Thanksgiving in 2014

                                  
Since its inception, Thanksgiving has been about sharing food, family and diplomacy; pass the stuffing, not the stereotypes. But lately, a new feud is brewing...a food fight. Do you see meat in the classic cornucopia image displayed above? Neither do I.
But I like meat. I'm not crazy about turkey actually, but ham, lamb, beef, chicken, I do eat all of those. And of course, I'll eat turkey tomorrow.
But what about my sister who is vegetarian (this week)? Or my dad who is adamantly attached to creamed corn even though we tell him it's not very healthy and terrible for his arteries?
Can we all still enjoy Thanksgiving together? Will food become a taboo subject at the dinner table like politics and religion?
I say, NO! Have a healthy serving of debate, disagreement and diversity this season, try a few new recipes, respectfully preserve some traditional ones, and just keep it coming til you run out of pie (and wine and beer, I would imagine). All that arguing will help burn off some of these excessive calories we've all decided to ingest anyway. Enjoy!
Some helpful suggestions:

Homemade cranberry sauce

homemade creamed corn,

pumpkin pie or

BPA free cans of cranberry sauce, corn and pumpkin

Vegan recipe suggestions for sides/turkey alternative

Safety tips for turkey

Happy Thanksgiving.


Maya Missaghi, William Mitchell College of Law
Photo credit: http://www.123rf.com/stock-photo/cornucopia.html

Now Reading: Eat and Run, by vegan ultramarathoner, Scott Jurek

So far, Eat and Run is an engaging read.  The story moves along well and is interrupted occasionally by recipes that look easy enough.  Here's an excerpt from a recent interview on boston.com:

Q. When did you change to a vegan diet?

A.I was not raised vegan. I was raised hunting and fishing in Minnesota, and ate meat and potatoes. Corn, carrots, and peas were really the only vegetables I ate as a kid, and in college, working part time I ate junk food and fast food. Then, after reading Dr. Andrew Weil’s book "Spontaneous Healing, realized it’s really about a whole picture of nutrition and the maintenance of your body’s healing system.

And a trailer for the book: