Our First Christmas

This will be all of our first Christmas' away from home. To keep our spirits up and in an attempt to avoid the horrible sinking of homesickness we have decided to get into the spirit of a homemade holiday!

We went and got our Christmas tree from the Optimist's Club day before last. 

As we waited for all of the branches to drop we set to the task of making all of our own ornaments. Who doesn't love glitter, puffy paint, ribbon, and the holy grail of crafting...mod podge!

And now, the family photo (I'm thinking christmas cards, heh heh):

Happy Tofurkey Day!

Seitan Roulade with Apple Rosemary Stuffing!

Thanksgiving was full of hours of cooking, but I think it was the best vegan feast anyone could hope for! Photos galore to follow:

We found these Japanese Sweet Potatoes the morning of the big day at the market. They looked absolutely gorgeous with the other yams I used from our local Boggy Creek Farm:

Here are the finished Candied Lime Sweet Potatoes, a recipe by VeganYumYum. Garnished with pastry leaves and hearts, and a few fresh cranberries.  I made these last year as well, and they are one of Aly's absolute favorites!!

Now for Katie Rose's favorite dish of the day, Green Bean Casserole (recipe from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen):

I, personally, have come to love cranberry sauce. I had never had it until just about a week a go, and I must say it is just delicious paired with the seitan roulade! I still have never had it out of a can, and can't say I ever plan to, but homemade with fresh organic cranberries..mmmm...

Another must have is "Macaroni Hates Cheese"

Even my cheese loving mother loves this. (It seems to be one of the things I am always making when I go home!) I don't make it to much these days, as it is full of many of the things I usually try to avoid, but on the holidays its just perfectly comforting!

Now last but not least...the pie! I actually made both apple and pumpkin, but the apple was so beautiful it hogged all of the pictures! The pumpkin was equally delicious though, I have really perfected my pumpkin pie recipe! Anyways...onward with more pictures!

Lastly, a close up of the pie so you can see my little heart and leaf cut outs :)

I hope that all of you had a happy day of thanks! I know we did!