Hi Moni. I can't give you a ton of help because I am a vegetarian, not a vegan, but I can answer at least a couple of your questions.

Chocolate often contains milk, or milk by-products.

Jello and marshmallows contain gelatin, which is not vegetarian (gelatin is made by "boiling of connective tissue such as skin, cartilage, and bones obtained from animal processing industry")

What you can prepare for Christmas really depends on how strict a vegan your daughter is. Ask her for recipes, or ask for her to bring a dish or two for her and the family. Check websites like www.vegweb.com for recipe ideas (but again, ask your daughter for her restrictions and input).

I am sure that she will greatly appreciate you making the effort to accomodate her dietary preferences. I know I always appreciate when my family takes my vegetarianism into account when preparing holiday meals.

Good luck!! -Amanda

I just posted a Spicy Lime Corn Chowder soup that I modified into a vegan recipe, so maybe this will help you.

Vegetarian risotto or pasta, and vegetarian sushi could work for you. Use unsweetened soy milk or coconut milk instead of dairy. Or make something with beans -- a vegetarian chili is great in cold weather.

I make a couscous salad with quick-cook couscous, pistachio nuts, diced cucumber, and seedless red or black grapes, with a balsamic-honey vinaigrette that everybody, even my meat-eating husband, loves. Serve it over red-leaf lettuce and it's beautiful as well.

We are neither vegetarian or vegan, but many of our friends are (we live in the San Francisco Bay Area, where they are legion!) so I've learned to cook many of these types of dishes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Spicy Lime Corn Chowder

Stuff baked acorn squash with rice pilaf. Makes a wonderful presentation. Here's a recipe I have been wanting to try for a holiday meal

Glazed Acorn Squash with Wild Rice, Cranberries and Hazelnuts

1 cup wild rice, rinsed
4 cups water or a mixture of water and veggie broth
1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts, toasted (feel free to use walnuts)
3 med. acorn squash
Olive oil cooking spray (or just use a pastry brush to brush on olive oil)
1 1/2 TBLSP. olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
2 large shallots, minced (you could leave these out, since shallots are pricey, but if you want a fancy holiday dish, see if you can find some)
1 cup sliced scallion tops and 2 inches of green portion
1 rib celery, chopped
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped fresh sage leaves or 1 tsp. dried. Can use more, but I'm not a huge sage fan, so I'd start out easy.
1/3 cup dry sherry (or use white grape juice for teetotalers, or white cranberry juice, or apple cider)
1 TBLSP tamari (or low salt soy sauce)
2 TBLSP nutritional yeast (can use wheat germ or leave out)

Glaze
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
2 TBLSP mild molasses
1/2 TBLSP dry sherry (or the grape juice, or even white cranberry would probably work, or apple cider)

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Combine rice and water in a med. saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Rinse, drain and set aside. Toast hazelnuts for 10 minutes in a single layer on a baking pan. Do not overbrown. Set aside.
Increase oven temp. to 400 degrees. Cut each squash in half crosswise and discard seeds. Spray the flesh with the olive oil cooking spray, (or just paint olive oil on with a pastry or basting brush, that's what I do). Place squash face down on a lightly oiled baking sheet and bake one hour and set aside.
Meanshile, heat olive oil in a heavy, large skillet and saute shallots, scallions, garlic, celery until soft. Add wild rice, cranberries, nuts, and sage. Lower heat to med. low and cook mixture five minutes, stirring frequently. Scoop 2 TBLSP cooked squash from each half and add to mixture. Add sherry, tamari and yeast. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 min.
Reduce oven temp. to 325.
Divide filling among the squash halves, mounding in the center. Combine glaze ingredients in a glass measuring cup and drizzle half of the glaze over the squash, reserving the remainder. Bake, uncovered for 20 min., drizzling the reserved glaze over the stuffed squash after the first 10 min. Serve hot.

Note: this recipe would be fine if you subbed the common ingredients I suggested for the more exotic ones.

You might want to go to Recipezaar.com I have posted many vegan recipes there. Just type in Vegan in the search box and it should take you to vegan recipes.
Joey

Thanks everyone. I can't believe it, but I just got another answer here.

Thanks Joey! I went there, and bookmarked the site. It's be a while till I need this again.. :)

Moni