Wiggling into Wedding Shoes~

     Thursday was marking the approaching "wrap up" of this brilliant and short stateside trip. It was also the day of the rehearsal dinner. My morning didn't start off so well, hit a lot of traffic from Burlington to Boston and dealing with the blip of potential "impossibility"~ I was as pooped as a kid could be.
      Several hours later I met up for the rehearsal dinner/wedding day and the moment I saw Nichole and the wedding party, all my stress disappeared.

This is why I'm here...

     I was filled with love, excitement, and a dream-like-kick it into gear Maid of Honor mode. A lot of little blips were thrown in the way and stress was sitting all around us but this could easily be dealt with a change of location, breaking "break" and sharing food, laughs, and stories over at The Mediterranean Grill. The last time I cruised by this place, I was with Alex and we were in one of those holy "I NEED I CRAVE FALAFEL" spaces and The Mediterranean just opened and when we glided our eyes and grumbly bellies over the menu we saw....pizza. WHAT?!~ Hearts broken, we just barely stomped out. This time around, I didn't expect anything vegan friendly, I was thinking coffee or cranberry juice and vodka...but there was hummus (grawwwwww) and babaganoush (aiiiighghhghghhghg)...split a plate full or some veggies and toasted pita with the table...

     wait weird thing...they put olive oil and basil over the celery...again, WTF?! Still...nom nom nom.

hummus and babaganoush~ photo taken by VeganBeats

     After filling our night with more laughter than laughs we all parted ways for sleep and wedding day preparation.
     The wedding was PERFECT! Nichole was BEAUTIFUL, my family was stunning, the dancing was brilliant, my date was awesome (naming him GT), I was smiling...if anyone had diamonds on the soles of her shoes (besides the bride) it was this lady~
     Ahhh quick pics~ 

GT and I =^ㅊ^=~ photo taken by VeganBeats

Papabeats and I~ photo taken by VeganBeats

Mamabeats and I~ photo taken by VeganBeats

     How much do I miss my brother?!~ Too much....TOO MUCH~

Brobeats and I~ photo taken by VeganBeats

Brobeats, Groom, Bride, and I~ photo taken by VeganBeats

GT and I~ photo taken by VeganBeats

Nichole and I~ photo taken by VeganBeats

The groom and I~ photo taken by VeganBeats

TOO MUCH~

Alex and I~ photo taken by VeganBeats

     After dancing up a storm, laughing too hard, being surrounded by insurmountable levels of love, being with Best friends and BQ over three states...America this time was beautiful~

     This wraps up stateside Veganbeats way...

Veganbeatin' Carrot Eatin' Cake'n Wedding blitzin~

     The other week I took on the task of making a wedding cake for the beautiful and brilliant VeganUrbanite! I used to bake back in the states and since I've kicked it Seoul-side, homes without ovens is the norm so my baking endeavors took a standing still...but then~ oven gifting, and itchin'n the kitch has granted me to time to kick it baking style~
     The cake made was a carrot cake~ and the frosting was a nearly raw almond cream cheese frosting~~

pre-mix~ photo taken by VeganBeats

VeganBeatin Carrot Eatin' Cake:
What you need: 

1. 2 1/2 C whole wheat flour (you can use all purpose if you're craving so)
2. 2 t baking soda
3. 3 t cinnamon (freshly ground)
4. 1 t ground ginger
5. 1 t baking powder
6. 1 t green tea salt
7. 1 c coconut sugar
8. 3/4 c brown sugar
9. 3 t ground flaw seed and 3 T water blended
10. 1 t pure vanilla extract
11. 1 c vegetable oil
12. 2 c organic shredded carrots
13. 1/4 medium pineapple chopped and shredded
14. 1 c shredded coconut
15. 1 c walnuts
16. 1/2 slivered almonds
17. 1 c raisins

What to do:

1. FIRST, get all the ingredients prepped up...shred those carrots, pulse and chop that pineapple and throw it all in a blender/magic bullet/whatever shreds like mad! This cake takes a while to make...
2. In one bowl, mix all of your dry ingredients
3. In a larger bowl, mix all the wet ingredients except the oil, carrots, and pineapple (along with nuts and raisins)
4. pour all of the dry ingredients into the "wet ingredient" bowl and do some more mixing
5. Stir in the carrots, pineapple, nuts, etc...
6. Smooth the batter into a 10inch round cake pan and bake at 350 degrees F (or 180 degrees C) for 40-45 minutes

***I doubled this recipe and made three cakes!!***

oh hey you~ photo taken by VeganBeats

     Vegan cream cheese is not available Seoulside, there's no tofutti (whine whine whine) so this was a challenge. I've made mock cheeses and nut cheeses but cream cheese Aiiii~ I wanted to go with almonds and toyed around in the kitchen and came up with this lengthy process~ 

soaking and now removing all that skin...(photo taken by VeganBEats)

I started with a cream cheese and then when that was done...made the frosting~~

Raw Almond Cream Cheese:
What you need:

1. 1 c raw almonds
2. enough water to cover the almonds for 8+ hours...then another 1/3 c for later
3. 1/2 t green tea salt
4. 1 t lemon juice

What to do:

1. soak the raw almonds for 8 hours or overnight, after, rinse and drain them
2. blanch the raw soaked almonds by pouring boiling water over them and letting them sit in that jacuzzi for 5 minutes
3. remove ALL of the skins (it's hottttt)
4. add all of the ingredients into a blender and shred that ish up!!

***I TRIPLED this recipe***

Oh, Now you want frosting?!~

1. get all that yummy (COOLED) almond cream cheese and mix it with 1 c powdered sugar (I made my own coconut powdered sugar)
2. 1 t pure vanilla extract, got it? add it
3. a couple spoonfuls of vegan butter...yea add then it too
4. Blend that ish...then throw it in a fridge!

cream cheesy ~ (photo taken by VeganBeats)

     This cake was a lot of fun to make, but took a LONG time to make...luckily, my house smelled wonderful and I was in a little sensory heaven...minus the nomming part...

For another time!!!

All ready to go (VeganUrbanite did the decorating herself)~ photo taken by VeganBeats)

Loads of love to VeganUrbanite and David and positive vibes for their beuatiful (continuous) journey~~~

Amy's Wedding!

     One of the greatest woman I know got married recently...she is the first person I worked with when I landed in Seoul and she is very close to my heart. She's a friend, a sister, and a beautiful Seoul!! These are not the greatest pictures from her wedding but~ here's some jams!

newlyweds! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

the fam! (photo taken by VeganBeats)

     The vegan noms were a bit lacking but I had some fruit and 도토리묵 (my FAVorite)~ The meal was more buffet style and super quaint!!

nom spread (photo taken by VeganBeats)

BEAUTIFUL!~ (photo taken by VeganBeats)

Congrats Amy!~ I'm so excited for you and can't wait to have you in Seoul!!~