ThanksVegan #8

just some of our standards - Brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes and gravy, wilted spinach salad, and butternut squash soup (the Teany recipe)

The tradition continues! Our friends, Jon and Erin, traveled to KC last weekend for our 8th Annual ThanksVegan. Each year on the day of our TV meal, we four toil in the kitchen and slave over a hot stove and chop and chop and stir and saute and blend and bake and mash and mix for many hours in a row. It's all good fun and it never feels like hours when we look back on it because Jon often condenses our marathon kitchen stint into an 8-minute video, which, not unlike Food Network programming, makes everything look like a piece of cake - a piece of vegan cake, that is. 

But this year, Jon and Erin had the brilliant idea to prep some food in advance and to buy the main course (instead of making it) to reduce our cook/prep time and to allow for extra time for just enjoying each other's company. This was a particularly prescient move on their part because - as horrible luck would have it - poor Jon came down with a 24-hour bug on Saturday. Had Jon and Erin not prepped so much in advance, and had we not bought a pre-made main course, I think our ThanksVegan would have been severely cramped. 

Gardein (I can't believe it's not turkey!) in the foreground; Julia (who was old enough to join us at the table this year) in the background.

Instead, we were able to get in a full evening of relaxed fun and fellowship before the bug hit - then we all weathered through it on Saturday and since Jon is lucky enough to be married to a doctor, he had professional medical advice at the ready. By Sunday morning he was good as new (phew!) and TV8 commenced without a hitch! 

blueberry hand pies

And it was delicious. This was the year of the pies as Erin made two kinds before they arrived on Friday night. We waited until Sunday morning (such a long wait!) to eat the Blueberry Hand Pies, which we had for breakfast while we were prepping the big meal. They were superb, whether eaten with a fork or a hand. Then for desert we had Pecan Pie (sprinkled with a bit of salt) - it was perfect - all mapley and praline-like. 

Pecan Pie while Julia spends some QT with Uncle Jon, the baby whisperer.  

Before we knew it, the pies and the weekend were coming to an all-to-fast close. So we vowed to get together again soon - much sooner than next fall - to make up for lost time. We are already looking forward to it.

Commemorative ornaments - usually we do corks from beer bottles - this year we decided to embrace the memory of the minor inconvenience of the stomach bug.