A Vegan Thanksgiving
Welcome to Day 17 of NaBloPoMo! It’s also Wednesday, one of my favorite days of the week. Tuesday-Wednesday is like my weekend because I have those days off. This “weekend” I have a LOT TO DO! My son comes home from college on Saturday- he’s a freshman and this will be his first time home since school started. I asked him what food he would like while he’s home and he listed pumpkin baked ziti, spaghetti, deep dish pizza, tacos for lunch one day- I love how he even included lunch requests- and oh yes- I also have to cook an entire Thanksgiving dinner! Wait just a minute! (you may be saying.) We thought you were vegan! What business does a VEGAN have celebrating Thanksgiving??? Ha ha… well, the fourth Thursday in November is not “Turkey Day,” around here, it’s Thanksgiving, and we eat lots and lots of delicious food. We make cornbread stuffing, a radicchio-pear salad, fluffy rolls, (YUM) mashed potatoes with a potato chip crumble topping (YUM, obviously) a vegetable crescent roll ring,, and then at the bottom is a Field Roast plant-based roast. That roast was actually the low point of the dinner- everything else was so homemade and delicious, and it tasted like a processed piece of old rubber. This year, we’ve ordered a “holiday box” from The Very Good Butchers, a plant based “meat” company. The box- if it arrives on time- will include a stuffed “beast”, sausages, bacon, and snacking pepperoni.- all made out of chickpeas, vegetables, wheat gluten, and other plants. I’m excited to try this, although I’m not convinced it will arrive by Thanksgiving. Fingers crossed- and there’s always a plan B if it doesn’t. The crescent roll ring is supposed to look like this: My version is very, very delicious, but there’s a balsamic glaze on top and mine always gets too thick and kind of glops on. Every year I think maybe it will be the year I’ll get the glaze right… still hoping. And don’t think we vegans are skipping dessert! Noooooooo… So now you’re thinking “Oh, she obviously has ten or twelve people over for Thanksgiving dinner.” No! It’s just the four of us. Yes, four people who really love pie. Last year we had a cranberry-apple pie and two pumpkin pies. Two, because I don’t eat sugar. One of the pumpkin pies is sugar-free. Yes, I have a whole pie to myself, muahahahahahaha. As you can see, I’m not a chef. Or a food photographer. But I try! The kids help me with the pies, and my husband and son are in charge of the potatoes and salad. We really love our Thanksgiving dinner! Well, I’m off to make lists and shop. Are you cooking a Thanksgiving dinner? Canadian friends… Did you have a nice Thanksgiving? What are your traditional Thanksgiving foods?