{Event Recap} Vegan Soup Club Dinner Party

My husband and I are part of a cooking group called "Soup Club." About once a month they meet and everyone who attends makes a dish that goes along with a selected theme. One person makes a soup and everyone else competes for the prettiest and tastiest dish.

Last night my husband and I offered to host. It was a vegan theme! This was quite a challenge since only one attendee was actually vegan. She had attended the previous gathering (make a dish using as many ingredients that start with the same letter as your first name) and thus inspired this month's theme.

I hadn't intended to do anything special for the decor. Of course the morning of the dinner I started eying my linen closet and I just couldn't help myself.


I wanted the table to represent the vegan theme. I latched on to this leaf and floral print I found hidden in my closet


I paired it with yellow and golden hues because ... well that's the color of my living room curtains and that was an easy place to set up the buffet table. Because it was a potluck event, I wanted to keep the table as simple as possible so that it wouldn't be too cluttered when all the different dishes arrived. I decided to go with simple, white, elevated serving dishes. I think the end result looked fairly cohesive despite the fact that each serving dish came from a different household.


After I set the dinning table, I realized it needed some of the green and lavender hues that were in the buffet table. I ventured into my yard to see what I could find. The majority of the centerpiece was all from one giant bush in my front yard. I latched on to it because of the little yellow flowers and the fact that it was huge and could easily cover the entire length of the table.




I didn't think I had any purple to add so I decided to look at the grocery store since I had to purchase a few more items for our dishes. I got lucky on my way to the car! I passed by my herb garden and found my rosemary and lavender in full purple bloom!


It was a great night of friends and yummy food. Now I just need to discover my husband's secret! He hates to cook and the only time he tries is for soup club. Yet, every time he gets either first or second place for tastiest dish! The only prize I won was best costume for the Halloween themed meal. I think I need to consult my husband more for my menus.