Why Knit Vegan?
My Empire of the Sun cardigan, made of a hemp-cotton-modal blend.While I was at Hawthornden last year I got into several conversations about veganism with my fellows, and on one occasion Colin asked, "Well, what are you knitting with?" At the time I was working on my vintage quickie 2.0, so I replied, "It's a bamboo-cotton blend." He seemed a bit disappointed that he hadn't caught me knitting with wool!
Recently I overheard a friend talking about A Verb for Keeping Warm, a yarn company based in California. My friend explained that they started out by salvaging fleeces; the sheep had been sheared before their slaughter, but the wool was going to waste. I didn't make this comment at the time—I'd have made myself that annoying vegan, you know—but it astounded me that no one gave a thought to the dead sheep! I'm all for salvaging materials, but there is something unnerving to me about destructive or dishonest acts to foster creative acts like spinning and knitting.How is the wool industry destructive or dishonest, you ask? Well, you are taking the hair off a sheep's back, which is a sort of thievery, if we are to be frank. Then we ship the animal off to the mutton factory when she stops producing sufficient wool. I know you want to believe that we are doing the sheep a favor by shearing her and that the animal lives out her days on a sunny green pasture, but that's just not reality. For more information about how sheep are actually treated, please read this PETA article. I also highly recommend listening to Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's podcast episode from 2010, "The Shearing of Sheep."Here's the trouble with wool: it may be "nature's perfect fiber," but it does not belong to us. Even if you assured me that the sheep you spin from live in your own backyard and that you will never sell them for meat, I will say "thanks but no thanks."
You may have noticed that I kept knitting with wool for awhile after I transitioned to a vegan diet, and I can only say that my knitting was a fairly large blind spot for me. There are many absolutely breathtaking wool and silk yarns out there, and it is all too tempting to push aside any uneasy thoughts of where it came from or how it was produced.And yes, it's true there aren't a ton of great vegan yarns out there...YET. But there are enough to get started with, for sure, and I hope to offer vegan knitting resources on this blog on a regular basis in the coming months and years. I'm particularly excited about Vegan Yarn out of British Columbia. (But I can't buy any more until I've knit some socks out of this lovely stuff!):
Bamboo-nylon sock yarn from Vegan Yarn.Another thought I've had is that if Vaute Couture can make gorgeous coats out of fabrics that can totally pass for wool, surely someone can do the same for knitting and weaving yarn!
And finally, I would like to offer you some proof that plant-based yarns can result in projects that are every bit as attractive as their wooly counterparts. Last month my new yellow cardigan made it to the front page of Ravelry!:
(Thanks to Kath for sending me that screenshot!)
Veganversary!
Three years ago this month I decided to cut all animal products out of my diet. Not coincidentally, these have been the happiest and most productive three years of my life thus far.In April 2011 I was volunteering at Sadhana Forest, and as I write this I'm abroad again—this time happily ensconced in a cottage apartment in West Cork, writing and reading and going for long walks down quiet country roads in the glorious and improbable sunshine.
This is my first time in Ireland as a vegan, and I am experiencing the landscape in a new way. The romance of the Irish countryside isn't there for me anymore. These animals, the cows and the sheep—they are raised for slaughter, and there is nothing remotely "romantic" about that. I knew this before, but I see it now. I acknowledge it to myself every time I walk past an animal grazing in a pasture. 
That said, I have dear friends who are cattle farmers, and I'm not judging them. This has been a way of life for their families for many generations, and I recognize that our respective worldviews aren't going to converge anytime soon. I like to think I've mellowed a bit since I first relaunched this website back in September; I'm no longer trying to convince anyone of anything, and that feels really good. I can juggle the apparent contradiction in loving people who raise animals for food—in knowing they are good people even though I passionately disagree with them on crucial points. Theirs is a dying way of life—not sure if I'm intending the pun here or not—and the only thing for me to do is to be here, ready and waiting with resources and information, for when someone is ready and willing to receive it. 
Being vegan in Ireland isn't quite as easy as it is in the U.K., but people do know what veganism is and are more than willing to accommodate me. "Feeding a vegan is easier than I thought it would be!" Ailbhe remarked toward the end of my visit to Galway, and hearing her say that made me really happy. I've found a new equilibrium—letting people be who they are as I go on being who I am—and perhaps this is the culmination of a three-year growth process. Makes you wonder what the next three years have in store, eh?
Vegan Ireland: Cork edition!
I landed in Cork last Friday afternoon and met up with Brendan for coffee at Filter on Georges Quay, followed by elderflower-pear juice and a vegan snickerdoodle. YES. 
(Two of my favorite murals from the White Street car park, where graffiti art is officially sanctioned.) 
Then I arrived at Emily and Vince's house, where I met their new degu (his name is Tristan—I'll have to get a picture!) before Emily and I headed to dinner at My Goodness, a "pop-up" vegan restaurant in the café space at the city's LGBT resource center.
I've always appreciated veg restaurants that do a simple set menu—I'm spared the indecision, and they're free to focus on doing one dish really well (or in this case, a raw and cooked version of the same dish). That said, such a restaurant should also be flexible enough to accommodate those of us with food allergies, and when Emily informed our kindly server (who happens to be married to the chef) that she is allergic to avocado, he replied with "no problem at all."
