Inaugural post

My name is Anthony Ruccolo. I am your everyday, normal American citizen who, until recently, was going through life loving meat, cooking meat and slowly killing himself with sweet, sweet, cholesterol. That all began to change when one of my best friends took the plunge and went vegan. He officially began to suck the fun out of everything. Or, that was my thought at the time, because like anyone who is newly passionate about something, veganism was all he wanted to talk about. To the point where there was more than one occasion that I wanted to throw him out a window and I am sure he felt the same about me. Time does heal all wounds, and friendship, it turns out, is thicker then food. I began to accept him and his choices.

Fast-forward three years. Working a crappy foodservice job, convinced that I was going to be the next great record mogul, I met my wife. I worked at this bagel place, hating every second of it. I rebelled by not washing my uniform and not shaving my beard - pushing the boundaries as far as I could without losing my craptastic job. So here I am, an unappreciated music business genius working a morning shift starting at 4am Monday through Friday, and I began to notice this woman who came in every day and ordered a bagel with peanut butter and an orange juice. We began to talk while she was in the line and after a few months went by we went on our first date. AWWW. I know - it’s gross and cute - but that’s what happened. On our second date she informs me that she was vegan. My first thought, I have to admit, was, “Oh great. A crazy liberal that can’t have fun because she is too busy being self-righteous.” As we talked about it and her life, I realized she was the opposite of that. She had been vegan for about 12 years and had a really good logical reason why she was. She also was past that stage of being outraged at people who wore leather. We ended up getting married and my world started to slowly change for the good.

I began to try new things - at restaurants and at home - and read about the world. I came out of my sports and music cave where I had happily been living. Of course my vegan friends loved her and I began to cook for her. I began to realize that vegan cooking was easy and could be just as rich and awesome as food soaked in bacon fat. We now have been together for four years now and I find myself in a position of realizing some very important things about my life and what I eat.

I have realized that the older I get, the best thing that I could do would be to stop eating cholesterol. I also have been wrestling with the question, “If the only way that I could have sweet, sweet bacon was for me to go up to a pig that I have raised, shoot it, hear it squeal, then gut it - could I?” The answer that I am starting to move towards is “no.” On the other hand, I am also wrestling with this idea of having the label of being a vegan and all that comes with it. Do I want to have that label? Right now, the answer is “no.” I still eat meat - though less and less every day - but I do eat it.

These questions are the main reasons that I am launching this blog. I also want to be a moderate voice for those who feel that one side or the other – meat-eaters or vegans – is being too crazy. I want to take this time to explore vegan recipes and discuss the things I hate about vegan culture - and the things I love about it. I also want to take this time to discuss the things that I hate about omnivore culture and things I love about “bacon” (which will be focused on from time to time. You have been warned.) I also want to let people know that vegans and omnivores can exist in a loving respectful relationship. I hope you visit my blog more than this one time, but, if not, thanks for reading.