potluck with carnivores

[Guest guest]

So, last night I attended a holiday party with carnivores. Everyone

was expected to bring some appetizers/desserts; it was late enough

that dinner could be had prior and no one was anticipating making the

potluck their meal, though I'm sure many did. Anyway, I brought the

following, after cooking the entire day before (foreshadowing?):

 

- lentil pate

 

- cranberry/jalapeno cornbread (my own invention) in mini-bundt forms

 

- dark chocolate brownies with roasted walnuts

 

I also made two kinds of tofu jerky, one with cinnamon and sugar and

one with Mexican spices, but I chickened out and left them at home.

 

The results? Those who " braved " the lentil pate really liked it. It

was delicious on crackers or black bean corn chips (Bearitos brand).

The cornbread was good with butter. Some found it spicy, while my

friend who, like me, is really into hot stuff, didn't really taste

the jalapenos (I only used one [deseeded] in the whole batch). As

for the brownies, only one was sampled. There were just so many

desserts, including cheesecake brownies, baklava(!), and peanut

butter chocolate squares that they didn't stand a chance. The one

sampler, the host, quite liked them though, describing them

as " fudgy, " which was the idea.

 

The " winners " for the evening were, unfortunately, the shrimp platter

and the host's kielbasa. It is so hard to please the carnivorous

crowd with healthy food. And, despite my intentions and attempts at

filling up with good stuff first, I still ended up gorging on those

*other* desserts mentioned above.

 

 

-Erin

 

 

-Erin

[Guest guest]

Erin,

I feel a little sad when my veg dishes are not received with

excitment! I made mushroom risotto, which I love...for

Christmas...let's just say I had a lot of left-overs.

Is the tofu jerkey good? i have bought some and didn't like it,

because of the spices used.

How did you make it at home?

melissa p.

[Guest guest]

Indeed, it did make me a little sad. As Isis suggested, it would

have been easy to make a big, fatty pasta dish that would be sure

to be a hit, but I had different ideas. Some of it was a strategy

for my own sanity; I wanted some uber-healthy alternatives to fill

up on to avoid the fat-laden desserts. That didn't work! And I

also wanted to introduce people to the wonderful world of veggie

food and how healthy can also be tasty. Alas... <shrug>

 

-Erin

 

 

, " Melissa " <mapalicka>

wrote:

>

> Erin,

> I feel a little sad when my veg dishes are not received with

> excitment! I made mushroom risotto, which I love...for

> Christmas...let's just say I had a lot of left-overs.

> Is the tofu jerkey good? i have bought some and didn't like it,

> because of the spices used.

> How did you make it at home?

> melissa p.

>