Sunday, November 23, 2008

Pre Thanksgiving Fest

I really wanted to try out some Thanksgiving recipes, so I made the whole deal. Mostly for Andy since he can't get enough of this kind of food.

Starting at 12'oclock & going clockwise:
bread
mashed potatoes and gravy
mashed rutabega
stuffing
green bean casserole
pickles
cranberry sauce
seitan saurbratten (center)
roasted acorn squash (center)

pumpkin cheezecake w/ soyatoo
I used the green bean casserole recipe that I found on SusanV's blog. It was phenomenal. You should totally try it. I used apple cider vinegar instead of wine. I als0 chopped the mushrooms really fine. I used the same broth that I had made for the stuffing. I also made my own fried onions for the top. I dipped the onions in soymilk, then in flour/salt/pepper, then I deep fried them until they were sort of golden. I kept them sort of pale so that they could also brown in the oven.

I used the stuffing from the Holiday Feast class I recently took. I used Dave's Killer bread, which made it really yummy. The other main ingredients are chopped hazelnuts, celery, onions, broth, sage and lentils. I made the broth recipe from the same class. I had used Imagine veggie broth a few weeks ago and it ruined my lentil soup (which I fixed with peanut butter). I won't do that again. It's boring to make stock, but it's totally worth it and it's freezable. If I ever make stuffed mushrooms, I'll use this as stuffing.

I made the pumpkin cheezecake recipe from A Vegan Paradise twice because Andy ate the first one on Thursday (a testimony to the deliciousness of the pie) and the pre TG was on Friday so I had to have one then :). This pie is really really good. Thanks, Roo for the recipe.

The first time I followed the recipe exactly. The second time I halved the soy milk and doubled the tofu so it would firm up faster (I was in a time crunch). It firmed up just fine both times, in case you want to follow the original recipe. Don't worry, I made half batches each time, so it was 2 pies, not 4 :). As with all pumpkin type pies, I covered it with aluminum foil for the first part of baking.

I used this recipe for the gravy. It was really good and I will definitely make it again. The recipe calls for 2 cups of water. I replaced part of the water with 1/3 cup soy creamer and 1/2 cup broth. Later on when I thinned the gravy, I used edensoy rice soy blend. I went for the optional mushrooms which I chopped really fine.

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Here is the dog that I would have picked up today to foster, but they found another foster family. I guess that this is sort of good because I'm already fostering 1 dog. If she is not adopted in 2 weeks, she might come to my house. I know the dog I'm fostering now will be happy to play with her.
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More of the 2008 calendar.

September: Peepa and the Judge. They are clinging to each other for warmth.

October: Kobie and the Judge. I don't know how the Judge snuck in there.

November: Scoatt. I like this picture because it looks sort of uncomfortable and shows how huge and fluffy he is.

14 comments:

beastmomma said...

Those recipes look great!

Anonymous said...

Great looking food! I am looking forwards to having a dummy run at my Christmas menu soon (any excuse for a good feed!).
I love your cat pics~ snuggling cats :o)
And Scoatt is sooo handsome, I really love big, fluffy, long haired cats.

Jen Treehugger said...

Scoatt is a big flufftykin isn't he!!
I just want to snuggle up to him. Peeper and Judge are snuggling there too and Judge looks well cozy with Kobie - so sweeet.

That feast looks FAB Bethany, I'm gonna try that Green Bean Casserole.
Where'd ya get the Seitan Saurbratten recipe from?
I'm intrigued as to what it is.

River (Wing-It Vegan) said...

What a yummy plate full of Thanksgiving goodness! The pie has left me speechless!
I think you have the coolest pets ever!

Tofu Mom (AKA Tofu-n-Sprouts) said...

Wow! Everything looks so DEEELISH! I love Dave's Killer Bread but have such a hard time finding it here in the South Sound... I may have to venture out before the Big Day though, I think it would make awesome stuffing!!

WOW again, the dog is just BEAUTIFUL!! (Greyhound? Whippet?) I would LOVE to have a whippet someday. Beautiful!

Joanna said...

bethany!! i can't believe you made an entire thanksgiving spread already. that is so funny, but i love it. everything looks amazing!! i'm using susan v's pumpkin pie recipe. i bet it'll turn out good because she's always makin amazing stuff.

Andy is probably livin the life over at your house. i'm pretty sure i'd scarf down that cheesecake, too.

For the Love of Guava said...

mmm... the more vegan thanksgiving food I make and see... I really can't understand why anyone would want turkey!! YUM! And.. ahem... I think you made way more food than I did for your practice spread!! YOWZA!!

oooh... and stuffed mushrooms sound divine!

Bethany said...

Becks - you're going to laugh at this, but I was thinking, why is she thinking xmas and skipping Thanksgiving. Then I was like duh.

Jeni - I got the recipe from The meat Lover's Vegetarian Cookbook. To be honest, I have tried very few recipes from this book. The sauerbratten is awesome. I made shepherd's pie from this recipe and it took hours for something that was DISGUSTING. I think I made stew and it was ok. I think the millennium cookbook has a sauerbraten recipe that you can view through amazon, but I've never tried it. If you make it, you have to make the braised red cabbage to go with it.

Tofu Mom - I typically freeze my dave's bread. Tastes just as good from the freezer - because it's awesome. The dog is a greyhound.

Joanna - I tried SusanV's double pumpkin cheesecake and it was really really good. I made the spread because I have been sort of lazy in the kitchen lately. Just wait until you see what I bring to the TG potluck I'm going to. It won't be heavy at all.

Guava - yeah, I'm busted - especially after I was bugging you for having tons of energy for doing a pre TG test. I have no excuses :( But I love you for busting me!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Aww aww aww all the animals are adorable!

Sal - AlienOnToast said...

that is a whole lotta cuteness!!

the cheezecake looks awesome too!

tofufreak said...

whoa!!!! awesome pre-thanksgiving spread!!! can't believe my eyes 8D haha.

wingraclaire said...

I'm so glad to be seeing this second opinion of the green bean casserole, as it looked so good on the blog I bought the ingredients and have plans to make it tomorrow!!! We are hosting our usual three other families (the homes rotate so we get it here every four years). This year for the first time, Andrea of cookeasyvegan.blogspot.com will be joining us. It's funny because her family is our "Passover family" and we have other families for Thanksgiving. But it just worked out that way this year. Check out her blog and you know whatever she brings will be gourmet!

I read Written on the Body last year. My daughter had it for her gender studies class. Let me know what you think of it and then I'll tell you something I found super-interesting.... fascinating.... but not until you have read it first!

Happy Thanksgiving!

wingraclaire.livejournal.com

Felicity said...

mmm, that food looks deelish. I love greyhounds, are the foster dogs ex- racing dogs?

Bethany said...

the dogs can be from racing (might not have actually been in a race) or from farms that have greyhounds chase down coyotes. either way, it's pretty grim.