Eighty five candles

Saturday was my grandma’s 85th birthday.

Well, technically it’s not until later this week, but it was her birthday PARTY at least.  I hope I’m blessed with her genes because she doesn’t look 85 at all!  Am I right or am I right? 

To celebrate, my Aunt and Uncle hosted a party at their house in Laguna Beach.  Naturally, our family gatherings include lots of fun and good food, so I’ll share some of the highlights.

G-ma, Auntie Wendy, me, Mom

Hazel

Food

From left to right: vegetarian lasagna, warm ciabatta bread, turkey lasagna, salad, and vegan pasta

Yes, you read that correctly, my Aunt made a vegan dish

She used my vegan lasagna recipe, subbing whole wheat shells for lasagna noodles.  And it was fan-damn-tastic. 

I love warm bread.  I love when the crust is crunchy and the inside is doughy.  Yum yum yum.

Finn feels the same. 

It’s important to pass on key life lessons to our youth…and it’s never too early to learn about carb lovin’ right?  Right.  🙂

I got a bit of errrthang on my first plate, and went back for seconds of the vegan pasta because it was cheesy bliss.

Two desserts, many candles, one song.  Happy birthday G-ma!!

Choose wisely Finn…

While most of the fam was oohing and aahing over the chocolate bundt cake with flan on top, I was having my own dessert ‘gasm.

This, my friends, is proof that my family is too good to me.  Also known as vegan peanut butter fudge from Whole Foods.  Holy no words (as in speechlessly good).  It tasted like a dense version of the inside of a Reese’s peanut butter cup.  It was buttery and flaky and just about the best thing I’ve had in a while (and vegan no less!).  It was also so rich I had to stop half way to not wind up in a sugar coma (and that’s saying a LOT since we all know I have zero self control).  I did take the rest home (and as suspected, it lasted less than a day in the apartment). 

The next morning my parents met us for brunch at Huckleberry. 

You’d think I have stock in the company I go so frequently!  I’ve taken each and every family member who has visited me 🙂

The proximity to my apartment is hard to beat, and anyways, who doesn’t love fresh baked goods? 

Brunch definitely deserves it’s own post, so stay tuned…

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