Save-a-Turkey Day 2013

Thanksgiving dinner's sad and thanklessChristmas dinner's dark and blueWhen you stop and try to see itFrom the turkey's point of view.Sunday dinner isn't sunnyEaster feasts are just bad luckWhen you see it from the viewpointOf a chicken or a duck.Oh how I once loved tuna saladPork and lobsters, lamb chops too'Til I stopped and looked at dinnerFrom the dinner's point of view.

—Shel Silverstein

  My cruelty-free Thanksgiving menu:

• cranberry sauce (the easy peasy version: 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water per 4 cups cranberries)
• super-easy lentil roast (recipe from Thanksvegan, which I picked up at the Boston Veg Fest)
• cashew gravy
• stuffing-by-the-seat-of-my pants (it'll have portobello mushrooms for sure)
• sweet potato casserole with millet and kale (I'm making this up t00—recipe forthcoming!)
• garlic mashed potatoes
• roasted carrots and parsnips
• cornbread (just the Trader Joe's mix with corn kernels added)

 And for dessert:

• pumpkin pudding
• upside-down pear gingerbread cake, veganized out of Jeanne Lemlin's Vegetarian Classics (feel free to email me for the recipe)
• coconut cream topping, recipe courtesy of Nina Hayes
• homemade apple cider (sort of—I'm going to juice a bunch of apples and mull with cinnamon sticks)

 I'm feeling very grateful—today and EVERY day—for a clear mind, excellent health and a body that does everything I ask of it, faithful friends and wonderful family, and the opportunity to make a living following my bliss. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!