Vegan Punk Cooking

Two big stand outs I got for Christmas are:

DNA Ancestry kit (which I asked for, and Ancestry sent me an email recently saying they got my saliva sample but it takes 6-8 weeks to get the test results; very long wait-list I guess).

And the other, which I didn't know existed, is the vegan cookbook, "Bake and Destroy", subtitled, "Good Food for Bad Vegans". The forward is by a pro-wrestler champ named CM Punk.

The back cover says (in quotes) the author of the cookbook, Natalie Slater (she has her own website of the same name, Bake and Destroy) is said to "have been described as Martha Stewart meets Iron Maiden". In making the book, Slater was "influenced by slasher films, pro-wrestling, punk rock and heavy metal." She has lots of delicious recipes but "along the way, her off-color humor, irreverent rants and density of pop-culture references will make you laugh out loud."

I haven't really delved into the book yet, but I love to bake (I make phenomenal vegan banana nut bread), so I'm looking forward to reading it and preparing some terrific vegan dishes.

Shop According to Your Values This Christmas

It’s the holiday season again where we think about those dearest to us and buy them a little gift to show our appreciation, but how do you know the companies you are buying from aren’t working against the causes you support? Well, here are some ways to help you make more ethical choices this Christmas:

 4 Ideas on How to Shop According to Your Values This Christmas  

Religious Publishers Get A Boost With Animal Books

Ever since author John Grogan scored a megahit with 2005’s “Marley & Me,” publishers of all stripes have been looking for the next chart-topping, boo-hooing, man-and-his-dog story. Nowhere has this been more true than in religion publishing, where books such as “Heavenly Humor for the Dog Lover’s Soul,” “The Dog That Talked to God” and “Four Paws From Heaven” have been good sellers for their various Christian publishers. These books look beyond the earthly relationships between people and their companion animals to the religious and spiritual lessons the four-footed can teach.

Now as booksellers look ahead to Christmas, they are adding cats, horses and birds to the animal spirituality roster.

Read more about it here:  Religious Publishers Get A Boost With Animal Books 

Cruelty-Free Christmas and Kwanzaa Meals

Again, like Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, there are thousands and thousands of holiday cruelty-free meals, so here are some of the best Christmas and Kwanzaa links to them:

Vegan Christmas Recipes

http://www.vegkitchen.com/tips/a-colorful-vegetarian-christmas/

A Joyful Vegan Christmas Dinner

http://vegparadise.com/cookingwith512.html

Top vegan Christmas & holiday recipes

http://www.sheknows.com/food-and-recipes/articles/998735/top-vegan-christmas-recipes

Vegan Kwanzaa

http://veganpeace.blogspot.com/2009/12/vegan-kwanzaa.html

Vegetarian Kwanzaa Feast (actually, all "vegan" meals)

http://www.peta.org/living/food/kwanzaa-vegetarian-feast/

HAPPY CRUELTY-FREE HOLIDAYS!!

The Animals' Christmas

The Animals' Christmas album features vocals by Art Garfunkel, Amy Grant, and Wimbledon King's College Choir. The Animals' Christmas tells the story of the Nativity of Jesus from the perspective of the animals present. The album cover art was created by Abby Levine.