What followed was one of the most creative and surprising meals I have ever devoured. First up, "crawb" cake with a colorful assortment of fresh and pickled vegetables along with a lightly dressed sprouted bean salad and tahini dip:
The "crawb" cake was made of seaweed (naturally); shiitake mushrooms; flax, pumpkin, and sesame seeds; and the same pickled vegetables we found on the plate. I imagine the cakes were finished in a dehydrator. Very flavorful and fun. 
Needless to say, €12 for all this delicious food was an extremely good value. On our way out we got to chat with Virginia, the chef, who is an ecologist and gardening teacher from Texas. I was really excited to hear that she doesn't have any special culinary training—she has the attitude that if she can do it, anyone can (which is exactly what I wanted to hear as I move into more food blogging and recipe development!)At the moment they're only open a few days a week, but hopefully business at My Goodness will flourish and they'll expand into a permanent space. (And as someone commented on Facebook recently, some creative vegan entrepreneurs need to do a pop-up café like this in Galway! Galway gets all the hippie-hipster "forward thinking" cred, and yet they don't have a single vegetarian restaurant as far as I know. (Cork, on the other hand, has Café Paradiso and the Quay Co-op, both of which are top notch in their own way. Alas, I don't think I'll have time to revisit them this time around!)Emily had promised me a pint of vegan Irish beer, so after dinner we met up with Vince for a pint at the Franciscan Well (none of their brews are made with isinglass): 
Apart from Cork, I've been cooking a lot of my own food on this trip (spending a lot of time with friends, and we've been mostly hanging out at home; and right now I'm on my DIY writing retreat a long way from any restaurant!), but I'm sure I'll have more fun vegan eats to blog about while I'm in London next week.
An Imperfect Vegan is the Only Kind There Is
[Psyched to report I'm on this week's episode of the Tranquility du Jour podcast, talking with Kimberly Wilson about the connection I've found between veganism and creativity as well as the workshop I'm offering at Fall Squam! And now back to your regularly scheduled blog post.]* * *Is there a perfect diet? Ha! You know what I say to that. But within veganism, is there a BEST way to eat? Should I try cutting all cooked food out of my diet? No oil, no salt, no caffeine? Will going raw make me even healthier than I already am? Should I start with a weeklong juice fast?I can ask myself these questions in a spirit of curiosity, but I know that for some (particularly those with food and body image issues) this line of inquiry is fraught with opportunities for self recrimination. But I heard vegetables lose most of their nutrients when they're cooked! There may have been refined sugar in those store-bought crackers, and white sugar IS NOT VEGAN! No Coconut Bliss for me, thanks—too high in fat!But my conscience isn't a drill sergeant—if there is a virtue scale on dietary choices, I have to admit I'm only fair to middling. I do eat oily, salty foods. Falafel is fried, and I can't get enough of it. I love toast and ginger biscuits and other not-so-nutritious comfort snacks. And the vegan baked goods? OH YES. 
Sometimes I joke that "my body is a temple," but my diet is far from ascetic. If a food gives me pleasure, I will indulge on occasion (Taza? Taza, anyone??) Ultimately I'm not doing "the cause" any good by being self denying about it. I always eat what I want to eat, and I enjoy it. Also, as Sharon Gannon notes in Yoga and Vegetarianism, "Patanjali gives ahimsa, or nonharming, as a 'practice,' which implies that it can never be perfected." No matter what I eat, raw and juiced and chia-seeded up the wazoo, I will never arrive at a place of perfection, and I'm fine with that. 
The Backyard Tourist, part 3
(The Backyard Tourist, part 1; part 2.)Last weekend Kate and Elliot came up to visit, and we spent Saturday sightseeing with their friends Stephanie and Joe. First stop, Grasshopper for brunch! It's an Asian vegan restaurant in Allston, just a few doors down from FoMu. I'd been meaning to check it out for ages. 
Most of us ordered juices too, which were actually smoothies, but still delicious. (You can order a smoothie with avocado in it!!)After brunch Stephanie drove us to Bunker Hill. (An entire year in Boston, and I hadn't been!)
Then we spent a little while at the museum across the street:
By this time we were all feeling in need of a pick me up (the weather was foul, after all), so Stephanie suggested we head over to CuppaCoffee near North Station, her all-time favorite coffee shop. It's tiny and delightful and the friendly Aussie owner really knows his stuff! 
Fortified by a French roast with almond milk and raw sugar, I moseyed over to the Revere House with the gang for another round of Revolutionary history. The building was lovingly restored a hundred years ago, and though you can only see four rooms, I found it well worth the $3.50 admission price. 
I was geeking out, actually—my next novel is set in New England in the 1780s/90s, so this visit turned into an important piece of research for me. Kate had to come back into the house to retrieve me while the rest of our friends waited outside in the rain. (Sorry, guys!)(No photos allowed inside, by the way.) 
