Monday, June 16, 2008

Hedgehogs and Rainbows

I made it through my first Father’s Day without a father. It was very strange and excruciatingly sad, but bearable by spending the evening with my mom. We remembered how much Dad loved opening his cards and gifts, and barbecuing our dinner. He would carefully prepare veggies for me and Chase, wrapping them in foil to keep them meatfree, then plate them to make them blogworthy. All the family would be together and we would pitch washers or throw horseshoes while Dad tended the grill and made sure we were all having a good time. It was important to him to be a good father and a respectable man. He was an outstanding father and a remarkable man. I loved him so much and miss him every day.

For Sunday evening my mom fixed two fresh beautiful salads, one leafy green and one mixed fruit, both of which were delicious (and neither of which I took a picture of – oops). I made three dishes to take over. First, my Black Bean Salad. I know I’ve made this a hundred times, but everyone loves it and it’s just so pretty.



It had beans, corn, red and yellow peppers, tomatoes, purple onion, green onions, avocado, and cilantro.


I made the Hedgehog Potatoes from Super Natural Cooking, mostly following the method and not the recipe. I sliced the purple potatoes and just brushed them all over, including between each slice, with olive oil seasoned with garlic, salt, and pepper. I think we used to call these Potato Fans, but I like Hedgehogs better.


They were delicious and a fun way to eat potatoes. Your fork can just cut through the rest of the slice and you’ll have yourself a nice bite of baked potato.


For a treat I had to make a vegan version of something I saw in a magazine – Rainbow Cupcakes. I made the Vanilla Cupcakes from VCTOTW and added in a heaping quarter cup of sprinkles. The cupcakes baked up beautifully.


I waited (im)patiently for them to cool, then cut one in half.


Yay! How fun is that! So then I had to eat it. The vanilla cupcake recipe was perfect for this because, as Isa says, they are not terribly sweet. Adding in the sprinkles made them just right. I didn’t want to put any frosting on them (I hate buttercream), but I thought I might run into a chocolate lover, so I put a little ganache on half of them.


I wish I hadn’t put chocolate on them. If you decide to make these and don’t want naked cuppers, I recommend a powdered sugar glaze made with lemon or orange juice, and a few extra sprinkles on top. In fact, I’m going to do just that for a party next Sunday. Well, they are for kids, so maybe some with buttercream too….

31 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Very touching/heartwarming, how you honored your father's memory on Father's Day.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear that Father's Day was bittersweet for you. But it's clear from your post how much you admired and loved him! I'm glad you could spend the day with your mom.

Vegan_Noodle said...

I'm sure it was a tough father's day. Glad you were able to spend it with your mom and remember the wonderful memories you shared.

The cupcakes are so colorful!. I bet kids would love 'em.. even with a dallop of buttercream.

Anonymous said...

Those cupcakes have won over my heart. So pretty!

Anonymous said...

I didn't know about your dad, sweetie. hugshugshugs...

Anonymous said...

You're right. That black bean salad is really pretty! The cupcakes are, too :)
I'm glad that you were able to celebrate your father by remembering great moments you had together.

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry about your father. It's so important to be with our families when we are grieving. *Hugs* and my best to you and your family.

Carrie™ said...

I love those cupcakes! So bright and colourful. Your rememberance of you dad was very touching.

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

I'm so sorry you had to spend Fathers' Day without your dad, but I'm sure he was looking down on you and was happy to see your mom's and your delicious creations.

And I love the idea of putting rainbow sprinkles into the cupcake mix. I'm going to try that on my next batch of cupcakes.

Cherry said...

Love the cupcakes and black bean salad, so stunning and pretty! I'm so sorry about your dad, it must have been tough spending Father's Day without him. I'm glad you were able to share the day with your mother, though.

Anonymous said...

Ooooh, what presentable cupcakes! I love the idea. I wonder if I have any sprinkles...

Lindsay (Happy Herbivore) said...

confetti cupcakes!!!! <3

Cherry said...

You've been tagged!

jessy said...

that's really cool that you spent father's day with your mother and you all remembered your father together.

everything looks so beautiful! the cupcakes look super fun, and the hedgehog potatoes are so cute! :)

A.M. said...

I am so sorry about you spending your first Father's Day without your father. It must be awful.

I love your confetti cupcakes. I definitely have to try putting sprinkles in cupcakes myself soon, it looks so cute!

Erin said...

I'm glad you got to spend the day with your mom for company, and I LOVE the rainbow cupcakes. Fantastic idea. They're like the funfetti ones you can get in a box.

Katy said...

I'm sorry Father's Day was tough for you. I remember how hard it was hard for my mom the first year after she lost her dad.
It's great you could spend it with your mom eating yummy foods!

olga spaceage said...

When I saw those cupcakes I immediately made them. Unfortunately it seems to that European sprinkles aren’t so thermo stabile. (I posted about them with link to this entry and Your blog at my blog http://wiecejyofu.blox.pl/html - dedicated to vegan food, in Polish).
:)

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

It was nice that you were able to remember your father together on Father's Day.

I really like your hedgeog potatoes. I was thinking they would be good loaded with garlic butter and herbs too.

Meg Wolff said...

Sorry about your Dad. :-(

I like the name "Hedgehogs" best too.

sarchan said...

Cupcakes look great! I can never find vibrantly-colored vegan sprinkles? Would you mind sharing what brand you bought?

aTxVegn said...

Sarchan - Unless I'm mistaken, the Wilton jumbo rainbow sprinkles are vegan, and very vibrant!

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

you are sweet and fun

Amanda K said...

ATX! YAY! I love Austin!

New blogger here from Corpus Christi, hehe (almost neighbors) I'm so going to be visiting this blog more often! Have a nice day!

Anonymous said...

Those potatoes looks AMAZING!

Anonymous said...

Those are absolutely adorable! I wanna make some STAT!

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Jackie said...

Sorry to hear that Father's Day for you was so sad. At least your Mum had you for support and you both managed to make an enjoyable day out of it like I am sure your Dad would have wanted.

Always love your colorful salads. Wow red potatoes! Never seen them anywhere.

Liz Ranger (Bubble Tea for Dinner) said...

so much prettiness in one post! I hope you don't mind if I *totally* steal your ideas a bit! :D (they're very good ideas!)

Simple and Divine said...

OH MY GAWD. I freaking love you right now :)

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