Happy V-Day from Tenderly
HI LOVES!
Happy hearts, flowers, and (vegan) chocolate season! Whether you’re into celebrating love with your boo, having too much fun with your Guy-or-Galentine’s, or just sinking into self-care via ice cream, wine, and a bath bomb, the next few days are a great time to embrace sensuality, the color pink, and plenty of chocolate.
My husband and I are celebrating with dinner at home tomorrow night, but I’m “cheating” a little with pre-made vegan ricotta and mushroom Kite Hill ravioli. To go with, I’m making alfredo sauce, french bread, a simple spinach-y salad. For dessert, fresh strawberries and Sweet Ritual ice cream. Then on Sunday we’re going to our local arthouse cinema for a marathon of Richard Linklater’s trilogy of romantic and heartbreaking films, Before Sunset, Before Sunrise, and Before Midnight. I’m prepared to cry a LOT.
P.S. We’re hiring! A part time contract writer who can also help out with social. If you’re interested and qualified, read the job listing and apply this weekend — we’re closing new applications and reviewing what we’ve got starting early next week.
Planning to cook this weekend but still haven’t figured out what, exactly? Good news! Marla Rose rounded up 50 succulent, delicious vegan recipes that are perfect for Valentine’s Day, from soups to luscious desserts. For wine pairings, I recommend our piece on pairing vegan wines with main entrees. More of a cocktail person? Here’s three fancy and delicious mixed drinks you can make with ingredients you probably already have at home.
I don’t know about you, but I’m dreaming of a Lagusta’s Luscious chocolate box this Valentine’s Day — read all about why the world needs more anarcha-feminist chocolate in our profile of Lagusta from last year. If you’re just looking for the ultimate grocery store candy bar for vegans, you might be lucky enough to be near a place that stocks Raaka’s perfect vegan milk chocolate bar.
Alternately, you could spend Valentine’s making your own vegan chocolates, and infusing them with ~ aphrodisiac ~ herbs. Tempering chocolate a romantic task absolutely made for two, and Sarah Ridgeway has perfectly patient instructions and her own chocolate-infused love story to go with.
For the morning after, may I suggest FRENCH TOAST? Laura Vincent has a recipe that utilizes aquafaba for that perfectly light and crispy texture that one dreams of when one dreams of french toast.
Being a professional dominatrix is slightly more complicated when you’re also an ethical vegan who doesn’t buy leather. But the two are also intertwined for “Mistress B,” who writes in I’m a Vegan Dominatrix: “I like to believe I’m drawn to both of these lifestyles because they share the core principles of empathy and consent. They are built on the foundations of bodily autonomy and compassion.”
Have you ever dreamed of being part of a “vegan power couple”?! Aryenish Birdie and Kenny Torella (of Encompass Movement and Mercy for Animals, respectively) spend their time fighting for animals and loving each other. Rachel Krantz interviewed Aryenish for Tenderly and got her to dish on whether she and Kenny ever feel competitive with each other.
Britty Hamby’s essay on the language we use to talk about animals, Stop Calling Animals ‘It’, really resonated with me, but my favorite part is the story of teaching her son to be less afraid of the spiders living in their home. Illustrated above, Daniel!!— proof that love and tenderness can come in all kinds of forms, and with any number of legs and eyeballs.
I’ve never been a fan of that long-used advice that you have to love yourself before you love someone else. While working on yourself is important, a supportive partnership (or even a close friendship!) is often a stepping stone to a healthier relationship with yourself and your body. Marianne Eloise recently wrote a beautiful essay about how cooking and eating vegan food with her boyfriend helped her in eating disorder recovery.
That said, our love for people who share our love of animals can lead to some strange places. Emmy Favilla penned a hilarious personal essay about how being attracted exclusively to men who are kind to animals led her to dating a juggalo.
Because we really love you, and we love independent artists, and we especially love the beautiful and oft-maligned pigeon, we’ve partnered with Kate Louise Powell to commission a piece of pigeon art that’s now available as a digital print directly from her. A portion of the proceeds will go into funding Tenderly content in the future, so you can support Kate’s work, our work, and DEFEND PIGEONS all with one purchase.
But above all, we love french fries. Forever.
XOXO
Tenderly / Summer Anne Burton
