Cinnamon Buns and Working in a Non-Vegan Environment

Today, in my day off work, I am making cinnamon buns. I've been thinking about these buns for quite some time, but had not previously worked up the nerve to make them--after all, it's quite a bit of work for something that is not savory (and there's all the sugar! and EarthBalance!). However, having worked for a good few weeks at the little bakery and sandwich shop, I became a little envious of the customers who were coming in and eating enormous cinnamon buns with their morning coffee. Sweet Celebrations makes cinnamon buns that are approximately six to seven inches in diameter. These buns are enormous, but also, apparently, delicious. I started thinking about cinnamon buns, and realized that I hadn't had one in over thirteen years. I remember eating one at Cinnabon, before I became too self-conscious about my eating habits and cut out most fats and sugars out of my diet. When I became vegan, I embraced the fats and sugars (and vegetables!), but not in the form of a cinnamon bun. There was still the issue of the time and effort involved in making them; I knew that I could't exactly go out and buy one because where, pray tell me, am I supposed to get vegan cinnamon buns in Knoxville?!

The envy of the customers at my work, and pride in my baking skills finally took over, and so the dough is rising for the cinnamon buns. If they turn out exceptionally well, I just might take some in to work and show them off to my boss and co-workers.

This brings me to the topic of working in an environment that is not altogether hostile to vegans, but is definitely not vegan-friendly. Every sweet that we make at Sweet Celebrations has dairy butter and milk; with the exception of two items on the sandwich menu, every lunch item has meat--and some have several different kinds of it. We also have a large cooler of ice cream and gelato. The little shop is famous for its quiche and reuben sandwiches. Working there full-time means that I either have to bring my lunch or combine the few ingredients that are vegan to create meals: sometimes, I have a veggie wrap, and sometimes the portobello sandwich. Although I'm not bothered by the lack of options, I find myself sometimes covetous of the things that one of my co-workers brings from his other job in a gourmet kitchen; these are hand-made and long-cured salamis, hand-made chocolates, and other things. I don't necessarily regret not trying those things, but I want the interaction that surrounds them--I want the communal experience of sampling a delicacy and discussing it. I suppose that until this point, I have been quite sheltered from the omnivorish world, and able to make it a disgusting or risible realm--nothing of which I'd want to partake. As Matt and I would say, "Who eats better than we do?" And now, now that I am constantly around people who eat tasty food, sometimes it becomes a task to remind myself that their food comes with a heavy price. Is this a fault or flaw on my part, to momentarily waver? I don't think so.

There are things to be grateful for, too. The main chef at Sweet Celebrations used to be vegan and is sensitive to my desires. Whenever he's not too busy, he whips up lunch for me--things that are not available on the normal menu. I brought in Vegenaise and a few blocks of tofu at his request, and he told met hat he'll try to broaden the range of food that I am able to eat while at work. Yes, yes, yes.

The dough for the cinnamon buns has risen, so off to roll and cover it in Earth Balance and sugar and cinnamon.

Urban Land Scouts

I've been thinking of personal responsibility (to the environment and the community) beyond veganism. For many, veganism is a step in becoming more aware of food consumption and production, but of course, there is more to conscientiousness than just eating vegan food (or not wearing animal products). There are other steps an individual can make towards conserving resources and living sustainably. As a result of all this thinking, I bought a composter with the rest of my tax return, and we moved 2/3 of our winter compost pile into it for quicker composting. I've been combing the area for native edible plants, and I've also been attempting to start a small container garden (out of wooden drawers that we've been taking from the abandoned school next door). Because of all these things--and my interest in building community and supporting the environment, I was incredibly excited to become a part of Urban Land Scouts.

The Urban Land Scouts is a project created by Katie Ries, and it is part of her Master's Thesis work, although I think that it has been coming along for a few years. Katie is involved around town, and is very conscious about people's interactions with the land that they occupy. Here is a brief description of the organization from their website:

The Urban Land Scouts are a new group helping modern urban people become better stewards of the land and communities where they live. Membership is open to all.

Also, here are the core values of an Urban Land Scout:

1 – The Urban Land Scouts looks at the land daily; he is observant of and attentive to it.

2 - The Urban Land Scout tries to identify and use the plants in her neighborhood.

3 - The Urban Land Scout seeks to cultivate native or edible plants in whatever soil he can access and tend.

4 - The Urban Land Scout is fed by the land in which she lives.

5 - The Urban Land Scout makes an effort to grow vegetables.

6 - The Urban Land Scout plants and cares for seeds.

7 - The Urban Land scout shares information freely and teach others what she knows.

8 - The Urban Land scout is lucid, patient, and rooted in the land where he lives.

9 - The Urban Land Scout composts with the help of worms.

10 - The Urban Land Scout shares her harvest.

These are also the ten levels of the Urban Land Scout, and you can see the logical progression--from observing and identifying to harvesting, sharing, and composting. What I especially like about ULS is that it's a project with built-in accountability on several different levels; yes, the project itself is about being mindful of our (urban) environment and connection to food creation. But also, in order to earn a badge, each of the scouts has to document the achievement and report back to the site. One of the tenets of the group is to share information (to blog about it!), resulting in wider awareness of the project and its goals.