On our way to dinner we stumbled upon the Holocaust memorial. (Did you know Boston had a Holocaust memorial? Me neither. And it's right down the street from the Writers' Room, too!) It was particularly moving to experience it as we did—at dusk in the pouring rain. 
You all know how much I love my "little" sister, so you can just imagine how I felt when I read this panel: 
On an infinitely happier note, we had a fabulous dinner at India Quality at Kenmore with Faith and Alex, who is headed off to the Peace Corps in Georgia in a few weeks' time. I'm so excited for him!
13 Hours in Manhattan
Since I moved to Boston I've been doing this wacky thing where I go down to New York just for the afternoon and evening (usually for a Yaddo get-together), then I take a late bus back so I can (in theory, anyway) have the whole next day at home to be productive. Here are some pics from a quick trip down the week before last:
A light meal before yoga class at Jivamukti NYC: an Abundance smoothie (cherries, strawberries, raspberries, cocoa, coconut water) and steamed kale with turmeric tahini dressing. They do say you should eat as colorfully as possible, right? I got off the bus feeling generally off kilter, but this snack totally pepped me up for yoga.
(I went back for a sandwich after class, and overheard a guy telling his companion about a friend of his who buys old clothing on eBay with weird stories attached. For instance, she once acquired a 19th-century wedding dress with a gaping hole in the bodice, with dried blood still visible around the edges. It seemed the groom was already married, and when his first wife found out about the illegal wedding she came to the church and stabbed the second bride in a jealous rage.)
Then I met some of my Yaddo buds at Congee Village on Allen Street for dinner:
Afterward we headed across the street to Berkli Parc for wine and coffee. My bus wasn't leaving until four (I know, I know! I am nuts), so it was actually the smart thing to do to order two "dirty chai" soy lattes (i.e., chai + espresso) between 10 and 11 o'clock at night. BOING BOING!
I got good work done in the almost-hour after everyone else headed home, and when the cafe closed at midnight I went to Penn and wrote in the 24-hour Au Bon Pain on the lower level. (No way I was gonna wait for more than twenty minutes at the Port Authority. That place is sketchtastic.)
Pretty street art.
(Um, what? I Googled, to no avail.)
I may not be ahead of the trend after all...
@cometparty you working at a 24-hr coffee shop while waiting for your 4 am bus was inspiring. I have the poem taped to my journal. Thank you
— Mieke Zamora-Mackay (@MZMackay) March 28, 2014
Bhakti Brunch
This month's focus in Jivamukti yoga is bhakti—devotion to the divine. There are many elements to a yoga practice, not just the physical asanas, and this passage in particular (by Sharon Gannon) is a useful reminder for me:
Even though bhakti and ahimsa are both tenets of Jivamukti Yoga, there could arise a tendency to forget bhakti, devotion to God, and become overly consumed with promoting animal rights, veganism and environmentalism—or you could say saving the world—as a way to practice ahimsa and develop compassion in one’s daily life. We must be careful not to allow our activism to take priority over our devotion to God. If we do we will undoubtedly be bound by avidya and asmita—ignorance and ego identification and all the debilitating vices that come with those hindrances, like pride, anger, revenge and impatience, for example.
I like to think I'm pretty good at connecting to the spiritual side of things, but when I get frustrated, say, overhearing a yoga teacher talking about the most delicious mac ’n cheese with bacon on top, I am engaging in ego identification—even though it seems on the surface that the problem is solely with the other person. (Ha! It never ever is!) So this month's focus has been really important for me.Last Sunday one of my lovely Jivamukti teachers, Reina Lovelace, offered a special class at Karma with kirtan (Sanskrit singing plus harmonium, SO gorgeous) by Irene Soléa, and afterward we enjoyed a vegan potluck "bhakti brunch." It was lovely to get to know some people I've been practicing alongside for awhile now; I can get caught up in my own practice and forget to engage, say hello, introduce myself. We come to practice in the same space for a reason! 
Reina made the most AMAZING pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. I have to get the recipe from her!! The dish in the middle (below) is the fruit cobbler I made out of Robin Robertson's Vegan on the Cheap. It's the first recipe I've tried out of that book, and it was fantastic—and so easy, too. I prepped enough fruit for two cobblers so that Faith and I could have some on Saturday night (bless her for letting me use her kitchen!), and we gobbled it up right out of the oven. I can't even express to you how comfortingly delicious it was. (I will be doing more systematic cookbook explorations starting sometime this summer, and I might as well start with this one!) 
I love it when no one coordinates what they're bringing to a potluck and yet it all comes out perfectly balanced. 
On the savory side, a broccoli/asparagus tofu quiche (also by Reina), quinoa salad, avocado and black bean salad, and an Indian-inspired lentil dish. Everything thoroughly yummy! 
Good to the last bite (and then I had a muffin.) Several friends have commented to me recently about my healthy appetite. It's totally the yoga.
Brought to you by sunlight. #mudra #nofilter http://t.co/9z6g6g0S32— Brynne (@bhaflett) March 10, 2014
I'll be writing more about yoga over the summer—there's a big post gathering itself in my head, I just won't have the time for another long one until after I turn in my manuscript in June. But I'm really looking forward to the day when I can share with you some specific ways in which my daily yoga practice has changed my life for the better. (Talk about an understatement!)
