<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"First, readers, apologies for having been absent so long. I&amp;#039;ve had a streak of bad luck with computers and my health that have made blogging a bit difficult (details in a forthcoming post), but I&amp;#039;m back in action, and better than ever. For now, let&amp;#039;s just say that today, I&amp;#039;m especially thankful for renters insurance and Epi-Pens. In happier news, I&amp;#039;m spending Turkey Day at my boyfriend&amp;#039;s family&amp;#039;s house in Denver right now. Traditionally, we&amp;#039;ve spent Christmases out here, and Thanksgivings at my mom&amp;#039;s place in New Jersey, but this year our families politely asked to switch holidays. While we were happy to accommodate our loved ones, I was secretly (and a little selfishly) worried. A Thanksgiving where my mom won&amp;#039;t be around to cook all my dairy-free favorites?! How will I manage? This is the first time I&amp;#039;m really responsible for the holiday meal, and I had mental images of a Pieces of April-style disaster. Fortunately, my guy and I know our way around a kitchen okay. We cobbled together a menu from some of our favorite magazines and websites that we thought wouldn&amp;#039;t be too tricky to attempt with some substitutions:  Turkey brined in apple cider and spices Shiitake mushroom and fresh herb stuffing Caramelized brussels sprouts with Applewood smoked bacon Roasted garlic mashed potatoes Sangria cranberry sauce Blackstrap molasses pecan pie  There&amp;#039;s a Whole Foods not too far from where we are, so we were able to stock up on my staples. Armed with tons of Silk, Earth Balance, and some Rice Whip, we&amp;#039;re bravely attempting to make the entire meal both dairy-free for me, yet tasty enough to satisfy his whole family \u2014 a tricky feat, considering they can all eat the real thing.     So far, the bird is in the oven, the cranberry sauce is chilling in the fridge, and the pecan pie is cooling on a wire rack. (Confession: I cheated a little bit, and used a frozen pre-made dairy-free crust I found while shopping. Don&amp;#039;t tell Martha Stewart.)    Not sure if everything will be a success, but I&amp;#039;ll report back after the meal with tasting notes from the family. How about you? Do you have any dairy-free Thanksgiving favorites? I&amp;#039;d love to hear your allergen-free recipes and substitution ideas! (Any Thanksgiving horror stories you&amp;#039;d care to share would be appreciated, too, in case the rest of our menu doesn&amp;#039;t work out, and we end up just eating cranberry sauce and drinking wine.) Happy Thanksgiving! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.delish.com/cooking/a37940/dairy-free-thanksgiving/>