Some Thoughts on My Meatless State

So, no horses died in the Preakness last night.

But I'm still a vegetarian. Two weeks and counting.

I'm not sure I like the label though. Or, more importantly, what kinds of attitudes it seems to signify. I've heard stories about vegetarian extremism which I find disappointing and disillusioning. As an animal rights vegetarian who respects the inherent worth and dignity of people too, I don't think it is acceptable to turn on well-meaning people and be demanding, rude, and difficult. My friend told me of a cousin of hers who said he'd rather kill her than a cow. I think somehow that is missing the spirit and letter of the idea. Or, the person who wouldn't eat a vegetarian sauce because it had accidentally been stirred once with the chicken soup spoon by the hostess. I also had a friend in college who would sit and describe the worst cruelties to animals during dinner. These are vegetarians no one really likes to be around (at least during mealtime; they seem normal enough other times). I don't want to be like that. I don't want people to think I'll be like that. So, I have even been wary of calling myself a vegetarian. I don't have the devotion or desire to guarantee that animal flesh never again touches my lips even accidentally. I ate meat for 37-some odd years; I can live if it happens again. I'm just going to make sure that the majority of the time that it doesn't. So much for new converts being the most zealous. I think I'm too old for that.

But we did go to a vegetarian restaurant in New Haven, Claire's Corner Copia. We'd been there a few times before, with a friend who keeps kosher, on our own. I love the desserts--a whole array of dense, rich, decadent cakes. I could eat three different slices each time. Yesterday, the kids got Pineapple Upside Down Cake--very dense and flavorful with fresh pineapple slices--and I got a good, rich Chocolate Layer Cake. Oh, and we had lunch. Sis loved my mango lassi. Buddy adored a plain Athenian salad with olives and tomatoes and the like. Mama and I liked the falafel but not the veggie burger. The curry at the table next to us smelled incredible. And I bought a cookbook, which seems to have simple and common recipes. We'll go again.

So, so far so good.