My Mother's Stuffing Recipe: Gratitude Entry Number 328

Today, I went for a run while DH hiked. We each had a dog in hand. 

Nary a soul on the trail. 

It was heaven. 

Solitude. 

Cool day, crisp breeze off the Mississippi River. 

I logged three and a half miles. Frankie lead the whole way. 

She's now sixteen months old. 

Such a big girl. 

Tart Cherry Pie for Our Vegan Thanksgiving (Retail Confidential And Why I'm Thankful)

Our Thanksgiving is a quiet one. We like it that way. We've both suffered through enough horrors of "Thanking with Others" to last us a lifetime. I grew up with quiet holidays. Dr. Thyme grew up with chaotic holidays. When we first met and I had the pleasure of being introduced to his clan, I was mostly in shock and as a result, it induced a case of agoraphobia that has lingered with me to this day. I don't totally blame his family for this, I could just as easily lay blame with the many years I'd spent in retail.

Yesterday I baked all day. I made two pies: a pumpkin (for Dr. Thyme) and a tart cherry (for me).

This Week's Thanksgiving Photo Journal: Food, Friends, Family, Bread (Plus A Culinary Academy Chef's Vegan Treat for Me!)

This past month has been, well, NUTS! Seems my to-do, get-to, and re-do list keeps growing and growing. I've eaten my vegan Thanksgiving meal and have a ton of leftovers. (It was only Dr. Thyme and I for the festive, relaxing day.) Did that stop me from cooking for eight hours? NO!

As you might have guessed--I did not head out at two this morning to catch any bargains (or catch the flu for crying out loud--ewww, crowds) but rather slept in so the elves could work on my face. I predicted to Dr. Thyme this morning: Thanksgiving is going to become a day of shopping within the next two years--stores will not close. Hey, I'm not happy about it, but if one retailer opens, you can bet some bookkeeper in another White Ivory Tower is taking note and making the tally marks wondering how much of that "money pie" they missed out on by NOT opening on Thanksgiving. I paid my dues in retail for almost twenty years--I feel for every single retail sales person out there today: I'm sending you my love!

My sister arrived on Saturday! Now, I don't have pictures of my sister and I to share yet because we are both too busy catching up. We will do photos tomorrow when she returns from visiting her friends. Meantime, I have a whole slide show of other goings-on to share. I had a wonderful week filled with massive amounts of food. My sister woke up on Tuesday morning and said, Your house smells like a Panera Bread restaurant. The highest compliment I think I could ever ask for! I cooked non-stop for her. I loved every minute of it! She thinks I am a little "cooking obsessed" but I shared with her that I do need my days off--but how often do I get to cook for her? I wanted every single minute and morsel of food she had to be something I lovingly created just for her. She loved every bit of it!

Then, I had the divine pleasure of spending two days with one of my best friends. We've known each other now almost twenty-five years. We don't advertise this much because that would allow others to "do the math" and figure out how old we really might be. We'll leave it at Almost Fifty for now. Her husband is a former chef who graduated from the San Francisco Culinary Academy. He is my kitchen idol, while his wife remains my kitchen humorist. When we planned our gathering this week and I packed my overnight bag for the visit, I also packed a Trader Joe's cold storage bag of Match Meats Chicken, tofu sour cream and Silk Creamer plus some bananas. (I have to have a banana every morning.) I packed the creamer because I need it for my coffee--mandatory morning beverage. (Thank god they had the Keurig coffee maker--I heart Keurig!) I packed the sour cream because it tastes good on everything. I packed the Match because I just knew I'd catch "H" for bringing my vegan lifestyle into their neck of the woods--where, I will be honest, many-a-folk are cattle raising types and there ain't a whole lot of us vegans around. Let's just say I probably tipped the town over at my arrival increasing the vegan population by 100%. Nonetheless, the chef did NOT disappoint and I got to sit side saddle and be sous chef while he directed the entree. What a thrill!

