A Vegetarian Thanksgiving?

My parents are retired in another, and warmer, state, so I'm pretty much on my own for the holidays. I go to Jim's family for some stuff, but Thanksgiving is when I go to my friend Delane's house. She has a dinner every year, and it's a good time to see some great people and have a nice evening.

This year is the first Thanksgiving after Delane has embraced being vegetarian full-time, and she was not going to do turkey. I have to admit I was a thinking: "Oh jeez! I'm going to be starving my way through this one!" However, that's not actually what happened.

There was no turkey and the gravy was made without animal stuff (not sure how gravy is actually made!). While I love turkey, I really didn't miss it that much. There was a good stuffing (I guess you call it dressing if it wasn't stuffed in the bird), and the flavor and texture of that has always seemed like meat to me. Of course, there were the usual dishes: cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, beans, sweet potatoes, etc. Just no turkey.

Well, I was not hungry at the end of the meal, and we had a wonderful time. I also didn't get that bloated, sleepy feeling I usually get after gorging myself on turkey. Can't say I missed that. Of course, there's no way I'm going vegetarian - I'm a carnivore, and I love my dead animals! - but I'm glad I experienced how vegetarians do this.

On another note, seeing Delane struggle to order food at restaurants is eye-opening. I mean, are we really that divorced from non-meat and/or unhealthy food that a vegetarian person - or someone who maybe doesn't want meat that day - can't eat at a restaurant without being exiled to the salad menu? That's kind of weird, isn't it?