A while back I posted about the Walk for Farmed Animals I’m participating in. I’ve been fundraising a lot and have reach 50% of my goal of $1000. There are just over two weeks until the walk on October 23rd and I’m determined to reach my goal to help formerly farmed animals at Farm Sanctuary. Particularly after last week’s news about healthy dairy cows being slaughtered to raise milk prices, I am so glad that there are sanctuaries out there devoted to giving formerly farmed animals a place to live out their lives.
Please, please, please donate if you can! Even $5 or $10 dollars (the price of a fancy coffee drink, or a coffee and pastry!) would be so helpful and add up to help me raise that last $500 before the walk. Plus, it’s tax deductible! To view my donation page and/or donate, please click here.
Thank you!!
Is anyone else out there doing the Walk in their corner of the world?
Last week, there was a bit of a media flurry about a very significant lawsuit against Cooperatives Working Together (CWT), an organization of many of the big dairy companies (including Land O Lakes). Filed by Seattle law firm Hagans Berman Sogol Shapiro, the suit accuses California dairy producers of slaughtering 500,000 healthy dairy cows in order to reduce the supply of milk, and thus, drive up the price. Estimates peg the profits from this illegal price fixing at $10 billion from 2003 to 2010.
CWT slaughtered the dairy cows, using the term ‘dairy herd retirement’ to cover what was the slaughter of healthy and productive cows. Animal advocacy group, Compassion Over Killing (COK) was the organization who discovered the link between the slaughter of the cows and dairy prices.
There was an article about this in the Seattle PI, as well as in a range of other news publications. As I’ve been following the story, I’ve noticed a number of really interesting issues here. The suit itself is grounded on the price fixing that impacted American consumers purchasing dairy products and so in the public consciousness, this suit is not really about the animals but about the effects on consumers. From a perspective that considers the animals (like COK’s), the slaughter of the half million health dairy cows was ethically unsound to say the least. But I can’t help but think that this is not so far off from the way the dairy industry functions on a good day.
Dairy cows are kept alive only so long as they are reproductively productive. When they are no longer producing substantial quantities of milk (usually after just a few years), they are slaughtered for the meat industry. Big dairy has encouraged the public to think that dairy production is benign–afterall, the cow is not directly killed to obtain milk, as is the case with meat. However, the connection of dairy production with the systematic slaughter of animals is inseparable: male calves born to dairy cows are often slaughtered for veal or raised for beef, and ‘spent’ dairy cows are most often turned into ground beef. Lots of interesting and tough dimensions to this suit.
This being said, I am delighted by the law suit, as it draws attention to the workings of the dairy industry. The power of law here is inspiring and I’ll be interested to see how the suit progresses. Any thoughts?
Chickens were one of the first animals we stopped eating when Eric and I decided to transition to a vegetarian (and eventually vegan) lifestyle. It made sense; we had chickens living in our backyard and so our personal connection to these animals was much more tangible than to other farmed animals. Quickly this transitioned to our not eating any animals, but chickens were the first. This weekend, Eric was missing the comfort/familiarity of a standard chicken noodle soup. He also has really been enjoying this tomato orzo soup from our co-op’s prepared foods department. And so, he suggested we make a soup with a chicken-soup flavor profile and orzo. When we were at the co-op on Sunday, I made sure grab a bag of orzo and I was in the bulk spice section and stumbled across some ‘Vegetarian Chicken Stock’ powder. I was a little wary of what it might be like (we usually avoid the fake-meat options), but decided to get a little and give it a try. Yesterday, I made up some ‘Not-Chicken Noodle Soup’ for dinner and I think we were both pleased with results. It is quite thick (the orzo absorbed much of the liquid, so if you like a thinner soup, reduce the amount of orzo, or increase the amount of liquid).
The Recipe
12 oz orzo, uncooked
splash of olive oil
1 medium onion
3 stalks celery
3 carrots
12 cups water
7 Tbls vegetarian chicken stock powder.
white pepper or black pepper, to taste
such simple ingredients!
Dice the onions, carrots, and celery. Heat a splash of olive oil in a large pot. Add the onions and saute until slightly soft. Add the carrots and celery and let saute for about 5 minutes on medium heat, stirring frequently:
Add the water, stock powder, and pepper. Note: white pepper is the traditional chicken soup addition, but if you don’t have it, black pepper works just fine).
