Cupcake Punk

Thanksgiving is a wonderful and daunting time of year for vegans, vegetarians, those with celaic disease, and omnivores alike.  It’s a beautiful holiday where we gather with our families and friends and celebrate the good things in life–food, community, the act of cooking.  But it can also a time of year when anxiety skyrockets, when the pressure to perform–to cook a bountiful meal for more people than we normally do–can outweigh the pleasurable result.

For some, you’re the vegans, the vegetarians, the gluten-free–those people who your friends and family might complain make traditions hard to carry out, who, might seem impossible to cook for.  What do you eat?  How does one prepare a vegan or gluten-free dish, let alone a table full of such dishes?

For others, you’re the omnivore–the person without any dietary restrictions who prepares a host of passed-down-through-the-family recipes: turkey, stuffing (or dressing), green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, yeast rolls, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, etc.  What do you do when one of your guests is a vegan or gluten-free?  What can you make that is both delicious and vegan or gluten-free?  How do you get around that issue of the turkey and the yeast rolls?

Hopefully this section of my blog will come in handy for you this holiday season.  Cooking for someone with an alternative diet doesn’t need to be stressful or confusing–in fact, it just needs to be easy and delicious!  The recipes are organized by category: side dishes, main dishes (i.e. the alternative turkey), breads, and desserts.  Additionally, each recipe includes step-by-step photographs and directions in addition to the recipe.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at TheCupCakePunk [at] gmail [dot] com.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Recipes

Side Dishes
Main Dishes
Bread
Dessert

The Basics

What does a vegan eat?
What exactly does gluten-free mean?
Where can I buy this food (in the Roanoke area)?