Is Fake fur any more or less Vegan than fake hotdogs?

I’m just curious. I would love your opinions. (It’s research)

Thanks for answering!

I call it…THE VEGGIE DIP! (the secrets in the sauce)

The secret to the greatest dressing/dipping sauce lies within this post. But I must first warn you. You will drool. MUhahaha..

It all started one evening…

… as I awaited the arrival of my bride. What were we to have for dinner? There was only one problem. I don’t usually have control over food distribution. That’s usually her territory. Besides, let’s face it. She’s a damned good cook.

So, I looked in the refrigerator…

I looked in the pantry…

wanna know a secret? I looked out the kitchen window… I didn’t feel like cooking. and I wanted minimum mess.

Not to be daunted, I took some leftover Quinoa, some shredded carrots from a carrot cake she made yesterday. And of course, what Vegan worth his weight in Pea Protien powder doesn’t eat Bean Sprouts! some celery chopped up pretty fine, some red onion. Some sour supreme.

Take sour supreme and coat the tortilla to help glue it together. Put however much you think you need of the ingredients on to the tortilla and roll it tightly.  And there you have it. But, it still wasn’t finished it needed something more. You could even poke them with a toothpick and cut them in half. I don’t have any toothpicks. It’s just a thought.

So I got to thinking. I need to dip this in something. So I got to thinking how much I used to love Ranch dressing. But Real Ranch dressing isn’t vegan. So I again looked around. I had no clue where to start. I remember the lady of the house doing it so I figured it was sink or swim. After all, I couldn’t get shown up by a girl. The shame would be too unbearable. Besides she would be impressed! I puffed my chest out in manly pride. I would use all my manly guile to seek out and find the perfect dipping sauce for these wraps.

So as I looked around chanting “Ranch,ranch,ranch,ranch,…” I found some vegannaise, some dill weed and some soy milk. It sounded like it might taste like ranch. So, I did it.

I actually only had a little of  1/4 cup of veganaisse. So, I guessed 1/2 cup of milk and a tsp of dill. Just to start.

making it up as I go along

Turned out that it was real thin. So I used a spatula to scrape out as much of the tangy white nectar as I could.  I stirred it all together with one of them springy stirrin thingy’s. And I said, “Lord? What else does this need and how can I thicken it up?”

and then my tweetdeck chirped.

So tweeted out “Yeah, I guess I need to think about dinner.”

Ranch dressing off the top of my head. am I missing anything? 1tsp 1/2cup 1/4cup #vegan http://twitpic.com/1xczo5

added more mayo,.. needs something else… what is it?

a little: black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder Via @InAGaddaDaVegan

@InAGaddaDaVegan yeah, I’m getting closer… LOL!

so easy a guy can do it… (whats that supposed to mean?)

I’ll do it! RT @InAGaddaDaVegan: oo, yum! RT @picklesramone I put sage and a little red wine vinegar in mine!

~~We didn’t have any red wine vinegar or sage, actually, but I was inspired. We DID, however, have some red raspberry vinegar!~~

and the tweeting continued…

oh yeah thats gooooooood!!!!

it was thin so I added a little sour supreme. It is thwe BOMB! I should write it down. @InaGaddaDaVegan @picklesramone

Then I heard a voice. “Use the Force Luke!”

I said, “that’s stupid!” and I noticed the sour supreme.

Using my superior vegan intellect I swiftly calculated the tastes in my mind.

My mouth watered.

I added about 1/3 cup of the creamy white ..#drool.LOL!

Being the manly man that I am, I thought it would be cute to use the powerpuff girls plates. Because thats how I rock.

So, One more time I will try to lay out the ingredients for you. I promise you this is the best sauce ever. Thats why I am hyping it up. Its all part of my mind control experiment to control all vegans. But shhh… don’t tell anyone. It’s a secret.

Ahem

Anyway,…

1/4 cup of Vegannaise.

1 tsp of dill

some black pepper, some garlic powder and some onion powder.

a splash of raspberry vinegar

That’s it!

really wasn’t that big of  a deal was it? :-/

The very Easy hotbox/mini greenhouse thing

I would like to say beforehand

This is only to be used at your discretion. You really have to keep your eye on it. Water lightly about 1/2 hr before sunset. Cover overnight. It will help keep some warmth on your seeds. Pay attention in the morning. Let the evaporated/condensed water vapor water your seedlings. When it gets warm remove the cover and use your own good judgment. You do not want to bake your seedlings or sprouts.

That Classic Conversation between St Francis and God

Ah. Springtime…Gardens, flowers, birds,bunnies, and household chores…

I don’t really remember where I found this. But, I wish i could claim credit for it. It is a Classic!

The conversation

GOD: St. Francis, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the World is going on down there in the USA? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect, no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honeybees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles.

ST. FRANCIS: It’s the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers weeds and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.

GOD: Grass? But it’s so boring. It’s not colorful. It doesn’t attract butterflies, birds and bees, only grubs and sod worms. It’s temperamental with temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

GOD: The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it, sometimes twice a week.

GOD: They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?

ST. FRANCIS: Not exactly Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

GOD: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

ST. FRANCIS: No, sir — just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

GOD: Now, let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

ST. FRANCIS: Yes, sir.

GOD: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back On the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the gro wth and saves Them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS: You aren’t going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

GOD: What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a Sheer stoke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It’s a natural circle of life.

ST. FRANCIS: You’d better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

GOD: No. What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the Winter and to keep the soil moist and loose?

ST. FRANCIS: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy Something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

GOD: And where do they get this mulch?

ST. FRANCIS: They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

GOD: Enough! I don’t want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you’re in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?

