Artichoke Zine.

Paperbag Blog

2011-06-13T20:39:00.002+01:00

So guys- it's been a while! The last few months... years... hmm. They've been hard. Personal stuff, yeah. I've had a really long break from blogging, but I have just started a new site and would love for you guys to take a look and keep in touch there!

Paperbag Blog

I hope you're all doing really well, I've missed all your posts and comments but I have been keeping up with all of yours, don't you worry.

Lots of love xx

Pizzaface equals Happyface!

2010-11-06T23:41:00.005Z

Pizzaface is pretty much a revelation for the UK- an independent pizza shop, which delivers right to your door, and offers vegan cheese. Could it get any better!?

I went for Johno (Red onions, olives, peppers, mushrooms and fresh chillies*). Paying £1 extra for vegan cheese, this pizza is cheaper than all of the major pizza chains. The base is verging on thin crust, cooked beautifully in a stone-based oven, and with a really decent amount of toppings. I added some cheeky artichokes to mine, yum!

*although the menu stated fresh chillies, mine turned up chilli flakes. Not too bad, but I was looking for some juicy jalapenos!

Mr T went for the amazing Funghi (Sauteed mushrooms, porcini mushrooms and marinaded Sardinian oyster mushrooms, garlic and truffle oil). The garlic is crushed into the sauce and cheese, and brings so much flavour to such a simple pizza. Brilliant.

We also shared a portion of garlic bread (this has to be specified to be vegan) but it was fairly dry and although it was packed with fresh, heady garlic, the bread was chewy.

Pizzaface cater for gourmet meat lovers, veggies, vegans, cheese-haters and those who are gluten/ wheat intolerant. They also stock Booja Booja ice cream!

For the two pizzas and garlic bread the grand total was £25, plus £2 tip for the kind driver who brought it to our doorstep. A wonderful treat, and such a brilliant company to support!

Pizzaface

01273 699 082.

35 St. George's Rd, Kemp Town, BN2 1ED.

Spiced Apple Cake.

2010-10-14T16:18:00.002+01:00

Things are slowly coming together down in Brighton! We finally have the internet connected, and just had our new sofa delivered. This pudding was perfect to celebrate with.

Inspired by a recipe for German Apple Cake, which should be denser in the base, I wanted something a bit softer and spongier. It takes a little while to make this cake; set aside a quiet evening in your kitchen to show your oven some love; it will love you back when you can sit down happy, with a bowl of this warming pud.

Cake

170g self raising flour

60g dark brown sugar

25g golden caster sugar

130g butter

1 'egg'

1.5 tsp lemon juice

Soya milk

Spices: cinnamon, all spice, ginger

Vanilla

Maple syrup

Filling

2 apples

100g dark brown sugar

30g golden caster sugar

1.5 tsp lemon juice

Topping

40g self raising flour

80g dark brown sugar

20g golden caster sugar

40g butter

Cinnamon

1/ Peel the apples and slice thinly. Combine in a bowl with sugar and lemon juice. Give it a good stir so that all the apple slices are well coated, and then leave on the side for a bit.

2/ In another bowl sift together flour, sugar and butter until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add egg and lemon juice. Add enough soya milk so it turns to a creamy cake mix. Pop in plenty of spices and a good glug of maple syrup, so that it tastes sweet and full of spices and autumn charm.

3/ In (yet another) bowl sift the dry topping ingredients together and add butter until crumbly.

4/ In a greased and lined baking tray, spread the cake mix evenly. Arrange the apple slices evenly and over the entire cake, completely covering the mix. Make two thin layers of apples; not too thick but not too thin. Completely cover the whole cake with the topping mix, sprinkle over some extra golden caster sugar and cinnamon on top.

5/ Bake for 45 minutes on 180c until the topping is bubbling and a deep brown, chestnut colour. Once cooled it becomes slightly crispy in places on top, dense and rich and sweet throughout. Watch out for the gooey caramel inside. Serve warm with ice cream or cream, or eat cold straight from the baking tray.

Indian Summer.

2010-09-10T16:35:00.003+01:00

I grew up and went to college close to Brighton; I know all the good places. I've had amazing lunches at Infinity, fallen in love with Terre a Terre and stuffed myself with the odd Red Veg.

So since moving to Brighton, I'm trying to discover new places- and not just vegan places, but authentic and traditional and delicious places which offer vegan delights.

For my birthday Mr T took us for dinner at Indian Summer. Situation close by to Terre a Terre and opposite Aloka, it's very tempting to pass it by. But don't! Indian Summer has a contemporary take on traditional Indian cuisine. The courses pass by with interesting and thoughtful touches; before your starter you are treated to a small espresso cup of spiced soup, with a small double baked snack. It is strange not having the traditional poppadoms with a selection of raw onions (yummm) and chutneys, but the starters more than made up for this.

To start I had Bhel Puri:

A sumptuous mix of puffed rice, gram flour sticks, potatoes, onions, chickpeas & tomatoes. Served with tamarind & date, coriander & chilli & yoghurt chutneys

This was a strange little dish- a little like having a savoury bowl of rice crispies, with a little curry on top. Sorry, that doesn't really do it much justice, but it just wasn't my kind of dish. Mr T's did not disappoint however, and he chose wisely- Masala Dosa. Always a brilliant choice, this savoury pancake filled with tenderly spiced potatoes was beautiful.

In between the starter and main course we were treated to a shot- fruity and clean with a hint of vodka. Delicious!

For my main I chose Subz Miloni. This was a beautifully cooked dish of sweet potatoes, parsnips, broad beans and peas. A fairly small portion, but together with the starter and complimentary pieces, it's more than enough. It is served with a portion of rice and roti.

My partner had a brilliant tasting platter, choosing Vegetarian Thali. This featured small bowls of a variety of curries, ranging from quite mild to piping hot! We finished the meal with a cooling plate of sorbets, fantastic!

Everything is labelled as vegetarian, gluten, wheat or dairy free, and the hostess was very clued up on what we could order. We also chose a fantastic bottle of red which she recommended- I seem to recall her saying it was an Indian wine, if this exists?

Not the cheapest Indian meal you will find, but Indian Summer is a beautiful restaurant with an inspiring menu. It has a different take on the cuisine, and the nature of the meal is very relaxed and thoughtful, something which is often lacking in authentic restaurants.

Indian Summer

69, East Street, Brighton, BN1 1HQ

01273 711001

http://www.indian-summer.org.uk/

London to Brighton.

2010-09-10T16:14:00.003+01:00

Wow, it's been a while guys, right!

I'm not even going to count the months. But things have been changing, hence my lack of blogs and general existence on the internet.

I moved from London to Brighton! That's probably the biggest change. And it's amazing. I start a new job on Monday, and I've been searching high and low on the net for exciting projects that I can begin with in Brighton. I've sent a few emails and looked up a few interesting and exciting places, so hopefully the ball will be rolling very soon! I don't miss London just yet- I've been having way too much holiday fun here for that (but that's not to say that I don't miss a lot of London people) and hopefully a little weekend in London will happen soon.

I've been enjoying a lot of Indian food thanks to Trout! He spent the summer working with an Indian Circus, and an Indian Brass Band, and they cooked traditional, authentic curry every night. He's picked up some darn good recipes! Maybe one day I will photograph his brilliant dishes, but for now I'm having way too much fun making rotis and enjoying restaurant quality food, in the comfort of my jim jams.

I'm enjoying the more personal, quiet way of life that Brighton hums along with. I still can't get over how close I am to everything; I keep turning up to meet friends super early, because I'm not used to walking five minutes and being in the centre of a city! I also love being so close to my family, and friends who I have been absent from for four years!

I hope that once we get the internet sorted (this is a long, tiring story....) then I will be able to start blogging more frequently, and show you guys just how amazing the curries are that I've been enjoying!

Happy Kitchen.

2010-05-20T20:39:00.004+01:00

Have you ever actually hung out at St. Pancras Station? You should, I recommend it. It's filled with beautiful shops, and a nice man even offered us a trip to Paris. But what was even more exciting, was discovering this lovely company; Happy Kitchen!

Happy Kitchen bake delicious sweet treats which are free from dairy, wheat, eggs and soya. They are naturally sweetened with agave nectar, environmentally aware, and have a super cute website- take a peek!
I enjoyed a beautiful vanilla and strawberry cake; moist and almost sticky vanilla sponge, pointed with sugary strawberries- delicious!
100% vegan, no E numbers or any of that junk, the packaging is eco friendly, and they donate to charity- seriously, could these guys be any cuter!?

Happy Kitchen can be found in this lovely little cafe; Sourced Market. They support local producers and, as far as vegan options go, they are wonderful! The full range of Laura's Ideas, wraps, salads and sandwiches- and of course the lovely cakes I've mentioned!

I didn't take a photograph of my cake, but found this image on the web to give you an idea:

St. Pancras Station
Pancras Road
London
NW1 2QP

Should Vegans be Vocal?

2010-05-13T17:07:00.004+01:00

No matter how long you’ve been vegan for, we’ve all been there. That awkward conversation when someone realises that your lunch is missing something. Animal Products. You hold your breath through the three second silence which follows, as the information processes, and questions immediately begin bubbling up in your audience.

What do you eat? Why don’t you eat eggs? What about honey?
And then there are the snide comments. Your diet is bad for you. Your body needs meat. Why are you doing this to yourself?

I’ve been vegan for almost five years, and was vegetarian for six years before this. That’s over ten years without meat, and confirmation enough that my body does not, in fact, need meat. That avoiding dairy does not leave my bones crumbling beneath me, and that eating a diet which is low in cholesterol, rich in fruit and vegetables, grains and pulses- as well as scattered with decadent desserts- does not leave me hungry, withdrawn and craving animal products!

It must be similar to my own thought process when I consider what people with certain allergies eat. My immediate thought is that of sorrow and mourning of fresh, crusty and fluffy filled breads, spaghetti, cakes. I know that the Free From sections of supermarkets are packed with gluten and wheat free products, but I don’t really know how up to scratch they are- and restaurants must be even harder. But you learn what’s good, what’s bad and where to go to get the best Free From products.

So I wonder- when people are staring, and pestering and judging, should we be vocal and explicit in our replies, or should we be reserved in our responses?

Generally my response is to answer a couple of questions politely and simply (no graphic descriptions, gory home truths, pointed fingers and accusations). I try to balance a convincing case, with a non judgemental argument for the animals.

