Weekend meat and greet

The wedding this weekend was beautiful. It was a 50th anniversary re-wed celebration - the boy's step-mom's parents decided they would renew their vows for their 50th anniversary, and they spared no expense. It was a full-on wedding complete with bridesmaids, ceremony, reception, 5 course Brazilian meal, open bar, etc. It was very touching to watch 2 people who married so young (she was 19) renew those vows after 50 years in the presence of their children, grandchildren, other family and friends.

Oscar did me proud and kept my shoulders warm :)

The ceremony was very beautiful, but I was aghast by all the fur. At least every other woman their had either a full fur coat or something with fur trim. And the family is Brazilian, which means a lot of kissing... I was relieved that I didn't have to kiss anyone's cheeks while they had their fur coat on. Blah.

The meal ended up surprisingly well. I spoke to a server beforehand to tell her I was vegan, and she saw to it that I was taken care of. While others ate their steak, I had a lovely stuffed pepper with steamed vegetables. While everyone else had cheesey cannelloni, I was served a nice plate of penne with a marinara sauce. For dessert, I was given extra fruit while the others had fruit and ice cream. I was very impressed and I'm kicking myself for not approaching the kitchen staff to thank them personally.

The next evening, we went to the boy's sister's house to have a meet and greet with *their* wedding party since the boy is the MC for their October wedding. It was such a different crowd - loud, hockey-watching, burger-eating crowd of straight guys and their wives/girlfriends - from what I am used to. As a person whose group of friends is about 95% queer (gay or bi), I was in total culture shock. Especially when they started talking about one of the guys who, in university, did goldfish shots. Sigh. For snackies, I made guacamole and a bean dip and bought a spicy hummus... partly to help contribute to the food and party to ensure I had enough to snack on.

And a party just isn't a party until you've had your Poäng chair destroyed.

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Curry in a Hurry

Before leaving for the wedding on Friday, I wanted to eat something substantial, just in case vegan food was scarce. So, I threw together a curry:

1/2 an onion
about 3/4 cup of each: red lentils and french lentils
1 can of tomatoes with 1/2 the liquid drained
2 small potatoes, sliced and some diced
squirt of lemon juice
About 1 cup of water
1/2 cup of edamame
1 cup of frozen broccoli
1 teaspoon of jarred garlic, ginger and chili puree
2 teaspoons of ground cumin

I sautéed the onion and lentils together with some oil until the onion was translucent. Added the tomatoes, water, potatoes, lemon juice and spices. Once the lentils were soft, the broccoli and edamame were added and cooked until done. More water could be added if it dries out too much.

Served over brown basmati.

Loved by me and the boy, with enough leftovers for 1 big or 2 small servings.