Ask Laura Saves Thanksgiving!

Dear Laura,
I am hosting my first Thanksgiving for my in-laws, and it has to be good. Where do I start? I can cook, but I am no gourmet chef. How do I get my family excited about the all-vegan Thanksgiving I’m preparing?
—Anxious in Austin

First, you’re super awesome for doing this, and I wish you were my in-law, because I’d eat the crap out of your vegan feast. That said, there’s no time to mess around, you need to impress these people or else they might hate you and your husband will divorce you and OMG, the pressure.

First, you need to scour the internet looking for stellar, proven recipes. I recommend VegNews, VegWeb, Post Punk Kitchen, veganbaking.net, and the millions upon millions of vegan blogs. Once you’ve found some that have good reviews (This is key! Do not trust a recipe without reviews!), create a simple menu, and a game plan for executing it. If a recipe is complicated, either do a dry run first, or scrap it. Life’s too short to serve garbage food that stresses you out! Also, never be ashamed to see if local restaurants, natural food stores, or Whole Foods make vegan versions of holiday dishes: It can take some pressure off, and it’ll be guaranteed delicious, or else you can sue them. Or get your money back, one or the other.

My final tips: Omnivores seem to be extra apprehensive about vegan meats, especially Tofurky, which has suffered from mainstream media’s ridicule since its creation. People are afraid of change! Because of this, perhaps you want to make less traditional main dishes, like an amazing lasagna or kick-ass casserole, and serve them with traditional sides that are easily veganized, like mashed potatoes and flaky biscuits. If you think about it, turkey isn’t really what most people look forward to on Thanksgiving anyway: it’s the sides. Oh, and the family hangout time, but we’re here to talk about things that really matter. Another important thing to keep in mind is to be enthusiastic about the food you serve. If you apologize for serving vegan food, other people will automatically think of it as “less than.” Let’s face it, people are followers, and if you’re like, “These vegan marshmallows are so awesome!” as you take a bite of your gooey, vegan marshmallow-topped sweet potatoes, rest assured others will follow suit. Happy Thanksgiving!