At other times I can get a little carried away. When a friend asked how I would feel if a doctor told me I had to eat meat, for health reasons- my mind raced and I blurted out a disjointed and panicked response, along the lines of it being my worst nightmare, and how disgusting it would be to eat meat. Whilst others tucked into their BLTs.
It’s just how I feel though- but should we be this vocal? Is it helping us, to distance ourselves from meat eaters? Sometimes I think that some are born with this moral stance- I can’t help but believe that I was born to be vegan, and that it would have happened eventually, and that some are meant to eat meat whilst others are not. My parents and grandparents ate meat. My friends all ate meat- I had one friend who was vegetarian, and her sister was vegan. This was the only contact I had with a meat- free menu, at the time that I went vegetarian. Hardly enough to convince most, but what she taught me really stuck. At the time I saw veganism as extreme and fairly unnecessary, but it wasn’t long before I began researching and chatting to other vegans. Again, the information really stuck in my mind, and once learnt was not easily forgotten. Sometimes I think that because I was lucky enough to learn the truth behind my meals, others might need to learn this information too.

So what do you guys think about voicing your veganism? Do you explain in graphic detail the truth behind meaty meals, or keep to a reserved response?

Vegan Gourmet Night.

2010-05-10T17:09:00.003+01:00

Next up on my Vegan Agenda, is The Gallery Cafes Vegan Gourmet Night.

The Gallery Cafe is a community cafe in the heart of Bethnal Green, a few minutes walk from the tube, and serves vegetarian and vegan food. Take a look at their website for more information about the wonderful work which they carry out.

Now, onto the food! The menu looks a little something like this:

Starters

Roasted butternut squash soup with caramelized onions
Asparagus tart with balsamic glaze

Mains

Tagliatelle in a fresh basil and walnut sauce
Spicy root and lentil casserole served with a swirl of vegan cream
‘Gourmet Burger’ – mixed bean burger with roasted red peppers, avocado and salsa Verde, served with sweet potato wedges

Dessert

Chocolate Cake served with vegan ice cream or cream
Mixed berry torte served with berry sauce and vegan ice cream or cream

How good does that sound!?
Vegan Gourmet Night will be held on Thursday 27th May, and will set you back just 11.50 for your choice of all three courses! Take a peek at their blog for more information on the evening, and other yummies which they serve daily! Including these mouth- watering cupcakes:

21 Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green, E2 9PL
Tel: 020 8980 2092 Email: siobhan@stmargaretshouse.org

Cream Tea and Cake.

2010-05-04T00:10:00.007+01:00

When I'm not cooking, looking at recipes and getting over excited about new vegan options- I'm dribbling over food themed jewellery! I have lost count of the amount of knitted cupcakes, crocheted sandwiches and biscuit brooches which I've collected- but this new designer has got me all kinds of excited!

Using dolls house parts, Arantxa Garcia's jewellery range, Cream Tea is delicate and humorous; a kind of tongue in cheek take on accessories, contrasted with delicate chains and floral wallpaper.

I attended the Cream Tea launch event, and it was every bit as cute as the jewellery; a vintage tea party filled with antique crockery, sandwiches without their crusts, sherry and - of course- plenty of cupcakes! The centre piece was a truly impressive three tiered Victoria Sponge, stuffed full of raspberries. The jewellery was arranged around piles of books, cake stands and vintage cameras, and, once purchased, were popped into beautiful, individual boxes, wrapped in ribbon and included a cute business card. Brilliant for gifts or to treat yourself to something nice.

Here's the necklace which I selected for myself:

And she was even kind enough to let me buy one earring, as opposed to a set:

[I have one stretched ear, so only ever use half of a set of earrings!]

Earlier in the day I attended Cake Swap, at Vx. I stuffed myself with the most brilliant cakes; cinnamon buns with a lemon glaze, tiramisu cake, lemon pound cake, mocha brownies- everything was so good, so delicious, and so wonderfully can't-believe-it's-vegan! It was lovely chatting to new vegans, and I look forward to attending more, and actually bringing something sweet!

http://folksy.com/users/CreamTeaJewellery
creamtea@gmail.com
http://creamteajewellery.tumblr.com/

http://www.secretsocietyofvegans.co.uk/shop/

Saf.

2010-04-11T17:17:00.004+01:00

After many many months (years?) of meaning to try Saf, I finally managed it! On a brilliantly warm evening we headed for some part cooked part raw dining, and right by The Foundry, which is sadly being torn down.
The restaurant itself is very beautiful; the attention to detail and calm atmosphere is lovely. The menu is simple, and staff are very clued up and friendly. All this was brilliant. We started with the Tasting Plate (raw) which had a great variety, including beetroot ravioli, tacos and cheese. I was so excited to try the cheese, and they did not disappoint. With a beautifully soft texture, and bright ingredients, it was delicious. The crackers were crisp and snapped with flavour, and the sushi was brilliantly unusual; stuffed with parsnip rice and dipped into a bright soy sauce.

For my main I chose a warm dish; Thai red curry. I don't often get time to make a thai curry- mainly because finding vegan thai curry ingredients can sometimes prove quite tricky. This dish was subtle but the flavours were warm and creamy, with pumpkin and okra. It also contained cherry tomatoes which popped in your mouth, and as tasty as they were it was quite strange in a curry. A small bowl of fluffed brown rice came with the curry, though the portions were quite small. Mr T had a raw lasagne, which was delicate but layered beautifully. It was strange having a cold dinner; it felt somewhat like eating lunch, and not as filling. But the food was very good, and the chefs are indeed talented.

For dessert, the portions are laughable. I understand gourmet sizes, and the emphasis of flavours and hints of sweetness. But I am a dessert lover, and the prices did not match the portions. I ordered the Chocolate Ganache Torte, and it was delicious; maybe even the highlight of the meal for me. But the size of the dish is a joke- I would estimate that my 'slice' came to about 4cm long. It had a thin sliver of dark chocolate on the top, which added some depth to the chocolate.

It's difficult not to compare Saf to Terre a Terre, in Brighton. The restaurant has similarities, and the expertise of the chefs is clear. But Terre a Terre wins hands down. Where Saf understand ingredients, Terre a Terre go one step further and match them in unusual combinations, and really make you consider your plate.

I would probably return to Saf, as I think that it's an important restaurant in terms of raw and vegan food, and the cheeses really are brilliant. But don't go if you expect to be stuffed so full you need rolling home. It is a cleansing, satisfying menu, with tiny desserts.

Burrito Tour.

2010-04-11T16:40:00.003+01:00

So Mexican food is our new love. It took me a little while to realise it, but burritos are pretty much the most wonderful food you can eat.
First there was Dolores, in Berlin. Fantastically full burritos (labelled as vegan) packed with tofu, all the usual good stuff, and so much flavour. Plus they serve the best lemonade.

Then we tried Tortilla, in London. These are amazing. They don't offer tofu, but their guacamole is superb, and the burrito is really filling.

Next up was Jim Burrito's, in Hamburg. Jim had a separate vegan menu, which included both seitan and tofu options. It was also cooked in a different way, which made a nice change. It was also the first time I had tried chipolte sauce, and I am a total convert!

So when I won a free meal from Chilango I was excited to expand my burrito expertise. They also don't offer a tofu option for vegetarians and vegans, but all of their guacamole and vegetables are vegan. I went for a veggie burrito. With only one choice for rice (unlike Tortilla, who offer Spanish rice, and lemon and coriander rice), roasted vegetables, guacamole and either pinto beans or black beans (again, Tortilla gives you both if you opt for a vegetarian burrito).

The burrito itself came in one size- not too big, not too small. It was wrapped well and pretty stuffed with filling- but everything just lacked excitement. The guacamole had all the right spices and ingredients, but there just wasn't anything happening to make it a real zippy filling. The roasted vegetables were quite raw- maybe if you ordered a meat filled burrito, the contrast of tender meat with crunchy vegetables is lovely. But when it is your main filling, I prefer softer vegetables which, although still have a bit of a bite to them, wrap themselves around the rest of the fillings.

So all in all, I'm sorry Chilango, but you don't quite live up to your neighbour, Tortilla.

Being Spoon- Fed.

2010-04-05T23:13:00.004+01:00

OK so if you read my last blog, you will realise that I'm pretty much busy all of the time. But I love it.

However, this does mean that I have had to cut down on the baking love. And cooking time. And general making-myself-something-to-eat hours.
Tibits, you are wonderful. M&S vegetable samosas how I love thee. My flatmate's leftovers, brilliant. And good old pitta bread & houmous. Meow.

Thankfully those around me do still have time to bake, and so I have been blessed with these tummy treats:

Mushroom and Ale Pie:

Courtesy of Mr T.

Followed by Sticky Date Pudding, drowned in Butterscotch and decorated with Praline.
Yes it was flippin amazing. And moist and sticky and sweet and lovely.

Courtesy of Mr T.

For Easter I did manage to rustle up some sweet treats (after working a ten hour shift, with five hours sleep up my sleeve, and staying up until 2am icing):

One half of the basket holds Cherry and Orange cupcakes, and the other half holds vanilla cupcakes, decorated with various sweeties.

But then my sister totally kicked my arse by MAKING her own Easter Eggs (!!!) which were filled with gummy bears (!!!) and came with a little bag of home made chocolates (!!!). Yes, she is a frickin GENIUS. She also made her classic nut roast, which is brilliant.

I did manage to find the time to rustle up Mr T's birthday cake:

It's a peanut butter and chocolate chip cake, with peanut butter icing to sandwich the two cakes together, and topped with a chocolate ganache. I love peanut-butter-anything-sweet.

Charming.

2010-03-25T00:16:00.003Z

Today I was walking through Central London, gazing with cherry cheeks at the new window display for Libertys, and drinking my favourite coffee.
I walked through my favourite crowd-cutting road, Argyle Street.
[I love this road, because everytime I walk up and down it, I instantly start humming Bouncing Souls.]
I walked past some charming builders, and one of them commented:

She looks pleased with herself.

And I thought, yes. Because really, I am. And I should be. It might have taken a few months of feeling miserable and lonely and frustrated, but I feel that as Spring is finally stopping by, I am awake. And happy. Really quite happy.

I have a 4 day a week job, which pays the bills. Even though really it doesn't make me happy at all, I have met some really amazing people. It's worth being told to wear more make up and not to wear pink socks. Because it gives me the time to spend two days a week in a wonderful publishers.
I get to speak to authors (who really do love to talk about their writing).
I get to proofread manuscripts. I get to organise press and promotional material for the authors book launches. And I get to hang out with one of my best friends while I do all of this.

