Recently we had a family birthday party. For us, this is always an occasion to have as big a family reunion as possible. Dinner is part of it, since we all have our working (or school) days the same as always.
The challenge is to make food which everyone will like and want to eat! Some are vegan, some low-sugar fans, some low fat freaks, some eat everything… You get the picture!
This time the main course was a casserole. Let me show you what I did:
I started with potatoes
and squash.
The potatoes were boiled, peeled and sliced, not too thinly.
The squash was left raw, sliced very thinly.
Everything was layered into a large pan, with finely sliced spring onions in between. Next came half a quart of soy milk, mixed with about half a cup of flour and flavored with turmeric, salt, pepper, dried basil and “Season All” (my favorite spice right now!). To finish it off came a layer of cubed tofu that had been marinating overnight in a sauce made of a cup of vegan mayonnaise spiced with more tumeric, pepper, salt and “Season All.”
While this was baking at 350°F I prepared the birthday cake/dessert.
In the bowel are whole wheat flour (about 1lb.), finely diced fresh orange peel, some chopped black chocolate, diced, candied mango and ginger, ½ tsp. nutmeg, 4 tsp. baking powder and a pinch of salt.
I drained two large cans of peaches, catching the syrup. The liquid was mixed gently with the dry ingredients and the dough spread into a spring form (was very sticky!).
I put the peaches on top,
sprinkled on some sliced almonds and a little sugar, drizzling some canola oil over all.
When the casserole was done (this took about 45 minutes) I put the cake in the oven and we sat down to dinner, 
augmenting the potato/pumpkin dish with a huge salad made with 6 cucumbers, finely sliced, with a vinaigrette sauce.
There were no leftovers!
The cake took a little over an hour, giving us time to clear the table and make coffee before it was done.
Would you like a piece?
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Comments: 29
Gotta be creative to cook for all these crazy folks!
My daughter is a vegetarian who grows most of her own food. She also uses tofu and will enjoy your recipe.
Now, for me, the cake sounds outrageous. A must do so I'll pring it off right now.
I am not vegan or vegetarian either - not much meat though! But there are many in the family who are - so we adjust at reunions!
Thank you Donna!
You are creative and your photoes are beautiful, your writing is attractive as the food you show. It is an art, you are an artist, you know that cooking is one of France's favorite arts. And I would like to introduce you, maybe you already know that, to our flower salads. We grow a great choix of flowers and make tasteful salads out of them. You would love that and would be so creative, I can already imagine.
Your article was so enjoyable to me,
Charlotte
Thank you for your kind comments Charlotte! I did live in France for two years and carried away an abiding love of French food - including all the fromage, incroyable!!
You would have been most welcome William!
Elsie - I posted this to the Vegan Cooking site yesterday... right after I discovered it!
One problem is that I am not always mobile which means that we don't always have fresh ingredients. I stock up on canned and frozen and dry ingredients because I know that I cannot always get out of bed, let alone the house.