April 5th, Boo and I had our engagement party at the house. It was supposed to be a housewarming as well, but we had received notice from our landlord that he was putting the house up for sale, so it turned into a houseleaving.
We had a lovely vegan BBQ with plenty of snacks and nummy desserts.
Setting up:
Backyard (the dark spots were hastily filled holes – we think the previous tenants had a dog or something):
Mmmmm beer:
The BBQ setup:
Table set up in the Wii room – yes we had a Wii room for the party (veggie platter with “ranch” dressing; avocado, sprout, white bean hummus rolls – some with loaf):
Hot stuff (Not-wings – both buffalo and not, veatballs and fixins for the metric ton or so of veggie burgers we had):
The bar:
The dessert table (Vegan Magic Cookie Bars, Fudge Drop Cookies (made and brought by my sister) and Banana Split Cupcakes – made by Boo’s mom – I think from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World):
And my favorite and proudest part of the whole party:
This is a snack platter made up of Cheddar Cheez, Jalapeno Cheez and Onion, Horseradish and Dill Cheez all from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook (well the jalapeno is just the cheddar with finely chopped jalapenos) and vegan pepperoni (veggeroni) from one of my favorite blogs, Fat Free Vegan Kitchen.
The party was great. So many people tried things that I know they would have never otherwise even thought about, and most were pleasantly surprised. We only had a few people who didn’t bother to try anything but the desserts and only one person who complained. We had given all our guests fair warning that all would be vegan and to inform us of any soy or wheat allergies (as most of the stuff was going to contain some of that). We also grilled up some portabello mushrooms for a handful of people.
Boo and I are baby-stepping to the vegan diet so we have decided to have a vegan wedding. We figure by then we will be mostly vegan – the exception being when we read ingredients and don’t recognize the animal ingredient. So we wanted people to not be afraid of the wedding and had the engagement party be vegan as well.
It was a great time and it was wonderful to have all those people we care about in one place. No I have to actually put the thank you notes in the mail. They are right there, just waiting… bah.