Friday, November 26, 2010

VeganMoFo IV: How Many Pics Does It Take...


...'til you get to the center of a Thanksvegan?!  Seriously, though.  This year was insane with the food!  INSANE!  I was really happy with most of it.  The stuffing and gravy from the vegan turkey was horrible, but I totally made my own as well.  Are you ready for the pictures?  Here's the full spread (with links)...

this food wouldn't fit on the table so we used our counter
Martin Cisneros ThanksVegan 2010 Menu
Appetizers
Black Olives
Spicy Pickled Okra
Main
Vegetarian Plus Whole Vegan Turkey
Gummy Bread Stuffing
Gravy Puddin'
Sides
Cranberry Sauce from Veganomicon
Smashed Potatoes w/ Mushroom Cashew Gravy
Green Salad
Desserts
Triple Apple Cider Bundt Cake (or the half that actually came out of the pan...ha!)
Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie from 500 Vegan Recipes

clockwise from top left: collards, sweet potatoes, smashed potatoes, salad, triple apple cider bundt, mushroom cashew gravy, pumpkin cheesecake pie, rolls, pickled okra, gravy pudding, olives, vegan turkey, and maque choux
Prep work saved my arse this year!  We were eating by 1PM, and that's only because I woke up late.  Everything exceptin' the aforementioned gravy and stuffing was AMAZING.  The only mishap was an undergreased bundt pan and half a cake clinging to the bottom of it.  Still, the cake is so frickin delicious!

This was a lot of food.  Today is leftovers, tomorrow I'm having my sammich, then all of this gets packed the fork up in a freezer or potpie or something.  More than ever, I wish we had friends in this city because it's such a shame to have such good food and not share the wealth.

various shots of my leftover plate...and pie
Here's how crazy things were yesterday.  I didn't even begin to finish my one plate of food!  Neither did Era...which is pretty much unheard of.  Even my leftover plate, which only had one single soup spoonful of each food, was a lot of food.  I think that's the best problem to have because cooking will be so easy for the next week.

The shining star of the show was definitely the rolls!  I have been ogling these things since John wrote about them.  I didn't even test them to see if I'd like them.  I just knew!  And they were gorgeous coming out of the oven!  Era and I tasted them before we ate because we couldn't take the taunting.  I even told my mom they were the best rolls I've ever had.  Her response?  A totally unamused, "You're treading into my territory now."  Bahahahaha!

Unity Inn Rolls of DOOM
I didn't change the actual recipe, but streamlined the execution to make my life easier.  Instead of rolling them out (I had no counter space at the time), I just made 24 balls.  I flattened them and folded them in half like the recipe stated.  I also didn't dip them in Earth Balance.  I brushed the pan and rolls with EB.  They were gooood.  These things are even great the next day!

I was also majorly in love with the Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie.  It's basically a veganized Keebler recipe.  Imagine a pumpkin pie/pumpkin cheesecake hybrid and that's what you've got.  I don't even like pumpkin pie and this was truly excellent to me!  Mmmm.

So, that was our Thanksgiving!  How was yours?  Today, I'm buying nothing because my schedule is lookin' like this: leftovers, pie, nog, maybe booze, Buffy, reading blogs, rinse, and repeat.

Happy Friday, y'all!

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love this so much! Holy hell you went so over the top and it all looks great!

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah.
And my thanksgiving went well. I went to my dad's house. My parents and brothers are way omni, but my brother and his gf made a vegan dessert (a pumpkin chocolate bread pudding) and my dad kept some sides vegan. I also got to put my tofurky on the bbq and since my dad was using applewood chips it turned out great with a simple miso/maple/tamari baste.

Jackie Smith said...

Gorgeous! What a feast!

JohnP said...

AMAZING as always, Mo! You are a total kitchen machine.

I am glad you liked the rolls. If you run across a used copy of the Unity cookbook, the whole thing is quite good, in a comfort food sort of way.

sgcorrie said...

Next year, I'm just going to hire you to cook for me. K? Thnx.

(the spread looks amazing!!!)

panda with cookie said...

You know how I feel about bundt. And I always sing it as 'bundt cake' to the tune of Nutbush City Limits.

Amandah said...

Wow, so much food! Yum! Amazing job:):)

Luciana said...

You went all out! Everything looks fantastic! Your mac and greens are making me wish I lived closer, especially since no one here understands Buffy.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that is a straight feast right there. Everything looks fabulous! Those rolls look like they're going to float right out of the pan. Glad that your Thanksgiving went so well!

celyn said...

Hey Mo! Congrats--you won the Coconut Bliss giveaway on my blog! Could you please email me your contact details and I'll get your coupon out to you? Have a great weekend.

Amey said...

whoa. that is an amazing array of culinary output, Mo!! I love your mom's comment about the rolls, ha ha! Also, I'm glad to hear your review of the pumpkin cheesecake pie. I think I'm looking to mix it up a little at Xmas this year... IF my dad will tolerate a break from tradition!

MeloMeals said...

That is one hell of a spread! Wowza!

Amanda J said...

WOW! That's amazing! You are an inspiration. I'm excited for the day when I have my own kitchen and -gasp!- a dining room to host a massive feast like this.

Andrea said...

Incredible. That's all I can think of. Incredible!

GiGi said...

Um OMG!

x said...

Ah-mazing eats, Mo! You made so much, I'm impressed that you managed to sit down at 1!

Enjoy your leftovers, I look forward to seeing what some of them get turned into!

Amanda said...

What a spread!

Ty (aka Meccabell) said...

OMG, that is some spread. I want it all (well except the okra, I had a bad experience once) But, Mo, this is unbelievably beautiful!!

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Is there really anything to say besides wow?

MeShell said...

That is amazing Mo. Whoa. Everything looks delicious.