The New Tofu

Confession time

2011-06-02T11:29:00.003+01:00

I have a confession to make.. I ate dairy yesterday. I skim-read the ingredients of a dark chocolate bar, and failed to see it contained buttermilk. Of course, my first response was 'holy shit, this is fantastic!' but that was quickly followed by a horrible sinking feeling, and a frantic look at the ingredients list, it took me two reads to spot it! I'm losing my touch.

Whenever this happens, and it's happened maybe all of 3 times in my vegan life (almost 2 years!) it throws me off balance for a few days. I'm wooed by that suppressed yummy dairy memory, and suddenly I remember relics such as French cheese and Lion bars, and well, more cheese. I do miss cheese.

The feeling goes away, and I'll remember why milk is evil and disgusting just as soon as my Google reader brings up some vile news story on animal cruelty in the meat/egg/dairy industry. In the mean time however, it's fucking depressing.

A pre-attempt at blog revival

2011-05-31T14:03:00.005+01:00

It's been a very long while! I have a hard time keeping up blogging-commitments, I'll be the first to admit, but sometimes mundane life just doesn't seem worth while reporting. Over my last exam period of my life (this is, assuming I actually graduate this year) I've had a lot of time to think about blogs and what I can do to revitalise this one.

The difficulty is knowing how much of one's life to share on this blog. As some of you may be aware, my twitter feed is VERY honest, with my main topics coving the intimacies of my life (and I mean that in the sexual function of the word). My feeling is that I would very much like to start a blog for more TMI topics, sexuality, pro-sex, toy reviews, lingerie, etc. Not entirely separate from my veganism, but to be followed by a different sort of reader, if you catch my drift. Exactly how I want to divide myself (Do I create separate twitter accounts? Do I assume an alias?) I am yet to decide.

Until then, I'm pretty sure I want to reserve this place for vegan-specific topics, but would like to turn away from just the food; maybe doing more of product reviews, advice, whilst keeping the whole thing very personal and real.

Upcoming posts:

Non-food products:
LUSH
Superdrug (own brand)
Sparitual
Sliquid

Book reviews:
Vegan Brunch - Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Other posts:
Personal life update
Plea for vegan condom hunt
Vegan camping
My new (vegan) summer job

Recipes:
Weekday Sagg Aloo
Caribbean Spiced Tofu Curry

So, hopefully now I have a list to work on, I'll get down to it. Until then, I have a degree to finish! Until next time, I suggest you go sit in the sunshine and eat some blueberry pancakes, total bliss!

The Omni Dating Game

2010-08-13T16:37:00.004+01:00

Being single definitely has its perks; far less socks to wash and nobody criticizing your albeit disgusting smoking habit to name two (I do only smoke non animal tested tobacco, just to put that out there). But there is the question of finding a little comfort in human company, and that more often then not means throwing yourself into the world of people who want to kiss you after eating something fleshy.. I really should re-word that sentence, but my low grade humor is one of my endearing qualities, possibly.

The fact is, there just aren't that many vegans out there, and unless I'm going to hang out in health food shops or that epic Hare Krishna restaurant I love so much, I'm unlikely to meet them by chance. So there's a certain necessary amount of sucking it up, being a good happy nonjudgmental vegan, and shutting the hell up. It's coming easier now, and I don't press the issue with anyone, just quietly order my tofu and ask to skip the cheese. By simply being I feel like I get my point across. My experience has actually been overwhelmingly good. Sure there's those couple of sly back-handed jokes to smile through, but for the most part people are good about asking some half-decent questions about your lifestyle. I'm trying to make an extra effort to make it seem as natural and simple as possible in the company of omnivores, so that means I'm eating rather too much Japanese and Chinese food right now. Not that I'm complaining at all.

Fact is, however nice people are about the vegan thing, there's still that question of after-dinner intimacy. Do you really fancy swapping saliva with someone who's just chowed down on half a chicken carcass? Well, it's not ideal to say the least. Where as I'm sure that if I was really fond of someone it wouldn't be the deciding factor, you can't avoid that someone who shares your ethical views is going to be far easier to interact with, just like it would be in regards to politics or religion. Still, you have to give people a chance to understand, and respect them for their own choices, even if they may be very far from your own.

So I'm not pulling out of the omni dating world yet. No, instead I'm going to keep offering to cook for the lucky ones, offering around the vegetable dumplings and answering the "so what DO vegans eat anyway!?" question for the millionth bloody time. Who knows, I might actually get someone thinking about it. Or at least attempt to make a dent in the vegan stereotype.

Too bad vegans taste better, isn't it?

Oh man, the militant vegan is at it again..

2010-07-04T09:35:00.006+01:00

I just thought I'd share a comment I'd posted in reply to a sort of debate with another vegan (or flexible vegan, rather), who was arguing for the symbiotic relationship between farm animals and humans, considering their inability to live outside of the domestic habitat. Furthermore we were discussing our relationship with companion animals, since we both have dog companions. Sorry for the summary, but I think it would be unfair to quote her, considering the nature of this blog (as an abolitionist's opinion dump) and that she is a friend. Hope this still all makes sense. Also, I'm being a bad intellectual and not making any references here, so please don't judge me too harshly, again, this was a spur of the moment discussion, not an organized debate.

"I think many vegans struggle with the issue of whether keeping a companion animal is vegan. But you are right about domestic dogs’ human relationships. I’ve seen the figure for the time they have been domesticated quoted between 15,000 to 100,000 years. But I do think that many dogs, particularly those that are breeds that have not been too far altered from their wolf and coyote roots, do surprisingly well without humans; given the right habitat. There's a lot of instinct there. Cats unquestionably are very much true to their wild selves. Both develop close relationships with their ‘owners’, and I would argue too that this is not exploitive, since the majority are not worked, and they do not produce usable products.

