Monday, December 6, 2010

A Retrospective Telling of Thanksgiving


I am just now getting around to posting about Thanksgiving... It was hands down the most vegan friendly Thanksgiving I have been a part of!  I prepared Tempeh Sausage Puff Pastry, Carmalized Onion Butternut Roast with Chestnuts, Sweet Potatoes and a Gingerbread Apple Pie, but there were plenty of other foods for me to eat as well.


This is everything I needed to make the Tempeh Sausage Puff Pastry (Vegan Brunch)


Although the recipe didn't ask me to steam the tempeh I decided to anyhow.  In my opinion tempeh not only becomes less bitter when you steam it, but it also soaks up more flavor when you marinate it.


 This is my steamed, cooled, crumbled, and marinating tempeh...

Next I sauteed onions and red peppers...

Then I added garlic and spices and sauteed some more...


Then I drained the marinated tempeh and added it to the vegetables and spices...


Once it was brown and kinda crispy looking, I knew it was done and ready to be put on the puff pastry...


After cooking them in the oven, I had a finished product!


For the Caramelized Onion Butternut Roast with Chestnuts, I had to roast my own chestnuts...  That was probably my favorite part!


 For dessert I made a Gingerbread Apple Pie (Vegan with A Vengeance)




This was my first attempt at baking a pie, but honestly was the best pie I have ever eaten in my life!  Can't wait to make this again for X-Mas!!!


Teresa made Roasted Brussel Sprouts and they were completely vegan and amazing!


Ceil made this tofu dish and it was hands down my favorite part of Thanksgiving.  The tofu was perfectly chewy and the veggies were cooked and seasoned to perfection. Yummy!



This was my first Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce in the shape of a can.  My Mom decided to skip that kind since it is filled with High Fructose Corn Syrup and she bought the all natural kind from Trader Joes.  T.J., Heather, and I were initially disappointed in my Mother's lack of tradition, but I ended up LOVING the natural cranberries even more!








Dinner was great and dessert was even better!



Every year we pose for my parents Holiday Card on Thanksgiving.  It was a somewhat difficult task this year.  We just could not pull it together and everyone kept joking around.  It was however a lot of fun!



I couldn't help but make the last picture of a piece of the pie I made.... I was SO delicious!