The holidays are here and George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker (love it!) is playing at the Arsht Center however I decided to do something different Saturday night. I attended Sweat Records’ Vegan Potluck Dinner for delicious vegan food and live storytelling by Matt Gajewski’s Pure Imagination.

The all-vegan menu featured Lolo Reskin’s Sheperd’s Pie and Sara Youssuf’s rice crispy treats with peanut butter and chocolate frosting for dessert. Guests brought fabulous dishes too–apple pie in a whole wheat crust, carrot and garlic salad, cabbage, carrot and radish salad, red beat and potato salad (lots of salads), sake and more yummy stuff.

It wasn’t all about food though at Sweat Records. After the meal the crowd (literally and figuratively) doubled in size for a special one-hour live storytelling performance by Pure Imagination, a radio drama that features WVUM’s Matt Gajewski’s darkly comic narratives set to music by (mostly) Miami-based composers.

Gajewski took to the stage and read a series of laugh-out-loud holiday themed PG-13 & R-rated short stories called, “Annual Mandatory Holiday Party” that satirized corporate holiday parties, Santa, his elves and trusty reindeer. The highlight of the narratives were the antics of a grumpy 247 year old Saint Nick who would rather be at Churchill’s Pub than shimmying down a chimney delivering gifts for kids.

Although it wasn’t a It’s a Wonderful Life kind of storytelling night, the reading was the perfect antidote to holiday shopping madness. I asked Reskin, Sweat Records co-founder, when the next potluck & storytelling would be. She said she didn’t know but also suggested that I check Sweat’s website for the next vegan potluck and storytelling night.

For information on the Vegan Potluck and other upcoming events at Sweat Records call 786.693.9309, visit www.sweatrecordsmiami.com or stop by the store at 5505 NE 2nd Ave. Miami, FL 33137. For more information on Pure Imagination visit http://www.vangloria.net/pureimagination/. Pure Imagination with Matt Gajewski airs Mondays at 10 pm on 90.5 WVUM.