Monthly Archives: November 2013

A Vegan Thanksgiving

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I haven’t blogged about Thanksgiving since 2010, and I’ve written only one food-related post in the three years since then, so here’s another perspective on this very American holiday.

On Thursday, I celebrated “regular Thanksgiving,” along with millions of my fellow citizens.  It was a lovely day for me, because I escaped the dysfunctional family dynamics that characterize so many of these gatherings and instead traveled to Amherst to join a small group of friends.  Today, ten of us gathered in Worcester for “vegan Thanksgiving,” as we have each year for over a decade.

Yes, we ate heartily and well without animals having suffered and died in order for us to do so.  Among the delicious dishes on the table this year were these:

  • Tofurkey with gravy
  • mashed potatoes
  • stuffing
  • butternut squash
  • Irish stuffing
  • sweet potatoes and apples
  • nut and bean loaf
  • cranberry sauce
  • rolls

There was vegan wine, and for dessert

  • chocolate cake
  • chocolate mousse
  • pumpkin pie

I made the sweet potato dish, from a recipe in the November 2013 Vegetarian Times magazine, and the pumpkin pie from a recipe I found on the web.

Thank you, Deirdre and Larry for hosting, and thank you to Dave, Nina, Steve, Hugh, Diane, Barbara, and Anne for your company and conversation.

 

Minuteman Marching Band Practices for Parade

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The Minuteman Marching Band will participate in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City this Thursday, their first appearance at this legendary event.  It will be such a thrill for the 400 band members, their families, their supporters, and all of us in the UMass community.  I know that the “Power and Class of New England” will do us proud, in this, our 150th anniversary year.

I found out from the UMass website that the band would be practicing this evening and decided to stay in Amherst after work so I could see them.  It was very cold and raw, so when I left the office, I bundled up before heading toward the Mullins Center on Commonwealth Avenue.  As I approached the athletic fields, I could hear the band tuning their instruments in the distance; then around 5:30, they began to move toward the Southwest Residential Area.  Camera in hand, I hurried across the street as they turned from the softball fields and started to march up Massachusetts Avenue.

Night had fallen by then, and it was quite dark.  As you know, I don’t really know how to operate my camera, and  although these shots are terrible due to the poor lighting, I’m posting them anyway.  Band members were not in uniform so they looked like a ragged, sorry bunch.  I walked beside them on the sidewalk as they marched toward Haigis Mall, playing their standards: “God Bless America,” “Fight Mass,” and “Sweet Caroline.”  I must say, despite the darkness and sub-freezing temperature, they sounded wonderful, and I was glad to be there.

Band01

Sam the Minuteman follows the color guards who carry the flags

Band03

Here’s part of the brass section

Band04

Lights and movement, right?!

On Thursday, turn your TV dials to NBC, and watch for the Minuteman Marching Band in front of Macy’s Herald Square at 11:24 am.  I know the weather won’t be balmy, so let’s hope it’s at least tolerable, as the show will go on.