I have recently fallen in love with a new bread book (well, new to me anyway): My Bread by Jim Lahey. Wow. That's all I can say is: Wow. Get this book if you even have a kernel of desire to be a spoiled rotten bread baker. I didn't think I'd ever step away from the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes book recipes, then I met Jim. If I thought it would not be so crazy to do so, or be a "question the sanity of Kelly" issue--I'd take my frequent flyer miles right now and fly to New York to meet this man of the Sullivan Street Bakery in New York. I still might. Meantime, I have requested that Dr. Thyme visit said bakery on his next trip and pack a loaf away for me in his luggage and also--get an inscribed napkin or something from this Jim because I am a convert and now. . . sort of a bread gawker fan!

Dr. Thyme's photography. He thought the Jim Lahey Bread deserved a more "creative" picture and employed the "sepia" tone button to impress.

A Perfect Vegan Thanksgiving Feast

First things first--running. Yesterday began very early for us. I participated in a 5k Turkey Trot Race here in town. What a great way to prepare for the day--drag your tired self out of bed at the crack of dawn to run in the cold! We woke at six--notice I said "we". My husband joined me--I am so glad he did! With him in tow with two of our dogs waiting for me at the finish line in 30 degree weather--clouds, drizzle and wind whipping across the field like we lived off a lake--I totally appreciated both the love and support! Of course, it was one of the coldest days of the season so far here, go figure. And I was cold, I'll admit it. But the prior days and weeks leading up to this, I was training for an improved run time. Last year I finished in 29 something. (And if you read this blog--you'll note I ran Sweat-4-Pets in 28:10). This year I finished my Turkey Trot run in 27:19--not bad! Did I win a medal--no. I was sad about that. I ran an average 8:50 mile. There are some amazing, fast women in my age group--there were 42 of us, and I placed 9th. I am going to improve--I know I can run an eight minute mile. So, this just inspired me to work harder for my upcoming races--oh, and there will be more, trust me! Thinking about a half marathon in spring.

So, when I set out to get my vegan menu for Thanksgiving together, I swore there would not be one single stuffed squash at my table. If I see another stuffed squash photo for "Your perfect vegan Thanksgiving table" I will scream! Come on, name one person who honestly, and I mean honestly "could really go for a stuffed acorn squash on Thanksgiving!" No one in this house. And so, I was much more relaxed this year than I was last year in planning our vegan dinner--very small, just my husband and I (let me insert here--I am not a fan of "family gatherings". Okay, let me explain, over three people and I stress out!--I've touched on this before in my blog) . I fondly refer to last year as "The Brown Thanksgiving"--owing to this horrific looking lentil rice loaf--I have sworn off those--they should be banned from ever being printed in vegan or vegetarian cookbooks. This year I would like to humbly proclaim that our vegan Thanksgiving dinner yesterday was full of amazing, tasty and wonderful eats! First, let me thank my friends at Match Meats! You helped me in overcoming my "centerpiece" anxiety. With the Match Holiday Roast--I was set and left with time to devote myself to cooking all day without the hassle of wondering whether or not my hideous lentil loaf would finally come out of the oven and "set" thus allowing it to be sliced rather than "spooned" onto our plates.

I like tradition. I stuck with tradition. Well, except for green bean casserole! Ick. I hate green bean casserole. I made my favorite stuffing--and added some of that yummy cornbread from two nights ago. My mom used to begin her stuffing early in the day. She'd cook her celery and onion in gobs of butter then add her bag of Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix, then add stock, then add butter, sage and so on. I, meanwhile, would sneak in to taste this like every time I walked into the kitchen. So it seemed the longer this sat on the burner, the better it got. I make mine based on the same principle, but sans the real butter. Earth Balance Sticks for me and veggie stock. Fresh sage from the garden and wait, slow cooking, tasting all along the way. It is the best stuffing in the world if I don't say so myself. Then, we had the cranberry salad which for me is so simple: 1 bag frozen cranberries, 1 cup Florida Crystals Sugar, 1 whole orange (rind and all) with nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, allspice. Drop all of this in the food processor and pulse until it is all choppy looking. Yum! This gets better with time. Then, we had mashed potatoes, only this year, I added some White Truffle Oil to these and they were just over-the-top delicious! To add greatness to these, I made Shitake Mushroom gravy. Then, I popped a can of green beans into a small sauce pan and viola--pulled the meal together, plated it and look how yummy our plates looked--did we "miss" anything? Not one single bit--it was one of our best Thanksgiving Dinners yet!