Geburtstagsfeier 2019 | Birthday Party 2019

Mr. Squirrel und ich feiern unseren Geburtstag ja immer zusammen. Warum? Unsere Geburtstage liegen nur 2 Wochen auseinander und wir mögen die gleichen Leute! Darum laden wir dann immer so viele Leute, wie in unsere Wohnung passen ein :) Und es gibt immer Essen!
Mr. Squirrel and I always celebrate our birthdays together. Why? Our birthdays are only about 2 weeks apart and we like the same people! So we always invite as many people as we can fit in our apartment :) And then theres's food!

Vorher / Nachher
Before / After

Pesto Pasta Salat | Pesto Pasta Salad

English version below

Normalerweise mache ich auf Feiern gerne meinen mediterranen Nudelsalat (mit einem "Honig"-Senf-Balsamico-Dressing), aber ich wollte mal was anderes machen. Und da ich Pesto liebe, habe ich gedacht, dass es mal an der Zeit wird einen Pestopastasalat zu machen.

Party Resteessen als Lunchbox - mit Pulled Jackfruit

Geburtstagsparty / Birthday party 2017

English version below

Mr. Squirrel und ich haben beide im Dezember Geburtstag und feiern deshalb immer zusammen Geburtstag, wenn die Feiertage vorbei sind. Das Ganze involviert viel Zeit in der Küche und im Anschluss einen Abend mit Freunden. Hier gibt es einen Überblick zu den einzelnen Rezepten. :)
Die Photos sind jetzt nur mal eben schnell gemacht, weil wir zeitlich dann doch etwas in Verzug geraten sind ;) Und Essen war wichtiger als Dokumentation.

Vorher und nachher :)

Donuts / Berliner

Die deutsche Übersetzung findet ihr unter dem englischen Rezept!

In Germany, donuts of the American kind (including the major donut chain shops) exist. However, the storebought kind is never vegan - at least I have never encountered any. There are German donuts whose names vary depending on the region you find yourself in. Berliner, Pfannkuchen, Krapfen... They are usually round, dusted with powdered sugar and filled with some type of jam. This recipe works for your regular O-shaped donuts and any other shape you like - including the type that is filled with jam. :)

We had these at our most recent birthday party and a lot of people who said they usually did not like Berliner, really enjoyed them!

Berliner with raspberry jam filling

Your classical donut!

Birthday Party Buffet

Mr. Squirrel and I had birthdays and since we always go a bit crazy in the kitchen, we always throw one party, as opposed to two... Here is what we did for food! ... and I'll post the recipes. :)

Mr. Squirrel und ich hatten beide Geburtstag und weil wir in der Küche immer etwas ausrasten, schmeißen wir immer nur eine Party statt zwei. Hier seht ihr, was es so gab! ... und ich poste die Rezepte. :)

Matcha Cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes with an orange cocoa buttercream, raspberry filled jelly donuts for dessert. Chili sin carne (with whiskey and coffee!) and bread... and the Lynchburg Lemonad station. :)

Matcha Cupcakes, Schokocupcakes mit Orangen-Schoko-Buttercrème, und Berliner mit Himbeerfüllung zum Nachtisch. Dann noch Chili sin Carne (aber mit Whiskey und Kaffee!) und Brot.. und die Lynchburg Lemonade Station. :)

Bread, creamy potato salad, Thai pasta salad, chick'n wings, tomato lentil bites filled with cashew feta, sliders with smoked tofu, falafel, yoghurt parsley sauce, smoked paprika sauce, "honey" aioli.

Brot, cremiger Kartoffelsalat, Thai Pasta Salat, Tomaten-Linsen-Frikkos mit Cashewfetafüllung, Mini-Burger (Sliders) mit Räuchertofu, Falafel, Petersilien-Joghurtsauce, Räucherpaprikacrème, "Honig"-Aioli.

Thai Pasta Salad

Die deutsche Übersetzung steht unter dem englischen Rezept!

