Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I used to go to the LA Reader office on Friday mornings to collect my mail, then I'd stop in the chain drugstore nearby to pick up a piece of beef jerky, and a package of vanilla creme sandwich cookies, which I'd eat while driving to my day job. Not together, just back-to-back. Can't remember if I ate the jerky or the cookies first, nor why I thought those would make a good breakfast.

@Hilfy - Most vegans don't want to limit others' lifestyles. Certainly, I would be thrilled if certain family members *chose* to eat less meat, but I don't think it's my responsibility or duty to impose my choices on others. And I think most vegans and vegetarians would agree with me.

I don't really have the funds to run counter-campaigns against PETA. Truthfully, most of the vegans I know dislike PETA and their willingness to exploit women and racial and political tensions in order to get publicity. There are many other AR groups that you have never heard of, simply because they're working without dressing up like KKK members are putting up billboards comparing overweight women to whales.

Are you saying that you don't value human life over animal life? I do. And without going into detail, I can say that you're projecting ideas about veganism onto me – I don't disagree that life requires death.

But I don't think the particular philosophical reasons behind the choice to eat meat or not really factor into the issue of respect. I have my reasons, you have yours. Both of us think well of our reasoning. Let's leave it there, and not worry over, snicker, deride or demean the meals on each others' plates.

@Hilfy - What vegans give you this attitude? To be perfectly honest, I have found far more hostility from omnivores towards vegans than vice versa (then again, I'm not an abolitionist and neither are most of my friends. Yes, there are dissenting voices in the so-called "vegan movement," and many of us dislike the organizations that, in the public discourse, define the opinions of the rest of us). And since I have not always been a strict vegetarian, I can report from both sides of the dinner table - I distinctly remember claiming, many times over, that I could never, ever be vegan.

And I don't think vegans are responsible for labeling omnivores "carnivores," either (on vegan boards, we usually say "omnis"). Many omnivores describe themselves, tongue-in-cheek, as carnivores. But I do think that vegans get a very bad rap in the media, and some of it is the doing of certain pro-vegan organizations that shall remain nameless. But the popular perception of veganism has little do with *most* of the people who actually practice the lifestyle.

I do think vegans and omnis alike can appreciate tasty food. I will eat any vegan food that I find tasty! As far as yeast, bacteria and plants - even the most hardcore AR activists stick to caring about organisms with nervous systems (no one's fighting for Yeast Rights). And many people go vegetarian or vegan for reasons other than AR.

Now, there are very rude vegans (just as there are very rude omnivores, and very rude people in general), but I think it's unfair to attribute traits to a person based solely on the presence or absence of meat in their diet.

Frosty and Fries (not weird)

Dunking Chocolate chip cookies in Orange juice... YUMM!

Moved from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Northern Michigan late last fall, and it seems I miss something else every week...dreaming of falafel this time around. Last week it was Chinese food...Doesn't anyone eat anything but fish or burgers in restaurants up here?
Seems like I have to go from Traverse City to Petoskey to Gaylord just to find somewhat mildly comparable items that I could get in one trip to Trader Joe's. (I could weep thinking of Trader Joe's.) The produce up here is abhorrent.

When I lived in France for my job, I desparately missed the all-American backyard burger! They seem to think that a burger was what passed as a burger at McDonald's (which were even a poorer quality than in the US)! Even the restaurants served poor-quality beef. I also missed the quality of meat in general at the local grocery stores. I went to a local grocery store in Behoust France with some collegues from the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK. They were amazed at the quality of the meat at the market. I looked at it and thought in the US we wouldn't even sell it to the jails! I have said it before and I will say it again, you don't appreciate what we have in the US until you have traveled to other countries! However, I have spent a lot of time in Australia - and their grocery stores and meat rock!

I was born in Texas and when I was six we moved to St. Louis. It was during the depression and my mom was a wonderful cook. Because of her Texas upbringing, chili and tamales were a good part of our diet.
Making tamales was a family affair, on a weekend, my brother and sister and I would help my mom and dad roll the tamales and put them a cooker and it would take most of Sat. and Sun. to complete that job. Than we would eat em and share them with family and friends.
Breakfast, growing up was quiet different than breakfast today or even when my kids were growing up. Biscuit, (homemade) were everyday- Than we would have American cheese melted in butter to spoon on top of the biscuits or cream gravy with chicken fried steak with the biscuits. It's a wonder that my brother, sister or myself did'nt end up weighing a jellion pounds. I guess it was because we walked, rode our bikes or rollerskated everywhere- played baseball and swam all summer each year.
I still have my mothers recipes for her chile and tamales.I've changed them a bit and have won several awards for chili. I must say I make some of the best. Dave Johnson

Serious Eats---- Don't let this subject die! There is so much more junk to learn from everyone! Dave Johnson

I like the half smokes or, more often than note, a standard 7-11 Big Bite with lots of chili, cheese, and their onion relish.

Let's see: banana with a slice of American cheese, breaking off small triangles of cheese for each bite. My absolute favorite when I was little, and I still love it. I think my mom learned it from Mister Rogers.
Also, baby carrots w/ketchup and tortilla chips on the side; raw red cabbage with yellow mustard; and my guilty coming home drunk secret: bowl of white rice with American cheese melted on top. I like American cheese on most anything...

The CHICAGOOOO dog allll the way. There's nothing like the taste of those cool crisp veggy veggie flavors mixing in with warm hotdog juice with each bite. Hot and cold. crisp and soft. The chicago dog is the perfect balance.

HERE'S A GREAT SANDWICH--- RYE BREAD-SPREAD CREAM CHEESE, ADD BANANA SLICES, SPREAD PEANUT BUTTER ADD SWEET PICKLE SLICES AND SHREDDED LETTUCE.