New Calves in the Field

My husband and I live directly across from a "cow and calf" operation. On the surface the farm presents the perfect pastoral scene: green rolling hills fall away to a creek that meanders along the edge of some woods. Birds flit in and out of the trees, deer emerge and browse. We've seen 5 kinds of woodpeckers, Indigo Buntings, Redstarts, Blackpoll Warblers, and enough other kinds of birds to wear binoculars many days that I walk with my neighbors and our dogs through the woods. There are even nesting owls and hawks within the little forest.
Cattle navigate in the sea of grasses, content to eat, sleep, chew their cud and tend to their young, who are born right there in the field. Sometimes you can see them minutes after they enter the world. You could even see them being born, if you knew when to look.
The cows udders swell with milk for their babies...just a little though, not like those hideously stretched, distended and painful looking udders on the poor milk cows. The young calves play amongst each other, literally kicking up their heels, nuzzling faces and forming friendships. Sometimes they follow us, as we walk the dogs along the fence line, the bolder ones making a big show of coming closer and closer then suddenly, expolsively, eyes rolling wildly, losing their nerve and wheeling off, arcing clots of dirt, grass and manure through the air. These "meat" cattle enjoy a relatively peaceful and natural existence, until the calve are "weaned ": rounded up and herded onto a transport trailer and hauled off to feedlots or other "finishers". The mother cows bawl heart-breakingly for days, calling for their calves. The calves are all of 4-5 months old. Where ever the calves are , they must be terrified. The cows are already pregnant with the next calf. This process will continue for several years until the mother cow herself will hauled off to a feedlot or slaughterhouse.
The latest mass calf removal happened to fall on the day we hosted the Vegan 101 class on the 7th of September. ( see previous entry by Tanya...thanks for taking and posting the pictures, Mark ! ) I was unaware of the frantic calling, bawling, crying of the mothers...calling their babies over and over and over....until i stepped outside to walk one of our dogs in the early evening. I was all aglow with how well the class went... we had shared stories, recipes and food completely animal-free, and got to introduce some of the great food to people new to veganism. So it took a few minutes for the mothers' cries to penetrate.

Inside my head I wailed, " I am SO, SO SORRY ....." over, and over and over again. I can still hear them, and my own voice.

Scratch the surface of any food animal enterprise, no matter how "humane", and you will find an endless stream of needless suffering imposed on creatures whom we feel entitled to use. Going vegan alleviates the direct connection to the meat, milk and egg industries ( and going vegan is a direct action ), but it heightens your awareness of a horribly skewed food culture that views a simple, peaceful, nutritious plant-based diet as radical and extreme.
I'm only two years into being vegan, and every single day delivers new ( and many distressing old ) examples of why I continue to advocate for a vegan diet on behalf of the animals.

This evening I noticed down where the hill levels out and meets the stream , at the edge of the woods, 8 brand new calves and their mothers resting in the sea of grass. A few of the babies stared at us with wide-eyed curiosity as we walked by.
To the cows and their calves whom I share the sky, the rain and the Earth with, I can only say, again, I am so, so sorry.

Photos - Vegan Cooking 101

Photos from the Sept. 7 Vegan Cooking 101 demo are posted on our Picasa album. See for yourself all the great nibblies, like those in this photo. Delish!

playing with graphics

Playing with stuff in Photoshop again....

