World Go Vegan Days

So my friend Roanna both decided to do IDA's World Go Vegan Days, today through Sunday. She was vegan for several years, including several during which she was a server at a nonvegetarian restaurant; I just went vegetarian at the beginning of this year. Update: Sunday evening, taking a break from the last of moving/cleaning. With the exception of Melissa's delicious chocolate cherry pecan cookies last night (I couldn't resist!), I've done well. It's been harder than normal because of the move, but I think that's why I chose to do it now. My little weekend experiment proved that a vegan diet is no harder to follow than Atkins, and thankfully a whole lot healthier. (Apparently you can do a vegan Atkins program, but I'm certainly not condoning it). So if I choose to go beyond ovo-lacto vegetarianism, I know that with a little vigilance I can succeed. However, veganism is more a lifestyle than a simple diet, but more on that later.

This week is a week of "lasts." Last time seeing people, last trip(s!) to Founder's, and - what good timing - our last CSA pickup. We let Ali take all the veggies, seeing as everything is packed away and the movers are hauling it out to the truck as I write this. Last Saturday Trillium Haven had its fall festival, an outdoor potluck with events like hayrides and pumpkin carving for the kids. I brought tofu larb from a recipe from Cooking Light magazine, replacing the fish sauce with Bragg's to make it vegetarian. I also brought fudge, which was the first thing to disappear from the potluck table. I hope that our CSA experience in Washington will be as enlightening (who knew how to cook kohlrabi?) and enjoyable as this summer's. My only regret was that I was always working on veggie pickup nights, and didn't get to meet the other shareholders and feel like part of a larger community as a whole.