Chucky Is Ready For Vegetarian Thanksgiving #1

Quorn turk'y roast & vegan gravy mix

Okay, it's time to talk about the first vegetarian Thanksgiving for Tiffany and I.  First and foremost, "What is mistake gravy?"  Uh... er... I only just recognized that I picked up the wrong gravy mix from Hoovers Essential Health Market.  Bad mistake.  Ugh!  Upon closer review of the ingredients, it contains non-human animal ingredient!  Bad Chucky!

Now, what am I going to do?  Actually, I do plan to go ahead and use it.  When Tiffany and I elected to become vegetarians, we made some decisions contradictory to the vegetarian lifestyle.  Initially we thought about using up our carnivore products stashed away in the pantry and freezer.  We ultimately decided that we could not stomach to do so.

However, we did agree to use up existing bullion cubes and meat-based broths that we had on-hand.  Slowly and methodically, we will wean ourselves from these products.  We've already moved from dairy milk to almond milk and am trying desperately to find an acceptable dairy cheese alternative.

To further support our decision to go ahead and utilize this "mistake gravy", we were already aware that Tiffany's mother will be making a big 'ol turkey for Thanksgiving.  In all probability, the stuffing will contain turkey juices and perhaps giblet.  We agreed to simply bring a Quorn turk'y roast with us. Everything other than the bird itself we hope to try.

UPDATE:  My conscience was killing me.  When I got up this morning I changed my mind.  The "mistake gravy" mix shall be donated to the in-laws.  Instead, I dropped by my local Chamberlin's Natural Foods and purchased some vegan gravy mix!  I had to retake a picture (above) of myself  and modify this blog prior to posting.  I am so much happier now.

I suspect this time next year we'll be true to our heart and go absolutely vegetarian.  In all fairness to Tiffany's mother, we didn't give her much notice of our intent to convert to vegetarianism.

Okay.  Now that this is out of the way, what are Chucky and Tiffany bringing to the Thanksgiving table and living room coffee table for the football games?

• Quorn Turk'y Roast
• Butternut Squash with Pineapple Topping casserole
• Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (fresh made from scratch)
• Jalapeno Hummus (fresh made from scratch)
• Mock Cheese Spread
• Wine (see below)
• Cheesecake
• Vegan gravy

Okay.  One last time.  "What is Quorn?"  "Is it a tofu based product?"  No.  In a nutshell, it's man-made vat manufactured fungus.  Both Tiffany and I believe to taste superior to soy-based turkey (Tofurky) but that's probably simply a matter of opinion.  Unlike it's Tofurky counterpart, Quorn is not vegan as it contains some egg product.

Stella Rosa, Cabernet Sauvignon, & Malbec

• Il Duca Imperiale 1917 Stella Rosa - Piedmont, Italy.  Sparkling sweet red wine to be paired with desert.  Show me a wine from the Piedmont region anything less than spectacular and I'll show you a forgery!!!
• 2010 Woodbridge Cabernet Sauvignon - Woodbridge, California.  The "everyday" wine.  This particular wine is the house wine at Bahama Breeze restaurant.  My mother-in-law's favorite general purpose Cabernet Sauvignon.
• 2007 Norton Malbec Reserva - Mendoza, Argentina.  Haven't ever tried this particular Malbec but Argentina produces some great values in Malbecs.  We purchased this autographed bottle directly from the vintner who was at our local Costco promoting his French oak aged Malbec.  A truly polite and nice gentleman.  Oh yeah, he is obviously a very hard worker as his fingernails were not that of someone who simply sits behind a big desk.  I cannot go wrong here folks.  Chucky loves big bold fruity wines!  Yummy!

 Hi-dee hi-dee Happy Thanksgiving-ho everyone!