crack the plates

(October is VeganMoFo and I’m blogging about why more vegans should move to Atlanta, Georgia – a diamond in the dirty south. See the first post for more info.)

Reason 5: Sevananda Natural Foods Market

I wasn’t planning on blogging about my favorite small grocery store, Sevananda, when I stopped in earlier this afternoon to pick up a few on-sale staples. But when I turned a corner with a cart full of organic coconut milk, organic mushroom stock, and cheap-o local potatoes only to see one of my favorite Atlanta chefs, Ria Pell, studyin’ the non-dairy milk options, I knew I had no choice.

Ria in signature overalls with a case of unsweetened rice milk for bechamel.

Catching a celebrity chef stocking up for one of her menu’s new entirely vegan options (the fantastic root vegetable shepherd’s pie at Sauced restaurant and lounge, the subject of a future post!) is just one reason Sevananda rocks. Let’s consider a few others with a photo-tour of the store!

Walking in, you’re greeted with a tent where folks often hang out to answer questions about membership. The customer service desk, not pictured, is to the far right, as is the fresh juice case.

From the entrance you can see the produce section, which is just out of frame of the picture above. Produce is sourced locally and is exclusively organically grown. Move forward towards the salad & hot bars…

Swing around to the side for daily hot bar selections.

Mmmmm.

Produce view from where you’re standing now (by the hot bar).

Turn around and you’re looking at the prepared foods grab-and-go case, situated in the back of the store near the freezers (on the left) and the refrigerated display (on the right). Let’s see what our options are today!

vegan quiche

yum.

super yum.

haven’t tried this one yet, but I’m sure it’s good!

You can even pick up a whole cake or pie!

Two important things about Sevananda’s prepared foods selection: 1) everything is vegan. (Well, almost everything – every once in a while eggrolls make an appearance, and the wrappers contain egg.) 2) everything is really cheap! Weighed items are $5.69 per pound – compare that to Whole Foods’ $7.99 and $8.99/per pound prices. You can really fill up at Sevananda for less than $10 – and have plenty of leftovers.

Nate & I couldn’t resist the savory crabfakes with a creamy dipping sauce.

Walking away from the grab-and-go case on the opposite side of the store as the produce, you approach the vast bulk section.

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Parents should keep an eye on their children, especially in the low-lying chocolate and candy section. :)

In the middle of the bulk section there’s a place to buy smaller packaged bulk items (like raisins and raw cocoa) as well as a handy housewares aisle. Sevananda stocks only vegetarian (mostly vegan) cookbooks, too. Notice any of your favorites?

Leaving the bulk section you come to the front corner of the store opposite the entrance, where all manner of herbal tonics, personal care items, and bulk herbs are found.

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almost every kind of herb & spice (organic and conventionally grown, depending on what’s available) you could imagine, ready for purchase in any quantity. need a teaspoon of agar? you got it! a quarter-cup of dried thyme? that’s there, too. beet powder for natural food coloring? yup.

Leaving the bulk section you can either go browse the middle section (laid out like a typical grocery store, with aisles for all your staples) or head to a friendly front-service clerk with all of your purchases. Checking out at Sevananda is always easy and fun because the people who work there are either working members or volunteers. The other night I got into a long, supportive conversation with a new friend who had just been to Troy Davis’ funeral. We commiserated til closing time (I was there a little late, getting last-minute meal delivery items). Everyone always has something interesting to say, so don’t be afraid to get conversational! It’s the southern way.

If you’ve got prepared foods, or even just a coffee, go sit in the colorful cafe right inside the entrance.

That’s where Nate & I enjoyed our crabfakes and did a little people-watching.

On the way out, we talked to Jed, a working member-owner who often seems to be wrangling shopping carts. He gave me a few tips for future themes and we laughed over a new installment in Sevananda’s foyer:

This is what separates your corporate grocery store from your community co-op, I guess. :)

Sevananda is a stone’s throw from the gloriously green Freedom Park. Why not have a picnic with Sevananda goodies there?