As for animals used in food industry, I agree, these species would not exist without human intervention, but there again, they never would have existed in the first place without human intervention. I think, keeping this in mind, you cannot apply the natural laws of symbiosis to the human-animal relationship; i.e. you cannot be both creator and saviour. By being the direct cause (as our species as a whole) of disabling an animal's ability to live as it was 'meant' to (I say this out of faith in nature, not god!) we cannot say that any remotely exploitative relationship with an animal is care. And I personally would count that as the taking of any of its products as exploitation, because, as you must know, compromises on health (as with dairy cows, who are repeatedly impregnated) and welfare (as with chickens; even chickens with the best habitats are subject to psychological problems which require cruel 'cures', such as when they become 'broody') must be made in order to take advantage of an animal’s ability to produce these things."

In other vegan news, I finally bought a copy of Vegan Freak by Bob and Jenna Torres. It's awesome; very direct, makes no apologies, and totally reinforces everything you've ever felt that made you want to go and stay vegan. It's totally worth a read. In fact, there are several vegetarians in my life I would LOVE to buy a copy for. But then I know I would have been well pissed if anyone had done that to me when I was still big on the eggs and dairy.

I've been doing a lot of cooking for the family lately, since I'm still living back with my parents (though I've found a house now!) and have been totally crap at photographing anything.. though I absolutely must share with you guys the stuffed aubergines I made last night, and the tomato soup, and cheeseless pizza of last week. All of this has far better greater good implications however, since my 14 meat meal a week family (i.e. 2 meat meals per day) are now eating only 2/3rds as much, with a big ol' vegan dinner on the table several nights a week. Are you all proud of them? I am :) Mum's even having soy yoghurt for breakfast these days.. we get through 3 or 4 tubs of alpro a week, ack!

I'll come back with less ranting and more recipes soon, promise!

The Vegan On the Road

2010-06-24T00:26:00.004+01:00

My brother is leaving home for the first time in under a week. He's off to Thailand for two months to do his diving teaching qualification, and I have to say, I'm more then a little jealous. I'm getting pretty bummed about staying in one place these days, so I've been taking off to my parent' caravan on the Gower every few days. Attempting to surf; it's not going so well!

But if I can't travel properly, I can at least share my few pieces of advice to more fortunate vegans.

The Must-take list:

Vacuum pack bags
These things saved my life. They are simply huge zip-loc bags that you can put your clothes in and roll up tight to squeeze out the air. I would not have been able to pack without these things. While I was out there, I had two, one for clean things one for dity, because well... washing machines were sometimes few and far between.

Mini sewing kit
When you're wearing the same 3 outfits for close to 2 months straight, you undoubtedly end up getting holes in things. Also good for repairs to your pack, and helping out your fellow backpackers who aren't so prepared.

Lush solid shampoo bar
Get the right one and you can use it to do your laundry by hand too.. see no washing machines above. It sucks to run out of clean knickers! Lush also do a solid cleanser and deodorant.

Penknife
You never know when you need to make a few adulterations to your hostel wall sockets *smirk*

Food bars
You're vegan, you've been traveling 9 hours, have 20kg of stuff on your back, and you have no idea how to say eggs and dairy in the native tongue. Food bars will save your life. Peanut butter Clif bars are my personal fave, but nakd, luna, whatever, it'd gonna stop you from falling over. Your omni backpacking buddies may just not get it, but they'll all be envious when you've got the perfect hangover cure food to hand when they're groaning in their bunks at mid-day after a night of klopfer. Nutritionally, some brands pack a lot of calories and protein, so they should keep you going if you really do fall hard on the 'real' food hunt.

Ear plugs
Don't forget these, whatever you do. Lousy dorm mates, late night symphonies in the building next door, avoiding the cleaner trying to kick you out after check-out time, you'll not reget having them. I found my Quies awesome.

Pack Towel
You need to wash, you need to dry off and you want to avoid at all costs taking a scummy smelly towel to a whole 'nother country. Drys in a half hour and will still get you dry enough to get dressed. Also works as a curtain when staying in hostels without them, or when you end up getting put in a dorm with pervy 40-somethings.

Sleeping bag liner
When I didn't trust the sheets, I was very happy to have a clean cotton barrier between me and them. Watch out you get a 100% cotton on, because some are made of silk.

As for the things I took, which I lugged around without using, I'd certainly leave behind my sleeping bag, portable kettle (left it in a hostel so hopefully someone found it useful) and bag lock-net. All three are heavy, take up valuable bag space and are hardly ever useful.

And though I could happy live on Clif bars, I also carried around with me crackers, vegan chocolate spread, tomato paste (to jazz up beans, pasta, or just eat on the crackers), hot sauce, a mini bottle of olive oil and little packets of salt and pepper. Oh, and a knife, fork, spoon and cup.. spreading chocolate spread with fingers isn't so lovely. All the food stuff I just picked up and restocked on in the supermarkets, after scrutinizing the ingredients of course. More then half the hostels I was at had a mini kitchen, so having a few staple ingredients was a good weight investment.

Blissfully addictive tofu lunch

2010-05-18T01:30:00.003+01:00

Some days you surprise yourself in the kitchen. There you are, darting around all over the place, freaking out about vet appointments and the fact you've wasted all morning on youtube, and suddenly you have a fantastic lunch in your tummy. Oh boy, this is my new tofu staple, seriously.

