One of my favorite dishes

I decided to make my favorite tofu dish for dinner, as I've got the blahs today. This is the Lemon Tofu with Capers. I finished off my cooked bulgur and had a few mushrooms on the side. There are no words to describe just how delicious this tofu is. It's almost cool enough for me to turn on my oven, and if it stays below 85 (oh, please, oh, please), I may just make some veggie ribs or cookies.

My boyfriend and I went to AR 2006, the animal rights conference sponsored by FARM (Farm Animal Reform Movement). We mostly checked out the exhibitors. A company called Roads End makes a product they call Chreese, a vegan cheesy sauce mix. They made these gooey grilled "cheese" sandwiches that were wonderful. Also there was a company called Temptation who makes soy ice cream. I got the vanilla, chocolate and strawberry (huge cones with three scoops were $4--what a deal!) and liked the chocolate best--a rich, definitive chocolatey flavor. I'm hoping that a Washington, DC, area retailer starts carrying them. Guess I'll have to beg and plead the local Whole Foods.

An online vegan retailer, Vegan Essentials, had new marshmallows from a company called Sweet & Sara. They were so delicious, I bought a small packet in chocolate, which were also delicious. They also had some new makeup from Beauty Without Cruelty and another line of cosmetics whose name I don't recall. I am a cosmetic junkie, but I decided not to go too bonkers. I also found a fantastic dark chocolate caramel bar, which I did get, as it's been way too long since I had good caramel. It's one of the few things I miss about being vegan.

After that, we ended up going to Pizzeria Paradiso in Dupont Circle with an acquaintance we ran into at the conference and another couple who'd been there. There are several places in the area that provide Follow Your Heart soy cheese as an option. Ella's Wood-Fired has good food, but their portions are very small. I appreciate that Ella's doesn't charge extra for soy cheese, as Pizzeria Paradiso does. However, PP's servings are much larger--they have two sizes--and they seem to be a little more veg-friendly. I was disappointed in the salad--for five bucks, give me more than some lettuce that had a passing acquaintance with the promised balsamic vinaigrette and olive oil dressing.

I have said in the past that I avoid reality shows like the plague. The closest thing to a reality show I watch is Morgan Spurlock's "30 Days," which airs on FX. I feel that this is more educational than entertainment, so it doesn't fall into the garbage reality that I so loathe. The premise of the show is a person tries on a different life for a month. The last episode featured an atheist woman who went to stay with a family of Christians. And perhaps the last acceptable group against whom it is acceptable to discriminate are atheists and agnostics. It seemed the Christian wife was trying to understand her guest, while the husband could not accept it. Finally, she pointed out that her belief, or lack thereof, felt right to her and that if she tried to be anything else, it would be dishonest, and the husband understood it. I identify as agnostic and get very nervous around the ultrareligious, perhaps because of I fear they are trying to strip away my rights. And of course, there will never be an atheist or agnostic president--much less politician--which has us behind Chile in that regard.

But the most disturbing feature on the show was a piece on a Christian theme park in Orlando. According to the show, they have stagings of the crucifixion every day. People were literally in tears as the actor playing Jesus was put up on the cross. And I have to wonder why they focus so much on his death and not so much on his life. I remembered Barbara Ehrenreich's tart observation in Nickel and Dimed, where she observed that they kill him over and over so they can shut him up and ignore what they said.

I grew up Jewish, so JC was never a part of my life, but from my limited understanding, he'd be a little freaked out, if not downright angry, at his so-called followers. I try to live a fairly good life because it's the right thing to do, and I don't need a higher power telling me that or fear of what will happen after I die forcing me to toe a very narrow line. And inherent in my religion is the notion that what you do is far more important than what you believe, making agnosticism and secular humanism very Jewish.