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….