Heat to a boil and turn down the heat to a simmer. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. The idea here is to cook the carrots and celery slightly, but not until they’re mushy. They will still continue to cook once you’ve added the orzo. Add the orzo and cook for at least 10-15 minutes. Taste the orzo until it’s cooked to your liking:
Serve it up, and enjoy! This turned out to be warming, satisfying and hit the spot for Eric’s craving. Do any of you have favorite recipes you have tried (or want to try) to veganize?
The tea festival this year was really fun! It was in one of the buildings at Seattle Center and as you entered you were greeted by the Tea Lady’s teapot. The festival was set up differently than last year and was in a different location, so it was difficult for us to determine if there were more vendors than last year. There were certainly some we hadn’t seen last year, which was exciting. When we entered the pavilion, we paid our $10 donation and received a little porcelain tasting cup and a reusable tote bag (which ended up holding our tea). We tried to go through the booths systematically so as not to miss anything and began the tasting. We stopped at the Tea Lady’s booth to get some “Evening in Missoula” for my dad. It’s an herbal tea with a whole bunch of different tasty herbs (too many to list here) and my dad happens to love it. We had gotten it last year from their booth and wanted to make sure to return. Melinda, one of the people working the booth, was very kind and we had a nice chat. Part of the Tea Lady display:
We also made sure to check out the Tao of Tea, a Portland-based tea company that sells some of Eric’s favorite tea. He’s been on a Chinese black tea kick and has been honing his taste buds to discover some of the best tea he’s ever had. We usually order Tao of Tea cans of loose leaf online, but it was a treat to get to talk to the lovely woman who was selling at their booth. We had a great conversation with her and plan to go to Portland to the Chinese tea garden sometime soon. The month of October is filled with special events, apparently. Eric ended up getting a traditional Chinese tea cake (aged and pressed together tea leaves), which he is excited to try. No pictures from this booth because we were so engrossed in chatting and tasting.
I was excited to go to the Perennial Tea Room’s booth because they had my favorite tea from last year’s festival–a Winter Chocolate Spice black tea:
The Perennial Tea Room
Unfortunately, they only had sample-size bags, so I will have to go their shop to get more. Their shop is located in Post Alley at the Pike Place Market and the Winter Chocolate Spice is seasonal, so I’m going to try to make it down to Post Alley this week to buy a large supply of this tea while they have it.
The only other tea we bought was called Saint Marc’s and is a fruity black tea blend. The reason we got it is that it tasted very similar to Twining’s Four Red Fruits black tea, which is one of my all-time favorites, but which is very difficult to find in shops. We were introduced to Four Red Fruits when my sister and I travelled to Italy about 10 years ago to visit our Italian exchange student brother, Giorgio, in Milan. Loved this tea and was excited to find something similar.
Other things of note in the festival. Choice Tea, which has one of my favorite peppermint teas:
Choice Tea display
Someone was selling handmade tea cozies:
need a tea cozy?
And some booths’ displays were quite aesthetically pleasing. I loved these little bottles filled with tea leaves:
Phoenix Tea
Overall, it was quite a successful and enjoyable outing. We did not buy nearly as much tea as we did last year, but we ended up with only the tea that we knew we would love. We came home and promptly made tea to eat with some cookies I had made on Friday night.
our Tea Festival treats
Are any of you as crazy about tea as I am? Did any of you make it out to the tea festival this weekend?
This week was better than last week–Thank goodness. My dad was here and we worked A LOT. While he was visiting, we set up two computer stations so we could both get our work done at the same time. It was so nice having him to talk to while I was working, but we still were both very productive. I finally finished and submitted my NSF proposal for dissertation funding (bon voyage, my sweet proposal–fingers crossed that you are successful!) and I also got my Generals exam statement finished and submitted to my committee. The Generals exam is the qualifying exam that PhD students in our department are required to take in order to get PhD candidacy. Once you have candidacy, you’re allowed to begin you dissertation research. I am taking the exam this fall. All in all, it was a very productive week and I’m pooped (but satisfied)!
The week in review:
Monday September 26th: A recipe for late-summer vegetable pasta–a nice warming and fresh end to summer. It really feels like fall in Seattle now.
