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I'm a vegetarian (not vegan), and I'm really interested to see how you enjoy/hate your month. I think it's particularly great that you'll be seeking out diverse experiences. I've seen a number of bloggers try the whole vegan for a month thing, but they almost always are cooking for themselves. That's very different than living as a vegan in the real world.

My husband, who used to be vegan added this: for a really hardcore vegan experience, you'd have to try it in parts of the country where a vegan lifestyle is pretty much unheard of. He spent time as a vegan in a part of the midwest where anything but cooking for yourself was pretty much impossible. People assuming that a plain iceberg lettuce salad is dinner? Not so nice.

Touch of cream, no sugar

I don't like most of Cold Stone's stuff, but their Cake Batter ice cream is strangely delicious in that "I'm not really a food" way. If you ever look at the nutrition info, it is truly disturbing.

I'll use high-quality vanilla greek yogurt in baking, but not much else beyond that.

Ginger lime vanilla

My greatest hits:
-Cavatappi with sun-dried tomatoes: http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2007/04/the_dinner_im_a.html
-Vegetarian BLTs with good bread and smoky tempeh or morningstar bacon strips
-Smoked tofu and cashew stir fry:
Heat up a large skillet or wok until it is screaming hot (I use setting 9 on my stove). Add 2 TBSP of peanut oil. Toss in 1 large onion (halved then thinly sliced)...warning, it will splatter wickedly. Cook this until the edges start to brown/blacken. Then add mixed veggies of your choice. A bag of Trader Joe's mixed veggies work very well for this, but fresh is better if you have it. Cook these until they are soft and begin to blacken/brown. Remove them to a bowl.

Add 1 TBSP of peanut oil to the skillet. Add to this 4 cloves of crushed garlic and 1.5 TBSP of crushed ginger root. Let this get fragrant, but don't burn it (this will happen quickly...just a few seconds). Add to this 8 oz. of small slices of smoked tofu (I'd say my pieces are no larger than 1/4 inch across). Cook until they start to brown. Then, add 1/3c of mirin, 1/2c of strong veggie stock (I use 1 tsp of better than bullion to 1/2 c) and cook this liquid down to about half volume. Then add your removed veggies, a couple handfuls of toasted cashew pieces, a few good glugs of soy sauce, and a few dashes of toasted sesame oil.

Nope, no cake at our wedding. We're pretty non-traditional people (and our wedding was non-traditional as well), so we saw no need to stick with something just for the sake of tradition.

We had a dessert buffet, which included polka dot cupcakes, brownies, fruit "sundaes", marzipan, lemon/lime mousse spoons, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

Ironically, I've been roped into making wedding cakes for a good friend of mine in a couple of months.

Nope, I wouldn't.

Maine Root, if you can find it. Every flavor I've had from them is fantastic. In the fall, they have a seasonal pumpkin pie flavor that warrants hoarding. I think I have a single bottle left in the fridge.

With sun-dried tomatoes, cannellini beans, and lots of garlic. So delicious.

Tea! I've spent almost all of my life in the Northeast, and I still am not a huge fan of winter, but my recent discovery of loose-leaf tea in the last couple of years almost makes up for the slush (my least favorite part of winter). I am currently waiting for an order of 26 different teas from Special Teas and am quite excited about tasting them all.

Vegans have usually made a choice that is not just dietary, but philosophical. They seek to not use or consume animal products of any kind. Most vegans I have met extend this philosophy to clothing, cleaning products, and pretty much anything that may use animal products in some way. Bone char, while being far enough removed to be kosher certified is still an animal product...a product that involves a dead animal, in fact. This is something that will conflict with most vegans' personal moral code.

Given there are vegan sugar options, it seems prudent to use these and not assume that based on your belief system (not the vegan's), that bone char is ok. I don't understand it...people believe it is unacceptable to denigrate religious beliefs, but seem perfectly content to ignore the beliefs of vegans. Just earlier in this thread, someone suggested introducing the guy to bacon. Most people would be quite offended if you replaced "vegan" with "Muslim". Vegans have a moral code, and it's a decent human thing to respect it.

Note: I am not vegan, but am very sympathetic.

Add another one to "holiday hater". I am not particularly fond of my family and no one is a good cook, so I'm required to eat crappy food (veggies come out of boxes and cans and such). When I have tried to bring good food, everyone is weirded out by it (last year was dessert...a flourless chocolate cake...not that weird). Also, me and my husband are vegetarian, and no one is particularly supportive of it, which just adds another layer of fun and derision from relatives.

So in conclusion, holidays make us drive a fair distance, hang out with people we don't really like, and eat crappy food. Bah humbug.

Just a note: we don't really celebrate holidays much in general because we aren't big fans of tradition for tradition's sake, so that also probably colors my perception.