Thanksgiving Ponderings

Five Thanksgivings as Vegetarian have passed and I am welcoming number six. Gives me a chance to take a look back and then towards the present. The first year was probably the most daunting. I was still new to the whole vegetarian thing only by a couple months. Outside of my immediate household the rest of my family still did not know the scary, dirty secret of my vegetarian decision (and yes that is how my mother treated it). At the family gathering, I ate around everyone else, without anyone paying any attention to my plate. No one noticed what was on my plate or what I wasn’t eating… until the car ride home where an argument ensured about me offending my unknowing grandmother because I did not eat any of her turkey. (By Christmas the rest of the family has been told, but is a whole different story.)

In the Thanksgiving that have followed I have added foods with my own meat-free twist, including my mushroom gravy and dripping-free gravy. This year I am ready to take the next step in the whole vegetarian feast… a meat-free alternative to their turkey thing. I’ve been playing with a few ideas. The first, and probably most obvious, is the whole tofurky idea. I’ve looked into the pre-made kind (by ordering or finding a store nearby) or by homemade, but I continue to have my doubts. I am hesitant to the idea of making something to look like meat. I even contemplated the idea of using my own stuffing/dressing recipe in a pumpkin and roasting (seemingly another popular idea). Of course a simple net search brings about all sorts of recipes and ideas of casseroles, roasts or whatever else. They got me thinking.

At a wedding over the summer they included “Vegetable Wellington” as the vegetarian option. Mystified and curious I did a net search to get a heads up on what we would be eating. My interest was piqued further. At the side down reception it was a surprisingly nice and savory entrée’ for ones who are accustomed to eating around salads and side dishes as such events (or the ever-present pasta). I’m contemplating my own version for Thanksgiving (and/or Christmas). Sounds like a yummy option for my and for my semi-vegetarian grandparent (the doctor has severely limited his meat consumption for health reasons.) Oh, the near endlessness of my options.

"Vegetarian: A person who eats only side dishes." ~Gerald Lieberman

Bow Season... Bleh!

I try to ignore that fact that in this area it is bow hunting season for deer. Of course, then I get those reminders like someone kicking you in the shin or somewhere else. My brothers hunt, my family hunts, and then there is me... the vegetarian and definatly the none hunter of the family. I try to keep my mouth shut, since it does no good otherwise. It just leads to fighting and arguments and that which does not good for anyone. So, I sit and I listen and I bite my lip as I hear them talking on the phone to the processing place regarding the deer that have to pick up and the talk about how the woods were this morning when my brother took his crossbow out, and to my sister calling to find out if anyone got one because she wants venison. I sit, trying not to listen and trying to keep my mouth shut, as I munch on my spicy thai peanut noodles wondering how I managed to become the person I am in this bunch.

"The fascination of shooting as a sport depends almost wholly on whether you are at the right or wrong end of a gun." ~P.G. Wodehouse

Have you ever grilled your peanut butter?

A lot of kids grew up on grilled cheese, my family was no exception, but that was not the only grilled sandwhich that we know from childhood. For me there is another comfort food from childhood that comes in the form of two peices of bread grilled and often served along side tomato soup... grilled peanut butter. It was often grilled up along side of the grilled cheese sandwhiches my Mom made, but was something seemingly unique to my family. It's the same basic process as a grilled cheese sandwhich, but takes a little more finess when it comes to getting the butter on both of the outsides of the bread and peanut butter on the inside. Once grilled there is the nice toasty outsides so many of us remember from childhood with the oohy, gooey, melty insides of the peanut butter (crunchy peanut butter has always been my favorite). The white bread from younger days has been replaced with a multi grain oat bread, but crunchy peanut butter melting from the inside has lovingly stayed the same. For me it is a taste of childhood, a comforting blast from the past. We all have something to turn to from those childhood days, something that helps give us comfort on the bad days and during those trying moments when simplicty of days is sought. Maybe next time I get the urge to grill up some peanut butter I might even add some fruit, such as some sliced apples or bananas or something else I come across in the pantry. I was never one much for jam or jelly intruding on my peanut butter, but some might be up for it too.

Thanksgiving is coming and dinner lists are being made. Are you ready?

"Nothing spoils lunch any quicker than a rogue meatball rampaging through your spaghetti." ~Jim Davis

Happy Election Day

Happy Election Day! Hope everyone got out there got their vote on.

Made an easy vegetable pot pie. I used a vegetable stew I partially made from leftovers in the refrigerator (leftover onion gravy, lima,s etc) and a few frozen and fresh ones. Added a bit of rice and used about a tablespoon or so of instant mashed potato flakes as thickener. You could still use a flour or cornstarch type thickener, but I wanted to try out using the potato flakes. It worked well. I used unrooled croissant rolls from the refridgerator to make the top crust.

We ordered pizza for dinner.

In the words of George Bernard Shaw; "When a man wants to murder a tiger he calls it sport; when the tiger wants to murder him he calls it ferocity."

Holiday Preperations Underway!!!

It was a rather simple day meal-wise. I made a pasta with olive oil and herb thing for dinner, adding some fresh sliced mushrooms and spinach, then a touch of parmasan. A lovely meal with a peice of oat bread. I was talking to a friend of mine that used to be a vegetarian online while I ate and she talked about how she has been really thinking about going back. (Her vegetarian days were in high school and she started eating meat only when she was accepted as a foreign exchange student and she worried about food options.) Now past college, law school, married and into the real world the draw seems back. The numbers nationally are growing, but more so in cretain areas and the options out there are in constant growth. The options for vegetarian and organic foods are so much easier to find than they once were... even in the last six years.

The holiday food planning has begun. I spent awhile this evening on the phone working my way through the potluck list for the big family Thanksgiving. (And I mean it'll be a big one.) We are working on balancing a feast for for vegetarians, semi vegetarians, and meat-eaters alike. At a minimun that puts us at around three different types of dressing/stuffing to uphold various traditions and dietary needs. This means regular poultry inspired stuffing, oyster dressing (a family tradition), and my very yummy mushroom dressing (depending on whether or not I decide to stuff in inside of a pumpkin and roast it). The one thing with me doing the organizig is that I get to make sure there are enough vegetable type dishes and salads. At least one other fmaily member is limited on his meat consumption and it is important that there are options for both of us.

In the words of Jeremy Bentham: 'The question is not, "Can they reason?" nor, "Can they talk?" but rather, "Can they suffer?" '