My First Vegetarian Thanksgiving

Raise your hand if you, like me, assumed that grocery stores would be open on Thanksgiving day?

*cricket*

Soooo, raise your hand if, like me, you basically have no soul and will be reincarnated into a rock in your next life because you selfishly assumed that grocery store workers would not take a thanksgiving vacation but would be serving you and your last minute ingredient needs instead.
:( I can probably expect lots of coal in my stockings this year...

What with grocery stores being closed, I had to rely on what I had in my house, and the ever-reliable, 24/7 Walgreens to supply me with ingredients to make not just any tasty dish, a tasty THANKSGIVING dish. Which cannot be taken lightly! Thanksgiving to food/cooks alike, is what the NBA finals are to the basketball world. And I was expected to make slam dunks with a dish comprised solely of convenient store-bought ingredients? Perhaps this is the inner food snob in me speaking, but I felt like the odds were not in my favor.

Equipped with a can of pumpkin, a package of english muffins, and the spices I had at home, I was able to put together my version of this cinnamon bread pudding. And with some of my left over ingredients I also put together an attempt on cinnamon spice muffins. 

Lets start with the bread pudding. I used english muffin tops for bread left out some of the accessory ingredients that the recipe called for, including white powder sugar. I thought it came together very nicely, and the bread added great texture. This is the first time I've made, and consumed bread pudding. So without any basis for comparison, I would say the dish was a success! 

....Too bad none of the Asian parents thought so. In the end I brought my bread pudding to the Thanksgiving dinner party and no one even bothered to eat it. In fact, the dish didn't even leave the side counter and make it on to the main table! Talk about WOMP...

My parents said its because the cinnamon spice combo isn't a favorite among more traditional Asian palettes. Who am I to combat old-school taste preferences? Shrugs...I do what I can. The rest though is out of my control.

Difficulty: 6

Willingness to make again: 9
Over-all: 8.5
Notes:
1. X-nay on the cloves next time. I am also not a fan

Now, lets proceed onto the attempted muffins. Notice how I keep using the word "attempt?" The good thing about the recipe is that it completely fit the bill in terms of utilizing left over snacks and ingredients I had lying around the pantry. The major  con is that they turned out like *ish.
Needless to say, if the bread pudding didn't even make the table, that these muffins should not have even left my oven. Points to me for trying, at least.

^props for a recipe that uses your applesauce and random stash of corn flakes

Surprisingly, my parents liked these weird sticky-muffins more than my bread pudding. Again, it is what it is. Not in my control!

Difficulty: 4

Willingness to make again: 5 (done right next time)
Over-all: 4

Notes:
1. KOREAN FLOUR is not the same as All Purpose Flour and the result drastically changed my muffins. Instead of being fluffy and light, my muffins had a "nian" texture and didn't rise properly, even with adequate baking powder.
2. The recipe doesn't make the muffins sweet enough. So I improvised by melting the rest of the chocolate truffles and drizzling them on top. To let the muffins dry on time I shoved them in the fridge for a clutch cool-down.

In the end, vegetarian Thanksgiving was a success. In that there was actually a very sufficient amount of dishes that I was able to eat. Given that I was at a full on Asian dinner party at someone else's house, I'd say it was quite auspicious! 

At the end of the day, I didn't end my first Thanksgiving with a four-sweep, and I may not have even won the finals...or made it into the semifinals. BUT I survived. And am full. That is always a win of some sort.

Now I can end this post with some cheesy mush about Thanksgiving isn't really about food but about family and cherishing all the great aspects of our lives, being grateful, ya dee ya da. But lets be real here...devout followers of foodism are primarily concerned with stuffing our bellies guiltlessly. After-all it is in the spirit of the holiday! Aaaaandddd, that is what my personal blog is for. For the mush and things. Leaving this space solely for what its meant for, the nomz and creation of nomz.

 

 But for the record, here is a glimpse of some things I am most thankful for. (: