Happy Thanksgiving to our US friends!

I kept well away, I can tell you.

One of the checkers told me that they had fights in the parking lot at our Wal-Mart. This is a town of 7,000 (at a push), and they still fight. There can't have beent that many lined up outside.

And we are supposed to be in a struggling economy with record unemployment. Makes me wonder where the 52 BILLION dollars is coming from. I can pretty much guess its not from the upper classes either.  

We had our first entirely vegetarian Thanksgiving--our kids and their families have decided to go meat-less along with Shirley and I. It was great! And we've re-discovered the joys of really creative cooking! It may not be for everyone, but it is working very well for us.

That sounds interesting, Rob. You must tell us what you had on your plate.

I think I could go vegetairian if I had to, but not my husband. 

Are you going to do the same at Christmas time?  

Sue, we had quite a no-meat feast--butternut squash soup, baked corn pudding, sage mushroom dressing, roasted brussels sprouts with sugared roasted chestnuts, red lentil-barley-rice casserole, green bean & tomato salad with creamy goat cheese, white bean & cheese croquets, mashed potatoes with portabella mushroom gravy, a loaf of fresh-baked honey wheat bread, pumpkin tart and apple pie.

Out of curiousity, we also tried a Tofurky, a wild rice stuffed mock-turkey roll made out of soy beans that resembled a haggis. It did have the sliceable consistency of a regular turkey roll and with gravy it tasted much closer to turkey than I would have thought. That being said, I have never been a big fan of either turkey or "fake meat," so it only played a small part of my meal. Everyone else really liked it, though.

At Christmas, we will be doing the same thing as well--we are already planning the menu. It is only this year that we have all gone completely non-meat, though we still consume dairy and eggs provided from nearby family-run farms, and mainly for reasons of better health. Since everyone in our family cooks and bakes, it is fairly easy at family gatherings to whip up interesting and very satisfying vegetarian meals. It may not be for everyone, but it works for us--we all had been moving in a non-meat direction for quite some time anyhow.