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I’ve been living in Minnesota for 20 years, and although I do go back to Japan to visit my family every few years because of the unfortunate timing I’ve never had a chance to celebrate Mother’s Day with my mother all these years.

I used to send her flowers, but quickly I realized that sweets seem to bring her more joy (lol), so the past several years I’ve been arranging to have some kind of cake delivered to her.

This year for the first time I sent her a vegan cake from a Japanese online store, specifically vegan tiramisu, and thankfully, she (and my dad) both liked it.

But if I had a chance to celebrate Mother’s Day with her together, this is something I would prepare for us.

Since I had a fabulous afternoon tea experience at Baccarat Hotel a couple of years ago, I’ve been having this dream to serve my own vegan afternoon tea at home.

It took me a while, but I finally decided to buy a tiered stand.

So here is my very first homemade vegan afternoon tea.

On the bottom tray you’ll find sandwiches.

Cucumber and mayo.

Radish and feta spread.

Curried “egg” salad.

The second tray holds scones.

Two types: plain and strawberry.

And the top is of course the dessert tray.

Raspberry and lemon macarons.

Canelé.

I had to have this picture taken with my pinky up!

My very first home afternoon tea guest was my hubby.

I am proud to announce that most everything you see were made by me, from the bread, mayo, and feta spread for the sandwiches, the scones, the butter, to the dessert items.

The only thing I didn’t make was the jam.

It was a lot of work, but it was also a lot of fun!

Will I do it again?

Of course!

Happy Mother’s Day.

We are planning to make a gift box with some of the items from this afternoon tea and bring it to my mother-in-law tomorrow.

More muffins!

Raspberry flavored batter; that’s why the batter looks pink (before baked).

Sweet beans inside and on top.

on the top you can also see lingonberry jam and almond crumb topping.

For some reason, the color turned from bright pink to purple when baked, but you can definitely taste raspberry in this muffin.

I usually go for the Matcha x sweet bean combination, but I also like to use sweet beans and berries together.

The tartness from the berries go so well with the sweet beans.

This was so yummy!!

This has become a familiar scene on my table.

A muffin, a cup of coffee, and a book.

A good way to spend time at home.

One of the reasons why I like going to Asian grocery stores is that I find something I can’t find at any other stores.

When I found this green leafy vegetable at an Asian market, I knew it was Shungiku.

I loved Shungiku when I lived in Japan.

I hadn’t seen it outside Japan, and I was so excited.

Interestingly, it was labeled as “Tongo”; after doing some research, I’m pretty sure it is the same as or at least in the same family of Shungiku.

I also learned that it may also be called chrysanthemum greens.

I hope this information helps, if anyone is interested in trying this beautiful greens that have wonderful herbal flavor.

Yes, I made pasta myself.

Every time when I want to eat pasta and realize I don’t have any dried one in my pantry, I ask myself why I don’t buy them.

But then when I make it and it was time to eat, I know exactly why I make my own pasta.

It’s so delicious!

Olive oil, garlic, cremini mushrooms, Shuungiku, tomato, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper.

I was initially thinking about making a loaf, but at the last minute I decided to go with rolls.

The combination of coffee, dark sugar, and walnuts gives such warm flavor.

I love eating this roll for breakfast.

We were at an indoor farmers market yesterday.

There were a lot of vendors, including bakers who were selling great-looking baked goods.

Unfortunately, no one had vegan options.

So this morning I decided to make vegan scones myself.

I initially thought about making a sweet version, but since I try not to eat a lot of “dessert” like food for my meal, I decided to go with a savory version.

I packed them with carrots, kale, edamame, and scallion and flavored the whole thing with curry.

I’m not anti-gluten, but these are definitely my kind of scones!

I served them with scrambled tofu and hash browns for breakfast this morning.

They were so good!!

Cloudy Sunday today.

My husband is spending the day with his buddies working on their cars.

It is going to be a perfect day for me to curl up on the couch and read.