Thanksgiving 2005: Five Lessons Learned

[Guest guest]

Have posted an essay on my blog that might be of interest...

 

FYI, Mark

 

"

Thanksgiving 2005: Five Lessons Learned

 

The day before the holiday, Stepmom called: " Plans have changed, dinner is

local, can you make it and bring a " corn pudding? " A rare recipe request

from her... Anxious to please, I said, " Sure! " never having made one.

Then I discovered that it's butter, cheese, milk, and eggs (oh yeah, plus

corn & cornmeal). Some social and culinary lessons learned: "

 

At:

http://www.soulveggie.com

[Guest guest]

That was a wonderful blog entry, Mark.

It truly was a joy to read. Thanks.

 

~ pt ~

 

P.S. In regards to the Jiffy mix discovery~

been there, done that! *lol* But this year i

found an el cheapo brand of small boxes of

corn bread mix [same size as Jiffy], and they

have no lard and were in a regular grocery... so no

special trip to the healthfood store required!

 

Since before time you have been free.

Birth and death are only doors through which we pass,

sacred thresholds on our journey.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh, 'No Death, No Fear'

~~~*~~~*~~~>

, Mark Sutton <soulveggie@e...>

wrote:

>

> Have posted an essay on my blog that might be of interest...

>

> FYI, Mark

>

> "

> Thanksgiving 2005: Five Lessons Learned

> At:

> http://www.soulveggie.com

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Mark,

 

I greatly enjoy your blog. I signed up for it to come as email, in fact.

 

This essay is very helpful; it mirrors a lot of what I went thru at

Thanksgiving in certain ways. I and my dh were at a friend-of-a-friend's

house for dinner; we brought a warm vegie salad (vegan) that we had

collaborated on. The head of the house was, as it turned out, an avid hunter

and we heard terribly bloodthirsty stories later, at the end of the dinner.

But at first things went well. The friends who had invited us to come

praised the salad to the heavens. Another couple tasted it and also

exclaimed over it. " I can't believe this is vegetarian, it tastes too good! "

the woman said. I said, " Well, actually just about everything we eat or fix

'tastes too good' nowadays, " to her. Her husband said, " We need the recipe

for this, okay? " and another vegetarian (who is only vegie because of a

botched operation on his intestines, as he told us before dinner! ARGH!)

said, " this is exquisite! "

 

I was greatly discombobulated, because it was just a simple rice and vegie

salad, you know? Dh bragged that I cooked like this " all the time " and the

compliments from everyone--except the animal hunter/murderer and his teenage

son--were just...um...effusive. That's the word!

 

We had outed ourselves as vegetarians, striving to be vegans, in the

livingroom before dinner. We had to explain what vegan was. Of course, we

were stared at as if we had three heads each <g>, and the man who said later

that he needed the recipe shook his head and said, " Don't y'all get hungry

on that? " and Jim said, (Jim being my husband) " No way! We eat like a king

and queen! " Then I said that I had lost a size and a half since going

vegetarian and that made this man really take notice. He said, " But you need

red meat, " rather agitatedly, and I said,without raising my voice, " no, you

don't, in fact, it's really very unhealthy for you in every way. " My Jim

then said that he used to feel the same way, but had radically changed his

viewpoint due to the overwhelming evidence the other direction. We had a

very good audience. Kinda made me nervous as I am shy in person. :>) At that

point, dinner was ready, we went in, the blessing was said and the vegie

salad was passed around the table first.

 

Big Jim's wife said to me, " This really is GOOD! " I said, " thank you " and

then said, " It's really easy to cook veg, you know, " and she said, " really? "

and I said, " yes, really. " She said, " where do you find stuff? " and I

started telling her what was where, in what section of the two stores

(Kroger's and Publix) we'd found things...and at Walmart, the Boca things

are cheaper than anywhere else in town...that sort of stuff. She was

intrigued.

 

Unfortunately...VERY regrettably, after dinner was over, the man of the

house started in telling horrible, horrible stories of him hunting, him and

his son...they got worse and worse, --we tried to politely change the

subject, to no avail, several times--and finally after my looking at my Jim

in anguish, we both got up simultaneously, excused ourselves from the table

and nearly ran into the livingroom. I got my purse and Jim got his jacket

and we prepared to make our exit. The veg who has to be a veg for his

intestines' sake <grimace> followed us and said, " that got too intense for

you guys, didn't it? " and Jim and I blurted out, " yes! " Veg says, " so you

really care about the animals too, huh? " and I said, " yes, we do--it's not

just about human health for us, it's about taking care of the animals God

gave us to be companions to. " That freaked him out, I could see, but (Rule

Number Six) if someone asks, be prepared to answer--directly, honestly, and

