A Family Affair

I love being here at my parents' home because it reminds me that culinary art is part of my genetic make up. As I stand around chopping and dicing with my mom, I visualize (based on narratives I have heard) my great-great-grandmother, great-grandmother, and grandmother standing around many years ago prepping their meals. The conversations and cracked jokes make me curious about what the passed generations discussed.

First, I would like to share with you my (step) dad's birthday meal. When deciding what to make, Mom and I knew two things. 1) We had to have pasta since he is Italian to the bone, and 2) we had to have chocolate for dessert. I am blessed to have a family who is understanding of my veganism. In fact, certain family members have added vegan foods to their own diets! That being said, we came up with a pasta similar to Fusilli Roasted Veggie Primavera (pg 167) for the main dish. We obviously replaced the fusilli for spaghetti, and Mom used blood orange olive oil rather than every day olive oil. We also had the convenience and luxury of getting all the herbs from Mom's backyard. (As a side note, notice my nickname on my red cup.)
For dessert, we used Mom's copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World to make Chocolate Orange Cupcakes (pg 38)with Orange Buttercream Frosting (pg 145). The candy on top was accidentally vegan.
Another reason I love cooking at my mom's is she has the coolest gadgets. Check out this tiny grater:

Although I miss my husband terribly, it will still be hard to go home on Saturday!