...Vegan Thanksgiving...

...before we left...I made some vegan cream cheese...

...and poured it into a small loaf pan...

...and let it set up...

...then we packed up the truck and hit the road...

...so...let the knitting commence...I knitted for a couple of hours on my Purl Soho Summer Sweater...just mindless knitting...

...I always love it when the mountains first come into view...

...there was almost no traffic...

...I had an apple for a snack...this one is a "Lady Alice"...a totally new (to me) cultivar...I was surprised to learn that it was discovered in 1979...as a chance seedling...it's really good...I highly recommend it...

...Mom sets a pretty table...

...and she got out some Thanksgiving figurines...

...I unmolded the vegan cheese on a tray and poured over a jar of pepper jelly...

...and put some pita chips and wheat thins around...

...it was creamy and delicisou...and a little bit spicy too...

...then we started prepping some vegan sides...

...I 'hasselbacked' a couple of butternut squash...using knives to keep from cutting all the way through the squash...

...I had 4 halves...of course...

...and since more people at this party preferred sweet squash over savoury...

...I put three halves in a pan...coated them with Earth Balance and brown sugar...

...and then I put the fourth half in a separated pan...and I intended to drizzle olive oil and rosemary over it...but Mom was talking about a butternut squash that she had had that only had butter salt and pepper...so...I decided to do that instead...

...next it was time to make the stuffing...(technically dressing as it's not going to be stuffing anything)...

...a whole pan of vegan cornbread...and about the same amount of cubed bread...with poultry seasoning, onion, celery, and vegetable broth...

...and then beets for another vegan side...this is a Martha Stewart recipe...that's almost vegan...just omit the honey...or substitute Bee Free Honee...

...just drizzle with oil and sprinkle with thyme...

...after they're roasted add the orange zest and orange juice...

...and the recipe calls for red wine vinegar...but Mom didn't have any ...so we subbed balsamic...

...I roasted the seeds with the squash...of course...that made another welcome snack...there just wasn't much of it...

...then the sweet squash was almost done...I added some chopped pecans...because I didn't want them to burn...

...I made some vegan gravy...just the Worthington base...water and cornstarch...

...two more sides...creamed corn...and Nanny's sweet potatoes...

...the oven was packed...Brussels Sprouts...Peppers and Onions...Zucchini...and the dressing is browning above too...

...Mom made a big pot of turnips...

...and I snapped a surprise photo of her cutting up the potatoes to make Grandma's Mashed...

...the vegan dressing is done...

...my plate...so much delicious vegan food...we had over a dozen side dishes...

...after dinner...while the adults were still sitting around the table talking...the little ones went into the living room and wrote love notes for everyone...it was so so sweet...I love the way they spelled my name Treesa...and all of the sweet notes and the drawings of us together...so sweet...

...Jack was zonked out...all the food and love and attention he got were overwhelming...

...and he got a sweet love note too...

...and then using the Many Hands Make Light Work method...we got everything cleaned up...the dishwasher loaded...the food packed up for everyone to take home...and put away what was left...

...and then we all sat down to watch one of my favorite of the children's Christmas cartoons...

...the old cartoon version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas...

~Wishing you a wonderful rest of the Thanksgiving weekend...