White Post Farms — 8.26.2010

White Post Farms is a great place to go to with your little ones. I've been taking my son since he was two, and he LOVES the animals. Hey, I love the animals! We pack our own drinks and lunch and head out to Melville, NY. It's really quite close to Nassau County and Queens, so don't let "Melville" keep you from going. It's two seconds, literally, off the L.I.E., but I take shortcuts via Hempstead Turnpike and Bethpage State Parkway, or Hempstead Turnpike and then a cross-over north to... oh, you get it ;) It's easy.

It's an enjoyable place to go to for even a couple of hours if not a whole day. They have plenty of animals and activities. The reason I bring my own food is because the food is a bit pricey there and a deli counter really doesn't cut it for me and my son, but the produce is fabulous and locally grown. I think some of it is grown right there at their farm. They have some home baked breads and pies, but we passed on them for fresh sweet corn and organic snacks for Harry's school lunch pack.

Taking your child to a farm is a great way to teach your child kindness towards animals. It shows your child that animals are not just things, but living beings that have feelings like they do. Kids can see that they are happy or feel grumpy, get excited, bossy or pushy, and they see the animals being loving, as my son saw when we watched the piglets with their mom and the mother goat with her kids. Harry even thinks he heard some animals laugh. Hey, you never know.

Teaching children to respect animals from an early age is one of the greatest things you can do for your child. Once they respect their family and peer, and then animals, you have a little one who has already learned kindness, caring and feelings towards others — and not just other humans. Hopefully they will then teach this to their friends. Children need to know that animals have feelings, and it's not just their dogs or cats, but all animals.

Don't Bother Meow

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These Masked Guys Think I'm Their New Friend... Oh NO!

A few days ago, I was sitting outside at night talking on the phone to a friend, my feet kicked up on the table. When I'm outdoors at night, I allow Morris, my cat, to be outside. He doesn't go far. He likes to use my neighbor's ivy patch as his... well... you know.

So, I'm sitting on my deck, and my friend and I are having a good conversation — laughing, cracking jokes, and talking about just about anything. It's almost the middle of the night here, but she's out running errands in her area, getting ready to go to softball. I'm on Long Island, and she's in Anchorage, Alaska.

I told her Morris was outside with me, so in the middle of a sentence, I said "uh, hey, Morris! What are you doing?" I felt something touch my head. Oh, was I wrong. Before I could get off the chair and stand up, I was surrounded by four baby raccoons. These little guys weren't even afraid of me They were curious, and I was sitting there like a frozen stiff, telling my friend that I was being checked out by a bunch of baby raccoons, and it wasn't really up my alley! I started to whisper to them, "okay guys, you can all move away and onto the lawn now, or up the tree, because I really would like to get off this chair and into the house..." No, they weren't interested in going anyplace. They were checking out my sneakers. Checking out my hair. Sniffing and pawing. One spotted a bowl full of water, and the others followed. I took the opportunity to BOLT!

Once in the house, they kept scratching on my sliding glass doors. They wanted in. Sorry, raccoons, but no! Now ever since that night, these siblings come around, bigger and bigger, and wait by my door — hiding off to the side — to try to sneak attack to get in.

The other night, I heard a knock on my front door. I went to look, and who do I see at my door? Yes. A raccoon.

Talk to the TAIL.

You gotta love raccoons! Cute, but those nails and teeth... I think I'll keep my distance ;)

The Barbi Twins Make a Statement with 'Skin Trade' | Extra

The Barbi Twins Make a Statement with 'Skin Trade' | Extra

The Barbi Twins Make a Statement with 'Skin Trade'

February 24, 2010 | Movies

Shane and Sia Barbi will be the first to tell you they are famous for their record-breaking Playboy issue -- and they want to put their fame to good use.

"We are using that 18th minute of fame to do something good," Shane tells "Extra."

