Baby Shower!

We've been looking forward to this day for quite a while. Darlene's sister organized a baby shower for us and today was the big day. The idea seemed a little odd at first but we decided to have it at our house and to make all the food ourselves. We thought about restaurants or various catering options but this was a way to ensure we had plenty of good vegan food prepared just how we like it. It was a lot of cooking but worth it in the end. Darlene started making a few things on Thursday and Friday, then yesterday we spent at least half the day cooking, and finally we had a big blitz this morning to finish everything up. I had a slight panic in the last 15 minutes or so trying to finish everything up on time but otherwise it was all very smooth (oh, except for when I was making cupcake frosting and I microwaved the chocolate chips too long and burnt them... but we had more). Menu and photos from the big event are below. (The food pictures were taken hastily just as the first guests were arriving in low light with a flash so they're not exactly fine art quality...)

- Orange Sesame Tofu Lollipops - recipe from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan; presentation idea from What the Hell Does a Vegan Eat Anyway.
- Barbecued Tempeh - very simple - Trader Joe's barbecue sauce poured over tempeh cubes and baked.
- Chickpea Balls with Marinara - sort of a cross between the Chickpea Cutlets and Spaghetti and Beanballs recipes from Veganomicon.

- Jamaican Veggie Patties

- Puff Pastry Turnovers with Tofu and Spinach - the Spanakopita filling from Vegan with a Vengeance wrapped with puff pastry.

Spring Rolls with Apricot Dipping Sauce

Artichoke Dip, Kalamata Walnut Tapenade (from Vive le Vegan), Mushroom Caviar (like what we did for the roulade filling last Thanksgiving). We had crackers and various breads with these.

Tamari Almonds, Chili Lime Cashews (both store-bought), Roasted Pepitas (from Vegan Lunch Box)

Chocolate and Vanilla Cupcakes (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)

The punch (not pictured) was quite tasty and very easy - mix 2 quarts each pineapple juice and water, then add a cup each simple syrup and lime juice and throw in a couple of sliced limes.

Here are the organizers of this shindig, Darlene's sister Kristen and her husband Ryan.

Darlene enjoying some good food.

And a couple shots of the two of us opening some of many wonderful gifts we received.

In all it was a great day - lots of good food, lots of good friends and lots of beautiful gifts for our baby boy on the way.