A Fresh Take on Thanksgiving Traditions: Catering for Everyone
After spending the last two and a half decades in South Africa—where Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated—I get really excited about this special holiday now that I’m back in Canada.
One of my first Thanksgiving celebrations in Canada was memorable for many reasons, but especially because we had 11 guests, three of whom were vegetarians. At that point, Thanksgiving was still novel to me, and I was eager to keep things as traditional as possible. At our Grandparent's table that meant turkey, roast potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and gravy. But I wanted to ensure that our vegetarian choices where super exciting.
To balance tradition with inclusivity, I made Vegan Swiss Meatballs similar to this recipe by Melissa Higgins from Vegan Huggs. The stuffing was made vegetarian by simply using veggie stock and not cooking it with the turkey. Here is a Vegetarian Stuffing recipe from Love and Lemons. You need stale bread for this so keep a nice sourdough in one of our bread bags for a couple of days.
Here’s a simple eco-friendly tip for covering baking dishes, like in this stuffing recipe; Instead of using disposable aluminium foil, try resting a cookie sheet on top of your casserole. It’s much easier to manage once the dish is in the oven, and it works great! When you’re ready to crisp up the top, you can simply remove the sheet.
Prepping Ahead to Minimize Chaos
Hosting a large group can easily turn into a kitchen frenzy for me, so I opted for vegetable side dishes that don't have to be served hot and can be prepared ahead of time. The day before, I made Broccoli Salad and lots of Cabbage Salad with Apples (I think I was trying to use up a very large cabbage). Stored in the fridge under our reusable dish covers , the dressings marinate with the salads leaving the broccoli and cabbage tender. The next morning, I rested them on the counter to come to room temperature, allowing the flavours to fully develop.
This year I am experimenting with a Vegetarian Thanksgiving Lasagna from Meghan Splawn. Not for your vegan friends- this recipe is deliciously creamy and cheesy. It's fantastic and can be made ahead of time. Our rectangle dish covers are a great alternative to foil or plastic wrap for covering without trapping in the moisture that will ruin your crispy top. Add to that, the cover slips back on should there be leftovers, and looks lovely on the table.
A Fun and Memorable Gathering
Our guests contributed desserts, which made the meal feel even more communal and fun. The meat eaters tucked into the vegetarian dishes and my vegetarian guest where so happy to have stuffing and gravy. After the feast, we took advantage of the nice weather and went for a stroll, a perfect way to wrap up a wonderful day of celebration.
With a little creativity and some versatile, make-ahead dishes, you can create a welcoming table for everyone. Plus, using SpaZa’s eco-friendly products like our bowl covers makes the process so much easier and - if I may say so myself- stylish!
Thanksgiving, no matter your feelings about who actually started the tradition and why, is a wonderful invitation to gather with friends, family and neighbour's and enjoy good food and one another's company. It is definitely one of my favourite holidays so you can expect more about Thanksgiving next year.