A Vegan In the Land of Temptation

(Originally Written for iEatGrass.com)

      Chocolate and waffles and fries, oh my! Sorry for the corny intro, but that was my first reaction when I went to Bruges, Belgium this weekend. While the scenery was as beautiful as the land of Oz, vegan food was almost as elusive as the Wizard himself. Luckily, I found my Emerald City in Royal Frituur & Veggie Eetboetiek. This was a tiny, but amazing, vegan restaurant with a hazelnut burger that was heel-click worthy. Topped with apple slices, lettuce, and tomato, this burger was the foodie highlight of the trip.

      

       Even as it was delicious, the hazelnut burger was obviously processed, as is most Belgian food. For some reason, the Belgians have an ongoing love affair with the deep fryer. So Belgium may not be the best country for traveling vegans, but I'm determined that you can replicate all of its delicacies in a healthy and vegan way. The hazelnut burger can easily be made much healthier with this recipe.

      Of course, another Belgian staple, the waffle, can be made vegan and healthy as well. This recipe is packed with whole grains and natural sweetness. 

      I always thought that french fries, although unhealthy, were at least vegan. However, in Belgium, most are made with animal fat. I humbly offer a healthier and happier alternative. (And if you're lucky enough to live in California and still have access to avocados, avocado fries are a must.)

      Finally, if Belgium is known for anything, it's chocolate. Obviously, because of chocolate's milk content, we vegans need to find another way to get our fix. As with many cocoa related recipes, it's Chocolate Covered Katie to the rescue. If you're not into baking, there are tons of vegan chocolate suppliers and products.

      Although my trip to Belgium was amazing, when it comes to vegan food—sometimes there really is no place like home.

Free Write #2 -- Aushwitz is not a Day Trip

      So, seeing as my last free write went over pretty well with you guys, I'd thought I'd start sharing them. (Daring, I know.) But on a practical note, my free writes are usually about my travels, and since I don't have any time to write actual quality travel posts, these might just suffice. (I know that in a few years I'm going to be kicking myself for putting this unedited shit on the internet, but, at the moment, I find these pieces kind of darling so...)
       For the next one, the only prompt was that it had to begin with the line: "Sometimes what you get is not what you thought you wanted."

       Sometimes what you get is not what you thought you wanted. I thought I wanted to explore my family's heritage, and what I got was a ten hour train ride that I didn't know how it was going to end. I've said it once and I'll say it again-- Auschwitz is not a day trip. Warsaw to Krakow, no problem. Krakow to Oświęcim, fair enough. Oświęcim back to Krakow, fuck you guys. That was what I imagined the ticket machine had said to my best friend and I as we were trying to select our return journey. The machine said that there weren't any available trains back. Still, having faith in things working out, we got on the train to Oświęcim, hoping to find a way back once we arrived. 
      If I could sum the day up into one Yittish phrase, it would be "oy vey." That was how my feet and ass were feeling by the end of the night, when we were finally back in our Warsaw hostel. Considering the idea of sleeping on a park bench had been a very real possibility only hours before, I was more than thankful falling into my hostel bed.
      Still, we got to go to Auschwitz, and even though we didn't have enough time to do a proper tour, it left its mark. I'm still haunted by the giant pile of hair that looked exactly like mine. I could have been realted to anyone to whom that hair belonged, and I probably was. There's this joke among Jews about how every Jewish woman hates her hair, and I'm no exception. But on that day, I loved my kinky, frizzy, brown hair because it was mine and so many others, and because no one could take it away.