By Malloreigh
Pumpkin pie is a peculiarly North American tradition. I spent my October-November in Australia once and found, in the search to soothe my homesickness by making one, that “pumpkin” there means any kind of squash, and canned pumpkin puree simply doesn’t exist. Funnily enough, Halloween (to the degree that we indulge in it) is also a peculiarly North American tradition. Coincidence?
I assumed that pumpkin pie was a Thanksgiving dish – though my family eats it at Christmas too. But the correlation between pumpkin pie and Halloween was too strange for me to ignore this year. Either that, or I wanted an excuse to make a pumpkin pie with a spiderweb on top.
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By Malloreigh
The leather dilemma is a contentious one for vegans. Many new vegans, upon “making the switch,” worry whether they’re expected to throw away their pre-vegan leather items – belts, shoes, jackets – and buy vegan alternatives. Many old vegans, myself included, break vegan belt after vegan belt and wonder whether we’re expected to keep buying crappy vinyl each year until the day we die.
Isn’t that wasteful? Doesn’t that go against the spirit of veganism? Yes, probably, and creating more trash is just the cherry on the top of the consumer culture cupcake. Furthermore, vinyl, as a synthetic substance, won’t – common sense informs us – biodegrade as easily as an organic like leather would. So if vegans are such environmentalists, what’s the solution?
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By Malloreigh
The joke is pretty common – “bacon is vegetarian” or “I’m vegan/Jewish except for bacon.” Bacon – thinly sliced, fatty, fried flesh of pigs – is a force to be reckoned with, and probably, for some vegetarians, a meat that’s very sorely missed. I won’t lie to you and say that the following vegan bacon recipes are exactly like real bacon. However, they may satisfy some bacon-urges, and will complete your brunch plate.
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By Malloreigh
I started trying to write this article about ex-vegans over a week ago, but I found it really difficult. I couldn’t come up with a clean explanation for why I think people give up on veganism. I’ve talked about this with people for most of the seven years I’ve been vegan, and yet no pattern has made itself evident. In the process of trying to write the article, I interviewed about ten people who once followed a vegan lifestyle and don’t any longer; their answers were varied, sometimes defensive, sometimes apathetic, often apologetic.
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By Malloreigh
If there’s anything that’s legitimized veganism among the masses lately it’s been the explosive popularity of vegan baking. A vegan cupcake baker won Food Network’s Cupcake Wars, and Isa Chandra Moskowitz’ pair of cookbooks featuring rich, delicious vegan cookie and cupcake recipes have been a success with vegans and non-vegans alike.
That said, even if it weren’t for the sudden boom in the acceptability of vegan baking, this cookie recipe would still be a hit. The delicate flavor of lavender flowers gives this a particularly grown-up taste, but even without the floral hints, these cookies are gobbled up in record time no matter where I bring them. I think the relatively small amount of sugar makes them feel guiltless to eat.
Bonus side note: I came up with the idea of combining the flavors of lavender and cinnamon sugar while showering. My soap smells like snickerdoodles and my facial exfoliant is scented with lavender oil. The combination was surprisingly exciting.
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