ok, so let's be clear here. my birthday, for me, is not about the presents, the "loot" or the giftcards. my birthday is about hosting some sort of event where i can cook a lot of (probably too much) food, get all stressed out the day before, have everything be fine, all the food get eaten, and then get drunk.yesterday's memorial day/b-day bbq/potluck/kegger proved to be rather foodielicious as i made the following:
+chorizo sausages from vegan brunch (by way of julie hasson)
+black bean burgers from veganomicon
+seitan with backyard bbq sauce from veganomicon
+jello shots with vegan jello available at whole foods for $1.29 a box. who knew?!
+vegan coffee ice cream served a la mode atop the best damn vegan brownies ever, all from a vegan ice cream paradise, a newly discovered vegan ice cream recipe blog
--i'm going to be honest, because we're not perfect here at vegan royale, and say that my vegan ice cream attempts were not so successful. i believe some steps were, ahem, mis-executed, and we got more of a coffee ice cream slushy than actually ice cream. i'm going to give it another go while the ice cream maker is in our possession. (props to elisha for letting us borrow this awesome appliance!)
in addition, potluckers brought: ryan's famous potato salad with pickled onions and cucumber, more black bean burgers and brownies (i'm ok with repeats!), corn, TONS of grillables - dogs, burgers, etc. (the gracious hosts, i.e. my housemates and i even let some of our friends grill bbq chicken, because we're not fascist vegans. however, the grill was thoroughly scraped clean before more vegan goodness went back on), SEVEN LAYER DIP (can i name all seven? refried beans, tofu sour cream, guacamole, corn, fresh salsa, cilantro - hint, it's not actually seven layers, the maker tells me), fresh guacamole, more beer and watermelon!
some shots of the table and its wondrous offerings:
hammy's 7 layer dip
seitan skewers
ry's potato salad
karina's guac
the table!
i think i would call it "a successful barbeque". the keg was finished, the food was demolished (i didn't even get a bbq seitan skewer! luckily though, i snagged a snausage and a black bean burger before those went). only one person got trapped in the downstairs bathroom with the broken doorknob, the house wasn't trashed, everyone left by midnight and the housies and i had a mini dance party and then watched super troopers. NOT TOO SHABBY!
karina's guac
the table!plus, ok, i did get some sweet presents:
cutie pie kitchen timer
vegan cupcakes and a vegan cake from my coworkers!:
a-dang-dorable green bean button and a shirt with patch:
a future dinner date with/from my sis (should we go here, here or here?)border's giftcards! who doesn't love buying books?
a batch of banana-chocolate chip cupcakes with peanut butter icing:
can't wait to do it all again next year!
love,
lauren
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3 comments:
Maybe you could do a tour of the three places with Em...round robin style...they all have such nice offerings. I hate how stuffy Osteria feels but the food was incredible.
happy birthday! Sad to miss the festivating.
no round robin! i'd be a quick $300 in the hole before the birthday dinner promise was fulfilled. and that's not vegan, cuz it's cruelty to my wallet.
Happy belated b-day!
Blue Sage rocks-worth driving thirty to forty-five minutes from the city if only to pick up a to-go quart of their potato-corn chowder, much less a full-on sit-down dinner.
Osteria went above and beyond to accomodate my vegan requests, preparing a really yummy multi-course animal-free meal for me. But, they sat me directly across from their prosciutto-carving station where a big hunk of the stuff sits out, which was icky, but didn't completely put a damper on the experience for me; my three omni dining companions were all disappointed with their (non-vegan) meals (maybe too much hype?). I haven't been back.
I guess I would vote for Xochitl, since I've never been and would like to hear what another vegan thinks of it, and since Xochitl is just fun to say. Have a good time!
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