Coast to Coast: A Vegetarian Love Song

Welcome to our blog!

So...who we are, and why you should read our blog (besides the fact that you are our friends or you have no life.)

We're both vegetarians (me recently, Nichole for longer.) We love food. We love to write. So, we're going to write about food. I recently moved to Southern California and Nichole is still in Pittsburgh for now, so our perspectives on food culture, vegetarianism, and the best damn food we've ever eaten will be varied and (hopefully) exciting and interesting.

Nichole and I met in a college writing class at the University of Pittsburgh. We were both creative writing majors with a clothes addiction and serious opinions that we felt the need to express all of the time. It was only a matter of time before witty class banter turned into coffee dates and one very awesome dinner date in which Nichole made the best cauliflower soup I have ever had.

I'll let Nichole tell you about her cultural food background, but here's mine:

My family is quite a mix of European nationalities. We like to tout our French heritage, but really we're mostly German and English. Like most families, we have those recipes that everyone in the family makes and no one can tell you where they originated. Pasties make sense: a fluffly British pastry filled with meat, potatoes, and vegetables that I hated as a kid but tried while studying abroad (pre-vegetarianism) and loved. The corn tortilla tacos deep fried and filled with ground beef? Not so much. No idea where that one came from.

I grew up with a mother who could COOK. Amazing homemade marinara sauce, grilled salmon, steamed artichokes, huge salads with homemade vinagarettes, red skinned garlic mashed potatoes, baked chickens with rosemary and thyme, homemade German rolls. And the baked goods? Oy vey. A chocolate cake and chocolate frosting recipe passed down for generations that would turn any beefy football player into a blubbering puddle begging for more, more, more, and a glass of milk, please? In other words, I grew up LOVING food.

I experimented with vegetarianism when I was 14, but it didn't last very long due to some family pressures and going cold turkey. This time, I phased out meat gradually and it was a more organic process. I stopped eating red meat, then gradually just stopped buying or ordering anything chicken or turkey. I still eat fish, however, because I am a bit picky and wouldn't get protein any other way.

On that note, things I usually avoid eating:

• Nuts (except peanuts, but they are legumes)
• Olives
• Mushrooms (I know, I know, I just can't get past that they're fungus. I eat veggie burgers and pretend they aren't in there)
• Zucchini
• Pickles (love cucumbers, however)
• Beans

A few of my FAVORITE things:

• Tomatoes
• Bread
• Onions
• Cheese
• Skim Milk
• Cereal (especially Fiber One Honey Clusters)
• Broccoli
• Corn Tortillas (and all Mexican food)
• Chocolate (duh)
• PG Tips tea
• Pasta
• Pita chips
• Strawberries
• Apples
• Yogurt
• Ice Cream (my major weakness)

And, of course, both Nichole and I like alcohol and have preferences. My favorite white wine is Pinot Grigio, my favorite red wine is Pinot Noir. My favorite cocktails are margaritas, vodka gimlets, and cosmopolitans. I live for a good cadillac margarita and a really rich, earthy Pinot Noir.

We hope you'll read our blog :-) There will be a lot about food we eat, the way vegetarians survive on different coasts, the difference in food culture on the West Coast and East Coast...and of course, segments on the BEST damn thing we've ever eaten.

Here's to good food,

Carrie

(Me and a fabulous pizza at The Good Pie in St. Louis, MO)