Meat and Republicans.....Hand in Mouth

The results are in ..... Republicans love their meat. Presidential hopefuls were asked by the Associated Press about what type of foods they like to cook. Six out of the seven Republicans chose some kind of animal flesh. Of the Democrats, 3 of the 7 chose meat or another definitively non-vegan item (scrambled eggs).....others may be left to some interpretation (milkshake made with soy milk? vegan chili or pasta?). Only 7% of all the candidates made an undoubtedly vegan choice (okay, so that's only 1 out of 14 and we all know it was Dennis Kucinich). Unfortunately, I don't think these results will have a major influence on voters when election year rolls around. At least none of the candidates chose a cute little (and alive)kitten as their prey of choice. So maybe America is moving in the right direction....

Speaking of meat eaters, this weekend our townhome association had a resident cookout potluck. Although this included the usual hamburgers, whole-roasted chicken on a spit, mayo-drowned potato salad, and cheese-laden three bean dip.....I had more vegan options than anticipated. This included a yummy red cabbage salad (brought by a neighbor who owns a restaurant in downtown Houston, Dharma Cafe), vegetarian baked fava beans, plenty of fresh fruit and veggies, and some pineapple, mango, and red pepper kabobs that my boyfriend made especially for me (such a sweetheart). I made a quinoa salad based on a recipe from my mom with black beans, corn, red pepper, avocado, and plenty of cilantro. Many of our neighbors were curious as to what quinoa was and liked the taste...what an awesome little grain. I also made two kinds of cookies, my tried-and-true Happy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies and a test of the Gigantoid Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies from Vegan with a Vengeance (except I made mine normal-sized instead of gigantoid). They both came out delicious, but I made way too many. Brought them to work the next day, posted with a sign that said "Have a homemade Vegan Cookie :-)" and they were gone within a few hours (I think the word vegan caused a little hesitancy at first, food does not last long at work). And to my delight, someone wrote me a note asking for the recipe! A small vegan victory.....