Italian Friendship Soup

With holidays right around the corner, it's time to start thinking about presents and spreading holiday cheer and joy. My favorite way to warm up my friends during the cool winter months is with a steaming cup of soup!

Friendship soup is delicious and easy, and even makes a great gift, because it relies heavily on dried ingredients. To give it as a gift, just put dried ingredients (beans, pasta, veggie bouillon and spices in a plastic gift bag and tie it tightly. Put in the card the recipe with the note "just add tomatoes, garlic and onion" and your friends will be able to make Italian Friendship Soup anytime!

Here is the recipe--

Ingredients:
One cup white beans
One cup baby shell pasta
One veggie bouillon
One tablespoon Italian seasoning (like basil, oregano, parsley and thyme)
One medium onion, chopped
One can of diced tomatoes
Two cloves garlic, minced
Seven cups water
Veggie cheese shreds for garnish

Boil beans for 45 minutes then allow them to sit in the pot for an hour, or steep the beans in a pot overnight.
While beans are steeping, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is tender.
Rinse and drain.
Add veggie bouillon and Italian seasoning and seven cups of water.
Bring to a boil.
Add sauteed onion and garlic and simmer for 45 minutes.
Add pasta shells and boil for 25 minutes.
Reduce heat to simmer and add tomatoes.

Serve when soup is hot. Garnish with veggie cheese shreds.

Sure to warm the heart and soul!


Happy Holidays!

Stone Soup

The Story of Stone Soup

Once upon a time, in a little town in post-war Eastern Europe, there was a great famine in which there was barely any food and everyone, everywhere was very, very hungry. People hoarded whatever food they could find, because there was not enough to go around. One day a lonely wandering soldier came into a village and began asking questions as if he planned to stay for the night.
"There's not a bite to eat in the whole province," every townsperson told him. "Better keep moving on."

The young man continued walking, and came to the house of an old woman. He knocked on her door and she answered hesitantly. “I have no food to share with you,” she told him, “but you can sleep on the floor by the fire if you would like a nice warm place to spend the night.”

“Thank you for your generosity,” he told her. So the young man entered her home for the evening. His stomach growled of hunger, but only having one piece of bread and a little bit of butter for herself, the old woman offered him no food. Seeing a cabbage in the kitchen, the young man had an idea.

“Do you have a pot?” he asked the old woman. “Because if you do, I can make us soup.”
“I have a cauldron, but no ingredients for soup,” said the woman.

But the young man had a plan. He drug the cauldron from the hearth and out into the meager garden behind her cottage. He filled it half-way full with water and began to set it to boil.
“How are you going to make soup with no ingredients?” asked the old woman.

"Oh, I have everything I need," he said. The young man reached into his pocket and with great ceremony, he drew an ordinary-looking stone dropped it into the water. “I will make us stone soup.”

The young man dropped the stone into the cauldron and watched the water boil. He leaned over the pot and sniffed. “"I do like a tasty stone soup. With this stone, our soup will be fit for a king.”
Hearing the rumor of food, villagers wandered to the old woman’s garden to watch the young man make the soup. As the soldier sniffed the broth and licked his lips in anticipation, hunger began to overcome their skepticism.

"Ahh," the young stranger said to himself rather loudly, "I do like a tasty stone soup. Of course, stone soup with a little bit of cabbage would be fit for a king."

The old woman lingered by the cauldron and looked toward the door of her cottage. After a minute, she went inside and returned with her cabbage. “Here, add this to the soup,” she said.
The young man added the cabbage and stirred the broth. "Ahh," the young stranger said to himself rather loudly, "I do like a tasty stone soup with cabbage. Of course, stone soup with a little bit of potatoes would be fit for a king."

A villager heard the young man and smelled the soup. He lingered by the cauldron and looked toward the door of his cottage. After a minute, he left and returned with some potatoes. “Here, add this to the soup,” he said.

The young man added the potatoes and stirred the broth. "Ahh," the young stranger said to himself rather loudly, "I do like a tasty stone soup with potatoes. Of course, stone soup with a little bit of onions would be fit for a king."

Another villager heard the young man and smelled the soup. He lingered by the cauldron and looked toward the door of his cottage. After a minute, he left and returned with some onions. “Here, add this to the soup,” he said.

The young man added the onions and stirred the broth. "Ahh," the young stranger said to himself rather loudly, "I do like a tasty stone soup with onions. Of course, stone soup with a little bit of carrots would be fit for a king."

Another villager heard the young man and smelled the soup. He lingered by the cauldron and looked toward the door of his cottage. After a minute, he left and returned with some carrots. “Here, add this to the soup,” he said.

The young man added the carrots and stirred the broth. "Ahh," the young stranger said to himself rather loudly, "I do like a tasty stone soup with carrots. Of course, stone soup with a little bit of mushrooms would be fit for a king."

