Vegan Thanksgiving 2010

For the past three years, John and I have attended the Triangle Vegetarian Society vegan Thanksgiving at Cafe' Parizade in Durham, NC. It is the largest vegan Thanksgiving celebration in the country. This year, we welcomed over 800 guests.

We had the pleasure of sitting with 12 of our friends, including three omnivores! To my delight, the three loved the food. It was proof that one can have a cruelty free gourmet meal and truly enjoy the experience. This event didn't turn them into vegetarians, but I know that it raised their awareness of vegan food and compassion towards animals.

This Thanksgiving marked the first year that I would attend as a gluten freer. I contacted the organizer several months beforehand and learned that they planned to have many GF dishes. As luck would have it, they were also going to mark the dishes that were GF. I was touched by the care and concern that was put into the preparation and the marking of the food. I am truly thankful to Dilip Barman and Cafe' Parizade. Check out the lovely menu that they put together. As usual, the food was amazing and I had so many tasty options. I enjoyed everything that I tried and even went back for seconds. My favorite item this year was the collard chips. They were crispy, simple, and delicious! My second favorite dish was the quinoa stuffed mushroom caps.

We always follow up this meal with a trip to see my parents and sometimes other family and friends. The emphasis becomes less about a dead turkey carcass and more about family and giving thanks. Which is, after all, the true meaning of Thanksgiving.

This year I am thankful for living in a community that is open enough to have a cruelty free Thanksgiving, a family that supports me and John in our veganism and my gluten free journey, great friendships, my family, strong support system of vegan friends, many evenings of laughter and smiles, and a wonderful husband.

Bull City Vegan Challenge- Beyu Cafe'

At the beginning of the month, I blogged about the Bull City Vegan Challenge (BCVC). I have been anticipating this event since I first heard about it from my awesome friend, Eleni! When October came around, I was ready to get eating. Our first dinner was with a large group of friends at the Beyu Cafe'. I had never been before and after reading about their entrees, I knew I was in. The Beyu went all out with a three course price fix menu including an appetizer, entree, and dessert.

• Appetizer- Vegan gumbo with shitakke mushrooms, eggplant, king oyster mushrooms, and nopal cactus, served with saffron rice.
  
• Entree- Mix grill with sweet potato and apple medallions and roasted fennel, served on a bed of coconut curry sauce, with cranberry and pecan wild rice and drizzled with a a blackberry balsamic reduction.
• Dessert- Vegan chocolate mousse with strawberries and whipped coconut cream.
  

I could hardly wait after sitting down, I knew I was getting the entree and dessert. I'll explain in a later post why I could not have the gumbo (I heard it was awesome though). After ordering, we all got cozy and caught up on our lives. It was nice seeing such a large group together and all ordering vegan food. It felt like a win for the animals!

Vegan Gumbo

My entree came out and I wanted to dig in. I had to be polite as I was in public, so I calmly began eating and OHH MY GOSH!!! This was seriously one of the best things that I had ever eaten. The flavors burst in my mouth. The rich and spicy flavors of the curry mixed with the cool and sweet reduction. This dish was nothing short of creative and amazing! The sweet potato, apples, and fennel were roasted to perfection. I am not a fan of fennel and this made even me wanting more fennel. The three work together so perfectly. Someone alert the culinary institute, I think we found an updated version of a Mirepoix.

Mix Grill Entree

I could not get over the richness of the dish. Cranberries, pecans, wild rice ohh my! It truly was a party in my mouth. You may think I am exaggerating, but those with us that night felt the same excitement I am expressing. Surely, it couldn't get any better than this.

And surely, I was wrong. The dessert came and I wanted nothing more than to dive into the dish face first. I had to remind myself that I was in public and I had to behave. There is no way this dessert could match the entree anyway.

Vegan Mousse

I took one bite and I exclaimed my love for the mousse. There was even a bigger explosion in my mouth this time! I didn't even realize I was making an exclamation until Eleni and Rob asked me to reproduce it for their documentary. The luscious chocolate mixed with the cool coconut cream and the flavors danced along my tongue. A surprise was waiting for me at the bottom, a raspberry preserve. This was bliss in a martini glass. I never wanted it to end, but when it did I was satisfied.

