Second to Easter, Christmas was the time of year when I got to see most of my very large family (It's definitely easier to get people out during nice weather.)

Okay, so, besides the usual Christmas traditions (i.e. Christmas trees, gingerbread, presents, etc.), our annual Christmas celebrations had a few more additions for a more personalized touched. The first and probably most popular tradition, I hit a road bump: pepperpot. Literally, my sister has been asking my mom when she was going to start cooking ours since before Thanksgiving.

For those of you that don't know, pepperpot is a dish traditionally made of pork or lamb stewed in a cassava syrup and other spices for days. There are many different variations to it, but when it's done right you can smell it throughout the whole house.

Essentially, it's the syrup and the spices that create the warm aroma and add a Christmas aspect to the dish. So when you're trying to vegan-ize a dish completely based off of meat, you have to keep everything else the same in order to capture the flavor the best.

The company MorningStar has these vegan steak strips that have a more substantial texture than most other products. My first attempt with this food had the traditional pepperpot flavor, but the strips were just too thin and there was no way one package was enough.

My next attempt used soy chunks. A lot of people may not know what these are, since I've only ever seen them at West Indian markets. They're essentially just dried pieces of soy that you have to re-hydrate before you cook them. Think pieces of meat cut up small, but not meat. Right off the bat, I knew they were too small, but the texture was pretty accurate. I threw in a few potatoes and carrots to try to counter the small soy chunks. The resulting product was satisfying and kept me satisfied. The key is not to cook it as long as the traditional recipe, since it requires days of cooking because meat needs time to tenderize and become that perfect level of "fall off the bone." To me, the faster cook time was a huge bonus.

Feeling good after the first roadbump, the next didn't seem too hard to tackle. Black cake is probably the least sweet cake I've ever had in my life. You can find it during the holidays and at most Caribbean weddings. I was always disappointed as a child to find out the entire wedding cake was this dark bitter cake with a layer of fondant to hide it all. The whole bitter taste comes from the rum it's soaked in. So yes, as a child it was disgusting...to this day I still don't enjoy it as much but I won't completely barf on sight.

The recipe is pretty simple: flour, sugar, butter, pounds of dried fruit soaked in dark rum and a whopping one dozen eggs. Yes. A dozen eggs. For one cake. Don't get started on how much cholesterol that is, but the good news is: it can easily be replaced by a powder egg replacer or silken tofu which can be found easily in any grocery store. 1/4 a cup of the tofu is equal to one egg so about three cups for the recipe is sufficient. The tofu is a better substitute than the usual baking soda and vinegar I use because black cake is especially dense. And for the butter, well you can use vegan butter or just grab a pack of margarine that just happens to be vegan. My favorite is Bonnet Light Margarine. It's easy to find and very cheap.

The great news is a lot of the other traditional foods are already sporting the animal-free lifestyle. Drinking a nice refreshing glass of Ginger Beer goes great with the vegan-ized pepperpot, and you don't have to change a thing.

The best part about the holidays is spending time with family, and one of the most important ways to do so is eating with them. Sharing a meal with your loved ones should not have to always clash with your ethical views.