Memorial Days

This past weekend was the Electrician‘s Memorial Day barbecue. Although a meat-heavy grill event (I was the only vegetarian besides a veg-curious 11-year-old girl), care was taken that I’d need not settle for a less than full plate of scrumptious bbq fare. But of course! The vegan-only grill saw as much action as the one with the ribs, franks and burgers! There were vegan sides a-plenty including grilled papaya and cole slaw & potato salad made from scratch with this thankful vegan’s dietary restrictions in mind. Below: With ease and deliciousness, Tofurkey beer brats and Amy’s Texas Burgers (not pictured) get their stripes.
It’s the meat analog that provides the texture, that nostalgic barbecue bite. But I am a gal who loves to pile on the fixins and pile up the sides. Here, notice the piles on my brats: ketchup, spicy brown mustard and relish along with a delicious impromptu pico de gallo the Electrician whipped up on-the-fly in a show of sudden and decisive force. The yummy salsa included chopped watermelon (!) along with the tomato, onion and a vinegar & spice blend unique to the minute it was prepared. Also on the plate below, that made-from-scratch vegan potato salad and red cabbage slaw. Just wonderful!

Adding some dainty pink veganess to the party, I took care of desserts knowing I needed to represent on the side of sweet… and on the side of vegan. I pleased the curious majority with my mini-cupcakes! I opted to whip up VCTOTW‘s basic chocolate mini and pipe ’em with pinked buttercream and a blueberry. They were a big hit and I know for sure I squashed some pre-concieved notions of vegan desserts. Success!

And I did not stop there! I also brought VCIYCJ‘s Rice Crispy Squares. Though the heat merged them into one rectangular treat, I collected several “mmm”s off these babies. I also made peanut butter blondies, also from VCIYCJ. I have been wanting to make these for quite some time, ever since I found out the Electrician was a fan of peanut butter treats.