My parents and I have differing religious views, so we have very few overlapping holidays. This hasn't really been a big deal for us since I moved away from home 12 years ago. Ever since I left for college, I've lived at least 8 hours away from my parents so "going home for the holidays" has always been difficult, or expensive, so we usually just celebrated in spirit. (My mother jokes that I keep moving farther and farther away from her and I assure her it's not personal. Mama Shay is a hoot, I'll try to get her to guest post while she's visiting!)
Anyway, point is, Thanksgiving is one of the few Holidays we have in common, though it's one that my parents usually spend with my Father's side of the family, so you can imagine my surprise when my mom called asking if her and my father could travel to Colorado for Thanksgiving.'
I stood for a minute without words (a rare event for me) and said "well, okay, but you know that it's going to be vegan."
"Yes, yes we know. Your father and I are looking forward to our first vegan thanksgiving." she explained.
I nearly peed in my pants with excitement.
But after the excitement wore off, the pressure started to build.
I have to feed my parents a Thanksgiving dinner -- and I'm up against 65 years of tradition. This is no small feat.
I called my parents back and asked if they had any "requests" my Dad was quick to yell out "something withcornbread" which surprised me, because he was always a stuffing kind of guy when I was growing up, and then my mom, bless her, listed I think every vegetable known to man.
(I think she assumed all we would be eating is vegetables).
At one point my menu included some 10 recipes when Scott came in and said "We are only 4 people. This is a bit much" and started crossing things off the list, only to grumble that pecan pie was not included. (I'm now making pecan pie -- don't tell him!)
Speaking of pie. I had my heart set on my pumpkin pie -- but Mama Shay called back and said "Daddy and I really love your carrot cake cupcakes . Can we have those for dessert?"
Well sure. I guess we'll have carrot cake cupcakes on Thanksgiving... first for everything!
Here is our menu (all from The Happy Herbivore Cookbook )
Tofu Turkey (Torkey) (p. 152)
Cornbread Stuffing with Chorizo (p. 196)
Mashed Potatoes (p. 190)
Thanksgiving Gravy (p. 255)
Dijon-Herb Green Beans (p. 197)
Cranberry Sauce (p. 267)
Pumpkin Cheesecake (p. 221)
Carrot Cake Cupcakes (p. 231)
Also check out my Thanksgiving Menu Ideas post (with links to blog recipes).