Sushi Cake, Tiramisu Cupcakes & Birthday Cookout!

 Birthday Biscuits & Gravy (with Lightlife "sausage" grounds) for breakfast!

I love sushi so much (Vegan sushi that is!) that I wanted a sushi-themed cake for my birthday this year. It was such  blast, we brought it out to the local Japanese restaurant where I ordered sweet potato tempura rolls, tempura vegetables, cucumber avocado rolls, & shared some veggie Udon noodles. Tried chilled sake & got a glass of my favorite - plum wine!

 I saw ideas for a sushi cake on the web, & used the suggestions for coconut and fruit as an easy topping. The shaped laffy taffy wasabi and ginger are a great touch!

Tiramisu Cupcakes! Made these the day after my birthday.  These were really good; from an online recipe. I was trying to mimic ones my good friend got me from a bakery as a birthday surprise!

Grilled tofu! Had a great after-birthday, end-of-summer cookout before school started.

roasted potatoes, onions & peppers with oil & herbs

 BBQ "Ribs" mix - I think the main ingredient in that was wheat gluten, so it's kind of like seitan. I liked how the instructions called for sesame tahini to be poked into the dough before cooking, it gave it a neat texture. We added beer at the end to char it better.

S'mores! What end of summer cookout wouldn't have s'mores? I used vegan graham crackers, Dandies marshmallows, and some rice milk chocolate I'd been saving (don't really care for it plain, but good when melted into a s'more!)

 And, some yummy baked apples we wrapped in foil & threw on the grill~

And here are a couple shots from the Japanese restaurant & the neat chilled sake glass with a concave for ice!

Penne Rigate with Roasted Vegetables

No better way to use up some veggies before my next trip to the store. Tossed in fresh sweet yellow peppers, yellow onions, tomatoes, garlic, finely diced carrots, and herbs with oil, pepper, and sea salt. After mixing the pasta in, I added the rest of some spring salad mix that would have gone bad in a couple days, & topped with a more-than-generous portion of mozzarella-style Daiya cheeze shreds, to be quickly melted in the oven! Truly a nice, refreshing dish for the first day of Spring :)