Vegan 101 Class

On September 7th, a Vegan 101 class was given by several New Leaf Vegan members, and held at my home. Tanya and Mark came early, bringing plant and nut milks to sample, taco filling ( for a dip ) homemade Hickory Bits ( where's the recipe, Tanya ?? ), chips, plates and bowls ( that are awaiting their entrance into the compost heap ) and some good ideas on setting up the event. We had 12 great "students" attend who spanned the range from committed vegan mothers raising their children vegan to a certain mother-in-law who gamely came along to "see what it's all about". It was really nice to see so much enthusiasm, curiosity and a willingness to try new ways with food !
We made a very simple seitan,tossing it into the oven to bake ( wrapped in foil )while I demonstrated making Eggless Egg Salad and Chickpea Of The Sea ( recipe to follow ! ) We also sampled 2 other types of sietan...one I had made the day before ( a 'chicken' type)and J brought some fantastic chewy BBQ seitan that she had made at home. All 3 seitans had different textures, flavors and nutrition...and all very cheap to make at home. Good news when a little tub of it costs close to $4.00 in a grocery store, if you can find it! Homemade seitan is great...you can slice it up for sandwiches ( hot or cold ) brown it up and use it as you would ground beef ( before you went vegan :>) in any number of ways. maybe we should have a seitan contest at some point...just to get the creativity going !
The plant and nut milk table was a hit...rice, almond, hazelnut, hemp, soy, oat were standing in for cow's milk. All were offered chilled with chocolate syrup on the side for those who wanted it. Hemp is my current favorite...it's got lots of protein, calcium and some omega-3's. Oh, and it tastes great, too !
Gina brought some fantastic brownies and the recipe for them, and we made ( with the help of 17 year old V )and baked some Oatmeal Chocolate chip cookies to demonstrate that beaten ground flax seed can replace a hen's egg very nicely, adding fiber and omega-3's.
We talked about beans and grains (and sampled some Quinoa and Blackbean salad )and I wish we could have covered more nuts and seeds...nut butters, too ! So much to cover, because there is so much food that is vegan...you just have to look beyond what's being pressed on us through clever advertising. The following is from Appetite For Profit

.." the food industry spends upwards of $36 billion annually to market its products.." and "...food corporations spend roughly $12 billion a year directly targeting children with junk food marketing. If parents are supposed to be the ones making decisions for their children, then why are companies bypassing parents altogether and marketing directly to kids? Because corporations such as McDonald’s aim to undermine parental authority by getting children to nag their parents. And it’s not only marketing for junk food that parents must contend with, but also for toys, video games, clothing, CDs, cell phones, computers, you name it."

Hmmm.....

OK, here's the Chickpea recipe. It's lifted and altered from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's fabulous cookbook : Vegan With A Vengeance. In her book it's called Chickpea-Hijiki Salad Sammiches. You'll be amazed how much it tastes like tuna !

I call it : Chickpea Of The Sea.
1 tablespoon dried hijiki, dulse or wakame granules, or other finely ground sea veggie
1 can ( 15-ounce) chickpeas, drained
2 tablespoons Fresh lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons finely minced onion
1/4 to 1/2 cup finely diced celery
2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast ( Red Star Vegetarian Support )
salt and pepper, seasoning salt to taste.   I like a little ground cumin, too.
3-4 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise
Stir the lemon juice or vinegar into the celery ,sea veggies, onion, nutritional yeast,salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Set aside for a few minutes to soak.
Then mash the drained chickpeas into the stuff with either a fork or potato masher  until no whole chickpeas remain. Add the mayo, and mix it all up.
Use in sandwiches, wraps, lettuce cups or as a dip.

Lip Smackin' Smooze

While wandering through Whole Foods, my husband recently discovered Smooze fruit ice. It is a refreshing and delicious vegan treat and perfect for a quick cool-down during these hot summer days. In its tidy little package, this chilled goody is not as messy as Popsicles, and nutritionally it has only 5o-70 calories and no high fructose corn syrup. This makes Smooze a smart choice for children and calorie-counting adults. Thanks to 100% coconut milk, this fruit ice is sinfully creamy and the tropical flavors (passion fruit, pineapple, mango, and pink guava) will transport you to a balmy beach in the South Pacific. Don't let its small size fool you, it is completely satisfying and full of flavor. I have fallen in love with Smooze and I bet you will too!

Lovin' Cake Love

In the last couple of years, the humble cupcake, once relegated to home-baked, school birthday party treats, has surpassed cakes, brownies, pies, and pretty much any other pastry, as the dessert du jour. Every bakery in town has a plain and fancy selection. However as a vegan, unless you live near only a handful of vegan bakeries in the country, you will need to drag out the bowls and baking pans and make your own. So what a delightful surprise when my husband and I were walking through Tysons mall and found the Cake Love bakery in the food court with two (!) vegan cupcakes for sale! We bought one each of the yellow and chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting, and the verdict is...yum! The buttercream frosting is wonderful...creamy, buttery, easily melts in your mouth, and has just the right amount of sweetness. The cake portion is not extraordinary, but it is good and I give the cupcakes an enthusiastic thumbs up.

