Vegan Mofo - Tuesday 7th October 2008

Hey guys, I don't have any new pics today - we've been into the studying, so food has been rather unadventurous (though I did give Cam a quiz on drugs - for uni!).
So I thought I'd do a vegan rant post.
Let me just say how jealous we Aussies are of the marvelous array of vegan items that the Americans can get their hands on. Some of the things I'm dying to try when I (ever) visit the US or Canada:

• Tings - what do they taste like?
• Teese. From what I've heard this stuff really is the vegan holy grail. And now Angel food in NZ has done marshmallows and someone else (or was it Angel food) has done vegan meringues, there really isn't much left to conquer!
• Decent Mexican food. All we have here is Old El Paso (and Cactus Jacks in Townsville - but the only vegan thing on their menu is margaritas as I recall). The PPK DIY task this week was homemade tortillas. Funnily enough I have masa in the cupboard (but there's no way I'll be able to find a tortilla press!) that I bought thinking I'd be able to make tamales, but I'm too lazy to get the whole cobs of corn and carefully tear off the husks. SO lazy I am!!!
• Vegan shoes - have you seen the prices of Aussie vegan shoes? I'm buying some when I finish law school, but that's the only time I'll be able to afford them! Until then, I'll have to be content with not quite so vegan plastic shoes from Big W and my tatty No Sweats!
• Peppermint flavoured soy milk - apparently this is an Xmas delight.

What vegan things would you like to try that are impossible to get in your neck of the woods? I might be persuaded to send extra large jars of Vegemite to people in the US in return for some vegan marshmallow spready stuff!!!!
Obviously I need to visit the Vegan version of Mecca (Portland, Oregon) one day!
Also - have you voted yet for EAR's friend? The whale is JUST in front.... Link here

Creating things and feminism

A Stitch and Bitch snack (and Krafty Kath's talented fingers (dude, that sounds dirty!))
It's funny, as a feminist, I used to be a staunch opponent of craft, ALL craft.  I thought that the idea of making a dress, or knitting a scarf was antiquated; a waste of our brilliant minds.
HOWEVER, after becoming friends with some brilliantly crafty girls at uni (go English department at UQ! Woooo!) and at work, I've slowly, but surely become open to the very notion of creating things for myself.  Not that I didn't do this already via cooking (which I now see as more of a reflection of my growth as a vegan and society's obsession with the latest celebrity chef), but I now find myself fascinated by the possibility that I may possess the talent to learn to make my own clothes and other craft projects.
So, during the latest uni holidays, my friend Melissa (who, when she got married, made herself a wedding dress more beautiful than any you can buy) helped me learn to knit.  And thus, our little Stitch and Bitch group was born.

Snack during Stitch and Bitch at Kath's place - checkout the great yarn in the background!  It was made into a super cool skirt (Cam was jealous that he missed out on tasty snacks)
Of course, as a lifelong book geek, I had to purchase a reference text (no, it's not a knitting book, it's a reference text!).  My friend Kath had the book "Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker" by Debbie Stoller (a book with the BEST title ever).  So my friend Melissa tracked down, and I (ever the sheep) tracked down too, The original "Stitch 'N Bitch".  Wow.  This book is funny, and a great way to learn to knit.
Stoller talks about the great familial experience she has with crafting, something that I wasn't fortunate to experience as a child (I was very much encouraged to read - I can tell you stories about Shakespeare comic books, but I digress).  I think our group likes to feel a metaphorical connection with our foremothers, after years of connecting with our literary foremothers (see Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own" for the idea).  With those invisible foremothers, with those background characters that came, saw and knit.

Stitch and Bitch mascot (well, wool devourer) Rowley.  How cute is he???
So, I want to know, of those of you are crafty and feminist, what do you think about crafty fun?

Potatoes

Hey everyone. I've been mega busy lately (with assignments & attempting to study for end of semester exams)! Surprise surprise.

A few links and then piccies!

HellOnHairyLegs - I wish I was like this blogger when I was in high school. She's an Aussie high school student who's an avowed feminist. Her last few postings have been nothing short of genius.

Feministing - I read this about three times a week. I wish I was brave enough to create an Aussie Feminist blog. But, alas, the legal fraternity is a fraternity and being an outspoken feminist online would severely decrease my job opportunities.

Lastly this opinion piece from the Sydney Morning Herald (alas, in Brisbane we lack a decent newspaper). I know that many of my generation, who didn't do biology at school, did not get any decent sex-ed. And people wonder why we read Dolly magazine? Yes, it was full of crap that made us feel bad about our bodies. But, it gave us information about what was happening to our bodies! I really wish that our parents generation had spoken to us more about stuff like this.

And now, potatoes!

Gnocchi with Spicy Lentil Pasta Sauce.

Gnocchi with Mushroom Olive Sauce (and nooch!)

Sunday roast with Roasted Onion, Garlic and Potatoes!

Thanks for your lovely comments last time. I'm collecting them like a squirrel collects nuts (is that right? We don't have squirrels here) for the long cold winter of assignments and exam study. Oh yeah, the gnocchi recipe is from Vegan With A Vengeance. I've made it every Saturday for the last four weeks. Yummo!

Food and a rant

Or should I say a rant and food pics? I'll get to approximately three weeks worth of food porn momentarily but first a word from our sponsor.

Feminism. Is it really a scary word? Despite the new cultural angst over the idea of feminism, I identify myself as a feminist. The problem? I'm doing a first-year law course (I would name it, but to save myself the heartache....) with basically the intent to persuade the students of their responsibilities to act morally and their duty to help others in society. This is a very "leftie" agenda. I, as one who celebrated Kevin Rudd's victory with a smashing hangover, think this is a great idea (as do many of the students, conservative or not!). However.....
This week's topic was "Gender and Race" - basically an analysis of access to justice/legal assistance from the perspective of women and non-white people. I was surprised to find that I was the only person (other than our awesome female tutor) that identified themselves as a feminist (most of my class is under the age of 20). They didn't seem to think that feminism was really required anymore. One fellow classmember actually listed the reason that they didn't identify as a feminist was that "the boys laugh at feminists. They think they're dikey lesbians". !!!!!! Notwithstanding the utter disparity in this statement, I want to say a few things....
We need feminism for everyone. Feminists don't hate men! They want equality for everyone! This means equality in pay and treatment. We're not going to get change unless we push for it.
I know I'm not the most articulate when I'm angry, so here's a video that you must watch (thanks to my favourite feminist website Feministing for the link):


And now, as advertised, food!

I think this may have come from Vegan Fire and Spice? Sorry Cam, I remember it was tasty though! I call it "Cam's chickpea dish with mashed potatoes and hummus". I do remember that I put nooch and smoked paprika in the potatoes!

Moroccan Chickpea and Lentil Soup. This did come from Vegan Fire and Spice. Yummers.

An awesome photo of my Dad slicing Veggie Roast with his fancy knife. I heart this knife. Check out the wafer thinless of the slices.

Cam's been making lots of Indian curries (as always they're awesome). So here's a small selection (there's a bit of a theme here!):

Chilli Potatoes (These burn for me, but gosh (did I just say gosh? When did I turn into a polite person?) they're tasteeeeeee!)

Chilli Potatoes with Spinach and Chickpea Curry (Also delectable)

Chilli Potatoes with Mushroom and Pea Curry (Cam said that he'll have a recipe for the Mushroom and Pea curry soon!)

Leeks are finally available in Brisbane!!!! I've been waiting for Leeks to become affordable since getting Veganomicon.

Firstly, a Leek and Potato soup from La Dolce Vegan (it has carrots in it, thus the orangey goodness):

THE Leek and Bean Cassoulet from Veganomicon. So. Damn. Good.

And onto my particular favourites, the non-savoury things!

Choc-chip Blondies with Rasperries from Vegan With a Vengeance!

Fancy Mushroom and Red Wine Scrolly Bread. It was a bit tough, but still AWESOME.

Ginger Pear Muffins (overripe pears equals incredibly smooth batter equals yummy goodness):

I attempted some apple scrolls based on Bittersweet's Pizza Scroll recipe. They just weren't sweet enough (more sugar is required in the dough!):

Finally, I'd had a crap morning at work and raced home for lunch before uni in the afternoon.... Someone was nice enough to leave me the last of the "middle" of the bread (I hate the end/crusty bits)! So I had the ultimate in convenience snacks: The (vegan) luncheon sandwich.

Thinly sliced Sanitarium Lunchon is sandwiched between two slices of High Fibre White Bread from Baker's Delight. Spread with Nuttelex, this sandwich will fill the needs of vegans on the run....