Monday, May 26, 2008

My cousin's wedding! & one last thing about the birthday


This past weekend, I went down to Okotoks for my cousin's wedding. It was quite lovely, despite the rain, but I'll only blog about the vegan-related aspects just to keep this short.

Anyways, this is the first wedding reception I've been to since going vegan, so I was a bit nervous about how this would go down. The dinner was at the Calgary Golf and Country Club, so naturally I assumed it would be a sit-down dinner.

Now, a month or so ago, my cousin contacted me on Facebook to ask me if I ate chicken or not. Of course, I said that I didn't and explained briefly what vegans choose not to eat. I was glad to see that he made this effort, to say the least, and I was excitedly anticipating exactly what I would end up eating.

Shall I put it simply?

The dinner was AMAZING. Not perfect, but pretty darn close!

First was a rich lentil soup. The only difference between my dish and everyone else's was that mine didn't have cream in it. And it was still amazing, of course! I'm definitely going to try pureeing my lentil soups, as it seems to add an air of sophistication, hehe.
(this picture doesn't do it much justice, unfortunately)


Next was a salad, and mine was just like everyone else's: grilled vegetables with lettuce and vinaigrette.
WOW that was good. I'm not a fan of artichokes or olives, so I left those, but the mushroom, zucchini, bell peppers, and tomato were fabulous! I just wish I got more!

And now for the main course...

What was on the other diners' plates? Some sort of chicken dish, vegetables, and scalloped potatoes. They all said it was very good, but I think what I had was WAY better!

Behold:
Potatoes, spinach, and mushrooms in a delicious tomato sauce, with steamed green beans and carrots on the side. Mmm! I don't like potatoes so I left those alone, but otherwise this was exquisite. I found myself trying to eat every last bit of tomatoey goodness and foraging for every piece of decadent mushroom. You don't always hear people describe mushrooms as decadent, but these were amazing! I was impressed with the steamed vegetables as well. They weren't overdone or underdone- they were JUST RIGHT.

And of course, dessert!

Strawberry sorbet and fresh berries- a PERFECT end to a great meal. What everyone else received was a chocolate mousse in a tall, fancy white chocolate 'glass', adorned with various types of chocolate shavings and fruity sauces. I didn't feel in the least bit jealous, as I only needed a light dessert anyways. In fact, I had my youngest sister eat the ice cream for me- I'm not used to food being that sweet!

All in all, I was extremely impressed with my 'special' vegan meal. I don't know quite what I was expecting, but what I ended up eating blew my mind! :D I am going to thank my cousin profusely for this!

Has anyone any wedding stories to tell- good or bad?


Now, I'm sure you're all growing sick of my raving about how awesome my friends are, but here's something else from my birthday party.

This was the card I received from my friend K:


(reads:
Grandma
You're loved so much)


Oh K, you are one silly guy.

And on the back, he wrote:

(No animals were harmed in the making of this card)

Hahahaaa, is that not awesome!?!?!

(as a side note, this K is the same guy who brought up the 'cinnamon challenge' back in November...)

Anyways, that's all folks, thanks for all the comments on previous blogs and I'm sorry for not replying to everyone. I'm still awful busy- final exams start in two weeks!!!- but as soon as things settle down, I'll try to get right back on track!

9 comments:

Tofu Mom (AKA Tofu-n-Sprouts) said...

WOW! SO LOVELY! You lucked out. Though how someone can not like artichokes, olives, potatoes or sweet fruit sorbet is utterly incomprehensible. Your cousin (or their caterers) did GOOD!!

The Little Mama said...

That is amazing! We went to a wedding last summer that had no vegan items... the only salad was caesar!! You are so lucky!

And those action figures from your previous post are awesome!

Rose said...

What a lucky girl you are! I think you're the first vegan to be treated this great at a wedding haha.

aTxVegn said...

Oh you did eat well! That sorbet is so beautiful.

Peggy said...

:) Daaanggg, it seems I was pretty lucky after all! Major props to the Calgary Golf and Country Club!

tofu mom- I'm just a weirdo, that's all :P

Cherry said...

Wow, all of this vegan food at a wedding? I haven't been to any weddings since going vegan, but I don't think vegans get such great food at most weddings!

Anonymous said...

I don't want to sound accusatory; I am only worried about you. I know I do not know your weight, nor do I know what you look like, but from reading your blog, it sounds like you may suffer from an eating disorder. Have you ever looked into it?

You say you dislike high-calorie foods such as pasta, olives, potatoes, and rice, and you stay away from sweet desserts (but cook them for others, which is a red flag of an ED).

As I said, this is just an observance. But please take care of yourself.

Ruby Red said...

Cuuute birthday card (yes, with three u's), especially the message on the back. I'll have to steal your friends idea and start giving out birthday cards that say "To Grandma" and just totally don't make sense.

Wow, you really lucked out at the wedding! It's so considerate that your cousin made special arrangements for your meal -- and it's awesome that it actually tasted great! I can only hope for something better than iceberg lettuce and soppy vegetables when I attend my first wedding dinner. Yay for you and happy belated b-day!

Peggy said...

Anonymous- If you don't mind sending me an email, I'd love to have a more private conversation with you about that. My email is on my blogger profile

Ruby Red Vegan- Haha, yeah it's a mighty clever idea, isn't it?

Oh dear, there are few things more disappointing than soggy lettuce, restaurants and caterers should be embarrassed to send that out as a 'meal'

And thanks for the birthday wishes! :)