10 Year Olds....Hunting?

There is a new bill being pushed through the senate, Bill S1083 - The Hunter Apprentice Bill which will allow children ages 10-16 to obtain a hunting license without going through any type of safety training program. The child would need to hunt with an adult 21 years or older. So basically the law would allow a 10 year old to pick up a rifle and go out hunting with his oh so responsible 21 year old brother without ever having shot a gun or handled a gun before and off he can go in to the woods and start shooting. Our local senator Jennifer Beck is helping to push this bill along. At a preliminary senate hearing on February 9, she encouraged the bill, stating that it was a good way for a child to see if he liked hunting. Even afer those who opposed the bill stated the facts regarding the accidents which are sure to occur and needless to say, the animals who will be cruelly wounded by an untrained child, she still continued to state her support for the bill. It's a terrifying world we live in with crime, terrorism and war yet we find no problem with recruiting our children to go out into the woods with guns to kill? This bill is simply a way for the pro-hunting groups to try to build up their numbers which are in severe decline. In the past 2 decades, the number of hunters has fallen as much as 50% in some states. So now the hunting lobbyists are pushing bills such as this one to recruit younger and younger aged hunters so they can support the hunting groups who in turn promise to support and fund political campaigns. It's not about common sense when these decisions are made.

Eating Our Way Through NYC

We were offered free tickets to see the Rangers/Canadiens game in NY last Friday night so we decided to turn this trip in to the city into a ‘not so free’ event and stay the night. We always talk about staying over in NY even though it’s only an hour away but there’s something about leaving a game late at night and not having to rush home or get stuck in tunnel traffic. We found a pretty decent price for a room at the Holiday Inn a few blocks away from the Garden and off we went. The game was awesome, so many Canadiens fans that made the night really energetic and exciting. I love Canada and love to respect them and their country and gladly sang along to their national anthem ‘O Canada’ along with the other couple hundred Canadiens fans we were sitting near. I even enjoyed chanting along to their “Go Habs Go!” chant. I didn’t expect to see so much red in the stands! And so much French being spoken around us. Very fun night and the Rangers won 6-3. So Saturday we awoke in the city and felt so relaxed to know we had the whole day to enjoy. We really like the Lower East Side for their veggie restaurants and bakeries and the Tenement Museum. If you haven’t been, it is a must stop if you’re in the area. The Museum folks were able to purchase a Tenement building in the late 1980’s that hadn’t been inhabited since the 1930’s. It was left exactly as it was back then and you can go on a tour to see what it was like to live there at the turn of the century. Very cool stuff. They are located at 97 Orchard St, http://www.tenement.org/ . This time we did the tour “Piecing it Together” where you see the home and garment shop(their living room) of Jewish families and hear about their struggles at that time. It was really interesting and makes you wonder why we complain about anything today….we have it so easy now.

A few doors down from the museum is one of our favorite shops, Mooshoes, 78 Orchard St, http://www.mooshoes.com/. They sell non-leather footwear and a few accessories including bags, wallets and belts. We love the kitties who roam freely throughout the shop. They know they own the place.

Our next stop was Babycakes, 248 Broome St, http://www.babycakesnyc.com/. Vegan bakery extraordinaire. I wanted all the cupcakes with their pastel pinks and lavender frostings. They all looked so good to eat so we indulged in one those heavenly cupcakes and a scrumptious pumpkin loaf.
There are so many great veggie restaurants in this area but I had made a list before we left home of what was where and I was determined to go to a new place since we always wind up at Red Bamboo in the Village, our absolute favorite place in the whole world. This time we opted for Organic Grill, 123 First Ave (East Village), www.theorganicgrill.com. We had been here before many many years ago and it was worth the trip back. They were serving brunch for the day and since I had previewed their menu online, I was really salivating for the tofu frittata with bits of vegan sausage, home fries, peppers and onions all mixed in. I enjoyed it immensely along with my black current iced tea. My other half had the tempeh portabella burger with home fries which was just delectable. They also have a huge selection of hot teas and desserts which would be perfect to linger over.
And off we were again. Since it was only 2 blocks away, our next stop was Live Live, a raw, living foods shop, 261 E 10th St, http://www.live-live.com/. They sell all kinds of yummy raw packaged foods and whole food vitamins and cosmetics too. It’s the ultimate place to go if you enjoy Living Live. Tiger the cat was most welcoming to us and all the other patrons as we mingled about and chose some treats for ourselves.

Next to Live Live is Quintessence, a raw foods restaurant. We’ve eaten here before and it is amazing but how much can one eat in one day ? A new bakery just opened up a door or 2 down, Cowgirl’s Baking. Since we were heading home soon, we thought why not get some more goodies for the ride. We got a peanut butter and jelly bar(picture crumb topping, with gooey jelly and a peanut buttery crumb bottom) and a glazed donut, all vegan, all yummyness. So this ended our journey as we found a quick cab back to the train station and back to home. It was a really fun filled day as we ate our way through the veggie big city!

Vegan Haven in LBI

On a recent trip down to LBI, I thought I would search on HappyCow just to see if there were any good veggie restaurants I might be missing out on and sure enough there was "Living on the Veg" in Beach Haven, 4 W Maryland Ave near the amusement park area. It is a lovely little cafe and such a relaxing respite from the hot sunny beach. The seating is small and just at the counter with stools but the atmosphere just begs you to hang out for awhile. We had wraps made which we took to go. Mock Chicken salad with tempeh bacon and the Chuck-wich with seitan, coleslaw, cucumber, onion, lettuce and barbecue sauce. So yummy and they give you a choice of a vegan side, we had potato salad and cole slaw. They also have salads, smoothies and juices so we came back later on our way home and indulged in some amazing smoothies. Again so refreshing after being back in the sun. They are also offering dinner options which we plan to go back for soon. Living on the Veg is definitely worth the trip. They are open every day in the summer and open late till 9pm Tues-Sun and Mon 11-4. So go ahead and plan a road trip! You won't be disappointed.

Burlington, VT -

Just got back from a great trip to Burlington, VT. It's May 17 and the weather is glorious. 70 and sunny. Crisp blue sky and lilacs are blooming everywhere. They must be native to the area, we even heard there were 400 varieties of them although I thought they came in either a lilac color or white! Almost every front yard has one or two. There’s this amazing bike path that runs along the lake front (that’s Lake Champlain) where we biked several times. It even turns into this narrow strip of land about 15 feet wide where you are surrounded by water on both sides. This is as you head north and get near the islands in the lake. It’s such a beautiful area, you feel like you’re in Canada. We even saw two beavers swimming along in the water. Very cool ! Another really cool thing we saw for the first time was bike polo. We came across an outdoor hockey arena and saw a bunch of guys and one gal on bikes hitting a ball with homemade mallets. So we stopped and chatted with some guys watching and they told us it is indeed bike polo and it’s not that new, there are many places in the US where people play. They do have to rig up a bike to work for this. They change the gears so you can pedal forward or backward and they take off the brakes. If you want to slow down you just go in reverse. And many put on a shield to cover the spokes on the wheel since as you can imagine, your mallet can get caught in the spokes of your opponent quite easily.

We stayed at the Howard Street Guest House which was perfect. It's a converted carriage house with two rooms, one up and one down. It's one of the most charming, spacious, beautifully decorated places we've ever stayed. This is my ideal when travelling. If only I could find an inn like this every time I went away. http://www.howardstreetguesthouse.com/rooms.html

A must stop in town for all your food needs is The City Market http://www.citymarket.coop/ – the town’s co-op, this is an amazing natural foods and then some store with a deli, bakery, wine section and hot and cold food bar. I could eat here every day and never get bored. They had an entire vegan section on the food bar with creative tofu, seitan and tempeh dishes that changed every day. Burlington is so bike friendly that they have a huge bike rack area. If you build it, they will come! Almost every other customer came by bike. Very eco-friendly.

