Vegan pizza fiasco

Let’s talk about tofu. Up until about twelve years ago I had eaten tofu about twice in my life. I had encountered it, I had tried it, I did not seek it out again. And then in 2008 or 2009, for a new year resolution we decided to go vegan for the month of January. One would think this was a bold thing to do in Klamath Falls Oregon, January brought the Bull and Horse Show where tri-tip was a required food item; where the Cattlemen and Cattlewomen’s Association was one of “the” clubs to join, it was farm country; though one of my favorite bumper stickers was “I’m not a vegetarian because I love animals, I’m a vegetarian because I hate plants.”

So, we did our research and looked at the available items we could veg out on. Bean patties, veggie stews, tofu, we tried some soy cheeses…generally any plant-based thing we tried. Careful reading of product ingredients and new recipes really made the month easier. The really wonderful part of this was that our local (locally owned) market, Sherm’s Thunderbird, had a great assortment of vegetarian and vegan foodstuffs and we tried most of them. From this though I came to appreciate tofu a lot. It’s a staple now, I have about six or seven blocks in my fridge right now. But here is a confession, it’s not really a new thing, but during the month of veganism, when my son (who was a tall, lean high schooler) would come to my office after school, I would give him money so he could go down to Wendy’s and get a burger and fries. Just a couple of times. I think he hadn’t signed off on the whole bean patty and oven baked fries and after the vegan pizza fiasco, we were all waiting for February.
 
Anyway, that’s the day’s meander. And here is a link to my favorite tofu skit: Veganville from Saturday Night Live and NBC. Oh, and a random picture taken in Belgium near Chateau Veves.