I'm so full. Are you so full? Plus a giveaway from Coconut Bliss!

I don't know that I can even muster a photo after today's Thanksgiving feast. I went through two airports yesterday, flew halfway across the country, and drove 3 1/2 hours to make sure I could see my niece before she slept. Today I woke up at 8:00 am and was cooking by 8:30. I didn't really plan ahead. My family is incredibly omni. I had managed to throw vwg (vital wheat gluten) and a celeriac into my suitcase, along with a number of tiny bags of spices and condiments I had packed previously for traveling. I knew that my mother had bought me a cauliflower. I knew I wanted stuffed and mashed potatoes and gravy, that I wanted to lighten the potatoes with the cauliflower, and that I would like a main course seitan if possible. I knew that there would be vegetables that I could eat where my sister and her family, who were hosting, would be staying. Everybody else who would be there would be decidedly omni. I knew that I wasn't going to enjoy that it was omni and that nobody was too interested in what I was going to make. I also knew that it was my Thanksgiving too. Even if my dishes were not good enough to be on the main table with all the omni dishes.

Somehow, at 8:00 in the morning, I got ambitious. I made a list of seven items:

• vegetable stock
• white seitan
• stuffing
• chickpea gravy
• mushroom and red wine gravy
• mashed cauliflower/potatoes
• celeriac and olive puree

My mother added another:

• pumpkin pie

I cooked all day. The vegetable stock is one I make loosely, and I've posted about that earlier this MoFo. I grabbed everything my mother could spare out of the fridge and cupboard and went to town: onion, tomato, eggplant, potato peelings, mushroom stem, dried shiitakes, lentils, celeriac peelings, filtered water, a glug of tamari, all simmer-boiled for an hour and a half. This was used as a base flavor for the remainder of my ingredients. I knew I wanted to try the white seitan from Viva Vegan, as I have heard nothing but raves about it. Instead of steaming it, I patted it into a rectangle and spread a recipe of my mother's stuffing, veganized, over the rectangle. I then rolled it up the long way to make a roulade. Chickpea gravy and caulipots are tester recipes from the upcoming Appetite for Reduction, so that decision was easy. I wanted another gravy for the roulade, so I went with one similar to my mother's, but veganized. At the end, I decided to add in a bit of balsamic vinegar to brighten it. Finally, celeriac and black olive puree is similar to one I first read about in Marcella Cucina. Oh, and the pumpkin pie was one I made for my parents a couple of years ago, and it's a recipe they loved from VegWeb.

I had some missteps along the way for sure. I oversalted the stuffing and had to increase the bread by a third. I pretty much ran out of stock. I overthickened one of the gravies. Damage control and then damage control. And yet.

Everything was really good. Everyone tried all of it. One omni said that she would have happily eaten my food and nothing else for Thanksgiving. Excuse my language for this following sentence. I have heard that Terry's white seitan is unfuckupable. It's true. It's the best seitan I've ever made. Everyone at the table thought it was delicious, from the omni food afficianado who has never tasted seitan, down to the three year-old who won't eat brown food but ate this brown food. It looked gorgeous with the stuffing spiraling through it. It felt and looked like festive food, and it was easy to make. The caulipots and gravy were yummy, and smoked paprika made them special. The celeriac puree was unusual and a combination of flavors that rolled all over your tongue. Cranberry sauce, arugula salad, green beans, and my sister's homemade walnut whole wheat bread based on this recipe rounded out the meal.

And I never got around to dessert. I was too full. I am told they liked it.

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Even though I was too full for dessert, I know that for most of you this is not possible. Especially for vegan ice cream. Especially if it's the divine Coconut Bliss. Today I have for you a coupon for a pint of delicious Luna and Larry's Coconut Bliss ice cream. To enter, please leave a post below, telling me your about your favorite coconut treat, or a nutty friend of yours, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to anyone who can get Coconut Bliss products. The coupons do not specify where they can be used, so enter if you can buy Coconut Bliss where you live!

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The winners of the awesome DKB Sin Dawg giveaway are Noelle, radioactivevegan, and joyfulgirl415. Congratulations to you all! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)