Is your wine vegetarian?

It would be a natural assumption that all wines are vegetarian, right? They are made from grapes and other additives that are not animal based.

WRONG!

Unfortunately some wineries will use an animal-based product called finings to remove the small impurities in the wine. Since most finings do not remain in the wine, the wineries do not need to list the finings as an ingredient. Because of this you will not know if the wine you are drinking is vegetarian unless you direct questions to the manufacturer.

Luckily there are web sites that already have that info:

• Veggie Wines
• Vegitarian Network Victoria
• Frommers Vegan Wine Guide
• Barnivore

Unfortunately, many wine makers change their recipes from year to year so a wine that is deemed vegetarian one year, may not be in the next.

Goat Cheese, Tomato and Arugula Pasta




Arugula growing in my garden

 This year was the first time I've planted arugula. The stuff is growing like wildfire and is crazy-ass hot (spicy)!! It's so strong tasting that I can't imagine using it in a salad so this recipe is perfect.


Ingredients
5 1/2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
2 cups coarsely chopped arugula, stems included
1 1/2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
2-3 cloves of minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
8 ounces penne pasta

Directions
Cook pasta until al dente.

Combine goat cheese, arugula, cherry tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper in a large serving bowl.

Drain pasta and toss with goat cheese mixture.

New Marketing that Reveals Animal Welfare

I recently tweeted about a new rating system that is being introduced by Whole Foods Market.
The system shows a 5-step animal welfare chart. The plan is to color code labels on all animal products so that consumers can make informed chocies when purchasing these products.

Although this doesn't prevent cruel conditions, it could send an important message to the farmers if this catches on.