The other night, I created a cocktail for a dinner party. It’s pale pink and features lots of juice. When my friend Jess asked what I was going to name this cocktail, the name seemed obvious: The Flashsideways.

Here is the recipe for a pitcher of cocktails:

3 cups cranberry juice (or cranberry blend, so long as it’s 100% juice and not a “cocktail”)
2 cups vodka
1 1/2 cups peach schnapps
1/2 cup simple syrup
the juice of one red grapefruit
the juice of two lemons (I used Meyer for extra sweetness)
2 tablespoons grenadine

After you mix the ingredients in the pitcher, you then add to each cocktail: a splash of lemon-lime soda (sugar-sweetened only, high fructose corn syrup is a hangover waiting to happen).

Adding the soda at the end not only retains the fizziness of the soda, but it will let each person control how strong their drink is. If you want a weak drink, you just fill the glass halfway from the pitcher, then fill the rest with soda.

There might still be time for you to make a pitcher before the latest episode of LOST airs if you hurry!

Hoppin’ John Cakes
serves 3-4

Be sure to use short grain rice here: the extra starch is essential in the recipe for helping the cakes hold their shape.  If you can’t find short grain brown rice, sushi or arborio rice will do well as a substitute.
1 cup uncooked short grain brown rice
3 cups cooked black eyed peas or drained and rinsed canned
2 tablespoons chopped pickled jalapeno or 1 tablespoon hot sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
olive or peanut oil for frying

Cook the rice according to the directions on the package and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine black eyed peas, jalapenos or hot sauce, olive oil, salt, and liquid smoke. Use a potato masher or your hands to mash the peas, just until they’re starting to stick together and clump up – about half of the peas should still be whole. Stir in the cooked brown rice, onion, and parsley, and now really get in there with your (clean!) hands and mush everything together until it’s uniform. Be sure to use your hands only — do not under any circumstances use a food processor or other device, as this will turn everything to useless mush.

Finally, stir in the vital wheat gluten and use your hands to mix it in well. This should take the consistency to the point where if you form a patty with your hands, it stays in the patty shape very easily. If it doesn’t do that, work it for another minute or so and it should stick together better.

Heat a thin layer of oil in a large skillet until it is bubbling slightly but not spitting. This will probably be medium-low,  but depending on how heavy your skillet is and which oil you use, it could be lower or higher. Make a 2 sheet  layer of paper towels on a large plate next to the skillet.

Form patties with your hands that are about 1/2″ thick and 3″ across — a little smaller than the the size of your  palm. Lay them gently in the oil, fitting as many patties as you feel comfortable having in the skillet at once. After a few minutes, check one of the patties for color: you want to flip it when it’s uniformly golden brown on the bottom. Use that timing to gauge how long the rest will take to get to the right coloring on both sides of the patties.

When both sides are cooked, transfer to the paper towels to drain. Serve warm.

my vegan Thanksgiving; photo by Katie Jane Marggraf

I had my first vegan Thanksgiving in 2001, and I showed up at my parents’ house armed with recipes I found in dark corners of the internet, recipes I’d never tried before and was just sort of hoping would work. I ended up with a pumpkin soup that tasted like dirt (literally) and a cranberry walnut salad made with store-bought seitan. If I remember correctly, I ended up eating rolls and tossed salad and feeling pretty sorry for myself.

Obviously the options are a lot better now, and because of that, you might find yourself facing the opposite problem: there are so many recipes to choose from, and you’re not sure which will become your “standards,” because there is no way that you can make all of them.

I don’t recommend trying a recipe for the first time on Thanksgiving day—even if it’s from a cookbook author or blogger whom you trust—because that day will be filled with distractions, and multiple people competing for oven and stovetop space, and those conditions aren’t ideal for following a recipe for the first time. The safest bet is to do a test run: make the dish at least once in the week leading up to Thanksgiving, just so that you are familiar with the timing and the steps.

