photo by [puamelia]

Have you ever tried a persimmon? I just tried one for the first time last week and… oh my heck! Why aren’t these things more popular? You eat it like an apple (automatic bonus), and it’s sweet, but not overbearing. I’d say it’s… refreshingly sweet. Youngstown, the distributors of this Sweet Fuyu Persimmon, which I bought at Trader Joe’s, should hire me as their persimmon marketing rep. I’m totally in love. The ancient Greeks called it “fruit of the gods.” Heck yeah!

Don’t you ever just get sick of buying the same ol’ fruits? Do yourself a favor and pick out something new. Go on. Be bold! Last week when I went grocery shopping, I was feeling very daring (and bored with my usual fare), so I bought almost all new foods! Some puffed seaweed ball thingies, natural apple clusters, sticky rice snacks… and I ended up liking everything I bought!

So I’m challenging you. Next time you go gallivanting to the grocery store (alliteration, you’re welcome) pick out at least two items you’ve never had before. If you find some winning goodies, report back!

Our wedding turned out better than I could have ever hoped. Despite the chilling 30 degree weather outside and a few snow flurries earlier in the day (in the first week of October, mind you), we had an outdoor wedding in a beautiful, well-heated, tent. The ceremony and reception took place at my parent’s house on a tiny lake in Wisconsin called North Lake. The tent had floor-to-ceiling windows so, while it was still light out, we had tons of natural light inside the tent. And the fall colors decorated the trees beautifully.

Being designers, we decided to design our own wedding invitations, and had them printed at a local letterpress in Minneapolis called Studio On Fire. They loved our invites and posted them on their blog!

It was a smaller wedding of about 65 people, mostly family, and a few close friends. We decided to go with a dressy-casual wedding so people could basically wear what they felt comfortable in, including myself. I wore a knee-length white cotton dress by Nanette Lepore I bought from Bluefly for around $110, a gold sequined knit tie cardigan I found on eBay, a necklace from an antique store in La Crosse, WI, earrings and a cocktail hat from Etsy, and fantastic red vegan heels from Beyond Skin. And my mom’s hairstylist friend, who, because she’s such a sweetheart, did my mom’s and my hair for free.

The ceremony started off with a couple, whom Emory and I are very close friends with, performing “Sea of Love.” It was so beautiful I couldn’t keep from crying.

Immediately following, Emory and I walked down the two aisles on either side of the guests. We each hugged our parents, then took our places in front. A wonderful judge, who is friends with my dad, delivered the ceremony, written by Emory and me:

Today is a day of music and celebration. We are gathering today, not to mark the start of a relationship, but to recognize a bond that already exists. As these two join in marriage, they are sweethearts, lovers, teachers, listeners, critics, and dear friends. They help each other, support each other, laugh together, and
comfort each other.  They have chosen to unite today, not because of cultural or religious expectations, or for the sake of convenience. They are joining today simply because they love each other.

When life seems easy, and especially when it is difficult, this marriage is a promise of companionship. It represents a desire to be together, but also the desire to respect each others’ unique qualities. For these two would not be uniting today if it weren’t for each person’s love of the other as an individual.

READING by Dave

The bride and groom would like to express their vows to one another.
(we wrote our own vows and said them here)

READING by Emily P.

(Judge to BRIDE/GROOM)

Do you, (Emory/Emily), take ——— to be your lawful wedded (husband/wife), promising to honor, respect, love, encourage and inspire (him/her) in sickness and in health, to be true to (him/her) and care for (him/her), from this point forward?

(BRIDE/GROOM) answers, “I do.”)

These wedding rings are a symbol of your dedication, love, and compassion for each other. They represent the hope of a full and content life together, and a determination to help fulfill each others’ wishes and dreams of a blissful life.

Two of our close friends did readings during the ceremony, both amazing. My dear friend Emily read a fantastic poem called “Honey and Salt” by Carl Sandburg (and even veganized it by cutting out the part about ham and eggs. So thoughtful!)

After the ceremony, we walked out on the pier together just to have a moment to soak it all in.

When we got back to the tent, we noticed everyone had gathered outside. They started throwing massive amounts of rice at us, brought from Denmark by my sister’s mother-in-law.

