Thanksgiving report card

Thanksgiving was super-fun as always. I went to my aunt's house, as is tradition, and saw a random sampling of cousins, aunts, uncles and friends. Now about the feast: I found that not eating meat was the easy part. The turkey did smell good, but even seeing it come right out of the oven, golden brown, I had no craving for it. Staying away from dairy is the hard part. Not because I wanted to eat it, but because so many dishes are made with butter and cheese it's not easy to avoid. But, I think I did pretty good.

Here's what I ate:

• Snacking: Raw celery, broccoli, and radishes. And a couple beers.
  
• Crescent rolls (maybe had butter in the dough)
• Green beans (tasted like they were tossed with oil, but maybe butter)
• Cranberry-horseradish sauce (I think I'm OK here. I heard about the recipe on NPR recently and really wanted to try it)
• Mashed potatoes (Can't I fantasize there was no milk or butter to make them silky smooth?)
• Sweet potato bake crunch thing (OK, I knew there was probably some butter in this, but I ate it anyway. After dinner, I overheard the guest describe what was in it and it was almost comical how much dairy there was. "...frosted flakes on top...and there's butter and a lot of evaporated milk, and then even more butter, and cream..." My cousin who knows I was trying to be good got a good laugh out of it too.)
• My contribution: Apple pie (It was a hit. There were only a couple slices leftover. I found a place in my neighborhood that makes vegan pies, and they came through with very little notice. I highly recommend them. Sante La Brea. The pie was amazing, and I can't wait to go back and try their vegan breakfast, lunch and dinner.)

What I didn't eat:

• Dip for the raw veggies
• Appetizer mac and cheese
• Dinner's mac and cheese with bacon
• Turkey
• Gravy
• Stuffing
• Butter for the rolls
• Other pies
• Cool whip

I learned my lesson here. From now on, I really need to bring my own meal to Thanksgiving. My brother-in-law (vegetarian) cooked a pea pot pie for him and my sister to eat at their friend's Thanksgiving. I need to do something like that. I really didn't miss any of the things I didn't eat. And I would have been fine without the things I did eat. I gave myself a pass this time to do my best under the circumstances I put myself into, and I did.