Staff of life
My recent culinary efforts have centred around the breadmaker. Not fascinating I know, but bread is an essential as far as I’m concerned. Mainly its output has consisted of a wholemeal loaf like the one pictured below
Large and rustic, not much to look at but tastes good (sounds like an advert in a lonely hearts!!).
Last week I decided to combine my two great loves, chocolate and bread, into one glorious form and the result was this
which actually looks more chocolatey than it tastes, but the smell whilst it was baking…………..bliss. Junior, not surprisingly, rather enjoys chocolate bread, especially if it is spread with vegan honey. She has rather a sweet tooth – just like her mummy, and with pancake day tomorrow she’ll get to indulge in even more vegan honey spreading. I never used to be overly keen on pancakes but the recipe I use now is so quick and easy that it’s no trouble to whip up a batch in a couple of minutes. I don’t think Sean will be here for pancakes but never mind…..it just means more for us!
Recently on a vegan forum I’m a member of, a question was posted asking whether it annoys you when people who eat meat profess to ‘love’ animals and abhor any cruelty to them but still eat them. This has always been a pet peeve of mine but on reading this it dredged it all back up again so I thought I’d pontificate on the matter in my blog, though if you’re reading this section of the blog I’m probably preaching to the converted!
The phrase ‘animal lover’ has always struck me as a tad odd, especially when the term is usually applied to someone who is ‘nice’ to cats and dogs but doesn’t extend their ‘love’ to other animals. I’ve never understood how you can share your home with an animal, abhor fox hunting, cry over the seal culls but tuck into your Sunday roast at the same time. Is it the cuteness factor? Cuddly cats, furry seals, smelly pigs, noisy chickens. I don’t understand, not because I haven’t tried, but because, well I wouldn’t be a vegan if I could understand how it is possible to care for an animal on one hand and yet still eat other animals. Sean always says that more people aren’t vegan because they don’t think about their food, what it really is and where it comes from. He could be right, although he knows where it comes from and he still eats it! I don’t think it’s because vegans are necessarily more sentimental or caring than other people but perhaps it’s because we respect life more, in all its forms.
I first came across this quote by Gandhi over 20 years’ ago and it struck me then with its obvious simplicity which is probably why I still remember it today, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”, and I think we can apply that to not only our countries but to ourselves personally.
Interesting post … and you are posting to the ‘not totally but nearly’ converted so of great interest to us. In fact, I read this post out loud to Scott.
As you know, I’ve often flirted with being vegetarian, but Scott has NEVER even considered it. Yet, since working with noisy chickens! he has suddenly had to face the reality of where his food comes from. People don’t link real life smart funny chickens to the meat they buy pre-packed. We are currently staying at a vegetarian hotel so obviously our hosts have talked about their beliefs with us. We have come to the conclusion that in the UK you don’t have to face ‘where your food comes from’ you can sort of ignore it. But when you are faced with it, well, that’s the test – isn’t it. I think the fact that we have not eaten meat in 7 weeks proves that. In all honestly, I doubt I will eat it again and I would even go so far as to say that I’m not sure if Scott will either.
I am an animal-lover and I don’t want to be seen as that person who loves some, but not all. I wouldn’t serve Milla up as a Sunday roast, so why would I any other animal?
Great post
I try not to pontificate too often because it doesn’t seem to get me anywhere and just gets me annoyed when people refuse to see my point of view so I’m really glad that you got something from this post. Thanks.