2010 is Vegan. If You Want It.

Happy New Year!

I hate to begin the first post of the new year with an apology but I really need to. The past few months I have sorely neglected this blog for one reason or another and you all deserve better. The fact is that life got in the way and - between the kitchen renovation, side work, volunteer activities, a visit from my father-in-law and sundry other reasons - Cackleberry was the victim of too-much-to-do-and-not-enough-time-to-do-it.

This must change.

I intend this blog to be a tool for - as Gary Francione puts it - creative vegan education and of course that means actually posting more than once in a blue moon! So, with that in mind, I have decided to re-prioritize a little this year and, although I am not a big fan of New Year's Resolutions, here's a few thoughts for 2010....

This year I will...


...reach out to others more and lead by example

...make time for what's important in this life. I am about to turn 40: if I don't make time now, when will I?

...accept that my needs are important too, respect them and not put them at the end of the queue

...translate the desire to help the animals into actually helping the animals. Leverage the strength of my convictions to actually create physical change.

...take better care of my body so that I can be a good example for others of the health benefits of veganism

...remember that this life's not a dress rehearsal and take time to reconnect

...strengthen the community by actively participating and supporting the work of others

...drop the 50lbs or so of excess weight I need to lose. This padding has been my protection for too long. I no longer need it.

...eat more leafy greens and fewer vegan cupcakes

I also want to gain more confidence in, as Colleen Patrick-Goudreau puts it, speaking my truth. An anonymous comment on my last post upset me sufficiently to prevent me from writing and, while I ought to have responded clearly and swiftly, confronting the views of this individual was so painful that it become another reason not to post. It was the elephant in the room - until it was dealt with, I didn't feel I could write anything else. Well, that's going to change too: the gloves are off and I intend to learn to articulate my views more confidently. It is easy and comfortable to talk solely with the like-minded, but reaching non-vegans and those for whom animal rights is a non-subject is what's going to help the animals most. In short, I intend to belly-up and learn to communicate more effectively.

So, that's pretty much it for this first post of 2010. Thank you all for hanging in there and excusing my absence. This year will be a banner year for the animals and I intend for Cackleberry to play some small part in that. So: stay posted!

And tell me - what are your intentions for 2010?

Stay vegan, friends! :)

Dairy's Waste Products

I'm really not sure what kind of a world we live in where this kind of behaviour is standard operating practice.


Remember that these are babies - some with their umbilical cords still attached.

Remember too that these babies will end up in hot dogs and other junk foods that do nothing but cause cancer and heart disease in the humans who consume them.

Remember also that these babies are the 'waste products' of the dairy industry.


Without the dairy industry there would be no veal industry.

Without our demand for cows' milk, there would be no 'waste product' to shock, kick, skin alive and 'bleed out'.


Think about it.


Please.


Then go vegan.

Vegan MoFo: Tradition versus Values....

...it doesn't have to be one or the other.





Yesterday I went to my friend and co-worker's wedding. The day started out overcast with a brisk wind but lightened to a beautiful autumnal New England day - all bright blue skies and red-orange-lemon foliage. And it finished with a spectacularly dazzling sunset which took our breath away.

The post-ceremony celebrations were held at a local country club and, in classic British guest fashion, My Beloved and I got hopelessly lost on the road between the church and the reception.

Hopelessly.

Lost.

In a city where we were too intimidated to stop and ask for directions, fearing a 'Bonfire of the Vanities' type of scenario. GPS? Nah, we don't have that! A map book?? Nope!! Not even!!! So we drove around endlessly before coming upon a garden center that was probably safe enough to stop and ask for help. Thank heavens. We were set on the right road and finally made it to the reception, a fraction late, more than a tad stressed and desperately in need of a glass of wine and some good food.

Now, this is where - in vegan terms - it gets interesting because wedding receptions do not tend to be associated with great vegan food. Normally, the occasion demands the offering of some kind of roasted animal and, unless the couple themselves are vegan, you are usually out of luck if you don't happen to partake of the traditional feast. Now, I can say with some degree of confidence that I was probably the only vegan guest there. The familes are of Irish and Hawaiian heritage and I don't think of either culture as being particularly averse to eating animals. On the other hand, I knew that my friend, the bride, was concerned about the menu but, honestly, I was more worried that she had more significant things to be juggle than my dinner!

So, to avoid disappointment, I had prepared myself for the inevitable salad. Don't get me wrong - I love a good salad but after the journey into hell and back through the ghettoes of S'field I was ready for something just a bit more substantial! Anyways, for the meat-eating majority, the customary carvery of turkey and beef was available. However, it was a wonderful surprise for me to see that the wedding couple had opted to have a stations arrangement, whereby you'd just select things from different food stations and so could tailor your meal to exactly what you wanted.

It was terrific!

I enjoyed a couple of warm-up salads - opting for the balsamic vinaigrette over the creamy caesar was a no-brainer and hardly a deprivation! Then I moved on to the pasta station, enjoying an individually created dish of rigatoni with mushrooms, artichokes, peppers and olives in a tomato-based sauce. Hold the parmesan - it was a snap! The dessert - the wedding cake - was a chocolate cake with a rich chocolate ganache which I steathily donated to My Beloved so that no-one was offended.



I had a wonderful time, did not go hungry and did not have to compromise my values for the sake of conforming to the 'norm'. My friends had a wonderful day and are now honeymooning in Hawaii: they are two of the nicest people I know and richly deserve all the happiness in the world.

Congratulations Lana and Kevin!

Vegan Mofo: The Highlight of the Year!

