It all started on Wednesday. I made extra vegetable stock, then created the most wonderful cranberry sauce I've ever had. I was pretty proud of myself as I started working on the pumpkin pie. Long story short, the crust never cooked properly, and what was to be a pumpkin pie ended up being baked pumpkin pudding. I felt like a failure. Later in the day I decided to make a spice cake to serve in addition to the pudding, and went to bed feeling slightly better.
On Thursday I woke up in a fantastic mood. I floated downstairs, made myself some pancakes and coffee, made the spice cake, and settled in to watch the Macy's parade on TV. Now that I no longer work for the company I can enjoy it along with everyone else. Unfortunately for me, someone decided that this was the perfect time to vacuum, and while the Rockettes were doling out high kicks, all I heard was a loud roar. Between the confirmed unwanted company I was dreading, the pie fail, the ruined parade, the dogs raiding the trash, and stressing over whether my neighbor was going to be alone and if I should take her a plate, I hit my limit. I was so pissed I started crying and swearing, then refused to acknowledge any and all attempts at apologies. My beautiful Thanksgiving was ruined and I'd be damned if I let anyone try to fix it.
But then it was time to start the Tofurky. That little ball of wheat gluten and tofu always makes me happy. I made this convoluted marinade consisting of, but not limited to: soy sauce, EVOO, canola oil, poultry seasoning, maple syrup, liquid smoke, brown sugar, salt, white pepper, ground ginger, and onion powder. There is no science to it, I just kept playing with it until it reached the smoky sweet taste I was going for. And it was perfect.
The rest was not smooth sailing, and dinner was half an hour late, but we finally finished and set up a buffet on the counter. I did take pictures with the digital camera, but I don't have the camera software on my laptop and I don't feel like waiting until the desktop is available, so here's a cell phone picture of some leftovers I had today:
That's the Tofurky at the top, followed by green beans, cranberry sauce (my crowning achievement), Mom's sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes & gravy, and a sweet gherkin in the center. There were also dinner rolls (I just didn't throw one on my plate for the pic), assorted olives, stuffing (*gag*), and our guest brought soda bread. Everything was sooooooo delicious. Both of the omnivores loved the all-vegan meal, which pleased me to no end. Then came dessert!
That's the spice cake with a "buttercream" frosting and nutmeg sprinkled on top, and then the pumpkin "pudding" with Soyatoo! soy whip. Sorry for the lousy photo quality, my phone did the best it could. Anyway, both desserts were super yummy. Quick note about that soy whip... OMG that stuff is amazing. I didn't notice any difference between that and dairy whipped cream. I had some with my coffee this morning too. Bliss!
So everything turned out fine. Neighbor ended up not being alone, I saw her boyfriend come home in the afternoon. And having a guest wasn't really that bad, and she would've been alone otherwise. I'm not that much of a Scrooge, jeez. Ti, our gargantuan tuxedo cat, loved all the attention that was showered upon him, plus the tuna I gave him as a treat. He may very well have had the best Thanksgiving of all.
With all the chaos, I didn't have time to make a Thanksgiving meal for the dogs, so I did it today. I boiled some organic peas and carrots, served with a tiny dollop of mashed potatoes, and used Earth's Best vegetable turkey dinner as gravy. Yeah, I gave them organic baby food because I didn't want them having a lot of sodium and fat. I didn't take a picture because it didn't look very good when it was all mixed together. I'm assuming it was at least somewhat tasty because all three of them devoured it. So now everyone has been covered.
I could happily eat these leftovers for a week straight, but we've all been systematically pecking at it, so I give it another day or two, tops. I've been enjoying seeing what other people had for dinner, and now my sights are set on Christmas dinner. >:)
I'm not turning this into a food blog, I promise. It's just that I love to cook (and eat!), so it'll make its way in from time to time. Anyway, I ended up having a nice Thanksgiving after all, and hope everyone else did, too. :)
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