Passover and Easter Festivities Abound

This was another of those whirlwind, interfaith, holiday weekends of fun, frolic, and- let's face it, snacking for me and 89.

In advance of the holidays, I secured some Gone Pie goodies for myself and my co-workers. Behold the elusive peanut butter caramel bunny: resplendent in its vegan, gluten-free, fair-trade glory...complete with a whole peanut in each ear!

Karma rewarded me for my generosity; I received a holiday package that contained a bonus bunny...

 

and my new favorite Gone Pie item: the cookie cup (not to be confused with Nosy Miss Cookie), which is one of their famous tahini cookies encased in thick, luscious, dark chocolate.

As if I wasn't already off to a great start, a cup of Vegan Treats' incredible speculoos soft serve was delivered to my door: generously coated with chocolate chips.

 

It may or may not have been (hint: it was) accompanied by one of their soft-baked speculoos cookies: partially coated in speculoos and dipped in chocolate. 

And then the holidays were upon us.
Passover came first this year.

89 got her own seat at the table, of course. But, while she did partake in matzoh balls* & carrots, it was not at the table.

The festive meal consisted of roasted brussels sprouts, potatoes and onions with horseradish, and the last piece of my Celebration Roast*.

On the first night, I helped 89 find the afikomen. We made a great team because she was much more interested in the matzoh than the money!

Check out these non-vegan macaroons I found at my parents' house trying to be cute. Sorry, macaroons; consuming animal products is NOT cute!

 

Sweet and Sara's cruelty-free, toasted coconut marshmallows, on the other hand, are extremely cute and delicious. They're a staple at our sedars.

 

And then we shifted gears for Easter.
89 received a basket full of fruits and vegetables!

Nothing terribly special for breakfast, but 89 expertly handled the pre-rinse of the cream cheese spreader per usual.

This was shortly before she demonstrated why chicks don't make good Easter "gifts;" good thing this one was faux.

A carbstrong Italian meal for Easter dinner.

More Easter-themed presents for 89 bunny.

More Easter-themed presents for me! Vegan Treats candy haul including the coveted betterfinger bar, speculoos bunnys, twin cookie sticks, and chocolate bunny lollipops.

And then 89 decided she was over it all.

Except for her flowery mini-89.

Until next holiday!

* not Kosher for Passover!

Spring Holidays: Veganizing Easter and Passover

Much like Christmas and Hanukkah, Easter and Passover can be very near or relatively further apart- depending on the Jewish Calendar.

 

As a mixed tradition family, the time gap between the two usually dictates exactly how much cooking VM is willing to do in a short span of time.  This year, even though the holidays were in the same week, I lucked out because VM was up to the task of cooking for both.

As a non-religious family, we agreed years ago that it was the tradition of the seder we enjoyed, but- for us, it was more important for it to be cruelty-free rather than to abide with the food restrictions that Passover dictates (which Andrea explains here much better than I ever could).  So, our seder is decidedly NOT Kosher for Passover- by any stretch of the imagination.  Instead, it's a celebration of recipes that my Catholic-raised mom learned from my dad's Jewish mother...and veganized over time.

Charoseth: walnuts, apples, cinnamon and Manischewitz served with matzoh.

More matzoh:

Matzoh ball soup: in a veggie broth with carrots, etc.

Sweet noodle keugel (with Brussel sprouts and a sweet potato making an appearance in the background).

The whole shebang:

Roasted potatoes and onions with beet horseradish.

With no competition, I managed to find the afikomen.  I was told that it was the one I didn't find last year.  After all of these years, still $5.

For dessert, let's start with the bad.  Lilly's chocolate rugelah with an expiration date of 5/9/14.  Except for that it was covering an expiration date of 4/9/14.  Union Square Whole Foods fail.  I wrote to them and they haven't responded.

Moving on...to Sweet and Sara!
Biscotti:

mocha almond chip and cinnamon hazelnut:

Aaaaand, smores!

A video on how to take your smore from now to wow:

And then, just a few days later: Easter.
Early on Easter morning and I was already taking my life in my hands making 89 wear the bunny suit again.

My parents were coming over for the traditional (read: un-traditional) Easter brunch: matzoh brei.

They arrived while I was mid-preparation, so I let my mom take over.

Still smoking:

Plated with grape jelly (I've decided I like it better with maple syrup):

Brunch is served!

In lieu of my own basket (which is now 89's), a VM-decorated box from Vegan Treats!

89 the glom stalking my goods.

Check it out!!!

Sorry, but dogs still can't eat chocolate, 89.

This tiny little box contained two adorable, dark chocolate, cotton-tailed (not real) bunnies filled with caramel (real).

Also: twin caramel cookie bars, twin peanut butter cookie bars, foil-wrapped eggs filled with as-yet-uneaten so undetermined goodness, a  dark chocolate rabbit pop, and my fave: nonpareils.

In order to avert her attention from my goodies, it was time for 89's basket.

Nothing immediately impressed her,

so she grabbed the present from my parents and started to eat the bag.

Once I showed her the toy inside, she returned to the basket to steal two cookies.  It would have been more, but I took them away after that.

Later that day we headed over to their house for more spectacular eats.

For starters: artichokes!

For everyone!

Eggplant rollatini stacks:

Served with spaghetti:

While we were eating, 89 disappeared.  She'd gone to find the afikomen I'd neglected to search for on Tuesday night.  It didn't hurt her chances that two treats were tucked in with the matzoh.

Then, more dessert.  First up: Sweet & Sara veeps: vegan marshmallow peeps:

This is when I got a little delirious with the treats and the holiday napkins.
Vegan Treats' chocolate-covered cannoli:

And chocolate chip cheesecake on-a-stick:

One final photo op!

The end.