I’ve been updating the site a little bit lately, as you may have noticed, and one of the things I did was add the option for email subscription. If you look over to the sidebar you’ll see it next to the RSS subscription button. RSS is great but since most internet users don’t use it I thought it would be good to add a more traditional subscription method.

All you need to do is put in your email, verify that you’re a human, and then wait for the verification email to come. It may seem like a bit of a pain but it’s just to ensure that no one is getting spammed, since I definitely don’t want that! If you have any trouble, drop a comment and let me know. Thanks!

Over the years I’ve developed quite a few strange habits. One of these habits is taking big spoonfuls of maple syrup from time to time. I picked up this habit on spring break with the cycling team when I needed a quick, post-ride pick me up and couldn’t find anything vegan in the house besides a jar of maple syrup we’d dragged all the way down from New Hampshire with us.

As strange as it may sound, it worked. And while it’s not like I do it every day, it’s pretty much become “one of those things” in my life. Maple syrup is great for baking, so it’s always good to keep some around, and it really adds a distinct flavour to just about anything. From cookies to frozen waffles toasted on a George Foreman grill, just about anything is good with maple syrup.

Just be sure to get the good stuff. Don’t bother with the artificially coloured corn syrup in a bottle shaped like and old lady, that’s not maple syrup. The stuff in the picture is the good stuff. Pure, organic, and straight from a tree local to me in Vermont.

I may know a few people who tap their own trees, but no, I’m not a shill of the maple syrup lobby. This stuff is just good. And there’s no reason to quit! So, obviously, I’m a little obsessed. Does anyone else feel similarly about maple syrup?

Today, there was a bit of a hissy fit in my recent post about vegan cross-contamination issues. At first I got a little offended and was rude, but when I toned it back and tried to extend an olive branch, I was attacked for not even being a vegan because I wasn’t out “defending my rights” by attacking other people. This, I think, is really sad, and I wanted to explain a few things.

I used to be very strict about eating out and things, but after living in Japan for a period, where not only did people not understand what veganism was, but they thought I was crazy. The best I could do was present myself as being like a strict Buddhist monk, who would only eat things like “shoujinryouri,” which is vegan cuisine for the monks that still don’t eat animal products (most Buddhist monks in Japan abandoned this tradition a long time ago, though some sects still abstain from meat).

It was really hard to eat anywhere. It was hard to eat out, to shop, to anything. This lead to me just eating not enough food, basically. I was often tired and felt a little off-kilter. If I had to go through it again, which I will soon, I wouldn’t give up veganism, but I will have to learn to be a little smarter and less stressed out about it.

In fact, I hope to return to Japan in the spring and summer to do linguistic research. Because a lot of that research will have an anthropological focus, it means I will be doing lots of eating out with pushy Japanese people. And there, part of doing research is fitting in and not challenging the social paradigm of the people you’re eating with. This means that to be a vegan, I will have to be very careful and will have a lot of pressure on me to change, which worries me.

As such, I don’t think it’s kind for anyone to be pushy or rude, whatever the cause is. I encourage people to try veganism, but I don’t attack them or bully them. Who are you going to win over that way? Probably less people than a kind, caring individual would.

So my thought: be nice to others. If you want people to try veganism, cook them something tasty and tell them why you chose it. Don’t shove pamplets of dead animals in their face and then yell “murderers” at them. You have to consider that most people don’t consider what’s wrong with their actions, so they might be will to change. But those people know that they don’t like being talked down to or yelled at, and that’s going to turn them off to your message.

Happy eating!

Recently a comment on my post about vegan pizza got me thinking about my policy on cross-contamination when eating out. Obviously, this is something I have thought about for a few years, so I’ll try to some up my views in just a few points, since I don’t want to bore you.

Anyway, here was the original comment:

I work at a pizza place that sounds a lot like Ramunto’s…and “cross-contamination” happens all the time. Your hand goes straight from the ham to the pineapple or sausage to the black olives. Or cheese accidentally get dropped in the sauce…actually, the cheese gets everywhere.

Just out of curiosity…is this a concern for you, that animal products are likely mixed in to your vegan pizza even if only in minimal amounts?

To answer this, I’ll first get into the reasons why I am a vegan, and how I try to flesh that out in practice:

1. Ethics: Basically, I think it’s an ethical obligation to reduce suffering wherever possible. I believe that animals have developed enough nervous systems to feel pain, and as such, it’s reasonable to expect that they do not like dying or being kept as slaves for food. Because I can be perfectly healthy without animal products, I feel ethically obligated to be vegan.
2. Environment: Eating lower on the food chain reduces waste and environmental impact. Don’t believe me? Look it up, :p. I don’t feel like explaining. But imagine how much food and water it takes to keep a cow alive for long enough to get to the dinner table. It’s a lot more than it would take if it were just the human eating veggies and such. Cows aren’t efficient power converters.
3. Health: I’m not super worried about my health, but I try to take care, and I see where veganism can fit in there.

Now, how does this apply to cross-contamination? Well, first I should talk about what that is in a broad sense, I guess. Cross-contamination happens when things are fried in the same oil, cooked in the same pan, or when something might get dripped when moving stuff around. It’s why a lot of products say “manufactured in a facility that also produces blah, blah, blah.” In those circumstances cross-contamination could harm people with serious allergies. Here’s how I feel in regards to the reasons why I’m vegan:

1. Ethics: I am still electing vegan choices and I can’t expect restaurant workers to be infallible. My family owns a farm, and you’d be surprised how many snakes and stuff get chopped up when you’re harvesting crops, but does this mean you’re not going to eat soy beans? It wasn’t the intention and isn’t really preventable without extreme means, so I don’t think it bears much ethical concern here.
2. Environment: Since you’re not electing extra non-vegan things, and the quantity is almost non-existent, I don’t see how this is an issue.
3. Health: See above.

