WHEN YOU FIND OUT YOUR GUEST IS A VEGAN!!!
Okay, I think that this one was actually my fault...
For those of you who do not know, a steemian who is both French and Canadian has come all the way down to Arkansas to hang out for the weekend. After spending some time over the past months interacting on steemit, @vcelier decided to come visit the @papa-pepper tribe with one of his grandchildren, @naru-celier.
Life can be rather face-paced at times, and after returning earlier this week from a nine day trip to Texas and Mexico, we were already going to be having guests this weekend. Not only were our guests from out of town, they were from out of the country!
LATE LAST NIGHT...
Late last night, they rolled into town. The phone call was displayed as "UNKNOWN" on my cell phone. This was an international call!
@Vcelier and @naru-celier had arrived at their motel, roughly 15 minutes away. I think that it was already past 9 pm, so it was too late to have them out for a visit, especially after a very long day of travel, but @papa-pepper loaded up Pinkie-Pepper and Monster Truck the Pepper for a ride. Soon, we were at the motel.
Armed with a few STEEMIT.COM bracelets that I had picked up in Mexico, we parked and approached the building. Outside, with his camera ready in typical steemian style, @vcelier greeted us while he snapped a shot. We discussed a few things about our lives, steemit, and the upcoming weekend. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, @naru-celier asked, "Did you know that my Grandpa is vegan?" I looked at my friend on the couch next to me and replied, "No, I did not know that."
@Vcelier replied, "He must have missed the last sentence of my last email."
"WHAT?!?"
"Vegan?" I thought. How could I have missed that? @Mama-pepper and I had planned to have some chicken drumsticks on the grill at some point over the weekend with our guests... Time for Plan B I guess, but what was Plan B?
Later I looked back over the last email that I had received from @vcelier. Sure enough, there was the last sentence.
One thing I forgot to tell you: I am vegan. Nathaneil is not.
Hmmm... @papa-pepper can often get distracted and miss things, but i should have seen this. Upon reflecting on the issue, I think I realize what happened.
The previous day, @vcelier had mentioned being in "Harrison Hot Springs." I was blown away and caught off guard by what I had read. First off, this was one day earlier than I had expected our visitors. Something seemed off though. Both "Harrison" and "Hot Springs" are cities in Arkansas, but neither should have been on their way. Additionally, they are two separate cities over 180 miles away by vehicle, which is almost 3 1/2 hours away from one another (if you drive the suggested speed limit). Something was up.
Right before he tried to tell me that he was vegan, he had stated the following:
No, we are in Harrison Hot Springs in British Columbia.
I think that I was relieved and distracted by "solving" this issue that I missed (or forgot) the next sentence. Amazingly, there is a place called "Harrison Hot Springs" up in BC. What are the odds? Soooo... on to Plan B.
PLAN B
When we me up the next morning, we opted for stopping at a diner for breakfast. One meal done! After breakfast, @vcelier and @naru-celier came over for a tour of our land and a chance to meet some Guinea Fowl, Scorpions, a Black Rat Snake and other animals. After hanging out and talking for a while, it was time for lunch. What was going to be the "solution" to provide a vegan lunch option?
To the garden! Yes! There are many edible things out there that fit in perfectly with a vegan diet. Soon, @papa-pepper and @vcelier were up to our necks in my "garden." Yes, up to our necks and there is a reason for the quotation marks around "garden." Click here for more about that.
PAPA'S PICKS
Amaranth Leaves
Red Chinese Noodle Beans
Green Beans
Peppers -after all I am @papa-pepper
Kale
ADDING IN SOME WILD!
As a wild-man, I also like foraging. @vcelier proved to be quite a wild-man too, so I thought that he might like some wild vegan weeds with his lunch too. Thankfully, a few of these weeds were even conveniently growing in my crazy, overgrown, wild mess of a "garden." Here's what we foraged up quickly to add to the Plan B lunch.
Lamb's Quarters
Common Yellow Wood Sorrel
Wild Garlic
HERE COMES THE PLAN B, VEGAN LUNCH
After gathering our goods, we went to where I was going to cook it up. I got to rinsing and chopping up the edibles.
We heated up some oil instead of butter and @vcelier got to stirring our stir fry. One thing that I really appreciate about this man is that he gets in on the action and likes to help out too. Whether it is capturing wild snakes or cooking a meal... a vegan meal that is, @vcelier is right there doing his part, or just helping you do yours.
Since leafier foods like Kale and our foraged "weeds" tend to condense when heated, we added things to the stir fry in stages so that we could fit more in the skillet. I kept chopping and @vcelier kept stirring.
With the amount of stirring that he was doing I knew that this was totally going to be an excellent stir fry. We finished it off with a little salt, pepper, and some Bragg's Liquid Aminos and it was ready!
DINNER IS SERVED!... oops I MEAN VEGAN LUNCH IS SERVED!
Honestly, I write this in a half-jest type style. I know many people with many different diets and have no issues with any of them. Heck, @xtrodinarypilot even eats Hornet Larvae now and he used to be a vegetarian!
I believe that accommodating your guests and catering to their preferences is appropriate. Remember, if you are not a good host, you'll lose your parasites. (Another joke, I hope that you get it.)
Back to something that is not a joke. This incredible steemian @vcelier just traveled across a large portion of North America just to hang out with my family. This is part of the amazing, strange reality that we find within the steemit community. Strangers from around the world sharing interests and friendships to the point online that they even make the effort to meet face to face. Between STEEMfest, the steemit meetups, and these "one on one" visits, steemit is having an incredible effect on this world that we live in.
Hopefully this post has helped curb any "fears" you may have had about varying dietary restrictions or preferences. A few of those at our lunch may have added some cheese to the dish, but let me tell you, this was one tasty and nutritious lunch! For almost nothing other than a little effort we quickly pulled together a delicious meal that everyone could enjoy, and we had some great fun doing it together.
The times, meals, and experiences that we share are what make up our lives, and these are some pretty precious times for us. Enjoy your weekends friends. Sure, it could be your last, but even if it isn't, why not live it to your fullest and put forth some effort to not only enjoy yourselves, but to bless others as well! I'm off to bed, but tomorrow, I awake to adventure with my friends!
Both @vcelier and @naru-celier should be sharing about their time here too, so keep an eye on them. It has been very interesting and enjoyable so far!
As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:
proof-of-a-wonderful-vegan-lunch-together
Until next time…
Don’t waste your time online, invest it with steemit.com
Hello @papa-pepper . I translated this post in Russian. Translation here: https://steemit.com/vegan/@igor-steem/kogda-ty-vnezapno-uznal-chto-tvoi-gost-vegan . Thank you!
I hope your friends enjoyed it!
Good job of @igor-steem ! Oh, the @papa-pepper , as always on top, can go out with honor from difficult situation
there are two types of vegan, the aggressive and the i dont care. But even for me as a meat eater is like, if i would think about it there is no way to consume meat out of mass-industralization in an ethical way.
What a lovely vegan meal you all pulled together straight from your garden! Love it! Wow hornet larvae?! I'm checking out that post next. I had no idea there could be health benefits to that. Agreed. We should always strive to live every moment to the fullest. And every experience that we share with the people in our lives is precious, we shouldn't take it for granted. What a lovely reminder of this, and a nice way of putting things into perspective!
I am glad that you enjoyed the way I tried to put things into perspective. Thanks for the comment!
ha ha looks like you came up with a good meal. I invited a couple once and asked one of them if they had any dietary requirements. She said none, they both ate anything. I made a delicious chicken casserole and turns out he doesn't eat any meat other than beef! I think it made our friendship stronger as it was so funny ... errr awkward!
Awkward indeed!
I have recently went vegan (4weeks) to see if it would help reduce my inflammation from chrons. Sure enough I feel much better by since changing my diet and all the unhealthy food I miss is only a small sacrifice. What a tasty dish you made there!
I have a dear friend with Crohn's and it's really difficult to recommend proper vegetarian fare for him- what works for you?
Nyum nyum. So glad you took such a well-balanced well-humoured reaction to your guests surprise vegan status. Vegetables and especially fresh from the garden veg and wild weeds are soooo goood, there is no need to be sad for sure. So interesting to see wild garlic!!!! Here in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil they have a large tree called the garlic tree (pau-de-alho, Gallesia integrifolia) and the inner bark tastes just like garlic except without the sharp bitter after taste.
Btw, I am tagging you for haphazard-hstead's steemitgame foragingscavengerhunt1 #FSH1-16
That looks too good pappa-pepper, too good!
It was SUPER GOOD indeed!
Wooaaa hahaha I laugh loud when I read that you missed to read some P.S down there hahaha good to know his grandson Nathaniel say it and @papa-pepper ur a quick thinker tnx to the "garden" lunch is serve. But it is so inspiring knowing steemians and meeting up with them or visiting us is a very heart warming, go steem.
I am very glad that you enjoyed it. I enjoyed living it and sharing about it!
Yeah reading it is fun imagining how did ur mind flies when u know it. By the way I know ur a kind hearted man sir @papa-pepper if it is.not too much for you I would like to ask favor about my post if you can please resteem this it would be a.big help in our side. Just for once thank you. But I do also understand if it is not to be resteem sir,.no worries :)
https://steemit.com/need-assistance/@dianargenti/i-need-assistance-for-the-burial-of-my-father
Thank you for the reply :)
Very cool post! Reading these kinds of things make me all the more excited to be getting started on Steemit!
I didn't know there was a wild garlic. Where does it grow and how do you identify it?
I made a post about it last year: https://steemit.com/food/@papa-pepper/the-edible-outdoors-10-garlic
There is quite a bit in the woods where we live in Arkansas.
Awesome! Thanks for the quick reply. I'll be on the lookout for some!!
Papa, it looked like a delicious vegan lunch. I love the way that you took the unexpected vegan requirements in your stride. Once, years ago, we had a few children over, friends of my sons'. Now to understand how I was completely taken off guard, I need to give just a little bit of background. I was brought up in the apartheid era of South Africa. The idea to invite friends of other races into my home, let alone to embrace other cultures and diets, was unthinkable. But I am a with-it mother, and we absolutely welcomed all of our children's friends from every race and culture. But wow! how that opened my eyes. It was actually such a simple thing. One of the friends was a catholic. Being a staunch protestant, the idea of anyone with another religion in my own home was...well, unthinkable. So here I cooked the most delicious meal that Friday evening for all the friends: meat, meat, meat, potato salad with bacon, homemade bread rolls - with bacon...you get the drift. Only to find out I could not feed one of the children because it is Friday, they do not eat meat, and definitely no bacon. The poor child went to bed with a few slices of store bought bread. But I learned my lesson. Now I always ask the preferences of guests. And also, since then, having my mind opened up, I have experienced some delicious cooking from other cultures in our beautiful land.
What I actually want to say, is that we are all enriched by learning about people with different beliefs, culture, race, backgrounds, etc. And steemit is the ideal platform. Thanks for your beautiful post, as always.
What an interesting story. Thank you for sharing it!