Got this from Denny who says, “They look fake to me.”

My brudda-from-anudda-mudda, Michael, and I have exchanged some good natured ribbing over Dawn’s and my conversion a few months ago to what we affectionately call pescevegetarianism - like vegetarianism only we include fish in our diet - while Michael remains a hopelessly devout carnivore. So I’ll probably draw fire from him over this Dan Piraro cartoon Dawn clipped for me the other day…

I’ve never been much of a hot dog afficionado, but in my youth I suppose I consumed my share. And, as a kid growing up in south Florida, I learned to garnish them with ketchup and mustard. No kraut, no pickle relish, no onions, not even chili. Just ketchup and mustard. And I liked ‘em that way! But when I joined the Air Force, I discovered that people from different parts of the country preferred all manner of garnishment on their dawgs. But I stayed true to my roots, although I learned to incorporate pickle relish and enjoy an occasional chili dog.

My wife, on the other hand, is from Chicago, and if you know anything about Chicagoans, you know they take their hot dogs seriously. In fact, the Chicago metropolitan area boasts more hot dog restaurants than McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger Kings combined!

The “Chicago Style” hot dog got its start from street cart hot dog vendors during the hard times of the Great Depression. Money was scarce, but business was booming for these entrepreneurs who offered a delicious hot meal on a bun for only a  nickel. They’d start with a Vienna Beef hot dog, nestle it in a steamed poppyseed bun and cover it with a wonderful combination of toppings: yellow mustard, bright green relish, fresh chopped onions, juicy red tomato wedges, a kosher-style pickle spear, a couple of spicy sport peppers and finally, a dash of celery salt. This unique hot dog creation with a “salad on top” and its memorable interplay of hot and cold, crisp and soft, sharp and smooth, became America’s original fast food and a true Chicago institution.

Regular readers may be asking themselves why I’m writing about hot dogs when Dawn and I are freshly minted, card-carrying vegetarians. Well, while grocery shopping over the weekend, we picked up a package of veggie-dogs and a pack of whole wheat buns. I don’t know, a quasi-dog sounded worth a try. And, without thinking, I asked if we needed ketchup and mustard.

“Ketchup?” my wife asked as if I’d said something shocking. “You don’t put ketchup on a hot dog!”

“Well, I do,” I said defensively.

“No you don’t,” she said, moving on.” No one puts ketchup on a hot dog.”

That got me wondering if I’d been committing a blatant technical foul all these years, so I did some research and came across the following not-so-serious hot dog etiquette courtesy of the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council:

Don’t…
Put hot dog toppings between the hot dog and the bun. Always “dress the dog,” not the bun.

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Yesterday’s post was intended to be sort of tongue-in-cheek; I just wanted an excuse to use the old Cagle ‘toon and see if anyone was still concerned about mad cow. Guess many still are. So I was glad to get this from Roboseyo in Seoul, Korea, where the natives are pretty restless about mad cow. I found it humorous and worth sharing. Says Rob:

“I have good news for all my Korean friends, and even concerned citizens in America.

See, after I got home from a lovely date with girlfriendoseyo, and a delightful walk through all the friendly protesters offering me red signs, and walking like docile cattle through the winding streets around Gwanghwamun, I checked my e-mail.

I got an e-mail from an actual, real scientist… I forget his name because I was so excited that I deleted the e-mail without thinking after I read it, but he went to Harbard or something, I swear, and here’s, like, totally the best news I’ve ever heard, and it’s absolutely totally true, because a real, actual scientist from Harbard told me.

He says that I don’t have to worry about mad cow disease, because kimchi makes you immune to it! He said kimchi’s special combination of garlic, han, spicy chili, and jung kills the prions that cause mad cow, and he showed me some serious, like really actually real science that totally proves it’s true. Here it is: See!

