Friday, August 31, 2007

brunch with friends


A long time usually lags between when something happens in my life and when it shows up on my blog! Case in point, it's already been almost two weeks since I met another blogger friend in real life!


Jody (from Vegchic)
and her friend Jenna were driving through New York on their way back home from a wedding, so of course I asked them if they wanted to make a pit-stop in Syracuse. Happily, they did, and we got to have brunch together and talk. It was a really nice morning.

The best part was that instead of just Daiku, I now had 3 willing test subjects for two recipes I was testing and two that I was making for the first time- {cue evil laugh- mwahaha}

The first two recipes were testers for Melody - and both of them were awesome.



Veggie cream cheez spread (here served atop a sun-dried tomato bagel). Filled with goodies like carrots, pepper, and scallions, this is the perfect brunch item. Even though I had made a huge container of this spread, it was gone in less than a week. And the flavor kept getting better and better with each passing day.



The superstar of the day was this arugula salad with grapes, figs, pecans, and more. The complex and aromatic dressing really made this one stand out. I love salads, but I definitely fall into ruts. And yet, I never would have thought to follow a recipe for salad if I wasn't testing- now I want to test more salads!

Up next, a recipe from Joni's new book, Cozy Inside. I downloaded this book a couple of weeks ago (you can order a hard copy too, but since I have a fear of clutter and a desire to save money, downloading was an awesome option for me) and I'm blown away by the sheer number of mouthwatering recipes inside... I can't wait to try more out!



Here we have her tofu egg salad. Neither words nor this photo do any justice to the deliciousness of this salad- and this coming from someone who has made a lot of these! I loved this recipe, and it was perfect served on bagels or rolls, as you see above.



Finally, we have dessert. I chose to bake the crimson velveteen cupcakes with old-fashioned velvet icing from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I have to admit, I was fantasizing about fire-engine red cupcakes, but these looked more like regular chocolate cupcakes. What was really cool was the old-fashioned, cooked icing. I love regular buttercream, but appreciated the different taste and technique of this icing- it had a gentle, subtle flavor. The fact that it has less shortening, margarine, and sugar than regular buttercream didn't hurt either!

For brunch, I also had a platter of cantaloupe and yellow kiwi (sorry, Jody, I didn't realize you don't like cantaloupe!) that I forgot to photograph. You can see the yellow kiwi in this previous post, though.

A good brunch, but what was really great was getting to share it with great company! It was so great to meet Jody and Jenna, and I hope they come through New York again- I know I can't wait to get to go to their neck of the woods...


Bazu, Jody, Jenna - pardon the special effects, I get carried away with iPhoto!



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22 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

it's always nice to share a great meal with great company - how fun to get to meet even more vegan bloggers!! oOo, and I LOVE the "special effects" on that photo of the three of you guys, haha :0)

Electronic Goose said...

Mhmm, those cupcakes look divine!

dreamy said...

The cupcake is very unique, what's the red things on the cupcake?

Anonymous said...

I'm like you. I've never really followed a recipe for a salad. It's usually the section I skip over in cookbooks but wow, that sounds so delicious. I'll have to re-read some of my books now and see what I might have been missing.

How fun you got to meet Jody! Your brunch sounds like a lovely way to spend the day.

Anonymous said...

You people, with your figs! I'm envious.

Anna said...

I love reading about vegan meet-ups. You WILL let me know if you ever come through Australia, won't you, Bazu?! Delicious food here; that salad looks quite sexy, and this vegan "egg" salad is intriguing...

I also really like it when bloggers put photos of themselves on their posts. :) Makes it more personalised somehow.

Susan from Food Blogga said...

Oh, Bazu, that salad looks heavenly! I love, love, love figs on salad. In fact, I just made one the other night with figs and strawberries which was delightful. That's a cool photo of you and your friends too--love the old-timey look of it.

Teresa said...

Wow Bazu, everything looks great! I don't think I could ever be so brave to try new dishes on new people (or even people I know). And I'm so jealous, as I've yet to meet a fellow blogger!

Jen said...

How cool! You inspired me to buy some figs today :-) I'll try a salad with them tomorrow!

laura k said...

What a fabulous brunch! That photo is gorgeous--I love the way you fixed it up.

Sounds like you picked out some winning recipes to try. I've been having fun testing Melody's recipes as well, but those two I have not tried yet. Must do it!

MeloMeals said...

How cool you got to meet Jody! She lives really close to me and we've had a couple of near meets, so hopefully, someday very soon we'll be able to get together..

I keep meaning to buy Cozy Inside... and now I want to even more..

Thanks for testing the recipes! It's so cool to see your pics.. I loved that salad too and ate it everyday while the figs were in season.. so good. I am a salad a holic..

SaraJane said...

the figs are everywhere on the internets lately! What kind of dressing did you use on that salad? It looks fantastic.

theONLYtania said...

Hey! Ugh I haven't been around lately. That cream cheeze spread looks great, was it Tofutti based? I've been thinking about packing some sort of tofu salad sandwich for lunch one day soon, looks good! I'm liking the icing on that cupcake too, awesome post :) Talk to you soon!

Anonymous said...

Everything is looking fab! I also downloaded Cozy Inside and while I haven't cooked from it yet I've definitely been sitting around drooling over the recipes!

Jackie said...

The food looks very tasty and I just love the cupcakes.

Great special effect on the photo.

Vegan_Noodle said...

What an amazing looking brunch! That salad definitely caught my eye... and of course the cupcakes. I'll have to check out the old-fashioned icing recipe, haven't tried that one yet...

Kate said...

Veggie cream cheez spread looks awesome. I very want to try that icing.

aTxVegn said...

I live in the wrong part of the country cuz you are meeting up with so many great bloggers! How fun and what a super lunch you put together. That cooked cupcake frosting has my attention. I do NOT like regular buttercream and have been needing something else to try - thanks for the heads up!

Anonymous said...

fun post! that food looks totally good!

Isil Simsek said...

your friends are lucky!great post!

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

Yeah for meeting Jody and all the fabulous food you made!!! (you ROCK, girlfriend) Like you, I like to try out new recipes on unsuspecting and seemingly innocent people -- I did that to Amey (heee heee!)

vko said...

How fun to meet more blogger friends! That veg cream cheeze looks droolingly tasty. And I love the sepia effect goes hand in hand after the cupcake with the old fashion frosting.