For those in the Atlanta area, it’s easy to become a member-owner. From the literature: “The cost of a Full Share (membership) is $120, and we allow annual payments of $20 per year until you are at the $120 level.” (So, at least $20 per year over the course of six years. So cheap!!) If you pay annually, there is a service-fee of $2 per year in addition to the $20 payment. (Okay, so $22 per year/six years. Still!!) Joining gets you:

• Discounts to our School of Commonhealth classes (yoga, cooking, etc)
• Free admission to Sev’s monthly mixers and other Sevananda-sponsored events
• Free admission to bi-annual Member meetings
• Receive the monthly newsletter, Co-Options, in the mail or online
• Financial updates in Co-Options
• Eligible for the Working Member program where you give your time in exchange for a greater discount (a really good deal – you work a certain number of hours a week (not too many!) in exchange for 20% off your purchases EVERY TIME YOU SHOP.)
• Elect the members of the Board of Directors
• Participate in Board-sponsored committees
• Adopt or change Co-op bylaws
• A share of the Co-ops profits

So what are you waiting for? Oh… you don’t live here yet? Give me a few more posts and you’ll be convinced! Til then…

Hey y’all! Welcome back to VeganMoFo blogging 2011, where I plan to share at least thirty-one reasons why more vegans should make Atlanta, Georgia their future home! Check out my welcome here.

I usually work fourteen to sixteen hour days on Mondays and Tuesdays for the meal delivery (more on that later), so it’s a small miracle that I’ve found the time/energy to make this post! With a little planning & possible post-scheduling, I think I’ll be able to pull through my most difficult days of the week. Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Greek-inspired lasagne (from her new book World Vegan Feast) is currently baking in the oven – how’s that for multi-tasking? Still, I’ve got ten minutes til it’s ready – let’s go!

Reason 3: Southern Sweets

We vegans are pretty DIY folks who often relish the opportunity to bake cakes from scratch. We can go through a number of cups of tea dreaming over Fran Costigan’s recipes, and our Isa & Terry invasion editions are awesomely dog-eared and batter-splattered. But we all find ourselves in situations where we don’t have several hours needed to make beautiful, delicious, vegan cakes. If you’re in Atlanta, you know where to go – Southern Sweets.

Southern Sweets has been baking wholesale for some of Atlanta’s favorite restaurants and cafes (Cafe Sunflower, Javamonkey) for decades, and their retail space is open seven days a week. In my experience, they require only 24-48 hours advance notice for a full-sized cake. The following list of cakes are $36.50 each (right at $40 with tax): old-fashioned chocolate cake, raspberry chocolate mousse, chocolate peanut butter mouse, rustic apple or cherry pie, strawberry layer cake, red velvet, apple walnut pound cake, carrot spice, coconut, german chocolate. Their chocolate tart is gluten-free and vegan. (Menu here.)

Of course, sometimes you don’t need a whole cake. Maybe you just got a promotion (or a job!) or want to treat a friend from out of town. Hop over to Southern Sweets and check out their vegan case, where you can choose from a rotating cast of at least six favorites for $5.60 per giant slice.

Note: sometimes they put non-vegan items, like the two crumbles shown here, at the very bottom of the case. So ask if there’s not a label. Also, the old-fashioned chocolate cake is always kept in the larger case across from this one.

Let’s check out our options:

Nate’s favorite! Class act.

My favorite!

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The folks are super-friendly, too:

I could not have taken all of these lovely pictures without Karina’s help. Thanks, darlin’!

Not only does Southern Sweets make simple layer cakes for everyday occasions, but they’re experts at wedding cakes. Contact Ashley at weddingcakes@southernsweets.com to discuss your dream cake and get a quote.

Want this cake cruelty-free? No problem!

I hope this post didn’t just sound like an advertisement. But I guess it kind of is – Southern Sweets is something special that you can only get in Atlanta, and I’m mentioning it in hopes of drawing you awesome vegans to our fair city. They’ve never let me down at a mixed-company event – omnis might try to get in a jab about how it’d “be better with a little butter” but then you see them go back for a second slice and you know what’s up.

Southern Sweets is located at the corner of Rio and Laredo in a mixed-use industrial park which includes artists’ studios, cabinetry outlets, and a commercial gluten-free bakery. (I’m guessing they needed the huge facility and it was the best marriage of space & price?) It’s not off-putting, just a little out of the way.

If you’re on a bike, it’s accessible by MARTA from the Kensington Station, which is closest. You could also bike from the Decatur or Avondale Stations, taking the lovely Stone Mountain bike trail, if you’re looking for a more leisurely ride.

While I love Southern Sweets, I’m also planning on featuring the new kid on the block, Dulce Vegan, in a future post. Dulce Vegan is a vegan-owned shop serving up its own deliciousness and catering to other beloved Atlanta restaurants. Stay tuned!

