First, we'd like to thank everyone who shared their recipes with us.  There are some really wonderful sounding dishes here.  We hope you find this compilation of Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes of value when you're planning your Thanksgiving Feast!

Main Dishes

• Holiday Nut Loaf
• Tofurky Take 2

Side Dishes

• Cashew Gravy
• Cranberry Sauce
• Cumin Braised Brussels Sprouts
• Garlic Potatoes
• Green Beans with Balsamic Carmelized Red Onions
• Orange Yams
• Stuffing with Apples, Cranberries and Roasted Pecans
• Walnut, Fig and Cranberry Cornbread Dressing

Desserts

• Apple Pie
• Tofu Pumpkin Pie

Beverages

• Cranberry Punch
• Vegan Eggnog

Enjoy!

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Unfortunately for our guests, it's been "winter" here. By that I mean, the weather is not cooperating, and it's been rainy and unseasonably cold here. The high yesterday was only 64°F. That's actually cold for Los Angeles! And while we welcome the respite from the hot summer weather we know is imminent, our company would prefer something a bit more balmy.

Since it's been so wintry, we made a hearty breakfast this morning. We tried a new version of a quinoa porridge we've been making on and off since we've been vegan... Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa, which we found at 101 Cookbooks (my picture isn't nearly as attractive as Heidi's, but I'm sure it tasted just as good!).

Actually the recipe is in John La Puma, MD,s new cookbook -- ChefMD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine. It's not a vegan cookbook, but it does provide a wealth of healthy eating information, including what foods to eat for specific medical conditions, and what to stock in your pantry. With only 60 of nearly 300 pages devoted to recipes, cookbook is probably a misnomer; the nutritional information is the real reason to pick it up. Again, La Puma writes for omnivores, but there is a lot of good information here for anyone.

But back to our breakfast... We've made a few different versions of Quinoa "porridge" for breakfast, and while they've been good, we've still been hoping for something a little more remarkable. This was it. We used the organic quinoa found at Trader Joe's, and of course, we subbed the cup of milk for a cup of almond milk. It was delicious. For sweeteners, we tried agave nectar, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, and honey*. The honey and brown rice syrup were the winners in this particular dish. We all thought the maple syrup a little too over-powering and the agave nectar just wasn't right.

Jane's thinking of making this again and refrigerating it overnight. It might make a good cold breakfast too, or a nutritious dessert.

* Honey is one of those things that divides the vegan community, this post touches on our philosophy on the subject of honey and sugar.

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At the beginning of the month Vegan.com put together a list of of his favorite vegan cookbook recipes for the year. I must have been sleeping, somehow I missed it. But I also read the Vegan Planet blog, and Robin posted about it today.

Having reviewed the recipes with Jane earlier, we feel compelled to share this with our readers who might not visit these sites. Some of these recipes look very interesting. And since they rate as "top 10" they're probably very worthy of a test drive.

The recipes that make the cut are:

1. Plantain Omelet - From Mark Reinfeld and Bo Rinaldi’s Vegan Fusion World Cuisine
2. Thai Coconut Corn Soup - From Nava Atlas’ Vegan Express
3. Indonesian Coconut Rice - From Robin Robertson’s Vegan Fire & Spice
4. Baked Ziti - From Beverly Lynn Bennett’s Vegan Bites
5. Moroccan Phyllo Rolls - From Dreena Burton’s Eat, Drink & Be Vegan
6. Italian Stuffed Crepes - From Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Nonna's Italian Kitchen
7. Chickpea Curry - From Hema Parekh’s The Asian Vegan Kitchen
8. Banana Chocolate Bread Pudding - From Isa Chandra Moskowtiz and Terry Hope Romano’s Veganomicon
9. Root Beer Float Cupcakes - From Hannah Kaminsky’s My Sweet Vegan
10. Fresh Mango Cobler - From Ani Phyo’s Ani's Raw Food Kitchen

Make sure to visit Vegan.com for the actual recipes, if you don't already own these cookbooks. We'll let you know what we think after we've tried them, but Jane wants me to put a caveat here: We have amassed a ton of "must try" recipes. So it isn't likely that we'll get through this list in the immediate future. Be sure to let us know what you think!

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	The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks' Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets List Price: $19.95 Sale Price: $12.82 Average Rating:
	Whether you want to bake dairy- and egg-free for health, ethical, or environmental reasons, The Joy of Vegan Baking lets you have your cake and eat it, too! Featuring 150 familiar favorites -- from cakes, cookies, and crepes to pies, puddings, and pastries -- this book will show you just how easy, convenient, and delectable baking without eggs and dairy can be...

Over the past few months, I've been complaining about the results of Jane's vegan baking efforts. Don't get me wrong... she's been complaining too. Overall, we've come to the conclusion that vegan baked goods just aren't as good as traditional baked goods. And while we miss the olden days of Princess Cake (the most amazing cake -- genoise, marzipan, whipped cream, raspberry filling... mmm, princess cake) and other goodies, we're willing to make this "sacrifice." Well, as of today, that's changed. Jane made the vegan brownie recipe from "The Joy of Vegan Baking" ... and oh my god it's amazing.

These brownies are not too sweet. They don't have that "hmm that's different" taste that many vegan baked goods are subject too. These brownies taste exactly like BROWNIES. They're so good that Jane is making me take the remainder in to work tomorrow because she doesn't trust herself to be around them. And she's already planning to make a second batch to welcome our new neighbors this weekend. Who needs Starbuck's vegan brownies when you can make these at home.

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