After that, it was party time! I compiled a playlist of around 7.5 hours of lesser known love songs by some of my favorite artists. We drank local beer, and there was wine available (some of which was vegan) and pink and white champagne. Our fantastic caterers, Apron Annie’s, created an all-vegan menu, starting with warm cider, Phyllo Cups with Avocado, Pica De Gallo, and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds, and Cream of Squash Soup. Delicious!

As it got dark out, we lit the scented soy candles in the yellow and copper jelly jars, painted by me. The dinner was a vegan buffet. My dad, a hardcore meat eater, teased us about having an all-vegan buffet, but I’m so glad we did it because we’re still getting compliments about how amazing all the food was. And I could eat anything I wanted, which doesn’t happen very often. And the vegan cheese was so good!

The Menu:
Wisconsin Cranberry Vinaigrette Salad
Assorted Breads with Olive Oil
and Balsamic Vinegar

Sweet Potato Enchiladas served with Curried Rice

Stuffed Portabellas with Spinach, Tomatoes, Caramelized Onions and Vegan Cheese topped with Toasted Panko Bread Crumbs

Roasted Yukon Gold Potatoes
Roasted Vegetable Paninis with Vegan Pesto

Fresh Green Beans, Cherry and Yellow
Tomatoes drizzled with Vinaigrette

and fruit kabobs

And the wedding cake? An entirely vegan carrot cake that tasted entirely amazing. And, since we didn’t want to go with any standard cake toppers, we used wooden Pecan Pals which, coincidentally, matched the cake perfectly! And thankfully, they have removable parts, because we had to remove their legs to keep them balanced.

Several people gave speeches, all of which were wonderful, but one of the more amusing moments was when our friend, Joe, ran in dressed as Kanye and interrupted the father of the groom’s speech to say, “Yo Marty, I’m really happy for you and I’m gonna let you finish, but Emory and Emily had one of the best weddings of all time!” Cheesy cultural reference, but man, was it funny. And, of course, it was all staged. Marty was the one who planned it.

Once the speeches were done, it was time to dance! We put on the dance playlist and danced the night away.

We had hoped for a smaller, non-traditional, less formal, super fun, vegan wedding on the lake. And that’s exactly what we got. It may have been a less traditional wedding, but it fit us perfectly.

Photos by: Erol Reyal, Neka Allen, Marty Allen, Evangeline Allen, and Don Prachthauser

Looking for a delicious vegan snack that can be found in a vending machine? Well, I was, the other day as I was between classes. I stopped in the engineering building at the University of Minnesota, expecting to find something boring like pretzels to nosh on. Lo, and behold, right before my hungry eyes stood a bag marked “vegan.” No way! Mrs. May’s Naturals makes a slow dry roasted snack called Pom-Raspberry Crunch
which is vegan, wheat free, gluten free, preservative free, GMO free, and cholesterol free. Whoa, buddy. But it is not taste free, by any means. It is, in fact, a super yummy snack. It comes in the form of bite-sized cubes that are crunchy, chewy, salty and sweet. The ingredients are: cashew, cranberry, raspberry, sesame seeds, natural flavor, pomegranate powder, rice malt, evaporated cane juice, and sea salt. Simple and awesome.

Mrs. May’s also makes a wide variety of other snacks, which I’d imagine are just as good. Give ‘em a try! I think you’ll like what you taste.

In other news, ScienceNews posted an article about the first known vegetarian spider! Bagheera kiplingi belongs among the big-eyed, athletic predators in the family of jumping spiders and gets its name from a panther in a Rudyard Kipling story. Yet a population of these spiders in Mexico mostly eats bits of the acacia trees, says Christopher Meehan of Villanova University in Pennsylvania. Read article here.

(I will post about the wedding soon! Just waiting to get pics from the photographer.)

Here’s a horrid and shocking story of a dance instructor’s bout with E. coli after eating a burger her mother made for her in Minnesota. New York Times goes pretty in-depth with this story and digs up a lot of dirt at the Cargill plant in Bulter, WI.

Here’s an excerpt:

Stephanie Smith, a children’s dance instructor, thought she had a stomach virus. The aches and cramping were tolerable that first day, and she finished her classes.

Then her diarrhea turned bloody. Her kidneys shut down. Seizures knocked her unconscious. The convulsions grew so relentless that doctors had to put her in a coma for nine weeks. When she emerged, she could no longer walk. The affliction had ravaged her nervous system and left her paralyzed.