Vegan for the Weekend
When I told my friend Jen about the Skillshare, the idea so intrigued her that she planned a visit to Boston around it. (Read her thoughts on the event in this lovely blog post.) While we were talking about what else we wanted to do while she was in town, she told me she wanted to eat vegan the entire (long) weekend. You can just imagine how psyched I was. 
Her train was delayed that Saturday evening, but we still managed to get to Veggie Galaxy for a late dinner. Jen loved her veggie burger and shared my chocolate banana frappe. I ordered the glazed seitan loaf with sweet potato mash and sauteed rainbow chard—excellent, as always!(Food photos by Jen.)
@cometparty @deianara_crush Hope you'll have a good time and enjoy your meal at VG tonight. Thanks for coming!— Veggie Galaxy (@VeggieGalaxy) March 2, 2014
The next morning, Sunday, we got up really early to head over to Somerville to help set up for the event. I had bananas for us to eat on the T, and we figured we'd grab something between Porter Square and John's place (where we were meeting before heading over to the Armory). But you know how it is—you're running late and there's so much to do. John had a big box of doughnuts, which were transferred to the Armory along with all the other supplies, and at some point Jen just got too hungry and ate half of one. Later there was pizza, and she had a slice. (We had a vegan option, but it had olives and mushrooms on it and Jen doesn't do mushrooms.) It's really important to plan ahead at times like these, and we just weren't organized enough food-wise. I wasn't eating too well either—I literally had a vegan brownie from the Armory café for lunch (and it took me like two hours to finish it, I was that busy).Now, I have to tell you how impressed I was at how Jen handled the rest of the weekend food-wise. I know a lot of people who would set a goal of "vegan for the weekend" and, once they'd eaten something non-vegan, would say "oh, the heck with it," and give up the whole enterprise. Cheeseburgers and the like. Not Jen!As the post-Skillshare cleanup was drawing to an end, we talked about how poorly we'd eaten that day and what our bodies were craving to make up for it. I wanted, needed, a nice fresh juice for dinner. (No food, just juice—I'd really filled up on that cheeseless pizza from Flatbread.) Jen wanted juice and something with lots of veggies in it. We walked to Davis Square and satisfied our wholesome cravings at the Blue Shirt Café. I ordered a juice billed as an immunity booster, with carrot and garlic (!) and I don't even remember what else, but it was good and it made every atom in me sing.The other thing that strikes me about Jen's determination to come back and stick to her vegan-weekend plan is that she didn't get hard on herself for slipping. No one is perfect, and giving oneself (or anyone else) a hard time for falling short of perfection is a waste of energy. I am really proud of her. 
For a prelude to breakfast on Monday, we stopped at Jugos, the excellent juice bar adjoining Back Bay station, before moseying down to Grey's Fabric in the South End. (I'd never been before, and it was such a treat. Gorgeous fabrics, great selection of indie sewing patterns, and excellent customer service.) 
Monday night (after yin yoga at Karma) we headed out to Newton to try the Walnut Grille, which was lovely. I really appreciate that the menu offers several entrees without faux meat products. My Polenta Napoleon was really good—the corn cake satisfied that dinnertime need for something hearty: 
One scoop of vegan pumpkin ice cream (from FoMu, which I still need to blog about!) Like I said, eating out for breakfast can be tricky as a vegan, but I'd had an awesome egg-free "sunshine" muffin (with pineapple, carrot, and raisins) at Flour a week or two back, and Jen was cool with a sandwich for breakfast, so that worked out fine. The hummus at Flour is more textured, which is nice for a change when you are usually eating the super-creamy kind from the supermarket: 
After Flour, we returned to Jugos so Jen could board her train back to D.C. with another tall green juice. All things considered, it was a healthy AND tasty two-and-a-half days, and it was lovely to have a good friend there to share it with.
(Of course I had to send Jen home with a sampling of the BEST chocolate in the universe!......And I ate the rest. Bwahahaha.)
More yummy stuff from Vegan Cuts, and general happiness
After breakfast, lunch. Everything Elizabeth makes is delicious. This is going to be a bit of a hodgepodge post. (Can you tell I'm still phoning it in? Hopefully not for more than a week or two longer!)I got my third and final (for now) Vegan Cuts beauty box in the mail last week, and it was fantastic. Full-size gorgeously scented hand cream, a soy-wax votive candle, yet another deodorant brand to try, some funky hair whip, and pickles-and-ice-cream flavored lip balm (!!!) I appreciate that they always include at least one coupon for one of the brands in the box. I was going to give away the lipstick since I never wear it, but maybe I'll try it the next time I have a big night out. 
