February Potluck

Hey everyone, Valerie here!

So my husband Marc and I are hosting the next potluck at our place next Saturday, February 19th, at 4pm.

We'll be having a discussion on the different motivations for animal rights and the vegetarian lifestyle from both the non-religious perspectives and those of the many world religions.

I'll show the short film, "Eating Mercifully", from the Humane Society as a kind of jumping off point for discussion. You can also watch a 7 minute trailer here:

http://www.humanesociety.org/about/departments/faith/tips/eating_mercifully_resources.html

This is a time of open sharing. Everyone's opinion is welcome and encouraged without judgment.

As always, please bring a tasty vegan dish to share. No meat, dairy, eggs, honey, etc.

Email me for directions. vsimone316@yahoo.com

Upcoming Events - January/February

Hello friends,

I hope you all had an excellent holiday season and are settling in nicely to the start of 2011! After a short hiatus, the Humboldt Vegetarian Society is back in full swing and ready to host some fun events...

On Friday, January 28th, some of us are going out to dinner (sans kids) - we haven't decided for sure yet where we're going but I think we have it narrowed down to either Bless My Soul or Restaurant Hana (both in Eureka). If you'd like to join us, let me know and I will keep you apprised of the details as they firm up next week.

And on Sunday, February 6th, we have a really cool event planned - it will be a free fair trade chocolate tasting and screening of the film 'The Dark Side of Chocolate', which investigates allegations of child slavery in chocolate production on the Ivory Coast. You don't need to bring anything - just your sweet tooth and an open mind - we'll provide fair trade chocolate snacks, coffee, and tea to enjoy while we watch the film, which I believe runs for about an hour. I'm also trying to line up a guest speaker from Sjaaks Chocolates, though that has not yet been confirmed (if it doesn't pan out you're just going to be stuck listening to me). The event will start at 2:00 in the afternoon and will, as usual, be held at the Humboldt Area Foundation Community Center at the intersection of Indianola Road and Indianola Cutoff in Bayside.

If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please let me know, and I hope to see many of you at one or both of these upcoming events.

Take care.

Tamara

2011 Schedule of Events

Exact dates are yet to be determined, but we've put together a tentative outline of Humboldt Vegetarian Society events for 2011 -

January 2011

• Adults' dinner out
• Fair trade chocolate tasting and screening of 'The Dark Side of Chocolate' (late January or early February)
  

February 2011

• Potluck (and film screening?) hosted by Valerie in Eureka
  

March 2011

• Vegan chili cook-off at the HAF Community Center
  

April 2011

• Adults' dinner out
• Outreach event - distribute vegan hot chocolate and vegan literature in front of the Arcata Co-op
  

May 2011

• Potluck and film screening (possibly The Cove) at the HAF Community Center

June 2011

• Vegan picnic (possibly at the pump station East of Arcata)
  

July 2011

• Potluck and speaker at the HAF Community Center
  

August 2011

• Vegan ice cream party hosted by Tamara in Bayside
  

September 2011

• Local foods themed potluck at the HAF Community Center
  
• Possible cooking class with Jennifer Raymond, either in combination with the potluck or on a different day

October 2011

• Adults' dinner out
  
• Potluck hosted by Heather in Eureka
  

November 2011

• Vegan Thanksgiving at the HAF Community Center
  

December 2011

• ???

If anyone has ideas for additional projects or events, please feel free to organize something using either our Yahoo group and/or Facebook page.

Vegan Thanksgiving!

Please join us for a truly happy turkey day celebration!

Vegan Thanksgiving Potluck
Sunday, November 21st, 2:00
Humboldt Area Foundation Community Center
(Indianola Cutoff in Bayside, between Eureka and Arcata)

Questions? Email us.

October Potluck and film screening 10/16

Hey everyone. Valerie again.

Marc and I will be hosting this month's potluck at our place in Pine Hill.

We will be showing the film The Witness. This Tribe of Heart documentary is an intriging story of a construction contractor from a tough Brooklyn neighborhood who becomes an impassioned animal activist.

Our plan is to show the film at 4pm and then for those who are comfortable, to share where they are on their vegan/vegetarian or animal protection/rights journey or the reasons behind their decision to investigate these issues.

Everyone is welcome to share(or not), no matter what stage they're at.

The film is only about 45 minute long, so potluck and discussion will start at 5pm.

You can also watch the entire film online from the link above and just come in time for the potluck.

If interested in coming, please email me for directions to our place. vsimone316@yahoo.com

And as always, please bring a dish to share that contains no animal products. (meat, fish, dairy, eggs, gelatin, honey, etc)

Looking forward to seeing you!

Dinner at Chapala Cafe, 10/1

Join us for an adults-only dinner out on Friday, 10/1 - enjoy great Mexican food, margaritas, and live music by the Tumbleweeds! Please RSVP if you plan to attend (just leave a comment here) so I can make the reservation for the correct number of people.

Chocolate Chip Ice Cream recipe

Hey People! Valerie here.

I had a great time with you all at the ice cream party at Tamara's yesterday.

Here's the recipe for the ice cream that I made. It's adapted from a recipe in the book The Vegan Scoop by Wheeler Del Torro.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

3 1/2 cups coconut milk, divided

2 Tbls arrowroot powder

2/3 cup agave nectar

1 Tbls vanilla extract

1/2 cup nondairy chocolate chips

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup coconut milk with arrowroot powder and set aside.

Mix remaining 3 1/4 cups coconut milk and agave nectar in a saucepan, and cook over low heat. Once mixture begins to boil, remove from heat and immediately add arrowroot cream. This will cause the liquid to thicken noticeably.

Stir in vanilla.

Refrigerate mixture until chilled, approximately 2 to 3 hours. Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions. In the last few minutes of churning, add chocolate chips.

Yield: 1 quart