p.e.t.a.

gotcha!!!
you thought this piece was about that radical group called people for the ethical treatment of animals, but it's not - rather, a newer, more progressive organization called people eating tasty animals!!!
we're talking carnivores here, traditional, red-blooded american gourmets...

it was only a matter of time before someone spoke up for our dietary favorites - maybe the influence of those seemingly wimpy vegetarians, or vegans, (who knows or cares what the difference is - maybe vegans are french vegetarians???), is finally waning, and the pendulum is swinging back to the good ole boy diet...
and not a moment too soon!!! the things these people eat; turnips, hummus, brussel sprouts, eggplant, cabbage - not long ago, my youngest daughter, a sometimes vegetarian (and a full-time tree-hugger) brought some tofurky (tofu-turkey, get it???) to our thanksgiving dinner - disgusting!!! - like molded library paste...

so, remember, "vegetarian" is an old indian word meaning "lousy hunter" , which, if you think about it, explains a lot!!!

perhaps the advent of the low-carb diets have also been a factor in this current rebirth of carnivorous connoisseurs...
maybe, and this is still a longshot, we're not politically incorrect anymore!!! stranger things have happened!!!
don't get me wrong, veggies have their place - like some nice sauteed mushrooms and mashed potatoes to go with that filet, garlic with lamb chops, applesauce with pork roast, dill for wild salmon, onion rings with cheeseburgers, cranberry sauce with the thanksgiving turkey, horseradish with your prime rib, lemon on lobster, sauerkraut with sausage (and my personal favorite - fried okra with spotted owl) and the list goes on...
(with the exception of tofu, which doesn't belong on anyone's list)
the point, if there is one, is that veggies are simply accoutrements, not a misguided substitute for a lifestyle of epicurean dining pleasures...

old polish proverb: it's lonely at the top, but you eat better...

a caveat...
the downside to all of this, of course, is another old polish proverb:
heart attacks are god's punishment for eating his animal friends...