. . . and chocolate and more!
Yesterday was probably one of the most enjoyable Labor Day Weekend Sundays I can remember – and it did not involve a lake or river, packing a cooler or camping. It also came together the way it did quite by accident.
I was sitting on my patio Saturday morning, kinda feeling sorry for myself because I wanted to be back home in North Dakota with my family and friends, going to a local Woodstock party and a hometown wedding and likely the river. I scrolled through my phone looking for something to do here in AZ. I know you’ll be shocked, but I googled “wine tasting nearby.” 🙂
One of the events that came up was a wine tasting/bread making class. My pity party ended then and there. Bread and wine is pretty much a meal for me, and good, fresh homemade bread is unmatched in smell, taste, and texture. Unfortunately, bread making is the weak spot in my culinary skill set. My bread always ends up heavier, more dense than I’d like it to. The class description promised that I would learn to make bread with basic ingredients and no equipment other than a plastic bowl and a fork. I hit PayPal and plunked down my $50 for that afternoon’s 3-hour session.
Shortly after that I received a text message about some technical difficulties in their kitchen and that they would have to cancel the class. 😦 I could either come on Sunday, when they were conducting a vegan food prep/wine tasting, during which I would still be taught to make bread, come back in two weeks for the next bread-making session, or get a refund. Since I had the weekend to myself, and I love trying any kind of new food, I decided to come on Sunday. It was a great decision!
Emma, a French chef and cookbook author, and her husband Ron conduct these cooking classes in their home kitchen for groups of eight people. They are so friendly and welcoming that by the end of the day everyone exchanges hugs and feels like they’ve made new friends. They greet you with “Red, white, or rosé?” These are my kind of people!
There only ended up being six of us there that day because two had to cancel. There was a couple from California, currently living in Hawaii, three ladies from New York, Texas, and Atlanta, and me. We each chose a type of food to prepare and were assigned a station at the hexagon shaped island or the counter. Two people made vegan burgers, (from fresh ingredients, not the processed, chemical laden patties currently in stores or fast food places) two made vegan “chicken” nuggets, one lady made a vegan chocolate cake and “buttercream” chocolate frosting, and I made bread. Along the way, we also made or were taught how to make faux scrambled eggs with tofu, vegan “pulled pork” from jackfruit, zoodles, cauliflower fried rice, and vegan sausage. Then, we all got to sit and enjoy all the awesome food, while our hosts cleaned up and did dishes. My honest review is that everything was awesome except the tofu nuggets and I think they would have been really good too if they had been cut smaller so they soaked up more marinade and had a higher crunchy surface to tofu middle ratio.
My bread turned out so good!!! It was the lightest bread I have ever made in the shortest time. True to the description, I used nothing but water, yeast, sugar, salt, oil, and flour and a plastic bowl and fork.
I’ll also post more detailed pics and recipes of the other food.
Last but not least, dessert! These cupcakes and the frosting were absolutely heavenly! You will not miss the eggs or butter. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it health food – just healthier . . .
Dinner is served! Quite the spread! On my plate: cauliflower fried rice in the middle, clockwise from the top, tofu “chicken” nuggets, Italian “sausage,” “pulled pork,” zoodles, half of a vegan burger, bread, and kale chips.
ND2AZ Foodie 