This was only my first restaurant. How could it be this good? The others have a lot to live up too! People think that vegan food can't be filling and can't be gourmet. Of course I disagree with both of those statements. If you have any doubt about the awesomeness of vegan food, I challenge you to go to Beyu Cafe' before October is up. Then, please cast your vote. They have already said that they are keeping the mousse as they have been selling out of it all month. Woo Hoo!! Now we have to get them to keep the entree and gumbo as well.

Please try Beyu and all of the other challenge restaurants and don't forget to vote for your favorites in each category!

Vegan Thanksgiving Feast, 2008

I was cleaning things up in my blogger dashboard and I found a blog that I never posted from November of 2008. I am not sure why I never posted the blog. (And yes, I think there are others that never got posted.) Maybe I had reservations, maybe I just forgot. I still want to share this blog posting. I feel so fortunate to live in a place with so many others like myself. Vegetarians are rare and vegans are even more rare, yet I live in a place where I am surrounded by those people like me. I am not sure why, I am not sure how, but I love it! I originally meant to be posted sometime in early December of 2008 and I have been to the vegan Thanksgiving twice now. If you want more info, you can check out the site from last year.

Animals are my friends... and I don't eat my friends. ~George Bernard Shaw

John and I have been a part of the Triangle Vegetarian Society for fours years and this is the first year that have been able to attend the Thanksgiving celebration. The Triangle Vegetarian Society hosts the largest vegan Thanksgiving celebration in the country at Cafe' Parizade in Durham, NC. We live less than five minutes from the restaurant and were happy to be able to attend, finally. Every other year, we have had a family gathering to attend. This year we enjoyed the celebration and then met up with my parents afterward.


The day was a lovely way to celebrate Thanksgiving and participate in a cruelty-free meal. We sat at a table full of friends and dined on wonderful food. The food and the selections were just amazing. It was the best Thanksgiving meal I have ever had! It was a wonderful blend of traditional thanksgiving foods and some not so traditional foods. The menu included:

• Quinoa salad
• Breads, crustinis, and pita with hummus and other spreads
  
• Raspberry-relish
• Lime-marinated seitan with peppercorn and fig glaze
• Roasted garlic mashed potatoes with chives and mushroom gravy
• Apple-pecan stuffing
• Braised sweet potatoes with leeks and vegan maple butter chutney
• Squash and corn with tempeh
• Oyster mushroom croquettes
• Turnip greens with pearl onions
• Carpaccio vegetable- thinly sliced vegetables as a raw "pasta"
• Porcini-lentil cannelloni
• Orecchiette pasta with marinara sauce
• Chunky mixed vegetable and barley stew
• Cookies
• Pumpkin pie
• Cherry crisp
• Truffles
• Ginger cookies
• Chocolate cake
  
• and MORE

The meal was very fulfilling and I left with a full stomach and a joyous heart. This was the first year since I became a vegetarian where I did not want to leave the table in tears over the dead turkey that was being feasted upon. I did not feel helpless this year. I made sure not forget about the slaughtering of millions of turkeys around the nation and prayed for the ones that suffered and lost their lives. I felt proud to be a part of the largest cruelty-free Thanksgiving in the nation. There were 578 attendees from 40 cities and states, with an additional 50 person waiting list.


John and I hope to be part of the vegan Thanksgiving next year. Just thinking about the delicious food is making me hungry!

Loving Life

I recently posted a blog about on my page about loving life and on the EtsyVeg blog (they were different posts, same topic). I am blogging about it again because I need to remind myself to try and love life when I feel stuck, especially when I feel stuck.

The question still looms- why don't I love my life as much as I love dessert? I am not sure I know the answer or that I am willing to delve into it through a public blog.

I just have to stick to my pledge to do things that bring me joy. I have been trying. John and I rallied our families together and we went to the mountains to spend a long weekend. John and I are planning a week long vacation in the Caribbean. We went to a winery festival for the day with my parents about a month ago. I spontaneously made up a dessert one night when in the mood for chocolate (John loved the dessert and I hated it.).

And most recently, John and I went on a tubing adventure on the Dan river with friends and then headed to a vegetarian restaurant. My friend Stephanie organized an awesome tubing event and we decided to go. We both love nature and we have never tried tubing before. Not only did we get to spend time in nature, we got to spend the day with awesome people.

