Holiday Feasting
By Mr.e

Turkey or no turkey, ham or no ham, roast or no roast? That is the question.

This decadent, festive and indulgent time of year presents conundrums for some vegetarians, closet and avowed. Ok, so I consider myself to be a pseudo vegetarian. Not quite the same as being a nonsmoker but close enough.

Cobbling together one or more scrumptious holiday feast menus sans the traditional ingredient plus trimmings is not something I’m too comfortable with just yet. So I decided to approach this seasons’ feasting head on. I ventured into our local deli and ordered a mammoth bird; the fresh free-range specimen was a bonus although I’m not to sure of the exact definition of ‘free-range’. Perhaps these turkeys got an hour out on the ‘range’ every day?

At this stage in the holiday planning, preparations and frantic shopping sprees to make sure that every unusual and special ingredient is on hand for those special recipes, I didn’t give a damn about what Howard Lyman said about meat production in his book ‘Mad Cowboy’ (www.madcowboy.com). That’s the book that got me thinking about what I was putting in my body.

The idea of a tofu bird doesn’t do diddly for me. Actually it makes me kind of nervous. I’ll try a tofu bird the day it looks smells and tastes like a real one. As the mouthwatering aroma of the roasting bird wafted through the house, I shoved all the concerns re vegetarian holiday cuisine aside.

Well, the bird was the only bit of meat on the table that evening, but more was to come. I’d scheduled us to devour a ham a few days later and again caution was thrown to the winds in favor of some festive indulgences. Stomachs suitably acclimatized to the heavier fare, the ham was thoroughly enjoyed over the course of a few days.

While I prefer not to eat meat on a regular basis and know that I’m probably not a full-fledged member of the veggie club, I must admit that I enjoy eating the stuff on occasion. At this stage I’ve not made any attempts to find certified organic animal flesh but that may still happen if the carnivorous urge persists.

Even if there are veggie holiday recipes out there that could compare with any bird-based feast; I’ve not explored that possibility. Nor have I decided that the traditional Christmas feast in this house will henceforth be a meatless affair.

The recent memory of that perfect golden roasted bird is still too fresh on my palette.

This continuous feasting is starting to get to me. Thank goodness these holidays are coming to an end. Carrot sticks anyone?