I’ve often thought about the transformation of tofurky through the years. I remember many moons ago, when the first tofurky came out, my mom excitedly ran to the nearest health store and brought it home for our Thanksgiving feast. After waiting forever for it to cook, we finally displayed it on the dining room table and got ready to eat. What happened after that first bite kind of resembled the scene where they eat blue soup in Bridget Jone’s Diary. I’m not that big a fan of fake meats to begin with, but we all thought it tasted pretty gross. It could have been our lack of cooking skills, the fact that I’ve never really liked the taste of meat, or that tofurky was a new product that has come a long way since then, but in the end, we gave it to the dog and ate Thanksgiving spaghetti instead. The dog wouldn’t touch it, and also went for the spaghetti.

A lot has changed since then, and tofurky is pretty tasty now. A friend made it for me a few years ago and I actually really enjoyed it. We’ve been so busy that we were tempted to make something similar this year, but then decided on Chef Chloe’s Vegan Pumpkin Penne Pasta with Sage instead. It’s one of our favorite holiday meals and something I look forward to every year. For our full Thanksgiving Menu, check out my post from last year.

I also wanted to share some Inland Empire and Los Angeles area vegan Thanksgiving treats, in case anyone would rather go out this year.

Babycakes: I know it’s dessert, but they have a lot of Thanksgiving treats on their menu. 

Cafe Gratitude: Will be hosting a free Thanksgiving feast, more info here.

One World Vegetarian in Covina will be serving a Thanksgiving special, and I if you call in advance you can purchase a vegan turkey for your Thanksgiving meal at home. Reservations strongly recommended.

And Native Foods usually has a wellington that they serve, but they may be done with orders.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Here’s to a year of health, happiness, family, and tasty food. 🙂