Hardly-counts-as-a-recipe Tofu

1. Press tofu between kitchen towels, cube and set aside.
2. Mix 1 tbsp of groundnut oil, 2 tbsp of soy sauce and a few shakes of 'chicken' seasoning (I've been using Aromat Peri Peri, it's very mild) and mixed chili seasoning (I'm loving this Nando's one right now, they sell it in Tescos). Whisk to mix.
3. Add the tofu cubes and toss.
4. Either pan fry in a non-stick skillet over medium heat, or bake/grill on an oven tray on high. Turn after 3-5 mins (longer in the oven) multiple times to get it nice and crispy on all sides. Reserve the extra spice mix to toss your noodles in, or to dip bread in while you wait.

I've served it over udon noodles (pictured) and as a replacement for chicken in a good ol' noodle soup (just what I fancied, thank you for the inspiration, Skint Vegan). I imagine it would hold up well in a sandwich too, if you liked, since it's salty and spicy enough not to get lost amongst your other fillings.

Days 19-24 - Berlin

2010-05-13T22:46:00.003+01:00

Berlin is my kind of city. Thrift stores, health-food shops with tofu everything, people burning Nag Champa in the U-Barn, hippies, and an awesome indie scene. It was a bit of a mission to find the hostel, and though I’d set out in the morning, I wasn’t able to put my pack down til gone 6pm. Immediately got chatting to a very loud gay Belgian guy, and a huge troop of Aussies, and slipped out to the bar for a drink with them. Nice lot, but mostly older, so we were home by midnight; admittedly a relief after fish-drinking-Frankfurt!

I had gotten into Berlin with none of my clothes clean, so had to spend my first day hanging around the local area so I could jump in and out of the Laundromat. I successfully washed my clothes, I just also managed to dye them all pink at the same time. I was absolutely livid with myself, and was forced to throw out 2 pairs of jeans (cheep-o ones, thankfully) and three tops. The rest was passable, but still tinged. Out of bitterness I refused to wear that offending red sweater for at least a week!

The rest of the day was spent dashing between thrift stores trying to find new cheep stuff to wear. Achieved this fairly decently in the thrift shops, getting jeans for 7 Euros and a pair of converse (my old ones were worn through from all the walking!) for 29 Euros (they are 65 here new, and £35 in the uk). I even found a health-food shop and got such luxuries as vegan chorizo, sun-dried tomato tofu, soy icecream and yoghurt, muesli and vegan chocolate spread. And that was that for my weight loss for the rest of the trip!!

The next day I went hunting for a huge 4-story second hand shop the aussie girls had told me about. Picked up a 3 Euro t-shirt reading “I NEED HOLIDAYS” and explored the area a little bit.. turned out if I’d chosen to go in the other direction, I actually would have found something, but instead I saw a lot of nothing! Oh well!! Made it back to the hostel, and ventured out for a “big night” with the aussies. Pleasant as it was, we were home by 12, and this was after I’d had an espresso drinking match with one of the guys. There was no way I could sleep then! Luckily there were 3 Spanish guys I had yet to meet going out, so I grabbed my ½ bottle of wine and tagged along.. half-way across Berlin, damn them.

They were nice enough, and we had entertainment on the U-Barn in the form of a drunk guy with a guitar for a few stops. I insisted on running into loo at an indie bar, but was dragged off to some awful overpriced techno/dance place. I let them pay for me to get in (12 Euros, no thanks!) bought one drink and then abandoned them to go back to the indie bar. Far more me.

The bar was full of English-speaking music industry types, who were having a party for some reason or other, and were perfectly happy for me to crash. Had a nice night chatting to a few people, then made my way back to the hostel at 4:30am.. it only took me 2 hours to get back *yawn*

Days 16-18 - Frankfurt

2010-03-23T17:54:00.008Z

I arrived in Frankfurt without a hostel again, so found the cheapest one as close as possible to the station. Just so happens that the area around the station is the red light district! All kebab eats, sex shops and brothels!! They were full for the night, so me and (yet another) Aussie, Nic decided to go around the corner to another hostel I'd spotted. They had space, certainly, but they were.. uhh.. geared towards the local district, offering 50 Euro no-frills double rooms. Nic and I decided to get one anyway, and had a couple of awkward "So.. nice to meet you!"s. But we got to enjoy the luxury of a shower that you don't have to hold the button down on, and sheets that don't scratch you raw, amazing!

Turns out Nic and I got along great, grabbed some dinner and then out for drinks. Wasn't a cheep one, I managed to blow through far too much cash, and got far far far too drunk; ending up curling up for a snooze on the sofas in the club. It was a pretty good night though, since we met up with a bunch of Americans and found an Australian pub, which kept Nic happy (footie withdrawal apparently).

The next day was amazingly hangover free, and I spent a good while popping in and out of the launderette and exploring the local area.. more kebab shops, more sex shops, not much else! Stupidly decided that 8 Euro all-you-can-eat chinese was a good idea, so got to enjoy some lovely mad stomach cramps later on.

Nic and I had both bought the Museum pass, so I went to the Jewish museum and a couple of art exhibitions; some pretty awesome stuff, especially the 60's pop art cum Tarantino-movie (not really, but that's the impression I got), loved it!

That evening we went back to the original hostel, and got drinking at the hostel bar, nattering to German receptionist/bar-staff, Varena. Varena got off work at midnight, and joined us in the drinking for long enough to miss her bus home (I later found out she also had her eye on Nic. He's failed to tell both of us he was in a 5 year relationship!!). We stayed local, and went to the techno place up the road, where people were doing coke lines off the coffee tables! We spent the night telling off Nic for not mentioning his girlfriend, and stealing his cigarettes (yuck, lucky strikes).

We weren't back at the hostel til 5am, and I was about to get into my bed only to find there was someone sleeping in there!! He'd shoved all my stuff off it, and was sleeping in my sheets!! I was very unimpressed; made him show me he had his room key, then sent him up to the top bunk.

My diary seems to skip the next day, but I'm positive I went to the architecture museum, and a few other places using the pass.. instead I have this in there; apparently from some point that night.

