My Best Friend's Wedding (Shower), Again

Last month, I posted pictures of the vegan dishes my mom and I made for my best friend's Sheridan's wedding shower. That was her traditional, ladies-only family shower, but this past weekend, Sheridan's friend Leslie rented out a couple of rooms in Little Rock's House Gastropub for the fun co-ed, friend shower. Since most of her guests had already given their gifts, we mostly used this shower as an excuse to party!

Here's Sheridan and her partner Drew:

They're getting hitched in June. I'm not typically a big fan of folks getting married, mainly because our gay brothers and sisters aren't afforded that basic right. But these dudes have been together for, like, 10 years. So they might as well get some tax breaks and presents. Plus, they're having a vegan wedding, and that's way better than a regular wedding.

Leslie, awesome hostess that she is, paid for all the food and all-we-could-drink microbrew on tap. I found a new beer love in Goose Island Honkers Ale, which was similar to Fat Tire. They don't sell Honkers in Memphis, so guess I'll have to go to Little Rock for more.

As for food, the House is one of Little Rock's most vegan-friendly eateries. We had loads of this awesome Hummus with Pita Chips and Bread:

And the House's homemade Veggie Burger Sliders on Foccacia Bread were amazing, especially topped with pickled onions and curry ketchup:

The staff brought us a massive bowl of Sweet Potato Waffle Fries:

For dessert, I'd planned to bring the carrot cake cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, but they totally flopped. Anyone tried that recipe? I followed the directions, but they sank in the middle. And they were all sticky and gooey. I think the recipe calls for too much baking soda and not enough baking powder. It seems like the amounts called for are reversed.

Anyway, at about 1 a.m. Friday morning before the shower, the carrot cakes came out of the oven all sad and icky. So I went with Plan B. I had everything needed to make the Basic Vanilla Cupcakes from VCTOTW, and since I've probably made those a hundred times, I knew it was a winner. I didn't have any more time to lose so late at night.

I'd already whipped up Isa's cream cheese frosting for the carrot cakes. So I decided to follow her recommendation for mixing in a little orange zest.

The result were these Vanilla-Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes. That's what I named them because the citrus-y cream cheese frosting and the soft vanilla cupcake combined to taste a little like an orange push-up pop. I pulled out my special fairy cupcake toppers that I'd been saving for a special occasion:

Happy Wedding, Sheridan and Drew!