That was the small number of Canucks that were representing at our triple-hosted get-together yesterday. Despite the small number of Canadians (with Australia and the United States being well represented), we had a typical Canadian Thanksgiving Feast (Mostly) Vegan Style!
The kitchen fun started on Saturday night, when, after a long day of hunting around Brussels looking for canned pumpkin (and then paying a painful 3 euros per 250gram can) I got to work on a couple of the recipes that I knew could handle the overnight wait for visitors. I am so glad I started on Saturday night because the wrestling match I had with Vegan Planet's homemade raw setian recipe was both hilarious and messy - I covered my kitchen in flour - it was everywhere......wow....hats off to clear instructions. Not until I was elbow deep in a sloppy 9lb mess of soaking wet flour did I realize how essential clarity in cook books really is. In the end, I ended up with more of a baked bread roll (stuffed with uber delicious stuffing), but was pretty disappointed with the non-seitan results....even after the third attempt :)
I went with pretty classic fare, honouring my Canadian mom, who was enjoying her Thanksgiving with my brother, his partner, my sister and my dad in Ottawa. I went with my mom's delicious Carrots, Garlic and Rosemary dish, Green Beans and Tomatoes sauteed in garlic, Roasted and Mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. The three dishes I am most proud of though are: Chestnut, Apple and Cranberry Stuffing, Vegan Mushroom Gravy & the Pumpkin Pie.
Kim, K and I went to Flagey Market uber early on Sunday morning and then we all rushed back to attack the rest of the cooking and cleaning. A fellow Canuck came over around three and de-veganized my oven, but he redeemed himself by getting the Gravy started.
It was an amazing night that made me realize how much work it must be for parents (especially single ones) who go all out for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. Between the shopping, house cleaning, cooking/baking and hosting it is exhausting. I can not imagine adding three kids to the total! Mom - you are my hero for yet another reason.
30 comments:
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!
looks like you had a feast! i am now looking forward to my own thanksgiving! yumm!!!
I'm tempted to say I'm impatient for t-giving to be here too, but let's not rush things too much.
instead, I'll say I wish I could have partook [eh?] in the lovely foods you prepared!
We ran into the same exorbitantly-priced-pumpkin problem when we lived in China and tried to have Thanksgiving there. Oh well, the pie is worth it! You gotta have pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving!
what a great point about all the work that goes into a large meal! Happy Thanksgiving to you!
It looks so good! Yum.
What a feast!! It looks like it was a lot of work but it totally paid off!
that's one tasty, tasty spread you guys had go'n on! WOW! i think your chestnut, apple and cranberry stuffing sounds amazing (and what a wonderful combination)! the pumpkin pie = mmmmmmmmmmmmmm! that's some expensive pumpkin! wow! glad you all had a super fun time! wahooooooo!
happy canadian thanksgiving! my husband's cousins and aunt live in woodstock and toronto. i always forget that their thanksgiving is before ours.
You really found some canned pumpkin? Never saw it before, but it surely is way to expensive!!!
But al least you had a great yummy feast.
happy thanksgiving...
the food looks damn good....
I will never take my canned pumpkin for granted again!
Too bad about the seitan. I haven't tried that particular recipe, but I know I really like the ones you just stick in the oven in a pan!
delicious! i'm definitely looking forward to my own thanksgiving.. especially PIE.
Happy Thanksgiving! I spent the evening teaching my students about the history of Canadian thanksgiving...wish I'd been eating all that delicious food!
I hear you on the canned pumpkin! I just buy one and bake it & freeze the purée, because it is so horribly expensive here!
Happy Thanksgiving. Looks like you had a delicious and wonderful feast.
Happy late Thanksgiving! Now I can't wait for ours...I always stuff myself to the point of absolute misery...
Only a teacher would say "Yay for essay-writing" ;o)!
Everything looks so delicious! You're making me hungry for American Thanksgiving. Come on, November!
Really, you did a fantastic job. :-)
happy Canadian thanksgiving! I'm sorry about the de-veganized oven... gross! But everything else sounds wonderful, especially that chestnut stuffing. :P~~
Looks like you had a lovely meal. Happy (late) Thanksgiving!
Your spread looks amazing and makes me anxious for our US Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving to you!
hey, another vegan cowgirl! you have a much nicer blog, though.
I did a pumpkin curry for Thanksgiving this year, and I regret it - I wanted to try a baked, stuffed pumpkin, something similar to the topping on your onion bread recipe above. Next year!
Yah for Canadians!
yum!!! i love all of the pictures. what are the orangey looking things in the first?! they look like yummy sweet potatoe pieces or some kind of gnocchi. imagine a sweet potatoe gnocchi!!! oh my (starts formulating recipe in head) must-go-cook!!!!
Happy Thanksgiving! The food all sounds GREAT!
Btw, TAG--you're it! now you have to take a pic of your freezer and write a post about it.
Mmmm, all your dishes sound so delicious, especially your vegan gravy!! Mmmm... Such a glorious feast!
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!! Your festive meal looks so delicious.
Hi! I just discovered your blog and see that you live in Brussels... Where did you manage to find canned pumpkin? I'm very curious... I usually shop at "Den teepot" or "Bioshop" for veg*an stuff but i never seen that! :) (my email is cgobo@hotmail.com)
oh my goodness everything looks so yummy!
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