(October is VeganMoFo and I’m blogging about why more vegans should move to Atlanta, Georgia – a diamond in the dirty south. See the first post for the manifesta.)

I am not in the habit of waking up early. I enjoy morning’s peace, but lately I’ve been going to bed past midnight and getting up as late as possible – usually between 9 & 10, slackers! Travel & meal delivery work (which includes early farmer’s market trips) are just about the only compelling reasons I have to drag myself out of bed before nine.

Reason 2: Dough Bakery

Except, of course, for Dough Bakery – the pop-up vegan bakeshop at the corner of Hurt Street and Dekalb Ave. Vegan owners Laura & Kevin own the building and bake everything from scratch, but they’re still holding out for the begrudging blessings from state & local licensors that will allow them to open for realsies. Til that glorious day, you’ll need to like them on facebook, follow them on twitter, and sign up for their e-mail list so you’ll be among the first to know when they announce their quietly-famous Stealth Sunday brunches. The notice usually goes out just before the weekend.

Because they have a limited stock and always, always, always sell-out, plan to arrive sooner than later. It’s usually mostly sweets with some savory food, and while everything is delicious and in short supply, the savory stuff goes first. Today, for instance, they stocked just eleven of these ooey-gooey sausage, egg & cheeze-filled handpies. Only six were there wen I showed up at almost 8:30!

That’s locally-Gutenfleischers-made sausage at the bottom, Dough’s own proprietary “egg” blend in the middle, and everybody’s favorite Daiya on top, all tucked inside an extraordinary savory crust.

Just beautiful.

Today Dough had bread loaves, banana & pumpkin whoopie pies, a great big peach coffee cake, sticky buns with walnuts, cinnamon rolls with lotsa icing, snickerdoodle cookies, and maybe a couple of other things too. I have never been disappointed with anything from Dough Bakery and like most great cooks, they just keep getting better with experience. So buy as much as your budget will allow and know that you’re helping a great new independent vegan-owned-and-operated business get off the ground. Their prices are really reasonable, too – almost every week I try everything on the menu for a total of around $20. This week my tab was sixteen and I used Square to pay.

Pumpkin whoopie pie.

walnut sticky bun

peach coffee cake

cinnamon roll

another inside view

There’s no reason not to take MARTA to Dough – like Brick Store featured yesterday, it’s right next to MARTA. Brick Store sits atop the Decatur station, while Dough is across the street from the Inman Park/Reynoldstown station.

BONUS: a picture of my cat Rarry, who had a bee in her bonnet this morning! Runnin’ around, actin’ a fool – I think she’s really into the basking in the sun with a cool breeze combo. (Did I mention that we have gorgeous weather here?) Oh, and scratching the hell out of the little couch. There’s always that.

Farewell, wherever ye fare! – but seriously, move to Atlanta. Another reason up tomorrow!

Happy October, friends! This month I’ve joined eight hundred bloggers from around the world to post as often as possible about the glory that is the vegan life. VeganMoFo, the vegan month of food writing – a delicious answer to NaNoWriMo – is here again!

A bit of history, before we get down & dirty: VeganMoFo is actually REALLY SPECIAL to Crack the Plates because – hold onto your hats – it launched my entire blogging project! In the fall of 2009 I had just moved into a new house in Richmond, Indiana and was toying with the idea of starting a blog as a nice distraction during my final year of Master’s thesis writing. My sweetie Nate & I were really into 1977 Rankin & Bass production of The Hobbit at the time, so he made a tech blog called chiptheglasses.com & I set up cracktheplates, threats lifted from one of the dwarves’ songs. My first ambitious post was about trying out Angel Food’s marshmallow kit, and my very first commenter was the ever-supportive Kittee of Papa Tofu fame!

And ah, how far we’ve come. Since that first post in October 2009, I’ve nabbed my Master’s degree, moved from the midwest to the deep south (my home), adopted another abandoned tortoiseshell cat, and so much more. Food-wise, I’ve launched two small businesses, Kandai Cakery and Crack the Plates meal delivery, been featured on my favorite Vegansaurus.com a handful of times, taken two major vegan road trips (San Francisco in 2010 and New York in 2011), and made so many new, inspirational – if often far-off – friends. VeganMoFo: for these reasons and many others, you’ll forever be dear.

