Where to Find Me: In the Bike Pirates Kitchen

Hi all!

This blog is not popular enough to warrant a “frequently asked questions” page (or even just a “questions” page, for that matter), but if it were, I’d like to think that one question people would be frequently asking is, “Where can I get my hands on some of your delicious food?!!” Well, today I’m happy to offer one answer to this hypothetical question: come visit me at Bike Pirates!

What is Bike Pirates, you say? For those not already in the know, Bike Pirates is a DIY volunteer-run and donation-based bike shop where you can come in and learn bicycle maintenance hands-on, so as to help you fix up anything you need on your existing bike or to help you build up a new bike from scratch. It’s an excellent little part of the community, filled with good people and good values, and it’s one of the many things that makes me love Toronto as much as I do.

So what am I doing there, you say? Well, Bike Pirates, as it happens, also has a kitchen…

And a vegan kitchen, at that! And once I found this out—and that they’re always looking for more kitchen volunteers—I thought it’d be the perfect way for me to get involved and give back. And so, once a week for the past several months, I’ve been going into Bike Pirates and cooking up a delicious dinner for everyone there—and it’s been awesome!

I enjoy cooking at Pirates, first of all, because I love the opportunity to share my food. Furthermore, cooking at Pirates is always a bit of challenge, and a fun one at that: For one thing, I have to cook for anywhere between twenty and forty people a night, and secondly, I’m on a $15 budget. The Bike Pirates kitchen is actually very well stocked, so I often come nowhere close to spending that much, but it does still force me to be creative. A few times I’ve gone there with no idea of what I was going to make and just let the available produce in the kitchen make my decision for me. Other times I’ve used the meal as an opportunity to test out a new recipe I’d been curious about. Some of the many things I’ve made in the past include…

Miso Root Vegetable Soup!

Sweet Potato Chili!

Trail Mix Cupkins!

And the very popular Peanut Butter Tofu Tacos!

Curious to know the next time I’ll be cooking at Pirates? Well, I’ve set up a Google calendar for just that purpose. You can simply view it below, or you can click this link to view the calendar on its own, and then (I think) add it to your own calendar, if you’re tech savvy enough.

So please stop by if you ever get the chance! Everyone at Bike Pirates is super friendly, and it’s definitely the place to go if you ever need some help with your bike.

Finally, I just want to point out that this post is my last post of this year’s VeganMoFo. That was a post a day for all of October! Phew. It was a rush, but I’m so glad it’s over. I’ll be back again soon, don’t worry—just don’t expect me to be back here tomorrow.

VeganMoFo #31/31

Until we eat again,

Willie