That totally proves it! If you don’t want to catch mad cow disease from American beef, all you have to do is eat it with kimchi, and the kimchi will kill the prions! […]

So just make sure you eat your beef with kimchi, and you’ll be fine! I swear! It’s science! Science is true!

P.S. New definition of Irony: Mad cow beef protester taking a break from shouting slogans for a nice, relaxing cigarette.”

Remember mad cow disease? Did our boycott of foreign beef wipe it out in the U.S.? Is it really safe to go back in the water?

Apparently not, at least according to this web site…

Friends Noah and Jamie will be hiking Yosemite’s famous Half Dome in a few days and I want to wish them a successful trip. Jamie’s posted a good deal of information about their planned 17-mile trek on her blog and it looks as though they’re well prepared for a memorable adventure!

I’ve been teasing Jamie to watch out for Yosemite bears, so this ‘toon won’t be lost on her. Good luck, guys! We can’t wait to hear all about your trip! And Noah: Maybe a few pics I can post?

Our foray into vegetarianism — or more accurately, “pescevegetarianism” — is progressing better than I had expected when we began the trek almost three months ago. Dawn and I have successfully eliminated meat, egg, dairy and animal byproducts from our diets and replaced them with increased amounts of fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and soy. We’re still enjoying the experience, feeling good and, yes, still talking to each other.

I’ll remind everyone that we’re also eating some fish and shrimp, hence the “pesce” prefix to our form of vegetarianism. But as I’ve explained before, we didn’t begin the journey to conform to any particular definition, make a social or environmental statement or join a club. We simply decided to adopt a healthier diet and our research pointed in this direction.

How’s it been? Well, in a word, enlightening. And fun. We’ve made a few exceptions during our transition but have remained pretty steadily on course. As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, we’ve tried unusual recipes, experienced new foods, met some interesting people and, for the most part, we’re enjoying the ride! But it was a personal decision and neither of us is pushing anyone else to “switch”.

That said, some of you have asked us to share a recipe or two and Dawn has agreed to do so when she gets a little free time. Look for one in the next week or two… (No pressure, Dawn!)

Thanks Margaret!

This ‘toon from Shannan asks a logical question…

Good to know I wasn’t the first to ask it.

Yes, the title has changed but the cast of characters remains the same…

Let’s see, since Part 2 in this series we’ve debated and settled the burning technical question of whether or not our decision to include seafood in our otherwise vegetarian diet entitled us to wear the mantle of “vegetarian.” You’ll recall that some in the vegetarian community were pretty sensitive about who used the title and, upon learning that we were eating fish, promptly informed us that we didn’t qualify. It was much the same response we’d received from the vegan community who told us we didn’t fit the required profile for membership because we hadn’t shunned leather shoes and car seats, and weren’t wearing hemp clothing.

But thanks to a more forgiving arm of vegetarianism, we accepted the distinction of “pescevegetarians” - otherwise vegetarians that, like us, eat fish and other seafood. And before you point out that the word isn’t in the dictionary, remember that our conversion was aimed at adopting a more healthy diet, not making a political, spiritual or ecological statement. A “title”, at least for us, serves merely to facilitate discussion and simplify ordering in restaurants.

So here we are, nearly two months into our epicurean adventure into pescevegetarianism (impressive non-word, isn’t it?) and an update seems in order. Are we still on program? Yes, pretty much so. Do we miss cheese, dairy, meat? Not terribly. Are we still contributing to methane in the atmosphere? Sometimes, and we haven’t quite nailed down which foods, or combinations of foods, cause us to, uh, contribute. But it’s infrequent, so we’re taking that as a sign our bodies are adjusting.

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Thanks Chloe!

All right, I’m no supporter of PETA, but I ran across these ads and wondered if its current campaign featuring assorted actors and A-listers declaring their vegetarianism (and support for PETA) actually moves anyone to become a vegetarian.

PETA doesn’t particularly care about our health. They advocate vegetarianism in order to protect animals. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, mind you.