Ms. Smith, 22, was found to have a severe form of food-borne illness caused by E. coli, which Minnesota officials traced to the hamburger that her mother had grilled for their Sunday dinner in early fall 2007.

Watch the video: http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/10/03/health/1247464978948/tainted-meat.html

Read the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&hp

I’m so sorry I haven’t posted anything in a while. I am back in school full time which has been busy but wonderful. And I’m getting married next week! So, Happy Vegetable has been placed on the back burner until life calms down a bit. For the time being, I highly recommend you peruse my Vegan Links. There are some great vegan blogs!

• A Lucid Spoonfull
• Conscious Kitchen
• Eat Air
• Hezbollah Tofu
• Kristen’s Raw
• Luminous Vegans
• Skrewtips
• The Daily Raw Cafe
• The Happy Tomato
• The PETA Files
• The Reluctant Vegan
• The Urban Housewife
• Veg Source
• Vegan Campus
• Vegan Essentials
• Vegan Feast Kitchen
• Vegan Freak Radio
• Vegan Karma
• Vegan Yum Yum
• VegBlogs
• What The Hell Does A Vegan Eat Anyway?
• Wheeler’s Black Label Vegan Ice Cream
• Yeah, that “vegan” shit.

I look forward posting pics of my vegan wedding. Stay tuned…

It never hurts to see one’s own views being shared in a prominent journal, such as Time magazine. The article is called “The Growing Case Against Red Meat” Here’s an excerpt:

The analysis of more than half a million Americans between the ages of 50 and 71 found that men in the highest quintile of red-meat consumption — those who ate about 5 oz. of red meat a day, roughly the equivalent of a small steak, according to lead author Rashmi Sinha — had a 31% higher risk of death over a 10-year period than men in the lowest-consumption quintile, who ate less than 1 oz. of red meat per day, or approximately three slices of corned beef. Men in the top fifth also had a 22% higher risk of dying of cancer and a 27% higher risk of dying of heart disease. In women, the figures were starker: women in the highest quintile of consumption had a 36% increase in death over a 10-year period compared with women who ate little red meat; eating lots of meat was associated with a 20% higher risk of dying of cancer and a 50% higher risk of dying of heart disease. (Read “A History of Beef, Times Two.”)

Unfortunately, there is also mention of white meat consumption being associated with lower risks of death. So, though this article may decrease the amount of red meat consumed, meat-eaters might simply replace that red meat with white meat and still end up eating the same amount of meat as before. So, better for the cows, worse for the chickens.

However, the article goes on to say that consuming less meat is beneficial to the Earth. So hopefully, for the environmentally conscious, this will be motivational. Author Mark Bittman stresses the importance of a gradual lessening of meat consumption so the lifestyle change will be more sustainable. This makes sense to me. As much as I would like people to drop everything and stop their meat consumption today, I don’t want this to become a fad diet that people are on for two weeks only to make up for it later on. We must work towards longevity. It takes a long time to alter the diets of entire countries. But I’m confident we’re making progress.

So, as you probably know, my main reason for being vegan is ethics. I think the factory farming in the U.S. is wholly corrupt and cruel and disgusting. Secondly, my reasons involve health. Dairy products are so packed with hormones and antibiotics. And the whole thing just sickens me.

But WHAT IF you had the opportunity to go somewhere where this was not the case? Where farm animals were treated very well, the people were very concerned about animal welfare, and the products were very natural and fresh?

Here comes my confession: While in Denmark, I ended up trying a couple of vegetarian items. As in not vegan. I tried wedding cake (which was amazing), a veggie sandwich with brie (not so amazing), and chocolate (amazing). My thinking was, if I ever had the urge to stray from veganism, this is the place to do it. As I mentioned in my last post, animals in Denmark seem so much happier. The family farms are adorable and it’s clear that the farmers treat their animals more like companions and less like products. The food is local, and Denmark is very into organic and eco-friendly methods. It’s a whole different mentality there. They really genuinely care about these things, unlike the U.S., where I feel like many people hop on board because it’s trendy. I hope that’s not true but it certainly feels that way sometimes.