I also don’t recommend using all new recipes this Thanksgiving. If this is your first vegan Thanksgiving, and you’re responsible for the entire meal, it’s probably a better idea to focus on one or two new dishes, and use your standard easy favorites (mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, a tossed salad) to fill out the rest of the meal.

Finally, and most importantly, Thanksgiving isn’t the time to mess with the classics. You heard about some great new mashed potato method and can’t wait to put your nephew in cleats to give it a whirl? Great! Try it another time! If you decide then that it’s better than your current recipe, make it that way a lot in the coming year and then debut it at next year’s Thanksgiving.

Here are the recipes which I’ve used, and with great success:

• any of the recipes from the Thanksgiving section of my zine, Potluck Mania, obviously, but if you only try one for this holiday, make it the Mushroom Dressing;
  
• If you try two, make the Coconut Sweet Potatoes, because they’re crazy delicious and so easy that you can assign all the work to your clueless cousin;
• the Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes from Yellow Rose Recipes is my go-to mashed potato recipe;
• The Best Vegan Green Bean Casserole from Fat Free Vegan is always a hit, though I’m sure that the recipe Isa just posted today is also great, I just haven’t made it;
• I like simple vegetables at Thanksgiving, since everything else on the table is usually heavy and calorie-dense, so I make roasted brussel sprouts (brussels tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a little paprika and roasted in the oven until crispy) and a green salad with apple slices, dried cranberries, and caramelized walnuts tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette;
• I make a seitan roast which is my standard chicken style seitan recipe, but uses Brian McCarthy’s Vegan Turkey Roast method. I baste it before baking with a basting liquid that is 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon tamari, and 1 teaspoon liquid smoke;
• I don’t usually make dessert at Thanksgiving (someone else always does!), but I’ve happily eaten Smlove Pie and The Millennium Cookbook’s Pecan Pie¹ at vegan thanksgiving potlucks.

Have a happy holiday!

¹It was brought to my attention in a comment that Todd X lifted “his” pecan pie recipe from The Millennium Cookbook. I’ve made the correction.

I had originally wanted to have the entire zine completed and ready by now, but as early November crept up on me, I knew that would no longer be possible. The choice was one that a lot of people in my position have faced: sacrifice quality and just slap something together, just to get it out there, or put in the extra hours to make sure that you have a quality product. I opted for the latter! I usually do. I wanted something I could be proud of.

I am very proud of the results. The first issue is a full-size, full-color, 22 page magazine featuring 24 recipes, divided into four potluck themes: Brunch, Pizza Party, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Cookie Swap. The zine is as much fun to read and browse through as it is to cook from!

Buy it now

Autumn Vegetables and Tofu Roast
serves 4

This is the real fix it and forget it meal. Ten minutes of prep and then you’re eating an hour later.

I intentionally left a lot of room for variation here. My testers and I felt that the best part of the recipe is the freedom to pick up whatever produce and herbs were the most fresh at the farmers market, grocery store, or our own gardens. We especially enjoyed brussel sprouts, fennel, and sweet potatoes, but there were no wrong choices, no matter how many times we made it.

2 lbs of unpeeled red potatoes, cut into 3/4-1″ pieces
16-20 oz very firm tofu, cut into 1/2-3/4″ cubes
1 large sweet onion, sliced into thin strips
4-6 cloves of garlic, chopped
2-3 cups of autumn vegetables or roots, cut into bite size pieces
1/4 cup olive oil
3-4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh herb of your choice (basil, rosemary, dill, thyme)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon Hungarian paprika

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and spray a 9×13 baking dish with vegetable or olive oil spray.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients. Toss well with a spoon or your hands. Dump into the baking dish. The dish should be filled to the top.

Throw this in the oven, uncovered, and roast for a half hour. Remove, mix well, and roast for another half hour. Serve warm.

Nuggets
makes 16-20 or 2-4 servings

dry mix:

1 cup vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup whole wheat flour or chickpea flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika (Hungarian paprika is especially nice)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt
dash freshly ground black pepper
up to 1 teaspoon additional dried herbs & spices of your choosing

wet mix:

1 1/3 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce

breading:

1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup panko or breadcrumbs
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
dash each salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 350. Generously oil a cooking sheet. Mix the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in a liquid measuring cup or small bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and use a wooden spoon to stir until all the liquid is absorbed. There is no need to knead the dough.

