An interesting article I stumbled upon from the NY Times which you can read
here. It's a story by Jonathan Safran Foer and he tells of his family and how he grew up viewing animals as a child and how it changed as he got older.
Now here are my ramblings because I need to vent. I just don't know why people don't stop to think about the animals. I know most of us have grown up with eating animals and it seemed the norm. Is it though? We link holidays and family gatherings around eating these dead animals. Why can't everyone change the way they view them and start new traditions and new connections. A more peaceful connection to the earth, animals and people.
Almost everyday I see so many cows roaming the hills, SO MANY cows, and it makes me think of how many more are being raised on factory farms. Even though these cows out here are roaming freely and they are able to nurse their young and keep them by their sides. Someday they will end up being slaughtered as well. They will feel the fear of death. Is it better to eat these animals just because they live a happier life or are "grass fed" or "free range" ? Does it make people feel less guilty if they purchase these animals to eat? These animals have all of the senses that we have. Would we even consider eating a dog or cat? Maybe in some countries but here we don't, we wouldn't even think of doing such a thing! These cows have personalities just like cats and dogs. If you just take the time to sit and watch cows, it's pretty amazing. You can watch the calves play with each other and then look and see another one scratching his side against a tree while a line waits their turn(I've seen this and it was too funny and cute).
Oh one more thing, sorry so lengthy, I was flipping through the channels yesterday and stopped at Paula Deen's Party on the food network. Her guest was making some kind of creole dish and what he said truly upset me. He tried to make a joke saying the difference between a regular zoo and a New Orleans zoo. The New Orleans zoo not only has the name of the animal on the cage and where it's from but a recipe is listed also. Wow, did the audience laugh and get a kick out of that one. Where was the compassion and feeling there? None! Alright I guess I'm done for now and thanks for letting me ramble.
I'm loving all of the squash available right now. Yum......! Not the greatest pic but I made the Southwestern Corn Pudding from VCON and I decide to fill half an acorn squash with half the mixture and them bake. Oh it was so good! 
To complete the creamy corn pudding, I made the cornmeal crusted tofu from VCON as well. For the spices in the cornmeal coating I used a creole spice so it had a real nice kick to it. Any leftover tofu from this makes a great sandwich the next day.
For lunch the next day I used what I had left of acorn squash and heated it up a bit and threw it on a bed of mixed greens, pecans and cranberries. Drizzled with a balsamic vinegrette. Wallah!
I know this looks kind of a mess, I used a spatula that was too small and so it broke apart as I was getting out of the casserole pan. This is a spinach and white bean enchilada which I have made many times, the fam loves it and it's so easy to make. This was served with a side of butternut squash and yukon gold potato, roasted with olive oil, oregano and salt. 
Cool T-shirt eh? This was the awesome shirt we got this year for Farm Walk 2009 designed by Herbivore Clothing . FYI, you can still donate to the farm walk, they are keeping it open for a couple more weeks because there are still walks going on around the country.
