Hi all -
after all the discouraging relatives stories, I wanted to share a positive
one. My SO is French. Now the French are not terribly keen on
vegetarianism. They can forgive not eating red meat, but fish? No way. His
relatives had been dealing with the fact that we were vegetarian, but when he
went vegan they freaked out. I mean, a French person who doesn't eat cheese?
croissants? Cafe au lait? Unheard of! But... His sister and nephew are
currently visiting us, and have been totally accepting of our eating
lifestyle. They have eaten everthing we've prepared with gusto - even the
dish last night with a nutritional yeast cheese sub - and asked for seconds.
The niece who visited a few years ago has requested that we send a veg
cookbook back for her. Evidently she never enjoyed cooking before she
visited us, but saw how much we enjoyed preparing and eating a good, healthy
meal and was hooked! Even my SO's parents really enjoyed the food we cooked
for them while in France. So I have to say that living by example and
letting relatives find out for themselves how good our food is has worked
well for me. I wish the rest of you equally understanding relatives and
friends! -Rosemary
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