Holidays have always been a crazy state of affairs for me.

Growing up my parents were divorced so my sister and I were tossed between two very different celebratory scenes. My father’s side is Ukrainian, Byzantine Catholic, very small family gatherings, quiet, conservative. My mother’s side is Roman Catholic and Italian so family functions were loud, big, crazy, tons of food, lots of laughter, kids running around everywhere.

That was then and this is now and now means my sister converted from Catholicism to Judaism and I’m Buddhist. Yea, we’re definitely the “new normal” when it comes to holidays. We often double dip (or maybe it’s triple dip) and take part in array of festive traditions. Christmas, being one of them.

When “What to Feed that Effing Vegan” popped up to review I literally laughed out loud since not only have I been that “effing vegan/vegetarian” at times but I could also hear my Italian grandmother exclaiming those words if she had ever had the opportunity for a vegan to attend a Christmas dinner (of course, that means someone would have had to first explain what a vegan is to her and secondly, explain why a person would voluntarily do such a thing…but that’s a whole other story).

“What to Feed that Effing Vegan: Christmas Edition” is an eBook of 20+ recipes perfect for that special person/people around the dinner table who don’t eat any animal products such as eggs, dairy and meat and delicious enough to even tempt that omnivore Uncle to indulge in his first vegan experience (what a way for him to kick off the new year, huh?).

Bridget Burns and Samantha Shorkey of The Vegan Project created this Christmas Edition and have everything covered from cocktails to desserts and everything in between as well as some gluten-free options. They even refer to themselves as “little vegan holiday elves” and encourage readers to email them if needed. Some of the recipes I’ll be trying out this season are the Rosemary White Bean Dip with Yam Chips, Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Coconut Bacon & Caramelized Onions and Zoe’s Pumpkin Cocoa Cashew Butter Bars. Oh, and how could I forget the Creamy Veggnog? Extra nutmeg and rum is a given.

Regardless if you’ve been naughty or nice this year you deserve to grab a copy of the Christmas Edition so you know what to feed that damn (I mean, effing) vegan (even if that vegan is YOU). You can purchase off The Vegan Project’s uber cool website here.

Note: elephantjournal.com received this [review item] for free, in return for a guarantee that we would review said offering. That said, we say what we want—good and bad, happy and sad.

Want 15 free additional reads weekly, just our best?

Get our weekly newsletter.

Photo: The Vegan Project