Ask A Vegan Pt. 9

I have never felt so lucky in my life. I have a wonderful little home, a beautiful fast and awesome bike, I have a chihuahua who eats poop and licks my face (yuck, but cute lil' girl nonetheless) I have creative freedom to be who I want, act however I want and say most anything that comes to my head without any judgement, and I have all of this because of Timmy. I mention him in my blog...A LOT, but with good reason. He is the peanut butter to my jelly, the Ron to my Hermoine (yeah, I went THERE) and he is the coconut cream in my coffee. I love this boy/man like crazy. One thing I think about a lot is that I am o fortunate to have a man who is Vegan, I have dated other dudes who were always trying to get me to eat a steak, would make fun of my food choices and would get pissed off because I wouldn't want to eat at certain restaurants because they served bunny or foie gras, but not my Timmy. He makes me dinner, he encourages my choices and he backs up my beliefs. It is a relief to share in this with him because when you think about it, eating is something we do every four hours or so. Imagine getting ridiculed by someone you liked every four hours, not so fun huh? I feel good with him, he is funny, likes good music (except for hi weird British 80's pop phase he is currently in) he loves my cats even though he is allergic, he picks me up from work when it is too hot to bike and he even goes to concerts with me even though he is the oldest one there. (: So enough mushy mush stuff, here is the real Timmy...

Name: Timmy
Age: 39
Location: Tempe,AZ
Website: none



How long have you been Vegan?
This time, for about 2 years ( I was vegan from 1992-2000, then I got lazy and started eating cheese again). I have been vegetarian for 20 years, 2010 is a cool year, because it means, I have now been vegetarian/and or vegan for more of my life than not.

What made you decide to go Vegan?
I originally became interested in vegetarianism because a lot of hardcore bands I was into were veggie/vegan and would put pro-veggie literature in their albums. At the time I was mostly interested for health reasons, animal rights and the environment were minor concerns. I had never heard of factory farming (hey this was 1991 after all). A (vegan)friend loaned me “Diet for a New America”, BY John Robbins. After reading it, I really felt like there was no choice, but to go vegan (I found the chapter “America the poisoned” to be especially disturbing).

How do you feel health wise with this diet choice?
I feel great. More energy, less allergies.


busted wing

Are you open about your Veganism?
Sure, but as I get older I am less inclined to argue with anyone about it. I generally have a good memory for facts and figures, and if someone is genuinely interested I have no problem sharing this information.

If so, are you involved in any activism i.e. protests, leafleting etc…
I think some of these types of activism end up as either Preaching to the choir, or annoying those not interested. I don’t like people trying to push their beliefs on me and I certainly don’t want to do that to other people. I think living by a positive example does much more to interest people. Veganism is great because it encompasses a compassionate lifestyle, it is also earth friendly and healthy, and people may be attracted to it for any of those reasons.

What does your family, friends, co-workers think about your diet?
I have always been the weird one in the family, so they are used to it, and I am lucky to a few vegan co-workers to share food with. (Notice he didn't mention his super awesome girlfriend...sigh)


Timmy and friends

What advice would you give those interested in becoming Vegan?
Take it slow, get some vegan cookbooks, connect with other vegans and don’t beat yourself up if something nonvegan slips by you.

Would you eat at Mc Donald’s if they carried a Vegan burger?
Short answer is NO. Long answer is more complicated. I'm not really sure which I dislike more; the amount of dead animal they serve, or the business of making cheap chemically processed foods devoid of any nutritional value. I like cooking, and I guess I am lucky that I don't really have any reason to seek out or eat fast food, not everyone is lucky though. I think a lot of younger Vegans, people newer to Veganism or people living in small town with n other Vegan options would be interested in Vegan burger from McDonald's.(Do a Google search, there are a lot of people looking for Vegan fast food options). So while I have no personal interest in the Mc Vegan, I'm not completely opposed to it either.


Ignore the bad word

What is your least favorite question that you are asked about your diet?
“Where do you get your protein?”

