All-Creatures.org Weekly Newsletter, November 26, 2025

All-Creatures.org Newsletter, November 26, 2025

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farmed turkeys and family posing with dead cooked turkey

"Dominance Through Mentioning": The Fiction of Fair Coverage of Farmed Animals

A Turkey Awakened My Soul

A Final Plea for a Compassionate Thanksgiving

Welcome!

All-Creatures.org Newsletter - November 26, 2025

From the Desk of the Executive Director

Sharing Simplicity

Have I ever shared that I grew up poor, though somehow never knew it? It’s true. My parents were innovative, creative, and—looking back now—quietly brilliant. We ate fresh vegetables from the garden, fruit from the trees, and canned and froze fruits and vegetables for the winter months. Our cellar housed the winter foods except for the frozen items kept within the freezer inside my father’s shop. We lived organically not because it was trendy, but because we simply couldn’t afford chemicals. In hindsight, what a blessing that hidden simplicity was along with the strong lean towards fruits and vegetables. One of my favorite summer memories is standing in the garden with my dad, “secretly” eating food right off the vine. I say secretly because my mom would scold us for eating them before washing the dirt off but somehow, the kitchen table saltshaker always managed to migrate into my dad’s pocket during these little adventures. In the winter time, Dad and I would go into the pantry standing in front of the refrigerator to eat fruits or vegetables straight from the fridge. The thought still makes me giggle. And to this day, I don’t think there is anything better than a cucumber, tomato, or pepper, freshly picked, sprinkled with a bit of salt if one desires salt, and eaten right from the garden in the summer or from the refrigerator in the winter—enjoying God’s astonishing abundance right at our fingertips, just from burying seeds and tending the soil.

Though I am not poor as we were in my childhood, life has circled back to simplicity of eating. Eleven months ago, I bought an old house and have been slowly redoing it. With all my time poured into All-Creatures.org and then into repairing and renewing this beautiful old house in need of some love, there isn’t time for elaborate baking or detailed cooking. So, in this season of my life, I’ve embraced simple, quick recipes I can make in the microwave, the Instant Pot, or eaten raw. Our founder, Frank Hoffman, is and has been a wonderful teacher of microwave use over the years to me—he truly is a microwave genius. Breads, main dishes, sides, deserts—he can prepare anything in one! In all of this, I sense the same thread from my childhood: God’s gentle provision, the beauty of simple foods, with the addition of my adult veganism and resources from All-Creatures.org providing wisdom as my heart now beats in the deep quiet joy of compassion toward all of God’s creatures. Below is a recipe of how I remember the Scalloped Potatoes my Mom made—veganized and the microwave version. You won’t see browning on the top, of course, but it will be hidden with a topping. I’d love to hear your thoughts and see your variations.

Kindness ~ Tams

Click here to view the recipe!

For over 25 years, Pastor Frank and a handful of small donors have carried All-Creatures.org. Now it’s time for us to carry it forward—together. Be part of the Compassionate Heart Circle.

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