...12.27...Over the Weekend...

...ok...SO MUCH happened over the Christmas weekend...I'll just post all of the pictures...and kind-of narrate as I go through them instead of trying to group them...haha...

...so...after presents and coffee...

...we made some vegan French Toast...

...I can't say that it's my favorite breakfast of this bread-y sort...as I prefer both pancakes and waffles to French toast...but it was nice and festive...and the Man had gotten a cute bottle of maple syrup in his stocking...

...maybe I'll come back and do a-whole-nother post on Christmas gifties...this one is going to be long enough without it...haha...

...it's our turn to host the annual Crazy Santa Christmas Party that my family does each year...(not last year though)...

...and since I wanted to serve Vegan Hawaiian Sliders...I needed to make some Vegan Hawaiian rolls...as the King's variety are not vegan...

...I used a couple of websites for recipe help...
...Make it Dairy Free...
...Garden Grub...

...and got out some frozen pineapple juice to thaw...frozen the same way I freeze practically everything...in my muffin tins to make portioning easy...and I rarely use a hole can of pineapple juice...but I will use more than one this weekend...haha...

...so I got out flour, yeast, potato starch, high gluten flour and brown sugar...

...used my stand mixer to knead this sticky dough...

....oiled the bowl...

...formed a ball...

...and put it in to rise...

...and then I do something that I often do...

...and that is go off on a tangent and do something that TOTALLY DOES NOT need to be done...

...I got out wax and scent and melted it in a tin can...

...to refill this adorable little teapot candle holder that my sweet sissie sent me years ago when we lived in North Dakota...

...I used pliers to grasp the tin can to pour the melted wax into the teapot/holder...

...and I had twirled the wick around a skewer and balanced that over the top to keep the wick upright...

...ok...that little project finished...

...back to the bread...

...I buttered a sheet of parchment with Earth Balance...

...and I weighed the ball and portioned it into exactly 16 even balls...

...and then brushed some more Earth Balance on the tops....

...15 fit nicely in the pan...

...so I put the little outlier in a separate dish...they're supposed to rise until they are touching and I didn't want to crowd any of them...

...the little candle hardened up nicely...

...it will be perfect for the Christmas Party table...

...I just slid the skewer out and it's ready to go...

...the bread is rising in the warm sun under a damp towel...

...perfectly risen...all sides 'touching'...

...and then baked to a perfect golden brown...

...so then...of course...I did another little superfluous project...I made some little vegan tags to label all the vegan things on the table...I made these on sticks for deeper dishes...

...and these with little stands to just sit on or in front of more shallow dishes...

...yesterday I had cooked a bag of garbanzo beans in the Instant Pot...just so I could make a huge batch of Buffalo Wingish Hummus...I'd gotten the recipe from Stephanie's blog...and thought it sounded like it would be perfect for the party...

...I made a huge batch and tasted it and I really like it...so thanks Stephanie!...

...I hung all of the little party favors up around the dining room door...so everyone can just choose their favorite on their way out...

...I'll tell you all about them on Wednesday's W.I.P. post...haha...

...we extended the table and put in the leaf...

...set up silverware and Christmas plates at one end...

...and dessert plates at the other end...I know you can barely see it...and I started 'staging' platters...

...I got out a stack of platters and we decided what was going to go where...of the things we were making...and trying to leave room for all of the things everyone else would bring...

...I'm always amazed at events like this and potlucks and such at the Church...that you always wind up with a good variety of different things...even though no one tells anyone what to bring...it's really a pleasant surprise every time...

...I wanted to make some vegan Christmas Cookies...so I got out my "Cooky Press"...Our Airman and I always thought it was funny the way they spelled Cookie...haha...

...I made some wreaths...

...and some Christmas trees...

...and sprinkled them with sprinkles...and red and green sugar...

...and then we decided to call it a day...

...and sat down to watch The Russian State Ballet & Opera House's Nutcracker...the whole thing is on YouTube...it was a lot of fun and we were pretty tired...

...needless to say...the Man has never been a fan of the ballet...but he has always indulged me...when we were just dating (you know back when he used to love me...hahahaha)...we actually got all dressed up and went to a live performance each year...

...now...fast forward a bit to Sunday after Church...it's now assembly time for the Vegan Hawaiian Rolls...so I got out the mandoline and sliced some seitan...I started off shaving it pretty thinly...

...but then adjusted it so the slices were a little bit thicker...

...and got out some Chao vegan cheese too...

...and assembled all of the rolls...I'll make the saucy topping in a little bit before I put them in the oven...

...so now to finish the platter for the Buffalo Wingish Hummus...I sliced a bunch of celery...

...and a bunch of carrots...

...and got those ready for the platter...

...and started the drinks station...I got out my ages old crockpot for the Russian Tea...and my (also ages old) punch bowl...and my favorite community cookbook...I thought that Nanny's Russian Tea recipe was in it...but it was not...but one a lot like it was...so I used that one instead...

...then I mixed up the sauce for the rolls...just veganizing the recipe from the King's website...

1/3 cup vegan mayonnaise
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 1/2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1/2 cup vegan butter melted
1 tablespoon Onion Powder
1/2 teaspoon vegan worcestershire sauce

...while the oven was on...I made a BUNCH of pita chips for the hummus...I sliced the pitas...

...cut them in thirds and separated them...

...and there were WAY MORE than I had thought...three trays full...haha...there should be plenty...

...I poured the sauce over the rolls...I had buttered them first with more Earth Balance...because more butter is better haha...

...I finished up the drinks station...except for pouring the bubbly into the punch bowl...the punch recipe was from the same old community cookbook...

...the Russian Tea turned out perfectly...and reminded us all so much of Nanny...

...I printed out the numbers for the Crazy Santa present choosing and put them in a bowl...

...and started putting things on the table...

...a tray of pickles and olives won't go amiss...

...and people started to arrive...

...and the table was completely filled with Christmas treats...

...my vegan plate of food...I had a whole smorgasbord of different hummuses to try...several people brought hummus...so that was really nice...and I can't believe that I did not get a nice photo of the finished rolls...haha...you can see one on my plate here...

...and my dessert plate as well...

...we had such a lovely time visiting and catching up with everyone...and I really didn't take hardly any pictures...Mom took some during the Crazy Santa part...so when she sends me some I'll come back and post them...

...so if you made it through this crazy long rambling post...come back later for more...haha...

...so Mom did send me a couple of photos that she took on her phone...here...I'm passing a gift to my sweet S.I.L...

...and here I am with the gift I chose...it's a padded iPad holder...so neat and useful...that big Nutcracker was in the SIL's pressie...it was a little bit chaotic (as always)...but a lot of fun...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!