Last but not least I have recently started selling some things which I bake, and this truly makes me happy. It's worth waking up at 6am for, and finding blobs of waffle mix up my sleeves hours later. And it's for a shop which I truly believe is important for London; a shop which is 100% vegan, and with diy ethics.

Here's what you can treat yourself to:

These tasty gingerbread waffles.
Warm and toasty in your belly.
Covered in squirtee cream.

And you can eat them whilst relaxing in the beautiful lounge at Vx.
With a marshmallow latte. For REAL.
You won't find these anywhere else, so go, relax and fill your tummies with goodness.

Vx
73 Caledonian Road
Kings Cross
London
N1 9BT

020 7833 2315
Tue- Sun
10am- 6.30pm

Follow them on twitter!

I also have a new article up on Landing Pad London: this week is all about Tibits!

Wholesome Winter Food.

2010-03-22T17:19:00.006Z

The last weekend was a bit of a washout, what with all the rain. But it called for comfortable home cooked food; thick and creamy and wrapping you up with warm meals. We started the weekend with a very British wholesome dinner; bangers and mash. But posher than it sounds. We used some Holland and Barratt sausages which were fairly cheap, and with super 80s hand-drawn packaging. Classy. We made red wine onion gravy, which was amazing. And some creamy garlic mashed potato. We slow fried some onions to sneak under the sausages too.

When I was younger my Grandma made the best mashed potato. Seriously.
It's the only mashed potato which I could eat by the spoonful. Usually I have to pile my fork with other food, and never manage more than a spoonful with my whole dinner. Grandma's was different. Delicious.
So we set about re-creating a super creamy garlic mashed potato. With cream. And roasted garlic.

20 cloves of garlic (yep)
2 pounds of potatoes
1/2 cup cream
4oz butter

1/ Toss the garlic into a pan and heat with a lid on over a low heat. Toss occasionally for twenty minutes. Remove from the heat and leave covered for another twenty minutes. Remove and peel them, chop the woody ends off.

2/ Cube the potatoes into 1" chunks and boil for around ten minutes, until soft. Heat the cream gently in a microwave, until just warm- around twenty seconds.

3/ Drain potatoes and mash until smooth. Toss in the garlic, add cubes of the butter gradually and stir in the cream. Season to taste and keep mashing until it's your perfect consistency.

Now for the gravy:

1 tbsp oil
2 tsp butter
2 red onions
2 cloves garlic
4 tsp plain flour
600ml stock
250ml red wine/ cooking wine
2 tbsp parsley
2 tsp sage

1/ Heat a frying pan on a medium heat. Add oil and butter. Add onions and garlic. Fry gently for fifteen minutes.

2/ Stir in flour. Gradually add the stock and keep stirring. Add wine and continue stirring.

3/ Add herbs and simmer for fifteen to twenty minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste.

To finish this perfect dinner I made a beautiful white chocolate torte, the recipe can be found at Lustrous Musings.

This was brilliantly easy to make, with only four ingredients, and I cannot wait to start developing it and adding more flavours! I think next will be banoffee, and then after that experimenting with different toppings, like a layer of raspberries to make it more like a cheesecake. The great thing about this recipe is that it doesn't taste 'vegan' at all; non- vegans tried it and couldn't tell that it was made without dairy. Delicious.

Copenhagen, Hamburg, Antwerp, London.

2010-03-19T11:09:00.013Z

It started as a lovely idea. Meeting my boyfriend in an airport and driving back home together. We've tried to organise it a few times, but never quite succeeded. But this month we managed it.
March is super special for us; it's our Anniversary month. E I G H T.
Yep, eight whole years together. He's pretty much the coolest person ever. My best friend.

I think I know you the best when I'm sleeping.

So I fly into Copenhagen airport in the evening. Get my first shock after spending £5.90 on a latte (!!!) and we head to a cute rustic restaurant. Riz Raz hosts a regular menu, but as we arrived quite late (around 9pm) we had the buffet, which is 100% vegetarian. The staff aren't really clued up about what is vegan, but on a previous trip Mr T had spoken to the chef who had pointed out what items he could eat, so we went on his memory. Really great falafel balls, salads, delicious Caribbean stew with rice, beans and olives, and plenty of quinoa and couscous type salads. A buffet is roughly £8.50 each (remember these are Danish prices, and nothing is really cheap in this country!).

From Copenhagen we drove to Hamburg.

I didn't get to see much of this city, but what I did see I liked! Beautiful huge squats, vegan cafes and a brand new way of eating burritos! We stopped at Jim Burritos:

- and ordered from the separate vegan menu; one tofu burrito, and one seitan burrito.

They are made up the same way that regular tortilla burritos are made, except they are then wrapped in greaseproof paper and grilled under a panini press. This makes the edges cute and crispy, and the filling super hot. The seitan was amazing. We also ordered a bowl of chipotle sauce, which I've never tried before. It has the smoky flavour of bbq sauce, whilst maintaining a fruity tomato flavour, and with a kick of chilli. Yum!

They also sold Fritz- Kola, and Almdudler! Fritz- Kola is an independent cola from Hamburg which I discovered in Berlin. It's wonderful how so many companies and consumers support this cola, and I didn't spot one single Coca Cola product while I was there! Almdudler tastes like an energy drink with a little more flavour, and without the kick of caffeine.

From Jims we drove around the corner to BioKonditorei Eichel; literally a dream. This was a beautiful perfect patisserie, which served organic, gluten free or vegan cakes. Amazing cheesecakes, perfect cream fruit slices, chocolate and coconut bars, biscuits, tablets of chocolate which made my knees weak.

From Hamburg we drove many many miles to Holland and slept at the creepiest hotel/ motel room I've ever seen. Seriously. It was a cross between a family holiday park, and a truckers motel room. Just for one sleep, but still.

Early the next morning we left to drive to Antwerp, where we walked to a square and ate some brilliant pommes frites and watched people live their lives. We walked around the streets of Antwerp and really it was quite nice. Some cool shops but we didn't have time to track down anything remotely vegan. We hopped back into the van and drove to Calais, stopping off at a huge supermarket/ shopping centre by the ferry port, and found some giant candy:

and some quite ridiculous French food:

Seriously, do people really eat this? It looks like plastic!

So really it was just the most wonderful late- Anniversary trip and I really hope that we can organise it more often.

Sweetness and Sunshine.

2010-03-01T10:37:00.008Z

Yesterday was one of those random days, when you sort of have plans. And they change. And you make new plans. And it's a lovely day.

So it was raining. A lot. Before I had even left the house my plans were loose and changing. I knew I had one intention though: to visit Vx. Shh.

The shop sells sweet treats, fresh cakes, ready meals, and items are being added all the time. They have a brilliant range of vegan shoes (for both men and women) from the wonderful Bourgeois Boheme. They also stock a whole load of SSOV clothing- including a beautiful tote bag and apron. They have pleather jackets, belts and wallets too!

Now lets get onto the good stuff...

Confetti Cookies
White chocolate and milk chocolate covered biscuits with sprinkles. Fudgey and delicious.

Trios
In original flavour, and fudge filled flavour.

Vegan Pet food
It was so promising, but alas Rasputin would not eat it! He normally eats dry food and occasionally tuna, so maybe he's just not used to wet food. They also sell huge bags of dry vegan cat and dog food.

I also bought two Whoopies (super sweet!) and some chocolate peanut bites.

Vx is a must visit place; Rudee is super nice so go and have a chat with him one afternoon and buy all his sweets.

73 Caledonian Road
N1 9BT
020 7833 2315
TUESDAY TO SUNDAY 10AM-6.30PM.

After I left, with a bag stuffed with vegan treats, I sat in a cute coffee shop in Old Street and read newspapers and Time Out and drank coffee and ate my Confetti cookies. It was a lovely afternoon, but I still had a good few hours of daylight left, so took a train to a town I used to live. Memories and old friends.
Then I met Mr T and the band he's currently tour managing (who are flipping brilliant by the way) and we had beer and food. We went to our favourite burrito place; Tortilla for dinner.

So, I thought my day couldn't really get any nicer. Then I check my twitter, and realise that JAY RAYNER has tweeted me. Jay Rayner. Observer food critic, long time love (if any of you read the first edition of the zine, you will have noted my love for him) and general man obsession. And the tweet involved HOT TUBS.

In other (more serious) news; I have a new guest blog up! If you guys have a few minutes then pop down to The Larder Lout and read all about my favourite vegan products. I really enjoyed writing this piece; partly because James is a very inspiring food writer, and partly because- aside from a two week raw vegan expedition- James' blog is very much a meat/ dairy fest!

Lazy Days Foods

2010-02-23T16:33:00.004Z

Whilst browsing the Free From section in Waitrose this afternoon, my heart did the usual skipping when I see new products.
Maybe it's vegan!

Well today, I was in luck. Lazy Days produce sweet treats which are gluten, wheat, egg and dairy free- and very delicious!

I bought a packet of Millionaires Shortbread; perfect. Heavy on the shortbread, it is crumbly and fluffy which melts with a buttery sweetness. The caramel was gooey and delicious, and was topped with creamy chocolate. Amazing.

They also make chocolate tiffins (one of my favourite sweet treats!), chocolate dipped ginger biscuits and ginger snaps. These were all available at Waitrose, and on their website they also feature chocolate fudge cake!

Millionaire's Shortbread, £2.39 for six pieces.

Identity.

2010-02-21T21:31:00.004Z

The Wellcome Collection has long since been my favourite museum in London. Situated in Euston, their lengthy exhibitions combine a scientific exploration through the human body, whilst exploring the ideology of our beings with an artistic mindset.

Their current exhibition is an indepth journey through the concept of Identity. Nine constructed box rooms isolate each concept; from gender to memory, through to twins and their sense of individuality. Each room is small but well thought out, and forces the reader to become aware of their personal space and the space which they occupy within the exhibition.

My favourite of the nine rooms introduced me to an artist; Claude Cohen. Using a pseudonym, Cohen explored gender and what it did and did not represent for her. She chose a neutral name, shaved her hair and wore trousers. The most surprising thing for me was when she was producing photography and writing radical pieces on gender issues; through the 1910s and 20s. A hundred years ago, and yet she could be making work now. Her photography had a confident yet romantic exploration of her ideas, not of the contemporary technology

Image courtesy of the Wellcome Collection.