This was a 13 hour drinking stint; Nic, Varena and I; all night spent at the hostel bar, necking beers via drinking games (I Never; don't do it!!) and Klopfer, a local drink that to drink you must bash on a table, stick the lid on your nose, put the bottle in your mouth, whack bottles with your mates, then stick your chin up and down it (YouTube tells all!). Fun, involves cracked teeth and comes in lots of disgusting flavors (apple and lemon were pretty good though!). We were still drinking at 9am, when people were coming in for their breakfast.. got a lot of funny looks, especially when it seemed like a good idea to sing The Bad Touch off the balcony. Luckily Nic was being very generous with the cigarettes and beers, so Varena and I stayed in pocket!

I got kicked out of the room by the cleaners at mid-day, and spent the next couple of hours back in the bar, this time groaning into a coffee, waiting for Varena to get up, so I could make my way to her place. When I eventually got there we spent the day nursing our hangovers, bitching about men and watching the OC. Time well spent!

Days ?? - Interlaken, zurich & basel

2010-03-21T12:36:00.005Z

Zurich & Interlaken

It was an epic feat getting out of Italy. Not only because I was totally falling in love with the country, but because TrenItalia apparently doesn't want you to leave, ever. All of the night trains leave after 7.05pm, so people on interrail can't take them. So if you don't travel to the far north, you can't make it out of the country before midnight; or you pay supplement charges; for me it came to 20 Euros, OUCH. And I still had to spend a day traveling; going from Florence to Milan to Zurich (Switzerland).. and then because Zurich costs too much, to Interlaken, a big town up in the Swiss alps.

It was unbelievably cold when I got off the train in Zurich, snowing, and frozen all over. Traveling, hungry and cold does not make for a happy Sophie, gotta say. I had given myself a few hours stop-over in Zurich, thinking I could at least get a bit of exploring in my dud-day. Ended up in the Supermarket, only to find that the Swiss live on a strict diet of meat and cheese, fantastic. I managed hot soup and bread and went to go sit outside the supermarket (in the snow) to eat it. Had a very lovely drunk come up to me and inform me where I should go to find some warm seats in the station. That's the Swiss all over though, crazy nice and bending over backwards to be helpful. Very very different to Italy!!

Had a bit of a panic later in the day and thought the 16 year olds at the station had nicked my money. Nope, turns out that there are 5Fr coins in Swiss money. I spent my entire Switzerland trip with a very heavy wallet. All their paper money looks like monopoly money. It might be the exchange rate, but by my on-the-go mental arithmetic, Switzerland is bloody expensive. 1.50Fr for a bag of crips, WHAT!?

More praise for Switzerland however, they know how to make a system that works. I arrived at the station in Interlaken very very pissed off. Cold hands means you can't roll cigarettes, and I had lost a glove somewhere along the way. But there it was! A beacon of machinery, an information point! With a light up map, print-out-able directions and a touch-screen that actually worked. I was astounded! After weeks of running around Italy desperately asking people "Mi scusi, parla Inglese!? Pa favore, pa favore!!!" I had a machine that didn't just shrug at me and walk off. Bliss!

So I found the hostel, met a couple of roomies and ended up in the common room (complete with wood-burning stove!) for a movie and a snooze in front of the fire, I didn't feel too bad about the 25Fr a night after that!

My roommate, Nick got me convinced that I just couldn't be in Interlaken without going skiing. Well rather, he mentioned he was going skiing and I decided I would totally regret it if I didn't do the same. We didn't get our acts together the next day, so since there was nothing else to do (it really is a skiing town) I went to the swimming pool, and got my first bit of exercise in a month; my legs were not happy! Ended up at the bar with Nick in the evening, and ended up bored out of my mind while everyone in the room watched the football.

Bright and early Nick and I were ready to hit the slopes, a bus, a train up the mountain and then another bus, and we were right there, in the middle of some of the most amazing scenery nature has to offer. On the way up to the slopes we shared a cable car with a nice german guy, who asked us if we minded if he smoked. No, of course not! So he pulls out a joint and calls it a 'sporty cigarette'! 20 mins in a very enclosed space with a guy smoking weed,was enough to take me off my skiing game; unhelped by the fact I've not skied in 3 years. Oh boy, Must mention that weed is legal in Switzerland and you can buy it in coffee shops in bigger cities.

Had an amazing day on the slopes, Nick and I were pretty well matched which was helpful, it's always good to have someone to ski with (and to be your navigator, phew!). Came home aching all over, but very very happy; endorphins and adrenaline, no B class drugs required; though, got to say, skiing is much more expensive!

Didn't hang around at the hostel, finished off my laundry, then it was off to Basel, another of the larger cities in Switzerland. I didn't see it, at all; Train to the city, off to the hostel, and gone in the morning. The hostel was total shambles, everyone smoking joints and cigarettes in the hallway, yelling in Polish and generally making me a little crazy after a day where I could really have used a good night's sleep. So it goes in hostels.

Days 10-11 - Florence

2010-03-11T15:47:00.004Z

I ended up in Florence; not that I'd even meant to go there, but in my rush to leave Rome, I booked the hostel there before realising it wasn't it the city I thought it was! So to Florence I went. Probably the last place I needed to be, since I thought I might hurl if I had to go see another big ol' church. I honestly didn't do all that much after I arrived, cooked in the hostel kitchen, got an early night and caught up with people on the free wifi connection.

I also broke up with Michael. Nothing dramatic, it was just time; we'd already talked about everything before, so there wasn't anything really left to say.

The hostel was scummy, gave me the creeps (no bedbugs, thank goodness!) and was backed onto an opera house, so we had a good deal of wailing coming through the walls until 11 at night. Then to add insult to injury, I had to share a room with two very loud girls who spent the early hours turning the light on and off, ARGGH.

