it's pileated, isn't it?

x-ray
if your back's against the wall, turn around and write on it...

Too much work.

I'm sticking with the traditional cranberry sauce, which may or may not be vegan. I don't know. Cooking can be a lot of work. Meal preparation and household prep is an additional effort for holidays. Making a Thanksgiving meal for many takes several days as it is. Trying to do the work of determining what's "allowed" or not according to veganism, is an effort I'd never wish to inflict upon myself. But this might work for vegans...

CRANBERRY SAUCE (NOT THE CRAPPY STUFF IN A CAN)

This recipe is for one bag of cranberries. I triple it because it is also yummy on leftovers and toast the following days after.

1 Bag Cranberries (I think they are a pound each)

1 Cup Apricot Nectar (magic ingredient)

1 Cup Sugar

1 Big juicy Navel Orange cut into small pieces

1/2 Cup Raisins

6 Cinnamon sticks

Dash Nutmeg

Dash Allspice

I keep the cranberries frozen until it's time to cook 'em. Rinse them in a colander. Pour the Apricot Nectar into a large pot and add sugar. Stir until dissolved. Bring to a boil. Add cranberries. Cook medium to high until the berries just start to pop. Ohhh, they are so beautiful at that point!!! Now that is RED! Then throw in your orange pieces, raisins, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg and allspice. Stir it up and let it cool.

If you make this two or three days in advance, just store it in the refrigerator.

I like to bring it to room temperature before serving. Put it in a beautiful glass bowl. I use vintage pink depression glass bowls. Sometimes several if we have a large party. Nothing makes a turkey as perfect as the accent of the gorgeous red tartness that is homemade cranberry sauce! Make it yourself and just wait for people to beg you for the recipe. Trust me. You'll love it!

Come to think of it, why would anyone want cranberry sauce if they're not having turkey?

Susan

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

 i think s/he mabey meant that eating turkey is traditonal for thankxgiving; mabey they're not from the us.

"Come to think of it, why would anyone want cranberry sauce if they're not having turkey?'

well, actually, i eat cranberry sauce a lot, often with a medley of vegetables. it especially tastes great with the recipes i'd posted above. add a whole wheat bread stuffing, and it's some damned good eating. and, speaking of home made cranberry sauce, i make it, too. and i freeze the berries when i buy them; they'll last a long time that way. 

nuart- thanx for that cranberry sauce recipe. it sounds lovely. i am gonna copy it and print it out. i will leave out the raisins, as i am not fond of raisins in most recipes, though i do like them well enough on their own, as well as in pilafs, and indian food.

as for the vegan recipes being a lot of work, they don't seem that way to me. lol, i would imagine cooking a turkey is lots of work as one has to keep basting the damned thing, right? i have been a strict vegetarian for so long, that i have no clue how to cook meat.
 

it's pileated, isn't it?

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

I keep waiting for that to happen...so far none of my relatives have been that (un)lucky. Though one of them is to the point of bringing a cat-food-adorned Jell-O mould one of these holidays.

Susan, I am all kinds of inspired to try your cranberry sauce recipe this year! Hardly anyone ever makes it homemade around here, which is a damn crime. I found a great recipe in a Sunset magazine a few years ago but promptly lost it and have never found it again. Yours sounds even more delicious than I remember that one being.

Snog! thank you for the vegan recipies! While I'm still an omnivore, I LOVE my vegetarian & vegan recipes, and that chinese nut loaf sounds really good (the other one sounds good too but I've never been a fan of tofu ). I'm going to try to make it for dinner in the next couple of weeks. One of the blogs I frequent has this really cool "Magical Loaf" generator where you can design all kinds of vegan loaf recipes. I've tried a couple designed by other people and so far I've been impressed! Thought maybe you'd like to check it out.

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."

QUOTE: QUOTE: but last year's was a disappointment.

That's like a nightmare but not too far afield from some real turkeys I've known, Booth!

I've even done those same little zig-zaggy oranges with cranberry sauce and grapes alongside. Don't have that many Waterford goblets however and I'd never use red napkins.

