Domestipithecus

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.

The rattie cage arrived and I put it together.

I only managed to hurt one finger and get a tiny scrape on my forehead. The boys like having all that room. It took a little bit for them to get used to it, but they really seem to like it.
Denver and Henson taking a nap and Henson exploring:

Today I did a lot of laundry. Crazy amounts. Tons even. There is one more load drying right now and I started when it was still AM o’clock I think.

Aside from the metric crapload of laundry, I also did a little baking. CN’s mother has this recipe for fake meat. It can be used as chicken, turkey or beef depending on how it is flavored and if you add any other textures. For example, for meatballs, adding italian breadcrumbs, lipton’s beefy onion soup mix (yes it’s vegan! scroll to “Staples”) and some Yves ground “turkey” or ground round will give it a meatball texture and flavor.

Today I made what we call “loaf.” Chicken/turkey flavored loaf that can be sliced up and used as sandwich meat substitute. I would love to give out the recipe, but since it isn’t mine I don’t want to assume it’s ok to post on the internet. I can tell you what’s in it and show you pics. If you figure it out for yourself…. hehe

Ingredients:
tofu
great northern beans
chicken flavoring (the stuff pictured is from an asian market but Wholefoods Market also has a chicken flavoring that is vegan in it’s bulk section)
wheat gluten flour/powder (Wholefoods bulk section - though you can get pre-packaged wheat gluten just about anywhere)
Oven 375

Here are the pictures:

Beans and tofu mixed:

Adding some of the chicken flavoring:

After adding wheat gluten:

his shows the consistancy it should be. The mixture should resist being pulled apart and bounce back slaightly when shaped:

I like to shape it into a rough loaf before putting it into the pan because it doesn’t like to be shaped much ad when you try and push it into a loaf pan it just doesn’t want to do what you want it to.

Once in the pan I cover with aluminum foil to keep it from drying out.

1 hour covered and about 15 additional min uncovered makes a tasty treat:

This is sliced and next to the bread machine wheat agave bread I made (well I put the ingredients in the machine and IT made it…

I’m going to go make CN a loaf sandwich for tomorrow. The key to making loaf sandwiches is to slice the loaf thin and put many layers…

This can also be formed into “nuggets” and fried to make, well, nuggets and with the addition of Red Rooster hot sauce, CN’s mom’s famous “Not Wings.”