asparagus season

I created my first vegan Sauce Hollandaise today. Without a recipe, just made up from what I would think would work to substitute the animal ingredients. And it did! It actually came out so well that I need to write down the ingredients so as to preserve it for the afterworld. Even our omnivore dinner guest liked it, and she said it's even better than conventional Hollandaise.

Sauce Vegandaise (makes ca. 4 servings)

White asparagus with mock chicken and red rice

1/4 cup silken tofu
1/2 cup soy cooking cream
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp canola oil (the buttery variety, if you can get hold of it)
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp kala namak (black salt)
a pinch of turmeric

Whisk all ingredients together.
Put them into a microwaveable dish and heat them up in the microwave for a minute.

Serve with fresh asparagus and ground pepper.*

A note about the ingredients: the tofu and the soy cream are the basis and build the creamy sauce. The nutritional yeast adds some substance as well as a slightly cheesy note. The canola oil delivers the buttery taste, the kala namak lends it an egg-like flavor, and the turmeric makes for the right coloring (slightly yellow). The lemon juice is actually the only thing you would find in a conventional Hollandaise, which consists almost entirely of animal products (eggs and butter).

While the latter will amount to around 500 calories per serving, the vegan variant has less than 100 - and it's much easier to prepare too, since you don't need a bain-marie for it - just a mixer or even hand whisk will do.

Maybe I really should open that vegan restaurant?

* Even though conventional recipes call for white pepper with asparagus, I prefer black - for the contrast, but also because I like it spicier.

I created my first vegan Sauce Hollandaise today. Without a recipe, just made up from what I would think would work to substitute the animal ingredients. And it did! It actually came out so well that I need to write down the ingredients so as to preserve it for the afterworld. Even our omnivore dinner guest liked it, and she said it's even better than conventional Hollandaise.

Sauce Vegandaise (makes ca. 4 servings)

White asparagus with mock chicken and red rice

1/4 cup silken tofu
1/2 cup soy cooking cream
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp canola oil (the buttery variety, if you can get hold of it)
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp kala namak (black salt)
a pinch of turmeric

Whisk all ingredients together.
Put them into a microwaveable dish and heat them up in the microwave for a minute.

Serve with fresh asparagus and ground pepper.*

A note about the ingredients: the tofu and the soy cream are the basis and build the creamy sauce. The nutritional yeast adds some substance as well as a slightly cheesy note. The canola oil delivers the buttery taste, the kala namak lends it an egg-like flavor, and the turmeric makes for the right coloring (slightly yellow). The lemon juice is actually the only thing you would find in a conventional Hollandaise, which consists almost entirely of animal products (eggs and butter).

While the latter will amount to around 500 calories per serving, the vegan variant has less than 100 - and it's much easier to prepare too, since you don't need a bain-marie for it - just a mixer or even hand whisk will do.

Maybe I really should open that vegan restaurant?

* Even though conventional recipes call for white pepper with asparagus, I prefer black - for the contrast, but also because I like it spicier.

asparagus season

angel oak

Spirit is one of our favorite restaurants. It's actually not even a 'real' restaurant, with a menu and waiters and service, but instead, a buffet place. Yet there are a few really nice things about it. First, around 80% of their dishes are vegan (the rest is vegetarian), and they have a great, tasty and healthy selection of cold and warm organic dishes as well as really yummy pastry and desserts, fresh juices, organic beer and wine, and delicious teas. Next, you pay by weight, no matter if it's rice or asparagus which you have on your plate (which makes me eat less carbs and more greens, and not go for second servings, an ever-present danger when I'm faced with a buffet). Also, it's just a 5-minute bike ride from home, and it's open from 8AM to 10PM (closed on Sundays). All this makes Spirit one of the few vegan havens in Rotterdam. And finally, it's just a nice place to hang out - with simple, but tasteful furniture, free wifi, a large window to look out on the street, a summer terrace on the square, and a beautiful painting of a gorgeous tree. It's a huge painting spanning two large canvasses side-by-side, maybe 3x2 meters in total.

The tree at Spirit (crappy iPhone shot that had to be straightened because it hangs way up)

I've often wondered about the bright orange speckles on the branches left of the stem. What are they? They might be flowers - but why would the tree only bloom on one side, not on the other? So, are they birds? Maybe some exotic parrots. I liked that idea. The longer I looked at the painting, the more interesting, but also the more mysterious it became.
Until the other day, when someone shared a photo on Facebook. I squealed when I saw it: It was the spitting image of this painting! Joey did a Google image search and found the original on Flickr - a photo, taken in 2007, of a tree called Angel Oak, which, according to the photographer, is estimated to be 1,400 years old [edit: The City of Charleston estimates the oak to be 300-400 years old]. But not only is it the same tree, it's also the very same scene: the same angle, the same light, the same autumn leaves on the ground in front of the tree, the same moss on the trunk and the branches - and even the same bright orange speckles on the left side of the tree. Which led us to believe that the painter must have used this very photo as the inspiration for their painting. Which led Joey to ask the staff at Spirit about the story behind the painting.

And indeed, our assumptions were confirmed: The painting was created after the photograph. The name of the artist who conceived it is Robert Rost. He created it as a painting-by-numbers canvas which the staff team at Spirit colored together during a team building workshop.
As the photo shows, the speckles aren't birds. They seem to be turning leaves on a tree left in front of the Angel Oak - maybe an ash tree, or some other tree with slender, oblong leaves. I did like the thought of the birds though - but I also like to know that this gorgeous tree actually exists somewhere in the real world - in Charleston, South Carolina, to be precise. What's more crazy: I visited Charleston in 1997, without even knowing that this tree was there, much less that someone would take a photo of it 10 years later which would be painted by the staff of a restaurant in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where I would eat at least once a week another 6 years later.
Back in 1997, I was still living in Karlsruhe, working on my PhD thesis which I would finish a year later and then move to Frankfurt, where I would spent the following 10 years working my butt off in corporate environments, before moving to the Netherlands.
Would anyone with a crystal ball back then have predicted that now, in 2013, I would

• be living in Rotterdam, the Netherlands;
• manage web projects and something called social media in a university setting;
• be married to an American woman;
• not have eaten meat in 11 years, and no fish, dairy, or eggs in 1 1/2 years;
• would have a little device in my pocket which enables me to communicate, look at pictures of cute cats, take photos and videos, edit, and share them with other people who also have such a little device, and play silly computer games with my friends,

I would probably have thought they were lunatics. I'm not sure I even want to know where, what, or who I will be 16 years from now. Let's just say life is full of surprises. And most of them are good ones.

And now I want to go back to Charleston to give that tree a big, fat hug.

Spirit is one of our favorite restaurants. It's actually not even a 'real' restaurant, with a menu and waiters and service, but instead, a buffet place. Yet there are a few really nice things about it. First, around 80% of their dishes are vegan (the rest is vegetarian), and they have a great, tasty and healthy selection of cold and warm organic dishes as well as really yummy pastry and desserts, fresh juices, organic beer and wine, and delicious teas. Next, you pay by weight, no matter if it's rice or asparagus which you have on your plate (which makes me eat less carbs and more greens, and not go for second servings, an ever-present danger when I'm faced with a buffet). Also, it's just a 5-minute bike ride from home, and it's open from 8AM to 10PM (closed on Sundays). All this makes Spirit one of the few vegan havens in Rotterdam. And finally, it's just a nice place to hang out - with simple, but tasteful furniture, free wifi, a large window to look out on the street, a summer terrace on the square, and a beautiful painting of a gorgeous tree. It's a huge painting spanning two large canvasses side-by-side, maybe 3x2 meters in total.

The tree at Spirit (crappy iPhone shot that had to be straightened because it hangs way up)

I've often wondered about the bright orange speckles on the branches left of the stem. What are they? They might be flowers - but why would the tree only bloom on one side, not on the other? So, are they birds? Maybe some exotic parrots. I liked that idea. The longer I looked at the painting, the more interesting, but also the more mysterious it became.
Until the other day, when someone shared a photo on Facebook. I squealed when I saw it: It was the spitting image of this painting! Joey did a Google image search and found the original on Flickr - a photo, taken in 2007, of a tree called Angel Oak, which, according to the photographer, is estimated to be 1,400 years old [edit: The City of Charleston estimates the oak to be 300-400 years old]. But not only is it the same tree, it's also the very same scene: the same angle, the same light, the same autumn leaves on the ground in front of the tree, the same moss on the trunk and the branches - and even the same bright orange speckles on the left side of the tree. Which led us to believe that the painter must have used this very photo as the inspiration for their painting. Which led Joey to ask the staff at Spirit about the story behind the painting.

And indeed, our assumptions were confirmed: The painting was created after the photograph. The name of the artist who conceived it is Robert Rost. He created it as a painting-by-numbers canvas which the staff team at Spirit colored together during a team building workshop.
As the photo shows, the speckles aren't birds. They seem to be turning leaves on a tree left in front of the Angel Oak - maybe an ash tree, or some other tree with slender, oblong leaves. I did like the thought of the birds though - but I also like to know that this gorgeous tree actually exists somewhere in the real world - in Charleston, South Carolina, to be precise. What's more crazy: I visited Charleston in 1997, without even knowing that this tree was there, much less that someone would take a photo of it 10 years later which would be painted by the staff of a restaurant in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where I would eat at least once a week another 6 years later.
Back in 1997, I was still living in Karlsruhe, working on my PhD thesis which I would finish a year later and then move to Frankfurt, where I would spent the following 10 years working my butt off in corporate environments, before moving to the Netherlands.
Would anyone with a crystal ball back then have predicted that now, in 2013, I would

• be living in Rotterdam, the Netherlands;
• manage web projects and something called social media in a university setting;
• be married to an American woman;
• not have eaten meat in 11 years, and no fish, dairy, or eggs in 1 1/2 years;
• would have a little device in my pocket which enables me to communicate, look at pictures of cute cats, take photos and videos, edit, and share them with other people who also have such a little device, and play silly computer games with my friends,

I would probably have thought they were lunatics. I'm not sure I even want to know where, what, or who I will be 16 years from now. Let's just say life is full of surprises. And most of them are good ones.

And now I want to go back to Charleston to give that tree a big, fat hug.

angel oak

food choices

How can you tell whether someone is a vegan? - Don't worry, they'll fucking tell you. That's supposed to be a joke. It's only remotely funny, and also, it doesn't reflect the whole truth. In fact, it's on the same level as Colonel Frank Fitts in American Beauty, who, after moving into a new neighborhood and getting welcomed with a gift basket by his lovely gay neighbors, asks his son "How come these faggots always have to rub it in your face?" What he forgets, and what omnivores tend to forget too, is that we, the minority, get the 'regular' or 'normal' lifestyle rubbed into our faces way more often than you even realize. How many straight couples do you see in the streets, on theater screens, in magazines, or on TV - holding hands, kissing, cuddling together, marrying each other, or having sex? And what do you think is the percentage of dishes which contain animal products like meat, cheese, fish, or eggs in an average cafe, restaurant, or bar? Let me tell you: Here in the Netherlands, much as in any developed country I've visited so far (and the last time I counted that were more than 30 in Europe, Asia, America, and Northern Africa), it's close to 100%.

On the occasion of our 3-year wedding anniversary we took the train to 's Hertogenbosch today. That's a quaint little town in Noord Brabant, about an hour and a half from Rotterdam, famous for its Bossche Bollen - oversized profiteroles filled with whipped cream. Cow's cream, of course, not coconut cream. The sun was shining, and even though the icy eastern wind that has been sticking around for 3 weeks in a row was still blowing at full force, it almost felt like spring. We strolled through the streets of the almost car-free medieval city center, visited the mainly Gothic cathedral, took a walk in the Bosschebroek, a large field with little canals south of the center, and took hundreds of photos. Until around 5:30pm, when we started to get hungry and went looking for a place to have a bite, preferably one with a sunny, wind-shielded spot to sit outside. On the market square there's a lovely selection of sunny bars and cafes with outdoor seating, but looking at their menus makes you lose all hope for mankind: Each and every dish contains meat, cheese, eggs, or fish - many even two or three of these. When we asked the waiter at Cafe In de Kleine Werelt whether we could at least have the nachos with salsa and guacamole without the cheese, he told us that, alas, he was out of nachos. And all the other places we checked out along the way didn't have anything substantial without meat, dairy, eggs, or fish either. Of course, you might be able to find a salad or some fries, but even then you need to check whether they put chicken or shrimps in the salad and whether the dressing is dairy free, or make sure they don't put mayonnaise on your fries. And salad with fries isn't exactly my idea of an anniversary dinner either. A search on Happy Cow returned one place for the whole city: An organic grocery store, but no restaurant. And the Vegan Friendly section of the Dutch vegan association NVV only has one listing: Lush cosmetics. No eatery at all.

We finally ended up at Albert Heijn, the ubiquitous Dutch supermarket chain, where we bought a box of cold falafel, two wholegrain buns, a serving of wakame salad, and half a liter of fresh strawberry-orange juice. We took them back to the square and ate them on the stairs below a statue in the south-eastern corner which was bathing in sunlight (the only public sit-down place we found - to the right of the fish trailer in the photo). Soon we were surrounded by a bunch of pigeons who were picking up the breadcrumbs which we threw towards them. It was an improvised picnic, and it was lovely. But still: If I could have chosen, I'd have opted for a real dinner in a real restaurant with real waiters and real tableware instead of my old and trusted plastic fork which I carry around in my backpack for emergencies like this. And that is pretty much impossible if you refuse to eat animals.

Next time you hear that old joke about vegans, try to imagine living in a society where every eatery you can go to serves seemingly limitless amounts of human babies. You can order them fried, boiled, baked, or even raw. They offer them whole, grilled on a stick; sliced up or as ground as sausages; you can get baby kebab or minced babies; you can get filet or a cutlet with bones; baby ribs, baby schnitzel with a bread crust; they offer them with garlic and herbs, mixed with potatoes and fried up as little balls, between halves of bread buns, rare or well-done, and they even put baby blood and other bodily fluids into each and every vegetable dish they offer. There's nothing on the menu that doesn't contain either parts of babies, or their secretions. Wouldn't you feel the need to tell everyone that you don't participate in cannibalism?

The only way to change this situation is to talk about it, to make a lot of wind about it, to sensitize the public for our cause, and to hope that at least some of the eatery owners will start to offer the occasional vegan dish or two. And if we're very lucky, every once in a while, one of them will come up with an entirely animal-free menu.

