, blah. I'm not really surprised. It would just be nice if once there was a sit down meal where I didn't feel like I was eating around everyone else. Somehow, my brother's dislike of spinach is the same as my not eating meat in their eyes. Oh, to live in a world where I'm not the exception. We seem to have come to an agreement (no one else in my family has to negotiate their birthday dinner) of a fondue night complete with grilled kabobs (so I can have vegetable ones and they can have their meat) and a salad.

We're still in the midst of hunting season. Bah! I asked them to be respectful of me by not hunting on our own property (they have a list of family and friends with more property than we have), but this request was denied out of "respect for them." I try to take comfort in the fact they are not great shots and they are down to just bow season (no more deer being chase by guns). I recently had a friend, who is once again a vegetarian (she's been on and off for years now), who tried to lecture me about hunting. Of course, no one in her family hunts and she doesn't come from a 4-H or agricultural/farming family, therefore not understanding how ingrained in the culture it becomes. What some people don't understand is that I am never going to change them. I just really, really wish that they would be a little more understanding and compassionate about my place in the middle.

"I ask people why they have deer heads on their walls. They always say because its's such a beautiful animal. There you go. I think my mother is attractive, but I have photographs of her." -- Ellen DeGeneres

January Blahs

The January snow is piled up all around and I've been scanning the web and other blogs trying not to feel so isolated. It's a mixture of the winter blahs and an impending birthday (a birthday that serves as a reminder that my twenty-something days are numbered). I'm not sure which is lending more to the feelings of isolation today... the snow and cold, the birthday thing, or the feeling of being socially isolated as vegetarian. I have a large, loud, and usually supportive family... all omnivores. I have an interesting and at times eclectic mix of friends... mostly omnivores. I even have a very sweet, very thoughtful significant other... most definitely an omnivore.

Here I sit, contemplating a new year, and new age, and the desire for an early spring. It's too early to be playing in the dirt and getting dirt ready for planting (it's all covered with that cold, white stuff). It's totally the wrong season for locally grown produce and farmers' markets (they just make me happy). The snow keeps piling up and I, not liking the snow, am forced to wear socks and shoes and all that winter gear. I know part of this is just spring fever and the January blahs, but I think I need to find something, somehow... just not all together sure what that is.

Isolation is a strange thing at times. I've been a vegetarian over seven years now and can barely remember what it was like before. It affects so many things in everyday life. I check food labels at the grocery and at home, even when I am looking at clothes. Leather? I don't think so. Fur? Absolutely not. Yet, everyday there is it blaring in my face - "You are the family freak." It doesn't have to yell, it just is. My brothers hunt. Guns, bows, ammo, and clothing sporting camo and orange are all around. A camo coated doe skull sits in the dining room as my brother's dog chews on a roasted deer bone (gotten from the guy who processors their kills). Somehow our mailbox is an interesting combination of hunting magazine and catalogues and vegetarian magazines. I guess on the plus side, my brothers don't seem to be very good shots. In all the years my three brothers have been hunting; with shotguns, bows, and muzzle loaders they have only brought home two deer (without counting the one my sister took out when it ran into her car). They eat everything they kill and it has to be better for them than the factory farm crap that comes from most groceries.



I just sometimes wish there was more than me nearby. I hear myths about vegetarian romances, but I don't know if I believe in them. I hear stories about like-minded vegetarians getting together regularly to share foods and culture. I hope these exist. Maybe one day, I'll better understand them. Maybe I need to plant something inside, like an herb or something.

"When man wantonly destroys one of the works of man we call him a vandal. When he destroys one of the works of God we call him a sportsman." --Joseph Wood Krutch

One show ended, but always busy with other projects.

I've been hungary for chili and tonight the rest of my family was having it. I made my own nice pan of homemade chili tonight. I sarted by sauteeing diced onion, garlic, and diced mushroom pieces in some vegetable oil with some hot pepper flakes. (I don't always use diced mushrooms, but sometimes I "sneak" them in for added texture and nutrients.) Then, I added some bulgar that I pre-soaked in water to help soften. (Sometimes I use a plain rice much the same way.) I added rinsed black and kidnet beans and a can of tomato soup (without the water). The enough tomato juice to give the desired liquid needed and spices (chili, cumin, pepper flakes). I let it all cook through and served it over some cooked noodles with a sprinkling of cheese. Yummy!

My meatless circles seem to be expanding as I talked to a few people in my life the last couple days that have either given meat up in the last year or have given it up for Lent. Whatever the reasons it does make me feel a little bit less alone on this path than in the days before.

Holiday Preperations Underway!!!

It was a rather simple day meal-wise. I made a pasta with olive oil and herb thing for dinner, adding some fresh sliced mushrooms and spinach, then a touch of parmasan. A lovely meal with a peice of oat bread. I was talking to a friend of mine that used to be a vegetarian online while I ate and she talked about how she has been really thinking about going back. (Her vegetarian days were in high school and she started eating meat only when she was accepted as a foreign exchange student and she worried about food options.) Now past college, law school, married and into the real world the draw seems back. The numbers nationally are growing, but more so in cretain areas and the options out there are in constant growth. The options for vegetarian and organic foods are so much easier to find than they once were... even in the last six years.

