Do You Know The Vegetarian Dragon?

It's the day after Christmas and all through the house all the creatures are still living off leftovers from the days before. The stockings are empty, but the tree is still lit. There isn't a ton of leftovers, but there are enough that we seem to keep grazing on the food and sweets that are still left. (Cookies and candy and sweets, oh my.) Lucy, my rabbit, seemed to appreciate the fresh carrots that were left.

In honor of the day, I am sharing one of my favorite kids books, "Herb, The Vegetarian Dragon." I ordered the book quite a while ago from Barefoot Books after reading some stuff online about it. Love the pictures, love the peaceful message, and love the idea. It has message of tolerance and learning to live together, both meat-eaters and vegetarians alike, that I really liked.

http://www.dragonherb.com/book.htm

Hope the holidays were awesome for everyone and the New Year is looking grand.

In the Words of William Ralph Inge; "Deliberate cruelty to our defenceless and beautiful little cousins is surely one of the meanest and most detestable vices of which a human being can be guilty."

In the Words of Isaac Bashevis Singer: "There will be no justice as long as man will stand with a knife or with a gun and destroy those who are weaker than he is."

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."

Just For Fun

In the Words of Thomas A. Edison: "Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages."

Continuing Christmas Traditions Vegetarian Style

The holidays are fast approaching as food preparation continues. It just wouldn't be impending Christmas without the smell of fresh party mix coming from the oven, however, traditional recipes include worchester sauce, butter or margarine, and spices. This doesn't sound like a problem unless you know and care that traditionally worcester sauce has anchovies in it. I found Wizard's Organic Vegan Worchester sauce at a local grocery store, but it is also available through multiple online resources. Now, I still get my party mix tradition at Christmas time without having to sacrifice my vegetarian ideals. Plus, I can more confidantly give out extra to friends and family knowing that even my vegetarian friends (even if there seem to be so few around here) can eat this without the worries or guilt.

The last couple years have been full of finding new ways and making adaptions in order to preserve traditions that have evolved. in my lifetime and through my family. Party mix is just one of them in a long list of things I don't have to go without. (And nothing says Christmas like eating it warm and fresh from the oven in all of it's savory goodness.)

I am including some links of where I found this brand online.

http://www.veganstore.com/vegan-food-items/sauces,-gravies-and-more/vegan-worcestershire-sauce/Page_1/422.html (this is an online store that i have ordered other items from)

http://www.cosmosveganshoppe.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=WVWS&Category_Code=NP&Product_Count=14

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

In the Words of George Bernard Shaw: "While we ourselves are the living graves of murdered beasts, how can we expect any ideal conditions on this earth?"

What are your Holiday Plans?

Eating out with my family is often an eventful experience. There is usually a debate over where to eat, especially since my options are limited to salad in some places, but this afternoon while I was out trying to take care of some things we were able to agree on a place (without argument) where I could eat without problems and my brother could still satisfy his supposed meat cravings. We began the shopping for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It is very hard to say at his point how many people will be here. I took it as a mini victory that while sitting at lunch discussing the menu my mother made a reference to needing more non-meat items. Yay!

From Berke Breathed, 'Bloom County Babylon': "Dear Lord, I've been asked, nay commanded, to thank Thee for the Christmas turkey before us... a turkey which was no doubt a lively, intelligent bird... a social being... capable of actual affection... nuzzling its young with almost human-like compassion. Anyway, it's dead and we're gonna eat it. Please give our respects to its family."