The Barbi Twins are featured in the upcoming documentary "Skin Trade" from filmmaker Shannon Keith. "Skin Trade" premieres Feb. 25 and takes a look at the exploitation of animals for their fur. "It's not fashionable and not pretty. It's offensive," Shane says about clothing made from animal fur.

Sia says the sisters want to "speak for the little ones who don't have voices."

Shane and Sia appear on the film's controversial and gruesome poster. Shane explains, "Without the skin, we don't have that 'glamorous look,'" similar to animals that are skinned for their fur.

The Barbi Twins have had a passion for animals since they were younger and recently helped rescue animals from Hurricane Katrina and the California fires. They also launched the animal activism site TheKittyLiberationFront.org and donate all the proceeds from their book "The Eco Anti-Diet" to charities for animals.

The sisters are currently working with Willie Nelson to introduce humane education in schools and Animal Aid Live, a benefit concert to raise awareness about animal welfare issues through music.

The Barbi Twins will appear on Howard Stern's radio show on Feb. 25 with Nelson to talk about animal activism, specifically saving wild horses.

Read more: http://extratv.warnerbros.com/2010/02/the_barbi_twins_make_a_statement_with_skin_trade.php#ixzz11qSGFOIS

SKIN TRADE 

counter: best brunch in nyc!

counter: best brunch in nyc!
by quarrygirl


This entry is brought to you by me clicking that little fab ShareThis button!

well, my dear readers, it’s about time for your humble narrator’s vegan culinary tour of manhattan to come to a stop. and what better way for me to end the string of quarrygirl nyc posts than to leave you with my absolute favorite meal from manhattan: brunch at an awesome little restaurant called counter.

like most places worth eating at in new york, counter is trendy. counter is pricey. counter is maybe even a bit pretentious. but counter is sooooooo worth it. i read about this swanky little restaurant originally on one of my favorite la based blogs, huggerfood, and i decided that i had to dine there on my trip, no matter what. when another new york based blog backed it up as being the best brunch spot in town, i dedicated an entire saturday morning to trekking across manhattan in search of the perfect post-hangover eats.

i found my way there and…..wow. wow. wow!!!! counter was fucking incredible. it’s a snazzy vegetarian joint where most of the food is vegan, the service is friendly, the digs are posh, and the ingredients are top-notch.

frittata alla fiorentina: tofu frittata with a creamy mushroom hollandaise on a bed of spinach with home fries. $9.75

i ordered the frittata alla fiorentina, because the tofu patties and vegan hollandaise sauce sounded absolutely divine. the dish lived up to its hype and so much more. a firm vegetable-tofu medley was formed into two succulent patties and topped with the most incredible eggless creamy sauce and made for the perfect late morning meal. plus, the course came with an ample serving of dark leafy greens and thick, fried potatoes. they also gave me a serving of vegan nutella on the house. i just had to have it after reading about it on huggerfood. even without any pastries to spread it on, counter’s vegan nutella was delightful, and acted as a great condiment for all my food.

the brunch was amazing—everything was out of this world. the real kicker is, the tofu patties actually contained bell peppers (which i hate) and i was still able to eat them. there’s absolutely no logical explanation for that…the food was just THAT FUCKING GOOD! i am still trying to rationalize it.

being seitan obsessed, my husband was thrilled to see the east side burger on the brunch menu at counter. he didn’t let the fact that it was 11 am stop him from ordering a slap-up meal consisting of a huge vegan burger and thick, juicy, sliced potato french fries.

east side burger: wild mushroom pâté, housemade seitan & fresh herbs with all the normal fixin's. $10

there was nothing at all to fault about the east side burger. i tried it, and it was one of the best vegan burgers i’ve ever had. the patty was absolutely huge, and obviously homemade….none of that freeze-dried shit. this was the real deal. vegetables, grains, soy protein, all blended together perfectly to taste hearty and slightly unhealthy. if we lived in new york, we’d be at counter every weekend for brunch, most def.

after wolfing down two incredible brunch items at counter, i was super satisfied…but also extremely disappointed that i wouldn’t be in town long enough to sample their plentiful dinner menu. i guess there’s always next time.

wrapping up my tour of nyc, i gotta say, counter was the most bitchin’ place i ate at. a dripping saucy tofu breakfast, chunky and rich clumps of vegan nutella, lush & fried perfectly seasoned potatoes and a juicy thick vegan-grain burger patty made for the most amazing meal i’ve had in quite some time. when in nyc, get your ass to counter.

thanks for reading, now i’m back home…so you’d better get ready for a shitload of cool posts about vegan los angeles.

Check out these related posts:

• menu change at flore cafe’s all-you-can-eat vegan brunch
• sacred chow in nyc
• cafe blossom in nyc
• upscale vegan dining at franchia in nyc
• hugo’s restaurant: food that makes me 
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Ethical Pizza: We made the New York Times

Ethical Pizza: We made the New York Times

FRIDAY, AUGUST 6, 2010

We made the New York Times

Chelsea Clinton's recent wedding has created a media frenzy and since she's a vegan (something I was not aware of), the New York Times decided to write an article about the question whether vegans should offer only vegan meals at weddings or serve animal products to their non-vegan guests. They must have looked for vegan weddings online and come across my post about our wedding.

A reporter talked to Kathleen on the phone and they sent out a photographer to take pictures. The picture of us in our backyard turned out lovely. I am not entirely happy with the article, I felt that the story is looking a little too hard for the "conflict" between offering vegan meals, and "the comfort of the guests". When planning our wedding, it never occurred to us that such a choice had to be made. The article's title asks: "At Vegans’ Weddings, Beef or Tofu?" Our answer: neither. We served a beautiful, satisfying, spectacular and memorable all-vegan meal that people rave about to this day.

And of course the article had to include the utterances of the pastry-chef couple where "he" is not vegan and so they decide to serve meat at the wedding because otherwise the celebrity chefs they hired "would think we're crazy!" Um, okay. Personally, I'm having a hard time calling someone with such an attitude a vegan. I'm getting a very "future 'ethical' carnivore" vibe...

Nevertheless, I'm happy that we were featured in this article. The mainstream media did its thing, and perhaps this article will spur some people to think about these issues and help encourage vegan couples to have vegan weddings. Your wedding is a chance to show people that veganism is, among other things, about delicious food!

Ethical Pizza: Avocado pesto (a.k.a. waging war over cupcakes)

Ethical Pizza: Avocado pesto (a.k.a. waging war over cupcakes)


This is a repost from my friend's blog. Enjoy!

TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2010

Avocado pesto (a.k.a. waging war over cupcakes)

When Kathleen mentioned that she found a new use for the avocados that usually languish on the kitchen counter until we "eat Mexican" and that it's a recipe for avocado pesto by "Chef Chloe", my first thought was: cool, I didn't realize Miss Cleo was out of jail already.

Of course this is due to the fact that I am living under a rock, so I didn't know that Chef Chloe is a young and rising star in the vegan food world. What turned her into an instant celebrity was that months ago she was featured on an episode of the TV show "Cupcake Wars" (another thing I was ignorant about - this time bilssfully), which she proceeded to win triumphantly. Earlier today I saw the "trailer" for this episode and if I'm not mistaken, one of her opponents is heard remarking, "I mean, how good can a vegan cupcake be?" Rhetorical as it may have been, we now know that the answer to this question is "good enough to hand you your own ass on a multi-tiered cupcake stand".

No joke though, this avocado pesto is easy to make, is really very good and will be a nice addition to our standard rotation. Check out the video and recipe here. Pictured above is our version of it on spaghetti (we subbed walnuts for the pine nuts) with kale and Field Roast. Also note our "desserts", consisting of fresh fruit and beer, respectively. It may be a while until you see us on Cupcake Wars.

http://cherrybomb1.wordpress.com/2010/08/02/never-argue-with-an-idiot-about-animal-rights/

Never argue with an idiot… about animal rights

Please click the link and visit Cherry Bomb's blog.