Food & Weddings

Thursday, Friday & Saturday were celebration days for my friend from high school's wedding. She married a guy she met in college, so it was big high school & college reunion.

We went out for the bachelorette party on Thursday night with 7 girls. The wait for dinner was so long that we didn't get to the mini-golfing, but we did go for ice cream instead.

On Friday night we went to Allentown for the rehearsal and dinner. I was starving! Ashley had asked me ahead of time if I would be able to find enough to eat because their main dishes were ribs, bbq chicken, and pulled pork. I had a lot of sides and wound up with plenty to eat: macaroni, veggies with hummus, black bean dip with tortilla chips, coleslaw, a bowl of berries, and then ice cream!  Picnics can be challenging for vegetarians since there's such a focus around meat. I really appreciated that she reached out to me before hand to make sure I would be okay.

Afterwards, we met up with some other friends and went to the Allentown Brew Works for beer. The Bup got the beer in the picture. It was aged in a bourbon barrel. We had a bourbon ale in Kentucky that I loved, but this was much darker and smokier. I got a pint of the Hefeweizen, a clove and banana flavored beer. A pint was a little much...I could've used about 3/4 of a pint. It was fun to catch up and finally meet ld, the boyfriend of Jill Spills It All.

Ashley made a quilt for guests to sign as her guest book. It was simple and I loved the picture in the middle idea!

She got her gorgeous dress from a second hand shop that specializes in dresses that were personalized for people who ended up not wanting them anymore. Great deal!

It had a pretty lace-up back and a medium length train.

After the ceremony, we went down to the church's hall for the reception. Dinner was buffet style and there was a veggie lasagna option as well as fruit cups. The highlight, however, was the brownie bar!

I made 3 kinds, 2 dozen each, to contribute to the spread. The first were Mama Pea's Double Chocolate Single Chin brownies. Yum!

My second batch were Mint Brownies, which used my usual brownie recipe but I added mint sugar. I have no idea where to find it; my mom gave me a small bag that I've been dying to try. I topped the mini-brownies with Mint Truffle Hershey Kisses. Delicious!

And last but not least, my favorite, Coconut Fudge Brownies! For these, I use my basic brownie recipe, but substitute coconut oil for the fat and sprinkle coconut on top.

Coconut Fudge Brownies

Adapted from Hershey's Recipe Collection

Yield: 24 2"x2" brownies

1/3 c melted coconut oil

2/3 c applesauce

2 c sugar

2 tsp vanilla

4 flax eggs (4 T ground flax + 8 T water)

1/2 c flour

1/2 c whole wheat flour

2/3 c cocoa powder

4 T dark cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 c shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350. Mix flax eggs and set aside to gel for 5 minutes. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Blend oil, sugar and vanilla. Add flax eggs. Beat well with a spoon. Combine dry ingredients and gradually add to wet mixture until well blended. Spread in pan. Sprinkle with shredded coconut. Bake for 35 min. or until a toothpick inserted in pan comes out clean. Cool in pan.

Coconut Fudge Brownies