Life Without Envy at the "Vulnerability Museum"
I'm coming out of Moon Ireland-induced hibernation to post something really cool: thanks to Ashley Kirsner, whom I met at #whatimake, my Life Without Envy preparatory mind map is traveling to North Adams, MA as part of the CommuniT Boston "Vulnerability Museum."If you're in western Mass, check it out at FIGMENT North Adams this Saturday, April 30th, beginning at 3pm. The exhibit will also be traveling to NYC at some point; I'll post details when I get them.
(Now back to frenzied Googling of updated tour and accommodation prices!)
#whatimake Slide Show and Resources
I'm just home from the first-ever #whatimake conference, and it was AMAAAAAZING. Proper post to follow, but in the meantime I want to drop my slide show and resources links here for any attendees who are looking for it. Thank you for coming! <3
#Whatimake excitement at @aeronautbrewing!!!
A photo posted by Camille DeAngelis (@cometparty) on Apr 16, 2016 at 7:25am PDT
Five Years Vegan
As I love to remind you each year, April is my veganversary month. I know I haven't done a proper vegan-themed post in ages, but it's not for lack of passion or interest. Between various other writing projects and commitments, I just don't have the bandwidth at the moment. (I know, I've been saying this. It's still true.) I'm stockpiling links and pictures and recipe ideas and philosophical musings (heh) for when I have more time to blog again.
And in the meantime, you can follow me on Instagram—my #vegan-themed posts are mixed in with Ireland travel pics and the occasional "yay, it's my book in the bookstore!" photo.
A photo posted by Camille DeAngelis (@cometparty) on Apr 10, 2016 at 8:38pm PDT
Sunday baking for a #vegan potluck at @mirandashearth. @joyfulvegan's classic recipe for chocolate chip cookies. (Pic of coconut cupcakes coming next!) A photo posted by Camille DeAngelis (@cometparty) on Apr 10, 2016 at 1:24pm PDT
A photo posted by Camille DeAngelis (@cometparty) on Apr 9, 2016 at 11:24am PDT
Made goji-berry pecan granola this morning especially for @elliotsomethin & @crazyliberalkate! #breakfast #vegan A photo posted by Camille DeAngelis (@cometparty) on Mar 22, 2016 at 4:06pm PDT
Comet Party Yoga and Writing Retreat
[Update, 5/5/16: Alas, we haven't gotten the numbers we need to be able to run this retreat. If you're interested in participating the next time we try to run this thing, drop me a line!]
This is the last week to get the early-bird price ($300 instead of $350) on the first-ever Comet Party yoga and writing retreat with my dear teacher Anne Wichmann! Since I've been posting information about the retreat rather piecemeal, I thought I'd do one more post to gather all the info in one place.
When: Friday, May 20th (afternoon) to Sunday, May 22nd (afternoon), 2016
Where: Bethel Farm, Hillsborough, New Hampshire. Get psyched for long walks in the woods and the wood-fired sauna (maybe alternating with dips in the pond!)
What: Jivamukti yoga classes, meditation, and kirtan paired with intuitive writing sessions
Why: to relax, learn more about yourself, and meet lovely new people!
Meals: 100% vegan, baby! All allergies and dietary restrictions catered for (just let us know.)
Accommodation: small dorm-style with shared bath. (I know this set-up won't be for everyone, but I love the cozy summer-camp feel of the Bethel Farm guesthouse.)
Retreat schedule: here.
Transportation from Boston: we'll be organizing ride shares.
More about Jivamukti: it's an athletic yet well-rounded style of yoga, including chanting, breathwork, dharma talks, and meditation along with the asanas. I've found Jivamukti teachers to be the warmest and most giving yoga instructors I know. Oftentimes you'll get a quick warm-up shoulder massage with china gel (a menthol-based cream, very tingly and refreshing), and/or another little massage during savasana. Jivamukti teachers walk the talk when it comes to ahimsa, the principle of non-harming. Anne is a very chill and loving teacher.
More about Stephen Bethel (owner of Bethel Farm and another awesome Jivamukti teacher!) here.
What is "intuitive writing"? Good question! We'll be taking journaling to the next level with exercises designed to lift you out of your ordinary way of thinking, priming you for a transformative experience. Everything you write during this retreat is for your eyes only. You can get a sense of the type of writing exercises we'll be doing here. There's also a sneak preview of Life Without Envy in your retreat workbook!