I love the way that the Wellcome Collection acknowledges the strong connections between the exploration and urgency to discover and show new ideas to the public, that both science and art have in common. For two years my own practice had strong connections with the physical body, and the Wellcome Collection was an invaluable tool during this time.

Wellcome Collection
183 Euston Road
NW1 2BE

If you like the Wellcome Collection, then I would also recommend The Hunterian Museum.
The Royal College of Surgeons
35- 43 Lincoln's Inn Fields
WC2A 3PE

Special.

2010-02-16T23:02:00.004Z

Valentine's Day is probably my favourite holiday. Everything is heart shaped and romantic, and pretty.

I was told don't buy anything for V-Day- we're not celebrating.
So, regrettably, I agreed and promised myself that I would make it a special day. For myself.

So Valentines comes around, and I am presented with white chocolate chip cookies ♥

Not just any white chocolate chip cookies. But white chocolate chip cookies which taste just like Millie's Cookies (from what I remember).
Oh and I got a home made card with a man and a balloon on it. A heart shaped balloon <3

Best Boyfriend Ever, yes?

p.s. Special thanks to Skinny Chic for her help in figuring out how to link, and for baking me Valentines Cupcakes- only wish I could have tasted them!

Cold Nights.

2010-02-09T18:44:00.008Z

I think the mark of a good cake, is the speed at which it is eaten.
This was all that was left by the time I got around to photographing it! One little crumbly slice left.

This is probably my second favourite cake recipe:

Banana and Chocolate Chip Cake.
Makes one large cake

12 oz butter
12 oz golden caster sugar
2 very ripe bananas
12 oz self raising flour
Vanilla extract
Cinnamon
Teaspoon of baking powder
Splash of oatly
Bar of dark chocolate

Cream the butter and sugar together. Smash the ripe bananas into a bowl with a fork until they look like baby food. Add to the sugar and butter mix, and stir together. Add the flour, vanilla, cinnamon and baking powder. Stir together until smooth and add a splash of oatly so that the mixture is creamy. Hack at the chocolate into large triangle chunks and add to the cake mix. Line two cake tins with butter and baking parchment and bake at 160c for around 25 minutes, depending on your oven.

Once the cakes are cooled, make up a bowl of chocolate frosting and sandwich the two cakes together. Place on a cute plate and cover the whole cake in buttery creamy vanilla frosting and sprinkle with cinnamon and sprinkles. Enjoy with a glass of Sailor Jerry and apple juice.

In other news, I have an article and a recipe featured on the brilliant blog, In Search of a Full Stomach. The lovely Lindsey has begun Vegan Month, so follow her travels through delicious recipes, eating out, and plenty of guest blogs.

Here is my article about the Vegan Pantry:

http://insearchofafullstomach.blogspot.com/2010/02/vegan-pantry.html

Here is my recipe for Butternut Squash Risotto:

http://insearchofafullstomach.blogspot.com/2010/02/butternut-squash-risotto.html

Beginning.

2010-02-02T09:50:00.003Z

Some days you just need to do things which you know will make you happy. They are spontaneous and wonderful. Things which are hurried and fill your belly with warmth.
Yesterday I went back to an old home, an old town and saw old friends. It was just wonderful.

So I think that I managed to get my 5-a-day yesterday...!
It started well; Readybrek with Oatly and plenty of raisins and a glass of orange juice. 2 down already! Then I was in a mad rush and forgot to eat the pile of grapes which would get me to 3. And then I skipped lunch. And had COFFEE <3 <3 Two coffees! It was good. SO GOOD! I went for my favourite; Costa. Then Nero (not so much favourite). With friends who I hadn't seen for months. Months and months. How lovely.
Then for dinner I had chips- yes I know this doesn't count! So on the train home I munched a tub of apples, grapes and strawberries which bumped me up to a definite four (!!!) and a samosa.
So... does a samosa count? It is packed with peas.

In other news I made my Motherbear a lemon drizzle cake for her birthday:

I think I need more ideas on how to make sure I complete my 5-a-day challenge!

O N E.

2010-01-31T09:30:00.002Z

Artichoke is one years old!
I can't believe that it's been one whole year that I've been blogging about all things vegan. I want to say thanks so much to every single person that reads, comments and forwards on my blogs- it means so much that people read my writing and enjoy my recipes and food, and I really enjoy it all!

It's been a super fun year, including writing and printing a first edition of Artichoke Zine, writing articles for lovely people like To Happy Vegans, and many more will follow! I've read some amazing blogs from so many other people, who I've mentioned on here, and been inspired by them all.

Thanks again you guys!
Chrissie x

Resolutions

2010-01-24T21:33:00.004Z

This Sunday will mark 31 long days. It sounds quite silly, really.
But I will have gone 31 days without coffee.

It was part of my New Years Resolutions; to give something up/ try something new and challenge myself. Coffee is my weakness- I would buy three cups (three large cups) of coffee a day, which gradually reduced to one a day. Which really is still too much.

I craved coffee everyday; for some reason the cravings never went away; maybe my belly knew that coffee would return one day. This is the longest that I've been without a single ground bean of love, and I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to my first Medium Soya Latte! Heck, it's been so long that Costa have had two new advertising campaigns! I even managed to withstand the temptation of Peter Andre serving me coffee at Piccadilly Circus!

So now I'm moving onto February. I have a few ideas floating around; the one which I keep coming back to, is getting my Five-a-Day. Eating five portions of fruit and vegetables everyday. Sounds pretty easy, what with being vegan and all, and not really eating any meat replacement. But I really don't think that I do eat 5 a day! In fact sometimes I struggle just to eat three meals a day! So I think this challenge would be good for me. I'm a little worried about the cost, but it can't make that much difference to my shopping bill, right?

So what do you guys think? Any other suggestions and challenges you'd like me to try!

Week of Fun!

2010-01-24T18:56:00.003Z

Well what a week it's been! I feel like I haven't stopped, and got to see so many people who I LOVE! Visited new places, tried new foods, dragged my tapestry suitcase on so many trains. Many many trains. It's been the best.

I started my week by getting a bus and a tube to my Grandparents for a lovely meal cooked by my father. Vegetable tart. With the best freakin' roast potatoes I'd ever had. And CABBAGE! Actually, I was wrong. I didn't start my holiday here. I started it from the minute that I finished work; drinks and dancing with friends until 6am, yes. So I was a little tired by the time I got to my family.

Driving to Sussex with the dogs noses in my ear.

I spent one whole day in my old bedroom, in the best bed ever. Seriously, it's beautiful and comfortable and amazing. And we had Dominos pizza!

Early the next morning I began my journey to Bath. It's just the most beautiful and wonderful city; so many lovely shops, amazing food- vegan food! Just perfect. I will be returning soon.

We had breakfast at Demuths- a vegetarian restaurant which offers brilliant vegan options. We both had the Demuths Big Breakfast, which consisted of grilled tomatoes, perfect garlic mushroom, crispy cubes of tofu, slices of wholemeal toast, a home made sausage and sauteed potatoes. Oh my, it was delish! With a beautiful freshly squeezed orange juice, this breakfast will set you up for the day! And at just over ten pounds (including juice) it's not too shabby. I would love to come back and have lunch or dinner here (or both!) especially when they have sticky toffee pudding, and a cashew and coconut cheesecake on the menu!

I went to the Health Food Shop of Dreams:

I don't know whether it's because I live so far from an independent health food shop, but Harvest is just wonderful. It has a small deli where the amazing staff serve you slices of mushroom pie, the best samosas and potato balls I've ever had, and fresh cakes- including carrot cake, and a chocolate and coconut slice. Everything is labelled vegan, and everything is delicious. The rest of the store boasts the usual goodness; meat replacement, vegan chocolate, eco friendly cleaning etc. Then there are any grains, seeds, nuts, spices you can imagine- all paid for by weight, so you can buy as much or as little as you need. What a gem.

Of course we had to drink lots of wine. And mojitos. And make vegan vodka jellies. And go out for more cocktails. Which ended us up at Al Falafel; the best chip kebab I've ever had!! I'm SERIOUS! This place makes great chips, the salad is awesome, it had houmous, oh my it was perfect.

Did I mention that my sister has a hamster? Called Audrey?

HOWCUTE!

As my trip had to come to an end, I caught a train to Mr T's and from there we roadtripped (vantripped) to Portsmouth/ Havant area for some Grandparents action, where I ate some delicious home made beetroot and got to hang out with my 'niece' who is literally awesome. Saturday evening was spent in Brighton (my soulmatetown and soon to be home) and today I caught another train home. Back to London. Back to New Cross Gate. Lovely.

www.demuths.co.uk
www.harvest-bath.coop
http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/bath/takeaway/1473h6o/al-falafel

In the cold light.

2010-01-11T15:44:00.003Z

Butternut Squash. It's just brilliant, isn't it?
You can roast it. It goes perfect with houmous. You can mash it. Season it.
It's a little heavy to carry home, but it will fill your belly for hours.

I featured this soup recipe in the printed edition of Artichoke Zine, and it's one of my favourites to make pretty much any time of the year. It's warm and spicy and delicious.

Spicy Butternut Squash and Spinach Soup
Makes four bowls

1/2 onion
3 small garlic cloves
1 Butternut squash, peeled and cubed.
oil
Salt & Pepper
Chilli powder
2 stock cubes
250g spinach

In a deep saucepan heat the oil, and once warm gently fry the onion and garlic until soft and golden. Add the butternut squash- yes it is a lot. It is a lot of chopping and peeling and de-seeding and your wrist will ache but it's worth it. Season well with salt and pepper and as much chilli powder as you can handle. Give it all a good stir so that all of the squash cubes are coated, then crumble your two stock cubes and cover with hot water. Pop the lid on your saucepan and turn the heat up. Simmer for around 20 minutes, until the squash is soft and crumbles, and most of the water has evaporated. Turn the heat off and let it cool down for a few minutes, before whizzing it up with a hand held blender. Stir in the spinach- yes this also seems like a lot, but just trust me on this- and season with black pepper.

Serve with baked ciabatta rubbed with tomato, drizzled with oil and sprinkled with salt.

All at once.

