V For Veg: Vegans like to party for the holidays, too

THE HOLIDAYS are here, and with them, holiday celebrations. Which is great, because if there's one thing vegans know how to do, it's PARTY!

What? What'd I say???

OK, I know the stereotype. But we're not all pious and self-righteous - not all the time, anyway! We make time for our fave social activity: stuffing ourselves with animal-free food. And yes, in a lot of cases, drink!

Don't take my word for it. Check out these recent cookbooks touting veggie special occasions. (Find recipes from all these books at philly.com/veganparty.)

Nava Atlas, author of Vegan Holiday Kitchen (Sterling, $24.95), wrote (and illustrated!) great cookbooks in the '80s as a vegetarian, and she continued once vegan. The emphasis is on family get-togethers, with extensive menus to fill a table and warm a hearth. Atlas kicks off with Thanksgiving, as "for many vegetarians and vegans, it's the Mother of All Holidays." Kitchen covers six events in depth.

Atlas had Vegetarian Celebrations on shelves 20 years ago, but the current crop of all-vegan tomes was led by Robin Robertson, whose Party Vegan (Wiley, $17.95) came out late last year.

Robertson thinks practically as well as aesthetically, and offers party advice well beyond menu planning - not just her usual great recipes but also quick tips, sidebars, even a list of to-do lists. You get complete menus for holiday gatherings as well as "any time gatherings."

If Party extends the range of festivities, Celebrate Vegan (Lyon's, $17.95) by Center City's Dynise Balcavage shreds the envelope with four dozen "occasions." These include lesser-known international holidays as well as "Tailgate party" and even "Snow Day."

Balcavage tweaks the pious stereotype with wine pairings and even a few vegan cocktails. But no one does a better job of proving that vegans get tipsy than John Schlimm, with his The Tipsy Vegan (Da Capo, $17).

Schlimm's great-great-grandfather founded Pennsylvania's Straub Brewery, and he does his legacy proud in this good-time primer mixing cocktails, beer braising, vodka sauce and just about any other excuse for including alcohol with delicious vegan food. (Verify a brand is vegan at barnivore.com.)