As many of us become more and more estranged from the sources of our food, we can become less and less aware of the kind of impact our consumption makes on the community and environment; it is thus critical to pay attention to the land one inhabits--to take care of it, in any way, even if these actions are just small changes to the everyday routine (such as saving seeds from vegetables bought at a local farmer's market). I strongly encourage everyone to become an Urban Land Scout, officially or not. Everyone can become a genuine steward of the land! Everyone can become more responsible to the land and to our respective communities!

Water Capture

After watching No Impact Man a couple of weeks ago Kat and I have been thinking more about our patterns of consumption and ways that we could work to reduce our own impact. One of the things we noticed is that we haven't been the best at conserving and limiting our water usage. This is just a list of some of the things which we have decided to do to reduce the amount of water that goes to waste every day.
- Follow the rule "if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down"
Using this method, we've reduced the number of times per day that we flush the toilet. Both of the toilets in our house are 1.6 gpf (gallons per flush), so we save approximately 6.4 gallons of water per day just by letting the yellow mellow.
- Save captured water from the dehumidifier.
I've done some research into safe use for water captured in this way, and there aren't a lot. Most sources I found say that water from this source in not potable and should not be used to water plants grown for food (I've read conflicting information on that last part, but we decided against taking the risk). One website suggested using captured water in the iron, but we had been capturing a full bucket every day or so (1.5 gallon capacity) and only refill the water in the iron about once a week. When we first got the dehumidifier we were dumping out the water because we didn't know what else to do with it. I finally came upon a solution. I turned off the water to the toilet in the bathroom that I use more and use the captured water to flush the toilet. This is easier than it sounds. When the water is turned off, the tank does not refill after flushing. Rather than keeping a bucket in the bathroom that the pets could get into, I've started pouring the captured water into the tank so that the toilet will flush normally. This move cuts in half our already-reduced waste water usage.
- Rain barrel to water plants.
We have not purchased our rain barrel yet, but this will be our next big purchase after we get paid. A rain barrel costs between $80-100, has a screen over the top to limit the debris in the barrel and a threaded spigot at the bottom for attaching a hose. This summer we hope to completely eliminate using water from the tap to water our plants.
- Shower water reclamation.
When Kat first told me about this idea I was skeptical but the idea has grown on me. Again, this is an idea which we've talked about but haven't yet begun. The idea is to put a bucket or other receptacle behind yourself in the shower. The bucket will catch water that would normally just run down the drain. Like the dehumidifier water, this is unsafe to drink or water plants, but it can be used to flush toilets as well.
- Toilet tank volume reduction.
Putting brick in the toilet tank reduces the volume of water used per flush. This effectively turns a normal toilet into a low-flow. I don't know the exact change in volume, but this is a way to reduce water consumption that is completely effortless.

With these changes, we hope to see a dramatic reduction in water usage in our household with a minimum of extra effort. These changes are all rather easy and only require a slight bit more work than doing nothing.

EDIT (by Kat)

After I read this post, I remembered something that we did when we were visiting my grandparents in Germany three years ago. The reason why I didn't remember it until now is...I hated doing it and swore that it was something I'd never do voluntarily. When visiting in Germany, my aunt informed me that they turned the water off in the middle of the shower: wet the body, turn water off, soap the body, turn water on--rinse, and finish. At the time, I rebelled against this simple rule as much as I could (after all, how could they tell me what to do)! Standing cold and soapy in the shower wasn't my idea of fun. However, especially with a rather warm spring upon us, I don't think that this will be too unpleasant to try. In fact, when I tried doing this today, I probably used a third of the water that I usually use during a shower!

Of course, reducing water consumption in these several ways has got me thinking about what else we could reduce use of or do without completely. We already don't use disposable facial tissues (and haven't for years), but could we do without paper towels? Napkins? All kinds of plastic bags?

Mustard Tiger Update

I write this with a rather heavy heart, but I thought that if I made the initial move to introduce Mustard Tiger, I should follow up with his present condition.

We kept Mustard in our home for a few days--and for the most part, he was friendly and happy. He got along with Lucy, and although Feast was not happy, I think that he, too, started getting used to him. We put out posters with details about a found cat, but had no response to them.

After the few days in our home, Mustard began to get restless--I suppose that he had gotten used to being outside, roaming freely; he was also probably tired of being cornered by our cat... For whatever reason, he bit Lucy.

Because we had not taken Mustard to the vet yet, we didn't think that it was quite safe to keep him indoors, in the case that he had a communicable disease; so, we put him outside and continued to give him food and water. He came back a few days in a row, and I was starting to get used to him as an outside cat, when he went missing.

He came back on Saturday, and when I first saw him, I thought that he was missing an eye. Upon closer examination, I realized that he still had his eye, but had gotten his eyelid torn up pretty badly in a fight (with another cat? a raccoon?). He had a rather sizable abscess on his eyelid, and it was oozing pus, which would sometimes cover his eye. He came back late on Saturday, when, unfortunately, the animal hospitals in town were all closed (and we do not have the means to take him to an emergency clinic). We made space for him in our backyard shed; gave him food and water; and I did my best to clean his wound with a wet washcloth and a peroxide solution. We took him to the vet first thing this morning (at 7 a.m.); we now have eye drops for his eye and antibiotics. Mustard was also neutered today.

We will keep him isolated from the the other animals until he recovers, and will then try to integrate him into our family.

At first, I was so angry with myself for letting him go back outside, where he was hurt; I felt bad for sacrificing Mustard's well-being in the act of protecting the family we already have. However, I think that it was only a matter of time until Mustard got hurt--he'd been coming around for about three weeks, and in all that time managed to avoid the several dangers in our neighborhood (busy street, cats, raccoons). In fact, I think that all in all, we have done the best that we are possibly able for Mustard.

What does make me angry and upset is the fact that Mustard Tiger was abandoned in the first place. He was clearly a cat used to human attention and affection: when we first saw him, he was clean and looked very healthy and tame. Even if he had somehow gotten lost on his own, it was irresponsible of his previous caretakers to not have had him neutered. I agree with Gary Francione's commentary on "pets," in that it is reprehensible to treat animals as (play-)things. I cannot imagine abandoning an animal, especially one who was clearly not accustomed to fending for himself. I could write more on this, but am afraid that I'll merely repeat myself.

Here's couple pictures of him resting--I just hate how sad he looks: they had to shave part of his face, and he can't quite close or open the hurt eye.

Mustard Tiger

Mustard Tiger
Originally uploaded by zemmely

This is a stray that has been coming around to our house for a week. He's looked worse and worse each day--clearly, a house cat who was not used to living outside and fighting the neighborhood cats. It's also been cold--in the 20s at night, and I felt bad for him. Thus, we took him in.

We'll make posters and put them up around the neighborhood to make sure we're not taking someone's cat. He's quite tame, as you can see, and climbs into my lap at every opportunity.

Oh, and as you can hear, he has the tiniest little voice!

Also: we just happen to have a room that doesn't have furniture in it because our landlord fixed some bad floors and put carpet in.

Veg-O-Rama

Having been to other fully vegetarian restaurants around Asheville, NC; Louisville, KY; and the famous Vegiterranean of Akron, OH, I developed some high expectations for vegan food. Thus, I think, I carried a prejudice into Veg-O-Rama on my first visit there: I was expecting something more extravagant, or unusual, and what I received was tasty, but modest. I kept telling myself, "They're not doing anything here that I couldn't just as well make for myself at home!" However, on subsequent visits there, I really grew to like the place--the food is nice, if not spectacular; the atmosphere is welcoming. And for a vegetarian restaurant in Tennessee's third largest city, it has done quite well for itself.
Veg-O-Rama is a great place to pop into for a bowl of home-made chili and a sandwich. They have good specials and make their food from wholesome ingredients.

The reason for this post, however, is that I am now making desserts for the restaurant. It's nothing too grand as of yet--the owner and I talked it over and decided that we'll start small and see how people like it--but I feel rather priviliged to be offering baked goods to them. Besides, it feels very good to get paid for something that I love doing. The things I brought there are a dozen Coconut-Lime Cupcakes and a half dozen of PB&J mini pies (Celine's recipe!). I encourage everyone here in Knoxville to visit Veg-O-Rama and support their business, even if you don't end up buying dessert. Since I moved to Knoxville, I have already seen a couple vegetarian-friendly places shut down, and I don't want to see that happen with this one.

Red buckets and bell-ringers

It's that time of year again, the bell-ringers are out and looking for our loose change. Every year after Thanksgiving the Salvation Army sets up volunteers outside of businesses to collect funds for their many programs. While the Salvation Army undoubtedly does a great deal of good in combating poverty, helping at-risk youth, rehabilitating convicts, and many other areas, the organization holds core beliefs which work counter to the cause of human dignity. When it comes to donating money and supporting charitable organizations, it falls to us to be sure that the money we give goes to support ideals we can fully support. For some, the good done will outweigh any difference of conscience, but for others, such as myself, these differences are great enough to justify searching out a different organization. In other words, we need to be informed and make decisions for ourselves.
While there are many positions that the Salvation Army takes with which I disagree, the deal breaker for me is their homophobic stance. SA would deny the sexual expression of consenting adults, claiming that marriage is the only acceptable context for sex. This not only denies the right of homosexuals to fulfillment, but to heterosexuals who do not marry, as well. We would do well to be mindful of those who seek to limit our rights in this area, and to help safeguard the rights of others.
There is much more I could mention, but look over the Salvation Army's statements of belief and decide for yourself if this is an organization that you would choose to support.

12/17 addition:
Effort Sysipus recently posted a list of charities without religious affiliation, for those who wish to make a contribution.