If you feel harassed by us putting veganism in your face, I apologize. But rest assured: Being surrounded by your standard food which is either a dead animal or comes from an animal that will usually live a miserable life up to her premature death and will have to face her male siblings and offspring being killed because there is no need for them in a system that depends on reproduction (as is the case for the dairy and egg industry) is not exactly a joy ride for us either.

Of course, nobody forces us to eat animals. But our options to eat in public without eating animals are extremely limited.

It's not against you. It's for us. And, ultimately, for the animals.

How can you tell whether someone is a vegan? - Don't worry, they'll fucking tell you. That's supposed to be a joke. It's only remotely funny, and also, it doesn't reflect the whole truth. In fact, it's on the same level as Colonel Frank Fitts in American Beauty, who, after moving into a new neighborhood and getting welcomed with a gift basket by his lovely gay neighbors, asks his son "How come these faggots always have to rub it in your face?" What he forgets, and what omnivores tend to forget too, is that we, the minority, get the 'regular' or 'normal' lifestyle rubbed into our faces way more often than you even realize. How many straight couples do you see in the streets, on theater screens, in magazines, or on TV - holding hands, kissing, cuddling together, marrying each other, or having sex? And what do you think is the percentage of dishes which contain animal products like meat, cheese, fish, or eggs in an average cafe, restaurant, or bar? Let me tell you: Here in the Netherlands, much as in any developed country I've visited so far (and the last time I counted that were more than 30 in Europe, Asia, America, and Northern Africa), it's close to 100%.

On the occasion of our 3-year wedding anniversary we took the train to 's Hertogenbosch today. That's a quaint little town in Noord Brabant, about an hour and a half from Rotterdam, famous for its Bossche Bollen - oversized profiteroles filled with whipped cream. Cow's cream, of course, not coconut cream. The sun was shining, and even though the icy eastern wind that has been sticking around for 3 weeks in a row was still blowing at full force, it almost felt like spring. We strolled through the streets of the almost car-free medieval city center, visited the mainly Gothic cathedral, took a walk in the Bosschebroek, a large field with little canals south of the center, and took hundreds of photos. Until around 5:30pm, when we started to get hungry and went looking for a place to have a bite, preferably one with a sunny, wind-shielded spot to sit outside. On the market square there's a lovely selection of sunny bars and cafes with outdoor seating, but looking at their menus makes you lose all hope for mankind: Each and every dish contains meat, cheese, eggs, or fish - many even two or three of these. When we asked the waiter at Cafe In de Kleine Werelt whether we could at least have the nachos with salsa and guacamole without the cheese, he told us that, alas, he was out of nachos. And all the other places we checked out along the way didn't have anything substantial without meat, dairy, eggs, or fish either. Of course, you might be able to find a salad or some fries, but even then you need to check whether they put chicken or shrimps in the salad and whether the dressing is dairy free, or make sure they don't put mayonnaise on your fries. And salad with fries isn't exactly my idea of an anniversary dinner either. A search on Happy Cow returned one place for the whole city: An organic grocery store, but no restaurant. And the Vegan Friendly section of the Dutch vegan association NVV only has one listing: Lush cosmetics. No eatery at all.

We finally ended up at Albert Heijn, the ubiquitous Dutch supermarket chain, where we bought a box of cold falafel, two wholegrain buns, a serving of wakame salad, and half a liter of fresh strawberry-orange juice. We took them back to the square and ate them on the stairs below a statue in the south-eastern corner which was bathing in sunlight (the only public sit-down place we found - to the right of the fish trailer in the photo). Soon we were surrounded by a bunch of pigeons who were picking up the breadcrumbs which we threw towards them. It was an improvised picnic, and it was lovely. But still: If I could have chosen, I'd have opted for a real dinner in a real restaurant with real waiters and real tableware instead of my old and trusted plastic fork which I carry around in my backpack for emergencies like this. And that is pretty much impossible if you refuse to eat animals.

Next time you hear that old joke about vegans, try to imagine living in a society where every eatery you can go to serves seemingly limitless amounts of human babies. You can order them fried, boiled, baked, or even raw. They offer them whole, grilled on a stick; sliced up or as ground as sausages; you can get baby kebab or minced babies; you can get filet or a cutlet with bones; baby ribs, baby schnitzel with a bread crust; they offer them with garlic and herbs, mixed with potatoes and fried up as little balls, between halves of bread buns, rare or well-done, and they even put baby blood and other bodily fluids into each and every vegetable dish they offer. There's nothing on the menu that doesn't contain either parts of babies, or their secretions. Wouldn't you feel the need to tell everyone that you don't participate in cannibalism?

The only way to change this situation is to talk about it, to make a lot of wind about it, to sensitize the public for our cause, and to hope that at least some of the eatery owners will start to offer the occasional vegan dish or two. And if we're very lucky, every once in a while, one of them will come up with an entirely animal-free menu.

If you feel harassed by us putting veganism in your face, I apologize. But rest assured: Being surrounded by your standard food which is either a dead animal or comes from an animal that will usually live a miserable life up to her premature death and will have to face her male siblings and offspring being killed because there is no need for them in a system that depends on reproduction (as is the case for the dairy and egg industry) is not exactly a joy ride for us either.

Of course, nobody forces us to eat animals. But our options to eat in public without eating animals are extremely limited.

It's not against you. It's for us. And, ultimately, for the animals.

food choices

plastic bag upcycling

Even though we really try to always use our own tote bags when shopping and use the existing ones for cat litter disposal (instead of buying waste bags for it) we still have a heap of unused plastic bags which continuously seems to grow. Here in Rotterdam, they don't have an option to recycle plastic waste; it just goes into the household trash, from where it is fed into an incinerator that produces heat and electricity for the city. They say that this is an environmentally sustainable solution, but I think it would be more environmentally sustainable to produce and use less plastic, and to recycle the plastic that's already around - like in Germany, where plastic and other packaging waste is collected in yellow bags or bins. In other countries, it's even worse. According to this infographic,

• over 1 trillion plastic bags are used every year worldwide, but less than 1% of them are recycled;
• plastic makes for 10% of all generated waste;
• enough plastic is thrown away each year to circle the Earth four times;
• every square mile of the ocean has about 46,000 pieces of floating plastic;
• plastic bags are blamed for the annual death of more than 1 million birds and 100,000 marine animals;
• plastic waste takes up to 1,000 years to degrade in a landfill.

So what to do with our plastic bags, instead of just feeding them to the incinerator? Joey and I are still not feeling 100% healthy, so we spent Easter Sunday and Monday predominantly around the house - except for a vegan Easter brunch at Heavenly Cupcakes yesterday and a visit to the museum where we - after seeing the incredible retrospective of the Norwegian artist Pushwagner and the movie about his life they are showing there - visited  the truly inspiring Hand Made - Long Live Crafts exhibition. And this is what gave me the following idea: Last night, I sliced up a couple of plastic bags and started crocheting a bread basket. I haven't had a bread basket in years, and every time I see one at a store, I think, no, I should make one myself. And now, I did.

It's quite easy - you just have to start at the top of the bag and spiral your way down with a scissors in a ca. 1 inch-wide endless strip. Be careful where you have double layers - decrease the width of the strip to half. I tried to produce as little waste as possible; another task for which my Tetris brain came in handy (the same one which helps me load the dishwasher to the max and still get clean dishes). If you have less spatial orientation, you might want to get rid of the top parts which hold the handle holes, and the part at the bottom too. Wind it up to a yarn ball-like thing, and then crochet away. I took a 7mm hook (for conversion from the metric to US or UK sizes, check here). That's a pretty big one, but that also makes it go very fast.

Start in the center by making a ring of 4 stitches, which you use for the next 8 stitches in a round. Double the amount of stitches per round for about 3 rows, then double every third stich for as many rows as you would like the basket to grow in width. As soon as your desired diameter is reached, keep the number of stitches so that the sides of the basket will grow. Stop when it has reached the desired height.

This baby took about 3 hours to produce, and I used four plastic bags - two orange-black ones, a red-white one, and a green-white-red one. They're all from Rotterdam stores; bonus points for those who guess them right. It's breathable because of the holes, and you can wash it with dishwashing liquid to keep it clean (I don't, however, think that plastic bags are dishwasher safe).

According to this infographic, there are 10 simple steps to reduce your plastic footprint:

1. Bring your own reusable grocery bag whenever you go to the store.
2. Stop using bottled water. 
3. Say no to single-serving packaging.
4. Stop using plastic sandwich bags. Buy a reusable sandwich box instead.
5. Use silverware instead of plastic knives and forks.
6. Go digital and avoid plastic CDs and jewel cases for your music.
7. Use a refillable dispenser for your hand soap and dishwashing liquid and buy your soap or detergent in bulk. Using one large bottle is better than a bunch of small ones.
8. Bring your 'to-go' mug with you.
9. Avoid plastics that aren't readily recyclable. Try to choose one which is made out of #1 (PETE) or #2 (HDPE).
10. Seek out products or items that are not made out of plastic.

Of course, you can also start crocheting reusable stuff from plastic bags.

Even though we really try to always use our own tote bags when shopping and use the existing ones for cat litter disposal (instead of buying waste bags for it) we still have a heap of unused plastic bags which continuously seems to grow. Here in Rotterdam, they don't have an option to recycle plastic waste; it just goes into the household trash, from where it is fed into an incinerator that produces heat and electricity for the city. They say that this is an environmentally sustainable solution, but I think it would be more environmentally sustainable to produce and use less plastic, and to recycle the plastic that's already around - like in Germany, where plastic and other packaging waste is collected in yellow bags or bins. In other countries, it's even worse. According to this infographic,

• over 1 trillion plastic bags are used every year worldwide, but less than 1% of them are recycled;
• plastic makes for 10% of all generated waste;
• enough plastic is thrown away each year to circle the Earth four times;
• every square mile of the ocean has about 46,000 pieces of floating plastic;
• plastic bags are blamed for the annual death of more than 1 million birds and 100,000 marine animals;
• plastic waste takes up to 1,000 years to degrade in a landfill.

So what to do with our plastic bags, instead of just feeding them to the incinerator? Joey and I are still not feeling 100% healthy, so we spent Easter Sunday and Monday predominantly around the house - except for a vegan Easter brunch at Heavenly Cupcakes yesterday and a visit to the museum where we - after seeing the incredible retrospective of the Norwegian artist Pushwagner and the movie about his life they are showing there - visited  the truly inspiring Hand Made - Long Live Crafts exhibition. And this is what gave me the following idea: Last night, I sliced up a couple of plastic bags and started crocheting a bread basket. I haven't had a bread basket in years, and every time I see one at a store, I think, no, I should make one myself. And now, I did.

It's quite easy - you just have to start at the top of the bag and spiral your way down with a scissors in a ca. 1 inch-wide endless strip. Be careful where you have double layers - decrease the width of the strip to half. I tried to produce as little waste as possible; another task for which my Tetris brain came in handy (the same one which helps me load the dishwasher to the max and still get clean dishes). If you have less spatial orientation, you might want to get rid of the top parts which hold the handle holes, and the part at the bottom too. Wind it up to a yarn ball-like thing, and then crochet away. I took a 7mm hook (for conversion from the metric to US or UK sizes, check here). That's a pretty big one, but that also makes it go very fast.

Start in the center by making a ring of 4 stitches, which you use for the next 8 stitches in a round. Double the amount of stitches per round for about 3 rows, then double every third stich for as many rows as you would like the basket to grow in width. As soon as your desired diameter is reached, keep the number of stitches so that the sides of the basket will grow. Stop when it has reached the desired height.

This baby took about 3 hours to produce, and I used four plastic bags - two orange-black ones, a red-white one, and a green-white-red one. They're all from Rotterdam stores; bonus points for those who guess them right. It's breathable because of the holes, and you can wash it with dishwashing liquid to keep it clean (I don't, however, think that plastic bags are dishwasher safe).

According to this infographic, there are 10 simple steps to reduce your plastic footprint:

1. Bring your own reusable grocery bag whenever you go to the store.
2. Stop using bottled water. 
3. Say no to single-serving packaging.
4. Stop using plastic sandwich bags. Buy a reusable sandwich box instead.
5. Use silverware instead of plastic knives and forks.
6. Go digital and avoid plastic CDs and jewel cases for your music.
7. Use a refillable dispenser for your hand soap and dishwashing liquid and buy your soap or detergent in bulk. Using one large bottle is better than a bunch of small ones.
8. Bring your 'to-go' mug with you.
9. Avoid plastics that aren't readily recyclable. Try to choose one which is made out of #1 (PETE) or #2 (HDPE).
10. Seek out products or items that are not made out of plastic.

Of course, you can also start crocheting reusable stuff from plastic bags.

plastic bag upcycling

black bean enchiladas

Today is the first time ever that I cooked Mexican food. Well, apart from Guacamole, that is.

Not that I don't like Mexican food, but it's just something you don't grow up with in Germany. I think I ate my first nacho chips in 1991 (and loved them), during a US trip through several New England states and down to DC. In the 1970s and 80s, there were no Mexican restaurants in my hometown (we had a few Yugoslavian and Greek ones, but most of the ethnic restaurants were Italian, as were most of the immigrants back then), and I don't even recall to have seen Mexican food in the bigger German cities around my hometown, such as Darmstadt or Mannheim. Come to think of it, back then we also had to drive 20 minutes to the closest (and pretty much only) McDonalds, which was next to the only shopping mall I remember having seen before I turned 20, and that was only there because there were US Army barracks a few miles down the road. But I am digressing.

Nowadays you will find Mexican restaurants in many more places in Europe - one of them is down the road from where I live, in the Oude Haven (Old Harbor), and it's called Popocatepetl. One has to emphasize that the taste of Mexican food in Europe often deviates from what most people in the US will expect: for one, it's way less spicy, but also some of the ingredients, in particular salsa, are not available here. I mean, you can get salsa jars from Dorito's in the supermarket, but seriously: That's not exactly the A-brand when it comes to quality food. Something like Desert Pepper, Muir Glen, or even Newman's Own is painfully missing here. But I am digressing again.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I found myself grabbing for a pack of wholewheat tortillas at the organic supermarket. They've been sitting in the kitchen cupboard ever since, but today I soaked and cooked a big pot of black beans and made black bean enchiladas.

I fabricated the salsa myself, by combining boxed tomato chunks (tomatenblokjes) with garlic, onions, chilies, paprika powder, oregano, salt, lemon juice, oregano, and olive oil - a slight variation of this recipe.