What is your favorite dish?
I love pizza, and anything I can put barbecue sauce on.


hummus pizza

What do you typically eat at Thanksgiving?
Usually Tofurkey. Last year we had field roast from Whole Foods.

If I could make you any flavor cupcake in the world what would it be?
MMM, chocolate filled chocolate covered chocolate.


kissy kissy

Please share your favorite Vegan recipe.
I don’t have a recipe cause Jon is a lazy bastard and he already used my Barbecue Tofu recipe on here a few weeks ago.

Johnny Cupcakes

Recently Johnny Cupcakes was in Downtown Phoenix selling his limited edition wares at Red Hot Robot as part of his "Back to Basics Suitcase Tour 2010." Seeing as how I, Rikki Cupcake, am obsessed with baking cupcakes, eating cupcakes, drawing cupcakes, and as of late having them tattooed on my body, I thought it only fitting that I meet the man behind the brand. Timmy, my pal Ryan and I drove to Phoenix all full of butterflies to hear his "punk to entrepreneur" lecture and get our hands on some of his limited edition tees. We got there promptly at eight to realize we were to be the last in line. The line already snaked around the parking lot and as we overheard later, people had been waiting there since 10 the night before! Crazy! As we stood in line discussing our day and our weekend plans, the crowd in front of us started cheering. The crew from Johnny cupcakes was setting up and started to film the crowd. Everyone from the beginning of the line began doing the wave and just like the flu it spread from one person to the next until the entire crowd had thrown their hands into the air in participation. I was giddy, like a little kid. Half of an hour rolled by and the line started to move, they were letting people in to buy shirts, but what I didn't realize was that this was only a meet and greet, no lecture. We were essentially waiting in line to buy a shirt, then wait in another line to have our photos taken, grab and autograph and shoot the breeze with JC himself. I wanted badly to meet him, shake his hand, tell him he is an inspiration to all small business owners out there, but the waiting, oh the waiting. I cannot lie, it got to me. It stared out slowly with the shifting from one foot to the next, the lapse in conversation, the blank staring at people I do not know, and then...the yawns. I COULDN'T TAKE IT! When I finally got inside, I purchased my shirt, glanced over to the line waiting for their moment of personal conversing and I sighed and walked on to the car. It was almost midnight and I wanted to go home. I love my shirt (though a bit pricey) I still love Johnny and I adore Red Hot Robot but all in all I was hoping for something different. I wanted to leave with a smile on my face instead of wiping sleep from my eyes. I wanted to be filled with adrenaline and be able to share my excitement with everyone, but instead all I got was a t-shirt. Sigh...




the beginning


2 1/2 hours in


the Johnny box


me




Wu Shirt

Springtime giddiness

Timmy and I have been overjoyed that our garden is showing the first signs of life. When we first planted our seedlings we were proud little parents going outside watering, talking, sharing our future plans. We had named the tomato plant Sarah Plain and Tall, told the basil how dashing he was and even promised the squash a new original recipe with it a the main star. Our fingers were crossed and we dove right in to this whole urban gardening thing, and to our dismay we were born with the blackest of thumbs. Things sprouted, oh yes, but they died as soon as they were born. I became depressed, our outlook was bleak. I had been driven to begging people for gardening tips, asking them to come over and fix our cemetery plots meant to be gardens of life, but nothing seemed to work.

Then like magic, like a green goddess spread her mystical compost on us, things started to bloom. We have not yet produced a tomato, nor a squash but things are looking up. Life is beginning here in this Tempe house.

All organic, all the time baby!

Birthday Timmy

As sneaky as Tim was tyring to be with not letting on that he had a birthday coming up, he wasn't aware of the sleuthiness (I made that word up) of his friends and super awesome fiance (me, silly). I had been planning for Timmy's birthday surprise since December and had commissioned my friend, Mike Maas, a super talented artist to create a painting of our dog Ellie for Tim's special day. I thought of the painting when Tim and I had been watching Tim Burton's "Ed Wood" when the scene with Ed (Johnny Depp) and Bella Lugosi (Martin Landau) were in Bella's house and his chihuahuas start howling and Mr. Lugosi says, "Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make." a quote from the 1931 Dracula. This scene gave Tim the giggles. This is all it took for my brain to come up with the perfect birthday gift.


