Birthday Update

Sorry for the serious blogging hiatus.  I think I'm ready to resume writing about food now that my appetite is back.  I've felt really weird for the past week- Not hungry, not thirsty.  Not full blown sick, but sick feeling at times.  No, I'm not pregnant.  I can read your thoughts, Mom.

Since my last post I celebrated my birthday!  Now I'm 29 and oh-so-much wiser.  I ate some seriously good food on my birthday.  Mike woke me up with hash browns and tofu scramble and chocolate cake for breakfast. Then Brandon brought me treats from Wisconsin (including a grasshopper brownie from Willy Street Co-op and his magical seasoned pumpkin seeds).  Then we had lunch at Everest on Grand (jackfruit curry and fried okra!). Then we feasted on these goodies at night:

There were homemade crackers and cashew cheese, salsa and Whole Grain Milling Co. chips, pickled asparagus, black olives and cupcakes.  Not pictured: home canned tomatillo salsa and 7-layer dip from 2 friends!

Okay, now let's talk about the cupcakes in more detail.  You didn't really think I'd just leave it at "cupcakes" did you?

Brandon combined 2 of my loves: chocolate and Irish cream into a vegan cupcake.  He made vegan Bailey's Irish cream (recipe from the ppk.com) and then incorporated it into both the cupcake and the frosting.  The result was ridiculously good.  He also made vanilla cupcakes with strawberry frosting- also amazing!

And I got to sip this lovely Irish cream all night.  Literally sip, though, because I don't normally drink straight up coconut milk.  You might be guessing why my belly felt all messed up by now...

But there's more.  

The next morning Brandon and I met up with my friend Sarah for brunch at Pizza Luce- Yum!  I had the Portobello Florentine (as usual) and Sarah surprised me with a cupcake that she brought back from her Chicago trip the previous day- An Irish Car Bomb cupcake from the Chicago Diner!  Now I can say I've had one of their famous desserts, even if I've never been to the Diner :)

Later in the day I stuck with veggies and grilled up some mushrooms.  My birthday present is going to be a new grill because right now we have the little tiny kind that only fits about 4 veggie burgers- no room for corn or onions or mushrooms, etc.  I know I want a charcoal grill, but haven't decided between the classic Weber or the big cast iron smoker/grill.  I'll let ya'll know what I end up getting.  And you know there's going to be some serious grillin' happening this summer!