Vegan Miscellanies

Retiring Vegan Miscellanies

While I certainly enjoyed creating and blogging Vegan Miscellanies, I never felt I had the time to develop it to its full potential. Then, from the beginning of 2009 to the present, I only wrote 10 posts. There are an number of reasons, chief among them time and money. My day job has kept me so busy, working such long hours, that I haven't even had much time to cook or bake, nor read books related to veganism, and finances were such that I could only rarely eat out and report on vegan fare at cafes and restaurants.  

The other reason I have decided to retire this blog now has to do with a shift in focus. I will continue to create and eat delicious vegan food and I have no intention of ever returning to the consumption of animal-based foods. There is now such a wealth of vegan blogs and sources, both in print and online, of vegan recipes and information, that I feel comfortable leaving vegan blogging to focus my energies (to the extent that I can find any after work) on other things about which I care. I have met many other interesting vegan bloggers online whose blogs will be there for one another and for those who are just beginning to wonder about and research vegan living.

I have, over the past couple of years, become quite involved in and excited about cycling. I'm not talking just about cycling as a recreational activity or a sport, though those are fine. I'm talking specifically about cycling as a valid form of transportation that is healthier for us--it keeps us physically active, reduces the number of cars on the roads, leaving cleaner air for us to breathe, and fosters more human interaction--and has a much smaller environmental footprint. A greater shift to cycling for urban transportation, along with clean public transit, also has the potential to help us slow down to create happier, healthier, more human-centred urban environments. These are all things that many vegans also care about. 

Look for cycling advocacy from me in the coming months and years, once I manage to find more time, a better work/life balance. I'll be out there in our cities, on my bike, and I'll write about it. I hope to see and meet you out there!

 

Death in my Family

A week ago today I watched my father die of colon cancer. He was given about 4 months to live at the time of diagnosis, when the disease was already advanced and had spread to surrounding organs, but he held on for just over 2 years. He was about 3 weeks shy of his 68th birthday.

Needless to say, this past week has not been easy, nor were the weeks leading up to his death as it was clear he was quickly losing the battle. While it is all over now, it is frustrating to know that he could have had a much better chance of fighting it had he switched to a plant-based whole foods diet. But he would not. He never ate much other than meat, and his faith told him god had created animals for our consumption. How then could they be bad for your health?

I read The China Study just a few months ago and knew the role animal protein plays in feeding cancers, but he was in no state to receive this information. He continued to eat mainly meat even after his diagnosis. It was frustrating to watch as I had to stand helplessly by to watch him slip away. He read some information about natural health near the end, but mainly the type encouraging the supplementation of one's diet with special vitamins and formulae. And neither doctors nor nurses, being ill trained in matters of nutrition and working in a system that ultimately profits from people's illnesses, did anything to dissuade him from his meat-centered diet. In fact, his nurse recommended that he eat some of his favourite meat-based soups.

Given that the disease is hereditary as well, his mother having died of it before him, I am currently undergoing colon cancer screening myself. I might as well work towards early detection. But I know that my veganism at least means that I have a much better chance of preventing and, should I get it, fighting it.

It is not easy, still, losing a parent.

Some Rather Useless, though Hopefully Amusing, Updates

Though I had a week off recently, I was so busy with all kinds of errands that I did not get to do much reading or blogging.

Here, however, are some updates:

Accidental Grape Candy
Mom recently gave me some not-quite-ripe grapes from her backyard, saying I could make grape jelly out of them. I didn't have any pectin on hand, so I did a little research on the web into pectin-free jellies.

I read that unripe fruit is high in natural pectin, and that fruit high in acidity, like grapes, don't require the addition of pectin when some unripe fruit is added. Hey, I thought, the bulk of my grapes are not quite ripe, so it should be high in natural pectin.

So I began. I washed the grapes and put them in a small pot together with a little raw sugar (about 1/4 sugar to about 2 cups of grapes). I began heating them on low heat and simmering for a while until it looked nice and juicy. I then put everything into a cheesecloth and hung it over a bowl for a few hours to collect the juice. The juice went back on the stove to simmer for a while longer. I thought I used the spoon test to check for the requisite thickness before removing it from the stove, but was I ever wrong...