Another villager heard the young man and smelled the soup. She lingered by the cauldron and looked toward the door of her cottage. After a minute, she left and returned with some mushrooms. “Here, add this to the soup,” he said.

The young man added the mushrooms and stirred the broth. "Ahh," the young stranger said to himself rather loudly, "I do like a tasty stone soup with mushrooms. Of course, stone soup with a little bit of beans would be fit for a king."

Another villager heard the young man and smelled the soup. He lingered by the cauldron and looked toward the door of his cottage. After a minute, he left and returned with some beans. “Here, add this to the soup,” he said.

The young man added the beans and stirred the broth. "Ahh," the young stranger said to himself rather loudly, "I do like a tasty stone soup with beans. This stone soup will be fit for a king."
And after the cabbage and the potatoes and the onions and the carrots and the mushrooms and the beans, the stone soup was fit for a king, and the cauldron was overflowing with soup. There was indeed a delicious meal for all.

Each villager hurried home and returned with bowls and cups and spoons and ate until they had their fill.

The starving village was hungry no more.

And the lonely wandering soldier was hungry no more.

In the morning the lonely wandering soldier continued his wanderings, but he left his magical stone with the little old woman… and the village was never starving again.

Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold, pease porridge in the pot, nine days old!

Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold,

Pease porridge in the pot, nine days old;

Some like it hot, some like it cold,

Some like it in the pot, nine days old!

Listen to Peas Porridge Hot

Music and Lyrical Adaptation by Jack Hartmann

As I made my first fall stew this week as a welcome to fall on September 22, I thought about this song. My stew is like pease porridge... the pot keeps going day after day, because I keep adding ingredients. It began as a pumpkin stew, but I couldn't fit all the ingredients in the pot, so as we ate it up, I slowly added celery, then carrots, then more corn and then noodles. Each addition created a new flavor, so it's not like eating Pease Porridge every day for nine days. And unlike Pease Porridge, our stew didn't last so long-- I ran out of ingredients on day four, and ran out of soup on day five. But it was a healthy and delicious meal every time!

So what is Pease porridge and where does it come from?
According to Wikipedia, "Pease Porridge Hot," also known as "Peas Porridge Hot" or "Pease Pudding Hot" is a children's singing game and nursery rhyme. The origins of this rhyme are unkown, but the name derived from Middle English Pease Porridge and Pease Pudding which was called Pease Pottage.

The earliest printing of the rhyme was in John Newbery's Mother Goose's Melody, 1760.

Pease Porridge hot,

Pease Porridge cold,

Pease Porridge in the Pot

Nine Days old,

Spell me that in four Letters?

I will, THAT.

Vegans can have cake and eat it too...

My first vegan cake!
How to make a cake when you have no ingredients and no idea what you are doing

Today I wanted to make cupcakes. Unfortunately I had none of the ingredients necessary for al the recipes online (mainly shortening and apple cider vinegar) so I decided to use what I had, create my own recipe and see what happened. It was a challenging endeavor, trying to get the cake batter to be batter, taste better and use up all my butter, in addition to the other odd ingredients I found in my baking cabinet. But after trial and error, I developed a cake 100% vegan and easy, using ingredients most are bound to have.

To make a vegan cake, you need the following:
2 c. flour
1/2 c. flaxseed
1 tps. of each of the following: baking soda, baking powder, corn starch, salt
1 c. soy milk
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. vegan butter (I recommend smartbalance)
1/2 c. corn syrup
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 c. vegetable oil

Because this recipe is based on what you've got, it is open to variation and interpretation. Apple sauce may be substituted for oil, any other milk may be used, flaxseed may be omitted, granulated sugar could replace brown sugar, and you don't really need baking soda and baking powder and corn starch (its ok to just choose one, but add a little more than 1 tsp.) If you have apple cider vinegar or shortening, toss some in the batter, too. Keep in mind as you change ingredients, you want your cake to be moist, delicious and rise.

When you have found all of your ingredients, combined dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. Combined corn syrup, brown sugar and butter and melt into the microwave. Mix those together and then add to the dry ingredients. This will be your batter. If the batter is too thin, add flour. If it is too thick, add more milk. Taste test at this point to determine satisfactory sweetness.

Pour batter into a baking pan. Should make a 9x9" square or circle cake. I was lacking a baking pan, so I greased my frying pan and cooked the cake in it. Works just as a well and I made a nice round cake.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes, checking periodically. Poke it with a fork to check when the cake is done. If the fork comes out clean, the cake is set.

Allow cake to cool and then frost.

Frosting:
1/2 c. vegan butter
3 c. confectioners sugar
1/2 c. soy milk

Wisk all ingredients until smooth. To thicken the mixture, add more sugar and chill.

To frost, pour frosting on the top of the cake, smearing around to the edges. Chill.

Serve cake chilled, garnished with strawberries or another sweet fruit.

