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!

One year ago today: What I was blogging about on 31 August 2006

brunch with friends