What a week!  MORE than a week, in fact.

A little over week ago I started preparing for two events that took place last Saturday.  One at a local supermarket.  My first “appearance”!  And, the other, a meeting/party for a local group.

Last Wednesday I shopped for, cooked for, and delivered the vegetarian food for the meeting/party.  The cooking consisted of making two kinds of ground “beef,” one for tacos and one for baked ziti, “chicken” strips for the tacos, “sausage,” also for the ziti, and….  a huge amount of par-boiled ziti.  Pots and pans galore on the stove, and then in the sink.  Food delivered, and ready for Round Two on Thursday!

Thursday I shopped for, cooked for, and delivered the vegetarian food for the supermarket “appearance.” The supermarket was nice enough to pack all of the items for me so I could just pick them up, which was helpful.  And then, the schlepping and cooking began. 

Sauteeing vegetables, and ground “beef” for Shepherd’s Pie, assembling 6 pies, topping with mashed potatoes, wrapping….  Once again, pots and pans bubbling on the stove, and then into the sink.  There was an assembly line of pie making and wrapping, and then, delivery! And pot and pan cleaning! Whew!

The supermarket appearance started slowly on Saturday, as nothing was set up when I arrived.  I laughed a bit, to myself.  First “appearance,” huh?  lol  Once the table was ready and Shepherd’s Pie was being served, it was SO much fun to talk to shoppers, and feed them! The shoppers ran the gamut from vegetarians to men who never expected to be eating anything “Yuk, vegetarian?”  But, try it they did, and they liked it!  Score!

After a short break at home (had to feed and walk the dogs, of course) it was off to the meeting/party.  Once again, SO much fun to talk to everyone, and watch vegetarians and non-vegetarians, alike, polish off all of the tacos and baked ziti!  Two for two!

And now, here we are a couple of days after Thanksgiving.  The big decision, “a turkey sibstitute, or skip ‘meat’ altogether?” was resolved quickly.  I wound up with “chicken,” stuffing, veggies, the best mushroom gravy I’ve ever made, cranberry sauce, assorted desserts, the works.  And what I’ll remember the best is that yummy mushroom gravy, made from scratch, no recipe.  My own concoction!  Yum!

And, now, what SHALL we do this week?

Hope you enjoyed Thanksgiving!

Mindy