yet gently as far as it's possible to do so.

 

We made our goodbyes to the lady of the house--who seemed to have no clue

why we were leaving--and then everybody else left too, right after we did. I

found that very interesting.

 

So, a week later, after church service, the Veg man and his wife,(who by the

way, can't eat vegetables without taking meds! poor lady!) and Big Jim and

his wife, and my Jim & I and another couple are all at a local burger place.

The reluctant veg (and he complains all the time about " having to eat veg,

how boring it is! " ...or he DID, LOL...not around us anymore!) assured us

there were vegie burgers there. Yes, there were. Morningstar ones. So we sat

down and took bites out of the burgers and the reluctant veg says, " Oh,

these are to DIE for! " Jim and I looked at each other and said, " Well,

they're pretty good...but they're not to DIE for! " R. Veg says, " oh, they

ARE! They're so much better than just beans! " Jim says, " well, we like Boca

burgers better, actually, " and I say, " is that all you eat?beans? " and he

says, " practically! " and Jim says, " you're really missing out then! We eat

lots and lots of different vegies and combinations, " and he started talking

about a few of the things we'd fixed recently. The whole table was listening

avidly...I mean, I wish y'all would have seen this...all of 'em me#t eaters,

except me, R. Veg and my dh...listening and going, " mmm! " and other similar

noises <G>. It was great!

 

We followed one of Mark's rules, i.e., don't preach but just lead the whole

evening. At one point, my Jim had gone to get some more tea to drink and

into the sudden silence, another fellow said, " But I love red meat! " &

laughed and patted his hamburger, and I said, " But red meat causes cancer. "

Another silence fell, this time a horrified one, and I said, " I'm sorry to

be the bearer of bad tidings, but there are many studies that now show that

red meat causes all kinds of cancers and other terrible diseases in humans. "

The man looked down at his hamburger and said, " EWWWW! " with a grimace on

his face. " THAT's not good, is it! " I shook my head, " No, " and then from a

very unexpected quarter, --Big Jim!--came this comment, " I've read about

some of those studies too, and Bron's right, red meat can be very dangerous,

if you eat too much of it. " The other man said, " really? " and I then nodded

my head and said, " Most Americans eat far too much meat anyway, and so the

danger is potentially very great to get some awful disease from the

meat--which has hormones and pesticides and all kinds of other poisons in

it. " A shocked silence around the table at this point. Even the R. Veg has

nothing to say. Then I say, " and it's really easy to get all the nutrients

you need from plant foods, and it's so versatile a way to eat. And, you also

feel so much better when you don't eat meat, and you can think much more

clearly and work longer. " Big Jim laughed and said, " Don't tell my boss

that! " and everybody else laughed too, including me. I then said, " I used to

think I had to have meat too, but I learned differently. " My Jim came back

to the table, heard the last part and said, " Yep, and there is so much fiber

in vegetables, grains, and seeds and fruits that you are full and satisfied

for hours on end, and so you don't overeat. " (He told me later he cut

himself off from finishing, " ...like you do when you eat meat! " because he

didn't want them to feel he was setting himself up as better than they

were.)

 

Another silence. Then Jim said, " We're not trying to preach, we are just

concerned and want y'all to know that being vegetarian is a really wonderful

lifestyle, in every way possible! " and then he changed the subject to

something else, something very innocuous, and the conversation went on. We

said good night, went home and that was that. We THOUGHT. :>) We are of the

philosophy, Plant seeds. That's what we had tried to do and we felt good

that at least no one had cut us off at the pass. Progress!

 

Okay, so this happened about a week ago.

 

So this past Sunday morning, Big Jim comes and sits by me and my Jim in the

pew before service starts. I handed him the copy of the warm vegie salad

recipe and he said, " Oh, great, thanks! " and then he says, " You know, we

went to Walmart and got those Boca burger things, like you told us about?

and THEY WERE GOOD! " --with such surprise in his voice.I about fell over into

the floor, hearing that. I nodded and grinned like one of those bobbling

dolls we used to see in the back of the boats-for-cars driven in my

childhood, & said, " great! glad you did! " and he continued: " In fact, we

decided to eat no meat all week, based on what you and Jim said at

Thanksgiving and then at the burger place last week. We thought, if they can

do it and feel so great, we're gonna try it too. And you're right, we DO

feel better just eating vegies! " I was soooo excited, for him and for his

wife both. I just kept listening to him say, " And we tried this! and like

you said, it DOES taste good! " etc. etc. Honestly for about five minutes it

