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Food Blog Vegan MoFo

#VeganMoFo Day 1: Introductions, etc.

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Hey, fellow vegans and interested parties. I’m Emily. This is my … fourth? or fifth? (I don’t remember exactly) go-round on the MoFo wheel. I’ve been vegan since, I don’t know, 2011? and I’ve regretted not marking the precise day ever since I saw people on Instagram self-congratulating on their veganniversary. I DON’T HAVE ONE BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW. Kind of like I don’t know when my pet rabbits’ birthdays are, since they’re adopted, and honestly, for years I thought their “gotcha” day was in November but then I found a very old blog post and it turns out it’s October. Anyway, going vegan was a slow process, blah blah blah, my partner of almost 16 years has been vegan since long before I met him so I’ve been cooking vegan for a damn while now, thank you.

Though I post to a Tumblr for the purposes of the Vegan Month of Food, most of my food-related social media’ing happens on Instagram. I also (sometimes) write a newsletter with plant-based food advice, extolling the virtue of various ingredients, and random personal/political rambling.

I cook dinner most nights and shop at my favorite farmers’ market here in Silicon Valley religiously. (My market IS on a Sunday.) I don’t always get super creative or experimental because I am tired, but I do have a decent repertoire and skillset in the kitchen. I don’t make a weekly menu and stick to it, but I do buy stuff that looks good and put things together like I’m playing Chopped only without all the gross stuff. My #1 vegan cooking inspiration is Isa Chandra Moskowitz, which I realize is a little like saying your favorite band is the Beatles, but fuck it. I also like to bake – cookies, the occasional cake, and sometimes bread. My tendency to prefer DIY is based partly on not liking my options at the grocery store (too expensive or too shitty ingredients) and partly a method of self-sabotage so that when it’s 7pm on a Tuesday and I have been thinking about making tacos, I fucking can’t, because god dammit, I’d have to knock out a batch of tortillas first, and we wouldn’t eat until 9 and I’m tiiiiiiired.

Besides plant-based vegan food, you may find me obsessing over TV (too many favorites to name, though I will recommend a thousand things to you if you ever ask), reading science fiction, or getting extremely angry/sad about politics on Twitter and/or my couch. I might identify as a comedy nerd, as if saying so isn’t already a self-deprecating joke.

Finally, a note about ethics and vegan-adjacent attitudes: you won’t catch me judging folks for their dietary choices. I can’t stand the diet culture-y, shaming, often a tiny bit racist wing of veganism. I’m not here for superiority complexes of any damn kind. What works for you, what squares with your beliefs, isn’t going to be for everyone. Be a good example. Be kind. (Except to Nazis.)