Outta the Club

Hey, gang.  How's everyone recovering from MoFo?  Ovens and stove tops finally starting to cool down?

Good!

I'm doing a little bit of soul wrestling right now.  When I decided to go for this MoFo, I was hoping that the month would restart my devotion to vegetarian cooking - and maybe even convince me to give going vegan another try.

And the past month did remind me about how awesome vegan food can be.  I've always loved the challenge of vegan baking; it gives me a mad scientist thrill every time I replace eggs and yogurt with flax and tofu and then spy a lively, fluffy cake rising over the side of the pan.  The chewiness of tofu broiled just so, or a bean croquette sauteed in olive oil until a crisp shell cradles the tender creamy center, are pleasures that rival any omni dish in the world.  Vegan cooking introduced me to chickpeas, mustard greens, barley pilaf, and red Thai curry.  Why would anyone turn their back on all of these flavors, textures, and colors?

I wouldn't.  But I'm also not willing to turn my back on omnivorous food, either. 

I have all sorts of reasons why I won't give up animal products (sustainability for my part of the country, medically necessary weight control, better availability of well-raised meat near my home), and lots of qualifiers about how I've decided to proceed with my life in food (only eat meat, cheese, or milk from verifiable "humane" sources; eat it no more than once or twice a week) but to a devoted vegan those just sound like excuses.  Which they are, of course; but they're also choices that mean a lot to me.  I made a resolution a couple years ago to not apologize or explain away my vegetarian food choices.  I'll stick to the same idea now that I've chosen to take a different path.

This blog has been a number of things over the years.  It started as a gardening record, then morphed into a mainstream cooking blog, only to flow into a vegetarian living blog.  I still kept my veggie card when I decided to start cooking meat again for my family, and I kept my membership active while I fell off the wagon during my last pregnancy.  But now that I'm out of Club Veg, I'm thinking it's time to move the blog as well.  I'll post the vegan caramel bun variation before I call it quits here, and I'll drop a line with the new address in case anyone wants to move with me.  But after that, it's off to new pasture.  I hope you'll stop by.

What will be in my new diet and on my new blog?  Food, of course; some completely vegetarian meals, a few vegan eats (I'll try to keep all my baking recipes vegan friendly, because y'all deserve lots of sugar), some meals that are completely omni, and a lot of meals that are - hate the word! But I guess it's the best descriptor - flexitarian.  And of course, good Lord willing, I will be in the mix next year for MoFo.  Because even though I'm leaving the Green (Vegetable) Room, I'm still keeping one foot in the door.  

What's more, if I'm following your blog, you should know that I will still be lurking there in the shadows. Good food is good food, and you all do dish up plenty of it!  Thanks for all of the great pictures, inspiration, and good reading.  I am a drop out from Club Veg, but I'm still a member of the Vegetarian Blogger Fan Club.  And I'll be cheering you on from behind my Google Reader account.

Be back in a couple of days with sticky buns.  Until then!