Thanksgiving

[jacsam]

So what's everyone doing for thanksgiving?

Our family is all meeting at my brothers and like last year, I've volunteered to make a couple salads so I know that I'll have a couple nice salads to eat. I'm making enough so I can have it the next day while I'm at his house and then I'll be taking stuff to make green smoothies and lots of snacks. Oh, I'm also making a couple desserts so I can enjoy dessert while everyone else is. We had a great time last year and everyone liked my salads but when they were invited to try my dessert and there were 6 pies to choose from, well, lets just say I had all I wanted and it didn't bother me a bit. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone.....I'm planning on it!

[eachpeachpearplum]

We have been invited to a friends home and there will be about 25 people, non raw. I have been asked to bring sweet potatoes (SAD) which I am happy to do as my contribution but I am also going to bring 2 raw pumpkin & 1 raw apple & 1 raw pecan plus if I have the time I will bring one raw savory item like stuffing or mash because I will most likely want something with salt to balance the sweet of the pies! I also know that others will be bring items I would eat like salads & veg.

I also plan to bring my Fresh Apple Cidar:

fresh apple juice
fresh lemon juice
water
pumpkin pie spice
cinnamon

Put in blender then serve!

I actually plan to have a very green smoothie before I arrive which always gives me a very satisfied feeling!

Cheers,

EPPP

[carolg]

Flying out to arlington, TX, watching daughter get excited about making her "turkey and all the trimmings" as we embrace in our raw foods.

carolg

[debilana]

We always have very quiet holidays, no hardcore traditions other than no big family things, no crowds. Once we even escaped to the WA coast for Christmas, that was fun!

For a few years now we have had a family friend over for one or both of the holiday. He has been living on the edge struggling with cancer and the resulting mental issues stemming from chemo. We always have different food, but last year was the year I went raw and we had some raw stuffs included.

I have honed my skills at sweets over the year, so this year we are having an all raw dessert buffet- I will post pics! Also aiming on all raw appetizers. Husband agreed to ditch the heavy meat this time around and have salmon and healthier sides like wild rice . My daughter (who is 11) will make her famous avocado/cucumber/pepper with spicy dressing salad. There will tons of food I can eat. I love staying home for the holidays:D

[juliebove]

We're not going anywhere so I'm just making simple stuff. Not sure what exactly but no big meal for us.

[Vaclare79]

I've got some fresh cranberries & some sweet potatoes!

[curlygirl82]

I'm SO grateful, because my Mom, who's hosting Thanksgiving this year, has been so fantastically supportive of my going Raw. I was worrying about whether I'd make an exception for Thanksgiving or not, and she actually came to me with requests of raw items to bring! So, it's going to be quite an eclectic mix of traditional and raw.
I'm bringing:
the purely delicious pumpkin pie (with whipped cream, of course)
RP brownies (upon vehement request)
collard rolls (two types: marinated mushroom and sauerkraut)
onion dip for crudites
waldorf salad
jicama mashed potatoes and gravy
and, if i have time, marinated zucchini and carrots.
oh, and a big ole bumper crop of homegrown sprouts for the salad!
i'm so nervous about my whole family trying everything! this will be the first most of them have heard about my going raw, and so i really hope the food impresses them. beyond the nervousness, though, i'm really excited about sharing some beautiful, living food with everybody. wish me luck!

[jacsam]

Curlygirl82....the marinated zucchini and carrots really sounds good....what do you marinate them in and how do you prepare them? Also, do you use the same marinade for your marinated mushrooms in the collard rolls?

[RawKnitster]

I'm cooking a traditional NW Thanksgiving meal for six. Smaller than usual as my neice and nephew are out of state this year. I'm taking a few shortcuts rather than the usual Martha Stewart approach.

What am I doing about me is the question....and the answer is still undecided. I eat salad and smoothies everyday. Thanksgiving has to be different.

Tentative raw lineup:

veges/crackers with tahini-balsamic dip
romaine and tomato salad with pine nut mayo dressing
marinated portabella mushrooms w/ avocado slices on the side
jicama-cashew mashed "potatoes" w/mushroom marinade for gravy
pecan pie with coconut-cashew creme
RP Brownies

Glad you asked! I'm not undecided anymore! :)

[dread head vegan]

jicama mashed potatoes and gravy


do you have a recipe for that???

this year i will be going to one of my friends house for my first all raw thanksgiving. sence my dh is not going to be with me this year. hope everyone has a good thanksgiving :D:D

[curlygirl82]

So nice to hear others' plans!
To answer your questions:
The jicama mashed potatoes and gravy I just found the recipe for here:
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=46158
I haven't tried 'em yet, and won't have time to before the day, so I sure hope they're good!!

The marinated zuks and carrots I just stole ahem borrowed from EPPP's thread. The carrots she says she marinates in a bag overnight with: EVOO, ACV, grated ginger, agave, chopped fresh parsley, S&P. She notes to add the parsley nearer the end. She didn't give specific proportions for the ingredients.
As for the zuks, they're the marinated ones from Alissa's lasagne recipe:
6-8 zuks (depending on size)
1/2 C EVOO
1/4 C ACV
2T honey
2T Bragg's Liquid Aminos.
Slice zuks into thin, round slices. Soak in mixture for at least one hour - or overnight.

Ah, now the mushrooms. EPPP did the "better marinated mushrooms" from gone raw:
8 C chestnut mushrooms, broken into bits (then measured)
1 red pepper, diced
1 big tight handful fresh basil, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T EVOO
1/2 T salt (or to taste)
1/2 lemon, juiiced
1/2 T ACV
Marinated 8 hours (20 w/o ACV) Optional: add diced green onion.

Now, I don't know if I'm going to get to that or not. But I'm for SURE going to make the mushroom marinade I've done before, which I got for Frank Giglio on the Renegade Health Show:
shallot (I used onion)
garlic
chili or cayenne
soy sauce or olive brine (I used Bragg's Liquid Amino's)
miso
EVOO
juice of 1/2 lemon.
marinate mushrooms overnight.

This was soooo gooooood. I added a healthy pinch of cayenne, so it had a real nice kick to it (which only increased over time). I'm definitely going to put these in the collard rolls, because they're really good, and because my Mom had them and loved 'em and requested them! (so pleased).
The nut cheese I used for my rollups is actually the "alfredo" sauce from the same RH episode with Frank Giglio. I don't know if I did something wrong, but I ended up with a really dense, cheesy, dippy kinda thing (kinda like really thick hummus), and it was delish and I put it on collard rolls.
1 1/2 C cashews, soaked 2 hours
1 C SF seeds, soaked 2 hours
2 T nutritional yeast
4 T tahini
1 C water
1 T salt
2 t black pepper
1 T fresh thyme ( I used more 'cos it was so good)
1 t nutmeg
Here's the show where he does a celery root "fettucine" with nut alfredo and mushroom ragout. http://renegadehealth.com/blog/raw-food-recipe-fettuccine-alfredo/ Basically, I just had leftovers from this and turned it into collard rolls the next day, but my Mom went nuts over them - and I have to admit, they were quite tasty.
So I'm doing some mushroom/nut cheese ones, raw sauerkraut/nut cheese/sprouts, and maybe another kind or two - they're so fun to make and so yummy!

I'm getting a little ambitious, I know, but it's so much fun.

[jacsam]

Curlygirl82....thanks so much for the information.....I'm sure others are just as excited about you sharing as I am. THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!