Thanksgiving/Thanksliving Recap

Non-vegans always ask me what vegans eat for Thanksgiving. My answer? SO, SO MUCH!

 

First let me give a shout-out to the best-dressed pooch at the holiday dinner: 89, who now has her own insta!! She's wearing a silver hoodie from Dog & Co, adorned with a Compassion Co. pin (gifted from Gone Pie) that says, "Give thanks for all life."

 

Since my family has the veganized Thanksgiving meal down to a science, I'll give you the complete breakdown for your records. But, first: let me note one important factoid... moments before we were about to sit down to dinner, I found this in my parents' kitchen cabinet.

Looks weird, right? A little too tropical for a fall holiday? Well, how about full of vegan, cruelty-free, Thanksgiving goodness?

 

I know; it's hard to believe you ever ate your Thanksgiving meal any other way. It's THE perfect plate- even if it could have used one extra compartment. 

So, let's break it down, shall we? In no particular order:

PPK chickpea cutlets- I know it's not called Post-Punk Kitchen anymore, but that's what it says on my printout from eons ago, and that's what it's gonna stay to me. I miss VM's breaded chicken cutlets with applesauce and this is a superior substitute! Make no mistake; you definitely want to use the double batch recipe (I've actually been known to quadruple batch). The double batch makes 8 and they're never as large as Isa recommends stretching them to. You'll want one every day you're eating those leftovers, with a few left over to eat in sammies.

 

VM's sweet corn stuffing: my mom has been using this recipe forever; she sometimes makes them as stuffing "balls" in cupcake trays and asks guests if they want gravy on their balls. That embarrassing anecdote notwithstanding, it's the best stuffing I've ever had and don't try to tell me otherwise.

 

VM's horseradish mashed potatoes: So, VM is one of those Italian cooks that doesn't read recipes or ever write anything down. She can't explain how to make 99.9% of her amazing dishes, but it's easier if she makes it for me anyway, so I ain't mad. I've watched her mash these suckers and eyeball the butter, almond milk, and horseradish proportions. I couldn't replicate it, but hers comes out amazing every time.

 

Isa's green bean casserole: I don't know when the green bean casserole was invented, but I do know that I can't quit it. If you've never had it, YOU ARE MISSING OUT! I am not in the habit of tweaking recipes, but I've made this so often that I've had the chance to perfect it to the tastebuds of my audience & that means the following:

• Use two pounds of fresh green beans instead of one, so there's proportionately more beans to liquid. Cut them in half at the onset, but don't bother boiling them if you don't mind them slightly al dente (and also want to skip having to wait for water to boil & then having to wash a pot and strainer).
• Use cream of leek soup instead of mushroom; this way it's not as shroomy.
• Use double the fried onions: double the mix in, double the topping. I use Trader Joe's brand because the ingredients are not icky.
• I use water instead of broth and no bouillon because I never have any.

 

Chloe Coscarelli's Brussel's sprouts: You might not think you need a recipe to roast Brussel Sprouts, but you'd be wrong. We sub chestnuts for hazelnuts and use swanky maple syrup, but neither are deal-breakers. Okay, deep breath. I'm not going to lie to you. VM burned the sprouts. Worse, she burned them last year as well. They were so glorious and then she forgot about them like they're not the most important part of the meal. It was a heartbreak (X2).

Also, creamed corn for color (per VM).

Baked sweet potatoes with marshmallows & cinnamon: This one isn't really tough to figure out. VM picks the long, skinny sweet potatoes because we like them like that (and, they also fit in the chopstick section of my tray that way). When they're hot, I stuff 'em with vegan marshies: minis are better, but I had these giant ones left from the summer when we never got around to making s'mores at a pool party. Sprinkle with cinnamon & voila! Note about the marshie's: I've been buying the Trader Joe's ones and they're pretty fab and extremely reasonably priced.

And, in case you were wondering, 89 got her own plate of goodness as well:

I am totally embarrassed to report that we had no room in our tummies to consume dessert on Thanksgiving night. So, we reconvened the next day for a repeat performance of dinner with leftovers:

it's appropriate to come to leftover dinner in your PJs

And we all saved plenty of room for this smorgasboard of Vegan Treats.

 

Dessert breakdown: VM & OD couldn't remember what this one was (they made the trip and chose everything), but I thought it was a pumpkin streusel donut with pumpkin Dandies, which 89 promptly ate. Top right: chocolate pecan pie, which was really delicious and FULL of pecans. Bottom left: traditional pecan pie, which for some reason I liked even better than the chocolate version. Bottom right: apple crumble pie, which I tasted to be polite and reminded myself that apples are only appropriate in sauce. Also cannolis and chocolate-covered cannolis. We'd also shared a pecan bun that morning. And I'd eaten VT pumpkin cheesecake softserve the night before. But. that's it (there may have also been cowboy cookies and jelly donuts).

89 got dessert as well, in the form of a pumpkin pie toy from Barkbox. This was her really excited about it.

And then this was her when she realized it wasn't really edible (but damn if those Barkbox toys aren't sturdy; it's still 100% intact).

Lest I forget to mention... per usual, we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV. This was my fave balloon this year: Grinch and Max!

 

One more autumnal snack to brag about before the next post, which is going to be about something else FAB-U-LOUS I ate on Thanksgiving!

This Parker's maple cotton candy is maybe the best cotton candy I've ever had- especially since I already love both cotton candy AND maple syrup. I got mine at Orchard Grocer! and they still have some left as of this weekend (you're welcome). I can't promise anything after I go again to refill my supply...

Hope your Thanksgiving was a good one and that you're ready for the holiday onslaught! In the meantime, 89 is waiting for more leftovers...

Easter Party

Passover was pretty great. Then came Easter, with even more food and frolic.

I always take 89 to see the Easter Bunny, although looking back through the blog I'm realizing that I don't always post the photo, which is a damn shame. Here's her pic from this year; the bunny had two settings: 1) immediately let 89 step off their lap and sit as far away from them as possible, or, 2) hold 89 by the entire body so that only her head, a swatch of her bunny shirt, and one dangling leg are visible. Here's option 2 at work. VM tried to get a photo of option 1, but my enormous arse was in the shot and there's no reason to go there.

Since this is one bit of tardiness I can assuage easily, here are the bunny photos from the last two years.

2016 was THE BEST. I could tell the bunny was up for it, so I told them that 89 would squirm, but not bite and that I was going to toss 89 over. The bunny caught her like a champ and the moment of the catch, inclusive of 89's ears blowing in the wind of the fan meant to keep the bunny cool, was captured.

2015 was a rookie mistake on my part. 89 was dressed as a bunny, which does not read well in a photo- particularly under duress. Also, why dress like a bunny when you're visiting the bunny? We've since learned that homage, not imitation, is key.

But, I digress. This year 89's Easter basket was filled with stuffed peeps and an extra bunny outlier. They currently all still exist, although I don't think any of the peeps have their squeakers anymore and most are missing their stuffing. There's a really funny video of the basket attacking 89 if you're so inclined.

On the way to VM & OD's we stopped at our regular holiday flower spot to pick up some buds that color-coordinated with my #1 bud.

Because if not on all days, at least on holidays you should eat dessert with every meal: these are the Peaceful Provisions donuts we shared in the a.m.: Ferrera Rocher donut, cannoli donut, rainbow donut. Not pictured: their vanilla pudding/cereal donut I glommed all to myself the day before.

For dinner, VM was at it again with Follow Your Heart's vegan egg; this time, baked ziti.

I ate about 75% of it.

For dinner dessert, we had bunny-shaped rainbow cookies from Sweet Maresa because the only thing better than rainbow cookies are rainbow cookies shaped like bunny rabbits.

and, finally, a shot of 89's bunny-themed ensem for the day.

Hope your holidays were enjoyed as well!

Passover

Excuse my tardiness; I recognize that I'm a little behind! Okay, actually a lot behind, but that's a story for another post(s). It was just Passover, peeps! And you know what that means: VM does all the cooking.

Here's 89, moments before she fell asleep waiting for the reading to end and for dinner to start.

Charoseth on matzoh, a.k.a. the only time I eat apples.

The piece-de-resistance: VM's famous matzoh ball soup- new and improved with the Follow Your Heart vegan egg. Don't be jealous of the middle ball's carrot hat.

Looky who woke up for some soup.

 

The festive meal: a packed plate (not mine!) of kugel, sweet potato, string beans, and Brussels sprouts.

It took 89 a few days to find the afikomen because someone hid it six feet in the air. CORRECTION: it took me a few days to realize why 89 was sniffing the air under a six foot high shelf.

Chrismukkah

Well, another Chrismukkah has come and gone for my Christmas and Hanukkah- celebrating family. Since I've eaten nothing but white carbs for weeks, I'd say it's just in the nick of time.

 

Some highlights of our merriment:

Early on, there was Hanukkah gelt from Gone Pie, Italian cookies from Sweet Maresa's, and dinner at Garguilo's. I went to see some of my favorite, NYC, holiday lights with a friend.

Columbus Circle (OD tells me it's no longer called the Time Warner bldg)

Saks Fifth Avenue light show- worth the (short) wait

This experience warmed my heart in early December:
When I got on the C train at 59th there was a young woman playing the electric violin whilst hula-hooping in half a Santa suit. I got on the train smiling, as did a father with two kids, who all sat next to me. Another man sat across from us and, as we rode, he asked the father if he could have his phone to take a photo of the family. The father handed his phone over and the man took a couple of photos moving, then a couple more when the train stopped. When he handed the phone back to the father, he said, "Sometimes we get caught up in our lives and we don't see ourselves how others see us. I wanted you to see." 

When the man got off the train he wished the father and his sons a Merry Christmas and they shook hands. The younger son said to the father, "That was nice." The father then explained to the kids that if they had done anything even the slightest bit differently in their day- stayed or left the party they were coming from just a minute more or less, that they would have missed meeting the man.

The father then showed me the photos on his phone, which had perfectly captured his beautiful family. Then he showed me the video he'd taken of the violinist, and then another video of a group of subway performers from earlier in the day, who were inspired when someone randomly started dancing with them- thus causing them all to dance long after she'd left to catch her train.

When my stop came I was too choked up to say much more than happy holidays, but with all that's going on in the world, it was nice to see so much goodness spreading with the slightest provocation.

I took 89 to see Santa, but it did not go nearly as well as it has in years past- both with Mr. Claus and the Easter Bunny. I blame Santa.

 This is where her skirt is supposed to fall; it's not a collar. Seen best on home territory.

 Saw the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.

I was pretty adamant that I wasn't going to get a tree this year because I was behind on everything. At what I thought was the last minute, I dragged a friend around NYC until I found this gem.

I tried decorating it, but when I saw my feelings reflected in my Hello Kitty ornament's despondent profile, I knew I had to get a real tree at what really was the last minute.

So, I took the Hanukkah half of my family and got me one.

89 was as surprised as everyone else that I caved.

 It was worth it.

 

VM did an amazing job with Christmas Eve/First Night of Hanukkah dinner, which was repeated on Christmas.

Her famous stuffed artichokes with a stalker.

And her infamous eggplant unrollatini.

 

 

There were lots of presents, of course; it happens when you're celebrating two holidays concurrently.

Some of us received more than others. 89 even overtook my stocking this year.

And was receiving gifts in the mail every time I turned around. Lucky duck!

Yep: Hanukkah...

 and Christmas.

 

Christmas morning we had Vegan with a Vengeance pancakes with maple syrup, So Delicious coco whip, and pickled pumpkin from a friend. Don't worry; she got plenty.

Of course, the requisite mid-day snax.

And, for dessert...the one and only rainbow cookie from Sweet Maresa's.

89 did very well this year.

But I think we can all agree on the best present she received. Expect warm ears and lots of Instagrams of this gem.

Here's hoping your holidays were happy ones.