Happy T(of)urkey Day!

For years, I was a woman without a country on Thanksgiving. I loved getting together with friends and family, loved the ornate centerpieces and I love to cook, but I was also vegetarian. I grew up on a ranch in Colorado and by the time I was 16, I’d simply grown tired of eating meat. I was vegetarian until 2007, when at Thanksgiving I decided the turkey looked too good to pass up and I tried a bite. I still don’t eat red meat, but I’m looking forward to having some turkey tomorrow. Tofurky just isn’t the same.

But that doesn’t mean vegetarians don’t eat well on Thanksgiving! I still made mashed potatoes (whip with butter and olive oil for a killer flavor and texture), stuffing (substitute vegetarian stock for chicken stock) and my cranberry sauce is the stuff of legend (add orange juice, lemon juice, brown sugar, vanilla, and white sugar!). I also used to make a tofu loaf that tastes about 100 times better than it sounds. I’d provide a proper recipe for these but I don’t do well with recipes: just give me the basic outline and I’ll create something amazing (and never be able to replicate it – ha!).

My friends and family (some of whom are still ranchers) were always amazingly supportive and curious about my vegetarianism and were always good sports about making vegetarian and regular versions of gravy, stuffing, etc. That’s one of the great things about Thanksgiving: the way that people come together to enjoy one another’s company, talk story, laugh, drink, and, of course, eat.

To our loyal Aqua reader*, have a great Thanksgiving weekend and safe travels!

*we do hope to grow our audience in the future, but The Fish Tank is brand new, after all
**I tried for 15 minutes to find my favorite Far Side cartoon online (”Early vegetarians returning from the kill”) but I couldn’t find it. In the process, I discovered that Gary Larson has a tight hold on his electronic content.