Happy 59th Birthday, Papa Crunk!

I thought my daddy was turning 60 this year. But no, he's only 59. My mom always adds a year to my age when telling people how old I am, so I think it's starting to rub off. Anyway, Papa Crunk turned 59 last Wednesday, April 3rd, and he let me know that he was still a year away from the big 6-0.

Daddy's friends had a big party for him on his actual birthday, but I came down to visit this weekend to do the family celebration. Every year, for my daddy's birthday, he requests that my mom make French Fry Po'Boys. It's a bit of a tradition now, ever since my daddy and I fell in love with these carbolicious sandwiches in New Orleans years ago.

Yes, that is French fries on a sandwich, folks. It just doesn't get better than that. Mine is dressed with Daiya cheddar (it's melted to the underside of the bun, so you can't see it here, but it's definitely there), tomatoes, lettuce, and Nayonaise. My mama stocks up on vegan sandwich fixins for me!

On the side, the rest of my family had my mama's recreation of Pancho's cheese dip. If you grew up in the Mid-South, you grew up loving Pancho's cheese dip (the dip served at a regional chain of Mexican restaurants and is also sold in stores here). It's like no other cheese dip on the planet. But you know what? The secret is cumin. And my mom makes an at-home version that supposedly tastes just like the dip at Pancho's. Well, this year, she made that dip, but she also made a vegan version of Pancho's Cheese Dip for me!

She combined melted Tofutti cream cheese and Daiya cheddar with canned Ro-Tel tomatoes, cumin, and some other stuff. And wow, it tastes just like the Pancho's dip that I remember! My mama is a genius.

She also made Guacamole:

And we had salads for good measure. We had to get something green into this carbo-loaded meal!

After our dinner settled, it was time for birthday cake and pie! I made Peanut Butter Bombs!

My friend Stephanie makes these by combining three recipes in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World  — basic chocolate cake, peanut buttercream, and rich chocolately ganache. I decided to try making them too! Mine weren't as pretty as hers. But they tasted great! Underneath that thick layer of ganache is a creamy peanut buttercream. It's like biting into a Reese's peanut buttercup on top of a cake!

My Granny brought her delicious Old-Fashioned Coconut Pie:

This recipe is included in my cookbook, Cookin' Crunk. So if you have a copy, you can make this at home! It's so good. Like pretty much my favorite pie on the planet. And when Granny makes it, it's always better than when I do. Buttery, coconutty goodness.

Anyway, we had a lovely day. And I'm stuffed and exhausted. Happy birthday, Papa Crunk!!