2010-01-10T19:54:00.004Z

Walking back home this afternoon, with a shopping bag of goodies, I watched families and couples walking through my local park. I've never enjoyed Winter; I hate feeling cold and just want to be wrapped up in a big blanket. I even get a little chilly in Summer. I'm unbelievable!
But today I felt my first pang of love for winter. I even began to enjoy it...!
Maybe because I have learnt the art of layering. And because, really, snow is quite beautiful.

I still have festive thoughts running through my mind, and these are mixed with excitement for Spring. See, it's January now. Which means that it is almost February. Which means that it is almost Spring. Do you see?

Spring is my favourite season. It's warm enough for cardigans but you can still heap your favourite old coat over a summer dress, and still have big pockets to carry your keys and phone and oyster card and receipts and lipbalm.
You can wear pretty dresses (with woolly tights) and you know that Summer is just around the corner- where the real fun begins. Spring is for planning. It's more of a new leaf than new years, and it's the start of amazing things. New things are sprouting and being born, and the sunshine is coming through. Lovely.

So that's what this recipe is about. It's this awkward stage where I still have the images of Christmas in my mind, but I want the clean, refreshing tastes of spring.
Glace cherries remind me of the dense spice of Christmas Cake, whilst fresh cherries are visiting the market in Summer. Bringing home a brown paper bag filled with the little gems, washing and bringing two bowls to the table- one for the cherries, the other for their stones.
Oranges are like clementines which are like Christmas gifts. They're fresh juice on a summers day. They're bright and clean and grated into cakes.

Cherry and Orange Cakes.

8oz butter
8oz golden caster sugar
Glug glug glug of oil*
vanilla
8oz self raising flour
Oatly
lots of glace cherries
2 oranges

Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the glug glug glug of oil* and mix together well, along with the vanilla. Add the flour and beat until well combined. Add enough oatly (or rice milk, soya milk etc) until the mixture is fairly creamy, wet and smooth. Chop the glace cherries in half, grate the two oranges, then slice in half and squeeze the juice into the mix. Give it all a good stir, pour into your chosen baking tray/ case and bake at 160c for:

25 minutes if it's a cake
18 minutes if it's cupcakes.

Leave to rest before trying to move the cake(s)- this is a delicate little sponge!
I iced with orange flavoured water icing; something delicate and not too overpowering.
Enjoy with nothing but a glass of tap water.

* I do apologise for my lack of measuring. I put a fair amount in, it helps it all to stick together and become quite fluffy. Don't put so much in that you feel that you are deep frying your cake.

Sugar and Snow.

2010-01-06T16:49:00.003Z

I was on a train last night for one hour. It started in London, Victoria. As the train continued through Gatwick you could see the snow falling heavily and settling thickly.

It carried on and on and when I got off the train it was so deep, and as we walked back to his house it was still snowing. All night and all of today it snowed, so we put on our warm clothes and I borrowed wellies and a hat and we went to the park! We met boys sister and niece to play in the snow. We sat on top of a giant snowball. We met a larger than life Homer Simpson, complete with beer bottle. We saw a huge swan. Cold and wintry we came home and made these:

This recipe is nothing new. It's not exciting. And you all have this recipe in your cookbooks. But it reminds me of being a child. Sitting on the backdoor step with my father eating crumbs from the baking tray. Rushing home and finding two saucers waiting for me; one filled with perfect flapjacks, one piled with crummies and chunks which fell.

6oz butter
6oz light brown sugar
2 tablespoons golden syrup
10- 12 oz oats

Melt the butter in a deep saucepan. Add the light brown sugar and golden syrup, and keep stirring until the butter and sugar have melted. Add the oats- it should be slightly wet but thick enough that all of the oats are covered and glue together. Heat the oven to 180c and grease a tin with butter. Spread the oats mix with a spatula to the edge of the tray. Use a fairly shallow baking tray. Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes, until golden brown. Take out of the oven and score into small rectangles with a knife. Once cooled take out of the tray with a spatula and leave to cool on a wire rack. Serve either with a hot cup of chocolate or with an ice cold cola. Your choice.

And I also came up with a new resolution today:

To buy the Waitrose Food Illustrated every month. It really is that brilliant.

Breathing's just a rhythm.

2010-01-04T11:37:00.002Z

So yesterday was pretty much the funnest day; my flatmate and I went to see one of our favourite artists' exhibiting at the Whitechapel Gallery- Sophie Calle.

It was amazing and beautiful and both of us were nearly crying.

Then we went for a wonder around Brick Lane, ate Ethiopian food (which I've never tried before!? It's good!) then went to a retro diner for a Dixie beer. Then another. Then we went to my favourite bar, 1001, and had another beer. Then we ran around Brick Lane for a while.

So we decided it was probably time to head home. It wasn't really our fault that we stumbled upon a bar which offered buy one get one free cocktails. And it really wasn't our fault that we had five. Each.

So yeah, this morning I have been trying to hold off a hangover by cleaning. A lot. Laundry and hoovering and dishes. All to the sounds of Regina Spektor. Lovely.

twothousandandnine & twothousandandten.

2010-01-02T23:46:00.004Z

I started writing my usual list of things that were great about the past year.I like to reflect on the positive things, and it usually helps me to write my list of New Years Resolutions. This past year has been hard; a lot of changes, a lot of upheaval and it took me a while to actually write a few things down. Some were clear and some were harder to remember, but the memories make me smile.

♥ Getting Rasputin!!

♥ Writing a dissertation, and graduating with a 2:1.

♥ Being asked to write a guest blog for tohappyvegans.

♥ Visiting Berlin <3

♥ Writing and printing a zine.

♥ Meeting wonderful vegans, both in person and online.

♥ R E G I N A S P E K T O R !!!

♥ Seeing Peter Andre!!

♥ Learning how to ice cupcakes 'professionally'.

♥ All the amazing food; Terre a Terre, Rootmaster, Yellow Sunshine, Voner.

♥ Organising exhibitions, and being part of a book publication.

♥ Spanish midnight, and all the grapes.

♥ Making vegan omelette and quiche and other great recipes that 'shouldn't' be vegan.

This year has taught me a few things. That you should never complain about your life, unless you are willing to change it. And change can happen overnight, if you really want it to. It's your life and your choices. I've learnt to really listen for the things that make me happy, and to do these things more often. I've learnt that having a cupboard stocked with flour and sugar makes the day a little sweeter.

And now for New Years Resolutions; last years didn't go so well. 12.5 out of 20, but never mind! The ones which I did complete I was happy with, and the rest will roll over to this year. I did cut down on my coffee habit (from buying three large coffees a day,to 1), I bought lovely make up from B Never 2 Busy 2 B Beautiful (RIP), I started my own zine, drank more water and knitted more things. But I did not get an awesome job once I graduated, go to more shows (in fact I think I actually went to less... FAIL), I didn't make any fabric swatches and I didn't fix my laptop/ buy a mac. Hmm.

So this year I have a different idea for my resolutions.

Firstly I am going to do something new every month. Give something up, make myself do something, try something new- anything.

January

I am giving up coffee. Coffee.

I thought I would start with the hardest thing. And buy myself a pretty dress with the money that I save.

This will help with Resolution #1: To save more money (again). Because, really, I am quite crap at saving money, and I really do want to travel more this year.

Resolution #2: To make artwork. Anything. I fucking miss having exhibitions; the stress. The excitement. The getting completely drunk part.

Resolution #3: To make Artichoke Zine prettier. Preferably with a nice website, and to update more often. To produce a Second Edition copy of the zine, in printed format. Resolution #4: To make and bake and cook and photograph more. And make the photographs prettier.

Resolution #5: To write. Writewritewrite. Write and send and make people read my writing and ask me to write more things.

Resolution #6: To buy more clothes. Kind of contradicts #1 but I don't really have many clothes and feel that I need more. I would like to buy something from Stella McCartney.

Resolution #7: To buy the Nigel Slater book Tender.

Resolution #8: To go back to Berlin.

Resolution #9: Learn more Spanish and French.

Resolution #10: To read more books.

January so far will consist of 1. Giving up coffee 2. Visiting my sister in B A T H. 3. Having a whole week off work. 4. Trying to earn and save monies for trips and nice things. I also aim to 5. Visit friends who I haven't seen for weeks (months...)

I think that I would like to look more like this in 2010.

More cute dresses and more chocolate covered faces.

Christmas!

2009-12-28T13:19:00.005Z

This Christmas was short. Maybe it's because I'm getting older, things are changing. Christmas used to be a week long celebration, but what with all of my family working in retail and living in different parts of the UK it was quite brief but lovely this year. I worked Christmas Eve and Boxing Day but managed to spend Christmas Eve evening and all of Christmas Day together.

My sister was a culinary superstar; she baked and baked and baked! I was a little sad this year as I had no time to make or bake anything, but she more than made up for it! We had cinnamon cookies, mince pies, and the best nut roast I've ever eaten! Seriously, this thing was good. Packed with cashew nuts, it was moist and lightly spiced. Delish.

Here are some photos of the day:

And some of Rasputin with his festive bandana that my sister gave him:

Rasputin and Mr T, with the camera that I gave him for Christmas:

And some of my presents, including an amazing Christmas tree made in chocolate, and some Kurt Geiger shoes! Beautiful <3

I hope that everyone had a very merry Christmas filled with treats and presents!

Hong Kong City, Chocolate Pie and News!

2009-12-21T10:52:00.004Z

I've had a suprisingly quiet weekend at work, where I realised that, really, men are the ultimate shoppers. I love them <3

Mr T and I tried out the wonderfully tacky, Hong Kong City!! It's on the main road into New Cross, and as Mr T describes it, "like being at a wedding". The food was actually pretty good; our meal included vegetarian lettuce wrapped, spring rolls, tofu in salt and chilli, mixed vegetables in black bean sauce and some vegetable fried rice. With a lovely bottle of Rioja, the best wine. It was full of families dining and people singing happy birthday. Really, it was wonderful. Though they had no noodles which were egg-less, boo.

THEN we come home to find my amazing flat mate has baked THIS:

Seriously, how good does that look! It's a chocolate pie, baked from recipes in The Garden of Vegan (Sarah Kramer, general wonder woman).

I also came home to find that I had been featured on the lovely The Gluttonous Vegan blog! Go read her lovely recipes and general awesomeness. And all the zines which I sent to To Happy Vegans were snapped up at the Reading Eco Veggie Fayre! So all in all, yesterday was GRREEAT! Now I'm off to do all my Christmas Shopping.

www.tohappyvegans.com

www.thegluttonousvegan.com

Rasputin, A Little Bazaar and Terre a Terre!