The holiday food planning has begun. I spent awhile this evening on the phone working my way through the potluck list for the big family Thanksgiving. (And I mean it'll be a big one.) We are working on balancing a feast for for vegetarians, semi vegetarians, and meat-eaters alike. At a minimun that puts us at around three different types of dressing/stuffing to uphold various traditions and dietary needs. This means regular poultry inspired stuffing, oyster dressing (a family tradition), and my very yummy mushroom dressing (depending on whether or not I decide to stuff in inside of a pumpkin and roast it). The one thing with me doing the organizig is that I get to make sure there are enough vegetable type dishes and salads. At least one other fmaily member is limited on his meat consumption and it is important that there are options for both of us.

In the words of Jeremy Bentham: 'The question is not, "Can they reason?" nor, "Can they talk?" but rather, "Can they suffer?" '

Homestyle Vegetarian Breakfast at Home

Sometime it happens that you've been out late with friends and want the smothered type breakfast type foods that you remembered from your meat eating days. It is possible without giving up your veg-friendly ways. I don't to miss those late night, early morning trips to an all night truck stop or other all-night food stop it's way to make yourself at home (plus you get to know excatly what goes into it and exactly what you want). I've been doing it for years, whether after a long night out or just a late night meal at home. My one brother doesn't eat sausage and it became an occasional late night tradition when we were both scavaging the hosue pondering something homie to bite into... without sausage.

White gravy smothers yumminess. For potaotes I use whatever is on hand... hash browns, fried potatoes (either from fresh potaoes, canned or frozen), french fries, tater tots, or whatever you have on hand prepared in skillet, oven, or in a fryer. Start with with two tablespoons of a seasoned flour (I prefer to use a brand called Kentucky Kernel Flour, we almost always have it one hand and use it for coatings and even to base the base for homemade macaroini and cheese as opposed to plain flour). I add a bit of extra seasoning with pepper, a dash of seasoning salt, some parsley, touch of garlic powder, and touch of onion pepper. (Remember, it is all to personal taste.) I melt two tablespoons butter and wisk in the seasoned flour until you've have created a nice base. Add 1 cup of water and whisk until well blended. Season as needed. Let simmer until comes to desired thickness. Cover biscuits or toast and prefered potato food (french fries or hash browns or whatever else) with the gravy. You can serve with a vegetarian sausage like crumble or sausage like patties or links (there are tons of brands out there) and sprinkle with cheese or onion or whatever else you like. It can be served along side eggs (I'm not really an egg fan so I don't, but sometimes my brother does). As with most things you don't have to give up those homestyle meals just because you have give up meat. Yum Yum. (Honestly this is what I fixed about 6:30a when I got home after being out with friends.)

In the Words of Albert Schweitzer: "Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight."

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas! Yes, the big day has arrived and the family has all been gathered around the tree and the table. For years, my family, has had a surf and turf Christmas dinner tradition (steak and seafood)... however, the last five years have included some adjustment for my needs. Generally, I grill a portabella mushroom or merely eat the thigns that have been served along side of my family's own traditions. This year along side the lima beans, corn, salad, homemade fries, dinner rolls, and wine I had a vegan BBQ riblet. It made me happy and was non-threatening to family seated around the dinner table who often seem rather concerned with what is on my plate or going to be on my plate. Last night we had an entertaining Christmas Eve with family, friends, lots of food, and karaoke. (My cousin has absolutely no sense of pitch or musical ability, but he sure isn't afraid to go for his all.)

Christmas traditions in my house are fairly simple... Christmas Eve includes my grandparents, random other family, friends, and whoever else we come across that will be spending the eve alone with finger food and sweets. It has slowly evolved over the years from pizza bites and bagel bites to more. Christmas morning we wake, not as early as it was when my brothers were younger, to swap presents and empty stockings. (My mother still wraps each one of us kids presents in seperate wrapping paper that matches the stuff she wrapped individually in our stockings. It comes from the years when we were little and seperate wrapping paper was so Santa's hansdwriting wasn't used.) We usually eat a late lunch (not uncommon for various people to take naps in between here depending on lateness of the Eve and earliness of the morn) with many of us still in pajama type clothing. It is a comfortable, relaxed sort of day for family. My sister even brought her dog the share the morning and mid-day with my pomeranian and my brother's boxer mix. (They all got new dog beds for Christmas.)

Hoep everyone had the merriest of holidays and got to spend enjoyable time with family, friends, and loved ones.

In the Words of Abraham Lincoln: "I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it."

Kepping It Real

My show is about to open and it has been a busy week. There has been a lot of eating on the run and eating late. Its seems to be a tech week curse. I'm not starving, although after a few wardrobe issues last night I wonder if maybe I should be. Anyway, the show opens tomorrow night and I hope everyone is eating up life. :-)

From George Bernard Shaw: "Animals are my friends... and I don't eat my friends."