Tuesday September 27th: This post was about the Seattle Public Library Book Sale, which is fabulous and wonderful and we came home with 43 books for $32. Plus, a GIVEAWAY of one of my favorite books. The giveaway ends tomorrow (10/3) at the end of the day, so post a comment on the post for a chance to win The Pig Who Sang to the Moon.
Wednesday September 28th: A totally delicious recipe (one of the best in a while) for polenta with kale and mushrooms. So warming and filling and, above all, tasty!
Thursday September 29th: I’ve decided to start a series: Vegan Shopping 101. This is the first in the series: Vegan Shopping 101: Thrift Stores. Tips for shopping thrift stores, particularly the Goodwill. Stay tuned for the next installment.
Friday September 30th: I hope some of you have (or plan to) make it out the Northwest Tea Festival, which is this weekend at Seattle Center. A lovely experience with lots of tea tasting.
Yesterday, our next door neighbor returned from 2 years living back east and we spent the day unpacking her gigantic moving truck. I’m so excited to have her back (and all her lovely animal friends); today, back to the Sunday routine of getting ready for the week. Happy Sunday, everyone. Anyone do anything fun this weekend?
This weekend is the Northwest Tea Festival. Eric and I went last year and had such a good time!
This year, it’s 10am -6 pm on Saturday Oct. 1st and 10am- 4pm on Sunday Oct. 2nd. The event is free, but with a $10 donation, you will receive an adorable little porcelain cup for tea tasting.
There are many different kinds of tea vendors with samples and many of them have small sample bags of loose-leaf tea either as free samples or that you can buy and take home. Eric and I came home with a bag full of tea last year and had a blast for days afterward trying a new type of tea every time we made a cup. They also have informational sessions teaching you about tea, etc. To see the program for this year, click here. Anyone planning on going this year?
Thrift shopping is a great way to find unique and gently used clothing and other items. Not only can you get some great finds that you couldn’t find elsewhere, thrift shopping is also a way to reuse clothing and resources that have already been produced. Many of the mainstream retail stores use sweatshop labor to produce their clothes, and they also use up valuable raw materials in their production, which are often extracted through exploitative practices. Thrift shopping is one way to avoid this, at least in part. Plus, it’s certainly easier on the pocketbook. If you live in Seattle, there are so many thrift store options from the trendy vintage boutiques, to Crossroads and Buffalo Exchange, to Red Light, to Value Village, to the Goodwill. I know Crossroads, Buffalo Exchange, and Goodwill, at least, have stores around the country (not sure about Value Village) and there are awesome vintage shops in most cities I’ve encountered. There are Goodwills all throughout Seattle, but the best one, in my opinion, is the one in South Seattle on Dearborn. It’s gigantic and the turnover there is very fast.
I’ve been shopping at the Goodwill and other thrift stores since I could walk. When we were kids, my mom would take us to the Goodwill and tell us that we could get anything we wanted. It was so fun! Over the years, I’ve worked hard to refine my experience of the Goodwill so that I come home only with things I need/ will use. In my early adult years, I would get blinded by the novelty of the clothes I would find. I’d think, “wow, this is such an interesting print… I bet I’ll never find another print like this as long as I live” and not be able to admit to myself that maybe it was a good thing I would never be able to find another print like that again. For several years, I would come home with a bag of clothes that were a combination of ‘totally hideous’ and just ‘ho-hum’. Now, several years later, I feel like I’ve worked out the best way (for me) to shop at the Goodwill or any other thrift store. Some rules/tips:
1. Check the daily sales. At the Goodwill, at least, there are sales everyday. Sometimes it’s a particular color of tag discounted, sometimes it’s all of one kind of item, and on Wednesdays it’s senior discount day. Luckily, my dad is still in town and happens to be comfortably in the category of ‘senior,’ so we went to take advantage of the sale. When we got there, we found out that in addition to the 20% off for seniors, they were giving 30% off for college students, so we got 50% off our entire order! Holy Smokes!
2. Go frequently and take your time. Go when you have some time. Shopping in this way is dependent on being patient and looking through lots of clothes that you’re not interested in trying on. Going frequently to the Goodwill with enable you to get better at tip #6 (see below).
3. Be flexible with your size. In addition to my normal size, I usually try on one size above and one size below because sizing in such an eclectic collection of clothing is not consistent.
4. Keep an eye out for your favorite brands. If you know that you look great in Banana Republic jeans, for instance, keep your eye out for them. But also stay open to trying out brands you’ve never tried before. One of my best Goodwill finds was a nearly brand new Prairie Underground top that retails for around $150 (I bought it for 2.99).
5. Check the materials. Before I try anything on, I check the tags to see what the piece of clothing is made from. If it’s anything made from leather, wool, silk, or any other animal product, I put it back before I get attached to it.
6. Be ruthless. This is the most important rule/tip. Don’t buy anything that’s just okay. Be prepared to leave with nothing. You can find some really great clothing at the Goodwill, so you do not have to settle for anything mediocre. It might just mean coming back another time. When you go into the dressing room, hang the clothes ‘to try on’ on one hook:
clothes to try on
Designate another hook for ‘maybe’ items:
'maybe' items
And another one for ‘yes’. When we went yesterday, I made three trips to the dressing room, and did not come up with any ‘yes’ items. In fact, my ‘yes’ hook looked like this:
'yes' hook remained empty
While that was a little disappointing, it’s okay! It happens. When you’re going frequently, you just have to be prepared to walk away with nothing. Last time I went, I came home with an awesome pair of skinny jeans, a really cute dress, and two adorable hooded sweaters/sweatshirts.
7. One in/One out. I have yet to implement this rule, but I would love to start doing it. When you buy an article of clothing, be prepared to go home and pick out one article of clothing to donate or give away. This way, you maintain your current volume of clothing without turning into a pack-rat like me!
8. Beware of the impulse buys. Invariably, you’ll come across something which you did not expect to find, and which you immediately think “I could use that!”. Take a moment to really consider if you’ll use it, where you’ll store it in your home, and why you need it. Unless you have a plan for the item, don’t buy it–it will just make clutter in your house!
Even though yesterday was a flop in terms of finding clothing, I had a couple of things I was looking for outside of the clothing realm. My friend and neighbor is moving back to Seattle on Saturday and I wanted to make her a welcome home basket with some vegan snacks and other treats for her to enjoy while she unpacks and moves back into her house. Goodwill is a great place for baskets and I find a beautiful one almost every time I’m preparing to give someone a gift. I found quite a nice basket yesterday, and I got this brand-new adorable dish towel to line the basket with:
I’ve been planning to make little reversible jackets for my niece and nephew for Christmas/Chanukah this year. I found this pattern on Etsy and wanted to make one for each of them. I’ve been trying not to buy new fabric from the fabric stores, except on special occasions, and the Goodwill has a sometimes-great selection of ‘Yardage’:
yardage section
I didn’t end up finding the right fabric for my nephew’s jacket, but I found a few great options for the jacket for my niece:
The fabric on the left is a soft, light weight canvas that I thought would look great with the purple corduroy in middle (which is also lightweight and soft). On the right is a silky print with little children and horses on it (it’s hard to see in the picture, but very cute) and that also looks nice with the corduroy. The corduroy was a huge piece (probably 12-15 yards), which I got for $5. The canvas, probably a yard, I got for $1.99 and the print on the right, was $.99 for probably 2 yards. My niece is quite fond of butterflies and I was happy to find this soft cotton curtain for $3.99, which I was thinking would make a cute sundress for next summer:
butterflies!
If I have time, I always check the shoe section (avoiding leather shoes), the hat section, and the book section:
While wandering aimlessly through the housewares section, I stumbled across this:
sprouting jar!
Impulse buy of the week: a brand new sprouting jar for $1! I’ve been meaning to get one of these so I can make sprouts at home (other creative methods of trying to make them have not worked out well) and so I was delighted to find this. Yes!
A successful trip to the Goodwill. Do you all have tips for thrift shopping or favorite places to shop for used clothes?
Coming into fall, we’ve been starting to crave heartier and warming meals and this polenta dish definitely satisfies that craving. In fact, Eric said “this is the best one in a long time,” meaning the best new recipe we’ve had in a long time. High praise. My dad liked it, too. This is a soft polenta dish prepared separately and then served with sautéed vegetables on top (in this case, mushrooms and kale). We served it up in the beautiful new bowls I received from my mother-in-law as a birthday present this year. This is quite easy, and just requires time long enough to cook the polenta (about 45 minutes or so).
