Pre-Thanksgiving Party!

Because one day of gluttony just isn't enough, our local vegetarian group Food Awareness held a pre-Thanksgiving party to help gear up our tummies for the big day. About 45 folks — some vegetarians, some vegans, some omnis — packed into fellow member Vaughan's house for a Saturday night filled with delicious vegan food, wine, and a random late-night poetry slam. Here's a picture of the folks still hanging on at the end of the party:

Left to right: (Top) Vaughan, Barbara, Michael (Bottom) April, Me, Greg, and a nice German girl named Lena ...

Here's my first plate, loaded with savory goodies:

There's Carol's AMAZING vegan mac & cheeze, my cornbread dressin', a roasted sweet potato, Vaughan's super-spicy kale, some pineapple rice, lentils, and almond quinoa.

I made my mom's veganized recipe for Cornbread Dressin'. It's not the sexiest-looking dish, but it's very, very tasty. My mom's will ALWAYS taste the best, but I think I came pretty close this time. It seems to get better and better every time I make it. Practice makes perfect, I guess.

Barbara made some yummy Edammame Dip for pre-dinner snackin':

And we had tons of dessert! I took a photo of my dessert plate — loaded with pies, cake, cookies, you name it. But it didn't turn out so well. Here's a sample of what went on it though ... like this delicious Vegan Sweet Potato (or maybe it was pumpkin?...I can't tell the two apart!) Pie:

Or Stephanie's (Poopie Bitch) Bourbon Pumpkin Pecan Pie (just look at her fancy embellishments!):

And Stephanie's (yes, she totally outdid herself with TWO beautiful pies) old-school Apple Pie:

We even had a raw Sweet Potato Pie, courtesy of our raw friend Judith:

By the end of the night, I was miserably stuffed ... just how one should feel after gorging on an amazing vegan Thanksgiving smorgasboard. Now I just hope I still have room left when the real Thanksgiving comes...