3 Years & a Turkish Feast

Yesterday was the 3rd Blog Birthday of Vegan Eats and Treats! I don't usually keep track of these things... but when I saw that Bazu (over at Where's the Revolution?) had a post about blogging for 3 years, I got to wondering how long I'd be at it. Bazu and I have been bloggy friends since way back, so I figured it'd be something similar... but I was so psyched when I went and looked and it was August 9, 2006 when I made my first post! So, Bazu and I have the same bloggiversary, which is rad.

I really love blogging, and being a part of the vegan blog universe!!
Thanks for reading, friends!

& now... for the food - this time it's all made by Guest Chef: my awesome Mom. My parents recently took a trip to Turkey, so when my parents hosted our family dinner last night, my mom decided to make a big Turkish feast. It was so incredible - and all vegan!!

This was one of my favorites: a delicious salad of white beans (on the bottom), tomato wedges, yellow bell pepper, parsely, green onions, and olives. My mom put some sort of dressing on, and it was totally delicious!!

It was a beautiful night, and there were 15 of us in all... so my mom set up a huge long table in their backyard, with votive candles and pretty tableclothes. It's not often warm enough to eat dinner outside here in Santa Cruz, so that was super special.

A delicious platter of dolmas (purchased!) with kalamata olives. mmm...

Tomatoes, cukes, red onion, green onion, parsely, salt & vinegar... perfect Mediterranean salad!

The main course was a HUGE pot of ratatouille. It was so good - a hit with everyone. All the classic flavors: zucchini, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, eggplant... cooked together into a delicious stew.

Along with the ratatouille was some yummy bulghur wheat pilaf. They were great together.

All in all, it was a really magical evening... and my parents even ended it with a special treat: authentic Turkish coffee, served in the beautiful little coffee cups that they were given in their travels. The coffee was thick and sweetened, and super yum. I only had a few sips, for fear of being up all night long, but I'm glad I got to taste it. By now, it was dark out, and we were enjoying our lovely evening by moonlight and candlelight... as you can see.

Three cheers for my mom - putting on an all-vegan mega-rad Turkish themed dinner for 15! She is the best!