As a vegetarian, Thanksgiving is never about the turkey for me. Fortunately, the friends’ I go to every year are vegetarians as well so I don’t have a problem having to turn down meat dishes. If you are hosting Thanksgiving this year, you may have two dietary restrictions to consider….the vegetarians as well the Jews.

For the record, I am not a cook nor do I pretend to be one on this blog. Just click on the links to grab the recipes listed here. Alls I did was research the internets.

Let’s start with latkes. THE traditional Hanukkah dish is the potato pancake. Latkes are indeed vegetarian but if you want to go vegan, you can substitute the egg whites with a product called “Egg Replacer“. Alternatively, blending flax seeds with water will do the same trick.

Chopped liver is not necessarily a Hanukkah food, maybe more of a Passover dish. But what Jewish vegetarian wouldn’t be impressed with an attempt at Grandma’s chopped liver minus the liver? Here are 22 different recipes for the famous dish. It’s more of an appetizer. Think fois gras. Speaking of….you can always pick up some containers of Faux Gras and save yourself the trouble.

Soup time! Both matzoh ball soup and hot borscht will go over well for the double holiday. I just want y’all to know that my mother bought borscht from a jar. Yeah, the ones you see at the supermarket. And you wonder why I don’t cook?

Another food that may not be associated with Hanukkah…ok, I have to admit something here. I don’t know my Hanukkah dishes. I’m the worst Jew ever. We never celebrated Hanukkah. We celebrated Christmas by going out to a Chinese restaurant and a move. So, let’s just say these are “Jewish” foods and not “Hanukkah”.

So, where was I? Oh yeah, stuffed cabbage! Healthy, tasty and gassy. You can sit around and recreate that scene from Blazing Saddles after dinner.

What about the main course? The turkey substitute? You can go with a nut roast or pastry dish. Here’s a homemade tofurkey recipe. Make sure you’re not dealing with any celiacs on that one as it’s made from wheat gluten.

Dessert? I just learned over the weekend from my goy friend that there is a Hanukkah donut called sufganiot! Who knew? Apparently everyone but me. It’s kind of like a jelly donut (Blech!) but you can do pumpkin or something equally disgusting.

Any traditional Thanksgiving dish other than the turkey is easy to make as a vegetarian dish and Jews like to eat, so no problem there. Stuffing, cranberry sauce, potatoes, veggies. Never underestimate the power of the side dish as long as there are enough of them.

Oh, while we’re on this subject, if you are entertaining vegetarian friends, beware the cheese! FYI, not all cheese are vegetarian. Look at the label for “rennet” which is the lining of a calf’s stomach. Yup. Microbial enzymes and vegetable rennet are cool. All kosher cheeses are fine because kosher folks don’t mix meat with dairy, so if it’s a dairy product, it won’t contain any dead animal. Look for the kosher “U” or “K” on the package and you’re good to go. You learn something new every day.

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Forget Spring. Summer is here. And with summer comes backyard barbeques and poolside entertaining. (If you have a pool, invite me.) Since this is a green blog, the use of disposable anything should not be promoted. However, some of these products are biodegradable or can take a good few uses before crapping out.

The VerTerra palm leaf plates above are made from fallen leaves. They are biodegradable and chemical free as well as microwave safe. The 6×6 plates as shown run about $152 for a 300 count. The company makes matching cutlery as well.

Wasara makes some beautiful products from bamboo and recycled paper. Love the cutlery! A party kit as shown would run $249 for service for 50 people.

Non-eco friendly plastics can look nice too. The 9″ wavy plate from EMI Yoshi costs 68 bucks for 120 plates over at Wasserstrom Restaurant Supplies.

As for the bargains, check out Amazing Savings and National Wholesale Liquidators first. Also, never forget your local dollar store! And of course, y’all know that Ikea and Target have fun outdoor dining option. Oh, and you can always buy inexpensive vintage wares at any second hand thrift shop. I know, I know. Then you have to wash it.

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