Bridal Shower Mayhem
Weddings, ahhhh, Weddings. I dig a good wedding. Heck, I wrote wedding blogs for 2+ years. I love weddings. I've been in 5 weddings as a mostly-adult, but this marks the first time as a real bridal shower host. First, I was Maid of Honor [as promised in every yearbook since kindergarten] for my bestest bud when we were barely 21. I was still in college and broke as a joke, so I sorta threw a shower with my mom and the church ladies. Then was my little sis, again, super poor... I was planning my wedding too, so I don't remember how that shower went down. I know, such a jerk. After that was my dearest friend who had a surprise wedding. Yes, it was exactly as awesome as it sounds! So yeah, no shower. This year I was in two weddings. One AH-mazing affair in beautiful Negril, Jamaica and due to all of the travel, while I ended up being able to surprise my wonderful friend for the shower, I didn't get to help plan. So this July I had the opportunity to host my first real-life-grownup shower. My lovely friend Shirk Shirley got married to her Guido Prince Frankie. We had a mostly vegan shower-- what??? If I'm buying the food you best believe it's going to be healthy of sorts. Em, the ginger, hatched most of the decor ideas and the curly haired babe, Marilyn, did the drinks and baking. I, of course, made all of the food! Here are some shots of the day.
Wine is the best! It was an absolutely lovely day! I made my famous pesto pasta!! I made enough to feed an army, we had leftovers for days. Here's the recipe.
Serves 4 hungry people or 6 sorta hungry people
1 pound of pasta, I like Trader Joes brown rice fusilli
1 bunch of asparagus, chopped same length as pasta
1 pound of green beans, trimmed and chopped same length as pasta
Cook the pasta per package instructions. I like my veggies to have bite to them, so I throw them in with the pasta for the last 5 minutes of cooking. Now depending on how you like your veggies adjust this time. Strain and toss with pesto[recipe below].
For Pesto
Basil, about a 1/2 cup
Spinach, about 1/2 a cup
2 cloves of garlic, more if you are a big garlic fan
1/4 cup nutritional yeast [easily found a most markets and super high in B vitamins]
3 tablespoons of pine nuts
Veggie stock, salt, and pepper
Mix all ingredients in a high powered blender or food processor. Add all ingredients then add a tablespoon of veggie stock and blend. Add veggie stock tablespoon by tablespoon until creamy. It depends on your appliance and personal taste. In my Vitamix, I find 2-3 is plenty. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour over pasta and serve with cherry tomatoes on top! YAY SHOWERS!!!!!