Turns out I'd boiled it way to long. That or there was way more pectin in the juice than expected, because after transferring the mixture to a small container and cooling it in the fridge, what I got wasn't jelly at all, but rather hard grape candy. Isn't that called serendipity? Though rather tart, the candy wasn't half bad! We both enjoyed it.

Chilaquile

and

Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Don't they look yummy? They were, but I was bad and forgot to write down the recipes. Sorry. I'll try both again and remember to share.

Evolution of Our Solitary Pumpkin

Remember my post a little while back on pumpkin sex? Well here you go. One pumpkin from pollinated flower to baby to adolescent. It's just beginning to turn a yellow that will, hopefully soon, deepen into orange. Perhaps having just one is dangerous. Too much doting. And should any critter touch it before it is ripe, dog help me to keep my lower impulses in check!

On Having Received an Award that, Well... Read On

I was recently the recipient of an award, the Brillante Award, passed on to me by an old university friend now blogging at VeganCowGirl. I was happy about having received it and about this friend thinking of me among the seven vegan bloggers to whom she passed the award. While it did seem a little odd, a little chain-letterish, I happily began looking through my bookmarked vegan blogs to select seven to whom I could pass it.

It turns out the Brillante Award, at least in this incarnation, is a hoax. I discovered this only after having spent a fair bit of time visiting the various vegan blogs that I value and enjoy reading, followed by perusing the blogs of the other recipients, and then researching the award itself to determine its origin. I first came across the real Brillante Award at the National Society of Hispanic MBAs. I then read Nikki's apology to her readers at Vegan Verve, and from there this. 

Whatever the case, the intentions behind it, as it's passed along, are great. And it does do two things--one, it makes you feel warm and fuzzy because someone has thought enough of your blog to pass you the award, and two, it exposes the recipient and hir readers to further related blogs.

Here, anyway, are the blogs I wanted to pass the award to. Instead of doing so, in light of the above, I will just link to them and say, briefly, what they mean to me.

1. Animal Rights: the Abolitionist Approach, by Professor Gary L. Francione, Distinguished Professor of Law and Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Scholar of Law and Philosophy at Rutgers University School of Law-Newark and author of  Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or the Dog? (2000), Rain Without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement (1996), Animals, Property, and the Law (1995), and Vivisection and Dissection in the Classroom: A Guide to Conscientious Objection (with Anna E. Charlton) (1992). His forthcoming book, Animals as Persons: Essays on the Abolition of Animal Exploitation, will be published by Columbia University Press in 2007.
   
   • Professor Francione makes the clearest and most cogent argument I have yet read on the issue of animal rights (not to be confused with animal welfare--read my post on Animal Welfare vs Animal Rights).
2. Vegans of Color, a blog started by Johanna, with contributions open to various vegan POCs (persons of colour), but currently by Danni, Nadia, Noemi, Royce, and Serenity.
   
   • the subtitle, "Because we don't have the luxury of being single-issue", a preemptive response to the question "what do colonialism, race, ethnicity, gender, class, economics, etc. have to do with veganism", is itself very telling
   • Vegans of Color was my first exposure to non-white vegans other than my partner and, though I am not a POC (I came to Canada as a poor, working-class immigrant from Mexico, but am by outward appearance white--Mennonite background), I understand and appreciate the importance of the issues raised on this thought-provoking site. Keep it up!
3. Homemade Vegan, a blog by a young vegan couple in Vancouver, BC.
   
   • good mixture of homemade vegan food posts and discussion of vegan ethics and related issues
4. Invisible Voices, a blog by Debora Durant.
   
   • good discussion of veganism, animal rights, animal sanctuaries, and eco-sensitive living
5. The Conscious Kitchen, a blog by Emilie (read her about me blurb--what's not to be interested in?).
   
