My Dad is Not Vegan/ Mini Vegan Chipwiches (and more)

My Dad is not vegan.  He'll eat kale chips, raw kale salad, tempeh salad sandwiches, and anything from Vegan Treats; but he's not vegan.  He'll wear shoes from Alternative Outfitters and use cruelty-free toiletries, but he's not vegan.  He knows how to read content and ingredient labels for sneaky bits when accessory or food shopping, but he's not vegan.  He's known to announce "she's vegan!" to unsuspecting waiters, but, well- obviously he's not vegan; this isn't exactly the best approach.  But, he means well.  (Seriously, though; stop doing that, Dad.)

What he won't do is go to an all vegan eating establishment (the magic that is Lula's Sweet Apothecary is the only exception to this rule).  Like many non-vegans, he is afraid that he might instantly disintegrate if not given the option of animal products at one, single, solitary meal eaten outside the home.  And, he can only be expected to visit the restaurants that VM & I enjoy on limited occurence, certainly not on his birthday or Father's day.  Which brings us back to today.  My Dad may not be vegan, but that's what he gets.

Mini Vegan Chipwiches!

You'll need:

• 1 package of Biscoff cookies (these are accidentally vegan and my Dad loves 'em)

• 1 pint vegan ice cream
• mini chocolate chips

directions:

• Let your ice cream soften minimally, then scoop an amount appropriate to your cookie size onto the bottom cookie; for Biscoff, I used a small scooper.

• Place another cookie atop and carefully press down so that the ice cream is about 1" thick.

• "Roll" in chips.  This isn't as easy as it sounds; you'll have to use a small spoon to press the chips into the ice cream.

• Place each assembled chipwich into the freezer immediately and repeat.  Remember to move through this process quickly in order to prevent a melty mess.
• When you run out of one ingredient, eat the leftovers of the others and you're done.

Lest you think the day was all chipwiches, rest assured there were other eats to be had.  For breakfast there VWAV scones; this time peach, maple, toasted pecan scones.

Before:

After:

Note that these were best fresh from the oven, cooled about 1-2 hours.  They got a little rubbery as leftovers and even a refresh in the toaster oven didn't restore their original glory.

Inside:

Later, I shook down my entire basil plant for an appetizer...

of fresh pesto bruschetta.  It ain't pretty, but it was really good.

For dinner, pasta with VM's famous, spicy, homemade sauce.

And for dessert- the chipwiches.

The vegan feast was enjoyed by all, including non-vegan Dad.  Thanks for keeping the right (literally and figuratively) side of the barbeque animal-free for your veggie family.  Now stop being the sole holdout!