was like that from this man. And I grinned till I thought my face would

split open. Wow! This seed really took root!

 

He finally said, " but I still have to eat some red meat, you know! Gotta

have it! " and I said gently, with a smile, " No, you really don't 'gotta have

it', it's just been conditioned into your brain that you do. Remember that

my Jim was a meat and taters man too, just like you? and no longer does he

even want to eat meat. Nobody *needs* red meat, it's just the commercials

that make folks think they do. " He was listening very intently and said,

" well, maybe you're right, you were sure right about these other things, so

I guess you know what you're talkin' about! " and grinned. I grinned back and

said, " I do know what I'm talkin' about, I've learned a lot. Would you like

me to get you some stuff together, stuff to read and recipes, maybe, to

share, on and on with y'all? I'd love to help, " and he says, " Yeah, yeah!

That'd be great if you'd do that! We'd really appreciate it, Bron, " and then

it was almost time to start services, his wife came and sat down and looked

at the recipe and leaned over and patted my hand, whispering, " thanks! " . My

Jim was grinnin' like a possum and it was a great moment all around!

 

So, I am collecting stuff to both print and email to Big Jim. It's gonna be

an ongoing project. But I thought about the situation and then about your

five rules (plus my Number Six, as above), Mark, and found I'd utilized

nearly all of 'em. So I felt realllll good about it. :>)

 

Now, if anybody has any simple veg recipes, tips, sites, that you'd care to

send me, I'll sure appreciate it. I have some of my own favorites of each,

but I know I can learn and gain new knowledge from all o'y'all for the sake

of this couple. As well, anything else along these lines that you think

might help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you, Mark, for posting the lessons you learned on

Thanksgiving. That was very generous and kind of you, not to say " loving " ,

to compliment your stepmom for thinking of you as veg in front of everybody

else. Seeds go a long, long way...sometimes a lot more " way " than we ever

dreamed, as evidenced by my own story here, don't they?

 

We are having a Christmas party at the church building with the above

mentioned people on Saturday, and were called tonight and asked to bring

" finger foods for vegies, for you and for others who might like to try some,

okay? "

 

<VBG>

 

I should say that it's not only the above-mentioned people, but the party

involves a pretty goodsized group--about 70 or thereabouts.

 

So I am planning to really go all out. Ideas would be appreciated for this

part too. I am planning to take my soon-to-be-famous almond butter Jam Dots

cookies, but need ideas for other finger foods. I know this group will help

me out bigtime.

 

I'm so excited and so is Jim, about the wonderful turn of events! and we

thought Thanksgiving Day was such a bust, most of it.

 

You never know. You just never know, do you?

 

Bron

 

 

On 12/6/05, Mark Sutton <soulveggie wrote:

>

> Have posted an essay on my blog that might be of interest...

>

> FYI, Mark

>

> "

> Thanksgiving 2005: Five Lessons Learned

>

> The day before the holiday, Stepmom called: " Plans have changed, dinner is

> local, can you make it and bring a " corn pudding? " A rare recipe request

> from her... Anxious to please, I said, " Sure! " never having made one.

> Then I discovered that it's butter, cheese, milk, and eggs (oh yeah, plus

> corn & cornmeal). Some social and culinary lessons learned: "

>

> At:

> http://www.soulveggie.com

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hey Mark,

 

Great entry and great blog. Thanks. I enjoyed the success story. I'm

curious about your crockpot cooking. Do you have some sort of connection

with that type of cooking or is it therapeutic in some fashion. Perhaps I

read too much into it but it sounded interesting in that you preferred

cooking with that appliance or there was something behind the whole

process. My apologies if I'm off and sound like a nut ball. LOL.

 

Two bits I liked - one was that you were patient with your family and the

other was that you didn't let your family know of your dish ingredients

before they tried it. You didn't trick them because they were familiar (or

at least reminded by your sister at some point) with your diet and they knew

that you cooked this.

 

Congrats on your new dish and good and successful time with your fam.

 

Shawn

 

On 12/6/05, Mark Sutton wrote:

>

> Have posted an essay on my blog that might be of interest...

>

> FYI, Mark

>

> "

> Thanksgiving 2005: Five Lessons Learned

>

> The day before the holiday, Stepmom called: " Plans have changed, dinner is

> local, can you make it and bring a " corn pudding? " A rare recipe request

> from her... Anxious to please, I said, " Sure! " never having made one.

> Then I discovered that it's butter, cheese, milk, and eggs (oh yeah, plus

> corn & cornmeal). Some social and culinary lessons learned: "

>

> At:

> http://www.soulveggie.com

>

>

>

>

>