A Festivus Miracle!

On Saturday, Era and I threw our first official Festivus since moving to California.  I was slightly worried because the two other parties we attempted, resulted in practically nobody showing up.  This party, however, was epic.  Dancing!  Drinking!  Food!  Fun!  So, I'd like to share with you how I did it.

homemade garland.  everything was from the dollar store.

Planning.  This is the key to any successful party.  I plotted out the menu.  I drew sketches so I knew where I wanted food to go.  I also decided what food would go in a certain dish.  You don't have to be as crazy as me, though.

dance floor before people arrived.

Know your guests' drinking habits.  Back home, my friends were all about liquor and Era's friends were about beer.  We make sure to have plenty of both on hand.  However, always go light on the beer because people WILL show up with beer.  Save yourself some money.  We started out with maybe 20 beers, and I don't even know how many bottles I recycled.  Also, treat your designated drivers and non-drinkers with respect.  Make sure to have plenty of juice and water.  This year, thanks to the PPK, I had a cider station.  It was a huge success!

i only bought three new liquors for this party.

cider station: pear cider, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, and crystallized ginger.

Every room or area serves a different purpose.  The formal living room was the dance floor.  Dining room had most of the food.  Kitchen had the cider station, hot food, chips, and salsa.  Living room had pretzels, nuts, chocolates, and holiday movies.  Back yard was the smoking section.

world's simplest centerpiece.  cost 2 dollars to make.

fireplace decorated.  a friend brought me the poinsettias.  very thoughtful!

Have a menu that kills.  I made the appetizers center around cheese and crackers.  We were in mixed company, but everything was vegan except a small tray of dairy cheese, some eggnog, and Era brought some chocolates (there were also vegan versions of all of these).  I made the almond feta from Vegetarian Times.  I also set out Wayfare's hickory cheddar spread.  I also had a tray of pickles, grapes, olives, nuts, and apricots.  Plus, I made some olive salad, salsas, and a spread of Indian food.  Desserts were rice krispie treats, peanut butter fudge, gingerbread cupcakes from VCTOTW, and chocolate chip chai shortbread from VCIYCJ.

gingerbread cupcakes w/ lemon buttercream and crystallized ginger

almond feta

Have fun.  This is the most important thing.  Dance.  Drink.  Relax.  Talk to guests.  The best time is when you go from host to partygoer.

dancing machines

more dancing partygoers

Make sure to get a pole.  Trust me when I say that Home Depot is your best friend.  Do not pay $30 online for a Festivus pole when you can buy something similar for less than $10.

tabletop pole

I should be blogging again for Christmas, so see you soon!  Have a festive holiday season!

Happy Festivus!

The video is finally finished after multiple setbacks!  Sorry about the quality.  We are away from our usual equipment.



Onto the recipes...  This salsa is really good and perfect for winter when the tomatoes are pink and disgusting.  Letting it sit overnight is non-negotiable.  The flavors have to mesh, but it's worth it.  I like adding lime right before serving to make it taste extra fresh.

muy caliente!

30 Second Salsa
28 oz can diced tomatoes, rinsed and thoroughly drained
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 jalapenos, seeded or not, roughly chopped
1 small onion, roughly chopped
1/2 cup tightly packed cilantro
1/3 cup white vinegar
1 tsp salt
lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor, pulse the tomatoes, garlic, jalapenos, onion, cilantro, vinegar, and salt until the consistency of chunky gazpacho.  Pour into a bowl and refrigerate overnight, the longer the better.  Right before serving, add the lime juice and taste for salt and pepper.

Ginger Balls are a variation of Oreo Truffles.  Super easy to make, which works great for a party.  Save money by using store brand cookies and buying chocolate chips in bulk.

Ginger Balls
1 pkg creme-filled ginger cookies (like Ginger-Os)
8 oz vegan cream cheese
12 oz (generous 2 cups) semi sweet chocolate chips
crystallized ginger, chopped

In a food processer, chop the cookies into fine crumbs.  Add the cream cheese and blend until combined.  Scrape into a bowl and refrigerate for 45 minutes, until easy to roll into balls.  Roll into balls and place in the freezer until firm.  Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave (stir every 30 seconds).  Dip the balls into the chocolate and top with ginger.  Freeze until solid.  Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

Spiced Caucasians are just a holiday tradition at our house.  There really is no measuring.  Just add as much alcohol as you like.  Here's what I do...

deliciousness

Spiced Caucasian
ice
lowball glass
1 oz coffee liqueur like Kahlua
1 oz espresso vodka like Seagram's
vegan nog
freshly grated nutmeg, optional

Fill the glass with ice.  Top with liqueur and vodka.  Fill will nog.  Stir.  Top with nutmeg, if so desired.  For a truly caffeinated version, try Mocha Kahlua!

I hope everybody has a great holiday season!  Happy Festivus and Happy New Year!

Happy Festivus to All and to All a Good Night!

Festivus is here again!  I didn't do much in the way of celebration.  I'm home alone for the holidays.  Boo.  The yay is that I'm getting a lot done.  I probably should do some writing or something, but I'd rather spend my days watching Dexter and stocking the freezer.  That's just how I roll, yo!

So the holidays always remind me of home.  This year has been a bit fractured, but usually I'd go to my parents house for Christmas.  A long time ago, they stopped making Christmas dinner because of how exhausted they were with the gift buying.  Our Christmas dinner is basically a tapas night...but with way more food.  I quite like that Martin tradition.

