vegan pizza day
I’m not sure if you were aware, but this past Saturday was vegan pizza day. Shawn celebrated with pizza for every meal, including a breakfast pizza.
For dinner, we attended the Vegan Drinks get together at Masa of Echo Park. They make an amazing deep dish pizza and use probably my favorite vegan cheese, Teese, from Chicago Soy Dairy.
The pizza takes about 40 minutes to make since it is piled so thick with toppings, so we started out with some garlic bread.
There she is in all her glory. Lots of tomato goodness and stuffed in the center with some tasty, melty mozzarella Teese. We added some spinach and mushrooms for good measure.
And then we rode off into the night.
Bridal tea party
This weekend my mom and her dear friends threw me a bridal tea. They brought together everyone’s china and tea sets and borrowed from friends as well, to make a spectacular spread. It was really inspiring for me to see all these traditional serving sets put to use. I loved it.
So I’ll keep the words to a minimum, and just share some of the lovely photos.
One of the most special parts was being able to use Shawn’s mom’s china.
We had a selection of scones and rugelach from C’est la V Bakeshop. So yummy.
My mom picked out some great invitations from Royal Steamline.
Tons of delicious finger sandwiches were made, including watercress, cucumber and seitan curry. My sister-in-law, Michelle, even helped (and here’s photo proof).
I also made some lemon cupcakes and chocolate cupcakes with raspberry filling.
My grandmother dyed a pink streak in her hair in my honor.
There were even personalized water bottles, with some cute owls.
Some super addictive banana bread also from C’est la V.
There are those sandwiches. I ate countless numbers of them. The watercress had a fantastic radish poppy seed spread in them.
And you can’t forget the tea. We had lots of tea. I was really excited to use the creamer.
It was really special, every detail was thought out from the food to the napkins. Major credit goes to Carolyn and my mom for pulling it off seamlessly.
DIY wedding cake
Onto a rather controversial topic…wedding cake.
From the start, I’ve said that I’m going to make it myself. At some point I made a concession that we’d order a small wedding cake from someone and then I’d make a few additional cakes. Let’s be honest though, I really just want to do it myself. Generally speaking, don’t people hate wedding cakes anyway? If we’re gonna serve cake, it better be a good cake, and I make a damn good cake.
My plan is to make a handful of cakes rather than one giant one. Then we’ll have a bunch of different flavors and I don’t have to worry about tiers. Here is some of the inspiration I’ve found.
I totally fell for these art deco cakes courtesy of Martha Stewart (of course!). Simple but varied designs with limited color palate. I love that all the cakes are different sizes.
Seriously, who doesn’t like a choice in cake? Check out this pound cake table from Once Wed. Gorgeous!
I was also thinking something like these rustic cakes. The idea of not having to pipe anything seems pretty appealing. I’m also into the fact that they’re kind of tall. Kind of into the idea of tall cakes.
I’m really excited about the whole project. I am looking forward to spending a day baking without having to worry about all the other wedding stuff (although I’m sure I will anyway).
Now we just need to decide what flavors…and how many…
Vegan Brownies
It all started when Tara inquired with a few vegan ladies about the best way to make vegan brownies. We planned to get together and try out some possibilities. I had all my ingredients packed up and recipes to try.
Then disaster struck. Well, not really disaster. More like a wedding with a vengeance. Ok, not that either. Really just normal wedding stuff. Normal “we haven’t gotten everything sorted and our wedding is in a month from today” craziness. Which turned into me spending the day planning and strategizing (which is pretty much what I do everyday now). Which meant, no brownies for me. Sad face.
Then, the same night of my brownie flakiness (not the delicious flakiness either) I received an email from my mom’s friend in desperate need of vegan brownie help. She had tried to make some herself and despite her best efforts, they had come out oily and burnt. You know you must help someone when they exclaim in an email,
“I’m a bloody vegan brownie killer!!!”
So, since I’m no brownie pro myself, I figured I’d better test the recipe I had before I sent it along. And with no time to be experimental, I turned to The Joy of Vegan Baking
I have to admit, these brownies were pretty darn good. They definitely leaned towards the gooey fudge side of brownies, which I rather like. I undercooked them a bit, on purpose to make sure they would be soft, and without eggs to worry about it’s not really a big deal. They didn’t quite amount to the perfect brownie though. My biggest complaint being that they weren’t chocolatey enough. I also wished they were a bit more flakey on top while retaining their fudginess.
I think I will be back to the drawing boards with this brownie experiment.
Oh and another thing, in case you hadn’t been poking around here recently…I’m getting married in a month (exactly from today)! So yeah, there might just be a bit more wedding talk than usual. Just thought you guys deserved fair warning!
Creamiest Tomato Soup with cashews
When the weather gets cold, I love a rich, creamy bowl of soup. Who doesn’t? It’s the best. My favorite is tomato soup, but I have to admit, I’m a little picky about it. I like my tomato soup thick and creamy. It shouldn’t have chunks and it shouldn’t be brothy.
I finally decided to try and make my own tomato soup, it seemed only logical. I was blown away by not only how easy it was to make but how amazingly flavorful it was. Since it is nearly as easy as heating up a can of soup, and about 10 thousand times better, I don’t think I’ll ever go back to eating pre-made soup again.
Creamy tomato soup approved by Shawn Bannon.
The key to making it so rich and creamy was cashews. I considered using some sort of soy creamer but knew it wouldn’t give it the right density or the subtle nuttiness.
I most definitely had seconds (and thirds). It was hearty enough to eat on it’s own, but since I ate it a few nights in a row, we also had some kale and roasted butternut squash to go along with it.
Creamy Tomato Soup
- 1/2 cup cashews
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 2 Tbsp Earth Balance
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2-4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
- salt & pepper to taste
In a food processor, blend together your cashews and vegetable broth until smooth. Pour into a separate container and set aside.
In a medium sauce pan, over medium heat, melt the Earth Balance. Add the onions and saute for about 2-3 minutes. As they begin to become fragrant, add in the garlic and saute until your onions are soft and translucent, stirring as not to burn. Add in your tomatoes, including any liquid in the can. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes before pouring into your food processor. Blend until combined and not chunky. Add in the nutritional yeast and pulse to combine. Add in the cashew mixture and blend until very smooth. Season with salt and pepper to your liking and pulse a few times.
It will be fairly thick, so if you like a less robust soup, add more vegetable broth.
