Red Velvet Stars and 4th of July Buffet!

Happy (belated) 4th of July! We had some friends over yesterday for a sunny backyard BBQ, and plenty of vegan treats. Red velvet brownies covered in vanilla icing and fruit, mini cupcakes (of course), white cheddar popcorn, salads, veggie burgers, and more!

New Year's and Veganiversary!

Happy 2013! It's also been one year since I decided to officially go vegan! My one year veganiversary! ;-) It seems to have flown by!

We hosted yet another party last night, for New Year's Eve. Lots of fun, lots of food.  Read on for the spread, and a few veganiversary thoughts!

HoHoHoliday Party

Time for another vegan dinner party! Although, this one was filled with so many sweet holiday treats, I'm not sure it's technically accurate to call it a dinner party.... salted caramel corn, ginger spice cupcakes, "Mexican hot chocolate" cupcakes, pretzel bites, spiced Nog, mulled wine, and more!

Vegan Thanksgiving Spread!

I'm very excited to share my Thanksgiving with you! I was completely psyched everything turned out so well, and that my family enjoyed it too. I was crazed cooking all day, and the pumpkin pie didn't even get put in the oven until after the meal, but hey, we had tons of great food! I think we have some new traditions on hand...

Tropical Take-Me-Aways

Ok, last "tropical" post, and then I swear, I'll jump on the pumpkin and butternut squash boat with the rest of the bloggers. (Although, to my credit, September and October are often summer-like months in the Bay area). Summer or Fall, these little desserts are good way to start off the weekend. Think Pina Coloda in a cake. Layers of soft sponge cake, rum pudding (yes, that's what I said), and toasted coconut. It's a dessert mixed with a healthy dose of the islands.

Pineapple Quinoa

Flavorful pineapple quinoa, served right out of the pineapple... definitely a good dinner party dish. This is easy to make, delicious, and filling. A great side or main for a summer pot-luck or BBQ! Yes, I realize it's now fall. But indulge me for just 2 more recipes...

A Very Warming Housewarming

The spread- vegan summer buffet style

This weekend, after almost two months in our new place, we finally had a housewarming party. I think it has actually taken that long to get settled... I was still hanging pictures two days ago...but I am love with our new spot, and just the feeling of being home. So on yet another sunny, warm day, it was the perfect time to host our housewarming party. As my dinner parties usually go, it was of course filled with lots of treats that I was excited to share. So time to share them with YOU!

4th of July Treats

A bit late on my fourth of July post, but we are getting ready for a move around here so it's been busy! I made a slew of vegan treats to take to a BBQ for the 4th, and they were a total hit (especially, as usual, the cupcakes). Read on for the details!

Vegan Dinner Party: Mango, Avocado, and Black Bean Quinoa Salad

We all know by now how much I love mango, so I will refrain from going on about it yet again. But needless to say, when I saw Kathy Patalsky's recipe for mango quinoa salad, it was pinned in seconds. We recently had a bunch of friends over for dinner, and since I didn't have much time, I whipped up this yummy dish (along with some new cookies) in no time. Uncomplicated, delicious dinner parties can be done! And yes, carnivores, vegans, and vegetarians alike were satistified (and went back for seconds).

White chocolate truffles and friends/Vegan Dinner Party 5

I'm a strong believer in being there for your friends. And when one of my friends was recently dumped, I thought what better way to temporarily heal wounds then with chocolate... and cocktails ;-) So this Friday night was filled with girlfriends, truffles, brownie bites, and a little bit of booze too. Perfect opportunity to try my hand at SMBP's boozey black & white truffles.

White Sangria, Vegan Dinner Party #4, and More!

It was gorgeous here this weekend - blue skies, sunny, and incredibly warm. Saturday was one of those days where you feel like it should be a rule to be outside. It inspired this easy, spring/summer themed dinner party menu - which, other than the homemade chocolates, was a snap to to throw together last-minute.

Beverage: White Summer Sangria (see notes below)
Appetizer/Starter: (made by my man!) Caprise salad (not pictured above, but it was beautiful, with yellow & red vine ripe tomatoes. Made vegan by using avocado instead of mozzarella)
Main: Wheat berry salad with roasted delicata squash, grapes, asparagus, apricots, walnuts and rosemary (a variation of my farro fruit & veg salad; for a quicker cooking time, use farro or quinoa instead of wheat berries)
Desserts: Homemade sorbets and chocolates (posts coming soon!)

Vegan Valentine's (Vegan Dinner Party #3)

I'll admit I'm not much of a schmoopy, romantic comedy type-of-gal. Usually, I'm not one for pink sparkly hearts. But.... okay, I got a little caught up in things this year. I made schmoopy cookies. And a lot of them, at that. This weekend, I hosted a full-on Valentine's dinner party. What's with all the schmoopy-ness, anyway? 

It must be a vegan thing ;-) . I made so many desserts, we would have needed an extra 10 people to finish them all (although I did send everyone home with a little bag of cookies). Here's a sampler of my third (successful!) vegan dinner party:

Vegan Dinner Party 1

Here's a teaser of more recipes to come, from a dinner party I hosted this weekend:

Ok, so this is actually vegan dinner party 2, but I didn't capture all the pics from the actual #1. (And yes, that is regular cheese in the top left corner- my husband insisted- but the vegan cheezy app actually got eaten up first!)

Vegan Dinner Party #1 Menu (6 people): 
Appetizer: Amazingly delicious cheezey chard toast florentine
Main: Walnut & pear cabbage salad and a mushroom, broccoli, and orzo bake
Dessert: Fig bars and carrot cake cookies

Posts for each of these are coming!! And, I am happy to say, they were all totally delicious. All the guests (including meat-eaters) went back for seconds. People were commenting they were stuffed but having trouble not eating more.... that makes for a happy chef ;-)

And in case you were wondering...