So yeah it sucks to be by myself, but it's a great excuse to make a bunch of food to snack on for the week (and freeze) and have a holiday movie marathon.  So far I've watched a good mix of classic Christmas movies, humorous ones, and Christmas horror.  The best gem I've discovered so far is Santa's Slay.  Too funny.

I know most of you have had your holiday parties, but in case you are looking for some ideas for NYE, here's a list of ideas for things that I'm thinking of making.

Vegetable tray with some sorta spread.  I'm torn between making a hummus or trying to get ingredients for the Kale Tofu Spread from 500 Vegan Recipes.  I couldn't find kale anywhere this week!

Vegan deviled eggs using my revamped deviled tofu recipe found in this entry.  This is a definite for me.

Tamales.  I love them, but hate hate hate to make them.  So tedious.

Mini pizzas.  Era picked up some Daiya when he went to LA last week.  I'm at the point where it seems completely reasonable to spend 40 bucks on the 5 pounder.  This stuff is like crack to me.  I'm sprinkling it on ever'thang!

Vegan Bailey's.  I'm gonna make a recipe from one of those top secret recipe thingies.  It says it should last two months in the fridge.  Does alcohol seriously slow spoilage like that?  I dunno.  Bailey's was never my thing, but I'm super intrigued.

Fruit tray with cherries and persimmons.  Maybe grapes.  What can I say?  All of these are the shiz!

Coooookies.  Right now it's all VCIYCJ all the time.  I'm making those choc chip chai shortbread cookies and probably something involving ginger.

Uppin' the game cheeze tray.  Yeah.  This will happen.  Not sure on the cheeze, but I know it will have the Italian Feast Sausages from Vegan Brunch on it.  I'm thinking slices of sausage pierced with pretzels (or as I like to call them: edible toothpicks), some crackers, deli mustard, and a cheese of some kind.

And you can't go wrong with chips and queso.  I know there are, like, a gazillion queso recipes and here's mine.  I'm still working on a sausage variation.

Not Yo Cheeze Sauce
2 cups water
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 clove garlic
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp mild chili powder
1/8 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt (more or less to taste)

2 Tbsp margarine
2 tsp brown deli mustard (stone ground works too but adds flecks of brown)
1/2 cup of your favorite red salsa

In a blender combine water, nutritional yeast, flour, garlic clove, and spices. Blend until smooth. Pour into a saucepan and heat on medium high, stirring frequently with a whisk. When thickened, remove from heat and stir in the margarine and mustard. Stir in the salsa and heat until warmed through. Makes about 3 cups.

Happy Holidays everybody!  I hope it's a joyous one.

VeganMofo: Festivus Fanatic

Today marks the beginning of Food Memories Week. So every year around this time I begin planning our hugest party of the year: Festivus. It started in jest. One year we wanted to have a huge holiday party. About two weeks before the day, we cancelled it in order to have a small wine and cheese gathering. Only, not everybody got the memo. A bunch of friends came over, and we made it work. Festivus was born. Of course, we didn't call it that yet.

I'm a huge Seinfeld nerd. My husband bought me the complete series for our second anniversary. It runs deep, people. Anyway. We decided to make Festivus a tradition for a few reasons. I'm atheist. My husband's Catholic. Our friends range from Mormon to Agnostic. Festivus is fun and light hearted. But mostly, I wanted an all inclusive holiday for the season.

Our Festivus parties are always memorable. I have one rule. It is strictly vegetarian. There are exactly two non vegan things I serve: ranch dip and cheese cubes. I have found that omnis are far more receptive if they feel like they have an option.

Last year, to my suprise, a major hit of the party was a cheezeball I threw together. I had originally seen a recipe like this on the internet, but I couldn't find it anywhere when I searched today. So I just made up some stuff. It turned out well! If you do not like using fake cheezy products, I suggest trying this recipe or the cheddar version. I've tried the original, and it's pretty good.

Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Cheezeball
1 pkg non-hydrogenated Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese,at room temperature
1 cup shredded vegan cheddar cheese
1/2 Tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning, crumbled between fingertips
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 red bell pepper, roasted and diced
1 cup thinly sliced almonds

Mix all ingredients except the roasted pepper and almonds in a medium bowl. Stir in the roasted pepper. Place bowl in fridge or freezer to firm up a bit (maybe 30 minutes). Take the cheezeball mixture and roll in the almonds. Form into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm. Serve with crackers, chips or veggies.

And today I felt like discovering unchartered territories. So I have half a recipe for you. Deviled tofu. I will be serving this at my next Festivus. The actual deviled part of this is spot on! I need to work on the tofu part. For now, I'll tell you that I took 28 oz of tofu, pressed them, seasoned them, and baked them. I used nooch, salt, apple cider vinegar and oil. I need to perfect the recipe. Also, I'm fairly certain I only needed one block of tofu.

Deviled Tofu
*Note: This is an old recipe. The updated version can be found here*
24 squares of baked tofu
1 15 oz can cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp Vegenaise
1 Tbsp yellow mustard
black salt (also known as kala namak) to taste
1-1 1/2 tsp dill relish, optional
paprika

Mix beans, Vegenaise and mustard in a food processor until smooth. The mix should be creamy. If it still isn't add water (1 Tbsp) at a time. Combine bean mixture and black salt in a small bowl. Taste it before adding the dill relish. You can also add turmeric for more of a yellow color if you want. Refrigerate until needed.

To use, just pipe this onto the tofu squares and sprinkle with paprika. This was really, really good!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to practice for feats of strength. Festivus, yes! Bagels, no!