2009-12-18T20:20:00.008Z

I know, I know. It's been a while. It's been more than a while. OK yes it's been a few weeks. Maybe even 3 weeks. I don't know what to say you guys, I really don't!

Maybe Rasputin can help?

There we go! A napping kitty always melts the hearts of ignored readers.

So what have I been doing lately- well, working mostly. I spend around 12 hours a day outside of my flat, so cooking is generally either dished up by my lovely flatmate, or it's pitta bread and houmous. And would you really want to see five photographs of pitta bread and houmous? Maybe with some olives thrown in if I'm feeling flash?

No. So you really will have to settle for Rasputin. And what's so bad about that, eh! Look at his little face!!!

So I have some photographs from A Little Bazaar which was two weekends ago. Our table consisted of baked goods (from moi) and knitted and handmade jewellery and accessories crafted by Laia:

On Wednesday some close friends and I went for our own little Christmas Dinner at my favourite restaurant, Terre a Terre, in Brighton. We opted for the Christmas Menu, which hints at traditional flavours with a very modern twist.

For starter I chose Santa’s Sodden Socca, which is described as a chubby pancake. Hmm. Not a pancake (or anything remotely pancakey) but more a falafel, it was tasty and lightly spiced, with dollops of perfectly cooked vegetables and drizzled with dressing.

For main course I chose the vegan optioned Prancer’s Polenta Balls because I wanted something remotely Christmassy! No luck here either as this smoked dish smothered any Christmas cheer! The walnut cream was beautiful and really complimented the smoked flavour of the cabbage, however the vegan option was far too similiar to the starter. Although both of the mains were either vegan or vegan option, I think it would have been far nicer to have dishes which contrasted the starters offered.

The dessert did not let me down though! Ginger Noggin was a wonderfully petite Christmas pudding- packed full of flavour, the fruit was moist and kicked with spices and a hit of alcohol. The modern twist came from a scoop of ruby sorbet- great flavour and really fun!

If you're looking for a relaxing evening with a really modern and exciting menu then try Terre a Terre. Their regular menu is magnificent, and I can't gush about this restaurant enough; the chefs are seriously talented!

http://www.laialopez.net/
http://www.terreaterre.co.uk/

To Happy Vegans!

2009-12-03T23:34:00.003Z

I was asked by the lovely ladies at To Happy Vegans to write a guest blog, and it's up and ready for viewing now! I would love it if you guys read it and commented or gave feedback! Hope you enjoy it!

http://www.tohappyvegans.com/wordpress/we-link-food-to-memories-by-artichoke-zine/

x

Food Blog Love ♥

2009-12-02T13:53:00.003Z

I'm enjoying a relaxing whole day off to myself, and have crossed many things off my to-do list, watched three films and have a cake baking in the oven. So now I'm going to spend some time giving some blog love! Here are a list of my favourite, super inspiring blogs- you should read them too!

To Happy Vegans
www.tohappyvegans.com

These two lovely ladies run a fantastic website, as well as selling their beautiful cakes at a variety of venues- including this year's Animal Aid Christmas Without Cruelty Fayre!
Their website is packed full of information on all aspects of vegan living; fashion, food and having fun with your vegan life!

The Gluttonous Vegan
http://www.thegluttonousvegan.com/

The lovely Naomi Rose's website is bursting with beautiful and exciting recipes, tempting many people into veganism! Her Go Vegan for a Week challenge has been a huge success, read through inspiring testimonials from converted carnivores and dribble over her wonderful photography!

The Urban Housewife
www.theurbanhousewife.com

If you're travelling, you need to read this ladies blog! Her travel guides are so comprehensive and exciting it makes you want to travel the world!
I read her recommendations and reviews of Berlin's finest vegan eateries and it made our trip even more amazing!

Joy The Baker
http://www.joythebaker.com/

This beautiful website covers all aspects of cooking and creativity, and even though the majority of recipes are not vegan, they are easily adaptable. Recipe highlights include: jam swirled pancakes, pumpkin walnut bread and my personal favourite; chocolate avocado cake!

Maple Spice
http://www.maplespice.com/

Wonderful photographs, ambitious recipes and an inspiring enthusiasm for tackling traditional vegan no-nos; like yorkshire puddings, ravioli and french fancies!

Skinny Chic
http://www.skinnychic.org/

Plenty of raw recipes and videos to talk you through how to make raw eating fun and exciting, whilst still being healthy and delicious!

The Fairest Feed
http://www.fairestfeed.blogspot.com/

Not sure what to make for dinner tonight? Having some friends round at the weekend? Have a long read through this lovely blog for inspiration; so many recipes which range from cupboard essentials and fast meals, to impressive potluck dinners and cute cupcakes!

Cupcake Kitteh
http://www.cupcakekitteh.blogspot.com/

Cupcakes and cats, what more can you want! Follow her blogs as she participates in Worldwide Vegan Bake Sales throughout the year (but not when you're hungry, you might dribble) as well as plenty of other wonderful recipes and yummy photographs (which feature her beautiful kitties!).

Other exciting and wonderful people:

La Belle Vegan
http://www.labellevegan.blogspot.com/

Vegan.in.Brighton
http://www.veganinbrighton.blogspot.com/

Vanilla Sugar
http://www.vanillasugarblog.blogspot.com/

Vegan Etc.
http://www.veganetc.blogspot.com/

A Little Bazaar!

2009-11-30T20:25:00.005Z

I'm so excited! A couple of days ago a friend and I were accepted for A Little Bazaar!
A Little Bazaar is run by two lovely ladies through a variety of venues across London, and this coming Sunday (6th December) Laia and I will be selling our wares in Shepherd's Bush!
I will be selling a whole host of vegan goodies, including:

Plus waffles, cookies and other secret sweeties!

I hope lots of people can come down and purchase our lovely little things! Laia will be selling some top notch bags, necklaces and plenty of other unbelievably cute and amazing accessories!

A Little Bazaar will be held at Defector's Weld, 170 Uxbridge Road, Shepherd's Bush- the nearest tube is Shepherd's Bush (central line) but it is also close to Shepherd's Bush Market, and Shepherd's Bush overground station. It runs from 12-6pm and is free entry! So you can really splash out, treat yourselves and others to some handmade personal presents!

For more information about A Little Bazaar:
http://www.alittlebazaar.co.uk/

Crystal.

2009-11-25T15:58:00.003Z

This past week has been filled with so many ups and downs; from being pretty low after what felt like all the 'important' things in life were falling apart (job, home...) and then spending Saturday with my beautiful and inspiring friend Chloe, sat in a wonderful pub in Brixton while she sold some lovely little diaries, purses and address books.

Since moving further into London, finishing University and being dumped into the 'real' world, it's a bit of a shock to say the least. At Uni I had my loan, my bursary and a part time job which usually took up at least 20 hours of my week. So money was never really a problem; I had enough to buy some nice things, drink coffee whenever I wanted, and buy most of the materials that I needed. I had a studio, I lived in a cute suburban town with friends nearby.

Suffice to say that all those lovely things changed when I moved to New Cross Gate, and the last three months have been somewhat of a struggle. But these last few days I can start to see some sunlight and have become inspired, thinking about all of the things that I want to do to make me happy. I changed my job (although the first two weeks were very hard and every other day I thought about going for lunch and never returning), I want to start having exhibitions again, and I want to carry on making nice things and selling sweet things at various craft fairs.

So- this week I have been experimenting with different things to sell at the fairs, I will be a knitting commuter and I will start a new log of inspiration, continue reading medical books and art theory and try to drown myself in things that make me happy.

First experiment with Cupcake Jars:

These are layers of cake and frosting in a jar which you can take away and eat with a spoon!

They need some work so that the jars are filled and don't look so pooey inside. They taste good though! I made one with chocolate cake and cinnamon icing, and another with chocolate cake and peanut butter icing. My favourite is peanut butter, oh my god that icing tastes good!

Another exciting thing that I did this week, was buy MAKE UP! I had a brief fling with make up when I was 14, which lasted a couple of years before I started college, let my arse hang out of my jeans, stopped brushing my hair and all make up went out of the window. A few years ago I introduced mascara back into my 'beauty routine' and two days ago I went to the wonderful B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful and pleaded for HELP! The amazing girl applied various creams and potions to my face, explaining how each product worked and how I could apply it, and helped me select the most important products. I bought tinted moisturiser, eyeliner, lipstick and cleanser. It felt strange at first, and when I looked in the mirror I thought I looked like a drag queen, but I am getting used to it and it's kind of fun! I even want to buy blusher and powder and concealer!

I'll let you guys know when I get some dates organised for craft fairs, and update with my sweet experiments!

https://www.bnevertoobusytobebeautiful.co.uk/

Cat and Cake.

2009-11-21T10:46:00.002Z

Chocolate avocado cake, banana cake, chocolate avocado cake.

Cinnamon buttercream.

Chocolate ganache&sprinkles.

Ginger and Plum Tofu.

2009-11-16T21:41:00.003Z

My new favourite thing to do is make lots of tofu for dinner, and save some for lunch the next day. I cheated and bought a marinade- ginger and plum, yum!- sliced the tofu into fairly slim triangles and grilled for around 15 minutes, turning every so often. In a frying pan I melted some butter, then threw in half a bag of spinach, allowing it to wilt gently, whilst seasoning and grating nutmeg over. When the tofu is nearly cooked, I threw a handful of cashews under the grill with it so they are slightly tangy and crunchy, then serve with plenty of salad. Delish!

Home made ravioli and garlic bread.

2009-11-14T15:15:00.003Z

I took a little break since Vegan MoFo, and haven't been doing too much cooking lately (at least no blog-worthy meals!) but recently I changed jobs and have a few more dinner times free to cook things, which has been nice. Mostly they have been consisting of vegetable in various sauces and spices, so it's been lovely having some goodness back in my diet. Not that I don't think my houmous diet was good- oh it was GOOD- it isn't so good for my immune system, especially as the temperature has dropped in the last couple of weeks!

