Sentient Beings

Thank you Andy for bringing up a wonderful point that gets lost on a lot of Animal Rights people. When I speak of 'sentience', I use the old definition used by Buddhists, which tends to be incomplete. A Sentient Lifeform as it pertains to the Buddhist and Hindu world-view simply states that a being is 'sentient' when they can feel pain and have some semblance of consciousness. Buddhist never tried to understand the physiological aspects of this, they were merely pointing out that we cannot cause harm to any being unnecessarily. As for me, I know for a fact that animals can feel pain; not necessarily in the manner of which WE as humans do, but we will never know that for sure since they cannot communicate with us. If we had a term for 'being that can feel pain, has SOME consciousness (even though we cannot discern), and is "valuable" then that is the term I would use. My use of Sentient is merely making up for the lack of specific terminology in this regard.

I feel that certainty is also a problem when discussing things of this nature. As with Religion, I do not like when anyone is "certain" they are right. I hold dearly to the idea that all Life is sacred; does not mean we cannot eat animals. Life begets death begets life in the circle of Samsara (for the Buddhists) means that some die, some live. It is HOW the life is taken that is the issue for me. MOST people in this world do not give a shit about from where their dinner comes. Most Christians, Jews, and Muslims believe that God gave them dominion over the animals and therefore should not care about them. The Pure Science version seems to be in line with the Pure Religion version here; neither of which give a second thought to being Compassionate. I also hold dear the fact that I might be wrong, which keeps me on my toes and allows me to fully delve into the issues.

All in all, Sentience does not enter into it (shout out to Monty!). The term is a human construct and has had different meanings in different times. Compassion makes one rethink from where their dinner comes, and most people if they really thought about it would come to the conclusion that the current system is terrible. I hope that we can all agree that cages where chickens, pigs, and veal calves cannot even turn around should be BANNED.

Restaurants- Long Island, NY

The first place to mention from my time on Long Island would be Croxley Ale House in Farmingdale.
Croxley Ale House has four locations in the the greater New York area. The location I visited was the one in Farmingdale, near Melville; on Long Island. I had the pleasure of eating here twice on my visit. It is a great place in downtown Farmingdale, at 190 Main St. At first glance it is a typical American restaurant. The staff was very friendly and was very courteous when they found out I was a vegetarian. They had several options for me, but the big one was their Veggie Burger. It was obviously homemade and was delicious. I have been on the hunt for places that make their own Veggie Burger instead of simply reheating a Boca or Garden burger. This place had plenty of good beer and other options. They have good fries, zucchini sticks, onion rings, salads, veggie soup, and a grilled vegetable sandwich. If you find yourself on Long Island and need to have a good beer and a meal, check this place out! http://www.croxley.com/

Compassion for Chickens

It was reported today in our paper, the Daily Camera, that Caliornia has put a Proposition on its November ballot that would make it illegal for poultry farms to house chickens in spaces where they could not turn around. It should be pretty obvious that this should be the case, but obviously in our world of cheap goods, people have become accustomed to turning the other way when confronted by truths like the fact that most poultry farms keep their chickens so crammed together. The measure is meant to allow egg-producing chickens to have 'a little more room' instead of spending their days in a 'battery cage'. It is also meant to have an effect on pig farming and veal; two other industries that notoriously keep their animals in terrible conditions. It will be interesting to see how the people vote. If you vote against the measure, you will appear to have NO compassion for the animals. Therefore, I encourage ALL Californians to vote for this measure, even if it means your Fried Chicken will cost 50 cents more. It baffles me that still, to this day, people are more concerned with their profits than the lives and suffering of the sentient lifeforms that give them their sustenance. Even if you eat meat, this type of Factory Farming should not exist. Please go to the polls and vote for Compassion.

Recipes -Pasta 2

if using spinach in Pasta, I suggest steaming the spinach with the pasta noodles in its water...
if you want to put spinach in the sauce, i would put it in about 5-7 minutes before you want to eat...spinach does not require cooking for very long at all....

New York....

I am in New York for the week, so that is why I have not posted in a few days....but rest assured that when I return I will begin posting again....

I also want to emphatically deny that I meant my wife was "Flaky"....only that Nutrition was not her Number 1 priority back then.....

Financial Compassion

Many people have asked about my impression of the current financial "crisis" and how Compassion could intercede and assist.....
First and foremost, the issue is with Greedy Wall St types trying to make 100 Million instead of being happy with 50 Million....therefore, there is NO compassion at play in the High Finance game....to be truly compassionate, we should now move into a country that helps its poor, not hurt them....now that we as taxpayers have purchased all of these bad mortgages, we should hold our leaders accountable and make sure that they use the profits for helping inner city kids, education, and other infrastructure that is in desperate need of assistance.....if we can turn this around and use it for good, we could become the only Nation on Earth to actually care for its less-economically gited citizens.....

Influences- Dave Hucks

My Father-In-Law, Dave, was a big influence over my cooking. When I started dating his daughter (my wife Kelly) she had been vegetarian for many years at that point. Dave and V (Mom-in-Law) had me over one evening at their previous house in Virginia Beach for a cook out. We were grilling veggies and it was Dave's first try at Tofu. They had expressed concern over the vegetarian diet because Kelly had not been too interested in Nutrition; she was mainly against Animal Suffering and, at that time, couldn't have cared less about getting the necessary vitamins. We had a great conversation that evening and I began to think moreso about making sure we got sufficient nutrients. I think that over the years Dave's questioning of our diet kept me on my toes and made me a better Cook. I feel that I have shown them how you CAN get all your vitamins eating a well-balanced vegetarian (vegan) diet. I hope to have impressed Dave to a degree with my skills and knowledge. Dave and I have a lot in common; both Kelly and V do not cook, leaving the cooking to us. I know I have relished this experience because cooking is something I love to do. I have also loved eating Dave's vegetarian Stir Fry and Pizza. I hope that our relationship as Father-In-Law to Son-In-Law will only continue to grow; I thank him for making me a better Cook.