ST. CATHERINE: Dumb and Dumber, Lord. It’s a real stupid movie about………….

GOD: Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.

Gardening for really lazy people.

Tilling the ground can be hard work!

But, with a little ingenuity, you can recycle the box your monitor came in , kill unwanted grass, and grow food or flowers all at the same time! Very easy. Simply lay the cardboard where you want to grow your food or flowers and cover it with soil, compost and mulch! It works!

Update 6/3/2010

This is what it looks like right now. Of course we pulled a few weeds…

Update 6/24/2010

So we adopted a terrier.

Cathy made this video. Zelda is a Cairn Terrier. We were asked to adopt her because the owners could not take care of her anymore. She has become one of the family in a very short time. As of this posting she has lived with us for about 2 weeks. She has made a fine friend for Bosco, also.  (Who, by the way, politely let her eat from his bowl 3 times before he told her that enough was enough!)

Cairn Terriers today are bred mostly because they are cute little dogs.

The Mackinnos of Kilbride was another kennel of good Short-haired Skye Terriers. These terriers were descendents of an old breed owned by Farquhar Kelly of Drumfearn, Isle of Skye in the seventeenth century. All of these strains played a part in the early lines of the breeds pioneers. Mrs. Alastair Campbell and Mary Hawke were the pioneers of the Cairn Terrier as we know it today. It was their persistence that led to the Cairn Terrier being recognized by The Kennel Club in 1910. On May 29, 1912 The Kennel Club Committee gave the Cairn Terrier a separate register.

This is an example of how certain animals have been manipulated by humans. Not only were the dogs bred merely to win trophies. But now there was a market for Cairn Terriers.

This is a breed of dog that someone would buy as a sort of status symbol. She’s a classy dog; smart and playful, she seems to be good with our granddaughter. Zelda likes broccoli, too! So vegan dog food is fine. From what I have read, Cairn Terriers can gain weight very quickly and should only receive about a 1/4 cup of food or so twice a day! Which makes me feel bad because she really is such acute little beggar! Cairn Terriers might be suitable as a form of  natural pest control. They like to chase mice and dig holes. (Although, Zelda only seemed to dig where the mice were.) Their hair is long and silky and requires brushing fairly often as it gets tangled and can even get matted. I have heard stories of this debilitating the animal in cases of extreme neglect, making it difficult to move as the tangled hair grows.  You may have to trim the bangs away from their eyes every so often.So,…If you enjoy grooming dogs … !!!

Anyway,…

As soon as we can get some real gardening going I will have much more to share with you all!  I am doing this for myself as much as anything else. I guess it makes me some sort of video documentoryister (?) Well,..Just waiting for the snow to finally stop showing up unexpectedly. I plan to make a composter and show everyone how I did it. For the minute it is still the plastic barrel. Turning it is too much like work. Not that I don’t enjoy it. I just don’t enjoy it that much.

And don’t worry! I will share my mistakes, too! As you will see in the video, maybe the little bird netting skirting wasn’t enough!

and so it begins

Adventures in vegan gardening!

2010 Gardening

This page is dedicated to my gardening exploits. I will start it out with video of a few pictures from last year.  And i will keep a blog about what we are doing and post photos and stuff. I know this will keep you enthralled. But, hey! Let’s talk about gardening!

This is the north east corner of the house.

It gets a lot of early morning sun. The mountains to the east probably rob of us of about 1/2 an hour of sunlight. But the pumpkins, tea, various herbs and even some strawberries did quite well here last year!

Looking south from the north west corner

The top of this picture is where the strawberries are. The bottom of the picture is where the carrots, brussel sprouts and some onions and stuff were/are. This year I am going to join the two beds and will be all strawberries. I am even thinking about a pvc hoop frame covered with bird netting.With Cathy’s help I can lift off or cover the strawberries to protect them from the birds. Before they start to produce fruit, however, the birds are allowed to dig for grubs, slugs and other beings which threaten my crop.

Two of our raised beds measure 4′ x 8′

This is looking towards the east. The bed in front measures 4′ x 8′. On the right there is mint. We planted the mint to deter ants. It seemed to work. We also had zucchini, various peppers, some cabbage, cucumbers and broccoli here. The trellis had beans and peas of all sorts. It didnt fare too well, but the sunflowers fed the birds for a very long time. Just to the east were tomatoes and leeks the white fenced box is compost from raked leaves and grass clippings. The white barrel to the right is compost from household food. We are vegan. So there is no animal products in this compost.
Grapes will grow along the wooden picket fence I built to keep the dog out of the garden.

This is the other big bed. A smaller 3′ x 5′ sits just to the east

This is also looking east at the north side of the garden. The green barrel grew some small potatoes last year.We tried some corn, but decided against it this year. This bed is also
4′ x 8′. It gave us lots of yellow squash. (yum!) and some cantaloupes, and more zucchini!

The smaller bed behind it is 3′ x 5′. It had tomatoes, okra and eggplants. This year I think it will be all tomatoes. Or it may be all okra. Not real sure yet.

A gift to the garden from the lawn and maples!

This is all the leaves from the maple trees out front. It also has grass clippings. I may have to build another one to transfer and turn it. I think it will get me some good dirt! Mixed with the compost in the white barrel!

And we give back some of what we have received.

This white barrel is all table scraps. Also it is some cuttings from the garden. But mostly food we didn’t eat. As you can see it is turning into a rich black soil. All of this was harvested from our garden. What we didn’t eat, we threw in here. We gave a way a bunch of food too! So, there was a lot! This is from the whole season of 2009. I am going to use it mixed with the grass and leaves. But first I have to mix it and chop it up a bit more.

Wax on. Wax off.