A Vegetarian Thanksgiving, Just Like Everyone Else’s…. Well Almost

It’s Thanksgiving Day. A day of food, family, football games, parades, and leftovers. I got most of my food done last night (mushroom dressing [recipe below] and ranch cheese balls). The chopping, the sautéing, the mixing were all done then this morning and I did not have to get out of bed as early. (Yay for sleeping in… at least a little bit.) Then today I just had to bake the stuffing with everything else that was in the oven and make the mushroom/onion gravy once we got to the firehouse kitchen where this year’s family Thanksgiving meal was. I would much rather get things done ahead and stick in the refrigerator the night before.

Thanksgiving in my family, like pretty much everything else, is a noisy, active, busy day. We always have lots of food, lots, of people, and lots of leftovers to take home. You’re probably wondering about the whole vegetarian feasting with a meat eating family thing. First off, even with extended family present I am the only vegetarian. Most people don’t say anything anymore because it just is the way it is and the way it has been for a while. (For many of the in-laws the only way they remember it.) Second, I never go hungry and have just as much opportunity to fill my plate and overeat with the rest of them. While they feasted on their meat dishes and more traditional stuffing (as well as their traditional oyster dressing), I stuffed myself with mushroom dressing and homemade mashed potatoes smothered in mushroom gravy. The cupboard were full of different kinds of dressings, vegetables like homegrown corn (we get it in the summer then freeze it our self) and green beans, salad, rolls, a few casseroles (some I eat, others I avoid), relish trays of cheese and pickles, and lots of dessert choices from pies and cakes to puddings and bars. (I come from a family with sweet teeth, although somehow I am not one of them.) We ate, took the time to catch up with each other, chased the overwhelming number of small children that were running around, played games, and everyone took home leftovers.

Only two people even made any reference to the whole vegetarian thing. The first was my cousin’s fiancé when I asked her if she out bacon in her green beans (it ended up being a small piece of mushroom) and the second my jerky cousin-in-law that causes trouble pretty much where-ever he can. He kept trying to get his very young son to say things like “carnivore,” “I eat meat,” and “vegan” like it was an insult whenever I was around him (I do not take vegan as an insult, but I have given up correcting him that actually am not vegan). His young son never cooperated, he was too busy playing with his tractor, trying to get my glasses, and leading me back and forth to the kitchen just to look around. Somehow he thinks constantly making vegetarian attacks is funny, but I gave up responding to them a long time ago. He’s the one that sounds like a jerk, not me. I am content with my life choice and in the end that is all that matters.

Overall it was a good day. I had cousins there from out of town and out of state and there was not major drama. No one argued or fought and everyone had plenty to eat (and maybe a little more than plenty for some). My mom filled and took Thanksgiving plates to a few of her shut in clients with no or limited family. It was pretty much a typical holiday like the one many shared by many vegetarians and non-vegetarians across the country. Hope everyone had a wonderful one full of laughter, love, and joy.

My Fabulous Mushroom Dressing
One bag breadcrumbs (14-16oz bag approx or other preferred)
About one onion cut (and put through food chopper)
About 4 stalks of celery (chopped than put through chopper)

2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
Package of mushrooms (I put most of them through chopper, then thinly slice rest)
Oil (to sauté vegetables… I also use a little water to sauté with to help cut amount oil used)
½ c. butter, margarine, or soy butter substitute
2 green onions chopped
2-3 c preferred liquid (I use a vegetable broth or you could use any combo water, broth, etc)
Sautee all vegetables except green onions. Mix bread crumbs, all vegetables (sautéed and not) in large bowl. Add warm liquid and melted butter or margarine. Mix well incorporating all the ingredients well). I took a masher with a wide bottom and mashed and mixed a little at the end. Put in baking dish. Bake at 350 until done.

In the words of James Cromwell: "We don't need to eat anyone who would run, swim, or fly away if he could."

From Mike Connolly: "Coexistence... what the farmer does with the turkey - until Thanksgiving."

"Where's the Meat?"

There are things and days that I do not understand; among these is my brothers’ hysterics over meat. I don’t eat it, I don’t like the smell of it, and I have no desire to cook it. This is not new. I was fixing pasta for dinner. The water was getting close to a boil and I was in the process of slicing mushrooms. ‘Where’s the meat?” my brother demanded as he barged into the kitchen. “You need to fix chicken to go with that.” It was not a request, it was a demand. I was not about to be bullied into anything, especially cutting up and cooking chicken (or hamburger as the other one wanted). He freaked out. By freak out I mean major freaking. The fights are still there and sometimes I fear they always will be. As he yelled and screamed, ranted and raved he finally got the chicken out and fixed it himself. Our large kitchen suddenly felt way too small as I tried to keep breadsticks from burning, water from boiling over, and sauce from scorching. The entire time he raved about how horrible it was that I am a vegetarian and how I had done it just to be different. When I first quit eating meat (even back to when I was contemplating it and trying to make a decision) it was such a frightening endeavor to undertake, especially alone and without my family’s support. The stereotype is often of the militant vegetarian picking fights and arguments with meat-eating family, friends, and strangers. I try to avoid the fights and arguments. Yet, somehow I take attacks especially from my siblings while being accused of “attacking” them. (All going back to an afternoon a couple years back when I asked my one brother is he really needed a steak for an after-school snack.) I don’t; attack others for their lifestyle and I don’t want to be attacked for mine. My lifestyle is not hurting anyone, not even myself.

It doesn’t really matter why I became a vegetarian. It’s my life and my body. I wanted to be better and for me this worked. I shouldn’t have to explain myself. I’m open to reasonable discussions and honest curiosity, but not hysterical rants about the evils of vegetables and my supposed responsibility to serve them meat. Sometimes it would be nice to have a real ally; someone who actually understood. I never expected it to be completely easy, but I had hoped that after this long the attacks from family would have ceased. I may not like it, but I have never once attacked them or yelled at them for their continuing to hunt. (It helps that their aim is so bad they can barely hit the broad side of a barn.) I wonder sometimes how important it would be to marry a vegetarian like me, then things like this happen again and I almost don’t want to risk the idea of a long-term relationship with a meat-eater.

Let me leave with a quote that just seems fitting.

From Scott Adams (The writer of Dilbert): “You think I’m one of those wise-ass California vegetarians who is going to tell that eating a few strips of bacon is bad for your health. I’m not. I say it’s a free country and you should be able to kill yourself at any rate you choose, as long as your cold dead body is not blocking my driveway.”