   • wonderful pastries, desserts, and other culinary feats, beautifully photographed and described... lucky for her she doesn't live in my town, 'cause I'd be a too-frequent visitor begging for pastries!
6. Vegan Planet, a blog by Robin Robertson, author of the wonderful vegan cookbook by the same name.
   
   • I often dip into Vegan Planet, the book, for recipe ideas, and her blog keeps the good vegan ideas and recipes flowing.
7. VeganYumYum, a blog by Lolo, a fairly recent vegan (four years, according to her about section) whose culinary experiments amaze.
   
   • she, like Emilie of The Conscious Kitchen, often caters to my biggest weakness--baked sweets. And she takes wonderful photographs of her food too.

So there you go! No award to pass on, but a few good links. There are so many more, so it was hard to select just a few.  Keep up the good work, everyone, and thanks again VeganCowGirl!

Animal Welfare vs Animal Rights

For years now I have been irritated, even angered, by the hypocrisy of many animal welfare advocates. They speak out about and campaign against the mistreatment and killing of animals, most often pets or selected exotic animals in another part of the world that happen to be threatened or endangered. They engage in daring rescue operations to save cats, dogs, birds or dolphins, lobby governments and regulatory bodies to pass legislation to prevent cruelty to animals, or prosecute people for keeping dogs or cats in substandard conditions. They urge the international community to put economic and political pressure on countries whose population uses, for food or clothing, animals such as cats, dogs, or in some cases, horses.

At the end of the day, many of these advocates for animal welfare go home to a hearty meal of pig, cow, calf, bird, or fish. Little thought is given, first of all, to the subjective nature of the distinction between pet and food, between animal to be pampered and protected and animal to be used at will for food or clothing. To condemn others for eating cats and dogs while eating cows and pigs yourself is nothing but racism, however unconscious. If you believe it is good and well for humans to eat the flesh of other animals, I can see no logical reason to choose the flesh of cow over the flesh of dog, or the flesh of sheep over that of cat. The only difference is that some humans have chosen to love and protect some animals while objectifying and eating others. And little thought is given, furthermore, to the non-human eugenics that is animal domestication and production, nor to the short, unnatural, meaningless and tortured lives of animals destined to become meat.

There are, of course, animal welfare advocates who express concern over the treatment of animals destined to become human food. Some of these have convinced themselves that it is alright for us to use animals for food and/or clothing, but that we should limit the suffering caused in the meantime. I suppose there is some primitive logic in that. There are records of certain cultures, among whom human sacrifice was practiced, who treated the victim very well for a certain length of time and indeed bestowed special honours and privileges upon that person until the appointed time. I can also see logic, among those living in remote and harsh environments,  in hunting animals for food . At least in hunting animals for food, the hunted live otherwise natural lives and face little more hardship and danger than any animal, ourselves included, would in a natural state. However, we live in a world where, for most of us, there is simply no need to hunt animals for food. The gap between the hunt and animal husbandry, and between the family farm and the factory farm is enormous and unjustifiable.

The gap between animal welfare and animal rights is also enormous. I recently came across a website, Animal Rights: the Abolitionist Approach, in whose mission statement I found the clearest distinction I have yet read between animal welfare and animal rights. It makes a very good argument that the baseline of animal rights is veganism, and that "as long as animals are human property, animal welfare standards will never provide adequate protection to animal interests." They argue also that granting all sentient beings (beings with subjective awareness) just one right, the right not to be treated as property, would compel us "to abolish institutionalized animal exploitation" and to "stop bringing domesticated nonhumans into existence for human use." It's a very well-argued and informative site that also tracks and discusses animal rights related news. Go read it!

Vegan Blog Tracker

I did a fair bit of research over the last few days, collecting links to vegan blogs and other online vegan resources.  While it is still difficult to find all one's vegan clothing needs in one place, or to find vegan restaurants or stores outside of major metropolitan areas, there are many more vegan products on the market than there were just a couple of years ago. I was, quite frankly, amazed at the wealth of vegan resources now available online. However, among brick-and-mortar establishments, while some progress has been made, that wealth is still far away.

