Country Kitchen Pantry - Herbs, Spices, Cooking, Recipes

I opened the journal that I keep in my country kitchen's pantry, and this is what I wrote:


Thursday, August 30, 2007

Why I became a vegetarian…

My family of origin ate lots of meat, and I never knew there could be a life without it until I was a teenager. One day my mother sent me to the store for groceries and on the way home the blood of a chicken dripped on me. It was shocking to me that an animal’s life-blood touched my hands and clothing. That made me think about how much worse it was that I was putting these animals into my body.

I don’t know how much time elapsed, but eventually someone told me about vegetarians. Hard to believe I didn’t know about vegetarianism until I was in my late teens, but that’s the ignorance of suburbia in the 1960s. As soon as I heard that there are people who eat no meat, I was attracted to the idea, and I knew that was what I wanted to be.

Making the transition wasn’t completely easy, but my family was fairly understanding and accepting of my decision. I think I was 17 at the time. Really, nobody gave me a bad time about it except during one incident that I’ve never forgotten. I was visiting with my boyfriend, who wasn’t as enthusiastic about my vegetarianism as I was. In fact, he may have been trying to talk me out of it; I really don’t remember if that was the case. But I do remember his mother’s live-in boyfriend, a professor of entomology at the University of California at Berkeley, chiming into the conversation to say I was a vegetable because I wanted to be a vegetarian. That stung, and I never forgot his opinion.

Still I persisted in transitioning to vegetarianism. I am sorry to say that I’ve been through several relationships since then. None of my husbands or boyfriends have been vegetarian. My current boyfriend is being forced into vegetarianism by medical conditions, but he’s fighting it all the way and still occasionally eats chicken and fish.

Meanwhile I’m very happy with my luscious vegetarian cuisine. It makes me feel great to know that no animals were harmed in the preparation of my dinner tonight.

Filed under: Vegetarianism — Linda @ 7:52 pm



Monday, August 13, 2007

Vegetarian Carnival #5: Cool Vegetarian Meals

Vegetarian Blog Carnival LogoIt is my honor to introduce some of the finest new blog posts about vegetarian eating and cooking. The dedicated vegetarian bloggers who contributed to this carnival look forward to your comments about living life, vegetarian style.

International Pleasures

Michael, The Vegetarian Foodie, described the Vietnamese Sandwiches he buys. His article will make you wish you were in Seattle.

On the other side of the country, VnV, who blogs at Vegetarian Monologues, tried a variety of international-style vegetarian restaurants and wrote A Vegetarian in New York City.

The Harvest Is In

Stephanie at Stop The Ride has a great Zucchini Strudel recipe online for us: Too Much Zucchini?.

Lucynda, blogger at Quietly Into The Night, has been harvesting her Roma tomatoes and setting them out to dry. Her post on Making Sun Dried Tomatoes tells the story of how she makes and uses them.

Recipes To Try Out

I’m impressed by the Expat Chef’s culinary confidence as he explains Roasted Ratatouille — No Rodents (thank goodness) at The Expatriate’s Kitchen.

Annette, the Frugal Journey cook, gives us a great pasta recipe: Bowties With Black Olives and Sun Dried Tomatoes.

Stretch Mark Mama suggests hearty lentils with rice as a taco meat replacement for new vegetarians: Food Fixin’ Friday: Mexican Style Lentils and Rice. I have to agree with her; I’ve been vegetarian many years and still love lentils with rice in corn tortillas.

Lisa, who blogs at Lisa’s Kitchen, shares a mouth-watering recipe for Paneer Cheese and Vegetables in a Creamy Gravy. I admire this kind of gourmet cooking.

The Conscious Mom, Shrijnana, plans to share her kid-friendly Sunday brunch menus with us regularly. This time she gives us the recipe for a vegan form of quiche and Garlic-Thyme Home Fries in Vegan Sunday Brunch 8/5/2007.

Amanda, the foodie at Eat… and Be Merry suggests a simple and summery pasta recipe, Penne with Vegetable Marinara, in her post: Quick and Easy Monday Night Pasta. Her photo makes this look so good!

Gillian Polack is a Food History expert who offers two classic Australian recipes for biscuits in Biscuits from the Barossa. Very helpful and intriguing.

A Special Treat

Leo at the Organic Test Kitchen tells us the secret to making the best organic Cookies and Cream Ice Cream. Thanks, Leo!

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this carnival. I am inspired by your cooking and menu ideas and amazed by the vegetarian food blogging talent out there.

The home page for the Vegetarian Blog Carnival is found at Veggie Chic’s Blog and the next carnival will be hosted there on August 27. You can participate! Submit a vegetarian post at the carnival submission form by August 26. See you then!

Filed under: Blogs, Vegetarianism — Linda @ 12:35 am





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Hi, my name is Linda. This is my personal home and hearth journal.

I am a self-trained herbal practitioner. I became a vegetarian when I was a teenager in the 1960s. I was a San Francisco Bay Area hippie in the 60s and early 70s. Then I became a mom - the most important job I've ever had.

Now I live in a very small mountain community. The nearest fast food restaurant is more than forty miles during summer, and more than seventy miles in winter when the pass is snowed under. I've never owned a cell phone, but I talked on one once.




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