Serenity in the Storm

Remembering Sadie

Earlier this week, I heard some very sad news. Sadie, one of the cows I met earlier this summer at Animal Place in California, died. She was fourteen. I wrote briefly about her story in “Sharing Testimony: An Activist Project for Animals” at Our Hen House earlier this summer. When I met Sadie, her story broke my heart and has haunted me since I came home.

For seven years, she was Number 274 and her sole worth based on how much milk could be drained from her udder. When she developed mastitis, an intensely painful infection of the udder, her worth as a dairy cow plummeted. There is no happy oasis for middle-aged dairy cows for there is no profit in permitting a cow freedom. Instead, Number 274 was hauled off to auction where a veterinary school purchased her.

Instead of treating her mastitis, though, the teaching hospital used her as a teaching “tool”. For a semester, students poked and prodded her in the name of education. At the end of the teaching period, the school prepared to send Number 274 off to auction for eventual slaughter. Death would be her fate, until a kind-hearted vet student stepped in. Instead of ignoring the niggling voice of compassion, this young woman embraced her conscience and saved the cow’s life. Thanks to the student’s courage and her persistence, this gentle cow now calls Animal Place home.

It is impossible to gaze into Number 274’s eyes and not see a unique individual. She is not a mere number – she is a bovine unto herself and worthy of more recognition than a yellow ear-tag with a number emblazoned on it. She needed a real name. After much consideration, Number 274 became known as Sadie – a gorgeous cow with a penchant for apples and a strong desire to hang out with our other cows, Howie and Jessie. ~Animal Place

When Sadie arrived at Animal Place, she was pregnant (something the vet school did not notice in the 20 weeks she was there). She ended up giving birth to a dead calf—the only calf she had been allowed to spend any time with after her delivery. She spent time licking and cleaning her new calf before he was buried. Sadie eventually became the adoptive mother to orphaned calves who came to Animal Place. She had a keen maternal instinct and spent a number of years at the sanctuary helping the young ones adjust to their new life. Eventually, Sadie retired to the geriatric herd at Animal Place, which is where she was when I met her. Sadie’s story is, in some ways, written on her body—her limp, her “docked” tail, the holes punched in her ears from ear tags. And in other ways, her story is her own and her history known only through sharing her story. She found a new life at Animal Place, with the amazing humans, like Marji Beach, who care for her. Marji wrote a beautiful poem honoring Sadie’s life.

Sadie’s death hit me hard this week. I didn’t know her well—I’d just met her momentarily that once. She had seven good years at Animal Place and for that I am so grateful. My sadness is partly because of what she had to endure during her first seven years. But perhaps this sadness is so intense because I know that Sadie is just one individual in a vast population of cows who are bred, used up, and killed just so that humans can have a glass of milk or a piece of cheese. None of these cows will ever know the safety and peace of sanctuary because they are already dead, they are being slaughtered now at this moment, they are being shipped to slaughter today, tomorrow and the next day, and they are laboring as we speak in farms across the country and around the world.

A heavy post for Friday, I know. But I want to honor Sadie and the 9 million nameless cows in the United States who are identified by numbers on plastic ear tags. May sharing Sadie’s story work to free them from suffering and may we work tirelessly until we achieve liberation for all. In solidarity, now and always.

Planning an Eco-Friendly, Vegan Wedding

Photo1_EcoAutumnWedding — Vintage long-sleeved and lace wedding gown from BirdyJames on Etsy; Handmade twig wedding band set in recycled gold by KristinCoffin on Etsy; Living succulent bouquet by SucculentByDesign on Etsy.

Remember back when I told you I was going to have the opportunity to be a fashion correspondent for Alicia Silverstone’s blog, The Kind Life? Well, I’m excited to tell you that today my first guest post is up–Planning A Fall Wedding. I think in another life, I would have become an event planner. There’s something about all of the tiny details of planning an event—all of the aesthetic touches and things that make an event special—that I love. For this reason, this post was so much fun to write! Click on over and give it a read if it’s of interest.

Cucumber Tomato Summer Salad

I’ve been a wee bit obsessed with this salad for the past couple of weeks. And by obsessed, I mean I’ve been making it every day (sometimes twice). This salad tastes like summer to me, probably because I grew up eating a variation of this (though the version we ate had mayonnaise instead of vinegar). We’ve had a pretty consistent crop of tomatoes from our garden this summer and there are at least 3-4 new ones every day. Plus, I’ve been a been a bit of a cucumber fiend, what with the cucumber sandwiches and this salad. This salad is so easy to make, simple ingredients and it keeps well in the fridge if you want to make it earlier in the day and chill it for dinner.

