Reason to Celebrate

Good news-- I graduated! Our Dietetics class decorated our hats together at Joyce's apartment. We even had a hotpot party while decorating. Hotpot is an Asian thing where you have one big boiling pot of broth into which you just drop vegetables, tofu, (and meat, traditionally) and leave to cook. Then you fish some savory cooked morsels out and devour with rice! Sorry I didn't get any photos, but here are some of our Nutri Sci class:
That's me on the left :)
This is how I felt walking across the stage and receiving my fake diploma:Like a piece of vegan French toast fruit face-- pure happy!

Celebration Vegan French Toast:

• 2 ripe bananas
• 3/4 cup rice or almond milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• a few slices of bread (any kind you like! I used plain white for its lightness)
  

Blend bananas, rice milk, cinnamon, and vanilla in blender or food processor and pour mixture into a wide dish. Gently dip bread slices into the mix, coating both sides. Fry in a non-stick, medium-hot skillet until golden brown.

My deepest apologies for being MIA in blog world my last year at Cal, but now I can blog much more regularly for you all! Here are some food flashbacks of senior year:
Nori Rice Ball made at home for my little brother. I forget what was in it, but traditional fillings include umeboshi (sour pickled plum). We Cha's like kimchi and "banchan"-- sauteed salty Korean root vegetables (Korean markets sell prepared versions).

I made this Apple Cinnamon "Mega Muffin" from the Babycakes book. I made it in a pie dish because I didn't have a muffin tin in my college apartment, so it looked like one HUMONGOUS muffin. Still, it was so moist and delicious:

These are little hors d'oeuvres I whipped up for an art gallery catering event at work. They are little Vital Vittles sweet baguette slices topped with sour cream and handmade vegan tapenade, garnished with tiny parsley sprigs. You can use vegan cream cheese instead of the sour cream.

Vegan Tapenade:

-2 cups pitted kalamata olives
-1/2 cup to 1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Pulse olives in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Stream in extra virgin olive oil while processing until the texture is fine but textured. Add more olive oil to achieve your preferred thickness. More olive oil for a runnier consistency, less oil for a thick dip-like version. Add some sea salt to taste, only if your olives are not salted. (Don't add salt if the olives are salted-- it will be WAY too salty!)

A rare, but relished indulgence, Vanilla Swiss Almond Rice Dream ice cream topped with an Uncle Eddie's Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie:
Congratulations to all you dears reading this who graduated or are graduating soon!
It's a really good reason to celebrate-- go make yourself a vegan sundae.

What vegan ice creams do you like?