I’m just gonna start off by saying: It was worth it.

I hosted a vegan cookie exchange in our home this past Sunday and I have to say, it was a success!

We had about seven people attend, so there were a variety of cookies. Delicious cookies. Vegan cookies!

I made a chewy molasses and ginger cookie using THIS recipe. People always have a strange reaction when you offer them a vegan cookie, as if it won’t taste good. Um, hello it’s still got sugar!

Open your minds people. It’s OK to try something new and different.

What I love about hosting these vegan events – aside from all the yummy food – is that I get to meet new vegans who may eat how I do, but are very different from me. Vegans are young and “seasoned,” they are of different ethnicity, they like different music or work in different professions. And despite all these differences, we can all come together and have a wonderful time sharing food and our love for animals. At these little gatherings nobody has to explain why they don’t eat meat. They don’t have to ask what’s in the food they are about to eat and then end up with a sad plate of salad. Nope! At our vegan parties we can eat without question, we can talk about animal welfare without being considered extreme.

Sometimes I like being different. I enjoy having a cause that I live daily, but it can be hard. It can be tiresome telling people where I get my protein from or trying to explain my problem with places like Sea World and the zoo.

And that’s why I host these events from time to time: So for a couple of hours I can just be myself and I am no longer different.

I am among friends who, without really knowing me, know exactly why I am the way I am.

Merry Christmas!

– Veronica Sandate Craker