The Recipe

Makes about 3 cups (I’m not going to say how many servings, because I can easily eat a whole batch by myself, but you could certainly share it with one or two other people)

1 1/2 cups diced cucumber

1 1/2 cups diced tomato

2 Tbls minced onion (preferable a sweet onion)

1 Tbls white wine vinegar

1 tsp olive oil (optional)

pinch of salt and generous amount of fresh ground pepper

Put all ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings, keeping in mind that letting the salad sit in the fridge will help marry the flavors together.

Have you been enjoying any foods this summer that you just can’t seem to get enough of?

Stroll through Discovery Park

After just one week of fundraising for Pigs Peace Sanctuary, together we have raised $676. That is so awesome! Thank you so much to those who have donated! Can I nudge the rest of you to consider making a donation? If you’d like to receive peppermint patties for Pigs Peace, just click on over here.

Last week, a friend of a friend came to town and called me up. We had never met before, and this being her first time in Seattle, we ended up taking Maizy for a walk at Discovery Park.

Discovery Park was one of the places that made me fall in love with Seattle. On one of my first solo visits to Seattle Eric took me out to Discovery and we spent several hours wandering through the park. I couldn’t believe that right inside the city there was such a massive, gorgeous park.

Discovery is by far the largest park in Seattle spanning 534 acres and providing refuge for many animals. It is situated in Northwest Seattle in Magnolia. One side of the park is a long bluff overlooking the Puget Sound. One trail you can take (there are many) goes the length of the bluff and then down through the woods on a steep trail to the rocky beach below. This is the walk we did last week with Maizy.

Sometimes people ask what I love about Seattle. There are lots of tangible things that I love about this region—this park included. The natural beauty at every turn, the water, mountains, and greenery…and the fact that within one to two hours of the city you can be in those mountains, in the rainforest, or at the beach. As a geographer, I try to pay close attention to place. What certain places mean, what the history of certain places are and how places make us feel. In a mostly intangible way, this region—this place—makes my soul sing. This region makes me feel alive and inspired—sunny days like this when everything is breathtakingly gorgeous and the cloudy, rainy days the rest of the year that feel like comfort and like home.

Do you have a place that makes you feel this way?

Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

This recipe should have gone up after the baby shower post, but I hadn’t recorded the proportions and so I had to wait till I recreated these to get the exact recipe. We were left with massive quantities of leftovers after the baby shower and I spent two days afterward eating nothing but cucumber sandwiches. Needless to say, I overdid it a little and was not really enthusiastic about making another batch so soon. Thanks to reader Earthangel, who reminded me last week about the recipe, I made them again this weekend and have the recipe to share with you today. These cute little tea sandwiches are perfect for a special afternoon event like a baby or bridal shower, a gathering of friends, or if you’re just in the mood to have a delicious refreshing sandwich.

The Recipe

Makes 4-5 whole sandwiches

1 loaf of soft, dense whole wheat bread

1 8 oz. container vegan cream cheese

1/2 cup minced fresh dill

1 tsp dried dill

1 bunch chives, chopped finely

1 cucumber, peeled and sliced

A day ahead, mix the cream cheese with the fresh and dried dill. Refrigerate overnight to let the flavors combine. When you’re ready to prepare the sandwiches, chop the chives and slice the cucumber. Spread a generous smear of cream cheese on each slice of bread. Lay a single layer of cucumbers on one piece of bread. Sprinkle some chives on top of the cucumber and place the other slice of bread on top. Cut the sandwich in triangles. To make them extra special, you can spread a thin layer of cream cheese on the edges and dip the edges in chopped chives. This is how they make them at one of my all-time favorite places—Remedy Tea. If you’re making a large quantity of sandwiches for an event, this might be too labor intensive, but it’s a lovely touch for a small gathering. Serve with tea, some lemony stars or shortbread thumbprints, or you could always whip up some salted kahlua truffles.