We floated down the Dan river for about three hours in individual tubes. At times we had what we called the "floatzilla" where we all traveled in a clump of tubes together. Other times we tubed away from others or in small groups. It was all a blast! The conversations and the people were so much fun.

When tubing was complete we headed to Boba House, a delicious vegetarian restaurant in Greensboro. John and I used to frequent this restaurant when we were both in graduate school and I would visit him on the weekends. It was our favorite date spot. It was exciting to enjoy the restaurant with a large group of people.

The day concluded with a hilarious drive home with Stephanie, James, and John. I loved every minute of this day. From the second I got up and got ready for the farmer's market to the time we all said good night. This most certainly sticks to my pledge to do things that bring me joy. Now if only I would have brought my camera to post pictures of our tubing fun.

What have you done lately to bring yourself joy?

Hiking, Dirty Trails, & Falafel for My Birthday

While it is not officially my birthday today, I have been treating it as such. My 30th birthday is tomorrow (Monday) and I will be at work. A Monday is no day to have a birthday, but I can't control the calendar. Luckily, I work with awesome friends who are taking me to lunch. A coworker is even making me vegan cupcakes. I feel very special! I work with great people.

Since I was treating today as my official birthday, I wanted a casual celebration doing what I love- spending time in nature and eating vegetarian food. Therefore, we attended the Sunday Walk in the Park at the Eno River run by Stephanie, our friend and organizer of the Triangle Vegetarian & Vegan Meetup Group. I have been looking forward to this event all week. Several friends and acquaintances were attending and I could tell we would have a good group. I was right!


We arrived early to the park because I had the time wrong by a half hour. Fortunately, it was a sunny and we had time to relax in the warmth. During that time I saw several dogs and got to pet a Beagle. My day was already off to the right start! Shortly thereafter, the whole group arrived and we chatted a bit before heading out. I could already confirm that we had a great group!

We agreed upon taking the Fanny to Cox trail to make our hike a little less than three miles. The names of the trails had us laughing and the jokes abounded. Along the trail we also discussed vegetarianism, berries, organic farms, Psychology, iPhones, etc. and somehow we managed to laugh the whole time. Walking up a hill while laughing is quite challenging. My ab muscles got double the workout (or at least that is what I am telling myself).

After the hike, we decided to meet up at International Delights on Ninth Street in Durham for a late lunch. I got the international platter which consisted of several vegetarian sides (falafel, tabbouleh, hummus, dolmas, and pita). The food, company, humor, and conversation rocked!

From lunch, we headed to Whole Foods where we would separate and shop. We could not get enough of each other because we spent a while chatting in the produce section. We continued to laugh about FANDI's (Dr. Fuhrman's nutrient scale with our own twist), thievery, dirty names for trails, and more.

While this all might not seem like much to the average person, this was all very special to me. I have had a hard time accepting turning 30 and this was just what I needed. Laughter, after all, is the best medicine.

Vegan Thanksgiving Celebration 2009

I have heard that many people dislike Durham, NC for one reason or another. I, on the other hand, am enamored with this city. It has 64 parks, awesome local restaurants, a bountiful farmers market, open-minded people, a large diverse population, and one awesome vegetarian society. I did not know before moving to Durham, but it has a very active and committed population of vegetarians. I always thought I had to move to California to find this.

Nope, it is right here in Durham. I feel like one of the luckiest veggies in the country because Durham is home to the largest vegan Thanksgiving celebration in the country. I would suspect, even the largest in the world. John and I were able to attend the 2009 vegan feast as one of 784 guests from 41 cities. Some of the guests traveled from Florida, Maryland, Illinois, South Carolina, and Virginia. We were fortunate to sit at the "Davis" table with some of our vegetarian friends during the 2009 celebration. As usual, the company and the food were amazing.

(Top row- left to right: Beth, Missy, Jody, John.
Bottom Row- left to right: John, Me, and Christine)

Many people think that one couldn't possibly have a fulfilling Thanksgiving meal that is vegan. They would be wrong. There were so many delicious choices that I had to severely limit myself. I went away feeling full and satisfied. I enjoyed everything on my plate. My favorites included the mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy and the raspberry-cranberry relish. While both of those dishes are traditional North American Thanksgiving fare, these were the best versions I had ever had. The relish was the perfect mix of sweet and tart and was a perfect accompaniment to the savory delights on my plate. The mushroom gravy was nothing short of heavenly. As for the non-traditional dishes, the lime-marinated seitan with a peppercorn fig glaze kept me wanting, and going back for more.


