Vegan Snack Recipes

A relative sent me this link, which features vegan snack recipes. Yum!

Coming-Out Stories

Some of you might enjoy this blog, which features coming-out stories. What’s your coming-out story?

Best LGBT Blogs

This list of the best LGBT blogs is a couple of years old now, but it’s still worth a look.

Lesbian Hair Styles

About a month ago, I got a haircut, and it reminded me of all the assumptions that go with lesbians and hair. The idea is that if you’re a real dyke, you must have short hair. Hmm.

I dated one woman who thought I was too femme and was sure I’d leave her for a man. One reason why she thought this was because I had shoulder-length hair. As it happened, I left her for another woman -- one who appreciated my longish curls.

So why don’t I have short hair like a “real” lesbian? First of all, I don’t buy into the idea that you have to look and dress a certain way to be part of a community. Many people seem to believe that uniformity in appearance creates a community, but I think shared beliefs and values works even better. To be a lesbian, for example, all that’s required is that you are a woman (however you define woman) who’s attracted to other women. You don’t need to cut off all your hair and wear flannel lumberjack shirts to prove that you’re a gay woman.

And personally, I look pretty silly with very short hair. I get a big Jewfro going on and my nose sticks out like a beak. A bird with a mass of curls on its head is not a good look.

My recent haircut was slightly shorter than I would have liked, to be honest. My hair is now chin-length rather than shoulder-length and I can’t pull it back into a ponytail. But it’ll grow. And M seems to like it. Incidentally, my sweetheart has short hair. And some friends of mine complained that she was a “typical lesbian” because of her hairstyle and her clothes.

Too lesbian, not lesbian enough. It’s hard to win in the lesbian community. Maybe if we stopped criticizing others more and just concentrated on ourselves and our own appearances, our lesbian community might be stronger. And it also might look a bit better – some of the hairstyles I’ve seen on dykes have been pretty bad, after all.

By the way, check out Lesbian Hair.

New York Times DIY Cookbook

This new DIY cookbook from the New York Times has “small kitchen projects that any cook can tackle” and is easy to follow.

Lorraine Pascale

M and I have been devotedly watching Lorraine Pascale’s Baking Made Easy show on the BBC. Check out her show and her book. She’s engaging and she really does make everything seem easy!

Mediterranean Recipes

I saw a brief reference to Clifford A. Wright in an article and I went to look at his website. The site claims to be the “source for the authentic and traditional foods of the Mediterranean in their cultural and historical context illustrated with hundreds of heirloom Mediterranean recipes fully-tested in the kitchen of Clifford A. Wright” and I thought it was pretty impressive. It’s worth checking out. Many Mediterranean recipes are vegetarian or easily can be turned vegetarian.

A Food Challenge

A lot of people complain that they just make the same few dishes all the time. Cooking has become repetitious and dull, and it’s just something that has to be done.

If that’s the case, why not give yourself a food challenge? I aim to make at least one new recipe a week, and in order to get inspiration for these new dishes, I read a couple of food magazines regularly (always Vegetarian Living and delicious), and others occasionally, plus I skim blogs and cookbooks and food websites. Whatever seems interesting to me, I mark, and then I try to create a dish based on what I like about a particular recipe.

So why not try a new recipe every week or two, or if that seems too much, try for one a month? You may find that cooking turns fun for you again, plus you get new dishes to add to your regular line-up.

Post a comment or email mewith your favourite food website, blog, magazine, or cookbook, or to suggest a recipe. Challenge yourself; you might enjoy it!

A Word on Measurements

I know I tend to use a variety of measurements in my recipes - sometimes cups, sometimes decilitres, sometimes grams, etc. This is due to me having lived in various countries and having acquired different measuring tools and different ways of thinking about amounts of ingredients. So I apologise for any confusion, but I heartily recommend Online Conversion for any conversion needs, especially in terms of cooking (but not in terms of religion!).

Vegetarian Starter Kit

If you’re thinking about becoming a vegetarian or if you just want more information on being a vegetarian, you might find this vegetarian starter kit helpful.