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You know how on Thanksgiving someone always sends you an e- card with a turkey wearing a sign that says, “ Don’t hurt me, I’m chicken.” How many people are worried about the pain an asparagus might feel at harvest time? Or that a tomato might fear the swinging of a machete? For anyone concerned about vegetable trauma, there is real data available that vegetables don’t feel the slightest bit put out about being sliced or diced, and actually like a little steam treatment, which is very good for their skin. As long as it doesn’t evaporate their vitamins. So if you must skip the chicken or meat pot pies, fine. Vegetables love mixing it up with a little crust. And for the devoted vegan who would like to meet more of same, check out Vegan Love You won’t meet a turkey. Vegetarian Pot Pie Recipe

Compassionate Action for Animals (CAA), created to inspire respect for animals and to promote vegetarianism, started in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) community in 1998. In 2003, CAA opened a chapter at the University of Minnesota, and today engages in efforts to promote respect for animals throughout the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area, various Minnesota college campuses, and all over the nation.Through educational outreach, speaker events addressing animal, ethical, and health issues, publications, food giveaways, and cooking classes to show how delicious vegetarian and vegan food is, CAA is promoting awareness of vegetarian and vegan dining, making it more convenient, more available and more delicious than ever before. Go to www.exploreveg.org, and find out more. It wouldn’t hurt to make a vegetarian pie for dinner either.

Because Penelope is a great believer in the notion of simplicity being genius, when she heard about a new cause called Voluntary Simplicity, she went right to Mr. Google to find out more. One of the clicks directed her to the home page of two V.S. adherents who had the most inspiring things to say about owning your own life, living with less of what money can buy, acquiring true freedom, and cultivating more meaningful relationships. Then they went on about Antoine de Saint-Exupery, and his idea about perfection being reached, “…not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to take away.” Needless to say, Penelope was ready to head straight to The Simple Living Network. The only thing that gave her pause was (and not that V.S. ers shouldn’t have some downtime like the rest of us) the vacation photo they put on their web page wasn’t of the two of them standing in front of a hybrid Saturn plant in the heartland, but amid the mile-long, awe inspiring, manicured foliage of what could only be described as Versailles.

Jennifer Foster from Burbank, CA said:“Penelope, I just went on penelopepies.com the other day searching for a good pumpkin pie recipe, and of course I used one of the ones on the website (Amish Pumpkin Pie) and it was a hit! It was a nice simple recipe that had a bit of tang (perhaps from the vinegar in the crust or the molasses, or maybe from the cinnamon and nutmeg sprinkled across the top). The only one at the table who didn’t want to try my homemade pie was the littlest person there, a 7-year-old boy who wasn’t sure about the color since it was darker on top than a store bought pie. Everyone else enjoyed it. Penelope will forever be my source for new pie recipes!” Jennifer, so glad it worked out! Helping with pumpkin recipe discovery was the very reason for the Pumpkin Pie Playoffs! As for the little guy who didn’t want to try it, he’ll live to regret refusing something delicious from a pretty girl.