Holiday Cooking

What is a holiday without special holiday cooking? When we moved far away from family and it was just me, BC (my husband) and 2 kids, I didn’t want to cook a big Thanksgiving dinner. What was the point? It was just for us! They all protested and I got roped into hours in the kitchen.

So, what was the point? The point was that traditions are important. In a lot of ways, we have established new traditions for our Thanksgiving meal, but we have kept a few old favorites from when BC and I were younger. Now, our children are growing up with their own traditions for Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

I became vegetarian/vegan about 8.5 years ago when I realized our daughter was allergic to all animal products other than fish. So, what were we to do without the turkey BC and I grew up with? (BC still is not vegetarian but eats a mostly vegetarian diet). He didn’t care what we did as long as he could have mashed potatoes and gravy and stuffing. All I cared about was the cranberry sauce made from scratch… Thank goodness for the internet. I found recipes for vegan gravy, an incredibly yummy not too sweet yam and apple baked dish so we could have special yams without being overly sweet (I have never liked candied yams), a lentil and grain loaf, stuffing (which I make with sprouted grain bread from scratch) and a vegan pumpkin pie that does NOT have tofu in it. We also add in a salad and are quite happy with our meal. Last year we added a really delicious Brussels sprout recipe as well. We just omit the bacon.

I was going to share some of the other recipes, but I can’t find my cookbook! Oh dear, I better start searching because my family just might mutiny if they don’t have their traditional fare.

I did manage to find the Pumpkin Pie recipe though.

This recipe really should be made the day before so it can set and get firmer but I have succeeded the day of. Also, it is a very flavorful filling. You may wish to reduce the spice- I don’t.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Have ready, one 9" unbaked pastry crust (I make my own with sprouted grain a pinch of sugar, and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice)

Blend in blender:
2 c. solid-pack canned pumpkin (if you use home-cooked pumpkin, drain it for
several hours hanging in a cloth bag, so it's thick like canned pumpkin)
1 c. non-dairy milk (preferably a rich soymilk) (I make rich almond)
3/4 c. brown sugar or Sucanat
1/4 c. cornstarch
1 T. molasses or blackstrap molasses
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. EACH ground ginger, nutmeg and salt
1/4 tsp. ground allspice or cloves
Pour the filling into the pastry and bake 60 minutes, covering the edges with foil if they begin to brown too quickly. Cool on a rack, then refrigerate overnight before serving.

Recipe by Bryanna Clark Grogan from www.vegsource.com

 

As for Christmas, we don’t have our menu as set in stone, but we usually have a southwest pea soup made with yams, chili, and lime juice.

So what do you do?