You can register for this retreat either through Bethel Farm or by emailing me. Anne and I are so looking forward to it!
Lovefest
Last week several friends read Immaculate Heart and reached out by email, text, and social media to tell me just how much it affected them. (This is in addition to my sister and her in-laws forming a four-person book club on vacation!) I have wonderfully supportive family and friends, but I don't remember anyone calling me a "genius" before. Maybe this novel really is my best yet.
Man, @cometparty is such a genius. Holy shit. Go read Immaculate Heart right now! Go!https://t.co/Ea0kO4sPw2
— McCormick Templeman (@mtSpaceFace) April 1, 2016
I'm not posting the praise here to toot my own horn—I just want to acknowledge how much it all means to me, especially when there hasn't been much in terms of reviews or "buzz." I have smart friends and I value their opinions, and those opinions will continue to hearten me on days when I wonder how I can continue to make a sort-of-living in publishing.
How is the operative word, though—not if.
I can either reach for hitherto-unrecognized opportunities—making my own opportunities—logging even more time at the Writers' Room than I already do (and loving every minute), or I can think and act as if my disappointing sales figures will dictate my future career....Yeah, right.
Of all the gorgeous heartfelt praise I received last week, there was one piece I most needed to hear. My friend Keith texted me on Wednesday afternoon as soon as he finished the book, asking me to call him as soon as possible. We talked about who (plural) inspired my narrator, why I'd made certain narrative decisions, and his actual physical reactions as he read the closing pages. Keith said, I hope you know your own power.
And I got goosebumps.
So thank you, my friends—thank you Ailbhe, thank you Angela, thank you McCormick, thank you Susan, thank you Mackenzi, thank you Keith. Thank you, everyone, for buying my books, reading them, and talking them up to anyone who will listen. The writing may be its own reward, but the icing is the most delicious part of the cake.
Launch Night!
Well, it was another glorious whirlwind of a launch weekend! Porter Square Books did a great job, as always, and even though the crowd was a bit smaller than last year (lots of friends were out of town for Easter weekend) there were more unfamiliar faces in the audience, which was really neat. And Mackenzi, of course, gave me the sweetest introduction.
Launching @cometparty's Immaculate Heart.
A photo posted by Porter Square Books (@porter_square_books) on Mar 25, 2016 at 4:15pm PDT
I have a bunch of favorite moments, but here are a few. I decided to read the poitín passage on pages 152-158 (beginning with Síle's journal entry and ending with the nightmare at the end of the chapter), and since I always love hearing how a seed of an idea grows into completion, I started off by reading a text message Seanan sent me on December 22, 2007:
Had a poitín tasting tonight. 20 year old bottle and more recent vintage. One tasted like whiskey made from battery acid and the other tasted like vodka made from battery acid. We'll keep some for your next time.
I'm always a little surprised (delighted, but surprised!) when people tell me I'm funny. I got a lot of laughs throughout. (Credit for the funny text message goes to my friend, of course, but I did deliver with good comic timing, if I do say so myself.)
"she's probably my favorite person in the world" Congratulations Camille!!! @cometparty#immaculateheartpic.twitter.com/4R8waf2Pvp — Tina M Giarla (@tinamariegiarla) March 25, 2016
My other favorite moment came at the end, when I was signing stock—there was an internet order from my fourth-grade teacher on the top of the stack! I have such happy memories of her reading historical novels to us after recess each day. That was a sweet moment. And needless to say, there were no more cupcakes left by the end of the night.
@cometparty at her Immaculate Heart book launch with her disappearing gluten free vegan cupcakes. 🍀 A photo posted by spatialh (@spatialh) on Mar 25, 2016 at 4:21pm PDT
I've promised to post the cupcake recipes, so here they are:
Gingerbread cupcakes with lemon icing from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
Carrot with vanilla icing from the Babycakes cookbook (though the icing recipe is from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)
Chocolate lavender with coconut cream topping (using maple syrup instead of honey)
Vanilla with butterscotch icing and coconut bacon (but again, I used the basic frosting recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World with 3/4 tsp. butterscotch extract in lieu of vanilla extract; I tried the original recipe for Kelly's birthday picnic last summer and the frosting melted all over the place, so I'm sticking with what works best!)
