Who: The VN staff, the Castoria family, and hungry hordes from throughout the San Francisco Bay AreaWhat: Lasagna-palooza!
Where: HMB Parks & Recreation Department Community Center, Half Moon Bay
When: May 10, 2008
Why: Um, unlimited vegan lasagna!
The Scoop: While most of us VN staffers have families who support our animal-friendly lifestyles, no one on staff is more enthusiastically supported than our lovely Elizabeth Castoria of the now-legendary Castorias of Half Moon Bay. While still living with her folks, she would arrive home each evening to an abundant, homemade vegan spread. But it wasn’t enough for Louis and Susy to honor their daughter’s personal ethical choice; they decided to open their arms (and kitchen) and throw an open-community food festival to celebrate veganism. The entire family, having spent several weekends slaving over enough tofu-ricotta filling and secret-recipe tomato-“meatball” sauce to feed a small army (okay—make that 160 hungry people), served up heaps of green salad, fresh bread, and great hunks of warm, flavorful lasagna smothered in Teese (pounds of which were donated by the generous gents at Chicago Soy Dairy). After mingling with a diverse crowd of vegans and the veg-curious—not to mention a surprise run-in with Zepparella’s Gretchen Menn, one of our featured vegan musicians in the upcoming July+August Music issue—a few heartfelt speeches, and a meal so delicious it had many of us adjusting our belts and lining up for more, we all left inspired, sated, and a tad sentimental. Here is Elizabeth's fabulous familia: Susy, Louis, and sister Sheila:
2 comments:
Hello VegNewsers,
I'm glad that everyone had a good time at Lasagna-Palooza, and that my somewhat untraditional spin on the family's traditional lasagna recipe found favor with the refined palates of your distinguished panel of tasters.
Many thanks for the helping hands while we were serving the hungry hordes, and for getting the "Teese" cheese substitute, which really helped the meal look and taste more like the original.
-- Elizabeth's Dad
Wow, what a cool idea & event!
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