I placed a separate Vegan Cuts order for more North Coast Organics deodorant along with a new yoga tank and another brand of lip balm (Fanciful Fox): 
This stuff tastes like mint chocolate chip ice cream (although I will give the pickles a try, haha)—and I love the biodegradable packaging!I also have to give another shout-out to North Coast Organics for taking the time to handwrite a note—“Thanks for your second order, Camille!"—even though I'd ordered through Vegan Cuts that time, not direct. Like I said, excellent customer service!I will leave you with a pic of my post-yoga brunch this morning at Veggie Galaxy. I finally tried the tofu "egg," and it was really yummy—it sort of has the consistency of mashed potato, and it's very flavorful (turmeric, not sure what else?) Much tastier than the real thing, actually! I look back on all the diner (like, real diner) egg-and-potato breakfasts I had over the first thirty years of my life, and I...well, I don't feel good about it. There's a lot of food you couldn't pay me to eat nowadays. 
I got a side of tempeh, seasoned with balsamic vinegar. I also had a Taza hot chocolate with cayenne and it was, as my grandmother would say, out of this world. I have been buying way too much Taza lately. I think I might be addicted. (They are one of our Skillshare sponsors, by the way!)* * *It's funny, I'm only fully realizing recently just how useful it is to you guys that I post pictures of what I'm eating. Several of you have emailed me to say you're moving slowly toward a vegan diet, that it feels intuitively right to you, and I want you to know how THRILLED I am to hear that. Going vegan made such a difference for me, so I wish everyone as healthy and joyful a life as I have! (I'm waiting until the first day of spring to brag that I officially did not have a single cold ALL WINTER. That has never happened before. I credit veganism + daily yoga. It's a great feeling, knowing my immune system is really strong!)
Empire of the Sun
The best part of being a knitter is loving something you made so much you never want to take it off....And, admittedly, the compliments. It's always fun when a non-knitter is completely gobsmacked when I tell them I made what I'm wearing.Thanks to my dear Elizabeth for all these gorgeous photographs! Having a confident photographer take FO pics was a real treat. 
The buttons are from Jo-Ann—I'd been hoping to find the perfect vintage buttons on Etsy, but I really wanted turquoise and I couldn't find any in the right size. 
The pattern is Gudrun's Empire. The King Charles brocade pattern hits that sweet spot of easy yet impressive, and I picked up a few new tricks too (the bias bind-off and the i-cord bind-off around the collar). My Ravelry project page (with detailed notes) is here. There are definitely more designs by Gudrun in my knitting future—maybe Laar next? (See Anne's gorgeous version!) 
Hempathy is, like all plant-based fibers I suppose, advertised as a warm-weather yarn; but I have been wearing this cardi and my Pomegranate sweater and just a tank top underneath, and with my Vaute Couture coat I'm perfectly toasty. (I still have to blog my Pomegranate photos, which Elizabeth took on the RISD beach back in November!) 
(You can tell in this shot that I didn't pick up the wraps. Haha. Knerd alert!) 
I will leave you with this hilarious piece of over-the-topness (although the ladies' costumes are definitely not vegan!):
A Perfect Breakfast
At 7am, coffee with frothy almond milk sprinkled with cinnamon. Two hours later, a beautiful plate of fruit. (Agggh how I love visiting Elizabeth!)
Going out for breakfast can be tricky as a vegan—I recently called a bakery café in Roslindale to make sure they had something I could eat, and it turned out they didn't even have oatmeal on the menu!—but at home, or at a friend's house, it is so simple and so delicious.
More Book Love
What I'm reading, and what I'm looking forward to reading: a very partial list.
I've only recently discovered the magic that is an inter-library loan system. Here I have two long-since out-of-print novels by Lord Dunsany, the Anglo-Irish fantasist who has influenced the likes of Neil Gaiman and H.P. Lovecraft. Funny how someone felt the need to cross out his title (repeatedly; and these are books from two separate libraries, too). Irish nationalists hiding in libraries all over Boston! 
For Love of Animals, as previously discussed—I'm hoping my mom (a devout Catholic, in case I hadn't mentioned that already) and I can read it at the same time and I can include some of her impressions in my book appreciation post.And while we're on the topic of Christianity + activism, here's a book my sister gave her, which I'm also very interested to read: 
I met Renée Rosen at the Midwest Literary Festival all the way back in 2007. This is going to be a juicy read! 
An incredibly thoughtful Christmas gift from Todd & Bill! (They'd given me the first Wolf Gift novel awhile back—also autographed. So so nice.) 
Humans of New York, a gift from my literary agency. Beautiful book, beautiful photographs. 
Another reason I'm excited to have a kitchen come spring—Amber Shea Crawley's Practically Raw Desserts, which I won on a Chic Vegan giveaway! (Review forthcoming.) 
No longer timely, I know (you can tell how long I've been intending to post this), but this Christmas card from Jen made me laugh out loud!
On Not Hiding Your Eyes
I've been thinking a lot lately about the word "cruelty" and how we use it, not least because of the annual dolphin slaughter in Japan that's only recently made international headlines thanks to Caroline Kennedy.
Looks like the photo credit belongs to Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project. I reposted this Facebook photo, horrible as it is, because the previous poster makes an excellent point. Our notions of animal cruelty are astonishingly inconsistent, aren't they? 
