It’s official; we’re firmly planted in the middle of the holiday season. The irony of the most wonderful time of the year is that we’re so busy, few of us have time to truly enjoy it. Instead of feeling calm & bright many of us feel stress and pressure. Whether it’s the need to create a magazine-ready holiday home or to find the ever-elusive Perfect Gift, it’s easy to get wrapped up (pardon the pun) in things that are less than important.
For those of us in the US, especially, the focus on the holiday season has thrust on Black Friday & the hottest deals of the moment rather than the thought behind the gift. I love to shop, don’t get me wrong, but for the past few years now I have changed my holiday perspective. No wild crowds in the mall, no extravagant presents. I buy something small and meaningful for those very close and for the kids in my life, from a local merchant or perhaps from Etsy. Then I make the rest of my gifts. Last year, I made chutney and two kinds of sugar (lavender and vanilla bean).
I have time to spend reflecting on the end of the year, and what comes next. I also have time for long walks, connecting with the people I care about, and cooking. I like the holidays this way. I spent many years, going wild in the mall, these days, for me, simple is good.
Speaking of the holidays, … get the recipe
This year we’ll be lightening up our Thanksgiving dinner with a vegan Thanksgiving Feast. Joshua has to work in the afternoon, so after our early Thanksgiving lunch, some friends and I will be making sandwiches and pumpkin-spiced hot cocoa. We’ll be passing it out along with socks, beanies, and gloves to homeless people here on the San Francisco streets. It’s very different than our giant Thanksgiving dinner last year, but brings us together in a different way.
Here are some of my favorite vegan Thanksgiving recipes.
Vegan Thanksgiving Appetizers
Fig & Olive Tapenade
This easy appetizer combines figs and olives for a robust and elegant holiday tapenade. Salty and a little bit sweet, put this out with bread and your favorite crackers for a wine-friendly app.
Vegan White Truffle Pate
This vegan pâté is so savory and luxe with flavors of truffles, caramelized shallots, and the rich texture of butterbeans, that I nicknamed it faux gras. From Thanksgiving to New Year, this makes many appearances on my holiday table and comes along as a little hostess gift in a pretty jar. It will keep two weeks when refrigerated in a mason jar.
Pear & Apple Chutney
You cannot go wrong with this chutney. Serve it alongside your savory dishes like rice pilav and lentils or with cheese for your friends who eat it. I canned a dozen jars of this last year, and it was not nearly enough. Everyone I gave it to, ate it straight from the jar.
Anyone who knows me knows that I love to entertain. If I like you, you’re invited to my house. I love to have a handful of simple elegant appetizers up my sleeve in case we end up at my place.
Okay, that ended up sounding racier than it actually is.
All joking aside, in the last year, I’ve hosted a wedding reception, a chocolate party, several cooking parties, a Latin-themed Thanksgiving, and recently a celebration on what would have been my father’s 68th birthday. This weekend, I am co-hosting a party for my brother’s big 2-9! I am telling you, I love parties.
But sometimes, get togethers are not so planned. Or, maybe they are, but still who doesn’t love a simple appetizer, anyway?
This one can be on the table in 25 minutes. Most of that time is just soaking the figs- so you’re just chatting away, pouring wine, and being the ebullient host or hostess that you are- because I know you’re ebullient!
Speaking of racy parties (or not) and ebullient hosts, let’s talk about figs. What is sexier than a fig? Ripe, bursting with pink flesh and seeds that go “pop”! Unfortunately, the fig season seems to be winding down right now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy them. In this tapenade, briny kalamata olives are softened by the sweetness of dried figs made succulent again with the help of sauvignon blanc.
Serve this tapenade with artisan bread, crisp rice crackers, … get the recipe
As I come to the close of an amazing weekend surrounded with food bloggers at Food Buzz Fest, I think about how much things have changed in the last year. At the end of my first Food Buzz festival, I had been blogging for only five weeks. I had met hundreds of food bloggers over the weekend, some of whom would become great friends. Some of them will be at my house in just a couple of hours for a food blogger cooking party.
Shortly after that conference, I met another food blogger, this time on Twitter. She invited me to join a vintage recipe swap. That blogger was the amazing Christianna from Burwell General Store. Though I didn’t have time or gumption to hop on board for the fritter challenge, I joined for the second, “Company Time Lemon Cake”.
The recipe swap is now one year old and it is so very cool. If you’re not familiar with the concept, we put creative and often very modern spins on old recipes from a depression-era cookbook/hymnal that Christianna found in a junkstore. It’s called “All Day Singin’ and a Cookin’ on The Ground”. This time we’re doing maple cake.
Since I’ve already done a butternut squash cake with maple cream cheese frosting, I thought, maybe I’d do a savory play on this. And, you know how I feel about pastry crust…
Check this out…
- INGREDIENTS SAVORY MAPLE SWEET POTATO PIE
- 4 sweet potatoes, baked
… get the recipe
When you cook with the seasons, it is not just the farms, the environment, your pocketbook, & the community the benefits. Your tastebuds reap the good too. This simple dish came about from walking around my local market and talking to some farmers. The squash is from Capay Organic, the sage from Phan’s Farms. The pancetta was selected as a compliment by speaking to my local butcher who makes it in house. The result? Something truly spectacular yet so easy to make- it reminds me of mac and cheese. It is sophisticated in a rustic way.
We enjoyed this as part of a harvest supper with friends and family. I hope you can enjoy it as much as we did.
- INGREDIENTS BUTTERNUT SQUASH & PANCETTA PASTA
- 1 package orichiette, cooked al dente, drained and 2 cups of cooking liquid, saved
- 1 butternut squash
- olive oil for roasting
- ¼ lb pancetta diced
- 6 leaves sage diced
- 3 oz Parmesano Reggiano cheese shredded
- Salt and pepper as needed.
- INSTRUCTIONS BUTTERNUT SQUASH & PANCETTA PASTA
- Preheat oven to 425º and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Halve and seed a medium butternut squash and rub with olive oil
- Roast on baking sheet for 35 minutes until golden brown and bubbly
- While squash is roasting, sauté pancetta in a large chef’s pan over medium-low heat and discard most of the fat – keeping 1 tablespoon in the pan (saving it should you choose)
- Scoop the butternut squash from the skin and
… get the recipe
