With Christmas coming in a couple of days, we're keeping very busy around here! There are have been trips out of town for shopping, spending time with family, a lot of decorating, cooking, deciding what special treats to make for Christmas, movies, and lots of time spent with the little man pictured below---playing, singing, putting up NaNa's tree, and crafting snowmen.


I'll be back with lots of pictures after the New Year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to those who celebrate, and to all others I hope you have a good day and are able to spend it exactly like you want!

Vegan Baking #4 aka Puddin' on the Bread

Randomly chosen from Mr. GV's top few choices in The Joy of Vegan Baking, bread pudding was next up! This was my first time making and actually my first time ever eating bread pudding.



It was very simple and very good!

And it didn't stick around very long!

O Christmas Tree

We actually put our Christmas tree up early this year. Normally we are lucky to get it put up 5-7 days before Christmas. Mr. GV is in charge of putting it in the stand, putting on the lights, and helping with the ornaments. I'm in charge of ornaments as well, and maintenance until after the new year.

Macy decided she was over it. Been there done that. Doesn't understand why we insist on dragging a tree into our living room each year. Not moving out of the chair; just pile the ornaments around her.

Like many other people, we get a new ornament each year that reflects something that has happened in our lives that year. I looked around online and found an ornament that suited us---it's called "Peas on Earth." lol

This represents our first year traveling to Pennsylvania for Vegetarian Summerfest. I'm the peapod on the left and Mr. GV is on the right. Yes, seriously.

The finished tree (well, minus the angel, which didn't make it on top for a couple of days)

Family meal

After my food prep was finished, Mr. GV and I (and the pups) headed over to mom's house. My sister, S, also came to visit.

Here's S and I in the kitchen.


Mr. GV took the opportunity to catch forty winks, er..I mean to ponder the meaning of life.

The pups took the opportunity to hope and beg.

My plate, filled with all sorts of goodies, including mashed potatoes and corn that mom made, carrots that my sister made, and field roast.

Mr. GV's plate. Pretty much the same as mine, with the addition of cranberry sauce.

And then it was time to get down to the business at hand...eating.

And that's serious business.

Mr. GV hopped on the dessert train and added some soy whip to his pumpkin pie.

This was our first Thanksgiving without my dad. Although his appetite hadn't been all that great the past few years as a result of dialysis, he still enjoyed it when his family got together, and he loved to reminisce as we all sat around the table. My mom had the idea to light a candle in memory of my dad, and its light shined on us all as we sat around the table together this year.

Sparky considers human meal time as a spectator sport, and as such kept an eye on things while we ate.

And here is the obligatory picture of mom peeling potatoes. She said I already had one of those from a previous family meal, but you know? Potatoes tend to be a central part of our meals, and I feel that peeling potatoes and mixing cornbread are two of the things I've seen mom do most in the kitchen, so why NOT have another picture of it?

And the rest, after which I needed a rest

Thanksgiving morning I cooked the rest of my contributions to dinner.

First up was an old-school green bean casserole, made with homemade cream of mushroom soup.

Then I tried my hand at some rolls. I made then half white, half whole wheat, from a recipe I found on the Internet. It was a good recipe and I'll make it again.

And the star of a Southern, vegan Thanksgiving: the cornbread dressing. I always use my mom's recipe and veganize it.

Next up was sweet potato casserole, made with the wonderful Dandies vegan marshmallows! For those of you not in the know, marshmallows typically contain gelatin--NOT vegan, (not even vegetarian for that matter, since it comes from animal skin and bones.) But Dandies are vegan, yummy, and

they melt!

The whole shebang, waiting to be packed up and taken over to mom's house to share!

'Twas the night before Thanksgiving...

...and I was cookin'!


Everything I made that night was from The Joy of Vegan Baking, except for the cranberry sauce and cornbread. First up was the pecan crust for my pumpkin pie.


And then the pumpkin pie itself.

Then there was the cranberry sauce. I am not a lover of cranberry sauce but my mom and Mr. GV tell me this is a great recipe. And it's just so much prettier than the kind that has ridges on it from the can.

I made Mexican wedding cookies, Russian tea cakes, or whatever name you know these little bombs of yumminess.

And then, brownies that were so full of chocolaty goodness. Next year I will cook them in a long baking pan instead of a square one so they won't be quite so thick.

Fall brings.......

beautiful, color-changing scenery...

...and downed limbs.

Which leads to

...new toys!

Of course a chainsaw isn't really a toy, but it can be a fun new thing to try out! Mr. GV and I have both used chainsaws before. Personally I enjoy chainsaws and other power tools quite a bit, although I don't get much of a chance to use them.

Care package #2

November brought another care package for J. This time there was:

-a note from me
-Diego socks from Nana
-animal crackers
-jam from our GA trip
-Diego/Backyardigan stickers
-glow in the dark train T-shirt from GA trip
-Narnia poster from our local theater



There won't be a December care package, as J will be getting lots of Christmas presents from us, and we will get to spend lots of time with him!!! Yes this is one excited Auntie!

Vegan Baking #3 aka Smooth Moves

My mom chose the next recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking. This is not exactly a baking recipe, but it is from that cookbook.

Behold, tropical smoothies! Now there's nothing all that interesting about this recipe. I chopped up fruit, then put it in mom's smoothie machine.


And then we drank it! It was really good. And most importantly we had a fun time making and drinking them.

We even packed some up for Mr. GV, who was working late that day. Yep, that's a sippy cup. It was the best way to transport. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of Mr. GV sipping from the sippy cup!

Day 5

Eventually it was time to get back to real life. Day 5 saw us having a delicious breakfast with the other 6 vacationers that shared our wonderful accommodations, and then packing up the car and heading back home. We had a full day of driving ahead of us, but we had one last stop to make.




This is where we picked up 3 bags of fresh, local apples, plus some fried pies for my mom. All the varieties that were there that day were grown by the owners except two---Fuji, because the season is short and early, and was already over, and one other kind.

And then after that, we headed home after stopping off at The Wild Cow in Nashville for some dinner, and Trader Joe's for groceries.

Day 4

Before we went to GA, we talked with a friend of ours who lives in Atlanta. He was Mr. GVs first boss when he moved to Atlanta to finish his schooling. We've tried to visit him once a year or so the last few years, and he has been to see us a few times too. So we made plans with our friend to take a ride on the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway together.

We got to the town a bit ahead of time and had our lunch as we waited on our friend. (We also had a couple run-ins with the locals on the way there. A tale for another time perhaps, but I'm certainly not including any downers in the story of Mr. GV's Fabulous Birthday!)

Train cars are assigned but not specific seats, so I waited in line to board while our friend perused the gift shop, and Mr. GV tagged along. Here you see Mr. GV and friend, dead last in line to board.

We had a narration most of the time we were riding, and our friend kept getting interrupted by the woman who was narrating. Eventually this was his reaction. He will most definitely be getting a copy of this picture sent to him!

One of the unique things about the stopover you take is that the town is really two towns, in two states actually. Here's our GA boy and our TN boy, shaking handing over the state line.

Our friend met up with a young entrepreneur who was selling old railroad spikes. After a bit of conversation, a transaction was made.

And they shook on it.

There was much conversing that day, covering a whole realm of things---medical (we are all medical professionals and these two are in the same field), political (oy!), and so forth.