Dinner Parties

Last night I went to a fantastic dinner party for a good friend of mine who just turned 23. (Happy Birthday Suz!) The house was an old beautiful house in East Rock, right by Peabody Museum, and it was soon filled with a lively bunch of eclectic music lovers, comics, and pedestrians, as well as a great spread of food.

Suz knew going into this that I was on a new Vegan journey, and told this to her parents, who were preparing the feast. However, there was a LOT of temptation going on, on my part.

When I first walked in, I grabbed a glass of white wine and stood by a table that held platters of crispy, flaky, and gooey Spanikopita. Mmmmmm. Can I tell you I used to LOVE Spanikopita? (Not to mention the word itself.) It. Smelt. Delicious. But I helped host them out and soon enough, they were gobbled up.

There was also a hearty couple of cheese chunks with crackers on a large platter, with a small tray of olives that sat daintily next to it. Beside that was a small bowl of nuts. I grazed delicately on the olives and nuts, and sipped healthily on my wine to avoid the cheese.

Finally the dinner bell rang- An annoucement from Suz:
"How many Vegans and Vegetarians do we have here?"
(About 7 hands raise) *Woot! we're growing!
"Okay, we are going to have the vegans and Vegetarians get food first, because there are only a few dishes they can eat"
Cue groans from the meat-eaters.

My herbivore friends and I lined up and were excited to find a delicious Scottish Turnip Stew with a side of Tofu and Veggie Fried Rice! (There was also Mashed Potatoes and Biscuits for the Vegetarians)
* I think I was the only Vegan there, but I stocked up on a good bowl of soup and sank into the rich flavors, later to thank Suz's dad for the masterpiece.

The hardest temptation of all was the cake. It looked as though it was a rich, chocolate cake- definitely made with eggs. I shyly turned around and ignored the various "mmmmm"'s and "wow"'s and decided the cake was dry and disgusting.

The party was a blast- I was able to catch up with friends, and left feeling excited that I had overcome yet another obsticle. I am definitely stronger because of it.