Saturday, November 28, 2009

Thanksgiving


I can't believe I forgot my camera on Thanksgiving...I'm kicking myself repeatedly for this. My meal was AMAZING, so delicious, as were the leftovers (that I may have munched on late last night...don't judge!)

Cranberry Walnut Stuffing
(now this dish was so freakin delicious. I used smart balance and apple juice to moisten the dry bread crumbs, celery, herbs, walnuts and dry cranberries...omg I can't wait to make this again, and I'll post a picture that time!)
Country Mashed Potatoes (I leave the peel on because I love the rustic look and flavor, with smart balance, garlic, onion)
Glazed sweet potatoes (with brown sugar and yes, more smart balance...."butter" overload...but it was thanksgiving!!)
Sourdough Rolls (store bought, I'd love to learn to make sourdough bread sometime)
Perogies (spelling? The dough consists of flour, water oil, and my potato filling was simply potatoes mashed, garlic, onion and smart balance)
Also mixed veggies and pecan pie. I think it's safe to say we were all a little too full, but it was worth it, I just loved this meal. I didn't feel deprived at all on my first vegan thanksgiving (I have been vegetarian for 8 years and vegan for only 4 months or so), I was able to create vegan versions of all my favorite dishes, yay go me! Haha.

While in the other room, I overheard the cutest conversation with my little sister Lizzy (7) and my boyfriends cousin, Jess. Jess was commenting on my vegan food that had been set aside (I'm the only vegan in my family and friends...so far!), my little sister explained to her that I'm vegan. Jess asked, "why is she vegan?". Lizzy went on to explain "well you see she doesn't want to hurt animals and like she hates all the cruelty that goes on with the animals. And you know vegan food doesn't have to taste bad, sometimes it just means leaving something out..." she went on to explain and repeat everything I've told her about veganism and why I decided to become vegan. It was just so sweet because it let me know that she had been listening to me when I explain things to her, and that she took the initiative to stand up for me. She's the cutest kid, really.

I posted above a picture of the Perogies. His family is Ukranian/Irish, and my family is Irish/Polish, so I'm used to having them on holidays as well, but I had never made them from scratch before. It was so much fun learning to make them. My boyfriends mom taught me and his siter how to make them, and I can see now why they only make them on holidays, it takes forever!!
The dough:
6 cups all purpose flour
pinch salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup oil

mix with hands, add more flour or water as needed, until the dough is the right consistency to roll out. Using a rolling pin roll the dough out, until about 1"8 inch thick, or about the same as if you were making a pie crust. Cut into round circles, whatever size your prefer, usually about 3 inches in diameter. (I used a glass to cut them with, or a cookie cutter could work too)

The Filling:
potatoes, mashed, with smart balance, salt, pepper, onion, garlic, and whatever herbs you like.

Place a small spoonful of potato on the center of the dough cutouts, fold over, and pinch the pastry closed, making sure that you don't let any of the potato ooze out, or they will explode when you boil them. You want them to look like little moons. It's really hard to fill the perogies with enough potato while at the same time not using too much, so they explode. It took me a while to get the hang of it, I have to admit the fist ones I made were pretty sad!
Boil the perogies for about 4 minutes, or until they float to the top. Traditionally they are served tossed in melted (vegan) butter, but a lighter option would be to serve them without.
Sometime soon I'd like to try my hand at sweet potato perogies, doesn't that sounds yummy? I'm obsessed with sweet potatoes.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving :-)

2 comments:

  1. Perogies are 100% on my list of things to attempt to make. You're making me really need to do so.

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  2. Great job on the perogies. They are a lot of work, like any filled dough. But, totally worth the effort, in my opinion.

    Alicia

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