Getting Back to My Roots

Happy Anniversary Switzerland! To celebrate your 718th year since becoming a country, folks gathered in New York City for the Swiss Benevolent Society's annual first of August celebration. I attended with my parents, who were both born and raised in Switzerland.

What a view! The festivities took place on the rooftop garden of 230 Fifth.

A salad and white wine. Swiss, of course.

Why oh why can't they veganize this? Raclette. Well, the potatoes, cornishons, and pearl onions are vegan. Veganize Swiss fondue.

Veganize Black Forest Cake.

Even Heidi and William Tell came to entertain the youngest Swiss generation.

The alphorn.

I don't ski, but I do love chocolate! Swiss Day goers were given a bar of Lindt Dark Chocolate for the road. Yeah, that's how we roll.

Traveling in Switzerland? The HappyCow makes finding vegetarian options there easy.

Know where the oldest vegetarian restaurant in Europe is? Zurich! Hiltl Vegetarian Restaurant has been serving vegetarian food since 1898. Spaghetti alla carbonara (using smoked tofu instead of ham?) Let's leave now.


"Pleasure is the first and most important issue of the food," says Managing Director Peter Vauthier. As we vegans and vegetarians know, there is no sacrifice of pleasure in eating veg.

Little Things, huge Impact

Little things can have a huge impact on growing kids, affecting their psychological, cognitive and social developments.

Kids tend to imitate their parents all the time, and this dynamic plays a big role in their development. What is familiar, weird, right, wrong, acceptable, impolite, etc, will be a reflection of their frame of references.

Even little things such as how our attitude fluctuates with our emotions, can affect a child’s behavior. If you are mad and tries to control your kid by raising your voice (yelling), it can be interpreted in their little minds as an effective way to intimidate and control others.

Cognitive development can also be hugely improved by parents and childcare providers with proper stimulation. The word “Cognitive” comes from the Latin root “cognoscere” meaning “to become acquainted with”, “to come to know”. Talking to them, explaining the reasoning behind actions, situations and problems can help them understand the world, and learn the “cause and effect” rule. Allowing kids to communicate their points of view brings confidence and develops their thought process.

This is our golden opportunity to maximize their development, taking it to the best possible direction!

My First Vegan Donut

A thing of beauty: a vegan strawberry frosted donut from Sweet Avenue Bake Shop. Even more beautiful, it was on sale for $1 (from its regular price of $2).

When I read that Sweet Avenue Bake Shop in Rutherford, NJ, started offering vegan donuts, I had to try them out! The verdict: tasty. Would go great with a glass of chocolate soy milk or coffee with soy creamer. Just a tad greasy, but I guess it is a donut. More cakey than the non-vegan version you will find at Dunkin' Donuts. I took a strawberry and a chocolate frosted donut home for a taste test, and the strawberry was the absolute favorite.

Visit Sweet Avenue Bake Shop, 153 Park Ave., Rutherford, NJ

Compassion Over Killing has launched a campaign to urge Dunkin' Donuts to take the cruelty out of their 52 varieties of donuts, all of which contain eggs and dairy. Learn more about the campaign, including how you can contact them, here. Don't forget to request soy milk too!

The Best Veggie Burger I've Ever Eaten...

is at Houston's, a non-vegetarian restaurant in Hackensack, NJ. Who knew?

The homemade burger is made with brown rice, black beans and oat bran, according to my waiter. He said this meal is vegan, just hold the mayo and cheese, and ask for toast instead of the bun (which contains egg). I've learned that eating out as a vegan often means having faith in what your waiter tells you. Just a tad pricey at $14. Served with choice of sides. I went with couscous with almonds and golden raisins.

The only other veg option: a vegetable plate with couscous for $12. PETA gave both dishes their approval on their Vegetarian and Vegan Fast Food page.

Major negative: there always seems to be a long wait here, no matter what time you go. There was over an hour wait at 7:30 on Tuesday. Browse at Barnes & Noble next door for your next library book while you wait.

Visit Houston's, 181 Riverside Square Mall, Hackensack.

The 20 blind peoples test drive student-designed car

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Several blind people were able to get behind the wheel of a new high-tech vehicle designed by Virginia Tech engineering students.

The 20 blind people took turns maneuvering the retrofitted dune buggy Friday in a parking lot at the University of Maryland. The test drive capped a National Federation for the Blind summer camp for 200 blind youth from across the country.
Blind student Addie Hagen, 16 (right) drives around a University of Maryland parking lot with Virginia Tech graduate Gregg Jannaman in College Park, Md., Friday, July 31, 2009. She is wearing headphones for verbal instructions to turn right or left and a vest that vibrates to various degrees that advises her to apply the brakes. She receives input from sensors on the vehicle. (AP Photo/The Washington Post, Gerald Martineau)

Virginia Tech was the only university to take on a 2004 challenge from the federation to build a vehicle that could let blind people drive.

The buggy they designed uses a laser sensor to figure out the road ahead. A special vibrating vest worn by drivers communicates speed & warns when to stop. And a headset relays voice commands signaling which way to turn.

source:http://www.wsbt.com/news/national/52275027.html

New research shows organic food has no nutritional benefits

Research shows organic food has no nutritional or health benefits over non-organic foods.

Bouncy Love

If you have kids, chances are you are a huge fan of bouncer chairs. What a great invention!

It is one gear that will buy you at least one hour of peace and rest a day. I’m yet to see a baby or young toddler that doesn’t get completely entertained in one of those for at least an hour. It is a bit noisy, but you just can’t have everything!

Someone gave us as a baby shower present. I confess that we didn’t have the slightest idea that it even existed until that moment. Since the first minute we put Lukas on it, it was like magic, he loved it. We didn’t even put batteries in the chair. He bounced himself by kicking it with his heels.

The toys hanging are very amusing, and for some reason the bouncy movement makes him very drowsy. It is an hour of self-entertainment, and an extra-hour of nap. As a bonus, the dog also gets quite amused….

God bless its creator!