"Ellie Lugosi"

He went berserk! He shouted out a few swear words and have me one monstrous hug. In other words, he loved it.

I was not the only one who had a creative and super rad present for Tim. His dear friends Lucy and Kyle in Portland shipped him vegan donuts from Voodoo Donuts and we both did a little donut dance of joy and ate them like ravenous vegans eat donuts. They were gone in two days!



ugh I am drooling just looking at these photos

Then as a b-day celebration we went out to dinner at Thai Elephant in Tempe with Celine, Dani, Bill, Marcus and Tim Moustache. Celine and Dani gave Tim a fantastic bottle of wine and Bill gave him "squat". We all came back to our house and enjoyed the chocolate, chocolate and chocolate cake I baked for the occasion.


"Dine, dine my darling"

"Turning 30 was awesome!" said Tim. Ha! Thirty, yeah right! (:

Bisbee

Arizona is such a crazy place. We live in the city surrounded by mountains on all sides. When in the middle of the city all you see are the typical city scenes fast cars, freeways, convenience stores, the occasional cute kid on a bike and smog, lots of smog. But, if you try hard (and really not that hard) you can find the most wonderful and beautiful spots in this state. Timmy and I went south last weekend to Bisbee Arizona. Bisbee is an old mining town south of Tucson and it is full of charm, friendly people and a blossoming art scene.



We left Tempe after I got off from work and arrived in Bisbee as the sun was setting. The weather was a bit cooler, the air fresher and the atmosphere was calm. We checked in at the Shady Dell RV park which has been featured on the Travel Channel and is one of the hottest destination points in Arizona.



The Shady Dell has classic 50's and 60's Air Stream trailers that have been refurbished and are fully functional.



Timmy was like a kid in a candy store! He opened all of the cupboards, rummaged through the Frank Sinatra records and even poked his head in the old 1950's oven. "This place is great!" he proclaimed.



We cozied up on the couch for a bit, then headed out downtown.


even comes with an apron, this place has everything!


bathroom tile

Downtown Bisbee is a small area located a skip away from the big copper mine that is no longer in use, though if interested the mine does offers tours. We went into a few different antique stores, passed by a row of protesters (Woman in Black Protesting the War) stopped in for a great cup of coffee then went to Cafe Roka for dinner. I had made reservations and notified the staff that we were yikes...vegans! Not one person flinched at the "v" word and to our surprise the chef made us a wonderful 4 course vegan meal, it would have been 5 but vegan desserts are a hard one to master.



Our main course was tempeh on a risotto rice patty with green beans, peppers, onions and three different sauces to drizzle on top. The meal was fantastic!
Back in our trailer we had some dark chocolate and Italian red wine and enjoyed the classic radio tuned in to an oldies station that featured adverts from the past and a great collection of music from the 40's, 50's and early 60's.
The next day was freezing and wet. We ate breakfast at Dot's Diner which had scrambled tofu and bought some great items at the Bisbee Co-Op, then headed to Tucson. Timmy and I took his mom out to lunch at the vegan restaurant Lovin' Spoonfuls then drove home in the pouring rain listening to our Bisbee compilation CD. We even saw a rainbow on our way home. Best day ever!

Last Week in Photos

Went for a wonderful bike ride with Bonnie.

Bonnie!

We ate at In Season Deli.

I made Indian food,

baked cupcakes for a taste test for farmers market,

Timmy made lasagna,

I made Chai Scones.

Timmy, Tim, Bonnie and I ate dinner at Fresh Mint.

Dessert of Banana Fritters and Mango Tapioca.

Yum, Kabobs!

Boys get the bill and girls get weird alien toys.

Tim played with his food!

That was pretty much it besides working, baking a blueberry coffee cake, meeting Timmy's family from Michigan, getting my hair done pretty by Shaya, hanging out with Dan and Melissa, making a yummy salad from Thrive and finally watching the new Terminator movie. My week was awesome, how was yours?