Tofurkey (wiki)
I’m not too sure how it’s happened but we seem to have gone
vegan for our Christmas dinner.
If I think about it this has been creeping up on us for
years and with less and less young ones eating anything meat or dairy it’s just
been a natural progression. It was many
years ago we offered a nut roast as a side dish and since then the meat has
slowly made its way off the table.
We usually shy away from making vegetarian or vegan dishes
to resemble meat. Not everyone likes the feel or taste of meat so why try and
replicate it in a burger or sausage? For
the festive meal though we have decided to try something called a “Tofurkey”
and made an exception to the non-meat flavoured dish.
This actually does taste like turkey. We didn’t want to be
bringing anything to the table which had been shop bought so looked up a tofu
recipe and settled for this one. The
reason we know it tastes like turkey is because we have done a trial run. The
loaf shaped tofurkey has an outside of spiced tofu and the inside is a stuffing
flavoured with sage and thyme herbs from the garden which give it that festive
smell and taste. Meat and tofu don’t generally taste of anything, it’s the
flavourings, herbs and spices that enhance it and in our experiments this seems
to be the case as we basted it with more flavours including soy sauce every
fifteen minutes in its 2 hour oven cooking time which gave it a lovely rich
colour. We offered out samples to the kids and they all loved it. We just have
to recreate one for the big meal.
It’s at times like this I really appreciate the pots and
planted herbs in the garden. Fresh leaves really enhance any meal. They can
even be used as table decorations for the Christmas meal.
Table Runner Weight
In the past we have used clip on tablecloth runners. Our
regular ones are made from ceramic lemons but have you thought about making
small posies out of fresh foliage?
Aromatic, shrubby evergreen herbs, such as rosemary, sage
and bay, and winter foliage, such as Eucalyptus, Pittosporum and Sarcococca,
are all suited to this mini-posy. They can either be pinned to the side cloth
draping over the table or just put around the corners of the table.
Leave the rosemary and Eucalyptus sprigs to rest in water
for 24 hours before arranging. Allow to dry then form into a small posy. Tie
together with twine, leaving a long piece at each end to attach to the table
linen.
Gather the table runner at the top end of the table and
position your posy just short of the table top. Tie it to the linen with the
twine.
To stop it moving, secure the posy to the table runner and
tablecloth at the back with a safety pin.
Festive Wine Glass
Decorative winter foliage can be used in many ways. Create
simple, thoughtful Christmas table decorations by adding scented foliage to
glasses or napkins. To transform your wine or champagne glasses, use soft,
small-leaved stems of Eucalyptus or choose sprigs of scented, winter-flowering
shrubs such as Christmas box (Sarcococca).
Decorate Chairs
Add an extra touch to your Christmas table decorations by adding
something extra your dining chairs too. Tie ribbons around them, adorn them
with mini wreaths made from evergreens from the garden or just simply hang a
few of fir branches off the back. It might not last long, but looks lovely for
the big day and it can all be composted after the event.
One item I shy away from on the festive table are lit
candles. They do tend to get in the way when you are passing around the bowls
of vegetables and bread sauce.
Home Grown
The only home grown vegetables on our plates this week will
be broccoli as my Brussels didn’t come on well enough. Root vegetables come
into their own for the Christmas dinner but I don’t really grow any. Carrots,
parsnips and potatoes all go well and for this you’ll need a bit of forward
planning. Seeds of these are usually sown in March/April time so one job to do
over the holidays is go through the seed catalogues and pick out what you want
to grow in the veggie patch. It’s handy to have an idea of long term planning
when you look through the list.