The Recipe
Serves 5-6
For the polenta:
olive oil
1 1/3 cup dry polenta (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
5 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic
salt and pepper to taste
For the vegetables:
5 cups sliced mushrooms (I used crimini and portobello)
1 large head of kale, washed and chopped (I used dinosaur, but any kind will do. Spinach would be good, too)
olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
Using a medium to large pot, saute the onion until soft. Add garlic.
saute onions and garlic
Stir in the polenta and mix well with the oil and onions. Add the stock and water and stir. Add some freshly ground pepper [Note: you can use all stock, but unless you’re using a low-sodium stock, I imagine it might be quite salty. I found that I did not need to add any additional salt to the polenta, but you should just go by taste and how you like it.]
stir in the polenta and liquids
Bring the polenta to a boil, stir, and turn down the heat to a simmer. Simmer the polenta for 40 minutes, until the consistency is a thick porridge. Stir frequently!
While the polenta is cooking, slice the mushrooms and chop the kale. When there are about 10 minutes left on the timer for the polenta, heat a splash of olive oil in a large pan. Add the mushrooms and saute for about 3-4 minutes.
saute mushrooms
Add the kale and stir in the garlic powder, salt and pepper (you can, of course, used fresh garlic here, if you prefer). Cook until the kale is soft (just a few minutes)
kale and mushrooms
The two dishes should finish cooking at about the same time. Taste the polenta and the vegetables, keeping in mind they will be served together. Adjust the salt and pepper as needed.
Serve polenta in bowls with the vegetables on top and enjoy!
serve up and enjoy!
A warm, seasonal meal for fall. What fall foods are you excited about right now?
Twice a year, the Seattle Public Library holds a massive book sale to raise money for the library. They sell books that have been taken out of circulation by the library as well as books donated by Seattle residents. Eric and I have been going to this sale twice a year together since I moved to Seattle and it’s one of our favorite ‘twice-annual’ activities. For some reason, we have missed the last two book sales and so when we realized last minute that the book sale was this weekend, we were determined to go. The book sale is held in a giant warehouse at Magnuson Park and lasts the whole weekend. Friday night is for ‘Friends of the Library’ only and those who donate to the library are given first look at the offerings for the weekend’s book sale. Saturday, the sale is open to everyone and the books are priced regularly ($1.00 for paperbacks, $2.00 for hardbacks). On Sunday, everything is half off! So that’s $.50 for paperbacks and $1.00 for hardbacks:
half off on Sunday!
You can’t beat that price! We each bring a canvas bag to hold our books while we look and we split up as soon as we get into the warehouse. I always bee-line for…
animals section
You guessed it–the ‘Animals’ section! After looking at every single book in the section, I go to ‘Nature,’ then ‘Politics’, then ‘Sociology,’ then ‘Law,’ then ‘Cookbooks,’ and then ‘Children’s Books’ (for our niece and nephew). Eric bee-lines for ‘Sci-Fi’ where he spends most of time and usually comes home with quite a haul of books. True to form:
Eric's sci-fi
I came home with a respectable pile of books related to animals and the food industry and a few children’s books (not pictured):
Katie's books
And I found a biography of Beatrix Potter (whom I love!). And a book called ‘Eco Dog’ which has recipes for dog treats, etc. so I thought that might be useful.
The book sale is always fun and a great deal. I would recommend it for any book lovers. The next one will be sometime in April. We got 43 books for $32. Holy smokes!
The Giveaway:
The Pig Who Sang to the Moon
Whenever I find a copy of Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson’s The Pig Who Sang to the Moon I buy it to give away to some future person who might want to read it. It’s a wonderful book that explores the emotional lives of farmed animals. The book is interjected delicately with information about farmed animal lives more generally and the realities many of these animals face. Lucky for you guys, I found a nice hardbound copy at the book sale for $1.00 and I would like to give it away to someone.
If you’d like a chance to win a copy of the book for yourself or to give to a friend, please comment below. Comment period closes on Monday October 3 at 5pm PST, and I will announce the winner on Tuesday October 4. I will ship the book anywhere in the world, so for those readers outside the U.S. please feel free to post as well!
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