The Vegan Butcher

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…)

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…)

I was sitting at home one evening after work last month when an unknown number came up on my cell phone. I normally don’t answer numbers I don’t recognise, but something compelled me to do otherwise that night.

“Hello?”

“Is this Tracy?”

“Sure is!” I answered, not knowing who it was, but thinking it could possibly be my friend Jana.

“Do you like vegetables?”

“You know it! What have you got?”

“This is Annik.”

Well, then. (more…)

I am a theatre kid. I sing incessantly and love everything about Broadway. In high school a friend and I started the theatre troupe at my school and I took part in all productions we staged during my time there.

During my final year of high school we put on “Into the Woods”, an absolutely perfect musical by Stephen Sondheim. If you are not familiar with this play, I highly recommend that you get it into your life. It’s a delightful story with multiple fairy tales interwoven as one and tells the story of what happens after the happily ever after.

What does this have to do with vegan cooking? There are numerous references to food in this play. So many references to food, in fact, that I could ignore them no longer. I needed to get into the kitchen and bring them to life! In this series we are going to delve into the foods of “Into the Woods” (see what I did there?). Are you ready? Doesn’t matter—we’re doing this. (more…)

Let me start this post by saying that the word “roll” has lost all meaning to me. It looks all wrong and I can’t even tell if I’m spelling it correctly anymore. Have you ever done that with a word? Looked at it too much and it suddenly becomes meaningless? It happens a lot to me, but never with “roll” before. It’s usually “lunch” or “basketball”. But seriously, say the word “lunch” over and over and over. WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!?! Okay, “roll” has come back to me, so let’s roll out.

Last night my darling omnivore, Jerri (or as I fondly refer to her, Jerr Bear, Baby Girl, or even more cleverly, BG), and I made dinner from scratch. I was flying by the seat of my pants. Spices and vegetables were soaring hither thither around the room and my Baby Girl, bless her, was along for the whole ride. A dedicated co-pilot of the kitchen, she was. This is how it all came about. (more…)

Ratatouille! Ever since the Disney movie about the adorable cooking rat, I have wondered what it tastes like. I don’t know if this is made correctly or even close to how it should be, but I effing enjoyed it and that’s all that matters.

This recipe came from The Gluten-Free Vegan by Susan O’Brien. I bought this book when my dear BFFestie Patrick was doing a month-long gluten-free trial. Before he abandoned me for Vancouver this past spring we used to cook together a lot. A LOT. There was no way that he could be gluten-free while I was vegan for a whole month without the purchase of a specialty book. This was our answer. (more…)