Wednesday, April 16, 2008

PPK: The Texas Gathering

That's right, a room full of vegans with lots of homemade vegan food, two adorable chihuahuas named Charlie and Betsy, the game Apples to Apples, and all in Texas! This past weekend I made the drive up to Austin to attend a ppk potluck, done up Texas style. I made cupcake toppers especially for the event (oh, and cupcakes too... lemon macadamia with lemon buttercream and chocolate with peanut butter filling and chocolate ganash), because every Texas event has to include our lone-star studded flag (and here is a fun factoid for yall, we are the only state allowed to fly the Texas flag at the same height as the US flag because we entered the nation by a treaty rather than annexation).

Look at all the food!! For more food porn, visit here.

Here is my plate, I think I sampled pretty much every dish that was there. Let's see if I can remember them all (from the top moving clockwise): lasagna, macaroni salad, tempeh salad (which I also made), fruit, pasta salad with tofu, enchiladas, and in the center some carrots with ranch dip. I ate my dessert plate so fast I didn't take a picture, but I had a toffee bar, a chocolate chip cookie, and a cupcake.
And since someone asked for the recipe on the ppk boards, I figured I would list it here too. All ingredient amounts are approximate since I usually just toss them in and taste test until it's right. There were a few tempeh virgins at the potluck, and I didn't hear any complaints!
Southern Tempeh Salad
Ingredients:
1 8 oz. package of tempeh
1/2 cup vegan mayo
1 T vegan sour cream (optional)
2 T chopped fresh dill
1 T fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup red graped, halved
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

1. Cut the tempeh into cubes and steam for approximately 10 to 12 minutes. Place tempeh in a bowl. Mash the tempeh with a fork so that no whole cubes remain.
2. Once the tempeh has cooled a bit, add mayo, sour cream , dill and lemon juice. Adjust amounts as necessary.
3. Add chopped celery, grapes, and walnuts and combine. Season with salt and pepper. 4. Chill and serve.

Here's the Texas Gathering crew! I had fun getting to know other ppkers/Texas vegans. Of course, we all kept forgetting everyone's actual names and called them instead by the ppk name. I almost made cupcake toppers with everyone's avatar... next time I guess. Hopefully at our next gathering, I won't be the only Houstonian!

And a trip to Austin in the spring wouldn't be complete without gratuitous bluebonnet pictures. I thought about posing one of my little cuppies with them (as pretty much every parent does with their child), but was afraid the sun might melt the buttercream. Can you spot the ladybug that instead posed for me in the picture?

A special thanks to the ppkers who organized and hosted this monumental event!

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW! All that food looks delicious!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Oh. my. goodness. NEVER did I think I would see SUCH a phenomenal vegan event in Texas, haha! Look at all that food!! And it sounds like everyone had a really wonderful time. Kudos to all the PPKers!!! :0)

megan said...

It all looks delicious. I'm definitely going to have to try your tempeh salad--and I NEED a huge bowl of that macaroni salad right this second!

Leigh said...

Beautiful cupcakes!

Anonymous said...

Looks like a fabulous event (aren't potlucks great?). Love the tempeh salad recipe! And those flags are adorable (cool factoid, too).

Sheree' said...

How fun! I have been invited to a few here in my town, but they are always pretty far and at night. Since I don't drive at night that counts me out. I hope they will have one close by someday soon.

Thanks for sharing your state trivia. That is pretty cool!

I love the cupcake and the little toppers. You are so creative!

The Voracious Vegan said...

So fun! Wish I could have been there. I moved from Austin to Bahrain 6 months ago, wish I could have met some of you before I left! You are always welcome in my part of the world!

DJ said...

The food looks great and your cupcakes sound yummy! It makes me look forward to my next potluck!!

Animal-Friendly said...

I love the game Apples to Apples! It seems to liven up any gathering!

Those cupcakes look phenomenal and the flags are so cute. Heck- all the food look great! I guess Texas really knows how to throw a potluck!

I can guarantee that I'll be using that tempeh salad recipe- it reminds me of a salad my mom used to make when I was little that I loved.

J said...

Fun fact about Texas!

All that food looks so good. Seriously, I want to sample some of it all.

Those flowers (and that cute ladybug) are gorgeous.

Brandie said...

WOW! Your last few posts are awesome - I am always so jealous of the food you've got going! Amazing looking! I want to try everything!!

Hope all is well in TX!

Sarah P said...

if I throw a boston ppk potluck, will you come? No? I guess I'll have to make the tempeh salad myself, then...

and how cute to call each other by ppk names! I like it.

Anonymous said...

what a fun time! good stuff texans!!!

Anonymous said...

you are the mastress of cupcakes for sure!!!! and, i totally recognize those cupcake liners on your lemon cupcakes! you are definitely an admirable vegan.

Stella said...

Yay! Texas! Vegans! Wooooooo!

Your dishes were so tasty.

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

I had a feeling the cupcakes would be yours. Adorable! Looks like a great meetup & awesome food. Much like you, I always need to try a bit of everything!

J said...

You are always doing such fun vegan stuff! How cool!

The tempeh salad looks really good, thanks for posting the recipe.

Theresa said...

What a fun get-together! I love Apples to Apples, it really is such a fun game. And wicked cupcakes! Seriously, you are a cupcake genius!

aTxVegn said...

What a fun event! Your cupcakes are beautiful as always - love the flag decorations!

Billy said...

That looks like fun!

Sorry to respond so late. The Green Festival was great. I met a bunch of cool people. I'll have to blog about it soon. I've been very busy.

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

I can't believe something so amazing took place sooooo close to me and yet I wasn't able to participate! Everything looks awesome-- the cupcakes, the potluck spread, your plate, even the flowers!

The Vegan Snorkeler said...

Your cupcakes look awesome! Did you buy or make the flags? They're so cute!

Ruby Red said...

Ahhh! If there's another ppk potluck in Austin this summer, count me in! I am very jealous - I love Austin and it's only an hour and a half from my parents house... And I wish I could have tasted your tempeh salad, mmm.

Anonymous said...

How nifty, it looks like a ton of fun! If only there were some sort of meetup near me..!

Anonymous said...

wow that's awesome! what is it like to have vegan get-togethers like that? i've never been to one, and i sometimes get tired of being the only vegan in a social group. great foods, by the way!

julie hasson said...

Your cupcakes look beautiful, and the tempeh salad sounds yummy.

Aren't PPK Gatherings fun? I love the get-togethers, and have met some really nice people through them.

By the way, awesome job on co-hosting the radio show!

Anke said...

glad you got to meet other vegans in texas. seems there are more than would seem at first :-)

Cakespy said...

Wish I could have been there! Looks like an attractive crowd, and equally attractive food! And mini flags in cupcakes!?!? I am dying! I love it! Be still my beating heart!

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

looks like fun! you had a decent sized crowd too. that plate of food looks pretty darn amazing.
love the flower picture. how lucky to get that cute ladybug in the shot!

Jess said...

How fun!! I love those cupcake flags. Adorable!

bazu said...

How cool that there were so many of you! And everyone seems to be incredibly talented in the food department... yay for PPK gatherings!

MeloMeals said...

How awesome! All the food looks amazing.

Unknown said...

Now all you need is an "I'm a Texan vegan!" T-shirt!

Anonymous said...

I'm Sophie, Key Ingredient's Chief Blogger. We would like to feature your Southern Tempeh Salad recipe on our blog. Please email sophiekiblogger@gmail.com if interested. Thanks :)

Sophie