Summer Curry

We have had an abundance of zucchini from our garden over the past month. And by abundance, I mean a bumper crop that just keeps on coming. Every day for weeks we’ve been getting 1-3 big zucchinis. We’ve been giving them away right and left, eating them ourselves, giving Maizy lots in her meals…I even took one on the plane to Baltimore for Lucy and Caitlin (security surprisingly said nothing about the giant zucchini in my carry-on)! Usually when I put zucchini in things, I cut relatively thin slices. Earlier this week I thought it might be nice to have a dish with big hunks of zucchini in it. I had also gotten a lovely cauliflower that needed to be eaten (we’re coming into cauliflower season now. Yes!). I whipped up a quick cucumber/tomato salad and made this curry, served with a side of reheated brown rice from the fridge. It’s been very hot here in Seattle and I have had almost no motivation for being in the kitchen. For this reason, this dish is great. It cooks up quickly, only uses one pot and is satisfying and filling without being heavy.

A note about curry: You can certainly use any curry you like. I went a bit crazy with curry blends a few months ago during a visit to Market Spice in the Pike Place Market. I have a little bit of a love affair with Market Spice and will make any excuse to go there. During one visit, I bought four or five different curry blends. After trying all of them, my favorite is definitely the ‘chicken curry.’ Despite its unfortunate name, it is wonderful—slightly sweet, the perfect blend of spice and flavor and tastes great on every vegetable I’ve tried it on. For those of you not in Seattle, you can still experience an abbreviated visit to Market Spice through their website. This is the Indian spice selection page.

The Recipe

Serves 2-3

1 1/2 cups zucchini, large chunks

1 1/2 cups cauliflower florets

1/2 medium onion, diced

1 – 1 1/2 tsp curry powder

pinch of salt and pepper to taste

splash of olive oil or water for sauteing

In a medium pan or pot, saute onion for a few minutes in water or olive oil until slightly soft. Add salt, pepper, and curry powder and stir to combine. Let cook for 1-2 minutes longer to let the flavors bloom a bit. If the spices are sticking to the pan too much, you can add a tiny splash of water to help incorporate them into the onion mixture. Over medium heat, add the cauliflower and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the zucchini and cook until both the zuccihini and cauliflower are tender, but not falling apart (about 7-10 minutes). Taste as it’s cooking and adjust seasonings as needed.

Serve alone or with a cooked grain and a fresh summer salad. Delish!

Introducing Peppermint Patties for Pigs Peace

Dear Readers,

In celebration of one year of blogging, and because Pigs Peace is in desperate need of donations, I’m launching a donation drive page for Pigs Peace at Serenity in the Storm. If you’ve been reading the blog for the last year, you’ll know about my love affair with Pigs Peace Sanctuary. We’ve been volunteering there since we visited for the first time on my birthday last September. Working at Pigs Peace is often the best part of our week and the home Judy Woods has created for the pigs is truly exceptional. Even now, it still takes my breath away to look out over the sanctuary and see the pigs hanging out and living their lives in such a beautiful and safe environment. Last year at this time, I started fundraising for the Walk for Farmed Animals to support Farm Sanctuary. Thank you so much to all of you who donated to that! Together, we raised just about $1000 for Farm Sanctuary last year. Working at Pigs Peace this year has made me realize how desperately smaller sanctuaries like Pigs Peace need donations just to keep their doors open. And so I’m throwing my fundraising efforts this year into raising (hopefully even more) funds for the pigs of Pigs Peace! Instead of walking for animals this year, for a limited time, I’ll be digging into some awesome peppermint patty dough (because who are we kidding—I’d much rather cook than exercise for animals!) and I’ll be sending you a dozen handmade peppermint patties made with love for donating $50 or more and a 5×7 print of one of the beautiful pigs at Pigs Peace for donating $35 or more.

Click on over to the ‘Peppermint Patties for Pigs Peace’ page to see the full details.

Thank you so much in advance for any donation (no matter how small) you can make for the pigs!

With love and gratitude,

Katie

[donateplus]

Celebrating One Year!

Happy one year, dear old blogaroo! A year ago this week, I started writing Serenity in the Storm. The name comes from a beautiful quote I try to take to heart each day: “Serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace within the storm.” I’ve had a wonderful time writing the blog this past year, using it as an outlet to think through things that are on my mind and in the news and as a distraction from some of the more difficult work I do—in other words, as a tiny space that offers some, ‘peace within the storm.’ To celebrate the one year ‘blogiversary,’ I made the raspberry shortcake recipe this weekend, but used strawberries and blueberries instead of raspberries. Yum! If you like delicious things, I strongly encourage you to make this shortcake recipe with whatever are your favorite berries. Good lord, it’s divine.

