StevenLaura

Mashed Potatoes:

This part is easy. Just avoid milk and butter. I used hippie butter (Earth Balance), salt and pepper, and if it is too dry you can use a little of the water you cooked the potatoes in. If you are generous enough with the vegetable shortening, you will never miss the dairy.

Gravy:

The vegetables you use can vary. I used about a half of a cup of frozen pearl onions, two green onions, two stalks of celery, and a cup or so of a frozen onions and peppers mix. Start with a generous amount of hippie butter (again Earth Balance) saute up the pearl onions for a while, add the other onions and peppers, green onions, and celery. Saute until they look so good you want to eat them. Add a little more hippie butter if you feel brave, and then throw maybe a 1/4 cup of flour all over everything, stirring it until everything is coated and the flour and butter have thoroughly mixed. Then you add as much vegetable broth as seems prudent (4 cups? 5 cups? I really have no idea how much I used, sorry) and let it cook a little. It should thicken up quickly with no lumps. I also used a very little bit of Lipton onion soup. I am not sure that that stuff is really vegan, though, and I don't think it was necessary. Garlic and pepper to taste, depending on the broth you use, you may not need salt.

The result was a sucsess, L really liked it, as did I. Paired with biscuits, corn and applesauce, we were in hearty-home-cooked heaven. (I know, the biscuits are not vegan, we are not good at staying pure.)