Speaking of Thanksgiving recipes....

I have VE II but I can't find anything like what you describe...more info?

Thank you for checking.

I think it would be called a yam casserole. It had yams (maybe canned in those days, but I used fresh, i think) with apples I think, and bananas for sure...not sure about pineapple, but I don't think so - could be though. Cover with orange sauce (I'm pretty certain - oj and corn starch and butter) sprinkle with sunflower seeds and bake. Probably cinnamon...

If it's not there, then I am mystified as to what book it could be from. I bought the first VE thinking it would be there. I've searched the internet for years. It was so delicious and different that I felt confident it would be someone's favorite, too.

Thanks again for checking for me.

This doesn't have sunflower seeds or apples but maybe something like this?

Sweet Potato Banana Breakfast
1 (23 ounce) can whole sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon orange rind, grated
3 medium bananas

Drain sweet potatoes, reserving syrup. Slice each sweet potato in half lengthwise and place in a single layer in a 1 1/2-quart baking dish.

Stir together cornstarch, reserved syrup and brown sugar in small saucepan over medium heat. Gradually stir in orange juice. Stir constantly until clear and thickened, Remove from heat. Stir in butter and orange rind.

Peel bananas and score by drawing a fork lengthwise down the sides. Slice crosswise into 1/4-inch slices. Arrange banana slices over sweet potatoes. Spoon orange sauce evenly over top. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes.

Serves 6.

Here is a link that might be useful: Recipe

I found these but nothing with sunflower seeds.

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Hawaiian Sweet Potato Casserole

Original Recipe Yield 12 servings

Ingredients

1 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 large sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon cold butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons salt
6 firm bananas, sliced
2 (8 ounce) cans crushed pineapple
1 cup pineapple juice
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons honey

Directions

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish. Stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon until evenly blended; set aside.
Place the sweet potatoes into a large pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until just tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for a minute or two; peel and cut into 1/2 inch slices.
Layer the potatoes into the prepared baking dish, dot with butter, and sprinkle with salt. Arrange the bananas over the potatoes and sprinkle evenly with the brown sugar mixture. Top with the crushed pineapple. Whisk together the pineapple juice, lemon juice, and honey until the honey has dissolved. Pour over the casserole.
Bake in the preheated oven until hot and browned on top, about 40 minutes.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 371 : Total Fat: 1.3g : Cholesterol: 3mg

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Sweet Potatoes with Apples

Ingredients:

3 medium apples
1/4 cup orange juice or fresh lemon juice
6 medium cooked sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced in 1/4 to 1/2-inch slices
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Preparation:

Peel and slice apples into a bowl; add juice. Butter a 1 1/2 to 2-quart casserole dish; alternate sliced sweet potatoes and apples until dish is full. Mix the sugar, butter and nutmeg together. Sprinkle sugar mixture evenly over the apples and sweet potatoes. Bake at 400 for 30 to 40 minutes, or until browned.
Serves 4 to 6.

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Sweet Potato and Banana Casserole

Ingredients
4 lbs sweet potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
6 medium bananas, about 2 1/2 lbs
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine

Directions:
1 Scrub potatoes; place in large saucepan with salt. Add boiling water to cover; bring to boil over high heat. Cover pan and reduce heat to low; simmer 30-35 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain, peel and cut potatoes crosswise into 1/4" thick slices.
2 Preheat oven to 375. Using butter, margarine or solid vegetable shortening, thoroughly grease a 2 qt deep casserole dish.
3 Peel bananas; cut into 1/4" thick slices. In medium bowl, place bananas and orange juice; toss to coat. In small bowl, mix brown sugar with cinnamon. Set aside.
4 In bottom of prepared casserole dish, arrange 1/3 of the potato slices in a single layer, overlapping the slices slightly. Top with half of the banana slices and sprinkle with 1/3 of the sugar mixture. Dot with 1/3 of the butter.
5 Repeat layering with another 1/3 of the potato slices and the remaining bananas, reserving some bananas for the top. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the sugar mixture and 1/3 of the butter. Top with remaining potato slices; arrange several banana slices on top. Sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture; dot with remaining butter and pour on rest of orange juice. Bake 45 minutes or until bubbly.