This morning, I looked back at the blog stats for the past year and the five most widely read posts have been (and what a funny list it is):

Vegan Tattoos

Making a Nightcap

Chik-fil-A: Speciesism with a Side of Homophobia?

Dehydrated Yam Dog Treats

Pantry Basics: Non-Dairy Milks

Who knew that making a nightcap is such a highly sought-after tutorial!

These are the five recipes I think are some of our favorite recipes from the last year (in no particular order):

Raspberry Shortcake

Kalamata Basil Tapenade

Lemony Stars

Mushroom Gravy

Kale Salad

Of course, without you, dear readers, this blog would be nothing more than a weird, public ‘notes to self.’ So for all of you reading, I am immensely grateful. Thanks to all those of you who have been reading from that very first post. And thanks to all of you newer readers. I love to hear from you—feedback, thoughts, comments, etc.—so please do comment or send me a note anytime if something is on your mind! My goal for the next year is to try to make this space more of a conversation.

And in that vein, is there anything you’d like to see more/less of on the blog in the next year? Any subject you’d like to see written about? Let me know! I’d love to hear your feedback about what’s working and what’s not working or could be better.

Two Degrees Bars- Review

Recently, someone from Two Degrees contacted me and asked if I’d like to sample and review their bars. I’ve had the chance to try them and have Eric, his mom and stepfather and Karen and Oliver try them as well. So I think we’ve got a pretty wide age and gender demographic of sampling. I’ll get to our thoughts in a minute, but first a little about the company.

Two Degrees operates on the one-for-one model. They are concerned with ending childhood hunger and have set up a system whereby each bar purchase results in Two Degrees buying a meal for a child who is hungry. According to Two Degrees’ website, nearly 1 billion children suffer from hunger or undernourishment globally. The meals Two Degrees donates are nutrient dense and medically formulated nutrition packs that are (as much as possible) produced locally nearby the communities consuming the meals. For distribution of the meals, they partner with nonprofit organizations like Partners in Health (founded by Paul Farmer) and others around the world. So far, they have donated over 500,000 meals in Haiti, Somalia, India, Kenya, and Malawi.

Now to the bars, which come in four flavors–cherry almond, chocolate banana, chocolate peanut butter, and apple pecan. They are all vegan and gluten-free. The bars are all chewy, a mixture of grains like quinoa, millet, and chia and some have crisped rice, seeds, and nuts (though the chocolate banana is nut-free). They also contain various dried fruits and are sweetened with brown rice syrup. Sample ingredients (from the cherry almond bar) are: Brown rice syrup, Unsweetened cherries (Cherries, Sunflower oil), Sunflower seeds, Brown rice crisp (Brown rice flour (Rice flour,Rice bran), Calcium carbonate), Prunes, Almond butter (Almonds), Almonds, Chia, Quinoa flake, Millet, Plum puree, Natural flavor, Sea salt, Vitamin E from sunflower seeds (to preserve freshness).

My thoughts on the bars were that the cherry almond was my favorite out of the four. They were all very sweet for my taste (more like something I would want to eat a bite of for dessert rather than as a snack bar). I tend to not get bars with added sweeteners in them (though these do use brown rice syrup rather than sugar, so that’s good). I’m also generally not a fan of bars with grains in them. For instance my favorite bars are the LaraBars, which are literally just dried fruit and nuts. But as far as grain-based bars go, I liked that these were made with quinoa, millet, and chia and I liked that you could see all of the grains and seeds in the bar.

Other individual thoughts on the bars:

Oliver (6 years of age): Oliver said the bars were “very good.” He liked the chocolate banana better than the cherry almond and said that it had a “very distinctive flavor” and that is tasted like “50% banana and 50% chocolate.”

Karen (Oliver’s mom): Karen thought the bars were too sweet, and that some of them were not crispy enough (she likes a bar that is chewy with some crispiness to it).

Eric (40 years of age): Eric has a real sweet tooth and tends to like sweet snack bars. For this reason, he thought the Two Degrees bars were pretty. He thought they were definitely one of the better bars he’s tasted, but not his favorite.

Ruth and Chuck (~65 years of age): Ruth liked the apple pecan bar, but was not as enthusiastic about the cherry almond. Chuck enjoyed the chocolate peanut butter bar.

Just a few thoughts on the Two Degrees bars and a little information about this relatively new company!

Have any of you tried them? Do you have any thoughts on the one-for-one model that has been popularized by companies like Toms Shoes?

Great Projects: Animal Rights 2012 Conference Recap, Part 3

I learned about some new-to-me amazing projects at the AR conference last week. They are all working to make change in really creative ways.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Okay, so this organization is not new-to-me, but I love the work they do so much, I had to feature them here:

Established in 1977, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization. Our mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species.

Sea Shepherd uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas. By safeguarding the biodiversity of our delicately-balanced ocean ecosystems, Sea Shepherd works to ensure their survival for future generations.

Check them out if you haven’t already!

The Food Empowerment Project

This project draws together many different issues relating to intersectionality in the food system in the form of addressing injustice relating to humans, animals, and the environment. Their mission is as follows:

The Food Empowerment Project seeks to create a more just and sustainable world by recognizing the power of one’s food choices.We encourage healthy food choices that reflect a more compassionate society by spotlighting the abuse of animals on farms, the depletion of natural resources, unfair working conditions for produce workers, and the unavailability of healthy foods in low-income areas.

By making informed choices, we can prevent injustices against animals, people, and the environment. We also work to discourage negligent corporations from pushing unhealthy foods into low-income areas and empower people to make healthier choices by growing their own fruits and vegetables. In all of our work, the Food Empowerment Project seeks specifically to empower those with the fewest resources.

Founded by Lauren Ornelas, The Food Empowerment Project recognizes that people of color are disprotionately denied access to healthy foods through a pervasive form of environmental racism. Looking at food access issues, social justice issues for humans, animals and the environment in the U.S. and abroad, F.E.P. is currently working on a couple of great campaigns. One works to end slavery in the cacao industry by urging companies to support non-slavery cocoa producers. They make recommendations for vegan chocolate options that do not support slavery. Another campaign is VeganMexicanFood.com, which recognizes the diet-related health issues in latino communities in the U.S. and works toward access to healthier culturally appropriate options.

10 Billion Lives Tour

This project is coordinated by FARM (Farm Animal Rights Movement):

According to USDA reports, nearly 10 billion land animals are raised and killed every year for food in the U.S. alone. The appropriately named 10 Billion Lives Tour, coordinated by Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM), will be bringing this injustice to the country’s attention by showing the hard-hitting Farm to Fridge video on a vehicle specially equipped to host up to 32 simultaneous viewers.

The vehicle will stop in busy public locations and offer people $1 to watch a video showcasing the cruel treatment of farmed animals – an outreach method known as “pay-per-view.” After watching, viewers are encouraged to decrease consumption of animals and work towards a vegan diet.

The results speak for themselves – more than 80% of viewers commit to eating fewer animal products afterward, and over 60% maintain their pledge! In fact, through detailed follow-up surveys, we’ve determined that an average viewer eats 10 fewer animals per year after participating, meaning that if we reach 100,000 people in our first year, we’ll spare one million animals from a miserable life and a terrifying death.

I thought this was a fun, creative way to engage young people in particular and get them thinking about the issues.

The Healing Species

This program was featured in a session on Engaging Young People at the conference and I thought the work they do sounds pretty interesting.

Healing Species is the first student intervention program in the nation addressing issues of the heart to overcome violence, bullying and crime – with the assistance of rescued dogs – dogs nobody else wanted. Healing Species is the “first of its kind” and paving a new standard among results-oriented programming.

The Healing Species reaches children and teens with a message of hope and healing. Even children who have never been nurtured can learn how to heal and then nurture others, thus intercepting the cycle of cruelty, abuse, and neglect.

Students learn life skills in self-esteem, conflict resolution, anger management, empathy, and respect for all life.

The Healing Species curriculum is designed for public and private schools, incarceration facilities, youth rehab programs, and other venues

Our Parent Connections class allows parents to learn these same skills, while creating opportunities to engage with their children

The innovative approach to engaging youth with stories, exercises, videos, and discussion centered around rescued animals leads students to discover and practice:

Life-lessons in respect for the feelings of others

Appropriate ways to respond to a bully

How to gain power by leading with acts of kindness, respect and “rising above the actions of others”

Age-appropriate awareness on abuse and how to get help

Methods for conflict resolution

Self-esteem from developing responsibility

Responsible choices lead to good consequences

How to take the initiative and follow-through to create a more compassionate planet for self and others

Empowers youth to not “give up”, “drop out” or return “hate for hate”

Just a few of the organizations I learned about that are doing some interesting, important work. There are so many others as well! Do you have any favorite organizations or projects relating to animal advocacy and/or veganism?