family dinner night

Like a party on a Wednesday

or in this case

Monday.

A suggestion

from my oldest son

Jacob

who is usually out-of-town

on the weekends

visiting his fiance who lives

two hours north.

After a year of this pace

he started wanting 

get-togethers

for days other than

holidays

and thought a weekly meal would be
 the ticket.

The idea being
 we all pitch in.

Nothing too fancy.

Regular.

Good.

Food.
But last night I took over the
reigns and made the whole
shebang.

In my attempt to remain

plant-based in this

world of

meAT EATERS

that I have raised

I made 

a pot of

Black Bean and Quinoa Chili

and I made it thick

to be served over

baked potatoes.

(old pics mom came across that we laughed over)

It got pretty hectic

once the girls arrived so I don't have

a picture of the spread I created 

for the
chili baked potato bar.

Toppings included:

daiya cheese

tofutti sour cream

(and their all dairy counter-parts)

fresh chopped cilantro

salsa

sriracha hot chili sauce

diced avocado

Good stuff

and a real hit with the gang.

Little by little
meal by meal

showing them the way.

About 1 hour before their arrival

I thought...

dessert.

I hadn't planned a thing

but wanted a sweet to offer.

Headed over to see what

Isa Chandra at

Post Punk Kitchen

was up to

and my search was over.

Butterscotch Cupcakes with Coconut Bacon.

I had everything
except

the butterscotch and

coconut bacon.

No worry

she includes a vanilla variety.

In my opinion

the star of the show.

Plopped a tray of cooled cupcakes

on the table

as a centerpiece

along with

little saucers

and then 

we passed around the frosting.

spoons 

OVER

knives!

I was surprised I had enough frosting

for the cupcakes

after all my earlier taste testing.

Creamy.

Sugary.

Vegan.

Heaven.

I would break-off a piece of cake

and top it with

frosting

so that each bite was 

like a perfect little

delicacy.

Have I made you hungry for 

cupcakes?

Well head on over to PPK

(see my sidebar for directions)

and whip up a batch.

This little fellow is the lone

survivor.

Mom wasn't able to be here

because of her

busy social life...

aka bunco.

I could save it for its rightful owner

but it beckons me to 

come...

eat.

Life is Good.