So me and Mr T made ravioli last weekend; he even bought a super cute pasta machine! I can't quite remember the recipe, and we totally stole the recipes from both Gordan Ramsey and Maple Spice's blog! For the mixture Mr Ramsey gave us a great demonstration (his videos on The F Word are brilliant! Simple, no fuss, I love them!) and consisted of spinachy, buttery nutmegy, melting-in-your-mouth, tossed with toasted pine nuts piles of delish! The ingredients and method for the ravioli can be found at Deb's blog (link below) and were so simple and fun to make! We also used her garlic bread recipe. All in all a buttery garlicy deliciously indulgent dinner, which we followed with a piece of strawberry cheesecake and can be found in the freezers in Holland and Barratt. Go find all these nice things and eat them!

www.channel4.com/food/on-tv/f-word

http://www.maplespice.com/

Vegan MoFo: Chocolate Avocado Cake.

2009-10-27T14:26:00.005Z

Well I had some avocados getting mushier and mushier by the day, and wondered whether they would make a good egg replacement- kind of like mushy bananas. So I did some good old googling and found a few recipes which raved about avocado goodness with cake. I figured that chocolate cake would probably be the best move, just to be sure that the cake had no hint of avocado! This lovely site gave me the perfect recipe: http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/ they also have some great vegan recipes, and plenty of beautiful veganizable ones too. The photography is so lovely. I have adapted the recipe, adding and omitting things that I didn't have and things that I love to add to chocolate cake recipes.

3 cups plain flour
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups golden caster sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup soft avocado, well mashed, about 1 medium avocado
2 cups water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Handful of ground almonds

Plenty of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180c. Sift together all of the dry ingredients except the sugar. Set that aside too. Mix all the wet ingredients together in a bowl, including the super mashed avocado.
Add sugar into the wet mix and stir. Mix the wet with the dry all at once, and beat with a whisk (by hand) until smooth. Pour batter into a greased cake tins. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cakes cool in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto cooling racks to cool completely before frosting the cake. The recipe I began with used avocado icing- no butter!- but I decided on some vanilla buttercream, with just a smidge to glue the two cakes together. The chocolate cake is really moist and I wanted that to shine through. Ideally I would like to make some cream cheese buttercream frosting! I finished the cake with a dusting of icing sugar.

Vegan MoFo: Best Burritos in Town!

2009-10-24T20:39:00.004+01:00

More burrito cravings occured today, and as we were at London Bridge we took a detour and stopped off at Tortilla! We asked if they could make us a vegan burrito, and without hesitation the kind gentleman explained that we could have everything except for the meat, cheese and soured cream. We had a HUGE burrito filled with tomato rice (or a choice of lemon and coriander), two choices of beans, guacamole, salad and salsa verde (or a choice of mild salsa and HOT salsa. Salsa verde is medium heat).

I was a stupid head and didn't bring my camera, but they were delicious and packed full to the brim and super satisfying! You can choose exactly what goes into them, how spicy you would like your salsa, and you can buy bottles of various spicy sauces. Two large burritos, an extra pot of habanera sauce, a bottle of corona and a bottle of water came to 15 pounds.

They also offer fajitas, naked burritos (oh my) and tortilla baskets.

I pretty much looked like this afterwards:

And here's a kitty!!

http://www.tortilla.co.uk/

Vegan MoFo: Tasty Treats!

2009-10-23T01:14:00.005+01:00

Without getting ahead of myself, I think my mouth might be getting a little better...!
I've halved the amount of painkillers I'm taking, and had my first coffee in what feels like a month!
Must be all the positive thinking, mushy food and all the lovely comments people have been leaving for me here, and on twitter.

Today I even managed to eat...

Gingerbread Waffles!! Yummm. I used the recipe from Vegan Brunch It's the best <3

I drowned them in maple syrup and chopped up some fresh strawberries (still UK!).
And for a midnight snack while I watched Question Time on iplayer:

Using a pizza cutter I divided up some wraps which had been lolling around in my kitchen cupboards since last weekend, into 8 triangles. I brushed both sides with a light coating of oil and popped them in the oven for a few minutes to crisp up. Let them go a golden brown, and they'll finish crisping as they cool down. I tossed them in a bowl with sea salt, before serving them with some sweet chilli dipping sauce.

I'm still going to stick to my routine of resting and runny-food, but dream that by the weekend I can go to Borough Market and buy a nice loaf of crunchy bread and some olives and maybe even have some wine (!!!)

Vegan MoFo: Mushy Food.

2009-10-21T14:17:00.003+01:00

So here are the delights that I've been whipping up today, to sooth my weary mouth:

I used the ingredients for Omelette, in Vegan Brunch, but added some roasted veggies from last nights dinner, and turned it into a kind of omelette scramble. I chopped some tomatoes and had a slice of buttered wholemeal bread with it, and served it on my favourite plate to cheer me up.

You can't see because of the food, but it has lots of drawings of cakes and biscuits and Minnie Mouse on it!

For dessert, some stewed apples with cinnamon, on a bed of porridge and a swirl of maple syrup. Beige food, yes! Hopefully my mouth will thank me for this brown bonanza, as I'm off to work soon!

Vegan MoFo: Food For Friends.

2009-10-20T10:49:00.009+01:00

So since Thursday I've pretty much just been napping, eating mushy food, watching a lot of iplayer programmes and taking lots of painkillers! I had two teeth removed, right in the middle of Vegan MoFo, how inconvenient! I've eaten soup. Tomato soup. Minestrone soup. Tomato soup some more. Risotto. Do you see a pattern emerging here? When I gave up and ate 'proper' food (chinese takeaway, I love thee!) it hurt like billio afterwards, and was only just worth it.

On Saturday the sedative was out of my system which meant a) I was no longer completely exhausted all of the time, hurrah! But did mean that b) I was in a lot of pain. I wanted to get out of the house and enjoy my time off work though, so we headed down to Brighton, where my flatmate came down as well to join us for some lunchies. I planned on being good. Some nutritious soup from Infinity maybe. Or a nice salad maybe. But then all the goodness of Brighton tempted us, and we settled for Food For Friends. I haven't been here for so long; it was my favourite restaurant in Brighton, before I tried Terre a Terre. I spent many happy birthdays there!

This time I was slightly disappointed though. Maybe it's because I've broadened my restaurant visits, and tried some truly amazing food along the way. But something was just missing with the meal. As a shared starter we had Three Tahini Dips, and Roasted Seeds, Nuts and Olives. The dips looked interesting enough, but there was no substance beneath the vibrant colours and swirl of olive oil. The houmous was good, but a little too runny for my liking. It just lacked the punch that a small dip should- I wanted intense flavours, and interesting ingredients. The olives are sundried tomatoes were good enough, as were the roasted seeds and cashews.

For main I tried to stick to my mouth-induced diet, and ordered sausages and mash. It was warm and comforting, and definitely some goodness for my mouth. The handmade sausages had a lovely flavour, were spiced delicately, and lay in a bed of mash. Tucked in between was a layer of wilted spinach, and the meal was dressed with a beautiful onion and red wine gravy. No root vegetable crisps as the menu advertised, but maybe that was for the best. Nothing overly inspiring with this meal but it was tasty and hearty and good.

Mr T ordered Paprika Mushrooms with Polenta. This looked fabulous; really well presented, the colours were vivid and alive, and each part of the meal had been assembled and inspired. I am NOT a fan of mushrooms, but these were brilliant. The texture and smoky flavour gave them the appearance of some kind of soya meat, but they were light and rubbery (that might not sound positive, but it is!). It came with yellow and green courgettes, beautiful polenta pieces and an interesting carrot and mint mash. The flavours were present and correct, I'm just not sure that it worked, or that I could have eaten quite as much as was dished up.

And for dessert! This really is fantastic: Chocolate Truffle Torte. It has a snappy hazelnut biscuit base, the torte is smooth, creamy and not-too-dark, and the bright summer berries sweeten the dish, bringing it to a light, delicious finish. Brilliant.

With the shared appetizers, a main meal and dessert each (x3), a glass of wine, a non alcoholic cocktail and an orange juice, the meal came to 70 pounds (not including tip).

http://www.foodforfriends.com/

Vegan MoFo: Smashed Chickpeas and Banana Bread.

2009-10-13T13:13:00.002+01:00

I've been dreaming of this recipe for a few days now, after being inspired by The Larder Lout's entry, which included a nice slab of dead animal. Not for me, plus chickpeas are the greatest food invention this side of soya beans, so I stuck with using them as my main meal!

Smashed Chickpeas.
Makes enough for two light meals, with salad and bread.

1 tin of chickpeas
1 chilli
1 lemon
Parsley
Garlic
Salt&Pepper

I used one Scotch Bonnet Chilli:

They're super cute and have a great flavour, but they're pretty spicy! I used one whole chilli, so if you're not into spicy food I'd say use half.
Rinse the chickpeas and boil in a pan of water for 5 minutes.
Chop the garlic and fry lightly with the sliced chilli.
Drain the chickpeas and add to the garlic&chilli pan, throw in some chopped fresh parsley and squeeze the lemon. Mash together using a potato masher. Season well, and drizzle with olive oil so that it becomes slightly smoother. Dish up and sprinkle with a little paprika. I served it with spinach leaves and ciabatta for lunch. For dinner I would like to make some roasted veggies, or maybe make some fresh sauce like a bright mint pea sauce, or something creamy.

For dessert; banana bread! I love this recipe, it's not quite bread and it's not quite cake. It's not too sweet but it's comforting and delicious, and easy to make. Can you tell I'm preparing for winter with all these recipes? I'm like a squirrel gathering nuts.

Banana Bread.
Makes one large loaf. Serves 6-8.

125g butter
175g light brown sugar
2 eggs
280g plain flour
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
125ml milk
3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
Vanilla
Cinnamon

1. Blend the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the eggs (I used powdered egg replacement) and half the flour. Combine well, adding the bicarbonate of soda and salt. Pour in the milk and add the rest of the flour.
2. Mash the bananas well and add to the mixture, followed by the vanilla and cinnamon.
3. Bake at 180c for at least an hour. Mine took around an hour and ten minutes, but I baked it in a giant cupcake tin and not a bread loaf tin, which might explain why it took longer! I also had to cover with foil as the top was browning quickly.
4. Leave to cool in the tin for at least twenty minutes before transferring it to a cooling rack. Dust with icing sugar and serve with a big mug of your favourite hot drink, whilst watching an amazingly cheesy movie (I suggest Waitress, which is also about baking, and troubled marriages).

www.thelarderlout.blogspot.com

Vegan MoFo: It's Winter!

2009-10-11T23:32:00.002+01:00

The best kind of meals...