So does anyone really get behind PETA or become a vegetarian because they like seeing Alicia Silverstone or Sophie Monk naked? I mean, I’m a red blooded American male who enjoys seeing naked women as much as the next guy, but I’ve never felt an urge to buy a Caterpillar tractor because a naked actress posed for their calendar…

Your responses to Friday’s post were appreciated and eye-opening. I think it’s safe to conclude that Dawn and I are not now and probably won’t be embracing “veganism”. We’re simply trying to adopt a more healthy diet, one based in part on the conclusions drawn by Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell II in their book, The China Study. Ours was a misuse of the term; what I think we meant to say (we haven’t finished reading the book) was “vegetarianism” or some variation thereof. And since reading your comments, it would appear that our present stage of dietary evolution would best be categorized as “pescevegetarianism” or “semi-vegetarianism” because, while we’re otherwise conforming to a vegetarian diet, we’re also eating fish.

But that, too, may change. I read over the weekend that “95 percent of pesticide residue in our diet comes from meat, fish and dairy products (according to EPA estimates). Fish, in particular, contain carcinogens (PCBs, DDT) and heavy metals (mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium) that cannot be removed through cooking or freezing.” We haven’t yet found support for that assertion in Dr. Campbell’s book but, as I said, we haven’t finished reading it. So, at least for the time being, fish and seafood in general are still on the menu. I’ll keep you posted.

And thanks, Angel, for the Michael Cain cartoon; it hit the proverbial nail on the head!

Since reading my March 6 post (Am I Becoming a Vegan?), several of you have asked how our attempt to convert from carnivorism to veganism, skipping altogether the transitional step of vegetarianism, is progressing. Well, after getting off to a somewhat rocky start, both Dawn and I are still on program. Of course, we’ve been subjected to some mild heckling and a generous amount of good natured ribbing from family and friends. My son, Rick, for example, called last night from San Diego to describe how great the steaks he had on the grill looked, smelled and were definitely going to taste. Yet we’re undeterred. In fact, we’ve both commented that, now that our bodies are becoming better adjusted to certain foods (no, we haven’t revisited brown rice), we’re feeling great!

However, our conversion hasn’t been without its share of obstacles. Aside from some pretty impressive grumbling from our digestive tracts, learning to be a vegan entails frequent trips to the grocery store with long lists of unusual ingredients neither we nor many store employees have heard of. Searching for unfamiliar items and reading labels to assure they contain no animal products takes far longer than we’re used to.

On one recent shopping outing to our local Nugget Market, I was armed with a lengthy list of twenty-five or so necessary ingredients for recipes Dawn wanted to try. After scouring aisles for nearly forty-five minutes with only marginal success, I ran into Store Director Randy Wehman who offered to help. After perusing the list and scratching his head (I couldn’t even tell him what recipes the ingredients were for!), he recruited two more employees, one a vegan, and between them found most of the things on my list. That’s customer service with a capital “C” and yet another reason we love this store!

So we’ve persevered. And we have to admit, almost all the meals we’ve prepared so far have been delicious! Of course, I’ve admittedly avoided revisiting the dreaded brown rice since nearly exploding after eating it the first time. But I know I can’t avoid it indefinitely; my appointment with the evil stuff is looming. And there have been a few other unpronounceable things I suspected of causing digestive problems since we began our quest, but I can’t say with certainty which parts of the meals were actually the culprits. So trial and error have become additional necessary adjustments along the road to veganism. I’ll keep you posted as we continue the journey.

By the way, I’ll be preparing “Popeye Pasta” for dinner this evening. Wish me luck!

A follow-up photo album of 44 images taken during our getaway to Stinson Beach with friends Michael & Sisko and Candy & Rob. All were taken with the Nikon D2Xs and Canon Digital Elph pocket cameras. Although Dawn was a little under the weather, this was one of the most relaxing getaways we’ve enjoyed. Heartfelt thanks to Sisko and Michael for making it possible.    (See also Part 2 and Part 1).