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…)

I hope you’re ready for another massive dose of insanity, because it’s time for the next post in the “From the Booth” series! In this series, as previously shown, you and I will take advantage of the endless hours spent at my weekend/evening job in a parking lot attendant booth by cooking vegan food right here at the lot.

This week we delve into a world as of yet unexplored at the booth: Baking! Baking? BAKING?!?! In a parking lot?!? All right, everybody needs to calm down. Yes. We’re going to bake. Let’s make the impossible possible! Grab your mixing bowls! We’re making banana bread. (If you’re thinking, “This shit is bananas!”, you’re not wrong.) (more…)

I am a mutt of the world. I have a lot of nationalities that claim a part of my heritage and in recent years I have gotten into exploring the traditions of my forefathers. An especially fun way to do this is through food.

My Mama and her entire side of the family is Mennonite. Her parents lived with my family for almost my entire childhood, so my brother and I were raised in the Mennonite traditions and saw a lot of the ways of the old world. We were brought up on the (non-vegan) traditional foods, hearing the home German (we call it “Low German”) daily, though we weren’t taught to speak it. I’m still mad about that. (more…)

I was sitting around one evening last week doing a whole lot of nothing when I was struck by a sudden and unyielding urge to eat a churro. What are churros and when have I been exposed to them in the past? I know you’re dying to know these things. Let’s back this story train up to the last station, shall we? (more…)

This meal contained enough garlic and onions to keep even that creepy, boundary-overstepping pedophile Edward Cullen at bay. Twihards, calm down. I too am a fan (read my “About Me” page if you doubt me) of the vampire-preys-on-young-girl-themed Twilight series, but you’ve got to admit that’s a good intro for this garlic mayo and onion ring spread.

While we had the deep fryer fired up for vegan Fish & Chips, I decided to break in my shiny new book Vegan Diner by Julie Hasson. I bought it just last week and, like Bella, am already deeply and madly in love (although I have only known it for a unrealistically short amount of time). Seriously, this book has anything you could want from a vegan greasy spoon: burgers, malt shakes, doughnuts, salads and slaws, sandwiches, roasts, and desserts. Oh, the desserts! Yes, even having only cooked from it once, this is a definitely a book I recommend you check out, dear readers. (more…)

Ahoy, mateys! Disclaimer: I plan to make pirate references throughout this entire post (as this will most likely be one of my few voyages to the sea and I plan to take full advantage of it, read on to see why).

Even before I went vegan I was never a fan of seafood. Growing up on Cape Breton Island (a.k.a. God’s Country, The Most Beautiful Place on Earth, or Down Home) I was often seen as a bit off for not joining in on lobster boils and fish fries and other such seaside rites of passage. The idea and especially the smell of fish have always disgusted me.

My first mate Jimmy and I were parleying the other day about how whenever someone points out something smelling of fish it is never in a positive context. You never hear anyone say, “Mmmmmm! What smells like fish!?!” It’s always, “Uggghhh….is that….is that fish? Do you smell that? What smells like fish?!?” That is because it’s disgusting. Straight up. No sharp, tiny, hidden bones about it.

Now, with all that said, I hypocritically would only ever want or eat fish one way, and at that only about every 2 to 3 years. Every few years I would get a hankering for fish and chips. I would head down to the Halifax waterfront (or if I were down home, one of the countless seafood restaurants on the island), get fish and chips, and be done with it for another 2 to 3 years. Well, it’s been probably 4 or 5 years since I’ve last eaten fish and chips, so I was long overdue. (more…)