Family Reunion Foods ~ 2011

I try to make things for my big (gargantuan) family reunions that even hardcore meat-eaters like, which is usually no problem - I keep it simple. I made a huge vat (the only way to describe it, really) of pasta salad, worked 7 or 8 days on sourdough loaves(!), and made rainbow cake & cupcakes. The rainbow cupcakes were so cool, they're getting a post of their own!

         A cup measure next to the tub of pasta salad for scale, after half or so was devoured.

Rainbow cake...Yummy, yet my icing piping skills leave a bit to be desired!

Summer Salads

It's about the time of year for the annual family reunion and Father's day dinner. Last year for the Father's Day dinner I made my French apple pie and the following pasta salad and everyone enjoyed them, so I wanted to replicate that this year. I also wanted to try to veganize what I remembered of mom's potato salad recipe. These are traditional to me; I grew up with them - but everyone's got different tastes. These are slightly sweet and tangy. I like to use these shells in the pasta salad because they catch the sauce better for more of a flavor kick. I used mustard, vegannaise, rice wine vinegar, sugar and coconut milk as the base before seasonings. Nutritional yeast provides the eggy flavor I was used to in these. I like to use as many colors of sweet peppers and onions for a garden-fresh presentation. I wrote down ingredient amount approximations this year!

 Also used the same sauce base for the potato salad with less sugar, vinegar, and coconut milk, and the addition of celery seeds.