#197 Hollywood Bowl Picnic

Happy (almost) Birthday Lynzie!!!

Last night Lynzie, Sarah, Sheena, and I went to the Grease Sing-a-long at the Hollywood Bowl. It was my first time there and I had a blast! As part of Lynzie's early birthday present, I prepared some yummy food and drinks for us. First up were Nutty, Chocolate Popcorn balls. They were rich, salty, sweet, and gooey. To drink we had 2 different white sangrias. The one with mint and ginger in it was the favorite. We also had our beloved almond champagne :) I also got to do something I have always wanted to try, making croissants! It was a long, arduous process but I think they turned out great! Especially since yeasted breads and I haven't always gotten along. I stuffed the croissants with curried tempeh salad. I tweaked a recipe from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's The Vegan Table. I wanted to replicate the tofu curry salad that I loved from my former workplace Jimbo's in San Diego. Success!! I used pineapple instead of apple, cashews instead of pecans or walnuts, and dried cranberries instead of raisins. It was delicious! I also made CPG's lemon bars from her book The Joy of Vegan Baking. This was my first time making these, I usually make the ones from Veganomicon. This recipe was quicker, easier, and I liked these ones better! The lemon filling was so tart and creamy. Lynzie thought it tasted like a lemon meringue pie...minus the meringue. I agree! Lemon desserts are our favorites. I also brought along some leftover mini banana breads I had made for Odin's 1st birthday. The recipe is from babycakes so they are gluten and sugar free. Sheena said they were her favorite part of the meal! Lots of work went into this picnic, but I think it was worth it! I love eating delicious vegan food that I didn't have to prepare and I think Lynz enjoyed it too! Everybody around us had takeout from places like CPK (good idea) or KFC (yuck) or crazily overpriced food from the venue ($8.50 for hummus and pita chips?!? Yikes!) I don't even want to think about how much the wine costs....I can't wait to go again next year when we will enter, and win, the costume contest! Maybe we'll have weenies. With relish of course!

Pretty good for my first attempt, right?

Lettuce from the garden :)