I’m tired! I’m still recovering from the weekend! You?
Friday, July 4th, I spent the day working (the glamorous life of a freelancer!) but wrapped things up in the afternoon which gave Dave and I time to prepare for a very veggie-filled barbecue for our friends Alison and Kevin.
We grilled potatoes, mushrooms and onion, asparagus with lemon juice and garlic, Field Roast sausages, Gardein Chick’n patties,
and peaches marinated in key lime juice and ground cinnamon (for dessert).
Alison and Kevin brought the salads: veggie pasta with chickpeas and cucumber and tomatoes. We feasted.
The next morning I had soybean butter toast (with nutritional yeast) and leftover grilled peaches
before driving up to Golden for VegFest Colorado.
Day one of the VegFest was all about Sunshine Burgers! I worked the table all day and had so much fun talking to many of you who read this blog or follow me on Facebook. I didn’t do much else at the fest Saturday but I did get to meet my hero Paul Shapiro
VP of Farm Animal Protection at The Humane Society of the U.S. I warned him that he’s my new BFF!
I hit Southern Fried Vegan for lunch, where I got a big ole bowl of mac’n cheese, fried chick’n and coleslaw with chipotle aioli.
True story: I split this with someone I didn’t know. I sat down at a table and Chris of Bonnie Brae Tavern, who was selling vegan pizza, asked, “What have you got there?” I replied, “Save me from myself!” We grabbed a plate and fork and split the yummy bowl. So good.
After nine hours on my feet I stole away and crawled into my hotel to rejuvenate for day two.
And that I did! The first thing I did was go into the demo kitchen to prepare my chickpea salad. Then I had this bowl filled with rice noodles, veggies, avocado, hemp seeds, cilantro and some serious kick from Cilantro Truck.
Then it was show-time!
I love, love, love doing talks and demos about how easy it is to prepare vegan dishes! My talk Five Ways to Add Legumes to Your Diet – in which I actually shared 25 ways! – was so much fun! The audience had great questions and a good sense of humor – two of my favorite things!
Post-demo Ginny and I made our way to the NOOCH | Vegan Market table to sign books for two hours and enjoy a vegan ice cream float (made with frozen banana).
Then Ginny was up for the final keynote address of the Fest.
She’s always so spot-on when she talks about how to eat and live happily and healthfully as a vegan!
Dave, Ginny, and I ended our day at Linger for a delicious vegan meal.
Cold soup (nut-based with grapes and radish) and small plates of spring rolls, tofu bun sandwiches and sweet potato waffles. Oh, and dessert.
Some kind of peanut butter magic.
I spent another night in Denver and enjoyed a Monday morning in a hotel bed working on a couple of projects before using the fitness center for a treadmill run (hello, 90 degrees outside!) and then took myself out for lunch at Beet Box Bakery & Cafe. I had the avocado melt (with cashew cream cheese) and a lavender lemonade.
It was a wonderful weekend and I’m filled with gratitude that I get to do what I love – from sharing yummy samples of Sunshine Burgers to demonstrating simple plant-based dishes – and spend time with people I love and admire!
6 thoughts on “My July 4th BBQ + VegFest Colorado (and Denver) Weekend”
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You’re tired? I’ve never met you JL, but didn’t see that coming! 🙂
Ha, Betsy! That made me laugh out loud. My husband says that I run around like the Energizer Bunny but that, in fact, the battery does occasionally run down! 😉
Oh my, what a fun food weekend!!! That Southern fried plate is right up alley and soy butter/nooch toast (YES!). And avocado melt with cashew cream cheese. I gotta get to Denver….
Bianca, I would LOVE it if you visited! We would have SO MUCH FUN!
JL I had such a blast watching your demo at vegfest! I can’t decide what I loved more, your recipe, your wonderful personality, or your cat dress. I hope you’ll be back next year with your new book.
@GinaMG:disqus, I swear, this comment has warmed my heart in a way you cannot imagine! Thank you for your kind words! And for loving my kitty cat dress! 🙂 Truly, you made me day! xo