Hey, I just bought an electric knife at Bed, Bath and Beyond. It's sort of a chicken's way out but wow do they carve with ease! A few years back I bought a nice set as shown above but it's still not as effective as the plug-in variety. Anyone else use an electric knife?

(holding my breath waiting to see what image Booth comes up with...)

Susan

You won't regret the cranberry sauce, Amanda. Let me know how it works out. I'm going to make mine Tuesday I think.

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

QUOTE:

What really sucks about that situation is when the little facehugger jumps out and attaches itself to Grandma. Talk about an awkward family dinner.

Logic Hat Online- logichat.org

Kahlan- hey, thankyou for that magic loaf link- i've added it to my recipe folder of links in my favorites. it looks like a great site indeed. i'll have fun with it. i will also pass it along to friends. lemme know how you like the brown rice loaf after you've made it.

alas, i  wish i had the lasting willpower to become vegan, for ethical reasons. i have flirted with it for a few months at a time, but my addiction to milk chocolate and icecream [low fat varieties] overcomes me and i end up giving in to it...

susan- in the recipe using tofu, it's well disguised by the cashew sauce. oh, well, i love tofu; i even eat it as is with soysauce drizzled over it, so mabey if i hated it, i might not be able to be fooled by  it  masquerading as something else, lol.

yikes, i hope to never find webbing within a tofu block when i cut into it, lol...[in reference to the turkey gif]

speaking of veganism/vegetarianism, i wonder if any of the 'peaks characters were of either persuasion.

it's pileated, isn't it?

I actually went completely vegan for almost three years after the '99 TP Fest where they included copies of PeTA Times in the fest packets. (it had an article with Sheryl Lee painted as a tiger to bring awareness to the cruel treatment of circus animals) I sucked as a vegan though because I wasn't very adventurous...I avoided most substitutes like soymilk and soycheese and subsisted on a mostly veggies, fruit, and grains diet for that whole time. LOL I ended up finally giving into meat temptation at a barbecue and it about killed me (wow...reintroducing the body to animal proteins is ROUGH) but I gave up the veganism. These days I eat hardly any meat anymore, but I will never give up my dairy and eggs. Cheese is just too damn yummy for that. :D

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."

QUOTE:Hmm. Something about using a graphic of Mr. Manson playing trouser hockey as punctuation to a recipe somehow makes it less appetizing.

nope. i'm not gonna get rid of the signature this time around, lol...

i do enjoy the witty reference, 'trouser hockey', i must say!

Amanda- wow, i commend you on  the great amount of willpower involved in being what i call '3rd world vegan': vegetables/fruit and grains/legumes. while it's certainly cheaper to eat in this manner, as the niche market meat analogues are rather expensive, i do agree with you that it's a spartan diet indeed.

yeah, the siren call of cheeze--especially SMOKED cheeze.
 

it's pileated, isn't it?

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."

Snog, I'm in Britain so I don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but I am a vegetarian (couldn't become a full-blown vegan though as I need my dairy products) but thank you for the Tofu loaf recipe, that sounds scrumptious anyway and well worth a try. :)  The only problem I have/find with many veggie recipes is they have nuts or cashews or peanut butter in them and I can't eat nuts.  Not in the "it will make my face swell up" sense just that they taste funny to me and not nice. Them and peas. I wonder if I could just omit the cashews or if there's anything else I could put instead.  Maybe the cranberry sauce . :P

"watch out for my cousin.."

Maddy- i think you could succesfully substitute 'white sauce' made from soymilk instead. i'm glad you like the recipes. you could also check out the wonderful link amanda provided:'magic loaves'.

rainbow- lol. very amusing. and, oddly enough, tittilating. oh, gee.

it's pileated, isn't it?

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."

Thanks for that testimonial, Amanda.  Your dinner guests will appreciate the small effort that went into making it though they'll probably not realize how easy it was. 

I made three pecan pies last night but had to toss one this morning when I found it had not "set."  It was on the lower rack of the oven while the other two were on top.  Pecan soup.  No saving it.  

Looking forward to the day!

SOOOOOOOO much to be grateful for this year!!!  2008?  I can't wait!

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin