Its nearly Christmas. Well, not here as Georgians use the Julian calendar, so their Christmas is in January.
I’m a hardened, happy atheist, but I still love the food and family part of Christmas. So, as soon as I realised we would be spending Christmas alone together in Tbilisi, I began thinking of what to make for eats. I want to make them extra, extra special, because we probably wont do presents, as we’re spending all our dough on travel, and don’t want to carry any more stuff.
In my fever-growing family there are a range of “must haves”. At my mum’s house there must be mango, my mum’s curry sauce and lots of dessert, my sister and I are not happy unless there is cheesecake and rum balls (my vegan versions) wherever we are, at my Dad’s place there are always mince pies and Christmas cake, and Mr’s family likes to have pudding (like the sago and plum pudding his Nanna made us last year).
What dishes do you and yours consider to be an absolute must for Christmas?
So, I’ve been planning what a vegan Christmas menu for two people, in a cold climate, with no access to vegan junk or convenience foods will be like. I’ve never had a cold Christmas before, so it could be an adventure.
So here’s the big question: what should I make?
I’m open to any suggestions, but there are some limiting factors. I can’t make any recipe that absolutely requires:
- Blending (I have no blending apparatus of any kind, the best I can do is to push things through a colander. I don’t even have a potato masher.)
- A muffin tray, shaped baking tin,
- Tofu or tempeh
- Vegan convenience products, like cream, cheese, seitan, mock anything, agar agar, yeast, white chocolate, copha, food colouring, etc
- Tropical fruits
- Summer vegies (like lettuce, raw tomatoes, zucchini)
- Any exotic grains, like quinoa, or any not-so exotic grains, like brown rice
- Spices or ingredients from any part of the world that isn’t here. No curry pastes, lemongrass, aniseed, vanilla, smoked anything, fresh ginger, tumeric etc.
- Any equipment beyond the basics – so no ice cream makers, or piping bags, or silicone things or what have you.
What I do have access to is:
- Pumpkin, eggplant, cabbage, mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, beetroot, dodgy tomatoes, pomegranate, lemons, apples, red currants (I think), garlic, onions, herbs (not basil).
- Spices – curry powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, pepper, fenugreek, oregano, thyme, cayenne pepper, coriander seed and ginger powder.
- White rice
- Walnuts
- Kidney beans
- Red lentils
- Nooch
- Raisins
- Bread
- Every kind of jam
- vegan lard (but not margarine), oil, flour, sugar, cocoa, dark chocolate and baking soda (for baking)
So, let the advising begin. What would you make with this stuff?
What would you make if you could have any cold-weather-friendly foods for Christmas?
I’m thinking a stuffed pumpkin and some kind of gravy (because I love gravy), but I’d love more ideas to make my first (and probably only) white Christmas 