The big story here is not that I've discoverd a really good cupcake, but that a mainstream bakery is progressive enough to offer vegan (and even gluten-free) items. Cake Love is the dream come true of lawyer turned baker Warren Brown; his story is inspiring and a must read on the website. Be sure to check out the information under the Green Label as it includes a great explanation of vegan products and veganism as well as links to goveg.com and veganforlife.com. With two locations in DC, two locations in Virginia, and three in Maryland, if you live in the area, plan a special day that includes stopping in to Cake Love, thanking them for considering us vegans, and enjoying an absolutely lovely treat. If you don't live in the area, well they do ship...you'll have to save your pennies, but no doubt you'll have no regrets.

A Whale of A Tale

If you’re looking for an easy and entertaining read this summer, grayson by Lynne Cox, is a great choice. This is the true story of a solitary event experienced by the author – swimming in the California coast with a lost baby whale looking for his mother. Lynne was only seventeen at the time, but certainly no ordinary teenager; she had already swum the English Channel, twice, and the Catalina channel, and her comfort and ability in the water comes through in her writing. Her connection with Grayson (the baby whale) is extraordinary, but Lynne’s vivid and reverent description of the sights, sound, and feel of the ocean will equally hold your attention. In the following example, Lynne senses an intensifying energy in the water and takes a look below the surface:

“Thousands of baby anchovy were darting through the water like lit sparklers.

Blinded by panic, they were frantically tearing away from their schools and leaping out of the ocean like popcorn cooking on high heat. They were trying to evade something larger.

Light was exploding around me like hundreds of tiny blue flashbulbs constantly firing.”

Lynne’s knowledge and ease of the ocean is enviable and wondrous and for the first three chapters, you will marvel at her ability to stay calm knowing something large and unidentifiable is swimming beneath her. Nonetheless, you want to be in the water with her or simply be her. On her back beneath the waves, she watches a school of stingray glide above her, observes sunfish basking in the sun near an oil rig, and is enthralled by a graceful, acrobatic show from a pod of dolphins. If you ever had a fantasy about being a mermaid, Lynne comes as close as humanly possible to living the dream…it is truly magical.

Therefore from the perspective of an animal lover, I was sorry to read the following passage about Lynne’s relationship with fisherman friend Carl:

“…Carl usually caught an extra halibut or two, and he always gave me some to bring home for dinner. It was always a little strange kicking ashore while holding a five – to ten – pound dead halibut above my head with fish juices sliding down my arms.

No fish ever tasted as fresh or as sweet as the ones Carl gave me. I liked the fish even more because they were from Carl and I could tell he was as excited about giving me the fish as I was receiving them from him.”

To be so intimately involved with the world of the sea and have an obvious love for its mystery and its inhabitants, and then to eat and thoroughly enjoy fish, to me, is a bizarre disconnect. I realize there are people who revere nature and still justify hunting or fishing and eating meat / seafood, but I can never really understand it. I suppose they feel it is all about the circle of life; whether an animal dies by man or another animal is irrelevant, it’s what happens.

To appreciate this connection is preferable to the alarming apathy and struggle to manipulate nature that is now the norm, but with particular reference to the ocean, considering man is tipping the scales and causing a possibly irrevocable imbalance with pollution, trash, and over fishing, perhaps Lynne could do her part to balance the scales and truly engage in her love of the ocean by abstaining from eating its inhabitants. Maybe she could talk to Carl too!

Despite this disappointing vice of the main character, this is a charming and heartwarming story. It’s a perfect read for your next visit to the beach. Get comfortable on the sand under a big umbrella, read this book, gaze intermittently at the gentle sea, and contemplate the intricate, marvelous world that lies beneath.