Ribfest

I live quite close to Thompson Park in Scarborough.  It's a beautiful park, and I love to go for walks there of a pleasant evening or morning.

This weekend, the park is off-limits to anyone with a healthy sense of common-decency: it's time for Ribfest.   Booth after booth of pork and beef ribs and pulled pork sandwiches.

It's utterly revolting.

And the worst thing is, no one who goes to ribfest understands exactly how appalling it is.

Gluten-free Oatmeal

I found some gluten-free oatmeal (Bob's Red Mill) at the supercentre in my Dad's neighbourhood today, so now I'm good to go for making cookies for my MIL.

I won't be able to make them tomorrow though, we must attend a funeral.  I will make them on Saturday.

I'm On A Quest

My dear Mother-In-Law is getting older.  She is a lactose-intolerant, gluten-sensitive diabetic.   Despite our best efforts, she does not always eat foods that are best for her.

When my husband picked me up at the airport, he told me that he had visited her a few days earlier and had found cookies in the house that were not gluten-free, and which contained milk, and their diabetes suitability was questionable.  My FIL claims that it is hard to find the right cookies.  My DH told them they didn't need cookies if they were not appropriate for his DM's dietary needs.   There was unhappiness all around.

I have decided that I will try to make some vegan, gluten-free, diabetic appropriate cookies for her.

Today I went to my supercentre and I purchased some almond flour, some gluten free all-purpose flour and some xanthan gum - all Bob's Red Mill Brand.  The store was out of Bob's gluten-free oatmeal so I will have to go to a health food store tomorrow.  I have a few cookbooks I can use for inspiration, but the final results will be my own invention.   I have to do something about the sugar or syrup that almost all of the recipes call for - these cookies have to be sweetened more or less by their ingrediants.  It helps to remember that cookies don't have to be super sweet to be really good.

I'll keep you posted about my efforts!   I'm starting tomorrow!

I'm home now

I back home from my fabulous trip, and I'm having a bit of trouble with jet lag.

Hopefully it will clear up soon.

London, England: Vegan Haven!

There are so many vegan, vegetarian, and vegan-friendly places in London, that it make no sense to go to a regular restaurant to see if maybe there might be something to eat on the menu.

On the day we arrived, we went for a vegan high tea at La Suite West Hotel, just off Queensway, near the Bayswater subway station.  It was fantastic!  So fantastic that I ate too much, and I am trying to be strict on my diet while I'm away.

Yesterday we went to Norman's Coach and Horses, a vegan/vegetarian pub near Soho.  We both had the tofish and chips, and were very impressed.

Today we went back to the Coach and Horses to meet up with friends from Rwanda. I had the veggie burger and I have to say, with all honesty, that it was the best veggie burger I have ever had.

Vegan in Rwanda

It was not hard to be vegan in Rwanda.  Not at all.  What was difficult was finding a large variety of vegan foods.   Because of the leisurely pace of Rwandan restaurant service, we almost always ate at buffets.   At every buffet there was always rice, potatoes (several kinds - roasted, boiled), sweet potatoes, and always boiled greens such as spinach or cassava leaves (very tasty), as well as a bean stew of some kind - beans with green beans, or beans with sweet potatoes, or beans with beans.   We were never worried about being short of protein, just short of variety.

We were glad that we brought a jar of peanut butter with us, because breakfast most days was toast and fruit.   There were eggs on offer but of course, we don't eat eggs.

Animals being taken to slaughter are treated poorly in North America.  From what we have seen, they are treated worse in Rwanda.   Four years ago, I saw cows stacked (yes, stacked) in a truck as we drove along a highway.   Last week we passed a truck with pigs tied to the top of it.

We could not have been the only vegetarians in Rwanda, yet Rwandan waiters and restaurant staff looked askance at us if we said we didn't want cheese with our brekkie or milk in our tea.