Harvest Time

On Sunday night, a few of my friends and I held a little gathering/potluck to celebrate Lammas (also known as Lughnasadh or loaf-mass). It's an ancient Gaelic holiday honoring the first harvest, and folks traditionally dined on feasts of fresh bread and seasonal fruits and veggies. I contributed this Mediterranean Olive Bread from The Joy of Vegan Baking:

I'd been eyeing this recipe since I bought the book last year, and now I'm not sure what took me so long to bake it. This delicious quick bread is flecked with some of my favorite things — black olives, fresh basil, sundried tomatoes, and walnuts. I subbed whole wheat pastry flour for all the all-purpose called for in the recipe though.

I almost brought some of my Black-Eyed Pea Hummus for spreadin'. It's one of the recipes I'll be featuring in my cookbook. This is an old picture because I forgot to take another yesterday.

And for dessert, I brought another cookbook recipe, Old-Fashioned Coconut Pie:

The pie is actually my Granny's recipe. She veganized her old recipe for coconut pie and it is amazing! My version didn't turn out quite as delicious as hers, but I think I know why. She calls for sweetened coconut, and since I only had unsweetened in the house, I subbed that instead. Apparently, it makes a big difference because the pie didn't seem sweet enough to me. It wasn't bad, but I'm used to Granny's perfect version. Next time, I'll know better than to make substitutions.

Our gathering wasn't strictly vegan, but some friends brought vegan bread. So I ate loads of bread, and my friends Monica and Kelly contributed tasty cherry tomatoes, cantalope, and fresh okra (which we fried) from their garden.