In the morning I got up early too get my stuff together and work out how to leave the country. Not easy it seems. TrenItalia sorts it so that all night trains leave after 7pm so that interrailers can't get them. How nice. Finding this out required 3 hours trawling on the internet, followed by a walk to the train station, then a further hour on the net. I did however find some great shops while wandering the city, and a fantastic market selling tons of crappy, kitchy things!

In the end I got back to the hostel, and decided I'd just have to travel in the day, going from Florence to Milan to Zurich to Interlaken (would have stayed in Zurich, but at 35 Sec a night, I wasn't going to pay that on top of the 20 euro surplus charge on the train. I booked another night in the hostel, then kicked myself for it, realising I could have traveled to Milan that night and called up Purdie again, saving myself a good 25 euros. Things were piling up now and I wasn't really thinking straight.

I changed room and ended up with a nice young Italian chef who gave me some strawberries, and two creepy old men. Mostly I just kept to myself and worked my way through a 2 euro bottle of wine all evening,

Days 8-10 - Rome

2010-03-11T15:45:00.003Z

To Rome! This was one I had very very much been looking forward to, I've always wanted to go to Rome, mainly because one of my favorite movies is Roman Holiday! I watched it on the train there, and was pretty chuffed that I understood a lot of the Italian bits. Not to say I'm any good, but any progress is good.

I was having the usual panic on the way there; I'd called up the hostel to find they only had 2 beds left. As it happens I was lucky and got a place for 15 Euros (ouch!
Though they should have charged me 25!) with an American-Korean girl, Tiffany (yes, the Audrey Hepburn movie reference was not lost on me!). We got to bed early so we could set out to the food market in the morning.

Rome turned out to be the most majestic city yet, and I was completely and utterly captivated by it. Everywhere you look there is some kind of Roman monument, some ruins, a church. We saw so much just by walking around, going elsewhere, so there was no need to do that tedious constant guide-book checklist. I'm a little out of willpower when it comes to that now. The highlight of the day was stumbling across a cat sanctuary in some Roman ruins; it was just so perfectly out of place and the last thing we expected to see when waiting for a bus (that we missed!).

We did end up at the food market; most of which was given over to variations of Peruvian white truffles for tourists (WHY) but the rest was just the most beautiful fresh fruit and vegetables and people doing their daily shop there. The hostel didn't have a kitchen however, so I didn't get anything; and managed to resist the 5 Euro wild strawberries, sold by the punnet; regretting that one!

That night we ended up at the hostel bar; a brilliant ploy to take the money off every backpacker in the 5 hostels on that street; but a useful one none the less. Met another aussie and american, and got competitive with the pints (I won, HA). Tiffany headed off to bed early, since she's not a drinker, so I went on a hunt around the bar for some girl, any girl to come along so I wouldn't be the only one in the hoard of 5 boys heading out on the town. In the end I just got several hugs and a pitty-shot! Oh well!

We ended up at this crazy-expensive club and got in on the guest list thanks to some Norwegian girls, who seemed to appear out of nowhere. A running theme seems to be that it costs 10-15 euros if you're female, and 15-20 if you're male; good for me, bad for feminism!

In the end we went home early, but it took hours of walking and "yeah, oh course I know where I'm going" from the Australian before we got there. In the end I threw his ego to the wind and looked at my map, we'd been going in the wrong direction.

The next morning I was late for check-out, but still got my 5 euros back, booked a new room in the hostel next door, and headed out. I made it around a few monuments and a nice park, but my attention-span for old statues was dwindling, so I hit the shops instead, ending up with much needed jeans and jacket (on sale!).

I hadn't been planning on going out in the evening, knowing I had to be out for 11am the next day, but spotted two Polish guys from the night before and got chatting and drinking again. Turned out to be a mistake. We headed out to a club, Animalia that one of the bar-staff had suggested; nice place, really busy and had fairly decent music. I was left on my own for maybe all of 5 minuets, but it seemed to be just long enough for me to take my eye off the drinks and get mine spiked. Worst experience ever. I can't even describe how it felt; I thought I was dying, I really did. Too numb to move, vomiting, deliriousness, and an even worse come-down all fun effects I had to endure. The guys carried me home between them because I couldn't support my own weight.

Needless to say by morning, when I woke up still not feeling quite right, I was done with Rome, and got onto the first train I could find. What a mistake; I got hit by an 18 euro charge for getting on a Eurostar train, ahh!

Days 6-8 - Perugia

2010-03-07T12:04:00.002Z

Taking Sophie's advice I decided to stop off in Perugia before heading to Rome. I was slightly more prepared this time, and emailed Euge, a guy off couchsurfing.net, for a place to stay. He turned out to be a really nice stoner hippie guy, with a beautiful border collie, Dakra.

The highlight was definitely getting to play with the dog, heehee. I've been missing Kaylee so much, it was nice to get in some dog cuddles and play-time.

Perugia was beautiful; it's this amazing quirky place, built entirely on a mountain, so the city is full of winding stairs, narrow streets and crazy little places. I got so lost there it was unbelievable; even the locals had no idea how to get where I wanted to be! The city is on several different levels; going underground, over bridges and through the air (seriously, they have a mini metro that looks like an out-of-place rollercoaster!) so quite often you can see where you want to be going, but you can't go there because you have to take some labyrinth of escalators to get there! At one point I found myself taking an escalator through a medieval fortress; they really do re-use every structure there.

I spent the most amount of time in the National Art Gallery; Perugia really is the art capitol of Italy. Most of what I saw was Christian art from the 1200s to 1600s, some of it beautiful, and others totally surprising; almost cartoon in some respects.

