The Vegan Butcher

It’s Hallowe’en, I have just carved my pumpkin, and my original, childhood VHS copy of “Hocus Pocus” is playing in the VCR. What could possibly make this day more wonderful? If you’re thinking “baking with squash from the fall harvest”, you and I would be on the same page. (more…)

There is an inexhaustible list of reasons why autumn in Nova Scotia kicks ass, but one of the tastiest is also one nearest to the top: It’s apple pickin’ time! Our big apple growing region is the Annapolis Valley (or just “the Valley”, if you’re from ’round these parts), and we enjoy the fruits of the Valley’s farmers’ labours each and every fall with great vigour. And one of our favourite ways to do so? Apple crisp, bitches. (more…)

Helllllloooooooooo Readers! My hectically busy year in London has drawn to a close and I’m back in glorious Nova Scotia again, just in time for endless delightful North American autumnal baked goods and comfort foods. First up to/on the plate: Vegan Chicken à la King and Pot Pies! (more…)

It has been raining in London for a month and a half straight. I’m not even kidding. They claim to be building the Olympic Stadium just over from my house in East London, but I’m convinced it’s actually an ark and I plan to be first in line when the truth comes out that this whole city is going down by the head and that we’re all going to die.

In the meantime, though, we all need something good and hearty to warm us from the inside out in this chilly, miserable weather. Enter my Mushroom & Tri-Onion Soup! (more…)

I finally found tofu in this new city of mine! The Tescos and Marks & Spencers that I have been haunting these past three weeks have left me high and dry in the soy curd department. This afternoon was a perfect, sunny, crisp October day to walk around and finally find a Sainsbury’s. I took a roughly 5km roundtrip jaunt to the supermarket located over in East Ham. The way there was lovely. I was walking through a part of town I hadn’t seen yet, taking in local shops and wandering town their High Street, marvelling at the new and exciting.

The way back was AWFUL. My arms nearly fell off my body. I always buy too much stuff. Between the supermarket and the street-side vegetable market stalls, I got some wicked (albeit far too many) ingredients for a stir-fry. (more…)

This weekend Canadians from coast to coast to coast are celebrating Thanksgiving. Here’s a little excerpt from our friends at Wikipedia regarding the Canadian roots of Thanksgiving:

“The origins of the first Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean. Frobisher’s Thanksgiving celebration was not for harvest, but for homecoming. He had safely returned from an unsuccessful search for the Northwest Passage, avoiding the later fate of Henry Hudson and Sir John Franklin. In the year 1578, Frobisher held a formal ceremony in Newfoundland to give thanks for surviving the long journey. Years later, the tradition of a feast would continue as more settlers began to arrive to the Canadian colonies.”

Well, I’m a Londoner now, so technically this week is a homecoming for me, right? Time for a feast?! (more…)

Back in the true north, strong and free (Canada, if you’re wondering), they are enjoying a long weekend. The occasion? Canadian Thanksgiving! In order to celebrate in spirit I will provide all o’ y’all with a recipe for what I am affectionately calling:

Chelsea’d Pumpkin (more…)

…Chili today and hot tamale. AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA. I’ll give you a moment to compose yourselves… Ready? On we go to another Tex-Mex post.

Before we start, I’d like to welcome you to another Vegan Month of Food! I am moving from Canada to the UK in two days. If you thought I was frazzled last year while doing MoFo and working two jobs and travelling to NYC, just wait until I do it during an international move! You’re in for a possible roller coaster ride, friends! Hop aboard!

Anyways, let’s do this!

I am a firm believer in learning new words as often as possible and using them whenever and wherever you can. I especially like discovering words that have long gone out of fashion. Grab them from the forgotten corners of linguistic history, brush them off, and begin to use them again! Today’s word, dear readers, is “slapdash”. (more…)

As I sit here writing the fifth post in our “Into the Woods” series, my dear readers, I am listening to the soundtrack of another wicked Stephen Sondheim musical, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”. While it’s an amazing musical and I love it more than most people love cake, I cannot see it inspiring a blog series anytime soon (unless anyone has any ideas for finding a vegan substitute for human flesh). No, for now I think we’ll stick to the slightly happier and definitely more vegan-friendly Sondheim musical, “Into the Woods”.

So far in this series we have discovered Cinderella, Little Red, Jack, and Milky White. In this post we are going to learn more about the villain of this tale, the witch who lives next door to the baker and his wife. (more…)

I was in the grocery store the other day (or as Jerri and I have taken to calling it, the brocery store—don’t ask) and as I wandered through the produce section I happened upon a vegetable I had never seen before.

“What in the hell is that?” I asked Jerri, who was wandering with me at the time.

“Kohlrabi?” she read from the sign. “I have no idea. Are those slugs?”

I dropped the kohlrabi I was holding because for a second I thought it was, indeed, covered in slugs. I picked it up, called her a bitch as she laughed at me, and put it in the cart. (more…)