Each May I get excited about celebrating my birthday. Every year I think about things I can do that will bring a BIG smile to my face. As most know who follow my online accounts and read my blogs, I absolutely enjoy leisure traveling and amazing foods. I prepare, make and eat much of my own yummy dishes throughout the year, nevertheless, a favorite past time for my family and me is eating out. We have our favorite places to go that are special to us, however, we also learn about and try new places. After I became plant based vegan restaurants, cafes, etc. were added to our list.

It was quite extraordinary to begin a plant based culinary journey. The new foods I learned of, explored further and experimented with considerably pleased my palate. Since I enjoyed my own as well as others” plant based recipes I shared them with my family. Some of my ingredients were grown in our own community garden. Mom and my older brother were usually the first to try my new dishes and drinks. Mom then began experimenting with vegan recipes herself. She also started to bring home fresh ideas subsequent to visiting our local natural food stores. One of the first recipes she brought home from the market and we made together was our plant based vegetable and bean Wellington.

The vegetable and bean Wellington was one of our most well-prepared and tasteful dishes. It was also the first vegan meat dish we made for my father. Once my dad had his first homemade, fully plant based meat dinner we brought him to a vegan restaurant in Connecticut we knew he would enjoy. The atmosphere was perfect and the food was scrumptious. This Connecticut whole food, plant based restaurant became our vegan restaurant of choice when we ate out with my dad.He as well got used to having homemade, fully vegan dishes, including for the holidays, when he dined with my mom and his children.

This past birthday May 2025 I decided to give myself a break from the chef”s kitchen. I let someone else prepare an absolutely delightful meal for me at one of our preferred restaurants in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. Before I arrived and was seated, I had no idea what I would order. I asked our waitress to inform me of the vegan options on the menu. Every item she shared sounded so enticing my family and I decided to order more than one vegan dish we could make into a smorgasbord dinner. There was one entree in particular that brought out of me the biggest smile. This dish happened to be a plant based chunk steak (above). High cuisine indeed. My first fully vegan steak dinner at one of our fine dining restaurants in the city I was born and raised in.

My family and I thoroughly appreciated my smorgasbord birthday dinner. It was more than perfect for my special day. We toasted with yummy mocktails and wine and ended our dinner with a decadent vegan coconut sorbet. This meal was one to remember. Our main food plate was definitely a surprise, I was together with my family and I got to pay a tribute to my dad by having an entree he ordered often, except my steak was plant based. We also got to have lots of fun on the town in a city my family and I too call home, Hartford, a place of beginnings.

We have the capacity and potential to always be a blessing in our own lives, in the lives of others and in this magical and magnificent world of ours…

Learn more about Omniversal Life International (OLI) at windinc.org or by selecting the link for Omniversal Life International (OLI) in the main menu…

Images photographed, created and/or designed by Partners In Goodwill: Publications & Media…partnersingoodwill.com …

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biashedo™ ~ My Universe Is Friendly… Inside and Out… And So Is Yours… The Macro… and The Micro… Grace… Love… Prosperity… Always sending forth light and love… :o)

Learn more about biashedo™ at windinc.org… Select the link for the Healthy Lives Campaign in the main menu… I have also written a more detailed blog on biashedo™ posted on January 6, 2016… Check it out too… danarondel.com …

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