Birthday Blogging!

Today it was my birthday!

What's for breakfast? Crepes, of course! My favorite. I like them with apricot jam and a squirt of fresh lemon juice. And also a few peaches from the farmers' market. What a fun way to start the day.

For dinner, my family came over for a festive little gathering. We had a super hot day today, which I always love... so we actually got to eat dinner outside in the backyard. We picked up some delicious pizzas from Engfer's Pizza here in Santa Cruz. They're a great local spot that makes wood-fired pizzas, including delicious vegan pizza. Musty got two vegan pizzas and two veggie pizzas, so that I wouldn't have to spend my whole birthday cooking dinner for my family.

I made a big giant salad to go along with the pizza.

And my mom made up some delicious grilled veggies: asparagus, eggplant, summer squash and onions marinated in olive oil, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. Seriously good. Thanks Mom!


Instead of a birthday cake, I just wanted a giant bowl of cherries. One of my favorite things about my birthday is that it coincides with cherry season.


To go along with the cherries, I made some great cherry chocolate cookies. I used the Double Almond Explosion recipe from Vive Le Vegan! (by Dreena Burton), and added in dried cherries. Then, I replaced the almonds with pecans, and used cherry extract in place of the almond extract. Sooooooo good!

I had a great day... all my favorite elements: a nice early morning yoga practice, crepes, a walk on the beach with the dogs and Musty, an afternoon nap, some time in the art studio, cookies, and time with my wonderful family. What a lucky gal. It was fun to have my birthday on my day off!

Next up: Food and photos from my art exhibit this weekend!