For dinner one night, we ate at Stone Soup, College St – we had the Seitan Reuben which was heavenly and they also have a vegan hot food bar which I indulged in – seitan stew, barbecued tempeh, steamed kale, rice pilaf.

Dinner another night was at The Skinny Pancake, a creperie, Lake St. http://www.skinnypancake.com/ The decision here is whether to get a meal type crepe or a desert crepe. So we had both. The Vegan Monster-House-made
Seitan, baby spinach, VT wild mushrooms, caramelized onions, and roasted red peppers served in a vegan crepe shell. And the Hot Apply Crispy – tart
Vermont Apples, Pure Vermont honey, Cinnamon Sugar. They have great outdoor seating across from the lakefront and it was fun to see the grads from UVM dressed in party dresses racing down to catch a party boat for a sunset cruise on the lake. This place is extra cool since they source most of their ingredients from local farms and food producers.

There were so many great restaurants with veggie options that we didn't even get to them all. Be sure to check out Happy Cow if you're planning on visiting the area.

There’s also a great fair trade shop, Peace & Justice located on Lake St (right next to the Skinny Pancake!) They are an organization working on racial justice, peace and human rights and also have this great shop with fair trade products from around the world. We got a new peace sign magnet for the car here.

All in all, it was a great trip; the weather was delightful and the sights were a treat. And of course the veggie food was divine.

The Big Apple

Yesterday we had a wonderful time in the Big Apple. We've always wanted to bike the "Greenway" that runs along the rivers on both sides of the city so we finally made the trip in to do it. We were concerned that our bikes would be too tall on top of the car going through the Lincoln Tunnel but silly us realized huge trucks and buses go through with no problem so we were fine. We parked around 51st street right near the West Side Hwy and then started biking along the bike path. We saw so many cool things, the cruise ships docked with lots of folks coming from and going to their vacations. The USS Intrepid was bustling with sightseers and the helicopter sightseeing launch had many going up. There's a skateboard park and Chelsea Pier with lots of sporting activity (with a very convenient public restroom right along the path too!) Going north a bit, I was amazed at how many beautiful parks there were right along the water. Folks were kayaking (with free rentals!), playing softball and basketball and hanging out listening to live bands in Riverside Park. It was a real treasure to see NY from this vantage point. We then made our way up and over to Central Park and what an experience that was. As many of you might know, Central Park is closed to car traffic on weekends so the roads are all open to bikers, rollerbladers, skateboarders, joggers, walkers, etc. What we didn't realize were how many giant hills there were. It was certainly a workout. We walked our bikes to Strawberry Fields where the memorial to John Lennon is, saw the radio controlled boats in the pond, listened to a violinist play in a lovely shaded area and watched turtles swimming about in the rowboat pond. So back on the park roads, I couldn't believe the serious bikers, we thought we were pretty tough, but some of these fellas and ladies were cruising through at unbelieveable speeds dodging joggers and slower bikers(us). After our ride through the park, we made our way back to the car and then drove over to a new favorite veggie restaurant, Curley's Lunch. It's a tiny little cafe at 328 E. 14th St, between 1st & 2nd Ave. Lots of good ole fashioned veggie burgers, french fries and vegan milkshakes. Yum! We then made our way to Babycakes(248 Broome St, between Orchard & Ludlow-Lower East Side), a vegan bakery, and indulged in some fine vegan cupcakes, gluten free. While strolling about the Lower East Side, we decided to take the Tenement Museum tour which I've been wanting to check out. This was the coolest thing ever, I highly suggest this tour! There's actually quite a few different tours and topics but mostly they take you in to an actual tenement building which dates back to 1870 and tell you about the families who lived there and their struggles, very interesting stuff! And a trip to NY is never complete without a stop at MooShoes, the non-leather alternative shoe store. My hubby bought a new vegan wallet made from recycled bicycle inner tubes. How cool is that?! All in all it was a fine day, can't wait to do it again!