Thanksgiving Edition, Holiday Take-outs, Recipes, Turkey Pardons, NYTimes, Books, Poem
November 25, 2008
- Emerson College Veg Festival & Green Right Now
- President Bush Pardons All Turkeys
- Adopt-A-Turkey and Other TG Resources
- Dining Out Options for Thanksgiving Day
- Thanksgiving Vegan Take-Home Dinners and Pies
- Not-Turkey Roasts Available in Stores
- Thanksgiving Recipe Websites Galore!
- Recommended Thanksgiving Books for Adults & Kids
- New York Times 11/18/08: Groups Documents Cruelty to Turkeys
- Point of View by Shel Silverstein
* Emerson College's student environmental group invited BVS to be their speaker at their veg festival this month. Students did a fantastic job offering a varied spread of veg*n foods, which attracted a large audience. I was pleased to speak to the group, who followed up with lots of excellent questions.
* For the second year we assisted Green Right Now to bring a veggie message to an environmental audience. We provided a recipe from our Vegan Holiday Meal cooking class. Here is Chef Didi's recipe for Sunchoke Gnocchi with Swiss Chard, Pecans, Caramelized Onions, and Quince. It was delicious!!
http://www.greenrightnow.com/wfaa/2008/11/21/five-vegetarian-entrees-for-the-thanksgiving-table
Could it be true? Seeing is believing, so watch the video of President Bush (or so it seems) speaking out for turkeys.
http://blog.peta.org/archives/2008/11/president_bush.php
A happy Thanksgiving tradition: adopt a rescued turkey from Farm Sanctuary's adoption program. This web site offers useful resources, including a History of Thanksgiving and The Truth Behind Free-Range and Organic Turkey (see "The Issues").
http://www.adoptaturkey.org/
For dining out on Thanksgiving Day, these are the veg restaurants in MA that will be open on the holiday:
Contact info is at http://www.bostonveg.org/restaurants
- Grasshopper in Allston (Boston)
- My Thai Cafe Vegetarian (Brookline)
- My Thai Vegan Cafe (Chinatown - formerly Original Buddha's Delight)
- Dosa Temple in Ashland (MetroWest)
- Udupi in Shrewsbury (MetroWest)
- Udupi Bhavan in Lowell (North)
- Mysore Veggie in Lowell (North)
* Rawbert's Organic Garden Cafe, the vegan, raw, organic restaurant in Beverly MA is offering Complete Holiday Meals in-house and for take-home @ $30 per person, or a la carte items: Turkey-Free Loaf, Cauliflower Cashew 'Mash Potato', Corn Chowder, Harvest Soup, Stuffing, Gravy, Cornbread -- and remember, these are all the amazing "living foods" versions of the traditional holiday treats. Call 978-922-0004 to order.
http://www.bostonveg.org/restaurants/index.html#northshore
* Vej Naturals' in Malden has a terrific vegan Thanksgiving takeout menu that can be ordered as a Combo Meal @ $15.99 per person, or a la carte by the serving or pint. Choices include Roasted Tofu or Seitan, mashed potatoes, corn bread stuffing, herb gravy, roasted brussel sprouts, green bean casserole, root vegetables, and more. Call 781-388-0990 to order.
http://vejnaturals.com/catering_menu
* The vegan baker at Fiore's Bakery (as seen at our veg festival) at 55 South Street, Jamaica Plain (Boston) is offering these holiday vegan pies, and gluten-free crusts are an option: apple, pumpkin, pecan, mixed berry; apple cranberry. There will be a selection in the shop, but order in advance to assure getting the kind you want. Open Wed. till 7 PM for pickup. Call 617-524-9200.
* For those to the north, vegan organic Cafe Indigo (as seen at our veg festival) in Concord NH offers their own seitan roast with stuffing, vegan stuffed turkey breast, and broccoli casserole with mushrooms, along with their vegan cheesecake and cakes. Call 603-224-1770 to order.
http://cafeindigo.com/
* There are three not-turkeys being offered in the marketplace this year:
1 - Celebration Roast from Field Roast is a delicious vegan grain meat stuffed entrée that is perfect for the holidays. Each roast is made by hand, wrapped in a cotton netting, and simmered to perfection. It is complete with a stuffing made with butternut squash, apples, and mushrooms.
