Happy 50th Birthday, Mom!

I had the privilege of throwing my mom a 50th birthday party yesterday. It was a lot of fun and a complete adventure, because I did all raw food. Trying to put together a vegan, raw menu for an audience that is mostly omni was a challenge. I got lots of positive feedback though, and everyone (except for a few non-adventurous types that only ate the fruit and the salad *wink*) really seemed to enjoy the food. Thanks to Ani Phyo's book Ani's Raw Food Kitchen for saving the day. I made her spicy mock tuna roll, pizza, and "cheesecake", then added in a kale, red cabbage, and romaine salad with raisins and pumpkin seeds, and a platter of grapes and strawberries. I made a strawberry sauce for the cheesecake, too. I found that I'm growing in my knowledge of raw food prep because when I was not happy with the thin consistency of the sauce after blending the berries and agave, I knew what to do! Instead of thickening it with cornstarch or arrowroot and boiling it, all I had to do was blend in some dates and it became the perfect thickness. In addition to not boiling all the heat-sensitive vitamin C out of the berries, it was also much more quick and easy just to blend in dates. Anyway, I made extra of all the food so I can be feasting well into mid-week. :) Yay! Happy birthday Mom! I love you.