I would have taken a picture of my cupcake at @cometparty's book launch but I ate it too fast. #priorities— annie cardi (@anniecardi) March 25, 2016
I made all the cupcakes gluten free this time—just subbing Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour plus one teaspoon of xanthan gum for regular flour in the gingerbread and vanilla recipes. (The other two were already gluten free.) I am super pleased with how the vanilla/butterscotch/coco-bacon cupcakes turned out—I'd tried a bunch of vanilla cupcake recipes and none of them were light and fluffy as promised until Kathy Patalsky's version. She is a genius!
Vegan cupcakes and lollipops and a great reading = a perfect book launch party @cometparty@PorterSqBookspic.twitter.com/V8BsdqoJL2— Barbara Rhodes (@librarygirl56) March 26, 2016
Details on the launch dress coming in a future post. ;)
Pub Day!
Immaculate Heart is on sale today! The fanfare this time around has been, shall we say, muted—but it is my best work so far, and I feel good about that. If you're in the Boston area, I really hope you can help me celebrate at Porter Square Books this Friday, March 25th, at 7pm. There'll be a (vegan, gluten-free) cupcake with your name on it.
Otherwise, if you wanted to pick up a copy of the book, well, that would be amazing. Thank you very much for your support!
Porter Square Books (order this way and you get the book signed along with a set of three original Ireland postcards—at least until I run out of them!)
Yesterday I was ruminating on the phrase the work is its own reward. It sounds pat on one hand and downright ludicrous on the other, if you're hoping (as I am) to make a living at this whole wacky business. It's true, though. I write to bring whole new worlds into being—to thrill and entertain and inspire and comfort myself, so that hopefully I'll end up thrilling and entertaining you too.
St. Patrick's Day, and other tidbits
A few fun things to report today: first, to celebrate St. Paddy's Day, I've written a round-up of my favorite haunted (or at least haunting) places in Ireland over at PopSugar.
In case you missed my post-apocalyptic library essay the first time around, the lovely folks over at Dead Darlings have reposted it today.
And best of all: the first review of Immaculate Heart, in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Next week is launch week, so expect more pictures of cupcake decorating!
Bookiversary!
Today feels quite shiny and special. I don't know that I've ever told this story on the blog, so here goes.
In January 2006 I went back to Ireland and rented a car (a series of them, actually, ha) to research the first edition of Moon Ireland. This was my second paid writing gig (after co-writing Hanging Out in Ireland the summer after my freshman year of college), but this time I was working on my own guidebook for proper money. My primary ambition had always been to publish a novel, but after my experience with the practice novel I was feeling more anxious than excited when Kate Garrick submitted Mary Modern to a bunch of editors that February.
This time, though, there were several nibbles. More than one editor wanted to make an offer, Kate said. I felt even more nervous. She set the closing date for Friday, March 14th at 3pm.
At the end of that week I was staying at a hostel in Leenane (in Connemara), and had fallen in with Kevin, a fellow writer from Dublin, and Tom, an American in his sixties who was working as a handyman at the hostel. The guys promised to help me celebrate in the event of good news (HA, of course you will!)
I gave Kate the hostel phone number, emailed my family and asked them to think good thoughts, and refreshed my inbox repeatedly on the hostel computer until I remembered that I'd only be receiving bad news that way. Good news always comes by phone. [I have since learned that certain kinds of bad news come by phone, too, but we won't dwell on that.]
I very vividly remember sitting on a dormitory floor early that evening, voicing my anxiety to Kevin, who was sympathetic. It's one o'clock in New York, I said. This isn't gonna happen. It's not going to sell and I don't know what I'm going to do.
After a little while we heard the phone ring downstairs. "It's Random House calling!" Kevin declared (and if he was mocking me he did so affectionately.)
Then we heard footsteps on the stairs. "No, really. I think it's for you!"
I crouched on the floor, my heart in my throat. The guy working the front desk called my name. HOLY S**T IT HAS TO BE KATE IT'S GOOD NEWS.
I ran to the door and grabbed the cordless, and when Kate told me we'd gotten an offer from Sally at Shaye Areheart/Crown I blubbered every single expletive in my vocabulary.
We drove into town. I bought all the Guinness Kevin asked for. We had a good night.
Time to Regroup!
HelllllllOOOOOooooooooo!
