I had recently converted to veganism
shortly before writing what would become burnplate no.1
(after being an ova-lacto vegetarian for 7 years)
it was a giant leap in the “me doing things all the way instead of half ass” category.

It wasn’t that much of an adjustment
I set a date and tried to eat everything i thought i would ever miss
for two weeks prior to my vegan launch date
in the refrigerator
were two turtle cheesecakes
of which i ate a piece twice a day
one for breakfast
one after dinner

post vegan launch
however
it was difficult to maintain the conviction
and resist cravings for things made with dairy and eggs
staying informed on all the unnecessary animal biproducts and ingredients that make their way into food that one would think would be animal free

who puts beef fat into snack cakes?
i mean really
beef fat
or milk bi-products into non-dairy creamer?

I devised a system (you have to have a system)
If i was struck with a particular craving for something non-vegan
I’d recall the texture of scrambled eggs
as old gum stuck under a greasy spoon diner table
scraped off
served hot
with a sprig of parsley
hair stuck to it
perhaps a shard or two of broken glass
or pebbles for a decorative touch

as you can imagine this method worked for most things.