And here's what you need for the enchiladas:

8 tortilla sheets
1 red pepper, diced
1/2 large (or 1 small) zucchini, diced
5 mid-sized mushrooms, diced
1 small onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup rice (which I actually substituted with bulgur - a lucky twist!)
1 cup cooked (or canned) black beans
1 1/2 cups salsa
1 cup grated (vegan) cheese (I luckily had Wilmersburger Pizzaschmelz)
Salt, pepper, and minced chilis/ chili powder as per taste

• Preheat oven to 350F (175C).
• In a large bowl, combine the diced vegetables, the rice, and the beans, with half of the salsa and the spices.
• Grease an oven dish that holds 8 enchiladas (I forgot the part about the greasing, and I can't recommend it, even if it was a non-sticky dish)
• Lay the tortillas on a flat surface, place 1/8 of the mixture into each of them, and roll them up tightly to enchiladas. Place them in the oven dish next to each other.
• Distribute the rest of the salsa evenly across the top the enchiladas, and sprinkle the cheese on top.
• Bake for ca. 20 minutes.

Needless to say that I made my American wife very happy with this dish.

¡Buen apetito!

Today is the first time ever that I cooked Mexican food. Well, apart from Guacamole, that is.

Not that I don't like Mexican food, but it's just something you don't grow up with in Germany. I think I ate my first nacho chips in 1991 (and loved them), during a US trip through several New England states and down to DC. In the 1970s and 80s, there were no Mexican restaurants in my hometown (we had a few Yugoslavian and Greek ones, but most of the ethnic restaurants were Italian, as were most of the immigrants back then), and I don't even recall to have seen Mexican food in the bigger German cities around my hometown, such as Darmstadt or Mannheim. Come to think of it, back then we also had to drive 20 minutes to the closest (and pretty much only) McDonalds, which was next to the only shopping mall I remember having seen before I turned 20, and that was only there because there were US Army barracks a few miles down the road. But I am digressing.

Nowadays you will find Mexican restaurants in many more places in Europe - one of them is down the road from where I live, in the Oude Haven (Old Harbor), and it's called Popocatepetl. One has to emphasize that the taste of Mexican food in Europe often deviates from what most people in the US will expect: for one, it's way less spicy, but also some of the ingredients, in particular salsa, are not available here. I mean, you can get salsa jars from Dorito's in the supermarket, but seriously: That's not exactly the A-brand when it comes to quality food. Something like Desert Pepper, Muir Glen, or even Newman's Own is painfully missing here. But I am digressing again.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I found myself grabbing for a pack of wholewheat tortillas at the organic supermarket. They've been sitting in the kitchen cupboard ever since, but today I soaked and cooked a big pot of black beans and made black bean enchiladas.

I fabricated the salsa myself, by combining boxed tomato chunks (tomatenblokjes) with garlic, onions, chilies, paprika powder, oregano, salt, lemon juice, oregano, and olive oil - a slight variation of this recipe.

And here's what you need for the enchiladas:

8 tortilla sheets
1 red pepper, diced
1/2 large (or 1 small) zucchini, diced
5 mid-sized mushrooms, diced
1 small onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup rice (which I actually substituted with bulgur - a lucky twist!)
1 cup cooked (or canned) black beans
1 1/2 cups salsa
1 cup grated (vegan) cheese (I luckily had Wilmersburger Pizzaschmelz)
Salt, pepper, and minced chilis/ chili powder as per taste

• Preheat oven to 350F (175C).
• In a large bowl, combine the diced vegetables, the rice, and the beans, with half of the salsa and the spices.
• Grease an oven dish that holds 8 enchiladas (I forgot the part about the greasing, and I can't recommend it, even if it was a non-sticky dish)
• Lay the tortillas on a flat surface, place 1/8 of the mixture into each of them, and roll them up tightly to enchiladas. Place them in the oven dish next to each other.
• Distribute the rest of the salsa evenly across the top the enchiladas, and sprinkle the cheese on top.
• Bake for ca. 20 minutes.

Needless to say that I made my American wife very happy with this dish.

¡Buen apetito!

black bean enchiladas

raw zucchini spaghetti

If you would like to try raw food without creating a lot of fuss, but find a green salad or a carrot not really attractive, I suggest you get a julienne peeler. They come in a variety of materials, colors, and price levels, and they are easy to use, easy to clean, don't take a lot of space in your kitchen, and are just all-around awesome. I'm quite happy with my Rösle peeler which I bought at Kookpunt on Noordplein, and I use it a lot to make spaghetti-like strands of vegetables, which I then top with a green garlicky dressing and some sprouted beans or lentils. An extremely satisfying, very tasty, and super-healthy meal!

In principle, you can julienne any long, firm vegetable: Carrots, white radish (daikon), cucumbers, zucchini, celery sticks, or  parsnips - they all work. Depending on your technique and skill level, you will have some leftover parts which aren't juliennable anymore, either because they're too short or too thin, but you can shred them and put them in bean burgers, or make a vegan spread with them.

Today I made zucchini spaghetti with a garlicky wheatgrass-dressing, accompanied by rings of sweet pepper and topped with sprouted chick peas and chopped cilantro.

If you're planning to make this from scratch, allow for a sprouting period of 3-4 days for the chick peas. To sprout chick peas, soak them in water for at least half a day. Rinse and drain them, then put them in a glass jar with a breathable lid (e.g., made from gauze or cheesecloth, or a perforated twist-off cap. Let them rest in a place where they get a lot of light - a window sill works well. Every 12 hours (i.e. twice a day), pour them into a sieve, rinse them thoroughly with fresh cold water, drain them, and put them back into the jar. After about 3 days, you should have 1/2 inch-long sprouts; after a final rinsing and draining cycle, they are ready to eat. Alternatively, you can find ready-to-consume sprouts in many supermarkets or organic food stores.

But now for the recipe (makes 2 large servings):

1 large, firm zucchini
1/2 long sweet pepper, sliced into rings
1/2 cup sprouted chick peas
3 Tbsp chopped cilantro leaves

Dressing:
1 Tbsp vegetable oil (for raw foods, I prefer flaxseed oil, because of it contains a good amount of omega-3 fatty acids)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp wheatgrass powder
1/4 tsp mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tbsp cold water
Salt and pepper as per taste

• Julienning the zucchini requires practically no training. Just make sure to follow the natural shape of the fruit from top to bottom. When it gets too wide for the julienning knife, start again from the side and work your way to the center, as shown in this video. The longer you leave the vegetable, the longer your strands will come out (I love them long, so I can roll them up on my fork like traditional cooked spaghetti).
• Arrange the zucchini strands loosely on a spaghetti plate with the pepper rings on the side.
• To prepare the dressing, mix all ingredients well. I use a small glass jar with twist-off cap which I fill with all ingredients, close the lid, and shake the hell out of everything.
• Pour dressing evenly over the arrangement on the plate
• Top with the chick pea sprouts and the cilantro leaves.

This is a very filling raw dish, in part due to the protein-rich chick-peas, so it really makes for a complete meal - without any gluten-rich starches. The wheatgrass powder added to the dressing contains minerals and vitamins, and since it's not made from the grain itself, but from its young sprouts, it also is gluten-free. It has antioxidant properties and has been reported to have numerous health benefits, such as regulating digestion, improving skin quality, and, because of its high content of iron, increasing blood production. You can buy it at health stores.

If you would like to try raw food without creating a lot of fuss, but find a green salad or a carrot not really attractive, I suggest you get a julienne peeler. They come in a variety of materials, colors, and price levels, and they are easy to use, easy to clean, don't take a lot of space in your kitchen, and are just all-around awesome. I'm quite happy with my Rösle peeler which I bought at Kookpunt on Noordplein, and I use it a lot to make spaghetti-like strands of vegetables, which I then top with a green garlicky dressing and some sprouted beans or lentils. An extremely satisfying, very tasty, and super-healthy meal!

In principle, you can julienne any long, firm vegetable: Carrots, white radish (daikon), cucumbers, zucchini, celery sticks, or  parsnips - they all work. Depending on your technique and skill level, you will have some leftover parts which aren't juliennable anymore, either because they're too short or too thin, but you can shred them and put them in bean burgers, or make a vegan spread with them.

Today I made zucchini spaghetti with a garlicky wheatgrass-dressing, accompanied by rings of sweet pepper and topped with sprouted chick peas and chopped cilantro.

If you're planning to make this from scratch, allow for a sprouting period of 3-4 days for the chick peas. To sprout chick peas, soak them in water for at least half a day. Rinse and drain them, then put them in a glass jar with a breathable lid (e.g., made from gauze or cheesecloth, or a perforated twist-off cap. Let them rest in a place where they get a lot of light - a window sill works well. Every 12 hours (i.e. twice a day), pour them into a sieve, rinse them thoroughly with fresh cold water, drain them, and put them back into the jar. After about 3 days, you should have 1/2 inch-long sprouts; after a final rinsing and draining cycle, they are ready to eat. Alternatively, you can find ready-to-consume sprouts in many supermarkets or organic food stores.

But now for the recipe (makes 2 large servings):

1 large, firm zucchini
1/2 long sweet pepper, sliced into rings
1/2 cup sprouted chick peas
3 Tbsp chopped cilantro leaves

Dressing:
1 Tbsp vegetable oil (for raw foods, I prefer flaxseed oil, because of it contains a good amount of omega-3 fatty acids)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp wheatgrass powder
1/4 tsp mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tbsp cold water
Salt and pepper as per taste

• Julienning the zucchini requires practically no training. Just make sure to follow the natural shape of the fruit from top to bottom. When it gets too wide for the julienning knife, start again from the side and work your way to the center, as shown in this video. The longer you leave the vegetable, the longer your strands will come out (I love them long, so I can roll them up on my fork like traditional cooked spaghetti).
• Arrange the zucchini strands loosely on a spaghetti plate with the pepper rings on the side.
• To prepare the dressing, mix all ingredients well. I use a small glass jar with twist-off cap which I fill with all ingredients, close the lid, and shake the hell out of everything.
• Pour dressing evenly over the arrangement on the plate
• Top with the chick pea sprouts and the cilantro leaves.

This is a very filling raw dish, in part due to the protein-rich chick-peas, so it really makes for a complete meal - without any gluten-rich starches. The wheatgrass powder added to the dressing contains minerals and vitamins, and since it's not made from the grain itself, but from its young sprouts, it also is gluten-free. It has antioxidant properties and has been reported to have numerous health benefits, such as regulating digestion, improving skin quality, and, because of its high content of iron, increasing blood production. You can buy it at health stores.

raw zucchini spaghetti

tofu scramble

When I was still eating eggs, my Sunday morning soft-boiled egg was one of the culinary highlights of my breakfast week. It's a simple thing to prepare, and it's oh-so delicious. Back then, I used to buy organic, free-range eggs, and thought I was doing good. After all, the chickens could run around in open air, as they're designed to do by nature. They would have enough space: according to EU standards, eggs with the print code '0' as the first digit (organic free-range eggs) have to come from chickens which are held at a maximum of 6 individuals per square meter in the hen house - as opposed to 18 (!) for battery chickens -, and 1 chicken per 4 square meters in the outdoors area which they would have at least 8 hours per day access to; they would be fed with organic, GMO-free grains and greens, not with fish meal and other stuff they wouldn't find in the wild; they would have an uninterrupted night rest of at least 8 hours; and for every 8 chickens, there would have to be a nest. Also, their beaks wouldn't be allowed to be chopped off, as is the case by cage-free barn eggs where the hens have way less space and would otherwise start pecking each other. This lulled me into believing I was displaying animal-friendly behavior. I even tried (without success) to convince the university caterer to upgrade their eggs from 'scharrelei' (with the print code '2'), where 9 chickens have to share one square meter in a coop and never see the sun because there's no outside area they can roam, and where they are de-beaked and fed with farming residue and artificial coloring.

What I didn't consider was that for every egg-laying hen that is grown, another one has to die. As is the case with most vertebrae (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish), the birth rate of male and female individuals is approximately 50:50. And since male chickens aren't able to lay eggs, they are considered useless by the industry and are killed right after birth. This happens in the hatchery, either by gassing them or by grinding them up alive, lately also via electrocution. If you can stomach it, watch this undercover video taken in a hatchery which uses a grinder. Warning: it's graphic. This practice of killing male chicks is not tied to the cage hen industry. It's the same for all chickens, whether they are battery chickens or organic free-range chickens. The little guys have to die, because the industry has no use for them. Granted, some German Demeter farmers lately came up with a model where they let the male chicks grow for a few months into young roosters - but only to then slaughter them and sell them as broilers. And, as we are increasingly aware of, there is no such thing as animal-friendly meat.

Another striking reason to abstain from eating eggs is that the laying hens are usually slaughtered after 2-3 years, because that is when egg production declines and the break-even point for the farmer starts to topple: Keeping a hen which only lays one egg per week instead of 5 is more expensive than replacing it by a young, fresh one which can produce at full capacity. Naturally, chickens can reach an age of 8 or more years. In egg production, chickens gets slaughtered before they even reach mid-age.

Since I went vegan, I've been experimenting with tofu scramble as a replacement for my Sunday morning egg. My method has now reached a quality level that creates the same amount of happy anticipation of my Sunday breakfast as I used to have for my soft-boiled organic free-range egg. The secret, as usual, is in the ingredients. Here, in particular, it's one ingredient which transforms the otherwise bland tofu into something that closely resembles the taste of eggs. It's called kala namak or black salt, and it originates in the salt ranges of the Himalayan mountains in India and Pakistan, even though it is nowadays mostly produced by altering table salt. What makes it different from the latter is its sulphuric aroma that closely resembles that of cooked eggs. Which makes it perfect for savory vegan dishes that are supposed to resemble eggs - such as tofu scramble.