OK, so this is not strictly about food but it is about a food festival - the 14th Annual Boston Veg Food Festival, to be specific!

It's coming up at the end of this month and this year it's extended to 2 days! Saturday Oct 31st and Sunday November 1st will see me - and My Beloved - in Boston living the life. The vegan life! Because, although the organizers plump for the term 'vegetarian', the festival is vegan to the core. Dr Michael Greger will be there, as will Dr Caldwell Esselstyn and Lauren Ulm along with Zoe Weil, Emilie Hardman, stand-up comedians Myq Kaplan and Zach Sherwin, Stella Zhou and Dr Paulette Chandler.

Past favorites of mine have included Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, Sarah Kramer, T. Colin Campbell and Hannah Kaminsky, so you see it is a star-studded event!

Betweeen the munching and the sampling and the learning and the meeting of new folks...oh and the munching - did I mention that?????...it is going to be an awesome weekend so, if you are near Boston, why not drop in and say 'Hi!'? For the New England area, it is the vegan highlight of the year!

Stay well and stay vegan friends! :)

Vegan MoFo: Whimsical food always tastes better....

There are all kinds of vegan cheeses on the market these days - from Vegan-Rella to Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet to Sheese, Teese, to Dr Cow and and Daiya Cheese, the sheer range is often bewildering. We really do seem to have gotten beyond the necessity of stealing the milk from baby cows to make our mozzarella!

And so with that in mind, there is no longer any reason to omit cheese from that one dish that seems to demand the gooey stuff: pizza! Unless, of course, you are eating a pie like this one:



This beautiful pie was just loaded with mushrooms, baby spinach, fire-roasted red peppers, zucchini, and tofu riccota and was good beyond words. My savvy little sister managed to snag this baby off the menu when My Beloved and I visited her in London earlier this year to celebrate our mother's birthday. The pizza was her choice from the menu of the Root-Master - a retired London double decker bus which now serves as a fantastic vegan restaurant.

Healthy, delicious, cruelty-free and whimsical...what more could you ask for?

Stay vegan, friends!

Vegan MoFo: Autumn-scented fun with pears

Great vegan food doesn't necessarily have to be complicated or time-consuming to prepare. It can be as elegant and sophisticated or as down-home and comforting as you like. Witness a dessert I made a few weeks ago during an unseasonably cold snap - a very simple but satisfying pears poached in white wine with cinnamon and nutmeg, served with a scoop of Tofutti vanilla ice cream.



Warm pears, autumn-scented, with the fresh creaminess of vanilla....easy, delicious, vegan.

Need I say more?

Eat well and stay vegan, friends! :)

Vegan Mo-Fo: When an angel expires in ecstacy....

When I first went vegan, I resigned myself to no longer having access to fancy-schmancy, hand-made chocolates. You know, the kind you get from Godiva or Thorntons - the ones that cost an absolute king's ransom but taste like an angel expired in ecstacy on your tongue. Yeah, those ones.

However, a few months ago I discovered a (to me relatively local) chocolatier who specializes in vegan chocolates - Divine Treasures. My Beloved and I made a special trip to visit with the proprietor, Diane Blanchette-Wagemann, and to sample a few of her totally luscious wares.

Suffice to say, we were in no way disappointed.

Entering the little store is like taking a break from mallifed America: it is small, soothing, quiet and personable. Her staff made us immediately welcome and were extremely happy to talk in detail about each and every chocolate confection they offer. From the Rocky Ray to the Mello Bar to the Peanut Butter Melts, every last ingredient could be scrutinised and explained. Now the bars and bites are one thing, but the truffles and fancy chocolates are another. Each one is indescribably delicious - formed as they are with high-grade, Belgian chocolate - and a real work of art in miniature. We managed to leave the store with a box containing, pretty much, two (one for each of us) of each of her signature chocolates and, as we were leaving, she insisted on giving us samples - beautifully boxed and gift-wrapped - of a couple of chocolate-enrobed jellies she was working on.

They were sumptuous beyond belief.

OK, so the moral of the story is that very often the thing you believe you're having to sacrifice, the thing that makes you think 'Yeah, I'd go vegan if it wasn't for...[fill in the blank]', it exists out there. You just have to look. And when you find it....well, it's even more delicious than you could ever imagine!



Stay vegan, friends! :)

Vegan Mo-Fo: What do they mean 'restrictive'?????

So here's Day #2 of Vegan MoFo - the month-long celebration of all things vegan and foodish! Despite having a fragrant and delightfully spiced Thai red curry (eggplant and potato with mushroom) simmering on the stove tonight, I have no cool photos to go with it so instead I'm going to set the stage for the coming food-fest with a photo to warm the heart of any commited herbivore. Just take a look at the bounty I brought home from a recent grocery shopping trip!



Before I became vegan, I didn't know the names of some of these fine specimens! Now they are all good friends....And to think that they say a vegan diet is 'restrictive'!!!!! Pah!

Eat well and stay vegan, friends! :)

Vegan Mo-Fo!

Today marks the start of Vegan MoFo - a month-long tour around the world of great vegan food! We've had to wait eleven long months for this but *finally* it's here!!! So what does it mean? Well, it's an effort to flood the interwebs with images and recipes for yummy cruelty-free food and raise awareness of what we all know to be true: Compassion tastes delicious!

Cookies, cakes, pies, stews, bakes, salads, sandwiches, wraps, drinks, snacks, soups, candies, casseroles...the list goes on and on! So put your diet on hold and stay tuned - all of this, and more, is coming your way!

Happy MoFo-ing and stay vegan, friends!

Just two more reasons why I love being vegan...

Images courtesy of The Telegraph