Among the many vegan resources I found was VegBlogs, a site that tracks vegan blogs by linking to them and tapping into their RSS or ATOM feeds. If you want to keep up with what's happening in the veganoshpere, or want a bird's eye view of vegan blogs to see what they're all about, check VegBlogs out. Vegans, as much as people belonging to any other identifiable group, are not all the same. Neither are the blogs represented on VegBlogs--there are all kinds.

As for Vegan Miscellanies, you will notice a lot of new content, especially in terms of links to resources, in the next little while. You may also notice some new recipes from my vegan journal, or new homemade dishes I've tried over the weekend.

Welcome Stumblers!

I noticed a significant spike in traffic on this blog today, mostly via Stumble. Welcome!

If you are vegan, or have thought about becoming vegan, please look through the recipes I have on this site so far and feel free to adopt, adapt, and pass on whatever appeals to you. If you do like something, please feel free to comment. If writing about it on your site, please provide attribution with a link. If any of my posts and/or pictures make you hungry, then I know I've begun to do my job. My hope is for this site to become a genuine, all-purpose, vegan resource for new and seasoned vegans alike.

If you are not vegan, thanks for stopping by anyway. Much of what rounds out an omnivore's meal consists of legumes, vegetables, grains, nuts, and herbs. You may well find recipes that you'll enjoy as much as we do.

Today was a rather fruitful day in terms of home-cooked meals. For brunch we had vegan omelettes filled with a delicious vegetable medley and topped with Mexican salsa. I'll post a recipe for it in the near future. For dinner I made a version of Spicy Coconut Curry with Basil, heavy on green onion and basil, served over brown basmati rice.

Jihan made Lebanese red lentil soup, a staple in our house and a comfort food. Though the curry filled us up tonight, the soup is great reheated, making for an excellent and nutritious ,taste-of-home, lunch at work. Its wonderful with toast or crackers on the side. A slice of fresh lemon is a must to drizzle over the soup. She will likely post a recipe with a picture of this delicious, yet simple, soup the next time she makes it. Yum!

Thanks again for stumbling by.

Growing Vegan Miscellanies

To start up Vegan Miscellanies, I've taken whatever vegan-related posts remained on my litblog and put them here. I am trying to remove all posts from Wordwork-play that don't belong on a litblog.

I will, as time permits, grow this blog into a useful vegan resource. For now, of course, most of the material, because taken from elsewhere, is dated. From now on you will see fresh content here.

Please come back regularly, and please share. Comments are always welcome.

Sharing our Passion for Food (and the culinary discoveries from our Vegan Journal)

My partner and I are passionate about food. It could be said that we are in love with food. We are keenly interested in, and endlessly amazed by, the almost dizzying variety of possible ingredients contained in nature--seeds, nuts, grains, legumes, herbs, grasses, plants, trees, roots and tubers, vegetables and fruits, fungi, minerals, and microorganisms. We love the look, smell, texture and taste of food. As if all these aren't enough, think of all the combinations and blends possible, many of which we take for granted as ingredients in their own right.

Do you get the picture that we are somewhat passionate--substitute nuts or crazy if you like--about food? And did you notice that fish and fowl and animals weren't even mentioned in the first paragraph? Or that they and their byproducts, even in most omni/carnivorous diets (with the exception perhaps of the diets of remote peoples) constitute the lesser portion of what is eaten? Even in a 'meat and potatoes' meal, the non-meat ingredients often make up the larger portion. And what lends flavour to the meat? Spices. Vegetables, Minerals. Few people, certainly in industrialized societies, eat meat that has not taken its characteristic taste and smell from various concoctions derived from the aforementioned ingredients.

Now forget I even mentioned animals. Although in some geographic and economic contexts their consumption may be unavoidable, in modern urban environments there is no need for the domestication, breeding, subjugation, manipulation, and slaughter of animals for food. All the nutrients we need can be obtained from non-animal sources. And because this is the case, and we live in such an environment, we choose to be vegan.

