If Ya Got It, Deep-Fry It

Today was my friend Stephanie's (a.k.a. Poopie Bitch) birthday. And a few weeks back, when Pam and I were still very much on a cleanse, deep in the world of salads and juicing and raw zucchini noodles, we planned a little party. Maybe it was all that health food talking, but we thought it'd be a great idea to have deep-fry party for Stephanie's birthday.

The original plan was to have it at Stephanie's house. I'd bring over my little deep-fryer, and we'd just chunk stuff in it. But then Kristie, co-owner of Imagine Vegan Cafe, offered to let us have it at the restaurant! And we could use her awesome restaurant fryer. Um, yea! Let's just say it was a big ole deep-fried success.

Here's the birthday girl.

Omg, y'all. WE DEEP-FRIED EVERYTHING! Kristie started us off with samples of Imagine's new formula for Vegan Fried Chicken (the big pic). It's not on offer at the restaurant yet, but we were willing testers. Then she made us Imagine's amazing homemade Vegan Cheesesticks. And then somebody got the bright idea to fry Broccoli. I brought stuff to make Celine and Joni's Crispy Mac & Cheese Balls from Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster Appetites (shown here covered in Imagine's vegan ranch). And Stephanie made Vegan Corn Dogs.

Oh, but we didn't stop there. Stephanie also made Fried Pickles with ranch. Do you know how long it's been since I've had a fried pickle? I'm ashamed to say.

It wouldn't be a birthday party without dessert! We deep-fried Go Max Go Buccaneer (like 3 Muskateers) and Jokerz (like Snickers) bars! And we deep-fried Oreos! Those were my personal fave. I wanted to deep-fry the birthday cupcakes Cassi made Stephanie, but Cassi said no. Party pooper.

Speaking of that cupcake, Cassi made Stephanie these Peach Bellini Cupcakes for her birthday. It's a new recipe she's testing for Pink Diva Cupcakery. These have lots of peach vodka in them! And there's more in the little squirt thing so you can really infuse the cake.

We had so much fun! And since I ate one of everything, you can only imagine how ridiculous gross I feel right now. But it's a good kind of gross. A very satisfied gross.

Here's Savannah (Adam & Kristie's daughter), Kristie, and Butler, who masterfully womanned the fryer all night! Oh, and there's Kristie's other daughter, Maddie, under Butler's batter bowl.

And here's Cassi and Megan. Adam's (the other Imagine co-owner) is documenting the whole thing in the background.

And here's the birthday girl on corndog duty.

Whew. I think I'm done with fried food for a long time!! But damn, that was good. Hell, I may need to go on another cleanse to undo the damage.