Here comes the recipe for 2 persons:

250g of firm tofu (here in Europe, all tofu is non-GMO - in other countries, make sure to get organic tofu) drained and pressed between paper towels
1 small chopped onion (may be omitted if you don't like onions)
1 chopped tomato
1/2 cup of chopped greens (I used spinach today)
1/4 tsp kala namak
1/4 tsp turmeric (to give it a yellow look, but also to help digestion)
1 Tbsp canola oil (I love Brassica Culinair which has this amazingly yummy buttery taste)
optional:
1/4 tsp asafetida powder(devil's dung - this is my pet spice, but not everyone likes it, so omit as you please)
1/4 tsp fenugreek powder (this is my other pet spice, same as above)

• Wash hands
• Squeeze the drained tofu block through the fingers of your hand by forming a fist until you have crumbles which are 2-3 mm in diameter
• Mix them well in a bowl with the kala namak, turmeric, and (optionally) asafetida and fenugreek
• Heat the oil in a non-sticky frying pan
• Add the onions and sauté for a minute on high heat
• Turn down to medium heat and stir in the tofu mixture
• Let everything simmer for 2 minutes or until bottom side of tofu crumbles gets light-brown, then stir it upside down and let simmer for another minute
• Add the chopped tomato, stir well, and let simmer for another 2 minutes
• At the very end, stir in the spinach and stir-fry for another minute
• Serve hot with fresh buns, bread, or crackers.

In case you're interested, the bowl in the photo contains soy latte, and the glass holds a fresh spinach-grapefruit-pineapple smoothie.

When I was still eating eggs, my Sunday morning soft-boiled egg was one of the culinary highlights of my breakfast week. It's a simple thing to prepare, and it's oh-so delicious. Back then, I used to buy organic, free-range eggs, and thought I was doing good. After all, the chickens could run around in open air, as they're designed to do by nature. They would have enough space: according to EU standards, eggs with the print code '0' as the first digit (organic free-range eggs) have to come from chickens which are held at a maximum of 6 individuals per square meter in the hen house - as opposed to 18 (!) for battery chickens -, and 1 chicken per 4 square meters in the outdoors area which they would have at least 8 hours per day access to; they would be fed with organic, GMO-free grains and greens, not with fish meal and other stuff they wouldn't find in the wild; they would have an uninterrupted night rest of at least 8 hours; and for every 8 chickens, there would have to be a nest. Also, their beaks wouldn't be allowed to be chopped off, as is the case by cage-free barn eggs where the hens have way less space and would otherwise start pecking each other. This lulled me into believing I was displaying animal-friendly behavior. I even tried (without success) to convince the university caterer to upgrade their eggs from 'scharrelei' (with the print code '2'), where 9 chickens have to share one square meter in a coop and never see the sun because there's no outside area they can roam, and where they are de-beaked and fed with farming residue and artificial coloring.

What I didn't consider was that for every egg-laying hen that is grown, another one has to die. As is the case with most vertebrae (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish), the birth rate of male and female individuals is approximately 50:50. And since male chickens aren't able to lay eggs, they are considered useless by the industry and are killed right after birth. This happens in the hatchery, either by gassing them or by grinding them up alive, lately also via electrocution. If you can stomach it, watch this undercover video taken in a hatchery which uses a grinder. Warning: it's graphic. This practice of killing male chicks is not tied to the cage hen industry. It's the same for all chickens, whether they are battery chickens or organic free-range chickens. The little guys have to die, because the industry has no use for them. Granted, some German Demeter farmers lately came up with a model where they let the male chicks grow for a few months into young roosters - but only to then slaughter them and sell them as broilers. And, as we are increasingly aware of, there is no such thing as animal-friendly meat.

Another striking reason to abstain from eating eggs is that the laying hens are usually slaughtered after 2-3 years, because that is when egg production declines and the break-even point for the farmer starts to topple: Keeping a hen which only lays one egg per week instead of 5 is more expensive than replacing it by a young, fresh one which can produce at full capacity. Naturally, chickens can reach an age of 8 or more years. In egg production, chickens gets slaughtered before they even reach mid-age.

Since I went vegan, I've been experimenting with tofu scramble as a replacement for my Sunday morning egg. My method has now reached a quality level that creates the same amount of happy anticipation of my Sunday breakfast as I used to have for my soft-boiled organic free-range egg. The secret, as usual, is in the ingredients. Here, in particular, it's one ingredient which transforms the otherwise bland tofu into something that closely resembles the taste of eggs. It's called kala namak or black salt, and it originates in the salt ranges of the Himalayan mountains in India and Pakistan, even though it is nowadays mostly produced by altering table salt. What makes it different from the latter is its sulphuric aroma that closely resembles that of cooked eggs. Which makes it perfect for savory vegan dishes that are supposed to resemble eggs - such as tofu scramble.

Here comes the recipe for 2 persons:

250g of firm tofu (here in Europe, all tofu is non-GMO - in other countries, make sure to get organic tofu) drained and pressed between paper towels
1 small chopped onion (may be omitted if you don't like onions)
1 chopped tomato
1/2 cup of chopped greens (I used spinach today)
1/4 tsp kala namak
1/4 tsp turmeric (to give it a yellow look, but also to help digestion)
1 Tbsp canola oil (I love Brassica Culinair which has this amazingly yummy buttery taste)
optional:
1/4 tsp asafetida powder(devil's dung - this is my pet spice, but not everyone likes it, so omit as you please)
1/4 tsp fenugreek powder (this is my other pet spice, same as above)

• Wash hands
• Squeeze the drained tofu block through the fingers of your hand by forming a fist until you have crumbles which are 2-3 mm in diameter
• Mix them well in a bowl with the kala namak, turmeric, and (optionally) asafetida and fenugreek
• Heat the oil in a non-sticky frying pan
• Add the onions and sauté for a minute on high heat
• Turn down to medium heat and stir in the tofu mixture
• Let everything simmer for 2 minutes or until bottom side of tofu crumbles gets light-brown, then stir it upside down and let simmer for another minute
• Add the chopped tomato, stir well, and let simmer for another 2 minutes
• At the very end, stir in the spinach and stir-fry for another minute
• Serve hot with fresh buns, bread, or crackers.

In case you're interested, the bowl in the photo contains soy latte, and the glass holds a fresh spinach-grapefruit-pineapple smoothie.

tofu scramble

phat phrik khing (no-)nuea

I don't know about you, but I love Thai food. It's just that I don't get it very often these days, since I rarely get to the Asian supermarket which has the necessary ingredients, and the Thai restaurants in this neck of the woods are neither plenty nor particularly good. Tonight I took matters in my own hands and made a Thai dish which is not prepared with coconut milk, but instead based on Thai red curry, long beans (got them at the market), and (usually) beef. It combines a unique blend of sweet-and-spicy, and the green beans together with the red peppers and tomatoes make it look really pretty on top of it. The dish is quite easy to veganize if you have a soy-, lupine-, or wheat gluten-based meat replacer. I took Vivera kruimgehakt (a ground beef-like product that combines soy and wheat gluten), and it turned out utterly yummy.

Here's what you need for two:

1 (dry) cup of rice (I take brown rice, since it's more nutritious than white rice)
150g vegan meat (Vivera puts 175g into their box, which is fine too)
2 cups of Thai long beans, cut into 2 inch-long pieces
1 sweet red bell pepper, sliced and cut into inch-long pieces
1 tomato, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp red Thai curry paste
2 Tbsp agave syrup (to replace the sugar called for in the original recipe)
1 Tbsp canola oil (or other stir-fry oil)
1 Tbsp soy sauce (which replaces the fish sauce in the traditional recipe)
1 tsp lime (or lemon) juice (the original recipe calls for khaffir lime leaves, but I didn't have any, and this worked fine)

• Cook the rice in two cups of water with 1/2 veggie bouillon cube on low heat for 40 minutes or until it has soaked up all the water.
• Heat oil in a non-sticky frying pan (I love the Green Pan that is coated with a ceramic layer, which is much healthier than teflon, and much more awesome too), add the red curry paste and the garlic, and stir-fry until aromatic.
• Add the vegan meat and stir-fry for about 3 minutes, then add the agave syrup, soy sauce, and lemon juice. Stir until well-mixed, then add the beans, bell pepper, and tomato and stir-fry for another 3 minutes.
• Serve hot (rice at the bottom, stir-fry on top) in pretty dishes with chopsticks and German beer.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes (in case of brown rice, otherwise 15 minutes)

And here's a little Thai class, for those who are interested:
Phat = fried
Phrik = chili peppers (which build the basis of the sauce)
Khing = ginger (which, confusingly, isn't even part of the dish)
Nuea = beef

I don't know about you, but I love Thai food. It's just that I don't get it very often these days, since I rarely get to the Asian supermarket which has the necessary ingredients, and the Thai restaurants in this neck of the woods are neither plenty nor particularly good. Tonight I took matters in my own hands and made a Thai dish which is not prepared with coconut milk, but instead based on Thai red curry, long beans (got them at the market), and (usually) beef. It combines a unique blend of sweet-and-spicy, and the green beans together with the red peppers and tomatoes make it look really pretty on top of it. The dish is quite easy to veganize if you have a soy-, lupine-, or wheat gluten-based meat replacer. I took Vivera kruimgehakt (a ground beef-like product that combines soy and wheat gluten), and it turned out utterly yummy.

Here's what you need for two:

1 (dry) cup of rice (I take brown rice, since it's more nutritious than white rice)
150g vegan meat (Vivera puts 175g into their box, which is fine too)
2 cups of Thai long beans, cut into 2 inch-long pieces
1 sweet red bell pepper, sliced and cut into inch-long pieces
1 tomato, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp red Thai curry paste
2 Tbsp agave syrup (to replace the sugar called for in the original recipe)
1 Tbsp canola oil (or other stir-fry oil)
1 Tbsp soy sauce (which replaces the fish sauce in the traditional recipe)
1 tsp lime (or lemon) juice (the original recipe calls for khaffir lime leaves, but I didn't have any, and this worked fine)

• Cook the rice in two cups of water with 1/2 veggie bouillon cube on low heat for 40 minutes or until it has soaked up all the water.
• Heat oil in a non-sticky frying pan (I love the Green Pan that is coated with a ceramic layer, which is much healthier than teflon, and much more awesome too), add the red curry paste and the garlic, and stir-fry until aromatic.
• Add the vegan meat and stir-fry for about 3 minutes, then add the agave syrup, soy sauce, and lemon juice. Stir until well-mixed, then add the beans, bell pepper, and tomato and stir-fry for another 3 minutes.
• Serve hot (rice at the bottom, stir-fry on top) in pretty dishes with chopsticks and German beer.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes (in case of brown rice, otherwise 15 minutes)

And here's a little Thai class, for those who are interested:
Phat = fried
Phrik = chili peppers (which build the basis of the sauce)
Khing = ginger (which, confusingly, isn't even part of the dish)
Nuea = beef

phat phrik khing (no-)nuea

sexism begins at school

25 years ago, I was roaming the nightly streets of the mid-sized German city where I studied with a purple spray can, letting sexist billboard advertisers know what I thought of the titties-and-butts ads they decorated tram stops and poster pillars with.

6 years ago, upon my first visit to Rotterdam, I had an interesting encounter with a middle-aged red-haired woman on a bike who cycled through my frame while I was photographing the side of a truck that showed a massive ad for a lingerie company on Zwart-Janstraat. To my surprise, she stopped, got off her bike, and walked over to me, asking me why I was taking this photo. She was very concerned about "the pornographization of society". We had a short talk which you can read by clicking on the link above, but since I was only visiting back then, I don't know who she is (I wish I had her name, I remember her being interesting, intelligent, and witty).

2 years ago, I was on the panel of a discussion that followed the screening of the documentary Miss Representation by Jennifer Siebel Newsom - here at our university, as part of our Women Empowerment initiative. I was particularly bamboozled when our Associate Dean, a brilliant woman who is an excellent teacher and gripping speaker, told us about an experience where she was invited to teach an executive class at a US university, and the program manager asked her to 'wear something sexy' to win her audience over. (If that had happened to me, I'd have been up in arms, but you know that already.)

And last night, I listened to a talk by Jan van den Bergh, a short, round Belgian in his 60s, owner of an advertising agency [edit] a marketing platform [/edit] in China, who taught an executive class on marketing and presented the fake Aston Martin second-hand car ad  which has recently been making the rounds on Facebook and Twitter as "great advertising". It shows the bare backside of a blond skinny model in high heels who appears to be making an attempt to climb her kitchen counter, and sports the words You know you’re not the first, but do you really care? He also told us that when he was sharing the image on Facebook a couple of days ago, his female followers were not amused and were calling him a "dirty old man - which I am". Yet, here he was, giving a talk in a seminar on marketing, where more than half of his estimated 80 heads-strong audience, consisting of master students, marketing managers, marketing faculty, and marketing staff of the university, was female. Not only that: He seemed to have waited for this moment, and he visibly enjoyed the giggles (which were pretty much the only giggles he got in his otherwise rather weak 1-hour talk on referral marketing).

This experience has been bugging me all day today. Don't get me wrong: It's not even about the ad. It's about the behavior and the view that accompanied it. While this ad may be a fake, the 2008 one by BMW which uses the same tag line with a slightly less offensive image of a pretty young woman isn't. Sexism in advertising is a part of real life. But should someone who works in the industry really present this without the slightest hint of criticism as "great advertising" in an educational setting? Should he get away with propagating his personal, sexist views, without a word of explanation or without offering a forum for discussion?

This is a university. A substantial number of students - in some programs more than 50% - are women.  Many of these women have gone through a tough selection process and pay a substantial amount of money for their education. They are bright, they are ambitious, they invest in their careers - only to be confronted with the world view of a self-proclaimed 'dirty old man'? Is this the image we want to convey to them about the world? Is this how we want them to anticipate their professional futures in marketing will look like? Should they really believe that for women it's all about looks, and that these looks better serve to whet male fantasies? Shouldn't there be a code of conduct which prevents external speakers from expressing this kind of behavior? How much longer do we have to take this crap? And why can't we see that it harms both sexes - men and women alike?

Sure, sex sells. But so does violence. Yet, we as a society have come to respect that it's not okay to show certain images when trying to sell our products (unless the campaigns are specifically aimed at reducing violence, e.g. campaigns by non-profit organisations against domestic violence). Shouldn't we also agree on such an understanding when it comes to women?

Maybe it's time to take that purple spray can out again.

25 years ago, I was roaming the nightly streets of the mid-sized German city where I studied with a purple spray can, letting sexist billboard advertisers know what I thought of the titties-and-butts ads they decorated tram stops and poster pillars with.

6 years ago, upon my first visit to Rotterdam, I had an interesting encounter with a middle-aged red-haired woman on a bike who cycled through my frame while I was photographing the side of a truck that showed a massive ad for a lingerie company on Zwart-Janstraat. To my surprise, she stopped, got off her bike, and walked over to me, asking me why I was taking this photo. She was very concerned about "the pornographization of society". We had a short talk which you can read by clicking on the link above, but since I was only visiting back then, I don't know who she is (I wish I had her name, I remember her being interesting, intelligent, and witty).

