Neither Wind nor Rain nor Hurricane

Despite the remnants of Tropical Storm Hanna blowing visitors around, we still managed to have a good turnout for our first meeting of the year! Our presenter was Debbie Bennett, a well-known vegetarian speaker and cook, who does monthly presentations (also including meditation) at one of our local library branches. The topic was, "Meals on the Go," and Debbie didn't disappoint with her great ideas! From fruit on a lunch-box sized skewer, to quick hummus spreads for sandwiches, to health information about proteins, we sure were hungry after she finished! Everyone shared their ideas for lunch or quick meals as well as some recipe ideas and restaurant discussion. Here are the delicious dishes we shared today!

H. began the festivities by slicing up her watermelon, straight from the local CSA - juicy!


















Tabouli - what beautiful presentation! (Vegan)













A vegan pesto-pasta made from just-picked basil and a secret ingredient - miso!












A crunchy Waldorf salad (vegan), with yogurt on the side (vegetarian). MMmm...we're getting all the fresh fruit we can while the season hangs on!










A nice whole grain bread - rye?













A gluten-free, vegan chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting (natural PB, not the sugary kind!) with chocolate ganache.











A gluten-free, vegan corn and bean casserole. Nice spices!












A hot bean and tomato dish - great on a rainy day! (vegan)












A pretty shell pasta dish (with pesto?)













Bob's famous rosemary focacia bread! Some of us come to the meetings just for this! (vegan)












Tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil - Caprese! (vegetarian)












Can't go wrong with chocolate chip cookies! (vegetarian)












Rice and beans - a vegan staple!













Gluten-free, vegan chocolate cake with Coconut-Pecan frosting - sweet!

One of the questions that came up this week was what to eat here in Fredericksburg when you're going out to eat. There is a great website called the Happy Cow (click on the words for a link) that can show you veggie places around the globe and everyone knows about Sammy T's, but perhaps readers of this blog could leave some comments about other good local places? For one, I love the Guru, an Indian restaurant where the waiters really know their stuff, can tell you exactly what's in each dish, and know what "vegetarian" and "vegan," mean! Thanks for a great first meeting and don't forget to go to our wiki to post your recipes! See you on October 4th for our next meeting, with speaker Gloria from the Two Kings restaurant here in Spotslyvania, with a topic of vegetarian and vegan soups - yum!