Garden Party of my dreams

Since being a single mother with a business, two jobs (one part time and one full time), in the last stage of training to be a group exercises instructor, two serious volunteer commitments and a busy social life isn't enough-I've decided to follow my passion and become a whole foods plant based lifestyle coach. Because I clearly can't decide on one thing, it will encompass catering, workshops, cooking lessons, and a 30 day whole foods lifestyle makeover program. I'm currently in the beginning stages, figuring out exactly what I'm offering and exactly what it's worth-but it's a go! I have four lovely women already started on the lifestyle challenge; 30 days of whole, delicious plant based food where I'll show them the what, why and how while providing coaching and most likely shenanigans along the way. If you're looking for serious, I'm not going to be your best bet.

My program can be adapted to show more or less leg depending on your comfort level.

I also launched the catering part with a super fun garden party. For reasons unknown(until now), I have been randomly purchasing from garage sales/second hand stores/estate sales lots of fancy china, silverware and crystal serving wear for years. FINALLY, I can do something with all this useless clutter and justify my hoarding. First up, costumes were mandatory. When I say garden party, you best show up in something fancy! And they did!

Oh this old thing?

And then there was food!

I tend to go a little overboard, so our menu for today was:

Creamy Pesto Finger Sandwiches

Cherry Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Coconut Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake

Chocolate Brownie with Peanut Butter Icing

Community Garden Tomatoes

Iced Coffee

Iced Chai Tea

Iced Herbal Tea

Organic Lemonade

The pesto sandwiches were the clear hit of the party, which is crazy because they were made with raw vegetables while the other things were made of sugary goodness. That almost never happens. To make them, start by making this pesto: Cilantro Basil Pesto from Veganomicon. For mucho delicious flavour, buy your herbs and veggies at a farmer's market or get them out of your garden the morning of. Mix equal parts pesto with vegan mayo. Take slices of bread, and carefully remove the crusts. If you're like me, make a friend do the grunt work (thanks Courtney, who put up with my anal retentiveness in the kitchen and even met my unrealistic food standards for beauty).Cut each slice in half. Spread liberally with the pesto mayo mixture. Top with seasonal veggies- for us it was super thin cut zucchini, squash, tomatoes, dill and chives. Ta da!

Courtney gets a photo shout out for being the perfect sous chef! Nice sandwiches baby!

Next up, garden party fun! We played Bocce ball like it was our job! For 20 minutes.

That's it, I wish you were there-we had a blast! If you'd like me to bring the party to your next one, I'm now available for hire (though not sexually as that might imply).