Omnivores often ask, after finding out that I am vegan: "So what do you eat?" The question, to me, seems so absurd that it is difficult to answer on the spot. How about various combinations of the thousands of ingredients contained in the categories listed in the first paragraph above? The choices are almost without end.

We have, since first becoming vegetarian and then vegan, discovered many foods we probably would never otherwise have encountered or thought of trying. We continue to experiment and discover new things that broaden our knowledge, add to our experience, and enrich our plates, palates and our lives.

Some time ago we decided to begin writing down new recipes we found and tried, or recipes we invented, by accident or design. We used a simple hardcover notebook, not unlike a moleskine, to record not only the recipes, but also some subjective comments about the particular dish.

I will start sharing some of these recipes. I will also share vegan cookbooks we have found, new ingredients and recipes we discover, and vegan options we encounter out there in grocery stores, cafes, restaurants, bakeries, etc. Hopefully I can share not only my passion for food here, but also impress on the reader how much choice there really is in a vegan diet.

Originally Posted on Tuesday, March 27, 2007 on Wordwork-play

Do you get the picture that we are somewhat passionate--substitute nuts or crazy if you like--about food? And did you notice that fish and fowl and animals weren't even mentioned in the first paragraph? Or that they and their byproducts, even in most omni/carnivorous diets (with the exception perhaps of the diets of remote peoples) constitute the lesser portion of what is eaten? Even in a 'meat and potatoes' meal, the non-meat ingredients often make up the larger portion. And what lends flavour to the meat? Spices. Vegetables, Minerals. Few people, certainly in industrialized societies, eat meat that has not taken its characteristic taste and smell from various concoctions derived from the aforementioned ingredients.

Now forget I even mentioned animals. Although in some geographic and economic contexts their consumption may be unavoidable, in modern urban environments there is no need for the domestication, breeding, subjugation, manipulation, and slaughter of animals for food. All the nutrients we need can be obtained from non-animal sources. And because this is the case, and we live in such an environment, we choose to be vegan.

Omnivores often ask, after finding out that I am vegan: "So what do you eat?" The question, to me, seems so absurd that it is difficult to answer on the spot. How about various combinations of the thousands of ingredients contained in the categories listed in the first paragraph above? The choices are almost without end.

We have, since first becoming vegetarian and then vegan, discovered many foods we probably would never otherwise have encountered or thought of trying. We continue to experiment and discover new things that broaden our knowledge, add to our experience, and enrich our plates, palates and our lives.

Some time ago we decided to begin writing down new recipes we found and tried, or recipes we invented, by accident or design. We used a simple hardcover notebook, not unlike a moleskine, to record not only the recipes, but also some subjective comments about the particular dish.

I will start sharing some of these recipes. I will also share vegan cookbooks we have found, new ingredients and recipes we discover, and vegan options we encounter out there in grocery stores, cafes, restaurants, bakeries, etc. Hopefully I can share not only my passion for food here, but also impress on the reader how much choice there really is in a vegan diet.

A New Blog: Vegan Miscellanies

Jihan and I have been more-or-less vegan since 2000. We were lacto-ovo-vegetarian before that, since 1994 and 1993, respectively.

We have learned a great deal about food in that time, both through wide reading and cooking/experimenting and, less often, through eating out. We brought culinary elements from at least three distinct cultural/ethnic traditions to our common table. I brought what I knew from my background, a fusion of Mennonite and Mexican cuisine, while Jihan brought what she knew from her Lebanese background.

In my first and now defunct blog I wrote about all kinds of things, including about food. Some of those posts ended up in my second blog, Wordwork|Play, which has since been refined into a litblog. Any posts related to veganism in any way will be migrated from there to here.

Vegan Miscellanies is to be a blog about all things vegan. Our own cooking will be in the spotlight, but there will also be occasional reviews of books relevant to veganism, reviews of vegan restaurants and stores, and posts about other aspects of being vegan.