The Vegan Potluck

The Vegan Potluck was a wonderful success. There were about 10 people on the new patio - veggie dogs and burgers grilling on the Weber - lots of yummy side dishes to complement. Most of the guests were either vegan or vegetarian, but the People for Animal Rights group (the activity sponsor) does not have any requirement about diet - only a concern for animals. There was a couple who was neither and they seemed to be surprised how tasty and interesting the food choices were.

The biggest hit was the veggie dog - just about everyone who had tried a grilled one wanted a second. Since I underestimated the number of folks who would want one, I ran out of regular hotdog buns and had to provide bread or burger rolls. This problem did not seem to stop of flow of requests. "Whodathunkit"? (with apologies to Mary McCarthy's "The Group").  The time flew with the effortless flow of conversation between and among those who have something in common - their love and concern for animals.

Everyone was admiring the prominent location cat condo (3 stories tall). I spared no expense to pamper our rescued felines. Used my new toy - iphone docking station with nice speakers to provide the mood music - used my stations on Pandora radio. Started with Edith Piaf, moved on to Sarah Brightman and ended with Tony Bennett - lots of singing along with the Tony songs (probably indicative of the average age of the group :-)

So to end - I say - "wish you were here" and "let your compassion be your guide."

Grilling Vegan at the Cookout

In preparation for the summer grilling season, I am learning how best to grill veggie dogs and burgers. (I have never been much of a griller and I only have a charcoal grill to work with) One of the major events on the agenda is a vegan potluck at my new house with the big flat backyard (croquet anyone?). One thing I bought to improve the process is a grill grate to put over the one that comes with the grill. This handy product keeps things from falling through and it has handles to pick it up and out. First step was to make sure we used enough charcoal to cover the bottom and keep the whole top hot. With the hotdogs, we put them on the grate, but had to make sure to watch them carefully and turn quite a bit - they get brown (and burned) pretty quickly. With a toasted bun, mustard, relish - very yummy! The veggie burgers were used frozen. I put some olive oil on both sides of the burger and also sprayed some on the grate so they wouldn't stick. Again with the toasted bun and some ketchup, relish, lettuce, tomato and onion (and those coveted grill marks!!!!) - quite delicious.
So I guess we are ready for the cookout - the others will bring vegan side dishes and we will party.

Talking about Pink Slime

OK - Here it is - the finely textured beef otherwise known as pink slime that has been making all the headlines! I have to be honest and agree with John Stewart of the "Daily Show" that if you are eating all the other meat products that are available to us like hotdogs, sausage and chicken mcnuggets etc, is this really any different? In a way, it diverts attention from the real problem of the industrialized production of our food. A good discussion of this is right here. (The tweet indicated "the meat industry be dealt a fatal blow if every omnivore watched this):

MSNBC's Chris Hayes hosts roundtable on Pink Slime

All I really have yet to say is that when I hear these things about pink slime, ammonia, chickens on caffeine, pain killers and antidepressants, it reinforces all the reasons why I don't eat meat. YAY!!!

Would I eat this?

Check out this plump little hotdog with the long squiggle of mustard. There was a day when I would have craved this standard American staple - especially when cooked on the grill. It reminds me of the days when I did not think at all about where my food came from nor if it was good for me. In fact, if pressed, I probably would have known that the meat that I was eating came from an animal. But, any curiousity about that process was probably suppressed by the deepseated denial factor that was at work saving me from the unpleasant reality. Once my daughter started educating me, I realized how ignorant I really was. When I saw and heard the truth about factory farming, my denial shield was penetrated and my whole body started to react - rage, disgust, disbelief. For example, let's talk about the cute little hotdog as shown above - Common hot dog ingredients include meat trimmings from cows, pigs or chickens (mechanically separated) and fat, flavorings, preservatives; unhealthy high sodium, fat and nitrite content.
Hot dogs are prepared by mixing the ingredients in vats where quickly rotating blades grind and mix. It's then forced through tubes into casings made from sheep intestines for cooking. And, before we can get the meat trimmings, we have to kill the animal, get rid of all the blood and cut it up. Too bad for you Porky, 3 little pigs, Babe, Bessy, the cool California cows - we will.... we will EAT YOU!! Well, some people will, but not me. My hotdog eating days are over - never to chomp down on animal flesh in forms of chunk, rib, steak, leg, breast, trimmings, byproduct - you get the idea! So, when I get the craving for a long plumpy thing in a bun, I will crave tofupups or soy dogs - vegetable products made into the traditional shape. I will cook one, slather on the mustard, relish and maybe even some sauerkraut and enjoy a treat that I can eat, get some protein and with each bite smile that not a single animal had to die for me to eat it. Some may say that it just doesn't have the taste or the texture to satisfy them - I guess we all define satisfaction differently.

So, I leave behind my carnivore past and move forward into the peace of the veg kingdom. Ahhhhh - it feels so good!