Nobody would ever stand by and watch a dog get kicked by its owner, and yet no one seems to notice or care when a woman boards the T dressed in an ankle-length fur coat. When I see this I want to say, Have you ever considered how many dozens of animals were anally electrocuted so you could wear that? How would you like it if somebody put you in a cage for months or years before doing the same to you?I don't say it. But I want to. We see some acts as cruel, and other facts and behaviors we turn a blind eye to.So the next time you're about to buy anything—anything at all—I encourage you first to ask, Where did this come from? Was anyone harmed or in any way exploited in the making of it? (And yes, I do want to refer to an animal as "anyone" rather than "anything.")Take cosmetics, for instance. Look for the "leaping bunny" logo. 
One more point on the subject of animal cruelty: it makes my skin crawl whenever I hear someone refer to "cruelty-free" meat or dairy products. Friends, there is no such thing. Eat it if you're going to eat it, but don't pretend you're being fair to the animal.That said, I don't want to come off too much like an angry vegan here, so I will leave you with a shot of the funniest item in my January Vegan Cuts beauty box: 
This made me smile. I'll have to let you know if it works as well as North Coast Organics!
A Thought Experiment
I like to play this little "what if?" game with my meat-eating friends from time to time. (Those of you who have read The Sparrow, that most disturbing and exquisite novel by Mary Doria Russell, will see how it inspired me to come up with this.)
Imagine the aliens have landed. Cue dramatic invasion sequence, press conferences in which world leaders pretend to know what is going on, people panicking in the streets, et cetera, et cetera. By whatever means they are able to communicate with us, the aliens announce that they are now at the top of our food chain. After all, they have vastly superior technology, to have come all this way to "visit" us when we've only managed a silly little foray to the Earth moon; and vastly superior technology must mean they are vastly more intelligent.
(See Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man.")
Yes oh yes, the aliens say. We will eat some of you now, and save some of you for breeding. We'll need lots of females but only a few males. (We haven't yet decided what we'll do with the surplus.)
You can't do that! we cry. Our technology might be inferior to yours, but we are a sentient race! We are intelligent! We are CIVILIZED!!!
The aliens just laugh at us. You call this mess a "civilization"? Pah!
And without further ado, they begin rounding us up in pens and sharpening their weird-looking alien cutting implements. They don't react to our cries and pleas for mercy. Our feelings don't matter to them because they don't see us as individuals, as beings with minds and wants of our own. They don't care that we have nervous systems—that we will suffer. Because human is going to taste so, so delicious.
* * *
Not a subtle analogy, I'll grant you. But it's something to think about, and I hope you will. How does contemplating this scenario make you feel?
Scrumptious Meals along the Eastern Seaboard
On New Year's Day Kath drove us to Providence to celebrate the start of 2014 with Elizabeth, and we had a gorgeous brunch at the Garden Grille. This tofu scramble had kale, caramelized onions, and Daiya cheese.Then we all treated ourselves to carrot cake (which tasted just as awesome as it looks):
In the evening Meg came over with an Ethiopian-inspired curry with squash and kale, which we enjoyed after cocktails Elizabeth made for us.
Back in Boston (a couple weeks later): a post-yoga brunch at Veggie Galaxy. Tofu omelet with leeks, soy chorizo, and Daiya cheese. SO GOOD.* * *I combined last weekend's quickie trip to Miami with a visit to North Carolina to see Kelly and her family. On our first full day together she took me to Parker & Otis for lunch, where I had a hearty avocado-and-white-bean-spread sandwich on whole grain bread:
Parker & Otis is a cafe-cum-upscale-general store with an excellent selection of tea and chocolate (much of which is vegan!)
A gourmet hot chocolate with almond milk at Cocoa Cinnamon. (Photo by Kelly.) 
On Friday night (after an amazing yoga class at Loving Kindness in Carrboro) I cooked up some roasted red pepper fritters, which is my 21st-century vegan answer to the chicken cutlets of my childhood. (Recipe forthcoming! It's a little time consuming but pretty straightforward, and it always gets rave reviews from meat eaters since it's breaded and fried. Tricksy!) We also made pasta primavera and a salad of mixed greens, pumpkin seeds and avocado with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. (Paired with a bit of bubbly, of course.) 
A simple hummus-and-veggie wrap gets the job done. (Photo by Kelly.) 
I'd have picked up a jar of this chai almond butter if it hadn't had honey in it. So I took a picture instead to remind myself to try my own version at home someday, maybe with maple syrup? 
On Saturday night we had an excellent dinner and cocktails at Fiction Kitchen in Raleigh. Purple sweet-potato cakes on a bed of lentils, topped with cashew cream and garnished with greens and beet puree. (We split this for an appetizer; I had a big salad with cashew cheese, local apples and beets for my main course, but I couldn't get a halfway decent photo of it.)* * *Now on to Miami:
Breakfast at Choices: raw acai blended with banana and almond milk, topped with organic fruit, coconut flakes and granola; a Cocobliss smoothie with young coconut, cacao, goji berries, almond butter, chia seeds, agave and ice; and a side of tempeh bacon (which was more like BBQ tempeh, but whatever, it was good!) 
Got this iced coffee at Choices for an afternoon pick-me-up (seeing as I had to get up before 4am to catch my flight). The cayenne was more subtle than I was expecting, but it still hit the spot! 
