Sweet potatoes. These are so disgusting and yet so delicious. Basically, you slice potatoes and boil them til cooked (but not over cooked), and then you spread...See more »
Sweet potatoes. These are so disgusting and yet so delicious. Basically, you slice potatoes and boil them til cooked (but not over cooked), and then you spread them in a 9×12 pan and spackle them with copious amounts of butter and light brown sugar. When directed to follow these instructions, I added more of both of these ingredients than I felt prudent, and they were still not half as gooey and delicious as they are at my parents’ house. It’s pretty sick. Garlicky mashed potatoes. This was how I learned that you’re not supposed to mash potatoes in the food processor. But my love for pureed food is so great… how could I resist? I mean, I won’t lie… it was pretty awesome. They were GORGEOUS and perfectly textured à la the instant potatoes of my childhood (while obviously tasting a billion times better). Needless to say, they operated a bit like spackle, and in that respect, they did not age well. Just mash ‘em by hand. Cranberry sauce. I always hated cranberry sauce as a kid. You know, that can-shaped block of jelly? From scratch, cranberry sauce is actually pretty great. It operates as a sweet/sour counterpoint to the salty creaminess of potatoes, stuffing and gravy, besides being a gorgeous color. Very simple: just 1 part cranberries to 1 part white sugar, boiled down like jam, with a touch of nutmeg and orange rind to kick it up a notch. I also hated gravy as a kid. How it All Vegan completely changed my life with Mighty Miso Gravy. Even my die-hard omni parents told me it was delicious… and it’s nothing but good for you, too! I could eat this stuff on just about anything. Seitan Stuffed with Stuffing. I also used to loathe stuffing. Seriously, I was a potatoes and pie kind of kid. I was also a proponent of green salad–you know, the kind with marshmallows and pistachio instant pudding?–but that’s a story for another day. The stuffing was made with stale a baguette sliced into 1″ pieces, added to a sauteed mixture of celery, apples, and onions, seasoned with thyme and white pepper, and baked. Simultaneously I mixed together the seitan batter, “rolled” it out (it was a messy process), filled it with stuffing, wrapped it back up, tied it with cheesecloth, and baked. Voila! Stuffed seitan. Seriously this was the best thing ever. Pie! There is only one rule for Awesome Food Day: 1 pie per person. This year there were only 2 of us, so I went the no-fail route: pumpkin pie (with a leaf decoration) and apple with a lattice top. The apples were fresh from the orchard, and the pumpkin was made from freshly baked pumpkins. I find that a lot of vegan recipes for pumpkin pie, while delicious, are not as traditional and pumpkin-y as I’d like. Many rely heavily on tofu, brown sugar, and spices, which make for a great-tasting pie, but are a far-cry from the thick pumpkin custards of my youth.See less »
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