291023 Wed Nov 27 15:39:48 -0800 2002 9 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1581946 Well, that title ("the saddest thanksgiving") is a stretch, and anyway I mean it ironically. No one was ill, and there was enough to eat, and all that. Nevertheless. I was new in grad school and didn't know a lot of people. As I had papers to write and papers to grade before the end of the semester in December, I was just too busy to travel for Thanksgiving. It was easy to justify, because I'd have four weeks off in Dec and Jan, so that's when I travelled to see friends and family. Anyway, a couple of acquaintences, also grad students, invited a few of us strays to their house for Thanksgiving dinner. I accepted, and asked what I could bring. "Wine," they said. So I showed up carrying three bottles of red wine, including two of that year's just-released Beaujolais Nouveau. Now, like most people I know, I have certain olfactory expectations of Thanksgiving. There's a smell a house has when turkeys are roasting and pumpkin pies are baking, you know? Sage and nutmeg and roasting bird.... I walked into this particular house, however, and there was no aroma at all! I was temporarily confused, and drifted toward the kitchen, where the hostess described our Thanksgiving menu: tofu lasagna made with soy cheese, spinach salad, puree of chickpea, &c. I had stumbled into Vegan Thanksgiving. Ahhhrrr! Fortunately, I was not the only person who brought wine, and these vegans were very light drinkers. Which is to say, what I lacked in turkey, stuffing, and gravy I attempted to make up for in Beaujolais Nouveau. Thus fortified, I was able to be a good sport and hide my disappointment. But since that year, I've taken a more active role in planning Thanksgiving. Wed Nov 27 15:39:48 -0800 2002 0 david in nola 1 1581947 That is sad. You'da thought that they could've at least tried a tofu turkey or SOMETHING related... Wed Nov 27 15:43:32 -0800 2002 1581946 0 dude 2 1581951 Actually, there is a subclass of vegans who specifically oppose the idea of replicating any flesh dish in the manner you suggest. On the other hand, it could have been worse: a raw food Thanksgiving. Ughh. Mind you, I say this as someone who eats a good deal of raw vegetables in my diet, and can appreciate them. In their place, that is... Wed Nov 27 16:08:10 -0800 2002 1581947 0 Karl S. 3 1582252 Back when I was catering, I had a raw-fooder client who asked specifically for a Thanksgiving dinner for two from the Juliano "RAW" book. Horrified, I spent a day pureeing raw cauliflower with Bragg's Liquid Aminos (see the comment above) to make "Mashed Potatoes". When I went to add some of the raw $10/bottle tamari, the stinking bottle exploded all over me and my shiny clean kitchen. Since the tamari hadn't been pasteurized, it was fermenting so furiously that it couldn't wait to get out of the bottle. All this and the client didn't like the food. That was it for me. Money or not, I told her I wouldn't work for her again. Sheesh! Mon Dec 02 13:59:45 -0800 2002 1581951 0 Kaetchen 2 1581962 actually, re: earlier discussions on this board, the tofurkey is gross. Wed Nov 27 18:53:08 -0800 2002 1581947 0 cctc 1 1581948 Vegans taste good. No hormones and naturally raised! They're easy to catch too since they're usually malnourished. I like the fortification strategy. Wed Nov 27 15:50:13 -0800 2002 1581946 0 SLRossi 1 1581974 Ugh! Reminds me of the vegan passover seder I was forced to attend in college a few years ago. Seder plate included the Pascal roast zucchini. And for some reason we ate wasabi instead of horseradish, even though horseradish is perfectly vegan. On the plus side, one of my college bands was called The Vegan Eaters. But vegans really don't taste good. Usually to stringy and malnurished from eating too much tempeh spritzed with Bragg's Liquid Aminos (God, WHY can't they at least use soy sauce instead of this foul concoction?!). Wed Nov 27 20:40:21 -0800 2002 1581946 0 adam 2 1581997 "Seder plate included the Pascal roast zucchini. And for some reason we ate wasabi instead of horseradish" What??! I might be showing my lack of education, but could you explain to me why wasabi is a justifiable substitute for horseradish? Or is this one of the reasons why you were sad?? Scott Thu Nov 28 00:11:13 -0800 2002 1581974 0 bunnyr 3 1582024 Real wasabi is an amazing thing. What passes for wasabi is usually just artificially coloured horseradish. Here's a link to Pacific Farms - a company pioneering fresh wasabi in the States. Link: http://www.freshwasabi.com/about.html Thu Nov 28 17:53:57 -0800 2002 1581997 0 Louisa Chu 2 1582076 Maybe they thought that horseradish came from horses... Fri Nov 29 17:49:23 -0800 2002 1581974 0 kurt