A Christmas Preview Meal!

This past Saturday, at my weekly vegan brunch at my place, I decided to spread a little holiday cheer and make a pre-Christmas dinner for everybody! It was fabulous, and I think it did the trick to get everyone in the Christmas-y mood!

It was very similar to my Thanksgiving meal, actually, but with a few changes...
Homemade Seitan Roast with Apple-Sage Stuffing
Agave-Glazed Sweet Potatoes
Vegan Green Bean Casserole
Golden Onion Gravy
Candied Ginger Cranberry Sauce

It was truly a feast! And a celebration of local foods...the sweet potatoes, apples, and garlic were all locally-grown! And btdubs, I have been meaning to post my recipe for the Homemade Seitan Roast, but I lost the paper I wrote it on! Bummer! I'll keep looking for it and give it out as soon as I find it! Wish me luck :)The true stars were, of course, the pies for dessert!
We had Pecan Pie, recipe from the Vegan Feast Kitchen blog! With local pecans! Yeah! And Pumpkin Pie, using my recipe from the Thanksgiving post a while ago. Pumpkin Pie just screams holidays to me! And I used local pumpkins, that I pureed myself and everything. Oh, a you already probably know that is all homemade crust. Duh.

Just typing about this is getting me pumped for my real Christmas dinner coming up in two days!! Woo hoo!

Thanxgiving Part 2: Anatomy of a Pumpkin Pie

So I am of the belief that Thanksgiving just cannot be without pumpkin pie. Call me crazy, but it's just how it is! This is my recipe for Vegan Pumpkin Pie, made with local pumpkin. I am sure you could use canned pumpkin puree, but it really just wouldn't be the same!!

I'll also give you a brief step-by-step on making the puree. Hopefully you'll try this for your next fall/winter celebration!

Step 1: Buy 1 medium or 2 small pumpkins from your local farmers' market.

Step 2: Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds/stringies.

Step 3: Roast pumpkin at 350 F for 1 hour until soft.

Step 4: Remove the "meat" of the pumpkin from the skin and puree until smooth in a food processor.

Step : Place pumpkin puree into a cheescloth or thin towel. Put the cloth into a strainer set over a bowl and allow to drain overnight. This helps to achieve the right thickness/consistency of the puree.

Step 6: Make pie crust, poke with fork all over. Or open package of premade crust and poke with fork all over.

Step 7: Make pie filling.

Pumpkin Pie Filling (for 1 pie)
2 cups pumpkin puree

1 box silken tofu

1 cup sugar

2 Tbs molasses

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ginger powder

2 Tbs arrowroot whisked together with 1/4 cup non-dairy milk

In a food processor, puree the silken tofu until smooth. Pour into a large bowl and combine with the rest of the ingredients. Gently fold ingredients together until well combined. Pour into unbaked pie crust of your choice, preferrably homemade!

Step 8: Pour pie filling into pie crust and bake at 350 For 1 hour. Cover with foil for the first 30 minutes, then remove foil halfway through baking. Step 9: Allow to cool at room temperature overnight or for at least 6 hours to allow the middle to "set."

Step 10: Slice pie, and enjoy....even better, of course, with a little vegan whipped cream or ice cream!

Thanxgiving Part 1: The Spread!

I love, love, love Thanksgiving! Some of my favorite foods are served at this feast and it is always so much fun to cook for hours and hours and see everyone's delighted faces at your hard work! This year, I went all out and made eeeeeverything from scratch...even the faux turkey! Over the next few days, I'll be posting some of the recipes, so as to not overwhelm in one post, so keep an eye out for all my Thanksgiving recipes!!

The Spread: Homemade Seitan Faux Turkey with Savory Onion Gravy, stuffed with Apple-Sage Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes with Chives (my grandma made these vegan for me! with chives from her own garden!), and Garlic Roasted Brussels Sprouts...

The garlic, bread for the stuffing, apples, chives, and brussels sprouts were all local!The Seitan Faux Turkey RoastI also made Candied Ginger Cranberry Sauce!! I'll give you my recipe below.

Candied Ginger-Cranberry Sauce
3- 12 oz. bags fresh cranberries Juice and zest of 2 lemons Juice and zest of 1 orange 1/2 cup crystallized ginger, chopped 3 cups water 1/2 cup sugar 2 Tbs brown sugar or molasses 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/8 tsp cloves 1 cinnamon stick 1/2 tsp salt

In a large saucepan, combine all of the ingredients except the ginger and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for 30 minutes. Add the chopped ginger and let simmer for 15 more minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Remember to remove cinnamon stick before serving. Serve warm or chilled. Best made the day ahead of time to let thicken and enhance the flavors!

My grandma made vegan Mashed Potatoes with Chives for me! Thanks, granny! You're awesome!Local Garlic-Roasted Brussels SproutsSavory Onion Gravy! I love gravy boats!!And because Thanksgiving is just another word for pie: Pies!!!

First is a Pecan Pie, made with locally-grown pecans!! Check out that homemade crust, ya'll!! It was superb, if I do say so myself :) The recipe for the pie filling came from Bryanna Clark Grogan's Vegan Feast Kitchen, because it's amazing! The pie crust is my own creation. And then there was Pumpkin Pie! The recipe will be coming tomorrow, along with a step-by-step on doing the pumpkin puree from scratch! The pumpkin is local, from the farmers' market, and the pie crust is the same as the pecan pie above. This is even better with a big dollop of vegan whipped cream, of course!!