2 years ago, I was on the panel of a discussion that followed the screening of the documentary Miss Representation by Jennifer Siebel Newsom - here at our university, as part of our Women Empowerment initiative. I was particularly bamboozled when our Associate Dean, a brilliant woman who is an excellent teacher and gripping speaker, told us about an experience where she was invited to teach an executive class at a US university, and the program manager asked her to 'wear something sexy' to win her audience over. (If that had happened to me, I'd have been up in arms, but you know that already.)

And last night, I listened to a talk by Jan van den Bergh, a short, round Belgian in his 60s, owner of an advertising agency [edit] a marketing platform [/edit] in China, who taught an executive class on marketing and presented the fake Aston Martin second-hand car ad  which has recently been making the rounds on Facebook and Twitter as "great advertising". It shows the bare backside of a blond skinny model in high heels who appears to be making an attempt to climb her kitchen counter, and sports the words You know you’re not the first, but do you really care? He also told us that when he was sharing the image on Facebook a couple of days ago, his female followers were not amused and were calling him a "dirty old man - which I am". Yet, here he was, giving a talk in a seminar on marketing, where more than half of his estimated 80 heads-strong audience, consisting of master students, marketing managers, marketing faculty, and marketing staff of the university, was female. Not only that: He seemed to have waited for this moment, and he visibly enjoyed the giggles (which were pretty much the only giggles he got in his otherwise rather weak 1-hour talk on referral marketing).

This experience has been bugging me all day today. Don't get me wrong: It's not even about the ad. It's about the behavior and the view that accompanied it. While this ad may be a fake, the 2008 one by BMW which uses the same tag line with a slightly less offensive image of a pretty young woman isn't. Sexism in advertising is a part of real life. But should someone who works in the industry really present this without the slightest hint of criticism as "great advertising" in an educational setting? Should he get away with propagating his personal, sexist views, without a word of explanation or without offering a forum for discussion?

This is a university. A substantial number of students - in some programs more than 50% - are women.  Many of these women have gone through a tough selection process and pay a substantial amount of money for their education. They are bright, they are ambitious, they invest in their careers - only to be confronted with the world view of a self-proclaimed 'dirty old man'? Is this the image we want to convey to them about the world? Is this how we want them to anticipate their professional futures in marketing will look like? Should they really believe that for women it's all about looks, and that these looks better serve to whet male fantasies? Shouldn't there be a code of conduct which prevents external speakers from expressing this kind of behavior? How much longer do we have to take this crap? And why can't we see that it harms both sexes - men and women alike?

Sure, sex sells. But so does violence. Yet, we as a society have come to respect that it's not okay to show certain images when trying to sell our products (unless the campaigns are specifically aimed at reducing violence, e.g. campaigns by non-profit organisations against domestic violence). Shouldn't we also agree on such an understanding when it comes to women?

Maybe it's time to take that purple spray can out again.

sexism begins at school

vietnamese veggie spring rolls

Today was our cleaning and tax day, so we had breakfast, cleaned the house, and then started sorting through heaps of paper for the tax declaration. In between we got hungry, and I made vietnamese spring rolls. Those are great for a quick, tasty, and healthy lunch, and they are almost completely raw, except for the rice paper - which you can buy in Asian food stores. And gluten-free!

In order to prepare them, you need all kinds of fresh, raw veggies; here's what these contain:

4-5 leaves romain lettuce, chopped
1/2 large carrot, julienned
1/2 cucumber, julienned
1 sweet red pepper, chopped
a few sprigs of cilantro, chopped

You can also use any other veggies you throw into mixed salads, such as all kinds of lettuce, kale, avocado, beets, radish, sweet potatoes, basil, mint, sprouts, tomatoes, or anything you like.

• Soak the rice paper (I take 2-3 sheets per person, depending on hunger level) for 5 minutes in cold water
• Assemble the rolls according to the short but useful instructional video below (attention: they add shrimps and chicken, so their filling is not vegan)
• Serve with peanut sauce, sesame paste, sweet chili sauce, soy sauce, or any other dip you like.

Today was our cleaning and tax day, so we had breakfast, cleaned the house, and then started sorting through heaps of paper for the tax declaration. In between we got hungry, and I made vietnamese spring rolls. Those are great for a quick, tasty, and healthy lunch, and they are almost completely raw, except for the rice paper - which you can buy in Asian food stores. And gluten-free!

In order to prepare them, you need all kinds of fresh, raw veggies; here's what these contain:

4-5 leaves romain lettuce, chopped
1/2 large carrot, julienned
1/2 cucumber, julienned
1 sweet red pepper, chopped
a few sprigs of cilantro, chopped

You can also use any other veggies you throw into mixed salads, such as all kinds of lettuce, kale, avocado, beets, radish, sweet potatoes, basil, mint, sprouts, tomatoes, or anything you like.

• Soak the rice paper (I take 2-3 sheets per person, depending on hunger level) for 5 minutes in cold water
• Assemble the rolls according to the short but useful instructional video below (attention: they add shrimps and chicken, so their filling is not vegan)
• Serve with peanut sauce, sesame paste, sweet chili sauce, soy sauce, or any other dip you like.

vietnamese veggie spring rolls

blueberry muffins

It's another grey and rainy day today which only made me leave the house because our fridge was completely empty and it was market day, so Joey and I got soaked while doing the weekly groceries on our bikes. This less-than-nice morning experience had to be balanced with cake in the afternoon. One of my favorite gluten-free* vegan pastry recipes goes like this:

1 cup gluten-free flour (e.g. buckwheat, quinoa, rice, or a mixture of any of these)
1 cup organic oats
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon

1 ripe banana, mashed
1/2 cup almond milk (or any other plant milk as per taste)
1 flax egg (1 Tbsp flax meal mixed with 3 Tbsp water)
2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
scratched-out seeds from 1 vanilla bean (or 1tsp vanilla extract)
1 cup blueberries (thawed if you take frozen ones)

2 medium-sized bowls
a muffin tin
cupcake molds

• Start with the flax egg: mix flax meal with water in the first bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes, then whisk it for a minute or two until you have an egg-like texture. Add the melted coconut oil (don't boil it, it just needs to be liquid), the mashed banana, the plant milk, the sugar, and the vanilla, and whisk well.
• Combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in the second bowl.
• Pour the ingredients of the first (wet) bowl into the second (dry) bowl and mix them briefly. Fold in the blueberries.
• Bake for ca. 16-18 minutes at 180C without fan or 160C with fan.

Recipe makes 12 muffins, and result is utterly delicious and completely vegan.
Bon appetit!

*The recipe is not 100% guaranteed gluten-free because of the oats. As advised by Coeliac UK, oats contain a protein called Avenin, which is different from the protein gluten found in wheat, barley, and rye. They might, however, be contaminated by traces of gluten if processed in the same facility as grains which do contain gluten, so please don't sue me, hardcore celiacs, if you have trouble after eating these. Instead, take good care of yourself and buy pure oats which are labeled gluten-free.

It's another grey and rainy day today which only made me leave the house because our fridge was completely empty and it was market day, so Joey and I got soaked while doing the weekly groceries on our bikes. This less-than-nice morning experience had to be balanced with cake in the afternoon. One of my favorite gluten-free* vegan pastry recipes goes like this:

1 cup gluten-free flour (e.g. buckwheat, quinoa, rice, or a mixture of any of these)
1 cup organic oats
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon

1 ripe banana, mashed
1/2 cup almond milk (or any other plant milk as per taste)
1 flax egg (1 Tbsp flax meal mixed with 3 Tbsp water)
2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
scratched-out seeds from 1 vanilla bean (or 1tsp vanilla extract)
1 cup blueberries (thawed if you take frozen ones)

2 medium-sized bowls
a muffin tin
cupcake molds

• Start with the flax egg: mix flax meal with water in the first bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes, then whisk it for a minute or two until you have an egg-like texture. Add the melted coconut oil (don't boil it, it just needs to be liquid), the mashed banana, the plant milk, the sugar, and the vanilla, and whisk well.
• Combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in the second bowl.
• Pour the ingredients of the first (wet) bowl into the second (dry) bowl and mix them briefly. Fold in the blueberries.
• Bake for ca. 16-18 minutes at 180C without fan or 160C with fan.

Recipe makes 12 muffins, and result is utterly delicious and completely vegan.
Bon appetit!

*The recipe is not 100% guaranteed gluten-free because of the oats. As advised by Coeliac UK, oats contain a protein called Avenin, which is different from the protein gluten found in wheat, barley, and rye. They might, however, be contaminated by traces of gluten if processed in the same facility as grains which do contain gluten, so please don't sue me, hardcore celiacs, if you have trouble after eating these. Instead, take good care of yourself and buy pure oats which are labeled gluten-free.

blueberry muffins

favorite foods

Time for a list. Here are my favorite foods in 13 categories, the top five each.  This is not a list of dishes, but of unprocessed foods. If you cook something which combines 3-5 of these from different categories without adding unnecessary animal ingredients, I'm in heaven. 

Greens

Brussel sprouts

Spinach

Kale

Kohlrabi

Wakame

Root vegetables

Carrots

Beets

Celeriac

Garlic

Ginger

Squashes

Cucumber

Zucchini

Spaghetti squash

Hokkaido squash

Butternut squash

Grains/ grain-like seeds

Quinoa

Buckwheat

Spelt

Red rice

Corn

Legumes

Chick peas

Mung beans

Adzuki beans

Beluga lentils

Peas

Mushrooms

Boletus

Shiitake

Oyster

Champignon

Enokitake

Berries

Raspberries

Gooseberries

Strawberries

Blueberries

Physalis

Stone fruit

Cherries

Apricots

Nectarines

Damson plums

Peaches

Exotic fruit

Mango (Pakistani or Indian varieties)

Blood oranges

Bananas

Pineapple

Sharon

Other fruit

Tomato

Apple

Pear

Loquat

Avocado

Nuts (in a culinary, not botanical sense)

Walnuts

Brazil nuts

Cashew nuts

Pine nuts

Almonds

Herbs

Cilantro

Basil

Parsley

Dill

Oregano

Spices

Fenugreek

Black Pepper

Cardamom

Asafoetida

Turmeric

Did I forget any categories? Or any of my favorite foods? For some, it's really tough to just restrict myself to 5 (that's why the fruit section is a bit blown-up, but honestly: there are SO MANY fruits out there which are so yummy that you have to give some more a chance than just 5. Right?

Time for a list. Here are my favorite foods in 13 categories, the top five each.  This is not a list of dishes, but of unprocessed foods. If you cook something which combines 3-5 of these from different categories without adding unnecessary animal ingredients, I'm in heaven. 

Greens

Brussel sprouts

Spinach

Kale

Kohlrabi

Wakame

Root vegetables

Carrots

Beets

Celeriac

Garlic

Ginger

Squashes

Cucumber

Zucchini

Spaghetti squash

Hokkaido squash

Butternut squash

Grains/ grain-like seeds

Quinoa

Buckwheat

Spelt

Red rice

Corn

Legumes

Chick peas

Mung beans

Adzuki beans

Beluga lentils

Peas

Mushrooms

Boletus

Shiitake

Oyster

Champignon

Enokitake

Berries

Raspberries

Gooseberries

Strawberries

Blueberries

Physalis

Stone fruit

Cherries

Apricots

Nectarines

Damson plums

Peaches

Exotic fruit

Mango (Pakistani or Indian varieties)

Blood oranges

Bananas

Pineapple

Sharon

Other fruit

Tomato

Apple

Pear

Loquat

Avocado

Nuts (in a culinary, not botanical sense)

Walnuts

Brazil nuts

Cashew nuts

Pine nuts

Almonds

Herbs

Cilantro

Basil

Parsley

Dill

Oregano

Spices

Fenugreek

Black Pepper

Cardamom

Asafoetida

Turmeric

Did I forget any categories? Or any of my favorite foods? For some, it's really tough to just restrict myself to 5 (that's why the fruit section is a bit blown-up, but honestly: there are SO MANY fruits out there which are so yummy that you have to give some more a chance than just 5. Right?

favorite foods

traan laten

Upon my first visit to Rotterdam back in September 2007, they had already started demolishing the old central station building. What I saw when arrived at night and turned around upon entering the station square was not the stylish 1950s facade, designed by Sybold van Ravesteyn, with its beautiful details captured in the monochrome photos below, but a run-down, ready to be dismantled, and asbestos-contaminated ruin. Before tearing down the building, Peter Hopman and Margien Reuvekamp, designers from Bureau Lakenvelder, rearranged the letters which had formerly built the words CENTRAAL STATION on the roof of the building to the anagram TRAAN LATEN - shedding a tear.


              

Just a short while later, the letters had disappeared completely; the demolition which took 2 months, from January to March 2008, was in full flow. The photo below still shows the EXIT sculpture which was put into the front windows in 2006 by artist Onno Poiesz.

In the nine years that this construction project will have been going on by 2014, when it's scheduled to be finished with the opening of the new station square design, it will have delivered a number of incredible accomplishments (and I don't even claim completeness in my list below), considering that on average between 90,000 and 110,000 passengers had to pass through the construction site every single day (!) to catch their trains or enter the city.

Jan Roovers: Centraal Station, 1957

• The tramlines had to be rerouted and tram stops had to be moved a couple of times. 
• A new car tunnel for cars passing by on Weena was dug in front of the station square, with new bike parking facilities above ground covering it. 
• The main entrance and underground passage to the platforms were closed off. 
• A temporary station building was erected next to the former side entrance, including a number of convenience stores and food courts, and on the station square, the ever changing walkways were lined with more temporary shops.
• The former building had to be completely dismantled, but without any health hazard to the passengers using the station.
• A new underground metro station was built below the former station square; it was opened in September 2009. Because of the high groundwater level, the soil underneath the station square had to be frozen for years by driving giant cooling pipes into the ground (the green and blue ones in the photo above) so that the soil would not collapse and water wouldn't flow into the construction pit. The new Metro line E, part of Randstad Rail, was opened in 2010, leading all the way to Den Haag.

• 

  The new roof, April 2012

  A new station hall was erected where the old building used to be located - with an impressive angled roof pointing towards the city.
• The butterfly-shaped platform roofs had to be torn down, and a new glass roof with solar panels, spanning the entire width of the 16 railroad tracks, including new steel pillars to carry it, was installed instead. 
• A new underground car park is being dug on Kruisplein, opposite from the station square.
• A new bus terminal between the Groothandelsgebouw and the railroad tracks was built on the western end of the new station building.
• Instead of the old tunnel leading to the platforms, a new tunnel lined with shops and food courts was opened in November 2012. It is six times as wide as the previous one, because the Dutch railway operator ProRail expects that passenger numbers will triple by 2013.
• The temporary station building was dismantled again in early 2013.
• The station square will be freed from all construction fences and, according to the architect's plans, will become an open space lined by trees and two underground openings.

As you can see in the model above, it was planned from the beginning to bring the old letters back. They wanted to re-use the original letters from the old station which were kept in a shed. The city of Rotterdam, however, discovered in 2011 that six of them were stolen from there, which caused ProRail to make replicas - including more energy efficient LED lighting instead of the old neon illumination. An interesting bit: While the writing in the model says ROTTERDAM CENTRAAL, it will, again, show the original words CENTRAAL STATION - a breach of the official ProRail rules that a station name needs to include the name of the city. But to keep nostalgia alive, ProRail made an exception, as the friendly representative from ProRail explains in the video below.

Since this week, the letters are back, and they will officially be revealed on 7th March, 18:00 - together with the new station clock.

Upon my first visit to Rotterdam back in September 2007, they had already started demolishing the old central station building. What I saw when arrived at night and turned around upon entering the station square was not the stylish 1950s facade, designed by Sybold van Ravesteyn, with its beautiful details captured in the monochrome photos below, but a run-down, ready to be dismantled, and asbestos-contaminated ruin. Before tearing down the building, Peter Hopman and Margien Reuvekamp, designers from Bureau Lakenvelder, rearranged the letters which had formerly built the words CENTRAAL STATION on the roof of the building to the anagram TRAAN LATEN - shedding a tear.


              

Just a short while later, the letters had disappeared completely; the demolition which took 2 months, from January to March 2008, was in full flow. The photo below still shows the EXIT sculpture which was put into the front windows in 2006 by artist Onno Poiesz.

In the nine years that this construction project will have been going on by 2014, when it's scheduled to be finished with the opening of the new station square design, it will have delivered a number of incredible accomplishments (and I don't even claim completeness in my list below), considering that on average between 90,000 and 110,000 passengers had to pass through the construction site every single day (!) to catch their trains or enter the city.

Jan Roovers: Centraal Station, 1957

• The tramlines had to be rerouted and tram stops had to be moved a couple of times. 
• A new car tunnel for cars passing by on Weena was dug in front of the station square, with new bike parking facilities above ground covering it. 
• The main entrance and underground passage to the platforms were closed off. 
• A temporary station building was erected next to the former side entrance, including a number of convenience stores and food courts, and on the station square, the ever changing walkways were lined with more temporary shops.
• The former building had to be completely dismantled, but without any health hazard to the passengers using the station.
• A new underground metro station was built below the former station square; it was opened in September 2009. Because of the high groundwater level, the soil underneath the station square had to be frozen for years by driving giant cooling pipes into the ground (the green and blue ones in the photo above) so that the soil would not collapse and water wouldn't flow into the construction pit. The new Metro line E, part of Randstad Rail, was opened in 2010, leading all the way to Den Haag.

• 

  The new roof, April 2012

  A new station hall was erected where the old building used to be located - with an impressive angled roof pointing towards the city.
• The butterfly-shaped platform roofs had to be torn down, and a new glass roof with solar panels, spanning the entire width of the 16 railroad tracks, including new steel pillars to carry it, was installed instead. 
• A new underground car park is being dug on Kruisplein, opposite from the station square.
• A new bus terminal between the Groothandelsgebouw and the railroad tracks was built on the western end of the new station building.
• Instead of the old tunnel leading to the platforms, a new tunnel lined with shops and food courts was opened in November 2012. It is six times as wide as the previous one, because the Dutch railway operator ProRail expects that passenger numbers will triple by 2013.
• The temporary station building was dismantled again in early 2013.
• The station square will be freed from all construction fences and, according to the architect's plans, will become an open space lined by trees and two underground openings.

As you can see in the model above, it was planned from the beginning to bring the old letters back. They wanted to re-use the original letters from the old station which were kept in a shed. The city of Rotterdam, however, discovered in 2011 that six of them were stolen from there, which caused ProRail to make replicas - including more energy efficient LED lighting instead of the old neon illumination. An interesting bit: While the writing in the model says ROTTERDAM CENTRAAL, it will, again, show the original words CENTRAAL STATION - a breach of the official ProRail rules that a station name needs to include the name of the city. But to keep nostalgia alive, ProRail made an exception, as the friendly representative from ProRail explains in the video below.

Since this week, the letters are back, and they will officially be revealed on 7th March, 18:00 - together with the new station clock.

traan laten

veganz

Veganz is a wordplay from the German words vegan and ganz (entirely, completely). It's the name of a supermarket where all products are entirely vegan. The business started in Berlin's alternative district Prenzlauer Berg in 2011, and I had the pleasure to visit their second branch in Frankfurt last weekend, which was opened last month in the district of Bornheim - ironically right behind a little square which prominently features a bratwurst hut, so that I had to take the following picture from an angle. After the vegan Edelkiosk, a creative little coffee shop with delicious homemade vegan pies, cakes, and sandwiches that opened in March 2012, this is the second 100% vegan business to open in Frankfurt in less than a year - a fact which gives a promising outlook on the future of the food sector in the city that is more famous for its cooked ribs, beef sausages and sourmilk cheese.

Veganz - with bistro Sesame in the front on the left 

Fresh organic veggies

Upon entering the location, I was welcomed by the smell of pizza and pita bread from Sesamo, a little bakery/ bistro section, operated by Carmelo und Vincenzo-Arturo Panzarella. I visited around 1pm (lunch time), and there was a lively gathering of clients munching on vegan pizza, bagels, and salads.

But the shopping area wasn't empty either: I had to wait for people to clear the aisles a number of times so that I could take photos of the store and its products. I heard that during the opening on 18 January, the store was so packed with people that a friend of mine who went to see it had to turn around again because he couldn't get in anymore.

Fresh organic fruit

Right by the entrance you find a good variety of fresh organic fruits and vegetables, as well as seeds, nuts, and spices. This doesn't deviate much from the regular offering of any downtown organic food store in Germany or in the Netherlands. What really makes a difference though is the rest of the product range: While your average organic food store offers a large variety of animal-based products (milk, cheese, meats, fish, honey, or processed foods containing animal ingredients - and believe me, once you're beyond 45, it sucks having to decipher the small print on the labels, particularly in Dutch!), everything you can buy in here is animal-free and not tested on animals either.

Nuts by the bulk

I had the opportunity to talk to the manager and co-owner, Olivera Miloradovic, who told me that it was her initiative to open this store in the rooms of a former drugstore branch. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, she got in touch with Jan Bredack, the founder of the Berlin headquarter, and tried to talk him into opening another location in Frankfurt. At first he was hesitant in spite of the huge success of his initial operation, but she insisted, and so they teamed up to open this place, drawing on the same successful concept of a one-stop shopping venue for vegans and the same supplier base.

A conventional organic store has no more than a handful of suppliers from who they buy most of their products. On their 200 square meters (approximately 2,150 sqft) in Frankfurt, Veganz offers 6,000 entirely plant-based products from all over the world which they procure via more than 100 different producers or intermediaries. A lot of the products come from organic sources, and all of them are GMO-free, according to EU law.

Being a former cheese addict, I was particularly stunned by the large variety of high-quality non-dairy cheeses. Here in the Netherlands, we know only a few: The US brands Tofutti and Sheese, UK-based Cheezly, but with a limited product range (usually only 2-3 varieties at most, and those are rather bland and not very alluring), and if you're lucky, you can get your hands on the Swiss Vegusto No-Muh Chäs. The German Wilmersburger, available as slices or grated and hugely successful in its home country because it comes incredibly close to dairy cheese in terms of taste, texture, and behavior, has just lately been swapping across the border, but there are only a handful of outlets yet, such as de Vegetarische Slager (the vegetarian butcher) and the recently opened veggie4u in Den Haag, or the online seller Veggiedeli. Here, I found products and brands I had never heard of before, including a non-dairy cheese called Jeezini by Vegourmet, an Austrian producer, which I instantly fell in love with.

The non-dairy dairy section

Like Wilmersburger, it comes incredibly close to dairy cheese, and their variety with Herbs de Provence is just heavenly! At €1.65 per 100g, it's even slightly cheaper than Wilmersburger which costs €1.99 for the same quantity. I hope that one of the Dutch vendors in the region will pick it up soon. This is too good to only have it every few months when I go to Germany!

Spreads, preserves, and instant products

I also couldn't resist to try an alternative whipping cream from Soyatoo, another German venture which I know from the versatile and tasty soy whip they have already been offering in the Netherlands for a while; here at Veganz, they also have rice whip and coconut whip. I haven't tried it yet, but if their soy whip is anything to go by, it will be delicious.

Mock fish and meats

The huge wall cooler that offers mock meat and mock fish is equally impressive: Soy tuna, mock fish steaks, and I even found a pack of vegan scampis which don't only behave like scampis when grilling or frying them and have the same texture to the bite, but even taste like them!

Supplements

Vantastic Foods

Cook books and pet food

Another fridge sports all the product range from Vantastic Foods, one of Germany's leading producers of mock fish and mock meat products.

And, of course, I was allured by the large variety of vegan chocolate bars: When I was still eating dairy, one of my favorites was the white chocolate with strawberries from Divine, but during the past year-and-a-half, I had to resort to dark chocolates, because that's almost all you can get as a vegan in the Netherlands. Not so here: I found a super-delicious bar of white Schakalode with sour cherries, also made by the German producer Vantastic Foods (who I mentioned above in the section about the vegan fish replacements).

Apart from a jealousy-inducing variety of meat and dairy replacers and vegan snacks, Veganz also offers 100% plant-based care products, household cleaners, vegan pet food, baby food, and a section with frozen products, such as baked convenience foods and, of course, non-dairy ice cream.

Frozen goods, spices, sauces, and dips

Furthermore, you can buy a whole range of vegan supplements, including the famous VEG 1 pills from the UK vegan society which Joey and I have been eating for a while already and which give us the necessary amount of vitamin B12, but also some extra vitamin D (from plant sources), selenium, zinc, folic acid, B2, B6, and iodine. The store even has printed literature about veganism, as well as cook books with delicious recipes.

Household cleaners and personal care

Here's my catch of the day (some of the products in the back are from the drugstore chain DM, another great German outlet for vegans):



What Olivera likes most about her new shop? All the happy people! "When I see the smiling faces of vegans coming here for the first time who are swept off their feet by the range of products and telling my staff and me how grateful they are to have found a place like this, that is the best reward you can hope for."

Veganz is located at the following address:
Spessartstraße 2
60385 Frankfurt am Main
Fon: +49 69 23807792
Fax: +49 69 90437449
Opening hours: Mon - Sat 8:00 - 20:00 Uhr

Veganz is a wordplay from the German words vegan and ganz (entirely, completely). It's the name of a supermarket where all products are entirely vegan. The business started in Berlin's alternative district Prenzlauer Berg in 2011, and I had the pleasure to visit their second branch in Frankfurt last weekend, which was opened last month in the district of Bornheim - ironically right behind a little square which prominently features a bratwurst hut, so that I had to take the following picture from an angle. After the vegan Edelkiosk, a creative little coffee shop with delicious homemade vegan pies, cakes, and sandwiches that opened in March 2012, this is the second 100% vegan business to open in Frankfurt in less than a year - a fact which gives a promising outlook on the future of the food sector in the city that is more famous for its cooked ribs, beef sausages and sourmilk cheese.

Veganz - with bistro Sesame in the front on the left 

Fresh organic veggies

Upon entering the location, I was welcomed by the smell of pizza and pita bread from Sesamo, a little bakery/ bistro section, operated by Carmelo und Vincenzo-Arturo Panzarella. I visited around 1pm (lunch time), and there was a lively gathering of clients munching on vegan pizza, bagels, and salads.

But the shopping area wasn't empty either: I had to wait for people to clear the aisles a number of times so that I could take photos of the store and its products. I heard that during the opening on 18 January, the store was so packed with people that a friend of mine who went to see it had to turn around again because he couldn't get in anymore.

Fresh organic fruit

Right by the entrance you find a good variety of fresh organic fruits and vegetables, as well as seeds, nuts, and spices. This doesn't deviate much from the regular offering of any downtown organic food store in Germany or in the Netherlands. What really makes a difference though is the rest of the product range: While your average organic food store offers a large variety of animal-based products (milk, cheese, meats, fish, honey, or processed foods containing animal ingredients - and believe me, once you're beyond 45, it sucks having to decipher the small print on the labels, particularly in Dutch!), everything you can buy in here is animal-free and not tested on animals either.

Nuts by the bulk

I had the opportunity to talk to the manager and co-owner, Olivera Miloradovic, who told me that it was her initiative to open this store in the rooms of a former drugstore branch. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, she got in touch with Jan Bredack, the founder of the Berlin headquarter, and tried to talk him into opening another location in Frankfurt. At first he was hesitant in spite of the huge success of his initial operation, but she insisted, and so they teamed up to open this place, drawing on the same successful concept of a one-stop shopping venue for vegans and the same supplier base.

A conventional organic store has no more than a handful of suppliers from who they buy most of their products. On their 200 square meters (approximately 2,150 sqft) in Frankfurt, Veganz offers 6,000 entirely plant-based products from all over the world which they procure via more than 100 different producers or intermediaries. A lot of the products come from organic sources, and all of them are GMO-free, according to EU law.

Being a former cheese addict, I was particularly stunned by the large variety of high-quality non-dairy cheeses. Here in the Netherlands, we know only a few: The US brands Tofutti and Sheese, UK-based Cheezly, but with a limited product range (usually only 2-3 varieties at most, and those are rather bland and not very alluring), and if you're lucky, you can get your hands on the Swiss Vegusto No-Muh Chäs. The German Wilmersburger, available as slices or grated and hugely successful in its home country because it comes incredibly close to dairy cheese in terms of taste, texture, and behavior, has just lately been swapping across the border, but there are only a handful of outlets yet, such as de Vegetarische Slager (the vegetarian butcher) and the recently opened veggie4u in Den Haag, or the online seller Veggiedeli. Here, I found products and brands I had never heard of before, including a non-dairy cheese called Jeezini by Vegourmet, an Austrian producer, which I instantly fell in love with.