Thank you all for trying to help me! Chi3 and Barnmom, those are certainly close and if I can't get the original, I'll definitely give them a try. I am unsure if there is sliced oranges in the original, too, or just the orange sauce. Maybe the original was one of those with the 1970's hippie addition of seeds! I do know it was in a cookbook from the 1970's that a back-to-the-land hippie type person would have had! Maybe I'll see if I can find a table of contents from some vegetarian cookbooks that I don't own from that time. A trip to Powell's might be in order.

OH GOD POWELLS TAKE ME WITH YOU

tobyt, do you use a recipe for your green beans sauteed in garlic butter with slivered almonds. They sound delicious and like something we would truly enjoy. Would you mind sharing how you prepare, please.

Barnmom:
I do the Sweet Pototoes and Apples recipe.
Everyone loves it.

LOU

I'm not in charge of the sweet potatoes this year. I'm sure I'm in for a marshmallow experience. I'm taking control of the stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, however.

JessyF...sure! Where do you live? It's about 2 hours from me, so easy, peasy.

Eileen, are you doing the turkey too? Or are they saving drippings from it for the gravy? Or are you roasting off some turkey pieces to have drippings and maybe use the pieces for stock for the stuffing? Or what kind of gravy are you making?

Alexa

Olychick, thanks. LOL, I live in Los Angeles. Too far!

I don't have VE or VEII but have seen them. I perused every hippie veg. cookbook back in the day but sadly the only ones I have are Laurel's Kitchen, Enchanted Broccoli Forest and Diet for a Small Planet. The recipe does not ring a bell.
Other suggestions of cookbooks to look in:
The Farm Cookbook (the one from the commune)
The Whole Foods Cookbook (the original written by the Goldbecks)
The first Moosewood Cookbook (with the plain beige cover)
Recipes for a Small Planet
Also, Anna Thomas has written a couple of other cookbooks too.

Alexa, my good friend with whom we all had Thanksgiving last year moved to Hollywood this summer. Two of her daughters, my two children, and two of the children of our mutual friend are also either in Southern CA or closer to Hollywood than here. So it's been decided that we will all meet there for Thanksgiving. The guest list is now at about 20. Her charming but smallish Hollywood Dell home will be bursting at the seams. The division of labor isn't completely decided but we have concluded that it will be simpler to order a couple of turkeys from a market in her neighborhood than to try to cook turkeys and all the trimmings. Several of us will stay in a hotel near her.

I will cook a small turkey ahead of time to have drippings and broth for stuffing (Silver Palate Grand Marnier Stuffing) and gravy. I will make both ahead of time. The stuffing I will assemble and freeze to be baked there. The gravy I will make a day ahead but not freeze. My gravy is basic, a roux from turkey drippings and some butter and flour to which I add turkey broth and white wine. Whisk like crazy. I make Silver Palate Thanksgiving potatoes which are sacrosanct in our family.

I am extra excited because I invited an old friend from boarding school to join us. I haven't seen her since we were 17. She moved from Wisconsin to Scottsdale this month and is game to come to Hollywood for Thanksgiving with her daughter who is 18.

The spare turkey I make here will become Thanksgiving dinner for my house bound ex. He is learning to cook and can make his own sides.

So dat's da plan.

I will also make homemade maple pumpkin pies ahead of time. We will purchase the other pies or those will be assigned to other guests. One of my friends doesn't like pumpkin pies from canned pumpkin. It's not that big a deal to cook a pumpkin so I will.

lpinkmountain, thanks for the suggestions. I have the same books as you plus Recipes for Small Planet and the first Moosewood (I used that one to death and replaced it, only to find out they had "adjusted" some of the recipes to be lower fat...grrrr. So on a trip to Powells a few years ago, I found a copy of the original Moosewood with all my favorite recipes intact). The recipe was before any of Anna Thomas's newer books were published...I guess if no one here can find it in VE II, I'll just make it a mission to get to Powells and see if I can find the recipe.

Wow, Recipes for Small Planet! I have that somewhere. I'm going to have to look through my books.