An awesome dinner at Books & Books: the kale and quinoa bowl off their vegan menu, sweet potato fries, and a green iced tea.Miami also has a vegan bakery called Bunnie Cakes, but I decided to skip it since 1, I was ridiculously full after that big brunch at Choices, and 2, Kelly had spoiled me rotten with coconut and almond-based ice cream for three nights straight, so I was feeling a bit maxed out sweets-wise. I'll check it out next time!
23 Hours in Miami
10:30am: for breakfast, the acai bowl at Choices Café. 
11:30am: walking to the bus stop for Miami Beach. 
1pm: the Wolfsonian. 
...and what I came for. 
3:30pm: a few quick notes. 
4:15pm: checking in at my AirBnB room. (Wonderful hostess, needless to say.) 
5pm: yoga on the beach. 
6:30pm: yoga over. 
7pm: twilight surf frolic. 
8pm: Books & Books for a delicious dinner and Rachel's debut novel. 
9:30pm: "Home" again for a shower, chocolate (thanks, Kelly B!), and another really good book.
Rynn Berry: In Memoriam
Many New Yorkers remember seeing him, Saturday after Saturday, in just about any weather, standing outside at the Union Square Farmers' Market selling copies of The Vegan Guide to NYC. He assumed—rightly and with some prescience—that getting someone to taste the food would whet her appetite for the philosophy, as well. To that end, this highly educated and academically gifted man stood at the edge of the park, with the beggars and the street performers, slowly and steadily creating a more humane world.
Last week, beloved vegan author Rynn Berry passed away at the age of 68. After he collapsed while out for a jog on New Year's Eve, the New York City running community spread the word on social media to get him identified. The doctors said it was his asthma that brought about the illness, and after a week and a half-long coma he passed away on January 9th.Of all the excellent lectures we enjoyed at Main Street Vegan Academy, Professor Berry's was my favorite. In his talk on the history of vegetarianism he displayed a rare combination of erudition and approachability—and serenity, too, which is not a word I often hear used to characterize men living in the "real world" (as opposed to, say, the monastic life). Through his message and his demeanor, Professor Berry gave me the impression that he had nothing to prove and everything to teach (which is something I can only hope somebody is kind enough to say about me someday, several decades from now).
I'm so glad I had enough cash on hand to purchase a copy of Famous Vegetarians & Their Favorite Recipes, which he kindly signed for me. You will recall, too, that I quoted extensively from Professor Berry's Food for the Gods in my post on the Christian fundamentals of simple living and nonviolence, which logically requires a vegetarian diet.
I am very grateful to Professor Berry not only for giving me a sturdy historical framework for veganism, but for inspiring me creatively as well. I haven't explicitly blogged about this little phenomenon before, but when you're developing a new novel idea and you remember to keep your eyes and ears open, you find that people give you the most perfect clues or leads without even knowing it. When this happens it feels utterly magical—there's nothing accidental about it. In this case, during his MSVA lecture, Professor Berry put up a slide about animal rights literature in the United Kingdom in the 18th century, and it included a title-page screenshot of Humphrey Primatt's The Duty of Mercy. As soon as I saw the Enlightenment-era typesetting, I knew the book was going to be very important to me while writing my Edinburgh novel. I needed to know that there were indeed philosophers publishing on the subject of animal rights that early on. I sat on my floor pillow, scribbling furiously to the very last page of my notebook and fizzing over with excitement and gratitude. Professor Berry gave me that, and The Duty of Mercy now rests on my bookshelf, patiently waiting its turn.And at the time, of course, I thought I'd have many more opportunities to hear him speak. I wish I'd had another chance to tell him just how much his lecture inspired me, because at the time I didn't want to sound too enthusiastic. Now I know it's better to err on the side of enthusiasm, if there's even any such thing.If you know me well, you've probably heard me joke on the square about dying at the age of 103 in the middle of a headstand, and I'm going to be honest here and say that my first reaction to the sad news was, but he had so many years left! A few days later, I was in the middle of explaining to a (non-vegan) friend how important a figure Professor Berry was in the vegan community, and I realized something. Longevity is not about living to 100. However many years you'll get, the important thing is that you don't finish them out with bed sores and terrifying gaps in your memory. Whether I live to sixty or a hundred and sixty (hey! you never know what 21st-century science has in store for us!), I want to die on the move after a life fully lived—just as Rynn Berry did.
Some links to check out:
Rynn Berry's biography and book credits on VegSource.
The Vegan Guide to New York City, 2012 edition.
Stephanie's post on Professor Berry: Our Cause Has Lost a True Pioneer.
Rynn Berry left us a few hours ago – a lovable vegan historian & a great friend on HappyCow.net.
Vegan Cuts Beauty Box!
