Last night our three families gathered once again for a meal prepared and enjoyed with as little input from fossil fuels as possible, and this time it was our turn to host. That meant no lights, no heat, no screens, no stove, no oven, no dishwasher, no blender, no power from 4pm until the next morning.

I settled on lettuce wraps featuring lots of raw fresh seasonal veggies from the farmers market and our garden. To seal the deal I made two pretty damn good sauces. Seriously, you could dip raw cardboard in either of these sauces and it would get gobbled up. I made a yummy peanut sauce (really, who can say no to peanut sauce???) based on this recipe from Cookie + Kate as well as this spicy and addictive sauce my friend Eliza introduced me to. (Disclaimer: yes, some of the ingredients in these sauces were cooked at some point, but not by me) 😉

After finishing the meal with fresh strawberries and cream, the little ones played outside in the dwindling light. After our friends went home, we read our kids a book by candlelight, then tucked them in before heading outside to watch the stars.

“Unplugging” really forced us gave us the opportunity to slow down and appreciate the simple things. Plus, the stars always look so much better with all the lights off.