In the evenings, Euge cooked me dinner, and we drank lots of 2 Euro wine. On the second night we went out to a couple of bars; the first a quirky smoking bar, where there were lots of dread-heads and other misc. crazies; my kind of place! Afterwards, a pub set in some old thick-walled building, where the walls were left so you could see the stone, and they played 60s and 70s music, the best!

Back at Euge's place he taught me how to make woven bracelets, and I made a particularly ugly looking one; my choice of pink, purple and green clearly influenced by my drunkenness! We shared a lot of stories, so nice to have evenings like that.

Days 4-6 - Bologna

2010-03-02T14:28:00.004Z

When I last wrote here I was on my way to Bologna. I arrived pretty late and spend a good 20mins wandering around the train station trying to find someone with enough English to tell me where I needed to go. Thank you very much Lonely Planet for telling me that the youth hostels are a good 30mins away, and 2 buses that change which streets they go from on account of what day and time it is. Argghh.

I got talking to a very reluctant English couple, who palmed me off to an Italian girl, Sophie. It's her I've spend a couple of nights with, and it's been a really great time. We ended up needing the same bus into the city, and I ended up asking if I could crash on her couch; she had a spare bed! Score!! We get along very well, she's lived in London for 2 years, so her English is totally perfect. We stayed up and got through a bottle of wine talking about everything. Really nice.

My first day was pretty good. I wandered around the touristy attractions, and got totally lost along the same street 4 times. At one point I decided it would be a great idea to follow a swarm of people going into this huge gilded building, only to find I was trapped in Basilica di San Petronio listening to some guy saying "Christiani!" "Christiano!" over and over again, for an hour. Note to self; don't follow tourists. It was really quiet all over, being a Sunday, so other then shut shops, there was nothing.

That night I ended up spending at the hostel. It was terrible. Deserted, except for this really creepy Italian guy who decided to grab my hair and sniff it, then ask me out for a drink!!! Needless to say, I didn't, and spent that night in my room (no roommates :( ). There was also no-where to cook anything, so I ended up eating cold jarred peppers and crackers. I'm so glad I brought those energy bars now, I'd starve without them!

I was thinking about going to Perugia the next day, but Sophie offered up the spare bed again, so I stayed another day/night. Mostly I spent the day looking for non-existant buses to and from the hostel, where I'd left my stuff. I even ended up needing to buy a map; 4 Euros! What a rip off!! And the guy on the stand was taking the piss out of my Italian, because the word for map is very similar to the word for tummy, and the word for map also can translate to 'planting a seed' get what I'm getting at. Yes, not very funny magazine-stand-guy. Cheers.

I'm trying really hard with my Italian, learning all the wrong things first, like how to say shit (Merda!), and fuck off (Vaffanculo!); actually I take my last comment back, knowing how to say fuck off in Italy is really useful :P I even got to try it out last night, when I hung out with Sophie's friends. An awesome bunch of people, who speek not an awful lot of English, but were so so sweet to me, trying to make conversation. Though mostly they were just yelling out all the swear words they knew, and 'safe-sex talk' - you know, the most unsexy language your language teacher tells you to apply to the human body. It was freaking hilarious. Knowing how to tell an Italian is joking when he is talking in English proved very complicated; the beer did not help.

So that pretty much brings you guys up to speed. Tonight I'm couch surfing with some guy in Perugia, so I'm sure I'll let you know how things are soon.

Ciao!

Days 1-3, Milan

2010-02-27T23:33:00.007Z

Milan has turned out to be the best starting point possible. Iíve had an amazing time staying with a long lost family friend's daughter, Purdie in her uni digs. Everyone I met was just awesome; none of them native Italians, mostly brits and germans. I'll definitely be staying in touch, and I'm planning the next leg of my trip based on a few good stories of their Italian road-trips.

Day one was daunting and totally exhausting; my 14 kg pack has not been kind to me. Factor in my terrible sense of direction, and a vaguely outdated Lonely Planet, and I was walking in circles for a long time. I didn't do a lot of sight-seeing, i.e. none, but instead opted to sit on the grass outside the station, chatting and smoking with some lovely people. I was totally surprised to meet a French guy who was studying in Newport; and had a fantastic conversation about linking in photography (his course) with conservation efforts; even made myself a contact name for a guy who did a whole series on road-kills; definitely might be something that could help our data collecting. Crazy how you get talking about these things.

I've even been doing ok with food so far; every street has somewhere selling antipasti or a pizzeria with a whole selection of the best cheeseless pizza Iíve ever tasted. Why the hell don't we have this in the UK!? Madness. Of course the Italians arenít all that savvy on the vegan thing, but Iím not at a loss for just ordering fail-safe food. My mini phrase book means I can ask all the right questions anyway.

I managed to get around the Duomo and fashion district on my next day; it's fashion week, so the place was swarming with 6 foot 90lb girls and paparazzi, crazy. So many beautiful things in the shops and the architecture is just.. wow. It's a strange place Milan though, so much of it is scummy, but there are these most beautiful nooks that you just stumble upon. Like the houses that Purdie's friends live in; I would die to live in any of those crazy open-plan converted old places. I find it so funny; they are all run down, but have the newest top of the line stuff in them. One place I went to was just curtained off little rooms, but with a brand new SMEG fridge, dishwasher and freezer! Strange priorities!

I had a couple of brilliant nights out with Purdie's gang, crazy places where they play bad remixes of English-speaking songs, and people smoke indoors. And the Italian men! They may all be shorter then you are, but they aren't afraid to try it on; over and over and over. Personal space = non-existent, and openly staring isn't rude. I randomly met another Newport-er whilst out, who had been to all the same clubs as me, very funny. What's with all the Newport people in Milan!!

