Where were you on 9/11/01? I am curious because I think it is a lot like, if you were around, when JFK was shot or when the Challenger exploded.

I was just outside the Washington D.C. area with Slack when our lives as Americans changed permanently. We were in Herndon, VA for Slack’s work. I was actually planning my trip that morning to the White House and Holocaust Museum. My good friend J, who was there with her hubby and then small son, called me on the hotel phone from her room and gently asked me if I was watching the television. I watched the 2nd plane hit live and later heard the reporter at the Pentagon pause while reporting and say that he just felt an explosion or something hit the building. For hours after we watched the firetrucks with the flags draped on the back of their trucks race to D.C., sirens wailing. Rush hour traffic at 11 a.m. 

Where were you? Making breakfast for the kids? Sleeping? Rushing to work?

Shock. Numb. Grief. Disbelief. Hopeless. Helpless. Utter sadness. I think everyone felt that way this day. I hope that the people: wives, parents, children, neighbors who lost someone on 9/11 knows they were not alone that day in their grief and are not alone today.

psssst….It’s vegan 

Slack sent this to me via email. If anyone knows who the author is I will be happy to credit :).

Top Ten Democratic National Convention Pickup Lines:
10. Wanna form a more perfect union?
9. Something’s rising and it’s not the national debt.
8. I’m stiffer than John Kerry.
7. Let’s go someplace and release our delegates.
6. Care to join the wife and me for a little ‘bipartisanship’?
5. I’ll make you scream like Howard Dean.
4. Now that’s what I call a stimulus package.
3. I’m gonna Barack your world.
2. Wanna pretend we’re Republicans and have gay bathroom sex?
1. Hi, I’m John Edwards.

Here is a pic of a cake I made for my niece’s birthday party this past weekend. It was very easy as most of it was a plastic kit (for the turrets). It was a vanilla cake with an almond butter cream frosting.

I also have been experimenting and I have finally been able to make a vegan version of fondant! Woohoo! This is a huge success because for so long now I have felt that I could not use fondant because it is made with gelatin and I want to avoid any animal ingredients. By using agar powder instead of gelatin I am able to get the same effect.  I tweaked the recipe a bit and I made a batch of vegan fondant from this excellent recipe from Epicurious.com. I made my niece a smaller cake using the vegan fondant. I don’t like how amateur my cake looks but considering it is the second time I have worked with fondant and I don’t really know what I am doing I guess it is okay. I am going to take a fondant/gum paste course next month and I cannot wait to learn!

I have been researching feline diabetes online to find out more about the insulin we give Midnite and food he should eat, what to expect, so on and so forth. This website, FelineDiabetes.com, is fantastic and filled with a plethora of info on care.  I was kinda freaked out at the cost of the insulin, but it turns out I am a tool and was not reading the vial correctly The insulin will be far less expensive, which is good considering the last visit to the vet was $500…..::sigh:: Anyways, this site was very helpful and an excellent resource; I thought I would pass it along.

Midnite is at the vet to test blood glucose levels throughout the day and I will find out this afternoon what we will need to do for him. He does seem more perky but he is still eating, drinking, and peeing nonstop. He is back to biting my toes and swatting my ankles, which is a good sign :).

Update 08-15-08

Well the vet said yesterday Midnite’s levels were in the 400’s so we need to increase his insulin amount. There were no ketones this time in his urine which is a really good thing. I have to take him back again next week for a recheck of his blood glucose level. It is better to go slowly with raising insulin levels than giving too much as too little blood sugar can be fatal (as opposed to too much and feeling yucky). He was so upset when I picked him up yesterday but is really glad to be home I am glad that he is hanging in and doing ok

Did y’all see the Olympics Monday eve when the women gymnasts from USA and China competed? Slack and I caught a bit of it. As we were watching Slack comments, “I did not know they allowed 9-year-olds in the Olympics”, quckly followed by, “Then, of course they are probably forty years old and just age really well.” He was commenting on the Chinese gymnasts. Apparently we are not the only ones who have noticed but it appears the IOC is content to let this one ride. I want to beleive that China is doing things legit but I pause when I read they used taped segments and computer images in the “live” opening ceremonies to make the footstep fireworks and the young girl chosen to sing in the ceremonies was actually lip syncing another girl, who was behind the scenes, as she was deemed not pretty enough. I would like to think it is nonsense that China would lie and cover up the age of their gymnasts but, the doubt is there and that sux.

Midnite, our 12-year-old cat has not been feeling well lately. He has lost a lot of weight and not eating, peeing outside the catbox, etc. I finally took him to the vet on Friday and tests were ran on Saturday. It turns out he has diabetes. His blood glucose levels were 527 where the norm for a cat (even under stress) would top out at 225. Yikes. So, for now, he is getting insulin shots two times a day. He has a recheck later this week and I guess we will evaluate what to do from there. I feel so bad and I certainly do not want him to suffer. He seems to be feeling a bit better as he is not constantly meowing anymore. I guess we will wait and see….poor kitty.

I am a foodie. I LOVE FOOD. It has been awhile now that I have been a vegetarian. I sure miss a steak and still love the smell of bacon :). It has been a test to my beliefs to not eat meat as I had done for most of my life. It has been a learning experience filled with sadness and enlightenment. I have read so much about animals and the farming industry that I have no doubt I am doing the right thing for my conscious. Early on in my journey into vegetarianism I ate eggs and milk products but avoided any meat, poultry, fish, or any animal ingredients (gelatin, lecithin, carmine, etc.) in food. I also purchase toiletries and household cleaners from companies who do not test on animals or have animal ingredients in their products (BTW, that pretty much eliminates any big name brand at the store). Being a lacto-ovo vegetarian is really easy in comparison to being a vegan.

However, the more I read the more I became conflicted with eating eggs. I think eggs are an excellent source of protein and necessary amino acids and really really wish I could eat them. After reading how chickens are treated, even in the so-called free range farming, I could no longer support eating eggs. If I had my own chickens I think I would use eggs but alas I do not have the opportunity to do so as my HOA does not allow farm animals. Did I mention I need to move? I digress :).

So now I avoid eggs (::sigh::) and I do eat some dairy: mostly sour cream, cheese, and butter. I don’t like milk so that has not been a big issue for me and soy milk works great for anything I need to use it in. I buy organic milk (from companies that make a clear statement that the cows are treated well) for Peanut and am slowly transitioning to organic butter, sour cream, and cheese products. That is expensive to do. I am not sure if I will transition from using milk products to avoiding them as well. I LOVE CHEESE :). And that would be a very difficult thing for me to give up. No cream or butter? I don’t know about that. I am only human :).

That said, it is a struggle to adapt recipes to be vegan or vegetarian. I am really into baking and eggs are so essential to baking; at least in the western world! It has been an experience trying to find egg substitutions that work and work well. My impression is often vegans say to themselves, “Well, there are no animal ingredients in this so I will sacrifice taste.”  I CANNOT agree to this! Food should taste GOOD!! I am on a quest to find good vegan recipes that taste good too :). I can have both dammit!

So far I have been able to make an excellent chocolate cake and chocolate chip walnut cookies that are delicious and vegan. I even have hard-core carnivores (such as my hubby) tell me they are da bomb. Yay! So I will keep experimenting to find good vegan baked goods and know, for me, I am doing the right thing for myself, the planet, and all living things. Slack you are right, I am a damn hippy :).

Yesterday was birthday and I made, for the first time, a vegan carrot cake! It turned out delish! It seems to be more of a quick bread texture but I think with a few more tweaks it could be perfect. I used vegan cream cheese in the frosting and toasted pecans and coconut for the sides and top- YUMMO!