me. We are such cooks in my house. What's cooking is how we spend the holidays as a family.

Because my wife and our daughter are 99% vegetarian we all eat very little meat, especially beef. Things like beef(especially) are a very rare treat. There are more and more reasons -that are not health related- not to eat meat. And we don't miss it but still eat a good deal of poultry and fish. And the farmed raised turkey was scrumptuous and we threw in a small pork loin roast for interest(and some local oysters on the half shell, couple lobsters,...).

But the vegetable dishes are often the most memorable at our table. Our son burned many calories dicing brussell sprouts that our daughter made into a wonderful cold salad with little more than some nuts and olive oil. They both love to cook.

I think an all plant diet is as good as you can get for health but I'm also a believer that everything in moderation - even limited animal dishes - is a healthy diet. Food excites the senses like a deep breath of a fresh, moist sea breeze. I must have it.