Raise your glass and your pinky to vegan wine

We use vegetable broth in our soups and soy milk in our coffee, but I never knew I had to check the label on the wine bottle before I pour it into my wineglass, too. I thought wine was made by Lucille Ball dancing on grapes in a big barrel on black and white TV, but it seems as though I have overlooked a few steps of the process. Wine is more than fermented grapes. It is actually filtered through animal products when it is clarified and cleared after fermentation.

Although wine usually contains only grapes, yeast, and a small amount of sulphites, which are added and created during fermentation, the processing of wine uses substances that are often not vegan.

Several animal products might be used in the making of wine during the clarifying or 'fining' process. Fining is when the spent yeasts (which turns the sugar to alcohol) and any miniscule bits of leaves or stems are removed, leaving a clear liquid. A fining agent binds to the debris and settles on the bottom of the wine tank or barrel, from where they are removed. The ingredient list will not state the clarifier because it is removed from the final product.

Wine is clarified after fermentation using animal-based and earth-based products. Animal-based products include egg whites, milk, gelatin made from bones, isinglass made from fish bladders, caseinate milk proteins, and dried blood. Bentonite is an earth-based clay earth product.

So what does this mean for us vegans? Organic protein agents are more likely to be used in the clarification of premium wines which cost more than $7 a bottle. Egg whites are commonly used for red wine clarification in more expensive wines, above $15 a bottle, or French wines expected to age. In the United States, large producers use potassium caseinate instead of eggs as fining agents in some red wines. Gelatin can clarify either white or red wine, or beer and less expensive wines may use this method. Isinglass is used to fine selected white wines specifically in Germany. Some American wineries also use isinglass to clarify white wine or chardonnay. Bull's blood is also used in some Mediterranean countries but is not allowed in the U.S. or France. And all Kosher wines are not vegan—they may be more likely to avoid the use of the animal-based clarifying agents, but not all do so.

The good news is the most popular substance used to remove the proteins of domestically produced white wines is bentonite, the silica clay and it is used to fine most inexpensive wines.

Because labels need not declare these animal product used, I recommend asking the wine connoisseur at your nearest wine shop for guidance as you look over isles and make your wine selections for tonight's dinner. Or look through the huge list of vegan wines, link below.

And when all else fails, grab a bottle of monet, as I can assure you its drinkable for all.

Sources of information:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/vegetarian_and_vegan/drinks.shtml
http://www.veganconnection.com/notvegan.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan_wine

HUGE LIST OF VEGAN WINES
http://vegans.frommars.org/wine/

My little sister asked me today why I was vegan...

My little sister asked me today why I was a vegan. Although she has sat through countless meals of my vegan rants and raves, she was unable to parrot back to me why I believe the world should be vegan.

I asked her why she thought I was vegan and she had a grasp on the concept that we could be directly eating the food that the animals we slaughter eat, thereby cutting out the "middle man" and saving resources. But she could not recall the gut reason of why I am a vegan--

By eating meat, you perpetuate world hunger.

This is how I explained it to my 11-year-old little sis:
It takes an acre of land to raise a cow for slaughter, and once it is slaughtered and prepared, a cow can feed 10 people. But if the farmer were to farm the land with agriculture instead of grass and cow feed, crops grown on an acre could feed 100 people. So by raising agriculture instead of animals, we could feed 10x the amount of hungry people. I would gladly give up hamburgers in order to feed 90 starving children. It's like a lie of omission: knowing the truth and not speaking it is still deceitful. Knowing you can feed more people with a vegetarian lifestyle and still eating meat, is just like stopping those other 90 people from eating.

Now my math above may not be perfect, but my motives are pure, and my computations are close enough. My ideology and my heart are in the right place. And I hope each of my vegan rants and raves opens another person's mind.

So this is what I taught my sister to say: Eating veggies feed more people than eating meat. And with so many starving people in the world, why would I not want to do my part toward helping our world live. It's as simple and as complicated as that.

Out on the town

Hungry? As a vegan, sometimes it feels like there is nothing to eat in Boston. I'm fine at home where I can cook meals to order exactly how I like them, but its awkward when you are out and try to convince the Chinese line cook to make some fried rice without the egg.

But have no fear--your stomach grumbling stops here. I have a huge list of vegan-friendly restaurants in Boston that will serve you something edible.

I have not been to all of these restaurants, but the list is a compliment of VegGuide.org. I encourage you to try them all out, and let me know which are the best.

My all-time favorite vegetarian and vegan restaurant is Veggie Planet in Harvard Square. Living in the South End of Boston, it takes a lot to get me across the river and over the bridge to Cambridge, but the food and ambiance at this place is well-worth the trip. It's a little whole-in-the-wall restaurant and music joint that offers pizzas and rice bowls with all sorts of toppings. It was the first place I ever went where I had more than one item to choose from on the menu. Great for vegetarians, vegans and seekers, and the food will even satisfy the most carnivorous, pouting little sisters.

So grab a map and your wallet, choose a restaurant off the list and be ready to be satiated!