But enough about me! Let’s get to the food!

I’m theme-blogging this MoFo about the great city of ATLANTA, Georgia. As I wrote to the MoFo wizards in my proposal, I wasn’t planning on doing a theme this year til I took the VegNews survey and came to the question about vegan-friendliest cities. Not a SINGLE Southern-US city was featured on the “Favorite veg-friendly city” list! Aghast, I wrote in some of Atlanta’s treasures: our vegan meat company (Gutenfleischers), our organic vegan bakery & fair-trade cafe (Dulce Vegan), our weekly organic vegan meal delivery service (you know, my project), our two meet-ups (Vegan Drinks and the Atlanta Vegan Lunch Group), more than a handful of vegan restaurants and LOTS of vegetarian ones. (Even our food trucks cater to vegans, even though we don’t yet have an entirely vegan food truck.) Finally, we’re home to one of the most beloved and well-stocked online vegan shops in the country, Cosmo’s Vegan Shoppe!

These great examples and others are always on my mind, which is why I consider Atlanta a great place to be vegan. But with vegan meccas like Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, and Brookyln taking all the great press, Atlanta’s not just an afterthought – it’s given no thought. As a local, I want to do my part to take the wind out of the stereotype that the south is un-veg-friendly by featuring the deliciousness of Atlanta for an entire month. Not only will I highlight some of the folks listed above, but I’ll really dig into Atlanta and share the lesser-known treasures. For instance, we have SO MANY of Ethiopian restaurants around here, but which ones use a vegan nitter kibbeh, if any? (Hint: I know!) VeganMoFo seems to be the perfect platform for reaching the broader vegan community, who I’m counting on to help vegucate the rest of the world.

So yeah. That’s the deal – y’all. Atlanta’s awesome and you should know why. Come sit a spell.

This unassuming little spot in Decatur is not only the best place to hang out and drink beer in Atlanta, is the second best beer bar in the WORLD according to Beer Advocate magazine. It also holds the lifetime championship title of being the only place to serve beer that I actually enjoyed. (If you know me, you know I am not. a. beer. drinker. Close friends reading are, up to this point, totally baffled by my writing about a pub. Hang in there.)

Beer Advocate – and I! – give Brick Store an A+ rating for several reasons. Their awe-inspiring selection certainly helps – the beer menu is about ten pages long (small print). It’s updated frequently, too – the one I read today was dated yesterday. Check out the draught menu here and the bottle menu here.

my vegan sweetie, checkin' out his options.

The interior is cozy and all of the servers work together to make sure your glass is never more than half empty, your food comes out rapidly, and the check is taken away when you’re ready. Because I’m really unsophisticated, I felt like I’d walked into the Leaky Cauldron when I stepped inside the Brick Store, but it might just remind my more worldy friends of their European vacations.

view of the main hall from the entrance

view from the second floor

Vegan dining options are scant, but the one we had was solid – just a hummus sandwich piled with fresh vegetables and dressed with a house-made spicy vinegar. And those fries – oh my!

$8.50 and big enough for two people.

thanks for taking such great care of us.

my three tasters and nate's St. Bernadus

I wasn’t up-front about not liking beer, but when he heard me admit it, he couldn’t resist the challenge and brought down three tastes from the Belgian bar. To my great shock, I enjoyed every one! The Boon Kriek was nice and gently vinegary, but smooth, not punchy, like an older, gentler ferment instead of a young buck. The Scaldis Peche Mel, creamy and only gently peachy – overall, I called it “inoffensive”. The Bacchus was like Boon Kriek +1, and was called the most vinegary beer currently on tap. Apparently that’s a flavor I can get behind.

Only forty bucks? Perhaps it will soon be mine!

The pub is also full of art from Atlanta-based folks, like R. Land, featured here. You may know him as the Loss Cat guy! I think this riff on his iconic “Pray for Atl” hands is awwwwwesome.

If you’re planning on heading to the Brick Store soon, be sure to check out the menus online and use Barnivore if you’re unsure about a beer’s vegan-friendliness. It has been my exclusive experience that high-gravity true craft beers from Germany and Belgium are vegan (this blogger has a great explanation), but it’s always worth a double-check.

Oh, and be sure you take MARTA, cuz like our city’s unofficial public transit tagline goes, MARTA is Smarta! Mostly because the Brick Store sits atop the Decatur station. Honk honk!!!

I’m pleased as punch that another round of meal deliveries found their way to fridges in Atlanta! From midtown to Decatur to East Atlanta and beyond, folks will be eating well this week.

The third round was particularly exciting because I added a new family! For those interested in the business side, I’ve been serving the same three families since delivery one. These folks – the “first week faithfuls” – are incredibly special to me because they took a chance when I was just starting out, and supported me as I worked out all the kinks. I couldn’t have been able to get off my feet without them!

Of course, I am looking for limited expansion, which is why I was thrilled to add someone new this week. I say “limited” because I’m actively discerning the upper bound of my orders and will likely be placing a weekly maximum soon. This is not because I’m not ambitious, or because I don’t care about reaching a wider audience. I do. Just not… now.

For now, I’m totally satisfied serving a handful of my friends. After all, that’s what inspired this whole project: friendship, partnership. Teaming up with innovative, interesting people who already care about food & sustainability but don’t have the luxury of time to make the kind of food they want to eat… because they’re pursuing other passions! From sewing to running small businesses to programming & other web-work, my friends inspire and challenge me, and I’m grateful for our mutually-supportive relationship.

Week three, shall we? Click “more…” to keep reading and see lots of pictures!!

On Sunday a bunch of Atlanta-area folks gathered at Sauced for the first Atlanta Vegan Drinks! Inspired by the success of NYC’s Vegan Drinks, @atlvegan Brett worked with chef-owner Ria Pell to develop a special menu and cocktail for the kick-off event. Brett’s hope for Atlanta Vegan Drinks is that, by bringing together a diverse group of people, we might expand and support our local vegan community. A little birdie told me he did some work on the next get-together today, so go ahead and follow @atlvegandrinks on Twitter for the most up-to-date information!

As anyone who was there would tell you, the first event was an unparalleled success. Ria & her partner Kiki welcomed us like guests in their home (their third home!). Our servers were delightful even as they managed a way-bigger-than-expected crowd. The back porch atmosphere was eclectic and inviting, with three sets of family-style tables that encouraged mingling as best as possible. And the food – yowzah! Just check out the menu:

Ticks/asterisks denote what we ordered – and believe me, we loved every bite! My only regret is not splurging for a signature cocktail… next time, next time!

Check out those big ol’ smiles! We honestly couldn’t have been happier. Thanks again to the Sauced/Bluebird team for such a memorable evening!

These days, Scoutmob is the only reason I need to try something new. Not only is the write-up always entertaining and alluring, but just about every restaurant featured comes with a 50% off coupon! Such a deep discount emboldens me to be spontaneous – with such low barrier to entry, I don’t feel like I have much to lose. And their selections seem pretty well curated to begin with!

Friday night Nate & I were on our way to Harmony Vegetarian to celebrate a week of hard work and job applications when I asked him to use the “nearby” feature on Scoutmob to see what was close by. I seemed to recall an Ethiopian restaurant coming up in recent weeks, so he did some quick sleuthing. Indeed! Pardon the pun, but a wonderful little Ethiopian Kitchen became our Desta-nation! (Sorry, Harmony.)

At first we wanted to sit in the swingin’ “tree house” outdoors, but our hunger overruled any desire to wait in line for a coveted seat. Dinner – the vegetarian combo for $10 – came within minutes. Here’s what we’ve got on the plate:

Or,

Some definitions:

• injera: sour, flat, spongy bread made out of teff flour
• shiro: Ground chickpeas simmered in a rich house sauce spiced with olive oil
• tomato fit fit: finely diced tomatoes, onion, pepper and garlic mixed with house dressing and bits of injera
• split pea stew: yellow split peas with onion, garlic, ginger, spices
• cold lentil salad: green lentils, onion, pepper, ginger, garlic
• red lentil stew: lentils stewed in a rich berbere (mild blend of dried chillies) sauce, onion, garlic and ginger
• collard greens: aw, y’all know what those are!

We needed to kill a little time between dinner and the gallery opening, so we decided to stop in at Nakato for a little “Man Mountain” sake, wakame salad, and my favorite, nasu dengaku : primo Japanese eggplant flash fried and glazed with sweet miso.

In through the out door… most folks take advantage of the free and fast valet parking at Nakato, but it’s really worth it to park yourself round back and take a stroll through the carefully maintained back garden. The restaurant’s founding patriarch and all-things-green enthusiast still tends it.

And then on to MINT Gallery for Aubrey’s opening! Ok, ok, it wasn’t all about Aubs… but clearly, I’m biased. I think he worked on one of the pieces on our couch with a lamp attached to his head. Or maybe that was a Cloud Castle? At any rate, brilliance:

Can you tell which one I halped with? (Hint: read that again.) Check out Nate’s Lovecraftian impossible geometry at the bottom.

Saturday mornings are made for calls to Grandma and traipsing in the garden. Right, Unix? Now, if only she’ll stop eating the snapdragons and focus on her catnip.

$6 worth of organic in-shell English peas from the farmer’s market. How could I resist?!

I mean, come on.

Oh wait, you’re reading this post for a recipe? Here it is! One of my very own, creamy pea pasta stelline.

ingredients

• coconut fat/oil
• two shallots, minced
• good-quality organic dried thyme
• fresh peas, shelled, steamed, and set aside
• coconut cream, at least a quarter cup
• pasta stelline, boiled, rinsed, drained and set aside
• fresh mint, plucked, rinsed, and chopped
• organic lemon zest, grated – about two tablespoons; reserve lemon for squeezing
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper

directions

• Pour a little liquid coconut fat (or place a tablespoon sized knob of solid fat) into a cast-iron skillet on medium.
• Add minced shallots and a little dried thyme (rubbed between your fingers) to the pan; sauté 5 minutes
• Add steamed peas to the mixture, sauté 2 minutes
• Add about a quarter cup of coconut cream to the mixture; combine thoroughly and season with salt, pepper, and half a lemon, squeezed:

• Add the cooked pasta to this mixture:

• Check for consistency and seasonings. Add more salt and pepper if needed. If dry, add more coconut cream, or coconut water if you’ve skimmed off all the cream. Or just add a little water! When everything tastes right, incorporate the lemon zest and fresh mint.

Voilà!:

We also had a little salad made with local lettuce and arugula, mint from my back porch garden, chopped shallots, pumpkin seeds and a super-aged organic red balsamic dressing.

The spread! For the first time in our entire relationship, we shared an entire bottle of sweet white wine over a meal. Thanks, Richmond friends who gave it to us 2+ years ago! We finally drank your precious gift. Please, give us another bottle for 2014.

A perfect bite.

For dessert, we broke into Lagusta’s Bluestocking Bonbons Chocolate of the Month –  vegan strawberries and cream bark! Since she says it better than I ever could, an excerpt from the website: “this sweet, easygoing bark is a swirl of (Non-waxy! Totally vegan! Not gross or bland in any way!), delicious housemade white chocolate paired with bittersweet 60% dark chocolate, studded with crunchy bits of freeze-dried organic strawberries.”

“Just a bit more complex, but just as tasty, is Fig and Caramelized Fennel Bark. Bittersweet chocolate packed with rich organic Calimyrna figs with sparkling little sugary diamonds of caramelized toasty fennel seeds. If you’re not a fan of savory flavors in your sweets, you might want to give this one a try anyway—the fennel isn’t overwhelming, and the lovely figs really round it all out.”

Why are you still reading this blog entry? GO BUY SOME RIGHT NOW.

Nate + Perl = perfect.

Nope, this picture is not a mistake! It’s the best evidence I can think of that Scoutmob works! To wit: we loved Desta SO MUCH our first visit, we actually went back the VERY NEXT NIGHT to have dinner again! And thanks to the ‘mob, we were able to use a second 25% off coupon as a return perk! Amazing, eh? Go sign up now, if you haven’t already! We spent $41 including generous tips for two nights of memorable dining.

I’m embarrassed to admit that on my first night I reflexively reached for non-existent silverware, like the Ugly American I Truly Am. (j/k, j/k!) At Desta, your silverware is your yummy soury spongy bread, inerja:

We loved “the potato thing” (not on the menu) so much we ordered it as a side.

Fun’s fun, but even with Scoutmob discounts, somebody’s gotta pay the check. And sometimes that somebody isn’t Nate! (Ha!) I was so pumped to make a special order on Sunday I went way above and beyond with candied pecans, reconstructed strawberries, and made some of the best dang chocolate frosting ever.

So pleased with these!

And all our cats did all weekend? Sleep. And occasionally wake up from sleeping to gripe.

Seriously, ma? That was a good ‘nip hangover I was sleepin’ off.

Sigh.