In a bowl, combine the breading ingredients.

Break off a piece of the dough, form it into a nuggety shape, coat it in breading, and transfer it to the oiled cooking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough. When you’re done forming the nuggets, you might want to spray the top with olive oil, but if you don’t have an oil mister, it’s not necessary. You can save any remaining nugget breading for next time.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, flip the nuggets, and bake for another 5-8 minutes. Serve warm with your favorite dipping sauce. Milo likes marinara or ketchup, but we’ve also done barbecue sauce and agave mustard. Yum.

Did I mention that I made a mix tape for you listen to while you baked cookies?

Roll Out Gingerbread Boys
makes 2 or 3 dozen, depending on cookie cutter size

My mom has been making gingerbread men for Christmas gifts since before I was even born. It was actually a bit of a cottage industry for her when I was a kid, so you could be sure that on any given weekend after November 1, my house would be filled with the smell of gingerbread. I started making these cookies at Christmas as a tribute to her wonderful gingerbread men.

1/4 cup Earth Balance shortening or coconut oil
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup molasses
1/3 cup cold water
3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Cream together shortening, brown sugar, and molasses. Stir in water and set aside. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Mix flour mixture slowly into molasses mixture.

Divide dough into two portions and wrap each portion with wax paper or parchment and chill for at least two hours. Take out one portion, keeping the other portion cool until you roll it out.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out each portion to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut with medium-sized, floured gingerbread cookie cutters.

On greased baking sheets, bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks before decorating. Store decorated cookies in an airtight container with sheets of wax paper between the layers.

The Best Christmas Cookies
makes about 3 dozen

I veganized a recipe that I found in an old cookie book. This is the cookie recipe everyone asks for, so I thought I’d put it online for easy reference. I make these as small cookies but I am thinking about trying to make a couple of giant ones this year. If you get around to it before I do, let me know how they turn out!

1/2 cup Earth Balance spread
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup cane sugar
1 egg replacer (I use a flax egg)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup organic oats
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries
1/2 cup flake coconut
1/2 cup slivered or chopped almonds
1/2 cup chopped pecans
sea salt for dusting (optional)

Cream together Earth Balance, sugars, egg replacer, and vanilla. Add flour, oats, baking powder, and salt, and mix well. Stir in raisins, coconut, almonds, and pecans. Drop by teaspoon onto greased baking sheets and flatten slightly with a fork. Optional (you might want to skip if you’re making these for kids): sprinkle by hand a few granules of sea salt on top of each cookie. Bake at 325 for 12-15 minutes. Transfer from baking sheets to cooling racks immediately upon removing from oven. These are best when they’re still warm. Store in an airtight container with a piece of bread to keep them soft.

Crockpot Mulled Wine

If you’re expecting guests, you’re probably going to want to double this recipe.

1 1/2 liters of red wine
1 medium orange or large lemon
2-3 cinnamon sticks
2 tablespoons whole cloves
1 whole nutmeg (You don’t buy ground anymore, right? You always grate your own nutmeg? Oh, good, what a relief.)
3/4 cup sugar (Any vegan sugar will work here.)

Pour bottle or bottles of wine into a large crockpot and set on low. Cut your citrus fruit in half and squeeze directly into the wine, then add the squeezed fruit rind to the pot. Add cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

Cover and simmer wine for at least 20 minutes, then add the sugar. Stir in well. Simmer for another 10 minutes, or until sugar is dissolved.

Strain the wine and serve immediately. Return leftover strained wine to the crockpot and keep on low.

I have to tell you, this post has made me heartbreakingly nostalgic for the Christmas season. Admittedly, it doesn’t take much, since I’m such a Christmas freak that I celebrate from the day after Thanksgiving until the day before Valentine’s Day every year.