I'm back from Ireland and getting ready for a busy couple of months. Here's a quick rundown; hopefully I'll be back to posting regularly next week (even if it's just trip photos, hah.)
Firstly, the Writers' Room of Boston spring party-slash-open-house is scheduled for this Thursday, March 10th, starting at 6pm. Details here. I don't know that any of you lovely blog readers are local enough to come out to this, but I figured I'd mention it just in case. I'll be test-baking cupcake flavor #4, which will definitely be something fruity.
What's that? You want to hear more about the cupcakes?!
Isn't it interesting how everybody says my books are delicious? BWAHAHAHAHA.
After the Immaculate Heart launch, I'll be preparing to give a presentation (Private Writing for Public Impact) and workshop (Mind Mapping for Self-Discovery) at #WhatIMake at the Aeronaut Brewery right here in Somerville on Saturday, April 16th. Details and Facebook RSVP here! (Tickets are $35 until April 1st, so if you're interested definitely buy them now. They're $45 at the door.)
Finally, registration is now open for our writing and yoga retreat at Bethel Farm! Email me to register or if you have any Qs. Anne will be leaving us Boston yogis soon after (*SOB!*) for the Big Apple, so we're going to make the weekend extra festive. $300 early bird price is good until April 15th.
#MoonIreland
I'm leaving for Ireland soon, and while I'm there you can keep up with me on Instagram. (I should have known it would become my new social-media-crack-of-choice once I finally got a smartphone!!)
Things I’m Doing Instead of Blogging
Re-revising the book of my heart.
Planning my research trip for Moon Ireland 2.0.
Champagne toasts (in plastic cups; I’m not that classy.) Because I won something!
Talking about monsters with my pals MarcyKate, Marika, and Mackenzi at the Writers' Loft.
"Writing monsters" with some fab ladies at the Writers Loft!
A photo posted by Sarah Jean Horwitz (@sunshinejh) on Jan 16, 2016 at 11:05am PST
Teaching my first sewing 101 class (yay!) at Craftwork.
Gearing up for the Immaculate Heart release: answering interview questions, gathering pictures for a photo essay, deciding on a cupcake menu and suchlike. (RSVP for the March 25th book launch here!)
I’m not sure how long it’ll be before I have the time and enthusiasm for blogging again, but I’ll be back eventually. :)
Life Without Envy, and Marvin the Time-Traveling Armchair
Happy New Year, everybody! May 2016 be your awesomest year yet.
Here's why I'm feeling pretty darn excited about 2016, myself:
Pub date is much sooner than I expected (and when does that ever happen?!): September 27th, 2016! I'm working on a proper book page now.
I don't have much to say (yet) apart from the cover reveal, but it did occur to me after posting my latest decluttering update that there's one corner of my room which is quite perfect: I found this armchair in an antiques shop in Providence last New Year's Eve, and fell instantly in love. His name is Marvin and he has the ability to zip anyone who sits in him through the fourth dimension to the destination of their choice.
Organizationally speaking, it's the DIY project bag rack (sewing instructions here) that is noteworthy. I'm also planning to recover that 1930s folding chair to Marvin's right with the vintage-inspired upholstery fabric you see folded on top. (I'm so sad Grey's Fabric is leaving Boston!!)
The Aspirational Lightness of Being, part 3
Truth be told, I kinda forgot I even had a blog for a few weeks there. I've been busy with Life Without Envy revisions (it's in the spring 2017 catalog! eeeeeeeeee! and we almost have a cover!), redecorating my room (after my landlord painted it while I was away in Ireland and Georgia), holiday prep, and various social outings (more than usual; that time of year, I guess!) And when I did think about the blog, I remembered all the projects I have temporarily abandoned—the indie bookstore appreciation, Hinduism 101, Vegan by the Seat of Your Pants, travel recaps, and a few more besides. Blogging is no fun when you start thinking in terms of shoulds.
Well, if every other year has started with resolutions about new projects, maybe this time I'll resolve to wrap up some projects that are already on the table. For now, because of all the room redecorating, I'm still a little bit obsessed with what I'm calling aspirational minimalism—so here's a post I started writing before I left.
* * *
Some of you lovely blog readers prefer to reply via email rather than commenting below. I received this response to a recent post about recycling my grade-school artwork:
But if you are photographing it, are you really tossing your artwork? Are you REALLY shedding that skin?
