Easter Food Marathon

Easter, as with most holidays, means three dinners: one at Brad's maternal grandma's house, one on his dad's side, and one with my family. I know most people eat three meals a day, but these are big, holiday feasts with dessert and sometimes wine and oh man are they filling. Since I've been vegan, it's become much easier to eat a little at each place, because I'm not tempted to do "a little" of everything.

The week before Easter I started brainstorming about what I could take that would feed me well if there were no other options and what would be a delicious side for everyone else to enjoy. I landed on pot pie! I've never really made one before, but this one was super easy. And it was extra cute because the way the pastry crust fit over the dish lead me to making a flower pattern to cover the hole. I made them up ahead of time and froze them until the day of. I defrosted them while I was at church, then baked them right before we left for each meal.

Easter Pot Pie

I also had a ton of fun on Good Friday baking and frosting vegan carrot cupcakes with Britta and Jessica. I took a tray of those to each place too.

Vegan Carrot Cupcakes

The rundown:
I woke up Easter Sunday and found a lovely basket from my mom on the counter. It was full of jelly beans for us to share, chocolate eggs and bunny for my brother, Adam, a Subway gift card for Brad, and a vegan peanut butter filled chocolate bunny AND a box of vegan artisan chocolates for me! My mom is basically amazing. I was so excited (and hungry) that I ate the bunny right then and there.

JEALOUS?

The first stop was Grandma Fichter's. Everyone brings something to this meal so there are usually a million casseroles of this or that. Pretty much everything was dairy-tastic so I ate a helping of my curried pot pie, two dinner rolls (the bag with the ingredients was helpfully near by), and a pile of carrots and celery from the veggie tray. The desserts came out and I grabbed one of my cupcakes and a few slices of watermelon. Watermelon=Summer. I got some good feedback on the pot pie from a couple of Brad's cousins.

Next Brad and I sped out to Belden Village to meet my mom and Adam at Mulligan's. Mulligan's, according to my mom's research, has an extensive vegetarian menu. I somehow doubted it, because I had always thought of it as a place for steaks and pub fare. I expected the veg-menu to include eggplant parmesan and salad. But, when I got there, I was handed a vegetarian menu which was three pages long. I was overwhelmed with choices. The thing that sounded the most delicious was, honestly, a vegan coney dog. I know it's not very Easterly, but it was great! Brad got a soup and salad, which had no meats! I couldn't believe it. Usually he orders meat when we're out. Maybe he was too full from his first meal, but I'm going to pretend that he's seeing the light.

The last dinner was at Cindy and Jim's, Brad's Aunt and Uncle. By that point, I was stuffed to the brim, and pretty relieved that my pot pie was the only option for me. Grandpa Clapper made it a point to tell me he liked it, too, which was surprising and awesome!

Pot Pie on a lonely plate.

Recipe for the Pot Pie

You need:
1 chopped sweet potato
½ cup chopped carrots
½ cup cauliflower
½ cup frozen peas
1-2 TB flour
1-2 TB cornstarch
½-1 cup rice milk (or soy or almond)
½-1 cup veggie broth
Fresh garlic
Onion powder
Curry powder or paste
S&P
Crescent rolls


Chop and boil a large sweet potato.

Chop and saute a 1/2 cup each of chopped carrots, cauliflower and frozen peas in a large pot with olive oil or whatev.

Add fresh garlic if you desire.

When the vegetables are mostly cooked, but still crisp, take them out of the pot.

Leave as much oil, vegan butter, or whatever you use in the pot as you can.

Whisk in a few tablespoons flour or cornstarch or both.

Then add 1/2 cup of nondairy milk (I used rice milk) and 1/2 cup of veggie broth.
Add more liquid or flour to get the graviness you desire.

Then, spice the crap out of it. I used two tablespoons or so of curry powder, some onion powder, and plenty of salt and pepper.

Put the all the veggies in the gravy and let it simmer while you prepare the crust.

You can find lots of recipes online for the crust but I used Pillsbury crescent rolls.

Grease your dish (I used a pirex bowl) and press the crust inside.

Pour the veggie mix in the bowl and fold the corners over. I had a gap in mine, so I cut out circles of some more dough and covered the hole with the flower pattern.

I froze it for a few days and baked it for an hour on 350 the day of Easter, but you could probably just throw it right in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour.