This post started out as an ode to the powerboat races, with pictures. When I attempted to load the photos, something happened. Sigh. I guess the "something" that happened was me and my pathetic grasp of technology. No photos uploaded. I spent something like 1.5 hours downloading photos from my camera, then uploading them to the computer. Something went wrong. What a surprise. They're gone. Well, they're still on my camera at least, its not like the Key deer photo disaster from a couple months ago wherein all the photos simply vanished. But, 1.5 hours are wasted, and I'm beyond frustrated.
Instead, you'll have to be content with my miscellaneous musings of another day.
Thanksgiving is on my mind. This is not a happy time to be a turkey. I've already got my Tofurkey stashed in my freezer, and I'm planning our little Thanksgiving celebration with lots of cruelty free delights. So, I've been really focused on food lately. And, being focused on food leads my mind to wander to other like-minded people in these beautiful Florida Keys. I'm gonna give a shout out to some of my most favorite peeps, right here, right now.
Good Food Conspiracy on Big Pine Key. Our oasis on Big Pine. A health food store with full service juice bar. From behind that juice bar comes an amazing array of daily nourishment, both for the mind AND body. Fresh organic smoothies, organic salads, wraps, soups made fresh daily, always a gluten free offering, always vegan options. Almost any kind of juice you could imagine, vegan "burgers", raw options, pestos, on and on. This is my home away from home. I am in there usually at least 6 times a week. Inside that oasis is my newest venture, a bakery case which has a daily selection of my fresh baked organic, vegan goodness. If Good Food wasn't here, I cannot even begin to imagine how different my life would be here. Good Food has been in the same location for going on THIRTY YEARS. At the helm is Rev. Marney Brown, captain of all things good. Marney is a driving force for the real food movement down here, and she has been since Day One. As a total bonus, I also meet some of the most interesting and diverse people I've ever come across right at her wonderful community gathering place.
Help Yourself in Key West. An organic restaurant. Small, but divine. What comes from that kitchen is mind blowing. Not only is Help Yourself tops in Key West, but they're EXPANDING!!! I'm so excited I want to shout with joy. Help Yourself also sets up an organic farmer's market once a week in their parking lot. They are so important to the community that I actually scratch my head and wonder how did we even manage before they were here?
Food For Thought in Marathon. Ah..... Marathon. Home of the Turtle Hospital, one of the best places in all of the Florida Keys. For far too long it was a nutritional wasteland then along comes Elin who breathes new life into Food For Thought at the Gulfside Village Plaza. Poof, Marathon is transformed. Elin has brought superb healthy, nutritious and great tasting food to that region which was sorely lacking. She scrubbed, buffed, sweated and probably cried as she transformed the Food for Thought health food store into a true gem. Her beautiful shop offers groceries, gifts and a juice bar that beckons to me. The food coming out of that tiny kitchen is worthy of awards.
Sugar Apple. Key West. Hello my peeps at the Sugar Apple. You are there for me in ways you'll never know. How about the time 2 years ago when I had someone with severe allergies, yet I needed to fake something oniony. I called you begging for Asafoetida and you HAD IT IN STOCK! How about the time I needed Irish Moss Flakes for an obscure recipe I was in the middle of making, and you HAD IT IN STOCK! How about that slam banging VEGAN KITCHEN you have at your store where I can go in and order absolutely everything off the menu knowing full well it is 100% completely cruelty free, and delicious! And, how about the fact that you are the only store I know of in the whole Florida Keys who stocks "Sammie's Cookies" which are by far and away so addictive that each time I buy them, I full well know the box contains 1 serving and 1 serving only....because I cannot stop eating them once I open said box (even though I probably spelled Sammie wrong). Ah... Sugar Apple.
And, I could not forget "The Cafe, A Mostly Vegetarian Restaurant" on Southard Street in Key West. As the name says, it IS a mostly vegetarian restaurant, the only one in Key West with a beer and wine menu, plus lots of nifty vegan options cranking along on the menu. Oooooo, The Cafe is getting ready to officially add Daiya to their menu. They've got it, and have begun working with it, experimenting in their kitchen. When the other happy vegan and I were there (twice in the last week) we got super-secret info that Daiya was in the house (sorry Keith, maybe its not so super-secret now....) So, as we rejoiced and ordered our Daiya filled meals, then subsequently scarfed down every last morsel on our plates, we pondered how we survived before Daiya.
So, there's my props to some peeps. Without these places, my life down here would be much emptier in so many ways. I would also be A LOT hungrier without these amazing places to feed me and nourish both my body and spirit. There is almost never a time when I walk into any one of those places, and don't bump into someone I know, or make a new friend, thus leaving that much more enriched.
Anyone who wants advice for cruelty-free options over these holidays, please reach out to me. You can find my email on the "contact me" link at my web site. I'm here for you, and pledge to be another link in the long chain for making this world a better place, one tasty vegan bite at a time!
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