Just For Today, I Am An Early Birdie
Whole Foods Market Fresh Pond: 5:52 AM, 32 degrees fahrenheit with a pretty dark blue sky before sun rise and no shovey pushy holiday shoppers..

Okay, it's the countdown to T-day..which I refer to as "Tofurkey Day." T minus one! Which means tomorrow is the big day. So I figured that I had better do some shopping. Last year, I noticed that my market had a "shop early, shop late" thingey going on where they'd open at 6am instead of the usual 8 and then close at 11pm instead of 10. They had a special incentive for the early birds--a gift bag of local treats. I went last year and had a fun time so when I saw it was on again this year, I marked my little calendar. Despite what I though, not that many people are motivated to get up that early (what? The gift bag does not beckon as strongly as sleep?? Call me crazy then!). I stood by the door (really, there weren't enough of us to call it a "line") and chatted with the other 7-8 people who, like me love cities but despise crowds and obviously are suckers for gift baggies! Nice people, jovial mood and we could have hugged the store employee who let us in from the cold.

Sure, there were a few crazies running around wild-eyed sprinting to the cash register in order to get their goodie bags. However, for the rest of us, just doing our shopping without a pressing crowd was motivation enough. After securing all my vegan baked goody ingredients plus some veggies into my mini-cart, I headed to the checkout and was presented with this cute little bag and its contents displayed below. Yay! Unlike last year, almost all of it is vegan-friendly with the exception of a hot cocoa packet and a small jar of local honey.


So what are you having for Thanksgiving? I'm always curious to hear what other veggies are having. I am grateful to have a family that is very supportive of my lifestyle. Middle sister Nicole has prepared a very vegan friendly list of dishes that she is preparing. Little sister Michelle schlepped all over Brooklyn and Manhattan to find some Dr. Cow vegan cheese for me only to find it not available (it's the thought that counts!). We are having a Tofurkey..I normally don't like processed foods too much but the hubster really loves Tofurkey (he raves about their gravy) and I'm just so happy that he loves it that I don't want to tamper with success yet by trying something else. I should have photos soon of our meal in all it's yummy glory!

I also did something new this year and adopted a turkey from Farm Sanctuary. If you've got a minute, Colleen Patrick Goudreau's podcast did a great episode on turkeys two years ago. You can listen to it here.

So this past week I tried a few new recipes. This one "Coconut Black Rice Pudding" is from the Whole Foods web site. It makes for a pretty presentation with the mango and kiwi. It's also not too sweet..I used agave instead of sugar.

And potato knishes from Vegan With a Vengeance!

Hot potato! I love how these turned out..they're so cute!