Monday, October 22, 2007

Oh my gosh! It's been a whole week...

...since I've updated my blog! I am so ashamed. Well it was a crazy weekend, but the Children's Benefit for Salem School went off without a hitch. My wonderful Mom came down to help out, and we got lots of wonderful feedback on the food. We served over 300 phyllo cups! People kept coming back for more, and lots of folks were very interested in the fact that all of it was vegan. "How do you make it so good without meat?" "We were told to come get food from this table, 'cause it was the best!" The coolest thing was, we were set up next to a guy who did an entire table of meats and cheeses, and guess what? Almost all of his food was left uneaten at the end of the night...he said I was his nemisis...hee-hee.

SCORE ONE FOR THE VEGAN TEAM!

Here are some pics of the final products:

Me, my Mom and our table:


Little Taco Salads (Soyrizo mixed with Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese topped with Tofutti Sour Supreme and green onions):


Caramelized Onions and walnuts in an agave nectar and balsamic reduction:


Mediterranean Couscous (with olive oil, basil, sundried tomatoes and garlic):


Spanikopita, spinach and tofu feta with lemon juice, nooch and garlic, topped with toasted pine nuts and sun dried tomatoes (this seemed to be the crowd favorite!):


Mushroom Rissotto made with Jasmine rice instaed of arborio:


And our tower of Lemon Gems (from VCTOTW) with lemon cream cheese frosting, topped with lemon zest and a blueberry:


And if you are wondering about the bandanas and horse shoes all over the table...the party had a western theme and we were asked to decorate our table accordingly.

15 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

what a fun, delicious-looking party!! the food photography is superb, as usual; and the picture of you and your mom is precious :0)

Thistlemoon said...

That looks so wonderful! I want to try everything there! Everything looks so healthy and colorful and delicious.

Welcome to The Foodie Blogroll!

Amy said...

Wow, your table of goodies looks incredible!!! I'm not surprised it all went!! (not that I would think your food wouldn't, it always looks superb).

And you and your Mum are adorable :)

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on such a wonderful event. Your table looks wonderful and all of the food looks so delicious. I love how many different tastes you incorporated. How long did it take you to make them all?

Joni Marie Newman said...

Thanks everyone! VIV...I baked all of the cupcakes and phyllo cups on Friday, started at about 9am and finished up about 9pm with a 2 hour break around 3. I also made the frosting ahead of time. On saturday morning I made all of the fillings, and decorated the cupcakes. We brought the fillings in big ziploc baggies and filled them as needed, so they wouldn't get soggy. Our goal was to always have a full table, but not have to throw anything away. Our goal was accomplished. It was a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun too. I could totally see myself being a caterer full time.

aTxVegn said...

Of course your food was the favorite - it's so beautifully presented and I know it tasted wonderful. Awesome job!

Anonymous said...

Everything looks SO good! CONGRATS!

If you are ever in the Phoenix area, you can stay with me and I'll only charge you one of each of those phyllo cups :)

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

Ooh, how exciting! Everything looks SO good, I would have been coming back for more too!

Alex Kristofcak said...

wow congrats! seriously that is quite an accomplishment both from a culinary point of view and logistically speaking!!

Veggie Cookster said...

The phyllo cups are sooooooooo adorable! :) Great idea!

Anonymous said...

this looks amazing!! totally beautiful!!

bazu said...

Wow... you rock! I'm glad it all went so well, and yes, that you kicked meat/cheese guy's asparagus! (Look at me, self-filtering...)
I love your phyllo cups, and how cool that you guys had a system for keeping the tables full of fresh food, but not wasting any. I want to steal the phyllo cup idea for my Halloween party this weekend- can you tell me how long/at what temps. you baked the cups for?

Joni Marie Newman said...

Thanks everyone!

Bazu,
I used 2 sheets of phyllo, brushed with olive oil (I am sure any oil would work) And cut into 20 squares, I suffed each square into the mini muffin tin and baked for about 5-6 minutes at 350.

They are totally fun to make!

n/a said...

Everything is so perfect-looking and georgous!!! Great work. You look happy. :)

Vegan_Noodle said...

Oh wow, everything looks so yummy! What a way to represent veganism...

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All recipes written by me, Joni Marie Newman, unless otherwise noted. Please feel free to refer to or link back to any of my recipes, but please ask for permission, and remember to give credit when reprinting recipes in their entirety. I do provide links to affiliate programs (such as Amazon) in which I receive a small commission for items purchased. I do not provide paid reviews. All reviews done on products or books are of my own unsolicited opinion. On occasion I may receive a book or product to review. I will note when this is the case, but rest assured, it will not affect the authenticity of my review. Thanks!--Joni