Take My Thanks, Please
Thanksgiving 2020

I was excited to try Chloe Coscarelli‘s Vegan Thanksgiving Spread offered by Whole Foods this year. She covered all the bases… and with her vegan cred, I trusted the holiest of food holidays in her hands. So let us look and admire…

From left to right: Coconut Sweet Potato Casserole: Sweet potatoes folded together with coconut milk, winter spices and sweet-tart cranberries, topped with marshmallows and a crunchy streusel topping; Miso Creamed Greens: Sautéed lacinato kale tossed in a creamy, white miso cashew sauce with roasted garlic; Cremini Mushroom Roast: Roasted mushrooms blended with onions, celery, garlic, tempeh and herbs topped with a mushroom gravy made from three types of mushrooms, wine, garlic and herbs; and Jalapeño Cornbread Dressing: spicy jalapeños, corn, onions and celery.

Everything was mind-blowing… and my family had to hear me exclaiming about it again and again.

My Mom was proud to have nabbed me a vegan vanilla layer cake from Abe’s. I’ve said it before–vegan food accommodation is an act of love I truly appreciate.

It looks so nice right now. You should see it now after several trains back to Brooklyn.

I enjoyed it, but–as usual–too much icing.

Lunch, the day after I made a fantastic Thanksgiving leftover sandwich–layered with the miso cream kale, sautéed mushroom loaf, jalapeño cornbread dressing and a smear of coconut sweet potato casserole and drenched in mushroom gravy.

Needed some cranberry for more varied color but otherwise perfect!

And a quick Thanksgiving vegan rant… to advertisers, newscasters, all those who find the slaughter of animals to be seasonably amusing; those who can giggle at the “pardoning” of a turkey; those who claim to love animals or claim to be appalled by abuse of other animals yet support an unconscionable level of pain through their dietary choices; those who find veganism extreme or weird but can literally stick their arm up the carcass of a dead body and pull out a bag of organs: This level of disconnect is just disgusting. Plain and simple.

Here is a special turkey I met in Gainesville, Florida. He was the only male surrounded by all-lady turkeys and all-lady tour and he strutted his malehood with his puffed feathers.

Did you know that a turkey’s neck changes color based on the level of excitement and stress? They are intelligent, curious, loyal and protective.

If you’ve eaten turkey for your holiday, please know that your choice contributed to confinement, force feeding of nutritionally-devoid filler to fatten them to unnatural levels, artificial insemination (rape?), debeaking, among other disgusting practices, including slaughter, inflicted upon an innocent sentient being. These are the facts.

I don’t know why not wanting to participate in this disgustingness is considered “weird.” We know who the real weirdos are… the ones who drink the breast milk from another species, the ones who eat unfertilized eggs from chickens, etc. Kinda weird. Just saying.