Thanksliving 2018

December 1, 2018

Hi friends! I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving last week. I spent the long weekend in Charlotte, NC, where my mom’s youngest sister lives with her husband and two daughters. They were kind enough to let me and my parents stay in their guest house, nicknamed the Casita. I had such a wonderful time in Charlotte visiting my family and experiencing fall for a few days (fall is my favorite season so it was a treat for me since we don’t have seasons in Miami).

One of the highlights of my trip was Thanksgiving, or as some vegans call it, Thanksliving. This was my first proper Thanksliving since going vegan almost 4 years ago because I don’t have much family in Miami; therefore, don’t celebrate Thanksgiving every year, at least not with a traditional meal. Below are some pictures from the day and a rundown of what we ate.

The Guest of Honor, Beatrice

Instead of having a dead turkey as the centerpiece on our table, we had a picture of Beatrice. For the last two years, I have sponsored a turkey from Woodstock Farm Sanctuary in honor of Thanksliving. Both times I chose to sponsor Beatrice because I loved her story and, if I’m being honest, I thought her name was cute. She was raised on a commercial turkey farm and was going to be killed for Thanksgiving. Fortunately, she was spared that fate when someone bought her as a gift and she eventually made her way to Woodstock Farm Sanctuary. Beatrice is now 9 years old and living out her life in the comfort of Woodstock Sanctuary with other farm animals who have also been rescued from commercial factory farming.

Most turkeys are not as lucky as Beatrice. It is estimated that 46 million turkeys are killed each year for Thanksgiving alone. Before they meet their cruel fate, factory-farmed turkeys live their shortened lives in dark sheds with little space. They usually have parts of their beaks cut off and are also genetically engineered to grow too big too fast, leading many to become crippled under their own weight and unable to fly. Turkeys are highly social animals, enjoy listening to music, are good at geography, and some even like to have their feathers stroked as Beatrice does. Consider leaving them off your plates and sponsoring a turkey next year for Thanksgiving.

The Meal

My Aunt Kathy did most of the meal planning and my cousins, mom, and I helped. I personally think we did a really good job with the menu. Our main course was the Celebration Roast by Field Roast. I was a bit wary to try the Celebration Roast because I had never tried it before and I don’t eat a lot of vegan meat substitutes but I ended up loving it. Now, I haven’t eaten any meat in about five and a half years so my taste buds might be a little off but the Celebration Roast tasted almost exactly how I remember turkey tastes. I would definitely recommend it for a special occasion.

Our sides included a sweet potato casserole that my cousin Hannah made, mashed potatoes, roasted butternut squash, mixed vegetables, and steamed broccoli. We also had cranberry sauce as a condiment. It was so easy to veganize some of the traditional Thanksgiving staples. Everything was delicious and went so well together.

Dessert

Pie is always a must after the Thanksgiving meal. We had a traditional (vegan) pumpkin pie that my aunt bought at Whole Foods along with a pumpkin crunch pie that my cousin Meghan made. The pumpkin crunch pie is one of my aunt’s family recipes that they have been making for years and it’s normally not vegan. This was the first time they made it vegan and it turned out pretty good. I had a slice of each pie and enjoyed them both.

My Family

Before we dined, we had a little family photo shoot outside. I don’t get to see my family in Charlotte very often and I don’t have many pictures with them in recent years so I love having these pictures to look back on.