Last week I went to eat oysters at the Ferry Building in San Francisco which has a lot of high quality food shops. Next door to the Cowgirl Creamery is a butcher shop with cuts of meats on display. Although I enjoy the flavor of beef, this image looks scary to me. The blood, the hooks, the carnage. The shank on the left looks like a face from a horror movie.

Kiki and I have often discussed the idea that people would be less inclined to eat an animal, or they would at least be less wasteful, if they had to kill the animal themselves. At most grocery stores cuts of meat are sliced and wrapped in plastic which, I think, psychologically distances us from the steps to bring meat to your table.

Personally, I don’t have a problem killing an oyster and eating it. Same for a fish. Personally slaughtering a cow? I don’t know if I’d have the heart for it. But a chicken? I think I could do it, but only for a special occasion and giving thanks to the spirit of the chicken.

I know that not eating meat lessens suffering in the world. I’m still working on eating responsibly. Seeing pictures like this helps me.

For my birthday, my brother Grant and his partner gave me a beautiful basket filled with all kinds of Italian gourmet delights. Included in the basket of was a bag of six color pasta. Of course I couldn’t wait to use it.

The pasta added such depth and heartiness to the dish. It was fabulous!

For this recipe, I sauteed garlic in olive oil with marinated red peppers and onions, seasoning, fresh basil and Italian parsley. I included red pepper flakes for heat, mixed in al dente pasta and finished it with some fresh baby spinach. 

We enjoyed this meal with a rich Pinot Noir.

I had this for breakfast. When I was a kid my parents went through a phase were they’d buy fat free milk. It was blue. I tried it on my cereal—and hated it. God bless them for caring. I’m not a big milk drinker. The ubiquity of the ‘Got milk?’ campaign belies the fact that milk is not particularly good for you. The bovine growth hormones and antibiotics given to cows is certainly bad for the cows, and I can’t imagine it’s good for us either. Back to my point: TJ’s soy milk is pretty tasty. Not as rich and creamy as cow milk, but I prefer it that way. This cereal is also sweetened with organic evaporated cane juice. The wheat is organic, too. I recommend you try it on your kids. :—)

When I was a kid we ate Wonder bread or Roman Meal ‘wheat’ bread which are very soft and, honestly, very bland. Kiki and like focaccia bread. It’s great for sandwiches or heated up and served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. We buy ours at Trader Joe’s, though you can sometimes find a good loaf at Safeway. Well, at least at the Safeways in the Northern California Bay area. It might be a little rustic for PB&J sandwiches, but I’ve spread some strawberry preserves on it for breakfast and it was great.

To avoid any tears when slicing onions, stick a piece of bread in your mouth before you start chopping. It does the trick.

A light drizzle of olive oil over asparagus topped with lemon pepper, squeeze of lemon juice and s & p.

Pop it in the toaster oven for 8 minutes for a crisp bite.

Sweet and delicious. Kiki swears that if you put a piece of bread in your mouth while you’re chopping them your eyes won’t get teary. I’ve tired that trick and it didn’t seem to work for me. Maybe I’m using the wrong brand of bread.

My brother Stephan told me about aloe vera juice several years ago. I add about 2-3 oz to my juice each morning. I’ve been doing this for a few years now. I imagine my immune system is a little healthier as a result.

I also gargle with it twice a day. It’s a great natural mouth wash and promotes healthy gums.

Kiki shot this while we were picnicking. This is in Byxbee Park in Palo Alto, California which is part of a bird sanctuary and nature preserve. Beyond being virtually vegan, Kiki brings a sense of beauty and care to meals. We packed a blanket, a bottle of wine, hummus, pita bread, tortilla chips, and salsa. Eating outside with egrets flying by and a flock of pelicans floating down the waterway slows time down. We ate light, slow, and leisurely. With camera in tow, Kiki also recorded a memory of our (meal) time together. I love that.

Here are some ingredients and brands we like. Cholula hot sauce for tortilla wraps and pizza, balsamic vinegar and olive oil for focccia bread. Well, the olive oil goes into nearly everything. Chili oil for pad thai. Many of these come from Trader Joe’s, a great place to get good, healthy food at good prices.