About

I just adore the holiday season! Because I’m so invigorated by the festivities, colors, aromas, flavors, and warm traditions surrounding the convivial and very jolly holiday season from Thanksgiving through New Years, I created my Vegan for the Holidays cookbook. It’s full of delicious recipes just geared to seasonal foods like cranberries and chestnuts and contains treasured dishes your family may come to cherish each Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Years.

You simply can’t miss with Pistachio and Sweet Pea Torte, a delicious main dish that stands tall on a footed cake plate. Maybe you’d prefer the Savory Sourdough and Wild Rice Stuffing that features a generous measure of moist and flavor-rich shiitake mushrooms.

But my passion for seasonal recipes that look sensational and taste good enough to brag about simply didn’t end with the book. The ideas kept on flowing. So here I am with a this fun-filled holiday blog that gives me plenty of space to share the good stuff, not only recipes from my book, but also additional dishes and a few fascinating traditions, gorgeous table settings, enticing garnishes and perhaps a few surprises.

I also welcome contributions of recipes, photos, and any traditions your family has come to enjoy year after year. This will be a warm home for lots of sharing, tasting, learning, and celebrating!

My other cookbook, The Nut Gourmet, is not strictly focused on holiday recipes, but it does contain several exceptional holiday dishes like the Thanksgiving Torte that graces my Thanksgiving table each year. My family also loves the Down Home Pecan Pie, Cranberry Walnut Pie, and the Totally Nutty Nougat Pie in the Dessert section. And the Sugarplum Spiced Walnuts make welcome holiday gifts for nut lovers.

Both Vegan for the Holidays and The Nut Gourmet make thoughtful gifts for those who love to cook as well as all families with or without vegan members. People don’t have to be vegan to enjoy tasty recipes that look amazing and that just happen to be vegan!

If you would like to contribute, write to me at vegparadise at socal dot rr dot com At that address you can send me your recipe and jpg photo of yourself and the dish. If you’re a cookbook author, and are sharing a recipe from your book, send along a small jpg photo of the cover.

Zel Allen

P.S. I also write food articles for Vegetarian Journal and Vegan Health and Fitness Magazine in addition to my Nut Gourmet blog. Drop in any time for a visit at http://nutgourmet.wordpress.com