Live: A Weekend in Food

I celebrated two stages of matrimonial bliss this weekend, all of them involving mountains of happiness and buckets of tears. Needless, to say it was an emotionally packed weekend, but I'll share its joys with you in the way I know best... through food.

The first tearjerker was the beautiful wedding of two very dear friends. They both just  looked so beautiful and so happy. If I haven't cried already at some point during the day, all you have to do is push the "first-time-the-couple-hears-the-terms-husband-and-wife" button that just really gets me going. Call me old fashion but there's something so beautifully transitional (and traditional) about that moment that's just... timeless.

But back to the food. The reception was a pot luck, and given that the bride has been a vegetarian/raw foodist/vegan, it was right up my alley. Everything I made was of course 100% organic, 100% vegan, and 100% made with love. For a main dish, I went for something that would feed the masses:

Wild Rice Stuffed Squash

w/ Candied Pecans and Cranberries

Ingredients: Squash the length of my torso

Filling: Wild Rice, red onion, olive oil, sea salt, raw candied pecans, cranberries

juice of 2 oranges, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, black pepper, maple syrup

For dessert, I opted for something a little more fancy. I thought my dessert would be perfect for the bride, who always reminds me of all things delicate, airy and sunshine-y. (Okay, I know that last one isn't really a word.) So I made a:

High Raw Vegan Blueberry Lavender Cheesecake

Crust Ingredients: coconut flour and dates

Filling: cashews, homemade coconut cream, maple syrup, 

sea salt, lemon, blueberries, vanilla powder, lavender

The second event was time for another potential stage of womanhood, the baby shower of another lovely friend of mine. There's something about getting a bunch of women in one room to support a common friend through a new stage in her life that makes it impossible not to get emotional. Because I had spend two days in the kitchen already, I went for the easy, baby-shower pleasing option:

 Mini Organic Vegan Cupcakes from Thimblecakes

(photo courtesy of here)

Gotta say, Thimblecakes turned me into a cupcake person. Actually, I should rephrase that as Thimblecakes turned me into a cupcake-from-Thimblecakes person. Big difference. I love that bakery, it's organic, they can do gluten-free cupcakes, they don't use artificial colouring, and they make a mean vegan coconut-based ice cream! Of course, they were a sure hit, though I did manage to snag one in each flavour throughout the day without making it too obvious... hehe.

Hope your weekends were as food-gasmic! Have a great week.