Anyway, here's what I meant to post yesterday. I'll share my holiday eats with the family in a special Saturday post tomorrow (if I remember). Last Saturday (almost a week ago!), we had our third annual Vegan Drinks Holiday Wine Party at Jennifer and Simon's house. Jen & Simon are long-time Vegan Drinks members who are gracious enough to open their house and offer up their wine stash to us every Christmas. It's a potluck, so everyone is supposed to bring a dish and a bottle of wine to share (or whatever other booze or non-booze they want to drink).
Here's Stephanie pouring a glass!
This year, I made Somer's Kick-Ace Vegan Cheeseball (recipe here). I've made this a bunch of times, but it'd been awhile. It's a cashew cheddar ball made with a base of coconut oil. Very good! This time, I used roasted cashews instead of raw because that's what I had on-hand. It made the cheese much nuttier but still delicious. It's rolled in slivered almonds.
I also brought some leftover Vegan Pimento Cheese from the cafe at Crosstown Arts. We had a work party a couple days before, and there was a whole bowl of this left. When everyone was leaving for the holidays, I grabbed it from the breakroom fridge so it wouldn't go to waste! Served with whole wheat pita and crudites.
Jen made a Tater Tot Casserole! After Megan brought a tot casserole to our vegan Thanksgiving potluck, we all made a group decision that we should never have a potluck again that doesn't involve tots! This has a gravy with veggies underneath (like a tater tot shepherd's pie).
Autumn brought BBQ Jackfruit and buns to make sandwiches!
Nichelle made the creamiest, dreamiest Caramelized Onion Dip (pictured), and Melissa brought her famous Spinach Dip (but she came a little later, and I failed to take a picture).
Shay is best-known for three things: banana bread, chocolate pumpkin bread, and PIZZA! This time, she brought pizza. Her sauce and crust is always homemade, and it's just perfect.
Stephanie brought Hello Dollies (also known as 7-layer bars) made with a graham crust, coconut, chocolate, and I'm not sure what the other layers are. But they're delicious.
Jennifer made Root Beer Cupcakes from Happy Herbivore, so they were oil-free (except for the frosting). Very good, and I felt good about myself for eating oil-free cakes at a party.
Nicole made an Oat Berry Crumble using leftover oat berry bars from our cafe at work (Nicole and I work together, and she's the cafe manager). She crumbled the bars and then added some soy nog and baked it. Sounds weird, but it was very, very good.
Plate #1 shot! I failed to take a pic of plate #2 (the dessert plate).
Jen & Simon's dog Riley enjoyed all the company!
And so did their new kitty Bessie. Check out these cat ears that Autumn gifted me for Christmas.
Party shots!
Most everyone drank wine, but a few opted for beer instead. Like Simon, who actually DOES have a British accent.
It's been WAY TOO LONG since my last comment - so sorry! Happy Holidays to you and yours! LOVED seeing the photos! And the food! I have been keeping up with you on IG eventho I haven't been commenting here as much! Hope you are well!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun tradition! The pizza looks especially divine :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun event with so much amazing food! Tot casserole is missing from my life and i must do something about it.
ReplyDeleteYour cheeseball is such a great party dish- i’ve made cashew cheeses, but rolled into a ball covered in almonds is way better.
You’re so lucky to have a great group of friends like this :))
Ttrockwood
I wish I had more vegan friends to do this sort of little get together with, where everyone makes a little something for the party. Everything looks amazing and yummy!
ReplyDelete