The Month of Living Vegetably (and other unrelated stuff)

As January draws to a close here in Oregon, it has been cold. Local forecasts keep promising snow, then Mother Nature fails to deliver. On the other hand, she did deliver some really lovely, clear and crisp cool days last week. And, as pretty as the snow is, I find myself growing increasingly ready for spring. Bonus: All this talk of snow gives me an excuse to include my favorite Edmund Dulac illustrations in this post, which reminds me that I really should resurrect my collecting of lushly illustrated fairy tales and children's books. (For more Dulac images, see here.) But on to my mish-mash of topics to be covered in this post:

Puppy Update

It has been a busy weekend here. Yesterday Lily went to the vet for her final puppy shot and is now protected for outdoor activities, parks and meetings with other dogs. We taunt her when she is being a dirty bird by telling her that she is now adequately immunized to withstand becoming an outdoor dog, but she knows we are liars and that we will never make her move her little cat tent into the great outdoors, so our threats go mostly unacknowledged. She celebrated her new status as a disease resistant canine by accompanying my mom and me to visit some friends near Sandy. It was an exciting day. Not only did she get her first taste of a longer car ride and also the outdoors, but she also got to meet 5 chihuahuas and a cute, little mixed breed and a number of new people. All in all she did pretty well.

Food

Since yesterday was a busy day, today has been a day of rest (and puttering around). We are having a nice dinner of chicken satay with coconut-ginger rice (I'll share the recipe, if it comes out well) and Pear Chocolate Crisp (with candied ginger - that is being candied as I type!) for dessert. If you have never candied ginger yourself, it really is worth doing. It is SO easy, far less expensive than buying it, AND you know exactly what's in it, becasue you made it! All signs point to DELICIOUS!

Even more food (but different)!

Speaking of food, I am reminded of the actual title of this post! Here's the deal: We here at the family estate in Powellhurst are considering becoming vegetarians (ovo-lacto) for the month of February. It is an idea that has intrigued me for a long time. Although I'm not going to lie and say I don't like the taste of meat, I actually do feel guilty eating it. Seeing as how I am trying to diet a bit anyway, increasing the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables in my diet seems reasonable course of action. I am also looking forward to the challenging of finding and developing some tasty recipes that don't rely on flesh for flavor. I am really excited that my mom is embarking on this with me, because it gives me someone to do it with. We've already been collecting some recipes from the web and ordered a Moosewood cookbook for inspiration, but if you have any delicious dishes to share (also cookbook suggestions), they are welcome.

Anyway, I don't know if it will stick permanently. I'm not sure yet if it has to. I had a really great conversation with a representative from NW Veg not that long ago, where she made what I thought was really a good point: even just cutting down your meat consumption and being a more aware eater is a really good start. It doesn't have to be all or nothing (unless it's February, but that is my rule, not theirs!).

And, finally

As of today, this little blog has had more visitors this month than it has ever had in any month before and the month is not even over yet! It is a little dorky to get excited over, I know (where did I put my pocket protector???), but it is kinda cool. Despite having had this blog for a while now, I really do still find the whole phenomenon puzzling. It is such a cool and potentially far reaching tool, but sometimes I still wonder at the fact that I'm writing anything here, let along that other people are actually reading it! Maybe you need to get a hobby...