It's Turkey Time! (The Vegetarian Way)

Turkey, turkey, turkey. Is that all Thanksgiving is about? Come on. We vegetarians must compensate somehow. So I compensate in cuteness and creativity. We have had a lot of turkeys around here this Thanksgiving. Starting with our Halloween Candy Turkeys. Followed by our kid friendly "Appletizer" Turkeys. Finally, these Turkey Rolls.
These turkey rolls are a time commitment. I admit it up front. But the presentation is amazing. I saw this idea in the newspaper a couple years ago. It has now become a tradition demanded by the family.
The real plus... Make them now and freeze them uncooked with some greased plastic wrap on top. Just take them out a few hours before and cook to perfection. The photo below is the uncooked version. They rise beautifully.

Turkey Rolls...Really Not as Hard as they are Cute...

Favorite roll recipe
(White doesn't seem earthy enough for these. But if your family insists I suppose you could make them white. Sigh.... If you are not into making rolls the lady in the newspaper used Rhodes Rolls. Cheater :)
Assorted Seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, poppy, flax)
Slivered Almonds
Pretzel Sticks
Peppercorns
1 egg (beaten)

Flatten and place one roll on a large greased baking sheet. This will be the body. Cut a narrow piece out of the remaining roll to be used as a head and neck.
Flatten large piece slightly and cut about 10 long slits to form feathers. Place next to body. Roll narrow piece into a rope shape and place on the other side forming a slight curve.
Brush with egg. Place peppercorn on head for eye and use a slivered almond for a beak. Decorate body and tail with seeds and nuts.

Let rise 15 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown. After baking, insert pretzels for legs.

Because these are an intense project, I just make one per person.

The rest of the rolls I make into crescents. Easy and pretty. Roll your dough into a big circle and brush with butter.

Use a pizza cutter to cut as shown below. Roll into crescents. Let rise.

I cook these ahead of time and then freeze. When feast time arrives we place the turkey rolls on everyone's plates, and then fill a basket to brimming to pass with the crescents.