Something New for Thanksgiving!

After many years of huge family gatherings for Thanksgiving, this year we found ourselves in totally new territory: just 4 family members! My dad is over in China doing some astronomy work, my brother and his gal went up to Portland, neither of my aunts are in town... and it was just me, Mr. VE&T, my mom, and my nephew! As long as it's not what it once was, why not embrace something completely new?

So, this year, our mini family gang combined Gratitude Forces with my super special friends Sophia & Kendra and a couple of their friends for a wonderful feast and evening together! I've had several fancy vegan Thanksgiving dishes that I've been wanting to make for a few years now... but with no one besides me to eat them, it hardly seemed like a good use of my time and energy. This year we had 2 vegans and 2 more vegetarians, and pretty much everyone else was a vegan food enthusiast! I seized the moment! 

a giant baking sheet covered with marinated & roasted Brussels Sprouts

Brussels Sprouts Sliders (recipe from NY Times) 

I've had this recipe for Brussels Sprouts Sliders bookmarked since last year - it was a bit time consuming, but not at all difficult. The Brussels and tempeh are marinated in a pretty spicy marinade, however the end result isn't spicy at all - just well spiced. These are like cute little burgers with buns made of roasted brussels, and with super delicious caramelized onions and marinated & roasted tempeh. I read the comments and most people suggested doubling the marinade, which I did - and I was glad.

Two of our beloved friend guests are gluten-free - and it was only after I finished roasting the tempeh that I realized that Trader Joes' tempeh has barley in it and isn't gluten-free! Damn! So, I made a quick batch of soy curls, using the same seasoning as the recipe called for. You can tell which sliders are made with gf soy curls because they have the rainbow flag toothpicks!

Spinach Florentine Casserole, from Vegan Casseroles

I just love Julie Hasson's cookbook Vegan Casseroles, and I really love this recipe for Spinach Florentine Casserole. It's like a super great sophisticated spin on vegan mac n cheese: rich and creamy, with a dash of sherry and a touch of nutmeg. I haven't had this dish for a while, but I remembered why I love it so much. Wintertime is the perfect time to cook more casseroles! 

Giant Salad!

I love the palette-cleansing quality of a good green salad, in the midst of a rich and hearty Thanksgiving meal - so I made a ginormous salad full of super fresh goodies from the farmers market. Of course I called my mom and asked if she would make the salad dressing though, because my mom makes the world's best salad dressing. As I was taking this picture, trying to capture the last rays of daylight, little Yummers Potatoes got pretty excited about "his" giant bowl of veggies - I had to hurry up and take that picture! ha ha. Little veggie lover!

Yummers' fantasy! 

My Pride and Joy!

Here's my piece de resistance ~ The Vegetables Wellington from SeriousEats.com. My friend Gabrielle told me about this recipe a couple of years ago, and I've been wanting to tackle it ever since. This is a super fun Big Project that takes a long time to make, is pretty complicated, and has lots of steps. I read through all the comments, which was pretty helpful -- even though many different opinions are expressed! ha ha. I got started a couple days before thanksgiving and made all the components ahead of time. On Thanksgiving Day, I just had to assemble it and bake it! Honestly, I think you could definitely simplify the recipe in many ways, and still end up with something pretty fantastic. 

very pleased with myself! 

Here are the parts:

*An inside roll of cashew-roasted white bean mixture with mushrooms and sunflower seeds

*Wrapped in phyllo, and then rolled inside a layer Mushroom Duxelles with roasted carrots

*Wrapped in phyllo, and rolled in a layer again of the cashew-bean mixture

*Whole thing wrapped in phyllo! 

A second mini-loaf, gluten free!

In this whole recipe, chock full of umami and nuts and millions of mushrooms - there were only two elements that weren't gluten-free: panko bread crumbs, and the phyllo dough. I wanted to figure out a way to make this special fancy dish gluten-free for my gluten-freebie friends... so, I thought of yuba! I made some yuba sheets (used the recipe from The Homemade Vegan Pantry) - and made a mini wellington using the yuba. The panko was easy to replace with gf panko.

an inside shot of my yuba wellington

One thing about this recipe is that it makes a metric ton of food. The end result was just huge. For my mini gluten-free loaf, I made a 1/4 recipe and this wasn't hard to do. If you're just feeding a couple people - I think halving or quartering the recipe is the way to go! 

For the yuba Wellington, I oiled and roasted each "layer" briefly in the toaster oven, to help each inner layer have a good crispy crackle. I was so happy with how it turned out - and so was my GF pal! 

inside shot 

The whole creation was positively huge - which I am all for! This way, we had plenty for leftovers. Woot! I love how beautiful it looks when you slice into it! It was super delicious, full of excellent textures, rich but not over-bearing, and felt special and festive. I'm so glad I finally had a chance to tackle such a special kitchen project! 

A festive feast! 

I forgot to take nice pictures of the dishes everyone else brought (what a cad!) - but they're captured here: a lovely lentil loaf, green salad, the Wellington, green beans with lemon and slivered almonds, stuffing (one of my favorite foods of all time!), perfect mashed potatoes and gravy, and the pasta casserole. I ate *almost* all of this! Ha ha ha.

The food was all so good - my friend Sophia is some kind of gravy genius! Plus, my mom made her amazing cranberry sauce - it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it! 

look at those cracks! 

We are all committed Dessert Enthusiasts, so we had three desserts! I was in charge of pumpkin pie - and I made a full sized pie with traditional crust and a half sized pie with a gf crust. I always use the recipe from Voluptuous Vegan (it's the same recipe that Isa has on her website here). I bought this half-sized pie dish almost 2 years ago, and I think this was my first time finally using it! I think half-pies are cute and kinda perfect-sized. 

My GF crust turned out really well. I used the recipe for a GF crust from Pies & Tarts with Heart, and I used a homemade GF flour mix, based on the ingredients in Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1. Even though I enjoy eating gluten, I also really enjoy baking gluten free treats for my GF friends. 

I love the texture and flavor of this recipe so much, but I got such big cracks in my pie! Does anyone know why that happened, or if there's a way to avoid it next time? Overall, I don't suppose it matters - but it would look prettier without the cracks! 

plate of delicious desserts

Yum zone!  Max made an apple pie, which Mr VE&T and I both agreed was possibly the best apple pie we'd ever had! It was so full of apples and his crust was amazing! I was feeling pretty pleased with my crust on the pumpkin pie, until I tried his crust! I will have to learn at the feet of his crust mastery. Sophia made a big batch of the Pecan Pie Truffles - one of my favorite recipes ever! She's quite clever though, and she figured out that she could make them in bar form instead of dealing with rolling them in balls and all that. And of course they're just as yummy this way! 

It was so fun and amazing to have such a huge VEGAN spread of holiday fare! My mom did actually make "the dish which shall not be named" (her words! ha ha!) - but it was relocated out into the kitchen and wasn't the centerpiece of the evening. After 29 years of celebrating Thanksgiving as a vegetarian/vegan, this was my first time having that experience. 

There's definitely a big part of my heart that misses the huge family gatherings of yesteryear, but it was fun and refreshing to embrace a whole new experience and menu! 

Yummy Stuff I've Been Eating

My latest obsession

This one: steamed broccoli, chopped onion, chopped tomato, 2 Chao cheese slices minced

First things first. We need to talk about Somer's Early Retirement Quiche which Kittee posted on her blog, Cake Maker recently. I really, really hope Somer hasn't retired forever from sharing her vegan recipes with the world because she is like some sort of genie. Over the years I have made so many tofu quiches, and I liked most of them, but Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats has never liked a single one... much to my dismay. So, imagine my JOY when he declared his deep love for this quiche. Friends, I was SO STOKED.

I made the quiche "crustless" - mostly to cut back on calories and also because I guess I'm just not that into crust right now. Even with no crust, the outer edges of the quiche got browned and crispy and perfect in the oven, and the whole quiche is just incredible. I have already made it five times. 

