Hello, all! Hope your weekends are going well – mine has been really excellent. Yesterday I had the pleasure of receiving a package as part of the vegan care package swap that Lindsay organized. Lindsay paired me with the wonderful Lisa, who blogs over at Vegan Cookbook Critic. If you’re unfamiliar with Lisa’s blog, you really ought to hightail it over there and check out all the delicious, mouth-watering, and mostly raw recipes she creates and so kindly shares.

I had a great time scouring Madison for local goods to send to Lisa, and I was absolutely thrilled to receive her package! Check out the loot:

I’m spoiled, I know. Here’s what Lisa sent:

• Three boxes of vegan cookies – Double Chocolate, Ginger Snappers, and Momints (chocolate-mint, obviously!)
• A handful of delicious maple hard candies that I might’ve devoured already, because I’m a maple fiend
• A package of some gorgeous pink rice
• A package of vegan muffin mix
• A little packet of hemp seeds
• A container of berbere spice (!)
• A sweet little “eat cake not carcass” pin
• A packet of Artisana’s Cashini Butter
• A People Towel!

Seriously, this is an amazing box full o’ goodies. I love everything! I’d never heard of People Towels, but goodness gracious – what a wonderful idea! Small, personal, quick-drying hand towels you can throw in your purse so that you don’t have to waste paper every time you use a public restroom. Genius! After visiting their website and learning that a couple of stores in Madison sell the towels, I now have an idea for some Christmas presents for friends & family. :)

Lisa – thank you so much! You’re an A+ swapper in my book.

Although it was tempting to eat nothing but those cookies for dinner tonight, I opted for something easy – if not quick – instead. Check it – roasted acorn squash and Averie’s Sesame Maple Ginger Tofu.

I know my plate has a distinct lack of greenery, but I have a moratorium on grocery shopping at the moment – it’s CSA day on Wednesday, so right now I’m just using up crisper drawer stragglers. This was still a really filling dinner – the tofu was yummy and sweet, and I topped the acorn squash with a little bit of coconut oil and garam masala and it was heavenly. Look, Ma – I’m slowly but surely overcoming my squash aversion AND my dislike of mixing the savory and the sweet!

What was the best part of your weekend?