Today is a Thanksgiving of many Firsts. This is our first Thanksgiving being away from both of our families. This is our first Thanksgiving in LA. And lastly, this is the first Thanksgiving where I made all of the food. We ate early. 3pm. =) But we have leftovers which we will munch on later. There is still pie to be eaten and a carton of Coconut Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl ice cream. I wanted to do a Vegan Thanksgiving. I guess you could say it was except for the salmon I made but Manny really likes fish and I got wild-caught, sustainable salmon which is natural and does not ruin the eco-system. Plus he just got a job so I think he deserved to be pampered a little. The best thing I made was the mushroom gravy. I sauteed crimini mushrooms with a shallot until it carmelized a little. Then I added some chickpea flour, soy butter and nutritional yeast to make a roux of sorts. Lastly I added vegetable stock and seasoned it with a little salt, pepper and paprika. I let the gravy cook down to proper consistency and then it was ready! I will have to make it again because I think it'd be delicious with biscuits and/or lentil loaf.

I get annoyed with following recipes. So my method of cooking is very similar to my method for acting. In acting, I do the research and get my lines down. When it is time to act, I stop thinking and trust that the work I did will give me the freedom to be creative and real. In cooking, I watch a lot of cooking shows, peruse my "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" bible, make sure I have the general ingredients and then let myself loosely experiment. I am glad to be here in LA. There are still aspects of life here that are difficult but I truly believe with time and work, we will be in a good place. I am full. Onaka ippai! (what I would say at my old job.) But I think some Chocolate Peanutbutter Swirl ice cream is in order. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!