The non-dairy dairy section

Like Wilmersburger, it comes incredibly close to dairy cheese, and their variety with Herbs de Provence is just heavenly! At €1.65 per 100g, it's even slightly cheaper than Wilmersburger which costs €1.99 for the same quantity. I hope that one of the Dutch vendors in the region will pick it up soon. This is too good to only have it every few months when I go to Germany!

Spreads, preserves, and instant products

I also couldn't resist to try an alternative whipping cream from Soyatoo, another German venture which I know from the versatile and tasty soy whip they have already been offering in the Netherlands for a while; here at Veganz, they also have rice whip and coconut whip. I haven't tried it yet, but if their soy whip is anything to go by, it will be delicious.

Mock fish and meats

The huge wall cooler that offers mock meat and mock fish is equally impressive: Soy tuna, mock fish steaks, and I even found a pack of vegan scampis which don't only behave like scampis when grilling or frying them and have the same texture to the bite, but even taste like them!

Supplements

Vantastic Foods

Cook books and pet food

Another fridge sports all the product range from Vantastic Foods, one of Germany's leading producers of mock fish and mock meat products.

And, of course, I was allured by the large variety of vegan chocolate bars: When I was still eating dairy, one of my favorites was the white chocolate with strawberries from Divine, but during the past year-and-a-half, I had to resort to dark chocolates, because that's almost all you can get as a vegan in the Netherlands. Not so here: I found a super-delicious bar of white Schakalode with sour cherries, also made by the German producer Vantastic Foods (who I mentioned above in the section about the vegan fish replacements).

Apart from a jealousy-inducing variety of meat and dairy replacers and vegan snacks, Veganz also offers 100% plant-based care products, household cleaners, vegan pet food, baby food, and a section with frozen products, such as baked convenience foods and, of course, non-dairy ice cream.

Frozen goods, spices, sauces, and dips

Furthermore, you can buy a whole range of vegan supplements, including the famous VEG 1 pills from the UK vegan society which Joey and I have been eating for a while already and which give us the necessary amount of vitamin B12, but also some extra vitamin D (from plant sources), selenium, zinc, folic acid, B2, B6, and iodine. The store even has printed literature about veganism, as well as cook books with delicious recipes.

Household cleaners and personal care

Here's my catch of the day (some of the products in the back are from the drugstore chain DM, another great German outlet for vegans):



What Olivera likes most about her new shop? All the happy people! "When I see the smiling faces of vegans coming here for the first time who are swept off their feet by the range of products and telling my staff and me how grateful they are to have found a place like this, that is the best reward you can hope for."

Veganz is located at the following address:
Spessartstraße 2
60385 Frankfurt am Main
Fon: +49 69 23807792
Fax: +49 69 90437449
Opening hours: Mon - Sat 8:00 - 20:00 Uhr

veganz

identity and influence

A few weeks ago I was invited to a Facebook group called Vegan Debate. All of its members are either vegans or cattle ranchers. That is quite an extraordinary combination - one where you would expect a lot of heated discussions going on, with flaming and trolling and name calling. Of course, there are the occasional culture clashes, but in general, the tone of voice is rather civilized. Most discussions have recently been started by the ranchers who are curious about certain aspects in the lives of us strange people who don't eat animals, such as: "Which food do you miss most since you went vegan?", "What's wrong with eating honey?", or "What do you wear instead of wool sweaters in winter?" Some of the questions are also geared towards ethical dilemmas, such as "Those Vegans that have pets, what is your view on spaying and neutering?", "How can someone with insulin problems i.e. diabetes ever become vegan?", or "How do you all feel about working dogs?" There's a lot of discussion going on in this group, and it is interesting to read the different points of view - in spite of my general observation that in terms of arguments, carnists mostly lose in the end, and the only remaining reasons to eat meat, after dissecting all their other arguments, are taste and convenience. Even though some of them don't admit to that, but discredit the numerous medical and environmental studies which clearly show the detriments of an omnivorous diet.

Eating entirely plant-based has become a strong part of my identity. Not only has it entered most of my About Me statements in social media (along with being a queer bicyclist, photographer, leftie, environmentalist, German living in the Netherlands and married to an American - in various combinations), but I also realized it the other day when I was thinking about who I would rather spend holidays with: A bunch of vegan straight people vs a bunch of carnivorous gays and lesbians. A bunch of vegans who speak a language I don't understand, or a bunch of omnivores who speak one of my languages. A bunch of vegan car drivers vs. a bunch of meat-eating bicyclists. A bunch of vegan teenage hip-hoppers vs a bunch of carnist alternative rockers. If you had asked me two years ago, I would have preferred the gays over the straight ones, the ones whose language I speak over the strangers, the bikers over the car drivers, and the rockers over the teenage hip-hoppers. Today, I would almost always choose the vegans for travel companions. Food is just such a huge part of life, and when traveling it's often hard enough anyway to find food that doesn't contain animals, but even harder if you're out with omnivores who don't really care what they eat, as long as it's tasty, convenient, and inexpensive. But more than that, I think I've started to trust vegans more than non-vegans. Which is really remarkable, since a few years ago, even when I already was a vegetarian, I used to find them strange or extreme, ascetics, without a sense for pleasure, on the border to being self-flagellants. Little did I know!

Since going vegan, I rediscovered taste. The food I eat today is so much better, more varied, and more flavorful than the food I used to eat even when I was a vegetarian. Don't get me wrong: I am sure I would still love to taste a mackerel or a good piece of French cheese, and maybe even some Serrano or Parma ham (although I think I would find it way too salty by now, but who knows - it's been over a decade now that I have eaten meat, so I barely remember its taste). But the food I eat now is not less enjoyable. Some of the tastes I discovered are truly outstanding, and I also feel that it's much better for my body in terms of weight, acid reflux, energy level, skin, and joints, than a diet that relied to a substantial part on animal products. Apart from that, I also have a clean conscience in terms of the environment, world hunger, and animal welfare.

Granted, I've alienated or even lost a couple of friends by communicating (a lot) about veganism. It's usually people who either choose to ignore these issues, because, well, BACON, or who, for whatever reason, believe that they fare better going on a low carb / Paleo diet and engage in lengthy discussions about the various ways they believe meat is good for you, or simply deny these effects, much like they deny climate change. I am always happy to debate (even with cattle ranchers). But if I do so, I like to debate in a classy way, without insults, and by using well-founded arguments and credible data. Which is why I was happy to stumble upon a nifty little website called yourlogicalfallacyis.com a few weeks ago. It lists and explains the most common logical fallacies. I've encountered most of them in my discussions about veganism, but most frequently the one called appeal to nature ('Eating animals is natural for humans!'), the one labeled anecdotal ("I once didn't eat meat for a week and I felt really sick!" or "I once tried a tofu burger, but it tasted like rubber!"), bandwagon ("Eating animals is part of our culture!" or "Everybody does it - so you're the freak!") and tu quoque ("You say you care for the environment, but you still use airplanes yourself!"). It's a really nice tool, and you can just share the appropriate hyperlink in a debate where someone commits a logical fallacy instead of trying to argue with them.

What makes me really happy though are the people who did not block my Facebook posts or unfriend me on Facebook or in real life, but instead told me that my communication about eating animals has made them think; so much that some of them quit eating meat or dairy or at least considerably reduced their overall intake of animal products. I would never have thought that my communication could actually have an impact on other people's behavior, but that's what it did - and that is wonderful. Thank you, Michael, Max, Barbara, Joe, Beth, Karen, Crystal, Diane, Stefanie, Linda, Jenie, Joy, Stefan, and Trini - and anyone else who I forgot on this list. Thank you all you numerous others who have asked me for recipes because the photos of the dishes I've been cooking, taken with my cell phone, look yummy enough to make you want to cook them too. Thank you for not looking away when I post pictures of farm animals kept in poor, inhumane standards, thank you for still letting their fates touch your hearts and for participating less often in this cruel and unnecessary practice. You're doing the right thing - for your health, but also for the environment, your fellow-humans in developing countries, and for the animals.

The future is vegan. And no cattle rancher can stop us.

A few weeks ago I was invited to a Facebook group called Vegan Debate. All of its members are either vegans or cattle ranchers. That is quite an extraordinary combination - one where you would expect a lot of heated discussions going on, with flaming and trolling and name calling. Of course, there are the occasional culture clashes, but in general, the tone of voice is rather civilized. Most discussions have recently been started by the ranchers who are curious about certain aspects in the lives of us strange people who don't eat animals, such as: "Which food do you miss most since you went vegan?", "What's wrong with eating honey?", or "What do you wear instead of wool sweaters in winter?" Some of the questions are also geared towards ethical dilemmas, such as "Those Vegans that have pets, what is your view on spaying and neutering?", "How can someone with insulin problems i.e. diabetes ever become vegan?", or "How do you all feel about working dogs?" There's a lot of discussion going on in this group, and it is interesting to read the different points of view - in spite of my general observation that in terms of arguments, carnists mostly lose in the end, and the only remaining reasons to eat meat, after dissecting all their other arguments, are taste and convenience. Even though some of them don't admit to that, but discredit the numerous medical and environmental studies which clearly show the detriments of an omnivorous diet.

Eating entirely plant-based has become a strong part of my identity. Not only has it entered most of my About Me statements in social media (along with being a queer bicyclist, photographer, leftie, environmentalist, German living in the Netherlands and married to an American - in various combinations), but I also realized it the other day when I was thinking about who I would rather spend holidays with: A bunch of vegan straight people vs a bunch of carnivorous gays and lesbians. A bunch of vegans who speak a language I don't understand, or a bunch of omnivores who speak one of my languages. A bunch of vegan car drivers vs. a bunch of meat-eating bicyclists. A bunch of vegan teenage hip-hoppers vs a bunch of carnist alternative rockers. If you had asked me two years ago, I would have preferred the gays over the straight ones, the ones whose language I speak over the strangers, the bikers over the car drivers, and the rockers over the teenage hip-hoppers. Today, I would almost always choose the vegans for travel companions. Food is just such a huge part of life, and when traveling it's often hard enough anyway to find food that doesn't contain animals, but even harder if you're out with omnivores who don't really care what they eat, as long as it's tasty, convenient, and inexpensive. But more than that, I think I've started to trust vegans more than non-vegans. Which is really remarkable, since a few years ago, even when I already was a vegetarian, I used to find them strange or extreme, ascetics, without a sense for pleasure, on the border to being self-flagellants. Little did I know!

Since going vegan, I rediscovered taste. The food I eat today is so much better, more varied, and more flavorful than the food I used to eat even when I was a vegetarian. Don't get me wrong: I am sure I would still love to taste a mackerel or a good piece of French cheese, and maybe even some Serrano or Parma ham (although I think I would find it way too salty by now, but who knows - it's been over a decade now that I have eaten meat, so I barely remember its taste). But the food I eat now is not less enjoyable. Some of the tastes I discovered are truly outstanding, and I also feel that it's much better for my body in terms of weight, acid reflux, energy level, skin, and joints, than a diet that relied to a substantial part on animal products. Apart from that, I also have a clean conscience in terms of the environment, world hunger, and animal welfare.

Granted, I've alienated or even lost a couple of friends by communicating (a lot) about veganism. It's usually people who either choose to ignore these issues, because, well, BACON, or who, for whatever reason, believe that they fare better going on a low carb / Paleo diet and engage in lengthy discussions about the various ways they believe meat is good for you, or simply deny these effects, much like they deny climate change. I am always happy to debate (even with cattle ranchers). But if I do so, I like to debate in a classy way, without insults, and by using well-founded arguments and credible data. Which is why I was happy to stumble upon a nifty little website called yourlogicalfallacyis.com a few weeks ago. It lists and explains the most common logical fallacies. I've encountered most of them in my discussions about veganism, but most frequently the one called appeal to nature ('Eating animals is natural for humans!'), the one labeled anecdotal ("I once didn't eat meat for a week and I felt really sick!" or "I once tried a tofu burger, but it tasted like rubber!"), bandwagon ("Eating animals is part of our culture!" or "Everybody does it - so you're the freak!") and tu quoque ("You say you care for the environment, but you still use airplanes yourself!"). It's a really nice tool, and you can just share the appropriate hyperlink in a debate where someone commits a logical fallacy instead of trying to argue with them.

What makes me really happy though are the people who did not block my Facebook posts or unfriend me on Facebook or in real life, but instead told me that my communication about eating animals has made them think; so much that some of them quit eating meat or dairy or at least considerably reduced their overall intake of animal products. I would never have thought that my communication could actually have an impact on other people's behavior, but that's what it did - and that is wonderful. Thank you, Michael, Max, Barbara, Joe, Beth, Karen, Crystal, Diane, Stefanie, Linda, Jenie, Joy, Stefan, and Trini - and anyone else who I forgot on this list. Thank you all you numerous others who have asked me for recipes because the photos of the dishes I've been cooking, taken with my cell phone, look yummy enough to make you want to cook them too. Thank you for not looking away when I post pictures of farm animals kept in poor, inhumane standards, thank you for still letting their fates touch your hearts and for participating less often in this cruel and unnecessary practice. You're doing the right thing - for your health, but also for the environment, your fellow-humans in developing countries, and for the animals.

The future is vegan. And no cattle rancher can stop us.

identity and influence

stew

The new year is already a week old, today was my fourth work day again, and the weather is the typical Dutch winter drizzle, with rather moderate temperatures, but lots of precipitation. When biking home tonight, the wind and rain in my face, I was thinking of the soup recipe I had read earlier in the day and was really looking forward to making it. But above all, to eating it.

As usual, I didn't follow through with it item by item, but made my little individual tweaks and improvisations, such as replacing the honey they were advocating by agave syrup and the stock with veggie boullion, and - revolution! - not pureeing the whole batch when it was ready, but instead leaving the ingredients whole and thus changing it from a creamy vegetable soup to something like a meatless stew.

Watch out, here comes the modified version:

3 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, peeled and chopped
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
4 cloves garlic, crushed
3 cm piece of root ginger, peeled and grated
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp hot paprika powder
1 tsp mustard seeds
600 g chickpeas (canned or boiled)
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp agave syrup
1.5 liter vegetable bouillon
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
300g fresh wild spinach, chopped in thumb-sized pieces

• Heat the oil in a large soup pot and gently fry the onion for about 2 minutes on medium heat.
• Add the sweet potato, garlic and ginger and fry for a further minute or two. Add the cumin, cinnamon, cayenne and mustard seeds and cook for 2 minutes, gently stirring the mixture all the time.
• Stir in the chickpeas, the tomatoes and the agave syrup and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Stir in the stock and bring the mixture to the boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the sweet potato is tender. Season with salt and black pepper.
• Stir in the spinach leaves and cook for a further minute or two until the spinach is wilted.
• Serve hot. Makes about 8 bowls.

