Tuesday, November 20, 2007

It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown



I know; that's the wrong holiday, but it was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the raw pumpkin spice muffins on the Sunny Raw Kitchen website. They remind me of the raw pumpkin muffins in my freezer (hence the small ice crystals on the icing in the pic). I'm thinking about taking them out to thaw for my Thanksgiving menu.

I made them using this raw pumpkin bread recipe, but instead on forming the dough into a loaf, I shaped it into little muffins and topped them with a cashew-based icing. They would be perfect for a fall holiday feast.

As for the rest of my menu, I am still in the final decision making process. I know I want to make stuffing, but I am not sure which recipe to use. Since I am so last minute about this, I'll probably go with this one from my Rawvolution book.

If I had more time, I probably would have gone with this Mom's Famous Stuffing recipe I found today, but I would need to soak and sprout some buckwheat to make this Better Than Sliced Bread recipe first.

I definitely want to make some raw mashed potatoes, too. I originally wanted to use the basic cauliflower-based Rawvolution recipe, but I am also considering this parsnip-based Better Than Mashed Potatoes. I guess it all depends on what I find at the grocery store today.

You can't eat mashed potatoes without gravy. Again, I haven't made a final decision. Either I'm going to make one of Ani Phyo's recipes (her miso or mushroom gravy) or this Mushroom Gravy.

So far, this plate isn't very colorful, so I also plan on making some marinated veggies, maybe some green beans, carrots, broccolini and/or corn. Remember, you eat with your eyes first.

Another addition of color, which happens to be one of my favorites, is cranberries. This is my "go to recipe." I use this Cranberry Sauce recipe, and make the changes I noted in the comment section. I add orange zest, ginger, spice (and everything nice; oops, I couldn't resist) and walnut pieces to make it my own.

Finally, you can't have a proper Thanksgiving without dessert. In addition to the pumpkin muffins, I'll either make a quick raw apple crisp (my mom used to make apple crisp for me all the time), or one of these other raw apple recipes: Ani Phyo's Apple Pie (I'll have to make some raw ice cream for this one, maybe something with cinnamon in it), The Daily Raw's Apple Galette, Apple Cookies or this Yummy Apple Cobbler.

But, I can't forget the pumpkin. Of course, I have the pumpkin muffins, but it would be nice to either prepare a pumpkin soup to start or finish with this lovely pumpkin frozen dessert (I know; it's not really pumpkin). Why hadn't I thought of that?

I also plan on starting off my day with this Pumpkin Creme Power Shake (again, not really pumpkin, but it somewhat tastes like it).

If you still haven't finalized your holiday menu, check out these links for more Thanksgiving meal ideas: GLiving's Sharing Raw Thanksgiving Recipes discussion, Raw Food Talk's Thanksgiving menu discussion and Raw Food Right Now's e-book offer.

P.S. I know this is off topic, but isn't the fall foliage beautiful this time of year. This is what it looks like right outside my door.

6 comments:

RawBin said...

OMG this all sound soooo good. I wish we were eating at your house!

I had planned to bring a few raw dishes for our family gathering (sweet potato/pecan casserole from "Rawesome!" and some "breads and spreads" but I'm outnumbered with the 14 of them deciding to eat out this year. Get this... it's at a restaurant that we've been to before. The last time we ate there, I ordered the one thing I thought was the best raw choice. It turned out to be a plate on which they poured an entire bag of baby spinach leaves, sprinkled some carrots on top and called it my meal.

I then began to look around for soup kitchens where I could volunteer (to get out of an Irish restaurant trying to duplicate an American traditional meal) but they're overwhelmed with volunteers.

I suppose I could call the restaurant and ask permission to bring my own food, but I can imagine the way my family will act shocked and declare my actions as tacky... like a Thanksgiving dinner being prepared by strangers at an Irish restaurant isn't tacky?

So do you have any last minute suggestions raw food restaurant etiquette or a link to get me there. The family is waiting for an answer...

shannonmarie said...

Sorry about what happened with your salad. I have had some similar restaurant disappointments. As a result, I try to always be prepared with some raw snacks and add-ins.

When you go to a restaurant, you can carry some raw nuts and or seeds in your purse to bulk up your salad, and if you are really prepared, you can bring your own dressing or a lemon wedge.

I also never go anywhere without a raw bar in my bag. My advice: don't leave home without it.

As for Thanksgiving, I left you a note on my latest post :-)

Unknown said...

i had that same thought about the foliage. though it looks like you might be a few weeks south of me :)

your thanksgiving menu looks lovely.

did you post the recipe for the cin o buns? those look delightful...

shannonmarie said...

Hi, Creot. I love your blog. I think I have it listed under my favorites.

I really enjoyed the link to your post. The leaves were beautiful there, too.

I'm not exactly sure where you are at, but I am in Southern Maryland. It took a while for it to really feel like fall here this year, hence the delayed changing of the leaves.

Thanks for the compliment about the Thanksgiving spread. I hope yours was just as enjoyable.

As for the cinnamon buns, I posted the recipe for the base on the Gone Raw website; there is a link on my original post about them. The icing is the whipped cream topping on the Sunny Raw Kitchen site.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the compliment and the recipe! My name is actually not creot. Blogger just recognizes me as creot because i have a music blog called that. But really, I'm alissa. and i'm from minnesota...

happy thanksgiving.

shannonmarie said...

Well, let's start the intros over again. Hi Allison. Nice to meet you. I'm Shannon. I use shannonmarie as a screen name since Shannon is already taken.

My mom's side of the family is from Minnesota. I used to go up there to visit when I was little. I have very fond memories of the area.

Happy Thanksgiving to you, too!