People often ask me- if you had your own farm with a cow and some chickens, would you eat dairy and eggs? My initial response is that I actually prefer soymilk over cow’s milk, and that cow’s milk is for the cow’s babies, not me. And the idea of eggs kind of grosses me out when I think about it. And dairy isn’t as healthy as people give it credit for. So there are many reasons I would not. But if I ever had the desire to use dairy and eggs, and I had my own cow and some chickens, then, yes, I believe I would. But I’m back in the U.S. now, where this is not the case, and I’m wholeheartedly back to my vegan ways. If I went back to Denmark, would I stray again? I doubt it. I’m sure the dairy industry there has its flaws, too. I think this was a one time deal. I actually feel sick about the fact that I ate those things now and am not proud of myself. I’m happy with my choice to be vegan, and it’s very rare for me to desire dairy and eggs.

Some of you may get upset and feel betrayed by my brief lapse in veganism, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, nonetheless. Have you ever strayed from veganism?

Here’s the summerhouse we stayed at. Looks like it’s straight out of a magazine.
Gorgeous photography, courtesy of Emory.

And here I am with an odd expression, recovering from the freezing cold Atlantic.
Gorgeous photography, courtesy of Emory.

I can see why Danes are said to be the happiest people in the world. Denmark is absolutely beautiful, the food tastes better, the beer and coffee are smoother, there seems to be a stronger family bond there, and people are just so nice! Even the animals seem much happier, with all the cute family farms that exist there.  The only downside is how expensive it is. So, if you’re planning a trip there, start saving now!

I got to spend some time wandering around Copenhagen with some very dear -and newly engaged- friends. One of the highlights of our day was stopping for lunch at Rizz Razz. This restaurant had a fantastic buffet that was almost all vegan! And the food was so good. And very affordable! I must stress how difficult it is to find affordable restaurants there. Danes don’t go out to eat nearly as much as Americans, due to the high cost. I also should mention how rare it is to find vegan-friendly restaurants. We really struck gold here.

That was my delicious plate. I was all excited to go back for seconds, because they had so many other great dishes to try, but after finishing this plate of goodies, I was stuffed.

So if you’re itching to travel to a beautiful Nordic country, Denmark’s the place. And if you’re ever in Copenhagen, do check out Rizz Razz. You’ll be filled with good eats.

I think we’ve settled on Barcelona for our honeymoon destination. It seems like a magical place. Neither of us has ever been there and we’ve both been itching to travel to Spain. I have not found any vegan resorts there, but if I do the research, I’m sure we’ll find some fantastic vegan food. It’ll be an adventure!

To find restaurants, I’m using Happy Cow. It’s a good site for finding veg friendly restaurants: http://www.happycow.net/europe/spain/barcelona/
It tells you the type of veg-friendly each restaurant is (vegan-friendly, lacto, ovo, etc).

And if nothing else, it looks like they have beautiful markets for us to find fresh produce. Yum! I can’t wait to take pictures of my own and show them off.

Photo by Jasmic

If anyone has been to Barcelona and has recommendations for hotels, restaurants, and/or things to do, I’d love to hear them!

I’ve gotten really into the show “Obsessed” on A&E. Must be the future psychologist in me. But I was particularly intrigued by yesterday’s episode which featured a vegan woman so tormented by visions of animal cruelty, that the life she lived was like a prison sentence. Her father abused their family dog in front of her, she had experienced many traumatic events in her life, including four miscarriages, and had very high levels of anxiety. The combination of these things resulted in her obsessive compulsive disorder.

She said perhaps she was not cut out for this world because she was just too sensitive. And it made me wonder if a lot of vegans feel this way. I know there are many times when I see pictures or video footage of horrendous animal cruelty that will keep me upset for days. And the visions never really go away. But I try to function normally as best I can, and to limit the amount of imagery I expose myself to. Because, though it is important to keep ourselves educated about such issues, and to remind ourselves why we choose to be vegan, it doesn’t do any good to live in a constant state of depression, thus, lessening your own quality of life.

So, though it is easy to get caught up in all things upsetting (I can only imagine how hard it must be for PETA president Ingrid Newkirk to expose herself to animal cruelty full-time), it’s important to maintain a sense of balance. This “Obsessed” episode teaches a valuable lesson: we cannot help all the animals in the world. There will always be animal cruelty. But once the woman on the show was able to take hold of her anxiety and deal with it in a more effective manner, she was able to give back to the animals she cares so much about by volunteering at animal shelters.

Don’t forget that by being vegan, you’re already helping animals in a huge way. So be proud of yourself for that. And remember that, though there are many cases of animal cruelty in the world, there are also many happy animals out there. Try not to let your sensitivity and compassion imprison you.