Dinner + Bikes

We attended an event last Tuesday that featured vegan food, a documentary on the relationship between the police force and cyclists during the rise of cycling in Portland, and a spread of zines and books on bikes, vegan food, and DIY. The group putting on the event is still touring, and you can learn more about it at dinnerandbikes.com.

We won the poster, Lunch Room gift certificate, and Anarchist Bicycle Rally in a raffle. The zine contains the disturbing and comical police reports on the group Critical Mass—an informal collection of cyclists who came together to ride on the streets of Portland and make a space for themselves. Annoyed that the group was riding in car traffic and being subversive in numbers alone, the police began to issue the group hefty traffic citations during rides and to make arrests prior to manufacturing charges. The situation was reminiscent to attitudes about ELF and ALF… except the members of Critical Mass were literally just riding a couple miles together on the street—helping to make Portland’s current bike culture a reality. 

In addition to our winnings, we bought some stickers, a patch, bike wallets/fanny packs, Women on Wheels, The Chainbreaker, Everyday Bicycling (which tells you how to carry different things [like cupcakes!] via bike), make your place (DIY home recipes and tips), and Wild Fermentation (so we can learn how to make tempeh, pickled vegetables, and other gut-friendly foods). We also picked up a couple zines: BikeSexuality and Bikes in Space: a feminist science fiction anthology. They offered much, much more and it was difficult to attempt to narrow down our choices. You can check out some of their offerings at takingthelane.com and microcosmpublishing.com. 

May is Bike Month. Both of us bike or bus to work (barring occasions of extremely adverse weather or a flat tire), journeying 3.6 miles and 11 miles round trip. Carpooling, busing, biking, and walking are all better for the environment (and often the enjoyability of your commute) than driving alone, and the spring/summer is a great time to test out commuting differently. We like biking to work because it’s less expensive than driving and a good chance to stretch our legs before eight hours at a desk job. 

You can also consider not driving to run errands or visit friends. It takes a little bit more effort and planning than a car; however, as vegans, we’re used to life being less convenient, but well worth the sacrifice.

7 notes
12 May 2013
Spicy tempeh and broccoli rabe with rotelle from Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. I’ve wanted to try broccoli rabe (“broccolini”) for a while, so we decided to make something special with it when we saw it at the co-op. The vegetable’s a bit like a broccoli/asparagus mash up. Plain ol’ broccoli would do just fine (and is less expensive), but it’s nice to have some variety. We used gluten-free shells instead of rotelle, and plated the dish on curly endive (another vegetable we’d never tried before). The flavors were pleasant (I really like fennel; Connor not so much) and I really enjoyed the tempeh cooking method: cook the cubed tempeh with seasoned vegetable broth in a covered pan until the liquid is absorbed, transfer to a bowl, crumble half of the tempeh, wipe down the skillet, put the skillet back on the heat, and fry the tempeh in a couple tablespoons of oil. This method made the tempeh flavorful and gave it a satisfying pan-fried texture. If you hate tempeh or cook for any tempeh-haters, I’d suggest trying this technique, as the concentration of flavor hides the “funkiness” that keeps some people from loving tempeh. —Heather

Spicy tempeh and broccoli rabe with rotelle from Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. I’ve wanted to try broccoli rabe (“broccolini”) for a while, so we decided to make something special with it when we saw it at the co-op. The vegetable’s a bit like a broccoli/asparagus mash up. Plain ol’ broccoli would do just fine (and is less expensive), but it’s nice to have some variety. We used gluten-free shells instead of rotelle, and plated the dish on curly endive (another vegetable we’d never tried before). The flavors were pleasant (I really like fennel; Connor not so much) and I really enjoyed the tempeh cooking method: cook the cubed tempeh with seasoned vegetable broth in a covered pan until the liquid is absorbed, transfer to a bowl, crumble half of the tempeh, wipe down the skillet, put the skillet back on the heat, and fry the tempeh in a couple tablespoons of oil. This method made the tempeh flavorful and gave it a satisfying pan-fried texture. If you hate tempeh or cook for any tempeh-haters, I’d suggest trying this technique, as the concentration of flavor hides the “funkiness” that keeps some people from loving tempeh. —Heather
1 note
3 May 2013
ericmortensen: Organic Eden Foods’ quiet right-wing anti-woman agenda Eden Foods — an organic food company with no shortage of liberal customers — has quietly pursued a decidedly right-wing agenda, suing the Obama administration for exemption from the mandate to cover contraception for its employees under the Affordable Care Act. In court filings, Eden Foods, represented by the conservative Thomas More Law Center, alleges that its rights have been violated under the First Amendment, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. Eden Foods, which did not respond to a request for comment, says in its filing that the company believes of birth control that “these procedures almost always involve immoral and unnatural practices.” The complaint also says that “Plaintiffs believe that Plan B and ‘ella’ can cause the death of the embryo, which is a person.” (Studies show that neither Plan B nor Ella interfere with fertilization, which is the Catholic definition of the beginning of life, if not the medical one. In other words, not the death of an embryo. Also, at that stage, it’s a zygote, not an embryo — let alone a “person.”)  This was very upsetting to learn because we buy from Eden frequently since they’re from Michigan (they used to run a Co-Op in Ann Arbor, even!). But we’ll be buying from elsewhere from now on.

ericmortensen:

Organic Eden Foods’ quiet right-wing anti-woman agenda

Eden Foods — an organic food company with no shortage of liberal customers — has quietly pursued a decidedly right-wing agenda, suing the Obama administration for exemption from the mandate to cover contraception for its employees under the Affordable Care Act. In court filings, Eden Foods, represented by the conservative Thomas More Law Center, alleges that its rights have been violated under the First Amendment, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.

Eden Foods, which did not respond to a request for comment, says in its filing that the company believes of birth control that “these procedures almost always involve immoral and unnatural practices.” The complaint also says that “Plaintiffs believe that Plan B and ‘ella’ can cause the death of the embryo, which is a person.” (Studies show that neither Plan B nor Ella interfere with fertilization, which is the Catholic definition of the beginning of life, if not the medical one. In other words, not the death of an embryo. Also, at that stage, it’s a zygote, not an embryo — let alone a “person.”) 

This was very upsetting to learn because we buy from Eden frequently since they’re from Michigan (they used to run a Co-Op in Ann Arbor, even!). But we’ll be buying from elsewhere from now on.

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