Second iteration: julienned kale, grilled artichoke hearts, storebought Croatian pinjur, Chao cheese,

 chopped onion & tomatoes

Making this beauty is not for the faint of heart - it actually comes together really quickly - but it's a real workout for your blender, since there's not a lot of moisture in the batter. That said, give your little blendy a rest if necessary, but don't give up... because the end result is the best texture you've ever experienced in a tofu quiche.

I made this one on a Sunday and then enjoyed a slice for breakfast all week - so nice to have such a nutritious and tasty savory breakfast ready in a snap! I always wake up Ready To Eat, so having something ready to go is super helpful for me.

I'm tellin' ya. The yum factor here is super high.

 3rd Quiche: roasted yellow beets, julienned beet greens, artichoke hearts, chopped tomato, sauteed leeks, Chao cheese

Plus, you can just tweak it and tweak it and throw all sorts of stuff in there, and it's always delicious. As you can see, I've made all sorts of variations, and I'm just going to keep on making these. I probably won't force you to look at every single one ... but I might. I have another one in the oven right now. Perhaps I should change the name of my blog to Vegan Eats & Quiches?

Vegan Eats & Quiches - all quiche, all the timez

I also made Apple, Beet and Broccoli Slaw from Superfoods 24/7.  It's a fun recipe because it uses the stems from broccoli! I love this idea, but the recipe was just okay for me. I think our yellow beets were a little too bitter, which is probably just the luck of the draw. Maybe if I steamed them it would have been better. The turmeric is already a bit bitter, so I actually added a bit of sweetener to the dressing, which helped a lot. I still feel like it needed just one more secret ingredient to really make it sing. I'd like to make it again and continue to tweak it.  

Lower Fat Banana Bread from Veganomicon

Man, I have had banana bread on my mind for a long time now. Months, maybe? I had some blackened bananas in the freezer, just waiting to be put to use, and finally the moment was right. This recipe is one of my favorites, it's quick and easy and really reliable. I don't really like chocolate chips in my banana bread... even though I am a chocolate friend, I like banana bread plain and simple. So I used chopped walnuts in place of the chocolate chips called for in the recipe. So good. This happy loaf served us well, although its time with us was short. RIP banana bread, you are remembered with love and affection.

Amey & Banana Bread, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! 

Masala Root Soup from Voluptuous Vegan

garnished with shredded coconut and fresh cilantro

served with Field Roast

I really love Voluptuous Vegan, and I feel like it doesn't get enough praise as a cookbook. I've made (and loved!) so many of the recipes in this book, and the pages are covered with notes like "We all loved this!" and "So good!," but this one just had "Sounds Good, Try This!" written on the top of the page. Ha ha. So, I did! Many of the recipes in Voluptuous Vegan are filled with complex flavors, but this one was much more simple - and not in a bad way! Sweet potatoes, carrots, onions and a bunch of Indian spices are all combined into slightly sweet, well-spiced soup. 

Back at Thanksgiving I had bought myself a small Celebration Roast from Field Roast, before deciding to make something homemade after all. So I got my little roast out of the freezer for this dinner, and it was such a perfect combo with this soup. Like a second Thanksgiving in the beginning of February! 

soup from a soup mix!

One of my yoga students gave me this soup mix for Christmas and I was happy to put it to use! I added extra onions, celery, carrots, and garlic - and otherwise I followed the recipe on the package...

... and the result was really yummy. The recipe called for Worchestershire sauce and I used the last dregs of my bottle of vegan worch... ( I dislike that word so much) -- Now I have a reason to make the homemade recipe in Vegan DIY that I've had my eye on! 

what kind of a jerk even comes up with such a complicated word?

I feel like I never say it right.

I almost never use things like soup mixes, but this made a big, yummy, and nutritious pot of soup with almost zero effort. I love that! I'm always trying to balance my eating schedule with my yoga practicing/teaching schedule - since I don't like to eat before I teach or practice. For the last few months, I often make dinner in the middle of the day on Thursdays, before class - then I stay after teaching and do my own practice. I get home around 9 or 9:30 pm, but I love coming home hungry to a dinner that is all ready to go! 

Puffy Chia Pancakes from Superfoods 24/7

I decided to surprise my bub with pancakes for breakfast! I loved how super puffy these pancakes got and I loved how the recipe made 12 totally legit pancakes. I enjoyed the chia seeds in there, but poor Mr. VE&T found this to be too unconventional for the world of pancakes. I understand, there are some comfort foods that are just meant to be comfort foods. None the less, I really liked these - especially with a bunch of almond butter and maple syrup! I'll make them again for myself when Mr. VE&T has other plans. ha ha. After making them, I noticed the batter had no sweetener in it, and I think next time I'll add a little bit of sweetener and maybe some vanilla extract too. 

I'll have to make amends and surprise him again with a batch of 100% mainstream pancakes. 

Hope you're all doing well! 

The Dog Who Ate Christmas

Well, hellllllo, everyone! Can you stand to read about one more Christmas post? Right after Christmas, we took off for a wedding in Atlanta, so I'm only just catching up on my blogging. Happy new year to us all!

This year's Christmas and New Year's holidays were absolutely great for me. They were quiet and peaceful and full of love. Except for those 15 minutes on Christmas Eve when I came back into the house and saw that Snoopy had eaten the top off of my beautiful pie. But, uh, other than that, they were great! ha ha.

Here's the deal. Last year, you may recall, my dad was really sick and he got out of the hospital just in time for Christmas - but everything was still a bit uncertain and off-center. This year felt like a proper "do over" - a big family dinner at my parents' house with both of my aunts and my cousin and her new baby and my brother's family and so on. It was a really lovely "the gang's all here" feeling. 

Vegetarian Mince Pie, from Joy of Cooking

I even got to use my fancy little wavy roller tool

In my family, we  always have our big family dinner on Christmas Eve. So, on Christmas Eve day, I was feeling quite pleased with myself. I was really cooking up a storm in the kitchen and even made the most beautiful lattice-top pie I've ever made. In fact, I was so pleased with myself that I called my mom to boast about my amazing culinary prowess. *Note to self: Pride cometh before the fall!*

So beautiful, so alluring.

alas, I was not the only one tempted by its charms

While Mr VE&T was out walking the dogs, I put the pie on the table near the window to take some pictures. Isn't it beautiful? I wanted to make a mince pie this year because my cousin's husband is British and his mother and brother had also come from England, and I know mince pie is a British xmas standard. I had stayed up until almost 2 in the morning the previous night, preparing the pie dough and cooking down the filling, so that I would only have to assemble and bake it on the 24th.

When I took this pie out of the oven, I was totally thrilled! The crust was perfectly beautiful, it smelled amazing, and I was eager to present this glorious accomplishment to my beloved family. The filling is made with apples and nuts and raisins and sweetener and loads of spices and it's rich and delicious.

such innocence

happily wrapping our presents with hearts filled with Christmas cheer

Having photographed my America's Next Top Model Pie, as well as all my other culinary accomplishments, I saw that I actually had extra time before the dinner gathering. So, I headed back into my yoga studio room to get started on Christmas gift wrapping. I was feeling like such a happy little elf, bursting with holiday cheer... literally singing along to Christmas carols and feeling full of joy.

Mr. VE&T got home with the dogs from their walk and also disappeared into his workshop to do some Christmas wrapping. We were both so delighted and feeling quite on-top of this whole Christmas thing. 

Neither one of us even thought about the pie on the table.

meanwhile, in the dining room,

doggie hearts and tummies filled with Christmas cheer

But, someone inside the house was definitely thinking about that pie. 

We blame Snoopy because he is the only one we've ever actually seen jump up on the table, but truth be told, we may never know who was involved in this heinous crime against Christmas cheer.

hearts filled with holiday blackness 

All I know is that I came inside, gifts all wrapped!, ready to get dressed up and transport my pride-and-joy pie to the dinner. But wait! What's this??? AAAAAAAAH!

Gentle readers, this was not my finest moment. I was SO sad. I mean, really. Look at that. There was a moment of acceptance, followed by a period of anger and great agitation, distress, anger at myself for leaving my beloved pie just sitting there... so many feelings. All the stages of grieving. And yet, here it was. 

But here's the good thing about a super difficult year like the one my family had last year. It gives you some serious perspective. Within about 15 minutes or so, I got over the pie crime. At least my dad wasn't in the hospital. At least my whole family was together to celebrate Christmas. At least Snoopy is an excellently cute little dog. At least I had made two desserts. 

Also, at least he hadn't eaten the whole thing. Yes, I lack dignity enough to admit that I tried a piece of the pie anyway. See how there's a whole side of the pie that didn't get doggie-eaten? Well, I'm grateful for that, because I did try a piece of it and it was a really good pie! 

Seitan Stuffed Mushrooms from Vegan With a Vengeance

These are the beautiful stuffed mushrooms that were also on the table next to the pie. Looks like even in Doggie Land, pie crust wins out over just about everything else, as these were -- happily! -- left untouched. I'm not really a mushroom fan, but somehow, in the weeks leading up to Christmas I just couldn't stop thinking about making stuffed mushrooms. I wonder why!? I had made this recipe once years ago, and remembered that they were great. They came together really easily and were pretty and delicious. It was fun to make such a fancy and pretty finger food for our holiday party.

Christmas Lasagna!

I also made a vegan Christmas Lasagna! I saw this colorful idea from my Instagram friend bethcooksvegan and knew I wanted to make my own version! This year's lasagna was super rich. I made a triple batch of tofu ricotta, mixed it with 2 lbs of sauteed mushrooms (cooked with salt, pepper, white wine, and a dash of olive oil), and 2 lbs of steamed and drained spinach. That stuff was the filling between layers (along with more tomato sauce). It was so creamy and delicious! 

On top, I did alternating stripes of pine nut creme, pesto, and marinara sauce. 

all tricked up and ready for a night out on the town

Then, I used a butter knife in alternating directions to make a pretty design on top. Thanks for such a lovely idea, bethcooksvegan. As you can see from the far end of the lasagna, I kinda messed it up at first, but I got the hang of it near the end there. I was really delighted with how beautifully it came out! 

These pictures are - obviously - before I baked it, and I never got a good shot after the baking, but I was glad that the colors held up. Even though pine nut cream became more golden and the pesto darkened a bit, you could definitely appreciate the pattern even after the lasagna had been baked.

our savior! the Cranberry-Orange Tart from Voluptuous Vegan.

Happily, that doomed mince pie wasn't the only dessert I made. Thank goodness I made more than one pie, because this little beauty saved our holiday dessert! Before the holiday, I was looking through my old Christmas blog posts and saw this pie that I had made years ago and had raved about. It's the Cranberry Orange Tart from Voluptuous Vegan. Sakes alive, this is a true winner! 

The flour for the crust is baked and toasted in the oven first, and then made into a simple press-in crust. Toasting the flour first like that gave the crust such a delicious flavor! There is a layer of almond butter on the crust, and that is topped with a cranberry-orange-walnuts-agar filling. It's actually a very easy pie to make and the result is amazing: tart from the cranberries, sweet and acidic from the orange, bitterness from the orange zest, rich from the almond butter, a gentle crunch from the walnuts, and toasty from the crust. Highly recommended indeed!

The whole gang! Clean Plate Club!

As you can see it was quite a festive evening and there were smiles all around. 

Even Snoopy got his usual nightly snuggles, and all was forgiven.

All's well that ends well.

<3 p="">

Thanksgiving Joy

Happy Thanksgiving!

my mom's pretty table decor (& her yummy cranberry sauce!)

My family had a really lovely Thanksgiving celebration this year at my parents' house. It was simple and easy and fun and low key. Ahhh. No stress, no complications... just lots of ease and comfort. I am so grateful for that! 

Somer's Magical Cheeseball

securely snugged into a bowl and ready to be transported across town

My family always does our family gatherings potluck-style. Everyone is in charge of bringing something (or a few things), and that way, no one person is overwhelmed and everyone gets to contribute something.