Mondays are always a bit of a challenge: I always prepare a lunch for work for my colleague and myself... but I want to vary what I bring. So I keep my eyes open for new ideas and suggestions. Today, the Vegan Food Nerd came to my rescue. Their dish inspired me to pick up some of the basic ingredients they used and to come up with something new myself. :)

This is not actually a Thai recipe. But the nice noodles, coconut milk, and red Thai curry paste made me call it that! :D

Ingredients for 6 generous portions:

• 400g of rice noodles (the type that looks like fettuccine, about 4mm, ca. 1/6 in)
• 300g of soy sprouts
• 3 bell peppers (red, yellow, green)
• 1 large zucchini
• 250g of snowpeas
• 1l of coconut milk
• some oil (for example sunflower)
• 2 tablespoons of red Thai curry paste - if you like it hotter, use more (double check the ingredients! Curry pastes are not always vegan/vegetarian!)
• some soy sauce
• some salt
• 2 limes
• 100g of (unsalted) peanuts 
• 400g of tofu (it's the squishy type which I buy at the Asian supermarket, not the firm stuff)

You will also need: A big pot, a deep-fryer. If you don't have a deep-fryer, I suppose you can also fry the tofu in a pan, but it won't be quite as nice.

Red Lentil Frikadellen Filled With Feta

Die DEUTSCHE ÜBERSETZUNG findet ihr unter dem englischen Rezept!

Now that's a vegan title, isn't it? (Red Lentil) frikadellen filled with feta. But that's ok. It's just a combination of two previous recipes of mine! The Mediterranean Red Lentil Tomato Frikadellen and the Cashew Feta!

The outside is crispy, the inside is creamy! <3

It's really easy to make once you got the feta. I mostly did them because I wanted to see what I could do with the feta. I had made a batch two days ago and had frozen blocks of it. Remembering meat frikadellen filled with sheep's milk feat, I figured this might be a nice combination!

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

This pasta salad is a family favorite. I would usually use arugula instead of the basil, but it's not in season right now, so it's super expensive. The fresh, organic basil was a special offer today! Hooray!

Ingredients: 

• 2 large zucchinis
• 300g of Hello Kitty pasta (the salad gets exponentionally better with Hello Kitty pasta, but regular pasta works, too)
• one glass of dried tomatoes (225g drain weight)
• 5 fresh tomatoes
• lots of fresh basil (I used as much as you can see on the picture - the whole thing!)
• 3 tablespoons vegan honey (agave sirup works, too)
• 60g (7-8 tablespoons) olive oil
• some extra olive oil for frying
• 60g (7-8 tablespoons) balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons mustard
• salt
• pepper

Lentil Balls/Frikadellen

I do like my soy-based frikadellen, but these are grand, too! Soy-free lentil-based frikadellen, high in protein, and super yummy! They can also be made gluten-free.

Ingredients:

• 150g lentils (I used Spanish pardina)
• 400ml water
• salt
• 60g gluten (you can replace this with corn starch if you wish to make this gluten-free!)
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon marjoram
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon pimento
• 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 1 onion

Frikadellen/Meatballs

Die deutsche Übersetzung findet ihr unter dem englischen Rezept!

Our frikadellen are great for party buffets, picnics, bentos/work lunches, ...  and they also make wonderful burger patties if their shape is changed accordingly!

Fried Polenta

I originally got the recipe for fried polenta from my friend Sarah (who is currently doing a crowd funding campaign to open a vegan café in Duisburg, Germany. Check out the campaign website!) - and  hers are still far superior to mine. At least visually. But I'm working on the presentation aspect!

 

Ingredients:

• 800ml of veggie stock (check the polenta packaging in case the suggested amount of liquid differs from this)
• 200g of polenta
• 6 small onions
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 150g dried tomatoes 
• lots of fresh basil
• salt, black pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper

Falafel FTW!

Die deutsche Übersetzung findet ihr unter dem englischen Rezept!

I love falafel! They're great for bentos, party buffets, sandwiches... Everything!

Party Food! A quick overview - Recipes are being updated!

Hello there, party people! 

One thing I like about getting older is that the food you get at parties gets better. No more store-bought potato salad with more store-bought... stuff. I am trying to do my part to keep up the tradition of not serving store bought stuff, but rather sticking to my family tradition of making stuff myself. 

The boyfriend and I both had our birthdays in December and like to celebrate our birthdays together - one party is less of a mess than two and since our food always takes time and money to prepare, it's just easier for us to throw one party. 

Here's what we served to our friends last night:

Before and after!