Right now I'm on a train to Bologna (typing this at 6pm), and very much hoping the internet was lying and the 2 youth hostels in the whole place aren't fully booked! I'm looking forward to this one; it's a huge university city (oldest uni in Europe, I think) and it sounds like there's plenty to see. After that (maybe leaving day after tomorrow) I'm thinking I'll head down to Rome, and then up the East coast, but I've not really decided.

Ciao ciao for now!!

X x o

Ciao ciao!

2010-02-25T02:07:00.003Z

Well I'm about to leave for the airport now; and feeling totally out of my depth. What on earth made me think this was a good idea?! I'm going to be lonely! I'm going to starve! I'm going to be taken hostage in Budapest!! (In-joke based on a true story; don't ask..)

Leaving the boyfriend and dog behind was absolutly horrible, and right now I'm more for curling up in a ball and refusing to leave rather then leaping headlong into Adventure Of A Lifetime!

So.. next post will probably be coming from Milan, where I'll be landing in a few hours; see you there! x

Family eats = family drama

2010-01-29T12:38:00.004Z

It's just one of those things, I suppose. There are always going to be certain family members who think you are totally mad, and just don't quite get the whole veganism definition, no matter how many times you tell it. For instance the time I was asked if I could have something made of wood! Yes, sometimes the simplest concepts are the hardest ones to grasp; hell, I'm just as guilty, I'm a twenty year old who never learned her 7 times tables, tut tut!

Last night I had the pleasure of joining my extended family for a beautiful Indian food night. Glorious food, lovely chatter, everything was right, until the subject of veganism came up. Of course being the only veg*an at a table of omnis is always intimidating, especially when you come from a family where every subject must be debated with total disregard to political-correctness, your fellow diner's emotions, and the ability to agree-to-disagree.

So my uncle (a man I love and admire very much) began without prompt on some spiel about how certain tribes work a buffalo for it's whole life, 'in return' for food and protection, and then when the time comes and poor old buffalo can't pull that plow as good as he used to, he is slaughtered and every part of his body is used. This, from my uncle's point of view is a contract, and totally ethical. Fair enough I say, but you can't call it a contract, a buffalo can't give it's consent; so whether it is better off or not is besides the point. This did not go down very well.

"But they use EVERYTHING!" he emphasized, as if this made my point invalid. "These serving spoons are part of a buffalo, you know!"

I was completely stunned. In all the times my loving family have taken pains to check if I can have/eat something, they failed to think I might have a problem serving my lovely vegan dishes with part of a dead animal. It wasn't malicious, just thoughtless, and I was upset to find that they made no apologies for their mistake.

In fact, I was told I was ungrateful and had the door slammed in my face as my uncle stormed upstairs and didn't come down for the rest of the evening.

It's times like this when I feel very very alone in the world as an abolitionist vegan (and I say that meaning I don't agree with 'happy meat' etc.). Even my darling Mr Picky Vegan is a welfareist, and maintains he would eat the eggs of his own chickens. In any case, this has shaken me quite a bit; not because of the spoons, but the reaction I received. Surely my personal ethics are something that deserves just a little respect; enough I'd hope to get one tiny little 'sorry'.

Lone female vegan let loose in Europe, Oh my!

2010-01-28T02:31:00.004Z

So my blogging habbits are spotty at best, I know, just like my ability to get my shit together and eat something other then noodles with reduced soy sauce for the 4th time in a week. So I figured, lets diversify! Conveniently, I'm off to Europe for a month, plenty to keep me typing I think!

I'm probably mad. Here I am leaving my boyfriend at home with the puppy, and abandoning everything to shove as much as I can in my sack, and wander around Europe all on my own for a month. Sane 20 year old females don't do that, it's suicide, right?!

Good thing I'm mental enough to need a break to get my head sorted, "find myself" (LOL) and hopefully get a few good stories along the way. Boy am I lucky to have a crazy father who is more then willing to get me by, because suffocated by student loans that I am, this is something I never thought I'd be able to do. I'm terrified and excited all at once. What the hell will I eat for starters!? Here's hoping Sarah Kramer has something to say on the matter.

In any case, It's going to be an adventure, for sure.

Long time, no post!

2009-11-27T21:58:00.004Z

Oops! I'm guessing you're not meant to abandon your blog after only a few days.. uhh, oh well! In the few months that have gone by, my Mr Picky has become Vegan Mr Picky, and we got ourselves a not-yet-vegan puppy, Kaylee. We also moved cities, and I got myself a new hair doo (DREADS!! Woooo)

Just a round-up of tonight's non-dinner.. Pitas and Pâté.

I've been looking for a kick-arse pita bread recipe, and the other half concludes that this one is pretty damn close. I used the recipe that was recently posted on 30 Bucks A Week. Be very careful, you may find the whole batch disappearing in a matter of hours, they are THAT good. Certainly better then that dry sticks-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth bull you can get at the supermarket.

Of course I needed some sort of spreadable to slather these babies in, bring out the hummus! Except.. no chickpeas *headsmack* In my effort to save money I've been trying to avoid buying cans of beans, and I'm truly terribly at getting my beans soaked the night before (despite me being up at 3am last night making spinach soup, I couldn't sleep!). So anyway, I figured I might as well get a start on tracking down an olive pâté recipe for my Christmas hampers.

This one wasn't terrible.. but I think that's mostly down to the pitas. It was basically a blend of green olives, toasted walnuts, good olive oil and sundried tomatoes, and really should have had far more oomf then it did. Needless to say, don't bother. Infact, I'm not going to even post the recipe, you're better off without wasting good ingredients on this one.

The search will go on!

Pretty pretty hummusy goodness!!