Crocheted clown dolls our cousin Ann gave our mother at my baby shower. Ann agrees they are creepy and gave me her blessing to dispose of them.
Touché, my friend. Maybe someday I will be the kind of person who burns all her old journals and lives with little more than basic cooking utensils and a few sets of clothing, but I am not there yet. (HAAAAAAAA.) I know that if I had trashed all those drawings and paintings without taking some photographs, I would already be regretting it. The main thing for me right now is to get rid of all the old stuff that is taking up physical space. I believe that domestic clutter is always a reflection of emotional and psychic clutter; and if this new mantra sounds simplistic, it really doesn't matter, because each time I get rid of a bunch of stuff I feel noticeably better about myself, noticeably lighter. So if you are beginning to suspect that there may be many more installments of this "Aspirational Lightness" business, you are probably correct.
Because my landlord was painting while I was gone, I spent a few days before I left boxing everything up and hiding it in my closet and crawl space. Ideally I would have sorted through the paper piles—yes, those notes from my NYU days are still here—but I only managed to get rid of what was obviously a waste of space and could be recycled with little effort. At first I'd bristled at Marie Kondo's declaration that NO ONE needs to hold onto ANY PIECE OF PAPER, EVER. I am a writer, you know. I write on paper. I neeeeeeeeed it!
Well, I need some of it, but only for now. Notes for current and future projects? Yes. Drafts of books that have already been published? No.
Why am I saving this? It's not just writing, of course. I'd started a file ("file" as in another paper bag, haha) called "read and recycle." Then I realized I'd been collecting these articles to read since I moved to Boston two and a half years ago, and in those two and a half years I had not gotten around to reading any of them.
Life is short, my friends. I recycled the lot.
I also got rid of a bunch of Christmas, birthday, and thank-you cards. I'd strung these up in festoons from the ceiling, which made my space feel a little like a dorm room. I took them down and recycled most of them. As for non-paper clutter, last week I finally bought myself a dresser. I'd been stacking clean clothes on a shelf in my closet, but I have to push the hanging clothes aside and reach into the dark for what I need. Not at all ideal. I got an unfinished dresser from the Bookcase Factory Outlet (not far from Porter Square) and at some point I'll finish it myself. Thanks to all the sewing I've done this year, I've found it pretty easy to "edit" my wardrobe down to the things I actually wear—but I still need a convenient place to store them. I've sorted through my fabric scraps, so I have a big bag of stuff to Freecycle. The fabric I'm keeping is folded away in a set of plastic drawers under my work table, but as you can see, I still need neater and more attractive ways of storing my art supplies (and current sewing projects and stack of mending). I'm thinking I'll cover some cardboard boxes with pretty paper.
That box at the top left is full of old notes though. My new strategy is to bring all that stuff to the Writers' Room, parcel it into manageable chunks and go through one stack at the beginning or end of each writing session. We'll see how that goes...
* * *
And on a completely different note, I have some SUPER EXCITING NEWS...Two of my very favorite people in the whole universe are getting hitched! (Can you see the post-proposal glowiness in that picture?? I have never seen Elliot so excited!)
I actually want to write about how these two totally having their s**t together inspires me to follow suit. Yet another post to add to the 2016 to-do list. ;)
Seven Days in Ireland
Two nights in Galway with Ailbhe and Christian and Shelley and A&C's ridiculously cute kiddos, down to Tipperary to see Seanan's folks, weekend in Dingle and back to Tipp for one more night before heading up to Dublin on the train (which was a treat, faster and more comfortable than the bus—Seanan found me a €15 web fare). It was lovely to be able to say "see you again in February." I'll be back to revise my guidebook!
Big thanks to my aunt Kathy for giving me (yes, GIVING me) her Nikon SLR camera. It was so very generous of her. I'm excited to take a digital photography class in the next couple months so I can learn how to use it beyond the basics!
Starry Darling Ranges
I have been in love with Megan Nielsen's Darling Ranges dress pattern since the day it came out: it's got sweet feminine touches like a moderately-revealing neckline and gathered sleeves, and like all the indie sewing patterns I've used so far, this one was a breeze to follow... ...once I found the perfect fabric. This lovely starry cotton lawn is from Grey's, as usual. [EDIT: Out of business, alas!]
