According to a 2009 Vegetarian Resource Group/Harris Interactive survey, about 3% of the U.S. adult population is vegetarian. If you’ve invited a vegetarian to enjoy your turkey dinner, plan ahead with these tips from nutrition expert Gary Null.

A vegetarian does not eat any type of animal flesh, whether from fish, fowl or other animals, although some individuals choose to eat dairy and/or egg products. This includes lard, chicken and beef stock and some prepared salad dressings.

With the vegan Celebration Roast, you still
get leftovers for sandwiches the next day. Photo by Hannah Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE.

A vegan (pronounced VEE-gun) eats no animal-derived products, including honey, gelatin (used in desserts and marshmallows) and red food dyes derived from cochineal. If there is an animal-derived ingredient in a dish, no matter how small the amount, be certain to let your guest know.

Most importantly, the Thanksgiving dinner table is not the time to discuss why someone is a vegetarian. Some choose this diet for ethical or animal rights reasons. Others may be motivated by religious, environmental and/or health considerations. Some simply don’t like meat. If you really want to know why your guest has made this choice, ask another day—and if anyone else brings up the topic, steer the conversation to reasons everyone should be thankful!

For Thanksgiving weekend, how about some apricot pumpkin bread, delicious for breakfast, brunch, snacks and tea sandwiches. This recipe is courtesy of B & R Farms, apricot growers who sell their delicious products at California farmers markets and to wholesalers. For more recipes, visit brfarms.com.

APRICOT PUMPKIN BREAD
Ingredients

- 1 large egg
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 1/2 cup salad oil (we like olive oil)
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoons each: baking powder, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground nutmeg, ground ginger
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 cup chopped dried apricots

B & R Farms apricots drying in the California
sun. Photo by Shannon Grissom, courtesy
B & R Farms.

What’s for dinner? Take your pick, or cook them all:

These recipes are too cute for words (take a look at the pictures!). Even if you don’t have kids, you may want to whip up a few. You can have your worm sandwiches with a beer instead of milk.

Happy Halloween!

Worms: They’re what’s for dinner. At least on
Halloween! Photo courtesy of Pillsbury.

The Bloody Eyeball Martini. Photo courtesy
of Kris Plazek.

While the kids are out trick-or-treating, you deserve a treat, too. Our Halloween cocktails with gin include the Bloody Scream, Ghost, Satan’s Whiskers, Swamp Demon and Witches’ Brew. But they’re only the top of the menu—we’ve got a whole Halloween Lounge going.

What are you waiting for? Start mixing!

Back in the 17th century, sugar was costly and shortbread was considered an expensive luxury, a treat reserved for special celebrations, Christmas and New Year’s celebrations. Imagine how over-the-top-indulgent those party-goers would think us if they had these dipped shortbread fingers!

We thank the folks at Walkers Shortbread for this festive yet easy recipe. Serve it for dessert with ice cream or with coffee and tea when guests stop by during the holiday season.

Ingredients

Dip shortbread fingers: It’s easy, fun—and impressive! Photo courtesy Walker’s Shortbread.

Preparation
1. Microwave chocolate in medium microwavable bowl on HIGH for 2 minutes. Stir until chocolate is melted and smooth.
2. Dip shortbread fingers into the melted chocolate. Immediately roll in chopped nuts, coconut, mini-chocolate chips, slivered almonds, etc.
3. Or place plain dipped chocolate shortbread onto waxed paper and let cool. Then drizzle with contrasting chocolate. Serves 4.

There are many more recipes available at www.walkersus.com. Enjoy!

Fall is the time to bake up a pumpkin storm, so let’s add to the list with a delicious pumpkin cupcake with pumpkin cheesecake (cream cheese) frosting.

Created by cupcake blogger Stefani Pollack, the cupcakes are made with healthier graham flour and bits of graham crackers, yielding a far more rich-tasting, graham-y cake with a muffin-like texture—no delicate little cup of fluff.

Holiday flavors: graham flour (used to make
graham crackers) and pumpkin cheesecake
frosting. Photo courtesy Stefani Pollack |
Cupcake Project.

We love pumpkin cheesecake: So many recipes, so little time! This recipe is on the lighter side—pumpkin mousse—which makes it a better option after a heavy dinner. Think ahead to Thanksgiving, but try it out for Halloween.

The recipe was created by Andrea Watman, Creative Director at Zabar’s in New York City. Another twist is the gingersnap cookie crust, which brings even more holiday flavor into the recipe.

Pumpkin mousse cheesecake is lighter than other recipes.

Scatter miniature pumpkins and gourds to dress up the dining table from October through Thanksgiving weekend. They also can be used to hold place cards: Either cut a slit on the top with a sharp knife to insert the card, or use strong double-stick tape to affix it.

The easiest way to scoop out a pumpkin is with an ice cream scoop. Whether you’re removing only the pulp and seeds or all the fruit, a large scoop makes the job go faster. If you’ll be turning the pumpkin into a Jack o’lantern, you can make the vegetal scent fragrant by sprinkling cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice inside. The lit candle will diffuse the scent, and you can refresh the spices each day when you light the wick. Try cinnamon today, nutmeg tomorrow, then cloves, then allspice.

Chocolate Bellboy Skull from Woodhouse
Chocolate.

Here’s what we want in our trick-or-treat bag:

The Browniepops Halloween collection, chocolate-dipped sea salt caramel apples from Cocoa Dolce, pumpkin marshmallows from Pete’s Gourmet, burnt caramel Halloween bonbons from Recchiuti Confections, monster cookies from Rolling Pin Productions, the chocolate skeleton bride and groom from Sahagùn Chocolates, the chocolate-covered Halloween strawberries from Secret Spoon, Woodhouse Chocolate’s “bellboy” chocolate skulls and John & Kira’s fig pumpkins (see the post below).

Are we gluttonous? No, just obsessed with the best—and we share generously!