2009-06-22T17:39:00.002+01:00

Hello all! I am still alive, but have been wrapped up in puppy-getting madness (thus far, unsuccessfully) the last fortnight. Anyway, here is the reason I make sure I'm never without fresh lemons and chickpeas, hummus is my addiction. Be warned, it'll be yours too.

David Lebovitz's Hummus with my alterations

3 large cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon coarse salt
3/4 cup (180g) tahini
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup (80ml) freshly-squeezed lemon juice
2 cups (350g) drained canned chickpeas, (reserve the liquid)
1/8 teaspoon chile powder
6 tablespoons (or more) of chickpea liquid

In a blender, whiz together the garlic, salt, tahini, olive oil, and lemon juice until the garlic is finely-chopped.

Add the chickpeas, chile powder, and 6 tablespoons of chickpea liquid, and pulse until smooth. Stop the machine a couple of times during blending to scrape down the sides to make sure everything gets well-incorporated.

Taste, and add more lemon juice or salt if desired, and more of the chickpea liquid until it reaches a thick, but spreadable consistency.

Nom with carrot and cucumber sticks, or spread on the inside of a pitta bread, pocketing in it some salad and falalfal.

Scrambled Tofu & French Toast

2009-06-06T14:55:00.005+01:00

I love breakfast, I love it when I have the time, and if I eat breakfast, it probably means I'm in a good mood and it's gonna be an awesome day. Therefore, on days I eat two breakfasts, well.. the awesome just doesn't end!

Yes, this is another breakfast recipe. And yes, it's also from today. Since I was up at 3:30am unable to sleep, and had my breakfast 1.0 at 5:30am, I decided I ought to deserve another a few hours later, and I'm bloody glad I did. The tofu has been staring me down since yesterday's late night OMG-WE'VE-GOT-NO-FOOOOD trip to Tescos, and there was just one thing I was craving, scrambled eggs.

And just so you know, anyone who is yet to discover the wonder that is scrambled tofu, it tastes better. Yes, better then dead chicken ova, FUCK YEAH! Ahhaha!

Tofu is another of those things it took me years to get my head around, but I remember that at one time I found it bland, unappetizing and completely inedible. Oh how times have changed!

I guess a lot of it is to do with my realization that everything tastes better fried and dripping in soy sauce. Oh god, that sounds off-putting, oops. Believe me, if you think you hate tofu (and in which case, why are you on a blog called The New Tofu?!) just try this recipe, it'll blow your mind!

Scrambled Tofu & French(ish) Toast
(serves 1)

For the scramble:
125 g Extra firm tofu
1/2 medium onion, diced finely
1/2 teaspoon Olive oil
Soy sauce, to taste
Pepper, to taste

Put a non-stick pan to warm to a medium-high heat on the hob. Slice the tofu into 1.5 cm slices and arrange them on 4 or 5 layers of kitchen towel. Sandwich them with another few layers, and proceed to press the water out of them.

Add the olive oil to the hot pan, followed by the tofu. Give the tofu a quick mash with a fork (watch you don't scratch the Teflon!) to make course lumps. You don't want to go overboard and mash it too small or it'll all cook to quickly and dry out.

Turn the heat down to low-medium. Fry the tofu for a couple of minuets, moving it around with a spatula. When there doesn't appear to be any more moisture coming out of the tofu, add the onions.

When the onions are just changing colour, but aren't yet translucent or browning, add the seasonings. A dash of soy sauce and a couple of twists of freshly ground pepper is all it needs. As soon as the soy sauce has pretty much evaporated, prepare the toast.

For the french toast:
1 slice Wholemeal bread (lightly toasted if fresh)
1/4 cup Unsweetened soy milk
1/2 tablespoon Pure dairy-free spread

Put the soy milk in a shallow dish and dunk your wholemeal bread in, turning it over to get both sides wet. It only needs to be in there briefly, I feel, but then I'm not a fan of soggy toast, use your head and do it how you want it.

Move the tofu-onion mix to one side, and then chuck in the spread into the space you made. When it has fully melted, put your soggy bread into the pan.

Fry on both sides until golden brown, being sure to keep moving around your tofu so it doesn't burn. The whole lot is ready when the toast is firm to touch and crunchy, the onions have caramelized and the tofu is browned and crispy in places.

Welcome with a cherry strawberry on top!

2009-06-06T10:12:00.000+01:00

Hello all! I'm newly turned vegan, long-time vegetarian, Sophie. Welcome to my blog! The plan is to post recipes, photos and crafts to motivate me to stick at the vegan lifestyle; though to be honest, after reading Skinny Bitch I don't see myself ever turning back!

Just some quick snapshots of today's breakfast to get your mouths watering, Jumbo oats with soy milk, strawberries, syrup and almonds, yum yum!!

I'm a huge fan of oatmeal. Throughout my childhood I despised the thought of it, having spend far too many mornings next door where they had a hideous taste for mixing cereal with Ready Brek and microwaving it to a mushy smelly gelatinous consistency. Needless to say I missed out on years of happy oat-fueled mornings, and I'm making up for it.

The syrup was a quick-I'm-out-of-bananas-what-do-I-do job, but it did the trick might I suggest, better then I'd hoped. Sweetened with agave, it is even free of the brown sugar I would have otherwise guiltily smothered it in. I'm loving Agave Nectar at the moment, magical stuff I swear. So far it's gone into two batches of oatmeal cookies, which I absolutely must share with you ASAP because OMFG, NOM!!

Quick Strawberry Syrup
(Enough for one bowl of oatmeal)

3 Strawberries, sliced
1 tsp Agave nectar
1/2 tsp cold water

Put all ingredients in a microwavable container. Blast in the microwave on high for 1 min, then remove and mash. Replace for a further minuet then mash again. Place the mix in the microwave until desired consistency is reached, checking on it every 30 seconds.