The neckline is finished with bias tape, so I used some of my vintage stash. (What do you think—1950s??)
My goal was to finish this dress in time for the Boston Book Festival, and I got plenty of compliments that evening. Having too much fun to remember to take any photos though. And at my friend Jason's night-before-Halloween costumes-optional party I told everyone I had dressed up—as a constellation.
Then I packed the dress to wear on my birthday in Dingle. (Photos by Seanan.)
This is my new favorite dress out of everything I've sewn so far. I feel really pretty in it (even if I do look a teensy bit preggo in this shot.)
It was a lovely birthday. We ended the night with trad at John Benny's and my pal Jedediah Berry's The Family Arcana (which is brilliant, by the way).
Chickens are People Too
One of the very shiniest highlights of 2015 was the Boston Book Festival on October 25th: I got to do a panel ("The Kids Are Not Alright") with Jennifer McMahon and Rupert Thomson and moderated by the lovely Rachel DeWoskin. I read everyone's most recent novels to prepare, and all of them were wonderful in very different ways. Rachel's novel, Blind, explores the rocky emotional terrain and evolving relationships of fifteen-year-old Emma, who loses her eyesight in a fireworks accident. It is beautifully written, and (surprise, surprise) I particularly appreciated Emma's reasoning for going vegetarian:
...I actually stopped eating meat three years ago, after my parents took us to a farm and I saw some chickens snuggling each other and realized that chickens are actually just people, except bumpier and smaller and covered with feathers. They snuggle their family members, is what I'm saying, and that was enough for me—I could never eat anybody's body again, not even a chicken's.
It's the eating-someone-else's-body thing that really clinches it for me—the "if I weren't already veg, I would be now" moment; and this also reminds me that I must write a post on the concept of non-human personhood.
Thank you to Rachel for letting me share this passage from her work!
Lincoln Pond
I just came across some photos I took during a weekend camping trip on Lincoln Pond in the Adirondacks with a few friends back in July. Next summer feels so far awaaaaaaaaay! 
We rented two boats (a canoe and a rowboat) and paddled forty minutes to our island campsite (Lincoln Pond is enormous). It wasn't as remote as it sounds—there were plenty of people out fishing around our little pocket of woods, which was a bummer. But absolutely beautiful otherwise! 
Judgment and Complacency
(Here's another chapter from Can-Do Vegan.)
“Don’t judge me. Eating animals doesn’t make me a bad person!”
How can I judge you, when I used to eat animals myself?
I’m going to say something that might sound mean at first. Hear me out, okay? (I did promise you tough love!)
You will believe whatever you need to in order to see yourself as a good person.
Now, I’m not saying you’re not a good person. I’m saying that we are all terribly adept at making excuses for our behavior. Being vegan certainly doesn’t exempt me from this; I’m as guilty of wishful thinking as the next person. It’s called being human, right?
That said, we shouldn’t let “being human” lure us into complacent decision making. If we can do better, then by all means, why don’t we? It makes no sense to say, “I’m a good person, I really am, but you know what, actually, I’d kind of prefer not to know where my food comes from. It’s too upsetting.”
Here are a few more things we try to convince ourselves of on a daily basis:
“No one suffers so that I can drink this milk and eat these eggs and bacon.”
“It’s what my parents and grandparents eat, and all my ancestors before them; it’s what I feed my children; therefore it’s the right and proper diet.”
“A diagnosis of cancer, heart disease, or diabetes is a matter of genetics and good (or bad) luck.”
“I’m just one person. There’s nothing I can do to help create a better future for this planet.”
Here’s the rub about complacence: by definition, we can’t see the thing we’re oblivious to. As the novelist Junot Diaz says, “We all have a blind spot around our privileges shaped exactly like us.” In the world we live in, not being born a cow, pig, or chicken is very much a privilege. Most of us were born into the assumptions I’ve listed above, and it takes a great deal of courage to question them.
One of the most profound benefits of the vegan lifestyle is the rigorous intellectual inquiry it sparks. You start asking the uncomfortable questions so that you can align your behavior with your values. This process of opening your heart and reframing cultural assumptions may very well transpire over a period of years, but once you reach “critical mass,” as it were, your life becomes more joyful than you ever thought it could be.
* * *
In fact, you can be a very honest person and yet not be living a truthful life. And not even realize it. This matters because stripping away all the inaccuracies, misunderstandings, and untruths that surround you is exactly how you can overcome anything at all. Truth is accuracy. Without accuracy, you can’t expect to manifest large, specific changes in your life. It’s not enough to believe something is true.
—Augusten Burroughs, This is How: Surviving What You Think You Can’t
The Deprivation Myth
"Vegan food is bland and boring."Sometimes people will have a lackluster experience at a vegan restaurant and leave thinking that plant-based cuisine can’t be out-of-this-world delicious. Or they go to a coffee shop, order a vegan brownie that turns out to be dry and not that flavorful, and they say "Vegan baked goods are terrible." But let’s be honest: you could say “bland and boring” about a lot of meals with meat and cheese in them, too, couldn’t you? I look back on my childhood and shudder at the sort of things my parents used to feed us. And yeah, I bet being vegan in the 1980s was quite the challenge.I feel really lucky to be alive and cooking for myself in the early 21st century, with so many terrific vegan food products, cookbooks, and eateries to choose from. The only time I have a “bland” or “boring” meal is when a chef at an ordinary restaurant doesn’t put much thought or care into the plant-based menu options. Going vegan gives you a terrific opportunity to exercise your creativity and get more adventurous in the kitchen (and in turn, this newfound willingness to experiment enhances your creativity in every other aspect of your life—more about this later.)The assumption underlying this “bland and boring” argument is that a vegan diet is a diet of deprivation—that to go vegan you have to give up all the most satisfying foods in life.I never deprive myself. As a matter of fact, I sometimes look at a dairy cheese platter at a cocktail party and think, “Do I want that?” And for the past four and a half years, the answer has always been “no, definitely not.” As my friend Zachary says, “It’s just not food to me anymore.” Because he has educated himself as to precisely how a cow suffers and dies, a hamburger can never tempt him again. He would no sooner consume a steak than he would a beach ball or a pencil sharpener.Of course, the most natural question now is: “What do you eat?” Here’s a very partial list of my favorite foods:
Mediterranean tapas with sundried tomatoes, mushrooms with rosemary marinated in umeboshi vinegar, hummus and homemade pesto for spreading on seeded crackers, French bread, or focaccia
Butternut squash “bisque,” roasted with garlic, onion, and sage and blended with almond milk
A breaded seitan cutlet with mashed potatoes and roasted Brussels sprouts (from my favorite restaurant, Veggie Galaxy)
Roasted red pepper cutlets (you can use that recipe to make eggplant-faux-parm as well)
Pasta with avocado “alfredo” (a super-easy sauce made in the blender with avocado, veggie broth, and fresh herbs)
Kale chips baked in the oven with olive oil, salt and pepper, and nutritional yeast (which gives whatever you put it on a rich, cheesy taste)
Cashew chèvre out of Miyoko Schinner's Artisan Vegan Cheese (cheesemaking post coming soon!)
Dark chocolate (my favorite brand is Taza, which makes awesome flavors like cinnamon, gingerbread, rum raisin, guajillo chili, and lots more) and schmilk chocolate, made in Vermont. The toffee crunch is unbelievable.
Sorbet or coconut-based ice cream (which, by the way, doesn’t make me feel queasy afterward the way dairy ice cream used to do)
You’ll notice that many of these foods are analogs—you can often tweak your favorite recipes to create something just as delicious, as I did with a classic potato salad recipe my mom asked me to veganize for Christmas Eve dinner. (My version was even tastier than the original, and no chickens or cows were harmed in the making of it.)A very important fact to keep in mind as you transition to veganism is that our tastebuds take two or three weeks to reprogram. A big healthy salad might taste “too healthy” to you on day one, but by day twenty-one you’ll find yourself craving those greens with that yummy tahini dressing. Look back over the foods you’ve eaten a lot of in the past, and you’ll see how your tastebuds have already evolved. For instance, I’d rather have nothing but water all day than consume a Pop Tart or a handful of Doritos now. Eating a half dozen Brussels sprouts was a total chore when I was a kid, and now I can’t get enough of them—just roasted in the oven with olive oil, salt and pepper.As you can see from the list above, I eat whatever I want, and savor every bite. Going vegan doesn’t mean giving up loving your food—it means growing to love new and better foods.