It was utterly delicious. I ate three bowls - not because I was that hungry, but because I couldn't get enough from the heavenly spices (oh - cinnamon! oh - ginger!) and the fantastic oriental taste. And did I mention that I just love chickpeas, sweet potatoes, and spinach, but never ate them together yet?

We still have quite a bit left, now resting in the fridge, and I am already looking forward to taking it to the office on Wednesday (tomorrow we have a department New Year's lunch, so I don't need to bring my own food).

Also: Definitely worth repeating.

The new year is already a week old, today was my fourth work day again, and the weather is the typical Dutch winter drizzle, with rather moderate temperatures, but lots of precipitation. When biking home tonight, the wind and rain in my face, I was thinking of the soup recipe I had read earlier in the day and was really looking forward to making it. But above all, to eating it.

As usual, I didn't follow through with it item by item, but made my little individual tweaks and improvisations, such as replacing the honey they were advocating by agave syrup and the stock with veggie boullion, and - revolution! - not pureeing the whole batch when it was ready, but instead leaving the ingredients whole and thus changing it from a creamy vegetable soup to something like a meatless stew.

Watch out, here comes the modified version:

3 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, peeled and chopped
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
4 cloves garlic, crushed
3 cm piece of root ginger, peeled and grated
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp hot paprika powder
1 tsp mustard seeds
600 g chickpeas (canned or boiled)
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp agave syrup
1.5 liter vegetable bouillon
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
300g fresh wild spinach, chopped in thumb-sized pieces

• Heat the oil in a large soup pot and gently fry the onion for about 2 minutes on medium heat.
• Add the sweet potato, garlic and ginger and fry for a further minute or two. Add the cumin, cinnamon, cayenne and mustard seeds and cook for 2 minutes, gently stirring the mixture all the time.
• Stir in the chickpeas, the tomatoes and the agave syrup and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Stir in the stock and bring the mixture to the boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the sweet potato is tender. Season with salt and black pepper.
• Stir in the spinach leaves and cook for a further minute or two until the spinach is wilted.
• Serve hot. Makes about 8 bowls.

It was utterly delicious. I ate three bowls - not because I was that hungry, but because I couldn't get enough from the heavenly spices (oh - cinnamon! oh - ginger!) and the fantastic oriental taste. And did I mention that I just love chickpeas, sweet potatoes, and spinach, but never ate them together yet?

We still have quite a bit left, now resting in the fridge, and I am already looking forward to taking it to the office on Wednesday (tomorrow we have a department New Year's lunch, so I don't need to bring my own food).

Also: Definitely worth repeating.

stew

kicking out 2012

2012 is coming to an end, and so is the mini-break I've had from work the past week. Two more days, and the times of veggnog, endless rounds of Zuma Blitz, grocery runs and shopping sprees in the middle of the day, or biking out to my favorite vegan cupcakery in the pouring rain will be over. I've had a list of things to do during the week. It contained, in no particular order:

1. Fix bathroom lamp which threatens to fall off the ceiling
2. Hang pictures/ frames
3. Clean air vents in the whole house
4. Wash bedding
5. Get linocut material
6. Make linocuts
7. Visit Spa Gouda
8. Make veggnog
9. Go to the first ever Christmas Market (KerstGarten) in Rotterdam
10. See Diane Arbus in Amsterdam
11. See Lewis Hine in Rotterdam
12. Watch Life of Pi
13. Visit the China Light exhibition in the park
14. Go to the Vegan Christmas Dinner with our friends Arian and George
15. Put all my life's vacations ever (at least those I can still remember) on the Facebook Timeline
16. Construct the twin lens reflex kit camera and go shooting
17. Cancel the digital SPIEGEL subscription
18. Order 4 packs of cat litter for delivery at home
19. Listen to the Norah Jones album my friend Werner gave me for my birthday
20. Re-watch Bowling for Columbine
21. Meet Christine from the PlentyFood
22. Go on a one-week juice fast

Veggnog - delicous

Now, that last point was a stupid thing to plan over the holidays, and totally not in conjunction with #8, of which we made and drank plenty (yesterday we recycled two brandy bottles, and one of the rum bottles is almost done too). Which is why we ditched #22 pretty early on into the week. We still made a lot of juice, and drank it too, but we also had plenty of less healthy holiday food - even though no animals or animal products.

The DIY TLR

In the crafty department, I managed to fix the bathroom lamp today, and I built the TLR two days ago and took a few photos with it, although the film is still far from full. The pictures I had been planning to hang are still off the walls - one of the problems is that most of the walls of our apartment  are ferroconcrete, which makes hanging pictures involve a hammer drill, anchors, and screws. And the wrath of all the neighbors in the house.

Linocut material

But even though I did get the linocut stuff already on my last workday, I haven't cut anything yet. Joey said we should do that tomorrow. She always likes to get artsy on New Year's Eve.

We visited the Christmas Market on Christmas Eve (when there wasn't a lot going on anymore), but we found it a bit disappointing since it featured mostly dead animals or their coagulated excretions for consumption. I hung out with Christine over a hummus sandwich and a soy latte on a rainy day in the comfy rocking chairs at New Fork, which was nice and possibly interesting in terms of future common projects with PlentyFood.

Joey, Arian, George, and I went to the Christmas dinner and had oodles of fun, particularly with the ice fondue, and I visited Jessica twice at her cupcakery where I also got to meet Julia from the Vega Rotterdam FB group for the first time as well as another woman who had both her breasts amputated and is now on a vegan diet (I loved her, she was so positive about everything).

A vegan cupcake from
Heavenly Cupcakes Rotterdam

Yesterday I checked out a new coffee shop in the neighborhood (Valente) and found out that they have soy latte, but nothing to eat for me (same story as usual: sandwiches with meat and/ or cheese, and cakes made with eggs and cream). When I asked them why not, they said that I'm the first customer in 4 weeks to ask for it. The Netherlands are such a developing country! I will still work on them to get at least some hummus or guacamole in. While sipping on my soy latte, I got a What's App message from Peet who was in the neighborhood shooting the sunset over the river and asking if I wanted to drop by. I biked over, and he introduced me to Irma, an old friend of his who is Dutch, but has been living in Germany for 20 years now, which I enjoyed. In terms of socializing, this is plenty for a week, considering my usual anti-social tendencies.

At the movies - Life of Pi in 3D

The media-and-arts-consumption department yielded a 3D show of Life of Pi (which I enjoyed tremendously), as well as the scheduled re-watch of Bowling for Columbine (Joey hadn't seen it yet, it's still pretty impressive), checking out the Norah Jones CD (which is kind of sad), but missing out so far on Diane Arbus and Lewis Hine (although we tried to see Hine, but the stupid museum was closed on Christmas Eve because it was a Monday). China Light was absolutely great, a real highlight in the vast array of Rotterdam festivals. We spent around 5 hours there, roaming around, taking photos of all the colorful displays, and enjoying the serene and peaceful atmosphere without the usually ubiquitous blazing techno music anywhere.

The dragon at the China Light festival

We got the cat litter and washed the sheets, but the air vents are still yucky. Maybe tomorrow. And I still need to get the vacations history sorted out. Maybe tonight.

Juicing

As for the new year, the juice fast is still on the list. I was hesitating to do this during a work week, because then I would have to bring at least 3 bottles of juice to work each day so that I won't get cranky from being hungry (which is always my biggest fear). But maybe I should at least give it a try.

Furthermore, I really want to be in the water more. It's actually not so much about swimming, but more about floating and moving in the water. I might sign up for one of the Aquarobics classes at the Van Maanenbad.

My biggest resolution, however, is to speak more Dutch. Everyone says that my Dutch is good, and I understand around 98% of everything everybody says, but at work I only speak English, at home I only speak English, and I rarely meet Dutch people without Joey being present, so I mostly speak English with them too. Joey will take another Dutch class, which is fabulous, but right now, her Dutch isn't yet good enough to participate in a conversation without frequent interruptions. Apart from being an awful and impatient teacher, I also still make too many mistakes myself and don't know all the grammar rules by heart, so she's better off practicing with patient Dutch natives than with me. A few weeks ago I've signed up for a number of vegan Facebook groups which are 100% Dutch, and I contribute quite a lot there (and all in Dutch), but my spoken Dutch still needs improvement in terms of active vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation - something which will only come if I really practice it. So, I will have to get social.

Watch out, 2013. I'm ready for you.

2012 is coming to an end, and so is the mini-break I've had from work the past week. Two more days, and the times of veggnog, endless rounds of Zuma Blitz, grocery runs and shopping sprees in the middle of the day, or biking out to my favorite vegan cupcakery in the pouring rain will be over. I've had a list of things to do during the week. It contained, in no particular order:

1. Fix bathroom lamp which threatens to fall off the ceiling
2. Hang pictures/ frames
3. Clean air vents in the whole house
4. Wash bedding
5. Get linocut material
6. Make linocuts
7. Visit Spa Gouda
8. Make veggnog
9. Go to the first ever Christmas Market (KerstGarten) in Rotterdam
10. See Diane Arbus in Amsterdam
11. See Lewis Hine in Rotterdam
12. Watch Life of Pi
13. Visit the China Light exhibition in the park
14. Go to the Vegan Christmas Dinner with our friends Arian and George
15. Put all my life's vacations ever (at least those I can still remember) on the Facebook Timeline
16. Construct the twin lens reflex kit camera and go shooting
17. Cancel the digital SPIEGEL subscription
18. Order 4 packs of cat litter for delivery at home
19. Listen to the Norah Jones album my friend Werner gave me for my birthday
20. Re-watch Bowling for Columbine
21. Meet Christine from the PlentyFood
22. Go on a one-week juice fast

Veggnog - delicous

Now, that last point was a stupid thing to plan over the holidays, and totally not in conjunction with #8, of which we made and drank plenty (yesterday we recycled two brandy bottles, and one of the rum bottles is almost done too). Which is why we ditched #22 pretty early on into the week. We still made a lot of juice, and drank it too, but we also had plenty of less healthy holiday food - even though no animals or animal products.

The DIY TLR

In the crafty department, I managed to fix the bathroom lamp today, and I built the TLR two days ago and took a few photos with it, although the film is still far from full. The pictures I had been planning to hang are still off the walls - one of the problems is that most of the walls of our apartment  are ferroconcrete, which makes hanging pictures involve a hammer drill, anchors, and screws. And the wrath of all the neighbors in the house.

Linocut material

But even though I did get the linocut stuff already on my last workday, I haven't cut anything yet. Joey said we should do that tomorrow. She always likes to get artsy on New Year's Eve.

We visited the Christmas Market on Christmas Eve (when there wasn't a lot going on anymore), but we found it a bit disappointing since it featured mostly dead animals or their coagulated excretions for consumption. I hung out with Christine over a hummus sandwich and a soy latte on a rainy day in the comfy rocking chairs at New Fork, which was nice and possibly interesting in terms of future common projects with PlentyFood.

Joey, Arian, George, and I went to the Christmas dinner and had oodles of fun, particularly with the ice fondue, and I visited Jessica twice at her cupcakery where I also got to meet Julia from the Vega Rotterdam FB group for the first time as well as another woman who had both her breasts amputated and is now on a vegan diet (I loved her, she was so positive about everything).

A vegan cupcake from
Heavenly Cupcakes Rotterdam

Yesterday I checked out a new coffee shop in the neighborhood (Valente) and found out that they have soy latte, but nothing to eat for me (same story as usual: sandwiches with meat and/ or cheese, and cakes made with eggs and cream). When I asked them why not, they said that I'm the first customer in 4 weeks to ask for it. The Netherlands are such a developing country! I will still work on them to get at least some hummus or guacamole in. While sipping on my soy latte, I got a What's App message from Peet who was in the neighborhood shooting the sunset over the river and asking if I wanted to drop by. I biked over, and he introduced me to Irma, an old friend of his who is Dutch, but has been living in Germany for 20 years now, which I enjoyed. In terms of socializing, this is plenty for a week, considering my usual anti-social tendencies.

At the movies - Life of Pi in 3D

The media-and-arts-consumption department yielded a 3D show of Life of Pi (which I enjoyed tremendously), as well as the scheduled re-watch of Bowling for Columbine (Joey hadn't seen it yet, it's still pretty impressive), checking out the Norah Jones CD (which is kind of sad), but missing out so far on Diane Arbus and Lewis Hine (although we tried to see Hine, but the stupid museum was closed on Christmas Eve because it was a Monday). China Light was absolutely great, a real highlight in the vast array of Rotterdam festivals. We spent around 5 hours there, roaming around, taking photos of all the colorful displays, and enjoying the serene and peaceful atmosphere without the usually ubiquitous blazing techno music anywhere.

The dragon at the China Light festival

We got the cat litter and washed the sheets, but the air vents are still yucky. Maybe tomorrow. And I still need to get the vacations history sorted out. Maybe tonight.

Juicing

As for the new year, the juice fast is still on the list. I was hesitating to do this during a work week, because then I would have to bring at least 3 bottles of juice to work each day so that I won't get cranky from being hungry (which is always my biggest fear). But maybe I should at least give it a try.

Furthermore, I really want to be in the water more. It's actually not so much about swimming, but more about floating and moving in the water. I might sign up for one of the Aquarobics classes at the Van Maanenbad.

My biggest resolution, however, is to speak more Dutch. Everyone says that my Dutch is good, and I understand around 98% of everything everybody says, but at work I only speak English, at home I only speak English, and I rarely meet Dutch people without Joey being present, so I mostly speak English with them too. Joey will take another Dutch class, which is fabulous, but right now, her Dutch isn't yet good enough to participate in a conversation without frequent interruptions. Apart from being an awful and impatient teacher, I also still make too many mistakes myself and don't know all the grammar rules by heart, so she's better off practicing with patient Dutch natives than with me. A few weeks ago I've signed up for a number of vegan Facebook groups which are 100% Dutch, and I contribute quite a lot there (and all in Dutch), but my spoken Dutch still needs improvement in terms of active vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation - something which will only come if I really practice it. So, I will have to get social.

Watch out, 2013. I'm ready for you.

kicking out 2012