The other adults punked out of our celebratory weekend. I only cursed once and it was into a tea towel, so I don’t think it counts. But rather than lament, I’m going to power through and be thankful that the monkeys are on the mend and elate in the fact that in exchange for missing out on the festivities tomorrow, I get a night out in my OWN TOWN next weekend to make up for it. Yay parents! Even though they are going to hate it so much, they completely deserve the tattoo I am getting in their honour next week. (Insert wicked laughter here)

So, even though it’ll just be the five of us this year, I am still going to cook my Thanks-giving heart out tomorrow. It’s the baby’s first feast, albeit a secondhand feast. She’s just little; she eats what I eat, lazy, freeloading baby!

And what’s on the menu for this vegan holiday?

Stuffed butternut squash (recipe to follow on suite101). Giggle peas (it’s just regular sweet peas, but the kids eat them faster if we call them giggle peas. Kids are fantastic and weird, no?). Rosemary mashed potatoes. Yorkshire puddings (use Ener-g egg replacer or flax meal—it works!). Oven-roasted root vegetables. Cranberry sauce. Herbed gravy. Spicy pumpkin pies and whipped “cream.”

But what about the gobble?

I know I have been condemning vegan convenience foods as of late, but these babies were on sale this week and I wasn’t thrilled with our first Tofurkey at Christmas. Why have simulated protein source at all?

Guilt, I guess.

Though I have blissfully embraced the yumminess that is the holiday “sidedish” for many years now, my husband has only recently (and 100% willingly) joined the ranks of the veggie, so I feel I must at least attempt to satiate the carnivore that once was. But his crazy high blood pressure is thanking me: these puppies are healthy.  Stuffing, gravy and “turkey breast” together contain only 3.2 grams of fat per serving (there are 2 servings per container) and the vitamin and mineral count is wicked respectable, check it out!

So, I am going to bed right now because I have another day of just me and the chilluns ahead (Goldstream, anyone? anyone?), with feast making to boot. Yves, you will answer to me tomorrow. Don’t you quit on me, Yves. I’m counting on you.