So, I threw party and did a whole bunch of cooking for everyone. It was a lot of work! I had planned on cooking something throughout the week, and freezing them, or keeping them in the fridge until the day of. However, I was super sick in the days leading up to the party, so I rested instead, and once I got home from work on Friday night, I set off to work:


First, I started with the Ginger Beer Syrup. I chopped a whole bunch of Ginger, added it to the Slow Cooker. Then I realized that the recipe called for it to simmer for 5 - 6 hours on low, and since there wasn't an option for it cooking on high, I didn't want to take a chance adjusted it, however, I wasn't staying up five hours! I needed my rest.

 Luckily, my husband Curt would be working until 4am... so this would allow me to turn it on around 11:00 when I went to bed. He would just have to turn it off and unplug it when he got home, and it needed to cool to room temperature before you could do anything with it, so thank goodness, it was going to work out!

Next, I started the Split Pea Soup. Split Pea soup is a perfect vegetarian/vegan stable. The split peas are packed full of protein and iron (not to mention gold ol' fibre), they're inexpensive in bulk and easy to prepare. The only other ingredients in this delicious soup are onions, water, soup stock, and salt and pepper.  I double the recipe so there would be plenty for everyone.

The 4 large onions I had chopped. You should've seen my tears...

Frying the onions in a large soup pot.

Beans, our beloved and sweet kitten loves to play in grocery bags... He was keeping himself busy while I rushed around the kitchen. 

As the onions were simmering, I got to work on the peanut butter bars I would be making.

Some ingredients ready to be mixed together

The Peanut Butter Bar batter

I then added the cooked peas to the onions, and the soup stock... and allowed the soup to simmer away.

Split pea soup simmering on the stove.

And the Peanut butter bars were ready for the oven!

When the soup was done simmering, and I had allowed it to cool a bit, I blended half of it (I had to do a quarter at a time)

And now the Peanut butter bars are done, about a half an hour later. 

Now onto the Lentil Hummus. Lentils are another staple in the vegetarian diet. Like split peas, they are cheap in bulk, easy to prepare, and high in the essentials that vegetarians/vegans require. Lentil are big in the diets of Eastern cultures. They are in Indian, Morroccan, and even South Asian dishes.

The Peanut butter bars now have their peanut butter icing, and are ready to be covered and left for the night. Yum!

And now I begin to prepare the chocolate chip cookies. This is the best recipe!

The batter, half used... some cookies are currently in the oven. I then finished baking the cookies, and finished up the lentil hummus. Then I called it a night... I was going to need my rest for the big day of cooking ahead....









The very first thing I did the next morning was chop the vegetables and prepare the Italian Baked Beans. They were going to be cooking in the slow cooker all day. The recipe called for 7 - 9 hours on Low. I wanted to have them cook on low, because I feel that the longer a recipe simmers in the crockpot, the better it may be. Crockpot cooking is probably my favourite, it's nice to prepare something and then walk away from it... when you return, it is hot and ready for your enjoyment. Also, it's so neat seeing all the things you can make with a slow cooker (not to mention, slow cookers use very little energy, so they're great for watching the wallet and helping the planet too!)

However, after a very long prep time, I just couldn't fit in the 7 - 9 hours (there was still an additional hour for cooking the topping afterwards, and I needed this ready for the party) I opted for the 3 - 4 hours on High instead.

I made these pies in such a jiffy, that I didn't even take a picture of the process. These are Maple Buttermilk Pies, and they are ready for baking.

This is the Chocolatey popcorn, the only thing I had actually prepared in advance. It was perfect as an appetizer, and for dessert time/games afterwards.

Spanokopita ingredients

And now it was onto the real fun. I was making to giant batches of spanokopita, one of my absolute favourites.

First, I had to wash the spinach

Then pour in a whole bunch of salt, the salt reduced the spinach, as I worked it in, and I would break up the leaves. Then rinsed off all of the salt.

These are the 7 beaten eggs for the spanokopita

Spinach, egg and feta all together

Then I lined the 9 x 13 with Phyllo...

And added in my mixture

Covered it over with more Phyllo, and brushed olive oil on the top.

Put slits in the into the "pie", and it was ready for the oven!

As the Spanokopita baked in the oven, I began to prepare the Cheese and Onion pie (which Curt always says should be called Cheese Onion and Tomato pie, since there's more tomato than cheese...

A lot of onions.

Beans is patiently waiting for me to be finished so that I can play with and cuddle him. 

Preparing the Pies

I thought I was going to be in big trouble, usually, the rest of the cheese is put on top of the pie, and then the egg is poured on the very top.. but I forgot the cheese and had to add it after... the pies were still fine though. However, the onions were larger than what I normally use, and ended up making the pie too full. I had to put them on a baking sheet because the egg was running off the pies!

I started realising I need to focus on appetizers. Here's the cream cheese appetizer I made, complete with jam and horseradish and craisins!

Here is the Quinoa salad. Quinoa is a superfood, great for vegetarians and vegans. It is the most complete protein because of the variety of amino acids that is carries. You prepare it much like you prepare rice, and can substitute it in for rice for a healthier alternative. It's a little more expensive, but well worth it! This Quinoa salad has craisins, chopped peacan and an orange dressing.

The appetizers are ready! We have lentil hummus, pita, crackers, cream cheese dip and salt and pepper chips. I finished off the cheese and onion pies, and the spanokopita, and we got everything ready and tidied for our friends.

I was enjoying myself at the party, and so forgot to snap a picture of all the food when ready, but here is it half eaten. And guess what? I forgot to tell everyone about the split pea soup on the stove, so it was missed, everyone was too full later.

I made the meal high in protein. Something I never cease to hear, is the notion that vegetarians don't get a lot of protein... lentils, beans, split peas, cheese, eggs, quinoa, which were in the recipes I created,  all made for a satisfying meal... my husband was the only one that attempted seconds... but was defeated only a few bites in (Don't worry, he ate the rest of his leftovers the next day). And one of the guests remarked the next day, that he was so full, he didn't even have dessert. How's that for the idea that vegetarian food isn't filling?

As a bonus too, since some of our guests didn't show, and and I'd made lots of food, I didn't have to cook again for a few days... we were relishing in left-over heaven!

Eating and talking.

 Playing our new cranium... it's even harder. In this challenge you basically had to puppet someone and try to get your team to guess the answer... like charades, but way way harder!

 Beans grabbed himself a chair too... he loves people, and couldn't miss out on the action!

Dessert is served. Home made Peanut butter and vanilla icecreams, peanut butter bars, home made caramel sauce and whipped cream, chocolate chip cookies, and maple buttermilk pies.




The party was a hit. All the cooking was super stressful, but well worth it when I could see my guests enjoying themselves! Curt, my loyal taste-tester and food critic husband informed me afterwards that his favourites of the night were the Italian Baked Beans, and the Chocolately popcorn, so they are must-makes for my readers!