I Think It's About Time... and Vegan MoFo #1ish

Hi Friends!

   It's so nice to be blogging again!  Summer is slowly winding down and I am doing my best to establish a new routine.  Okay, I haven't actually established a new routine I'm just thinking about doing it.  That's the same, right?  I thought so.  Speaking of routines... I totally failed the July blogging challenge that I set for myself, but, in my defense, it wasn't about food so I lost interest quickly.  Sorry about that.  But, the good news is that Vegan MoFo (Vegan Month of Food) is on for this month and I've signed up for it.  You can check out last year's posts in my archive under October 2012 if you'd like.  I haven't really come up with a theme for this year but I'm thinking it will center around food from the Farmer's Market.  There's an amazing one near my house that I try and visit every Wednesday.  That's the plan so stay tuned for some yummy recipes.  Before I get to any recipes though, I thought I would share some of the highlights from my summer.  Enjoy!

 4th Of July....

4th of July Highlights:  The Food

 Food:  I always try and make "American food" for Independence Day or at least what I think is American food.  In this case it's coleslaw, potato salad, corn on the cob (thanks to my sis-in-law for bringing that) and veggie burgers.  For dessert I made shortbread cookies and a Vanilla Pudding and Berry Parfait.  Drinks: My sister found this really fun drink called Crazy Uncle - Basil and Lime Daiquiri.  The flavor combo was super yummy and it even comes with sugar to garnish the rim of your glass.  So cool.  The only downer is that this particular drink has honey in it.  Bummer.  There's two other flavors by Crazy Uncle so maybe I'll try them... after I read the ingredients!

Sushi...

Note my mad chopstick skills

This wasn't my first time trying sushi but it was my first time going out for sushi on purpose.  My friends and I went to Spring Sushi which is really close to my house (incentive to visit again!).  I love that you get to order off an iPad.  You get to see the photo and description of every item which is so helpful if you are a newbie like me!  Luckily there are a lot of veggie options so I was able to try a variety of different items from the menu.  What were some of my favorites?  Well, any roll I got with avocado was the bomb; there was a bean curd one that was really good (not the very top right... I wasn't a fan of that one); and one with sweet potato... so good!  But my absolute favorite thing was the seaweed salad.  We ordered it twice because we couldn't stop eating it!  Plus they serve it in a bowl the size of a tea cup so you don't get much. Ha!

Vacation in Nova Scotia!

Airport Shenanigans

I love that my youngest nephew Michael dropped me off at the Hamilton airport and my oldest nephew Connor met me at the Halifax airport!  That was such a nice surprise seeing Connor and my parents as soon as I got off the plane.  Connor was waiting to board the flight home and since he was a minor traveling on his own, he needed an escort to wait with him.  Both my parents were granted permission to wait at the departure gate.  Which means that I was the only one with an entourage greeting me before baggage claim!  My mom and I went down to the airport restaurant to catch-up while my step-dad waited for Connor's flight to take off.  We ordered the only vegan thing on the menu plus a glass of wine and enjoyed some girl talk.

Highlights...

Savary Park

My mom's gardens, super hero step-dad, my parents house, silly girls, Bear River, crazy cat...

Green and blue fire and fireworks for my last night.

Last day in N.S....

Halifax Harbor Front

We spent my last day in Nova Scotia walking along the Halifax Harbor front and then stopping to eat lunch at the Hart & Thistle.  My vacation was super relaxing and there were many, many highlights in between my arrival and departure.  But, if I were to include everything then this blog post would never end.

A very special Birthday...

The Birthday Girl, her handsome brother and her cakes.

My sweet little niece Alexandra celebrated her first birthday last month.  It was such a nice day.  So many people came out for her special day, we enjoyed delicious food and the highlight (for me) was getting to make her birthday cake.  I couldn't just make her one cake so I made three, plus two kinds of cupcakes for good measure.  To say that I spoiled her would be an understatement.  Of course, she won't really know that until she's much older... but that's okay!  And since I baked everything, it was all vegan.  I think that was the best part.  And also, hearing everyone say how much they loved the cakes and how they never would have guessed they were vegan.  I never get tired of hearing that.


I hope you enjoyed my summer recap.  Tomorrow I'll share some of my food obsessions over the past couple of months.  There have been many but I will try and condense them!

Happy Labor Day Monday and Vegan MoFo!

Love,
Ves xx