My Best Friend's Birthday!

Saturday was my best friend Sheridan's birthday. We're besties from way, way back when we met in 7th grade and eventually formed a tight bond in 8th grade over our mutual love for teen actor Jonathan Brandis (RIP, Jonathan!). Sheridan lives in Little Rock now, just a couple hours from Memphis. So Paul and I drove down there yesterday for her birthday party!

Here's me and Sheridan!

And a group shot with our beaus — Paul and Drew.

Sheridan invited a few friends over for a small party at her and Drew's new house. We arrived early enough to help her make snacks. Sheridan whipped up some easy and delicious Vegan Pigs in Blankets.

And she cooked up some 365 brand Chickenless Nuggets, which we dipped into Follow Your Heart Vegan Ranch, ketchup, and BBQ sauce. Paul, who is a meat eater, declared these to be better than meat chicken nuggets. Win!

There were Chips and Salsa. They buy the Frontera salsa, and it's amazing. I guess I'd never tried it before, but it's my new fave.

Sheridan plated up some pretty fruit! But I didn't really eat much of it because I'm not that into fruit. Wish I was, but I much prefer junk food!

I brought over some Miyoko's Creamery Sundried Tomato Garlic Double Cream Cheese. Miyoko's Creamery sent me a package of cheeses to review, but I've already done a big post with my opinions. So I'm using this review package to either share with friends (and get their reviews) or to develop recipes. This cheese was a big hit! 

Leslie Dancer said "it's flavorful and seasoned well, but it's not hot." She detected a little spice in there but said it wasn't overly spicy. Holly just declared that it was delicious, as she shoveled it in her mouth using tortilla chips instead of crackers because she tries to avoid gluten. Sheridan said the cheese actually had a bacony flavor from the smoky sundried tomatoes. By the end of the night, the cheese was all gone!

I made Sheridan some Vegan Jokerz Cupcakes using Go Max Go Jokerz bars. Jokerz is the vegan version of Snickers. They sent me some candy bars to develop recipes with, so that's what I did here. I'll post the full recipe, which is actually just an adaptation of several existing recipes, tomorrow!

We didn't have any birthday candles, so Drew lit a toothpick for Sheridan's wish.

Here's some birthday fun! Sheridan and Holly.

And Leslie found something quite amusing here!

We had a fun night. Lots of wine, beer, and Tom Collins cocktails were consumed, and we stayed up until about 2 a.m. And then this morning, Sheridan, Drew, Paul, and I went out for brunch at the vegan-friendly Root Cafe.

Most of us (except for Paul) ordered the Tofu Scramble Banh Mi-Style. There's scrambled tofu with vegenaise, topped with shredded carrot, daikon, cilantro, sriracha, and hoisin. It's served with toasted baguette slices and a side salad. 

And we each got a side of Solfood Catering's Vegan Sausage. This was a hearty patty made with lentils and rice. Good stuff.

After brunch, we walked over to the Green Corner Store for ice cream from their Loblolly ice cream counter! I got the Arnold Palmer (iced tea and lemonade) Sorbet, and Paul opted for a Chocolate Sorbet in a Vegan Waffle Cone.

We had such a great time this weekend. Back home in Memphis now and getting ready for the work week!