Tara Austen Weaver

On January 26th, we had the fun and pleasure of speaking with Tara Austen Weaver, author of The Butcher and the Vegetarian!

Of course, I have some tidbits to share with you! I try to share things of interest and I do hope you will find them interesting!

This week we spoke briefly about the following topics...

For one, you've heard by now of the new astrological shift! We assure you, you are still the sign that you were and we will not be changing our name to Libran Equinox! Scorpion all the way baby! Besides, I don't want to get this tattoo removed. I hear it hurts.

The USDA was getting rather annoyed with a number of birds who were flitting around a feedlot and figured to take care of it, execution style. They decided to use bait that was poisoned and all in all killed at least 200 wild birds. Thumbs down!!!!

Thumbs up though because it's about time that the FDA looks into food coloring a little more closely to see its effects on children! NOW can that giant pitcher of red dye stop busting through the drywall after school??

Foie gras. It's liver removed from a severely punished body. Need I say more?

Where's that old lady from the Wendy's commercial? She's picketing Taco Bell with her famous slogan...Where's the Beef? Well, 35% of it IS in the taco.....the rest is whatever's inside the couch cushions...

File under Barbaric, subcategory - Ewww. Lion Tacos here in the United States. Really?

And now onto our interview with Tara....

First off, I have to say that Tara was a really fun and bright light of an interview.

And....in my not so humble opinion, her mom rocks. Her mom went vegetarian in approximately the 1950s, before being a double dipped organic hippie was even thought of! She did allow Tara and her brother to go ahead and have a little meat when they ate out or were at friend's homes. As Tara puts it, she was "raised vegetarian".

Eventually Tara found that her health wasn't up to par and went from doctor to doctor...conventional, homeopathic, accupuncture.....she's tried it all. Finally one doctor told her that she needed to have animal protein and this is how the book starts.

We follow Tara through going from being a culinary garden whiz in the kitchen to taking baby steps and trying to figure out how to tame the packages that come straight from the butcher. I give her a lot of credit....she hopped in with two feet and went for it! She even worked with the bone marrow - now THAT'S something that I have definitely had to tangle with!

Tara also learned how to fit in as good as she could on the customer side of the butcher counter. Learning what to ask for, being able to say what you are going to do with it and standing firm when you are maybe being pushed in another direction would all be skills she would add to her new life.

I did ask her though, on what diet she feels best. And she did answer it! However, I'm going to leave that one for the interview....can't give away ALL the surprises!

Tara did leave with our listeners her thoughts on food choices in general. When making that decision to eat meat, she sought out ranches to visit to see where her food comes from. She learned about the quality of the meat and how that quality is passed down in the food we eat. She says that you need to do your own research and find suppliers. And I'd back that up - especially if you aren't comfortable with just eating the *stuff* in the styrofoam package at your local chain grocery.

Currently Tara is writing a book about growing food and we can't wait to see how it turns out!

You can find Tara's website Here. Also, check out her awesome food blog, Tea and Cookies to check out a Sexy Kale Recipe that we spoke of on the show! Cue the stripper music and eat!