A Time To Celebrate

Goodness it is December already. I think Dr Seuss said it better than I can!

How did it get so late so soon?
It's night before it's afternoon.
December is here before it's June.
My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Yuletide or the many other events happening this month, it is a time to get together with family and friends.

With these events comes meal planning. I therefore have given a list of some great sites where you can find some wonderful recipes for your gatherings. Included are some New Year recipes as it is also just around the corner.


Vegan Christmas or Yule by Vegan Family
Vegan Hanukkah by Bryanna Clark Grogan
A Hanukkah of Mixed Traditions from Vegsource
Vegan Christmas Recipes from Vegsource
Recipes from Christmas Past from the Vegetarian Society
Ring in a Vegetarian New Year! from VegCooking
Hogmanay Recipes from the Vegan Society


You might also find these links useful:
Holiday E-cards from Vegan Peace.
Celebrating Christmas 2007 Magazine. Free PDF download
DLTK's Crafts for Kids features a variety of fun, printable children's crafts, coloring pages and more including projects for holidays (including Hanukkah and Christmas), educational themes and some of our children's favorite cartoon characters.

Remember This December,
That love weighs more than gold!
~Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon

Celebration Drinks:

Glühwein (hot spiced wine)
From Christmas-Baking

For each 750 ml (3 cups) of wine, add:
1 stick cinnamon
6 whole cloves
Rind/zest of half a lemon
2 to 4 tbsps sugar
1 Cardamon pod (optional)
Rum, brandy, vodka or schnapps (optional)

Use cheap wine. Not that cheap, but still cheap. The amount of sugar is inversely proportional to the cheapness of the wine. Break cinnamon sticks into three or four pieces. Remove rind from lemon in large pieces or one long piece. In saucepot over medium-low heat, combine wine, spices and 2 tbsps sugar. Heat 1/2 to 1 hour, but do not allow to boil. Longer heating brings out a warmer, more cinnamon flavor. Taste and adjust sugar. Serve, adding a shot of rum or schnapps if desired. If you do add schnapps, be careful not to inhale while drinking the Wein; you'll choke on the alchohol fumes. Remove spices and rind; reduce heat to low and cover if not all Wein is served.

Glühwein (non-alcoholic)
Recipe source unknown.

4 cups apple juice
2 cups strong black tea
2 tbsps raw sugar
1 orange juiced
1 lemon juiced
zest from lemon and orange
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves

In a saucepan heat but do not boil the apple juice and tea. Add sugar, cinnamon, cloves,lemon and orange zest and juice. Stir until sugar disolved. Heat but do not boil. Strain into mugs and serve.

Vegan Eggnog (alcoholic or non-alcoholic)
From Erik's Diner

This recipe is excerpted from The Almost No-Fat Holiday Cookbook. This "eggnog" will please even those who say they don't like soymilk. It's not too thick and cloying -- a very refreshing drink any time of the year. Make the eggnog mix ahead of time, then blend with the ice cubes just before serving.

2 pkts 10.5oz/300gms reduced-fat, extra-firm, SILKEN tofu.
2 cup reduced-fat soymilk, or other plain, non-dairy "milk"
2/3 cup turbinado sugar, light brown sugar, or sweetner
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup cold water
1 cup rum or brandy (or use apple juice with rum or brandy flavoring to taste)
4 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
20 ice cubes
freshly grated nutmeg

Place the crumbled tofu and the soymilk in a blender with the sugar and salt. Blend until very smooth. Scrape this into a large bowl or pitcher, and whisk in the water, rum or brandy, and vanilla. Mix well, cover, and refrigerate until serving time. To serve, blend half of the mixture in the blender with 10 of the ice cubes until frothy. Repeat with the other half. Serve in glasses with nutmeg sprinkled on top. Serves 10

Holiday Strawberry Punch (alcoholic or non-alcoholic)
Adapted from Strawberry-Recipes.com

1 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup spring water
2 cups Strawberry wine or low-alcohol semi sweet wine or strawberry juice
2 cups fresh orange juice
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries, crushed
1 quart/litre of soda water or seltzer

Mix sugar with water and boil to make syrup. Let cool down. Combine syrup with wine/juices, and crushed strawberries. Chill. Just before serving, pour into punch bowl and slowly add soda water. 12 servings


Technorati Tags: vegan+recipes drinks+recipes Hanukkah Christmas gluwein