A Vegan Thanksgiving

Do not fear, I am not about to condemn you to the depths of Slor if you do not believe exactly what I believe. For real.

This is one of eight turkeys at the sanctuary where I work. She's a total and utter delight. Five years ago, she was liberated by an individual along with eleven of her sisters from a turkey production plant. We accepted all 12 debeaked, de-toed (first digits of their toes are cut off to prevent scratching when removed from the shed) baby hens.

They sing songs and are joyous creatures. They cannot fly, like their wild brethren. They are bred to be too large for that...and too large to mate naturally, all are artificially inseminated.

So it is always an honor and joy to celebrate them on Thanksgiving. For me, that means not eating them. :) CRAZY TALK, I know. But you will survive.

Now, perhaps you might wonder what a vegan eats (at all?) during Thanksgiving. Well, certainly not turkey. Instead, we might make our own tofu turkey or purchase an alternative. There are myriad alternatives available now that can please the palates of most people. I love Tofurky, thought not everyone does. They are perhaps crazy, I am not certain. Even the most hardcore omnivore likes Tofurky gravy, so that's something. There is also Celebration Roast for people who have an addiction to salt. Like me. Or you could go all out for your turkey-loving friends and family by making these adorable tofu turkeys - they are so cute, you may be unable to eat them. Not me. I'd inhale them, post-haste.

The sides are pretty easy to veganize. Non-dairy butter and dairy mixed with mashed potatoes. Veggie broth instead of chicken for stuffing. Non-dairy butter on bread. We do not eat green bean casseroles around here, because my mom finds them repulsive...so we just eat fresh green beans, slightly crisp with lemon juice and non-dairy butter. Salads are easy. A vegan's Thanksgiving dinner is not so different, except the centerpiece isn't a bird. We are still grateful for all the wondrous things in our lives, and we still feel compassion for all those suffering in this world. At my parent's place, we are not pumpkin pie fiends, but that is super easy to veganize. My family are apple pie freaks and make three so we can survive days on apple pie alone, if necessary. Sometimes, when that womanly time of the month hits during Thanksgiving, I make a crazy chocolate pecan pie to kill for (if you died for it, you would not enjoy it half so much).

I'll take a picture tomorrow for show and tell. You can show all of your friends and be all "LOOK AT THE VEGANS AND THEIR VEGANY DINNER!" It might be amusing. It might not. And even without all the extra tryptophan, vegans can gorge with the best of them and become sleepy sloths ready for hibernation after Thanksgiving dinner. You might be interested to know that no group of humans on earth love talking food as much as vegans. Not even foodies. Or locovores. Get stuck in a room full of vegans, and all you'll hear about are cupcakes this, enchiladas that, OH MY GOD YOU VEGANIZED that? This is not true of all vegans, as I recently learned when a vegan friend of mine stared at me blankly as I tried to explain my love affair with cranberry-orange muffins and all of my attempts at creating The Best Muffin Ever. They thought I was weird and told me as much. Whatever.

In any event, Happy Thanksgiving!!