Bits & Pieces

We're half-way through World Vegetarian week, but I don't have any recipes to post. So I'm going to share a couple of stories instead.

Last night, I was at my local Kroger picking up some pre-washed organic baby romaine lettuce (because yes, I am that lazy) and I hear "Excuse me, ma'am" from behind. There was a time when I didn't answer to ma'am, but I realize that at 35, I'm a ma'am and I just need to deal with it.

Anyhoo, it was an older gentleman who was holding a bunch of asparagus in his hand. He asked, "Can you tell me what the difference is between this bunch of asparagus and this other one right here?" He was inquiring about the organic selection. After a little more information exchange, I realized that he really didn't know what the implications were of "organic." I explained to him best I could that farmers have to grow the organic foods according to government regulations that among other things, dictate that it's not grown with a bunch of toxic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. I went on to tell him that it's most important that you buy organic for items that don't have a consumable peel (I don't buy organic bananas) and that, overall, I find that organic foods taste better.

That last bit of information is really all he cared to know. He said he goes to a grocery about once every two years, but was entertaining last evening and wanted to buy some food that was good. So I kind of wasted a bit of his time. And mine. Oh, well. If you have any other questions about what organic really means, I suggest you check out this entry at Almost Vegetarian.

Anyhoo, in case you think that all vegetarians are humorless food police determined to keep you from eating all the living creatures in the world, you should check out this very funny article over at Slate that I found via 101 Cookbooks. Though, FYI, I don't enjoy the smell of cooking bacon. Or any cooking meat, generally. Never have. And I don't even remember what bacon tastes like because I wasn't ever a big fan. So all you bacon lovers can just give up on me. Oh, and I might be judging you for what you eat. Because a lot of you eat total crap. And you should stop.

Almost Vegetarian

One of the cookbooks I have in my increasingly-large cookbook collection is entitled "Almost Vegetarian." And considering that nearly eight years into this process, I'm still stumbling over hidden critter bits and juice myself, I was intrigued by a comment on this post at Back in Skinny Jeans that I found via Brittney, she of now-deceased blog, Vegetarian Nashville, seein' as how she has relo'd to the Bay Area and I'm green with jealousy (insert pun here).

What was I saying? Oh, I found this blog, Almost Vegetarian. It's sassy. I like it. I've already found an easy and seemingly tasty recipe I want to try. And I don't yet know her well enough to tell her that Parmesan cheese (and certainly not Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese) is not vegetarian. I only found out myself a few months ago (you know, that rennet thing). As I've mentioned, the world is full of little landmines for vegetarians. She is, at least an admitted "almost" vegetarian. I'm sometimes an accidental and ignorant omnivore!