http://www.fieldroast.com/products.htm
2 - Garden Protein's Veggie Turkey Breast with Wild Rice and Cranberry Stuffing is being touted as the new generation of meat alternatives. Made from wheat gluten, soy protein isolate, pea protein, carrot fiber, and other plant ingredients, it is enriched with nutrients and is trans-fat free. It is offered at Whole Foods Markets deli counter.
http://www.peta.org/feat-newveganturkey.asp
http://www.gardenprotein.com
3 - Tofurky from Turtle Island Foods is a pre-cooked roast made from a combination of wheat gluten, organic tofu, white and garbanzo beans, and other plant ingredients. Can be bought as a "feast" including Cranberry Apple Potato Dumplings, Giblet & Mushroom Gravy, Wild Rice Stuffing, and even jurky wishstix to make a wish and snap.
http://www.tofurky.com/products/tofurkyfeasts.htm
There can be no shortage of ideas for great veggie dishes after browsing these pages!
Isa Chandra Moscowitz's Thanksgiving Recipes from the Post Punk Kitchen
http://www.satyamag.com/nov06/chandra.html
Celebrate a Vegetarian Thanksgiving
http://vegcooking.com/f-thanks05.asp
VegWeb's Thanksgiving Recipes
http://vegweb.com/recipes/events/index-thanksgiving.shtml
Thanksgiving Favorites They'll Really Give Thanks For
http://www.pcrm.org/health/recipes/thanksgiving.html
Cancer Project Thanksgiving Recipes and Meal-Planning Tips
http://cancerproject.org/recipes/thanksgiving/index.php
International Vegetarian Union's Holiday Recipes
http://www.ivu.org/recipes/holiday/
What to Serve When Veg'ns Visit at the Holidays
http://www.veggievisitors.com/recipes.asp
In a Vegetarian Kitchen's Thanksgiving Recipes
http://www.vegkitchen.com/thanksgiving.html
Gentle Thanksgiving
http://www.gentlethanksgiving.org/guide/recipes.htm
Vegetarians in Paradise (scroll down to Thanksgiving)
http://www.vegparadise.com/holiday.html
More Than a Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual, and Reality
By Karen Davis, Founder/President of United Poultry Concerns
http://www.lanternbooks.com/detail.html?id=1930051883
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Turk and Runt : A Thanksgiving Comedy
by Lisa Wheeler, Frank Ansley (Illustrator)
Ages 4-7
A beautifully illustrated and witty story of a family of turkeys who learns about the hidden side of the holidays.
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A Turkey for Thanksgiving
by Eve Bunting, Diane de Groat (Illustrator)
Ages 3-6
Mr. and Mrs. Moose invite all their animal friends for Thanksgiving dinner and the only one missing is Turkey. When they set out to find him, Turkey is quaking with fear because he doesn't realize that his hosts want him at their table, not on it.
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'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving
by Dav Pilkey
Ages 4-7
This tall tale tells how eight school children on a field trip, their teacher, a turkey farmer named Mack Nuggett, and eight gobblers share in a Thanksgiving all can happily remember.
Group Documents Cruelty to Turkeys
New York Times
November 18, 2008
"IN what is becoming an annual Thanksgiving rite, an animal rights group on Tuesday released undercover videotapes taken at the nation’s premier poultry-breeding operation, showing turkeys being stomped to death and
punched by workers. <snip>
"The Aviagen video can be seen at www.peta.org. The scenes show stomach-turning brutality. Workers are seen smashing birds into loading cages like basketballs, stomping heads and breaking necks, apparently for fun, even pretending to rape one.
"On the tape, one worker describes losing his temper at a tom who pecked him, marking its head with a pen so he could find it again, fetching a broomstick, ramming it down the bird’s gullet and holding it up in the air while shouting 'Let this be a lesson to y’all' at the rest of the flock.
"His supervisor later excuses such behavior by saying, 'Every once and a while, everybody gets agitated and has to kill a bird.' Noting that only two of his crew 'really like to do it,'..." Full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/dining/19peta.html
http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/turkey_investigation
Video documentary
By children's book author and poet Shel Silverstein
Thanksgiving dinner's sad and thankless
Christmas dinner's dark and blue
When you stop and try to see it
From the turkey's point of view.
Sunday dinner isn't sunny
Easter feasts are just bad luck
When you see it from the viewpoint
Of a chicken or a duck.
Oh how I once loved tuna salad
Pork and lobsters, lamb chops too
Till I stopped and looked at dinner
From the dinner's point of view.
Hope something here is useful to you, and that you have a safe and peaceful day of thanks.