If all of that was not enough, we were also presented with sweets. There were pies, cookies, truffles, cobblers, and mini bite-sized heavenly desserts. There was no way for me to pick a favorite. I delighted in every bit of sweetness that my taste buds experienced.


Overall, the menu included dishes high in protein, vegetables, vitamins, and TASTE!

The menu included:

Appetizers

• Lentil-brown/wild rice cakes with lemon tahini
• Quinoa salad with olives, shallots, pine nuts, sundried tomatoes, and garlic
• Breads, crustinis & pita with Egyptian red lentil and artichoke-spinach hummu, baba ganouj, and Brussels sprout "pâté"
• Marinated olives, spiced pecans, roasted chestnuts

Main Courses

• Lime-marinated seared seitan with peppercorns and fig glaze
• Roasted garlic olive oil mashed potatoes with chives, mushroom gravy, apple-pecan stuffing, and fresh raspberry-cranberry relish
• Dilip's macadamia nut blackened Cajun tempeh
• Wild mushroom and French green lentil risotto with seared tempeh
• Pesto-drizzled polenta layered with crispy seitan, eggplant, wild mushroom, and spinach
• Turkish rice pilaf with almonds
• Braised green beans with ginger curry and coconut milk au gratin
• Porcini-lentil cannelloni
• Fall squashes cubed and roasted with yellow beet chunks, cranberry, chestnuts, and dill weed
• Braised garlicky greens
• Organic Conchiglie pasta with vegan Bolognese sauce (Merlot wine, sauteed peppers and onions, olive chunks, sliced garlic, and oregano)
• Mixed mushroom-Napa Valley Cabbage with Greek olive oil, lemon, and garlic (raw dish)
• Oyster mushroom tempura
• Steamed Heirloom fall vegetables
• Carpaccio vegetale - very thinly sliced vegetables as a raw "pasta" (raw dish)
• Corn and mild green chili bisque
• Sweet and savory pumpkin leek velouté (thickened soup)

Desserts

• Fresh seasonal fruits
• Phyllo cookies
• Pumpkin pie with pomegranate glaze
• Ginger-apple pie with frozen coconut cream
• Pear crisp

I am certain when I say that nothing was missing from this meal. I recommend it to anyone- meat-eater or vegetarian. I loved everything on my plate.

Triangle Vegetarian Society Holiday Party

I look forward to the Triangle Vegetarian Society Holiday party every year. It is fun to catch up with friends, eat wonderful homemade food, and participate in a white elephant gift exchange. I was asked to lead the event this year by facilitating, making sure all of the food ingredients were labeled, and running the gift exchange.





A lovely family in Durham were gracious enough to open their home for the party. They are a warm and friendly family that make wonderful hosts! The family has three children and they were fun to have around. The youngest, Eric Jr., was so cute, cuddly, and fun to hold! I enjoyed leading the event this past December, but am happy to give the reigns back to the TVS president for December 2009.




This year, we made (actually John made) a quinoa and tomato dish that received many rave reviews. Every dish was absolutely delicious! Some of the dishes included (all ingredients are vegan): baked apples, fruit crisp, lasagna, spinach and black beans, hummus and chips, rice pudding with raspberry sauce, etc. I enjoyed everything I tried and had to hold back so that I did not stuff myself!After dinner, I facilitated a white elephant gift exchange. For the exchange, everyone brings one wrapped gift that they found around their house. Gifts can be stolen three times before the gift becomes dead. Stealing and opening presents is a lot of fun and generally produces much laughter. This past party was no different! Some of the gifts opened were quite interesting, such as the steel handcuffs (which were stolen three times). There were many lovely gifts, such as Tom's natural products, clocks, wreaths, wallets, books, etc. This was the first gift exchange that I actually came back with something I wanted! I ended up with a garment steamer and John ended up with several vegetarian cookbooks and unused dental floss.



The event was a success, as always, and I am already looking forward to next year!