The first thing I had to make was the magical cheeseball that I have so recently fallen in love with. For extra holiday flare, I did the version where the goop is rolled in chopped pecans, thyme and sage. 

Everyone wants a piece of that cheeseball!

As predicted, El Senor Cheeseball was unanimously approved by all present at the gathering. I even got to use my adorable little cheese plate with ceramic mice on it. One of my finest purchases ever. This picture documents Mr. VE&T taking the inaugural bite of the cheeseball, and his mom in close pursuit!

Also, just peeking off the side of the picture, you can see the hummus and fresh veggies that my mom made for appetizer. My mom makes a mean batch of homemade hummus. It's one of her specialties, and this was a particularly yummy batch!

Instead of making regular old vegan stuffing, I decided to make a batch of the Stuffed Thanksgiving Burgers from the PPK. I love this recipe sooooo much! I just served them as cutlets - and had mine with vegan gravy and cranberry sauce. Mmm. I especially love the roasted hazelnuts and chewy dried cranberries in there. Happily, there were a few left over, and we are planning to have them for dinner tomorrow night. 

For the gravy, I made a batch of Julie Hasson's Savory Gravy (the recipe is in her books Vegan Diner and i). In the past, I've always just used a mix to make gravy (*hangs head in shame*), but I've heard so many good things about this gravy that I really wanted to try it. It was super easy, quick to make, and very delicious! The recipe makes 5 cups, and since I would be pretty much the only person eating the stuff, I made a half batch and have lots left for my leftovers feasts this week. 

Vegan Biscuits by my dad!!

This year, we had an atypical amount of participation from the fellas! My brother made the "non-vegan entree" (if you know what I mean), and Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats made a huge, beautiful batch of Chipotle Chili with Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Potatoes (all by himself!*), and my dad decided to make biscuits! All on his own, he googled "vegan biscuits," found this fantastic recipe, did a trial run ahead of time to make sure they were good, and then made a beautiful batch of biscuits to go with our dinner. Oh wow! Such a luxurious treat to have someone make vegan biscuits for me!! 

*I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of the chili. It turned out really perfectly. Now that Mr. VE&T and I both know that he can make a perfect batch of chili, perhaps he will start to cook more often? 

My dad & his glorious vegan biscuits

In case you were wondering where my goofball qualities come from, now you have your answer!

Pumpkin Pie from Voluptuous Vegan

I love love love the pumpkin pie from Voluptuous Vegan (it's also the same recipe posted on the PPK). It's easy, quick to throw together, and delicious. It's also soy-free, which is great in our family because we have a VIP who is really allergic to soy. 

I made this pie the day before Thanksgiving and it looked perfect then, but by the next day, the surface had cracked a little. I don't know why it does that. It doesn't really bother me though, because the flavor is so super.

Here's a baking question for you. I'm trying to minimize my use of palm oil, and that means trying to use less Earth Balance when I bake. I used refined coconut oil in this crust, but I had the problem that many hard bits of the coconut oil didn't ever integrate into the crust. When I was rolling it out, there were solid bits of coconut oil and i had to pick them all out, and repair the crust. And the resulting crust was tougher than I would have liked (still good, I'm just sayin'). Any tips? 

Apple-Pear-Quince Galette

I also made this beautiful and delicious galette. I've been making it for years and it is such a delicious and sophisticated dessert. So many harmonious flavors inside. I also noticed that I have never shared this recipe, so I am planning a separate post soon entirely in honor of this special dessert. Recipe coming soon! For this crust I fell back on soy-free Earth Balance and the crust was stunning and perfect. Mmm. 

Now that Thanksgiving has come and blessed us with its presence for another year, I am already gung-ho for the Christmas Season. In fact, I'm already almost done drawing up my annual Christmas Cookbooklette, selecting cookie recipes for next weekend's cookie swap party, and working on my Christmas card design. This doodle was one of my Christmas card ideas, but lost out to something cuter. I didn't want it to go to waste though, so I'm sharing it here! Speaking of the Christmas spirit, I'm going to have two fun giveaways this month, a VE&T gift guide, and lots of other fun posts... so keep your eyes peeled for more fun stuff. Huzzah! 

A Thanksgiving to Remember Forever

I know this post is a little crazy. My second Thanksgiving post in January!? What is going on?

Here's the thing. This year's Thanksgiving was very special, and very different. What made it so special is the same reason I never got around to posting about it way back when. My dad was in the hospital. In fact, by the time Thanksgiving came around, he had been in there for almost 7 weeks straight, with a long list of major complications, one after the other. We really were not at all sure what Thanksgiving would bring, so we just couldn't plan for it. Everything was so uncertain.

The biggest overall problem my dad was having was that he just couldn't force himself to eat. For months. He lost almost a third of his body weight, and that alone was making his whole system very weak and vulnerable. We were trying everything we could to force him to eat (and, to be fair, he was trying too!). And then, just two days before Thanksgiving, the hospital staff delivered a sad little hospital pancake to my dad's room for breakfast and he took one look at it and said "That actually looks good. I think I want to eat that," and ate the whole damned thing! Friends, this doesn't sound like such a big deal, but trust me, it was. 

So, we went ahead and got to work on some last minute Thanksgiving. For the non-vegans, we just ordered their food from Whole Foods. Ordering food was definitely a first for our do-it-yourself family, but this was a year of firsts. We reserved a room in the hospital where the nurses usually learn new computer skills and transformed it into a festive little space for our holiday dinner. 

With very little time and wanting to keep my life simple, I went out and got myself a Field Roast Celebration Roast. No shame in that! Truth be told, I really love Field Roast so much, and I was very happy with this as an entree. I browned up the slices first for more yumminess.

My mom made her special and delicious Cranberry Sauce. Also, you can see how we decorated with fall leaves and squashes and persimmons. It was really pretty. My mom even went to the drug store and bought those funny little battery-operated fake candles - so that we could have the candle effect but not set off the fire alarm in the hospital!

I made up a simple batch of stir-fried green beans with lemon and garlic. So simple, so fresh, and so good. I love green beans. Plus, green beans remind me of my grandparents, so it felt especially perfect to have them on the table for Thanksgiving. I always miss my grandparents a lot on Thanksgiving. This table cloth is some of the fabric my grandma brought home from Ghana, after their time there in the Peace Corps.

My aunt Laura made a huge and delicious green salad. She and her partner eat mega tons of salad and she is quite a salad pro.

Here's the whole scene in our little "conference room, " while we are skyping with my cousin and her husband in Florida. The hospital staff told us to put up a sign that said "Reserved for Family Meeting 5:00-8:00pm" Ha ha! It was a great "family meeting" indeed. We even brought wine, and a hot water kettle for post-dinner coffee and tea, and some dessert wine - my dad really loves dessert wine.

Here's my whole plate of holiday goodness (festive paper plates!). Oh yeah, of course there were mashed potatoes too... because Thanksgiving = mashed potatoes. Luckily, we live very near the hospital, so I was able to cook everything up and drive over and arrive with it all still piping hot!

For dessert I made a Pumpkin Pie. I think it was probably the best pumpkin pie I've ever made. I used the same recipe as always (Voluptuous Vegan/Vegan Pie in the Sky), but the squash I used this year was extra delicious and flavorful. Plus, you know how it is. Sometimes the cooking gods are with you, and sometimes they're not. This year, I got lucky.

And, amazingly, my sweet dad sat there in his wheelchair and ate a proper Thanksgiving meal while the rest of us stared with awe and wonder and joy. Truly, to see him eat a plate of food felt like a miracle. I'm so happy and relieved and grateful to report that my dad is home from the hospital, eating like a champ, putting on weight, walking with a cane, doing his physical therapy, and is back to work contemplating the mysteries of the universe (he is an astrophysicist). I love him so much. 

I know it seems like Thanksgiving-in-the-hospital would go down in history as one of the hardest and most miserable holidays, but instead, it was quite the opposite. I think this was possibly one of my favorite Thanksgiving celebrations ever. Truly, each of us felt such gratitude in our hearts, and such joy at the simple pleasure of being together and eating together. That was enough. In fact, it was so much.