You may have noticed that I've been painting my nails lately. It started out as just a nice thing to do with my mom—I wanted to treat her to a manicure because I know she loves them, but it wouldn't have been any fun if I hadn't gotten mine done right next to her. So I did it, even though manicures have always seemed like a waste of money (and a waste in general, not to mention the squicky chemicals in the nail polish remover).Once I had my sparkly sun-colored nails, though, I felt better about my appearance. I no longer bit my nails and cuticles (a nasty long-term habit of mine, alas), and I felt like a grown up for once. I realized that feminine doesn't have to equal frivolous. So I got myself some "eco-friendlier" polish and remover, and I put on a podcast while I do them, and it feels like a relatively quick yet nurturing thing to do for myself.This is how I came to appreciate the idea behind the Vegan Cuts Beauty Box, which is available by monthly subscription for only twenty bucks: "The easiest way to discover cruelty-free brands without committing to full-size products or prices." Also: SURPRISES!
Most lip balms are made with petroleum and/or beeswax, so I was very pleased to find this in the box. (Still loving the mint and cinnamon lip balms from North Coast Organics though!) 
If this seems like an incredible deal for $19.95, I should note that the Fanciful Fox soap and Vegan Cuts cosmetic bag were bonus items. They'd originally said they'd give them out to the first fifty people to order a three- or six-month subscription, then apparently they extended it to everyone. Lovely customer service, and still a good value even without the soap and cosmetic bag! 
Also, on the topic of feeling guilty for wanting to wear makeup, a thoughtful piece on Salon.com by Megan Mayhew Bergman:
1st column is on my tenuous relationship w/ makeup, as a feminist & environmentalist.But it's human to self decorate. http://t.co/Xl8GCq9Xxz— Megan Mayhew Bergman (@mayhewbergman) January 5, 2014
Christmas surprises
You may recall that I put this book on my wish list. I love it when my sister and/or Elliot give(s) me something I mentioned on the blog. 
I got Kate this magnet from a shop called Rhody Craft at the Providence farmers' market. Hee! 
One night I whipped up some hot cocoa using almond milk, carob powder, cane sugar, cinnamon, and a little bit of vanilla. The next day, and the day after:
"Are you making more cocoa?"
"Why, do you want more cocoa?"
"Do youuuuuuuu want more cocoa?"
"I guess I'm making more cocoa!"
* * *
And, lastly but certainly not leastly, a Christmas surprise that wasn't under the tree: K. R. Paradis wrote a lovely piece of music inspired by the holiday "covention" chapter in Petty Magic! Honestly, it's been a week since she posted it and I still can't quite believe I have readers this awesome.
More Holiday Cooking and Baking
It's good to be home. My sister and I have been cooking and baking every day.
Yesterday Kate made a kale and butternut squash curry (recipe courtesy of Naked Vegan Lunch), and I could hardly get enough of it. My grandmother always used to say that food tastes better when somebody else makes it; I guess that's because you're free to enjoy the meal without tallying up the "should haves." 
There was plenty of kale left over, so we made kale chips (toss lightly with olive oil, salt, pepper, chili powder, then bake at 375º for twenty minutes) to snack on during our one-hundred-and-forty-ninth viewing of Holiday Inn. It cracked me up when our mom said wonderingly, "I can get my vegetables this way?!" Funny how "getting" them was a chore when I was a kid; now I can't get enough of them. 
As for sweets, I made two of my standbys out of The Joy of Vegan Baking: chocolate coconut macaroons and apple bundt cake. (By the way, I heard from Amanda that she received the gingerbread cookies and that her daughter was happily surprised at how good vegan cookies can taste. Mission accomplished!) 
One of my goals for 2014 is to get way more adventurous in the kitchen. In fact, I'm thinking I should pledge to make only new recipes! A new Vitamix will help, no doubt—I'm going to order a refurbished model next week—and the Susanna MacIver project too. (In case you don't feel like rereading that "YAY it's a new website!!!" entry, I'm planning to veganize a series of recipes out of Susanna MacIver's Cookery & Pastry, published in Edinburgh in 1789. When you love two things THIS MUCH—in my case, cruelty-free eating and a city steeped in the gothic—you might love them even better if you put them together, right? We'll find out...)
Here are several recipes I'm going to try in the new year:
Boston Cream Pie from Lunchbox Bunch
Pumpkin Lasagna with Basil Sauce from Luminous Vegans
Vegan Velveeta from Jessica Corra
Save-Cash Quinoa Loaf from Ellen Jaffe Jones's Eat Vegan on $4 a Day (via Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine)
Vegan meatballs with spiralized zucchini "pasta" from The Pursuit of Hippieness
Mushroom bourguignon from The Simple Veganista
Fried (cashew) "goat cheese" salad from Vegan Belle
Almond-butter snickerdoodles from Vegan Richa
Chocolate espresso chia and coconut pudding from Fran Costigan's Vegan Chocolate (via A Dash of Compassion)
Chocolate mint truffles from Deb Gleason on MindBodyGreen
Vegan Nog from Oh She Glows
(All those sweet things have reminded me: I meant to mention that I won a book giveaway on Chic Vegan back in October, so I'll be reviewing Amber Shea Crawley's Practically Raw Desserts too.)Of course, I have more resolutions where this came from. Further ruminations on 2014 in my next post (which probably won't be until New Year's Eve, so Merry Christmas, everybody!)How about you? Do you have any kitchen-oriented goals for the new year?