You're an Original One, my Chocolate Silk Pie.

Yesterday I entered a dessert bake-off competition and I won! My dessert pie won the "Most Original Dessert" award. Here is the kicker: the dessert contest was dairy themed, but being vegan, I naturally submitted a dairy-free entry (I made this recipe for the contest). I was happy to have won and have been recognized for my entry, but I have to laugh at my winning title: apparently a healthy dessert is "original". Alas, my dairy-free, gluten-free, and sugar-free pie is not mainstream enough to be ranked amongst the other desserts, but gets its own "unique" prize. Ah well. I am still hopeful that a day will come when healthy desserts are no longer considered atypical.

Later that day, I ran into a friend of my from when I was in high school. I hadn't seen her maybe fours. When she shouted my name across the grocery store, I didn't recognize her at first. Maybe because she's lost ONE HUNDRED and TWENTY POUNDS since she and I were last in touch. What a feat! I am SO proud of her for losing the weight. She looks incredible and I can only assume that she feels amazing too. All I can say is the body is capable of doing some pretty amazing things if the mind is committed.

Tomorrow I am going to a free cooking class in the community. The classes are offered weekly, but this is the first time that the menu appears to be vegan-friendly (actually, there was one other time but I couldn't attend it). I am excited to see what the chefs are going to teach and say. You know me, always up for a cooking challenge!