Love, Tenderly — when vegans cheat, delicious recipes, cute pups, and more
Hi Tenderfriends,
Since I last wrote, we’ve been busy. For one thing, we launched a new Facebook group (appropriately named Tenderfriends) to open up a more two-way conversation between Tenderly’s writers, readers, and everyone interested in vegan living, animal liberation, and good food. It’s a place to share inspiring food pictures AND major cooking fails, articles you loved and articles you need to talk to someone with, tips, deals, and cute pups. Please join us!
We’ve published a slew of fascinating, challenging, entertaining, and inspiring stories and absolutely delicious recipes since I last wrote to you with a tummy full of delicious Midwestern vegan food. I’m really proud of the quality work we’re doing. If you want to support us, share your favorite Tenderly stories far and wide, and follow us across social media (we’re @tenderlymag on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest) — bonus is you’ll have delicious, adorable, and bold pieces to read everywhere you go. All we need to keep doing this work is readers, followers, and honest input from this incredible community of folks who care about animals (our fellow humans included) and the future of our planet — and know how delicious plants can be.
Thrilled that we were able to go long on Lagusta Yearwood, the inspiring and refreshingly honest chocolatier, chef, and author who is responsible for the most beautiful and delicious vegan chocolate I’ve ever tasted. Plus she’s a feminist whose ethics permeate her business practices. Even more thrilled that the piece was written by the compassionate Julia Tausch, who lost her cat while working on this profile and allowed us readers a window into her grief that makes this piece even more meaningful.
“It is not just an act of compassion, but from an ethical, environmental and health perspective — veganism is logical and rational. If you already believe that animals have the right to live, then I would say that you’ve already adopted a vegan mindset. The next part is to align your actions with your values.” —Engineer and activist Malina Tran, from our Vegans of Color series by Casey Walker.
Three delicious, homemade, ethically sourced nut butters. Yum!
“I Dated a Juggalo Because He Loved Animals” by Emmy Favilla is exactly as funny and entertaining as the headline promises. Come for the juggalo stories, stay for the insight about why it’s important to only date people who treat animals with kindness — and equally important to make sure they’re treating you kindly as well.
For her delightful veganized cocktail series, Bartenderly, Laura Vincent took on two different takes on a veganized White Russian. Go ahead and channel the dude, with either oat milk or coconut milk depending on what your heart desires (or what your fridge currently contains). “Hey, careful, man, there's a beverage here!”
Alicia Kennedy on a few of her favorite vintage vegetarian cookbooks!
Delicious Bradley gets into meditation…
Macken Murphy explains why Cory Booker can’t really be honest about his vegan ethics, even if he wants to be.
If you want to be the star of a kid’s Halloween party, please make this ~ spooky ~ vegan crackle cake from Sara Kidd. No spiders were harmed!
We interviewed beloved “kitten lady” Hannah Shaw, whose animal activism has deep roots and whose new book is devoted to helping kids learn more about saving animals.
Joshua Goodman explains how “Fugazi Made Me Vegan”: Veganism involves questioning the dominant worldview, doing things for yourself, and sticking to principles. Being vegan means saying “fuck you” to a system even many meat eaters know is wrong — and that’s punk rock, even if there’s no crashing drums and searing guitar involved.
Rachel Krantz kicked off Tenderly’s version of the Proust questionnaire with an entertaining and enlightening interview with the incredibly inspiring Mercy for Animals president and author of the new book Grilled: Turning Adversaries Into Allies to Change the Chicken Industry, Leah Garcés.
Make the world’s fluffiest vegan pancakes with the magic of aquafaba!
The brave and incisive Leah Kirts covers the dicey topic “When Vegans Cheat” with nuance. The problem with focusing on individual action — and our inevitable failure to live up to our own ideals — reduces veganism to a lifestyle choice rather than a unifying force of systemic change.
Michele C. Hollow wrote about five kids who are trying to make the world better for animals — from a 16-year-old whose conservation documentaries have been taught from Vietnam to San Salvador to a 9-year-old whose trip to Africa inspired her to fight poaching and co-write a book for kids about saving animals.
The latest in Jessica Scott-Reid’s heartwarming Sanctuary Stories series is about two little pregnant goats rescued from a backyard meat operation — and explains the problems with petting zoos. Luckily, these two goats and many more were saved by Happy Herd Farm Sanctuary, and now they live a blissed out life with their babies. ❤
Elisabeth Sherman shared the recipe for gado-gado that she created to be closer to her father and her Indonesian heritage. It’s a beautiful piece that captures what it’s like to visit a culture you’re intimately tied to but not immersed in, and plus I want to pour this peanut sauce on everything.
Writer and vegan cheese enthusiast Elena Botella tested every commercially available vegan cheese slice available at her local Whole Foods to tell us which ones are best — in grilled cheese, as plain snacks, and all-around. Does Violife live up to the hype? Find out inside.
Annie Shannon’s new series of Friends-inspired recipes kicked off with reasonably-sized maple scones. Please don’t do what Ross did to these poor innocent delicious scones.
If you can read this personal story about the dogs who have changed Alexandra Tsuneta’s life and helped her heal from childhood trauma without crying, you might be a replicant.
A 12-year-old boy built a lego wheelchair for this growing puppy. That’s all.
Lastly, if you’re not sure what to make for dinner tonight — we got you.
Love,
Tenderly
