Been Awhile...

In the words of 'Monty Mython,' I'm not dead yet. I just got otherwise distracted which ended up with me living for a season out of the regulalr internet zone in the middle of pretty darn near nowhere. Now that life has somewhat settled down post holiday season, I'm baaa-aaack.

Life in my world has been full of its rather typical ups and downs. Over the summer season I shared a communal kitchen with a bunch of non-vegetarians. I started seeing someone, who like most of the people I meet around here, is also not a vegetarian. He's considerate of our difference in eating habits, but also rather comfortable in his omni ways. the seven year mark of my meat-free lifestyle quietly came and went. The holidays came and went and now the new year is upon us.

There is something about the start of the new year that gives so many people inspiration and energy that can help us get through the rest of the chilled winter months yet to come. We see promise and potential, not only in ourselves, but in the world around us. For myself I am somewhat relieved for the holiday season to be over, not only does it mean a calm to things, but it also means a break from the heavy holiday foods, the regular family style feasts, and all the snacks and treats that threaten to bury us alive during this season. I am now onto a new challenge. During the summer and fall months when my family (and extended family) was in the midst of canning and freezing my aunt canned a box of assorted beans for me. Black beans, lentils, split peas, one I'm not excatly sure what it is, and a combination of all of them. I use black beans pretty regularly, but feel the need to branch out big time and take advantage of the pantry full of home-canned goodness. I've never really worked with lentils or split peas, but I intend to find a way. I'm just not sure how, yet. Inspiration will come... eventually. Wish me luck.

"The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men. " - Alice Walker

Back, and hopefully not forgotten

No, I didn't forget, it was just a busy summer full of spending time with family and friends, grilling veggie burgers and wonderful vegatables like corn on the cob, mushrooms, asparagus, onions, peppers, and anything else that seems to catch my fancy. Fall is very much upon us, kicked off in this area my the county fair in September. I entered my vegetarian cookbook collection in the hobby building for cookbook collections and took first place in the catagory, beating out the wildlife cooking collection and more tradional colletcions. (I viewed this as a fairly major personal victory in making this lifestyle much more accepted in mainstream farming country.)

I've been keeping myself busy with community theater (one current project that is getting ready to open, one just starting rehearsals, and one that I am working on proposing), as well as getting ready for the holidays. I just can't seem to resist trying new recipes (especially trying out new cookie recipes on friends and family). Plans for Thanksgiving are now in the works. As per the usual my family is all gathering round... vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.

Hope ya'all are enjoying the fall foilage and enjoying the soup inspriing weather.

Check out the American Dietetic Association's (ADA) 2003 Position Paper

http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/advocacy_933_ENU_HTML.htm

"I think if you want to eat more meat you should kill it yourself and eat it raw so that you are not blinded by the hypocrisy of having it processed for you." ~Margi Clark