Now, to sound a little angry about it, I think getting overly concerned with cross-contamination when eating out is pretty worthless. Are you vegan because you like the label and seeming hardcore or because you’re acting in accordance with convictions? Personally, I tend not to tell people I’m vegan, because people thinking whatever about me isn’t going to affect what my vegan actions are doing. In the same way, not eating out or having unrealistic expectations of chefs isn’t going to change the impact of vegan dining choices.

My conclusion: be vegan, don’t be stuck up.

Since figuring out that pizza could be vegan I’ve been on a bit of a tear recently. I’ve toned it down a bit since I care for my health and my pocketbook, but gosh darn it, pizza is just tasty and so easy to order sometimes. In Hanover, there are three pizza places: EBA’s (known for its lack of quality), Ramuntos (kind of pricey), and C&A’s (not really known).

In calling around, Ramunto’s was the only place that really knew what was in their crust (weird, huh), and much to my joy I learned that there wasn’t anything taboo for me in there (milk, whey, etc). So I gave it a shot: one large, no cheese, with broccoli, black olives, and mushrooms.

Verdict: Delicious!

With delivery a pizza like this runs just about $20 + tip, so it’s not exactly cheap, and I don’t know that Ramunto’s has much else that is vegan, so for every once and a while, I definitely recommend this place (and pizza).

I like gnocchi. In fact, I really like gnocchi. That’s why, even though I know they don’t sell my favorite brand up here in the still North, I still went on a quest to find something. Last year there was something that I’d tried that was rather horrible and I didn’t want to repeat, so this time when I went to the Co-op looking for gnocchi and found nothing in the freezers I was slightly disheartened.

Not to be completely put out, I asked someone working there if they had any gnocchi. Here was our conversation:

Me: Hi, I’m looking for some gnocchi…

Her: We’ve got this here, but it tastes awful, I wouldn’t feed it to a dog. *points at that which I’d eaten last year*

Me: Yeah, I know.

Her: We’ve also got this, which is a bit better, but it’s definitely not what your gramma would make.

At this point I didn’t think to mention that neither my German nor my Latvian grandmother had probably every heard of gnocchi, but I said thanks and bought some. It was vegan and promised to taste better than the other stuff.

And even though it seems promising and smelled good, it had that weird taste like someone mixed glue in with it while it was being made. I was kind of sad because this was my last option for gnocchi in the Upper Valley and I’d have to wait until I got home for the holidays to eat some more gnocchi.

However, I wanted to ask: what brand do you buy? Or better yet, do you make it yourself? I have such high expectations for gnocchi that I’m scared to make it from scratch, but if someone passes me a recipe, I promise I’ll try.

Evidently it was World Vegan Day yesterday. I kind of feel silly having missed it since it’s not like there are many things dedicated to us vegans rolling around out there. But there you go! I’ll have to add it to my calenday so I can cook something tasty next year.

I did make cookies though, so I guess that’s something. Anyway, happy (belated) World Vegan Day! Did you do anything special?

The other day I found myself in the need of some new cookware. I haven’t ever paid much attention to cookware, but I found that I would be better off with a decent saucepan and a skillet with a lid. It’s always been a bit of a pain to cook with limited supplies, and even though it required the stretching of my college budget, it has definitely been worth it.

You can see what I got here on Amazon (which has the best prices around):

• Lodge Logic 12-Inch Pre-Seasoned Skillet
• Lodge Logic 12-Inch Iron Cover
• Winware Stainless Steel Sauce Pans

I would definitely do it over again, and if anyone is wondering, these all work with magnetic induction cooktops, which are about the coolest thing in cooking, I think.

Have you bought any ridiculously indispensable kitchen tool recently? Let us know in the comments!

That probably sounds like the world’s worst tautology to most of you, but recently I’ve been put back in touch with just how much is sucks to be sick. Since becoming vegan 2.5 years I’ve only been sick once before just now. That was last winter when I succumbed to the stress of taking extra classes and not being able to get it all done. At the time, I was only sick for about 3 days.

This go around I was sick for a grand total of 2 weeks. It started with a runny nose and a hoarse cough, but then quickly progressed to extreme fatigue and an inability to sleep due to the force of my coughing while laying down. Couple that with the fact that these 2 weeks overlapped with one of the busiest school weeks of my life and you get a few things: I’m better now but really sleepy and even though I have a list of like ten things I want to update here, but I haven’t posted anything in ages.

Anyway, take care of yourself. I’ll post some things. Delicious things!

I hate to say it, but that interesting raw girl I met the other day over curry has started to enter my stomach like a tapeworm. I never used to like Larabars, but at her prodding, I went and got an Apple Pie Larabar after my bike ride today hoping they would be a little less sugary and a little more natural-tasting than the Luna Bars (nutrition for women!) that I usually eat.

Much to my chagrin, I rather liked it. It’s not perfect, still a little too sweet for my tastes, but it’s definitely better than the candy-like stuff that I usually end up eat as a recovery snack, so I think I may have to make the switch. Besides, they’re only 10 cents more and have lots of good stuff in them, so I guess it’s not so bad.

Anyway, for anyone who hasn’t tried them, don’t let the first horribly flavoured Larabar you eat turn you off from the rest of the flavours, some of them can be pretty good.