... are the meals that are cooked for you! I came home to the first roast of winter; and many more will follow! This roast includes the roast beef which you can find in Holland and Barratt (plus other health food stores), the best roast potatoes I've ever had (thank you rosemary and garlic), mashed swede, broccoli, stuffing and home made GRAVY! For pud was cherry crumble with ice cream. Washed down with glasses of lovely Rioja and some margaritas! Brilliant.

Vegan MoFo: Selfridges and InSpiral.

2009-10-10T21:36:00.002+01:00

I am STUFFED! So full of good food! The last 24 hours have literally been a food fest, and my tummy is very happy, if not bursting a little! Last night my boyfriend had another one of his desperate Mexican cravings (he gets these a lot, particularly after we visited Dolores in Berlin, which hosts the best burritos in the WORLD!) so we decided on fajitas, which are totally one of the best, and easiest, foods to make for dinner. I sliced some peppers and onion and fried them slowly with Cauldron's marinated tofu, and the seasoning cap of a Discovery fajita sauce jar. Cheating? Yes. Delicious? YES!
Then we poured in the sauce and let it simmer, whilst shredding some crispy iceberg lettuce and onion. We wrapped it up (get it? do you SEE?) with some guacamole, yum!

For lunch I wanted to use up the rest of the bacon from a previous BLT blog, so we had BLT wraps with houmous, and some amazing jalapeno tortilla chips. I tried to eat light because we were going out for dinner, but this didn't work and I polished off nearly the entire bag of crisps. WOOPS.

Dinner was booked for the amazing and wonderful Bustaurant that is Routemaster, just off Brick Lane. But NO they were fully booked (yes the food is that good) so we headed off to town to do some shopping and decide on dinner later. I went to Selfridges for the first time, tried on some beautiful Vivienne Westwood perfume, and visited the foodhall. Oh my! It was like a dream. American Oreos!! Are the double stuffed ones vegan? I wasn't sure, but please say that they are, I want to purchase them!! The selection of vegan food was very impressive; yes there are stacks of cheese and meat and fish and things I don't even want to think about- but their houmous, oh the houmous! Basil houmous, spinach houmous, houmous houmous...! Falafel, olives, pastry things, nutty things, parcel things! Turkish delight! I could have gladly spent a weeks wages in the foodhall, and one day we shall return and have a selection of these goodies!

So for dinner I FINALLY got to try InSpiral Lounge in Camden! I have been dreaming of this place for what feels like years! We got there fairly late for dinner, and on a Saturday night it was quite busy. It's a bar with a DJ and some people were eating, some were drinking, and some were tripping. It had a pretty nice relaxed atmosphere, and reminded me a lot of my Brighton friends, which made me miss them- and Brighton- even more. The staff were approachable and friendly, and you didn't feel like you were their 700th customer. They took the time to make sure your meal was what you want, and filling.
They offer six options of main meal, which come with 2 side orders and a pot of houmous of vegan mayo. You can add bread, olives and extra salad for extra pennies. I chose a green thai curry, with quinoa and wedges, and a pot of houmous. My boyfriend had vegan lasagne with salad and wedges, and an extra bowl of olives. With a can of organic cola the meal came to around 15 pounds. Fairly pricey but we got quite a lot. The only downside was that his meal (and the 5 other options) were kept in a heated cabinet, which meant his lasagne was luke warm, not piping hot like my curry, which was kept in heated trays with the wedges and other side orders. The olives were fantastic. For dessert we had to try the ice cream, and had a scoop of the strawberry with strawberry pieces, and the butterscotch. It was smooth and creamy and so good! We also bought a chocolate chip cookie, and a black forest cookie, which had cherries and white chocolate pieces. You can see why we're stuffed! The desserts came to around 7.50.

The also offer cocktails, juices and other soft drinks, chilled desserts, wonderful looking truffles, muffins... They all appear to be vegan, so all in all what a great place! I would like to return during the day when it's a bit quieter and more relaxed, to enjoy a coffee, sit outside and watch the water run past you.

http://www.dolores-online.de/1000.html
http://www.selfridges.com/index.cfm?page=1158
http://www.inspiralled.net/

Vegan Mofo: Eating Out.

2009-10-09T00:28:00.005+01:00

I'm not burning out just yet- it may be Day 8 for the dedicated Vegan Mofo participants, but for me it's around Day 3!- but at the moment I'm working evenings and have little time during the day so I'm finding it tricky to make exciting recipes! I'm so jealous when I see all the wonderful photographs of beautiful and inspirational vegan food!

I do have time to write things though, and so I think as the month continues I will include more article-based blogs.

I've been considering the pros and cons of eating out for a while; is it better to eat at a dedicated vegetarian/ vegan restaurant, or to dine at a meat serving restaurant? I'm not suggesting that we turn up to Big Bill's Carvery and demand there to be a vegan option- but is mingling with meaties really making us more 'approachable'?

The Vegan Society have been working hard with Pizza Express to get a vegan pizza listed on the menu, for all to see. Vegan's in the know simply order a pizza from the menu and ask for the cheese to be removed (I suggest Campo di Fiori, with extra jalapenos). Maybe the option would appeal to dieters, those with allergies, and those whose stomachs turn at the smell of cheese.

I certainly enjoy my pizzas, and pasta at Italian restaurants, curries at my local takeaway, my bean curd in yellow bean sauce and extra cashews, with lightly spiced Singapore rice noodles. I also enjoy trying out all of the choices that are around for vegans in all the cities that I've been lucky enough to travel to. I love having a choice, a range of extensive dishes, and a choice of desserts! Hands up who orders a fruit salad whilst dining at a veggie restaurant with doughnuts and sticky toffee pudding on the menu!

I do admit, though, that I love the feeling of normality which comes with sitting alongside friends and family, ordering off the same menu, with no awkward 'what's vegan' conversations. I embrace restaurants who submit an online menu telling me exactly what's suitable, and reject those who ignore curious emails or reply with 'we can't confirm'. You have a kitchen, with chefs (trained, I presume) and you don't know what goes into the food that you serve? OK then.

I'm not saying that eating at veggie restaurants offers a smooth dining experience; I've been served what can only be described as a steaming plate of cheese before, and have asked if certain options are vegan (such as onion rings) and being replied with a helpful shrug and feeble, "yeah?". Thanks, thanks for that.

I think one of the best things about dining in vegan restaurants is the wine list. Knowledgeable V's next to certain bottles is reassuring. Yes, I am one of those vegans who blindingly orders wine. If I know that it's not vegan, then I won't order it (so, Hardy's, Jacobs Creek etc are off the list) but if I don't know, then I'll go ahead.

There's also the issue of where your money is going, and what you're supporting by spending your money in omnivorous restaurants. Is it better to spend your money supporting those who believe the same things as you, and are actively aware in where their food comes from (as well as all the other wonderful issues which many vegans and their cafes seem to be aware of; ethically sourced, fairtrade, organic ingredients) and where their money (and your money) is being spent. There's literally nothing nicer than spending time and money in an environment which is ethically sound and which dishes up wonderful food. Two places which come to mind are the Pogo Cafe (Hackney, London) and Infinity Foods Cafe (Brighton)- both have fed me some of the most memorable meals I've eaten, and where I've spent a relaxing few hours.

So which do you prefer; relaxing in the knowledge of a meat free (if not egg, milk and cheese free) kitchen, or the satisfaction of fitting in amongst other food choices? For me, as long as the kitchen dishes me up something delicious then I'm happy, but nothing beats the surprise and joy of discovering a new vegan eatery, or tucking into a dessert that I haven't baked myself!

Vegan Mofo: BLT.

2009-10-08T14:43:00.003+01:00

So I'm still way behind everyone else in the Vegan Mofo league, but today's lunch was pretty tasty. After reading a blog by Quarry Girl announcing a celebration in the form of Sandwich Day, and from not having any meat replacement for a while, I was craving a BLT! I bought all the good stuff and stuffed my face!

It goes: baguette, ketchup, bacon (little extra salt), lettuce, big beefy tomato slices, lettuce, bacon (little extra salt), salt, mayonnaise, baguette. Yum!

It's been a while!

2009-10-06T22:54:00.005+01:00

Finally!! Internet connection!! As sad as that sounds, I have been sans internet at home for over a month, and I've missed blogging so much! Thanks to having the net on my phone, I haven't been completely cut off from the vegan world, but I'm super happy to be back! And to get on with giving some kind of contribution to Vegan Mofo!

To start off I'm going to give an update on the food highlights that I've been enjoying over the last month!

Vegan croissants! All the way from sunny Spain. My lovely flatmate's mother brings them over for me from Barcelona, and they are wholemealy goodness in a little flaky parcel! Amazing.

A quick lunch of chickpeas, tomatoes, chilli oil dished up with salad, plenty of olives, slices of pitta and dollops of houmous!

These are all the goodies which I picked up at the London Vegan Festival! It was a super fun day, and I spent way too much as usual!

And here's my little munchkin enjoying one of his presents!

My new favourite breakfast; WAFFLES! I received the awesome gift of a waffle machine for my birthday! Put that together with the amazing recipes in Vegan Brunch, I have been enjoying gingerbread waffles a lot lately!

And here are my birthday cupcakes; all of the cupcakes have a banana cupcake, and topped with vanilla buttercream, finished with a variety of sprinkles, fruit, popcorn and other sweet treats! They went down well!

Well that's my update for today; fairly random and unspecific but I haven't blogged for a month and needed to catch up with everything! Hope everyone has been eating delicious foods!x

VBites.

2009-08-24T01:03:00.003+01:00

Ok so I can't really review this place. Even mini review it. So maybe this is more of a comment!?

Mr T and I swung by Heather Mills' restaurant, VBites, to give the Mr Swirly a try! After seeing her eating one of these bad boys in her interview with Observer Food Monthly, I had been dreaming of luscious vanillary creamy goodness in a cone. I was a little disappointed, but I'll get to that after listing a few positives.

The setting is perfect; it was a baking hot summer afternoon, and surrounded by families fresh from the beach, children racing around in excitement, and everyone generally smiling and enjoying the weekend sunshine, VBites certainly lucks out with family day trips. Dozens of picnic benches leave you with a view of the lake, and a decent sized children's playground sits next to the cute cottage-esque cafe. I took a peek inside, and the sushi style cupcake conveyor was everything I dreamed of, and more!! Super cute, and sat on top of the belt were stands of large cakes, waiting to be sliced up. The staff were friendly and smily, even though I'm sure they are exhausted after explaining to the 100th customer, that everything is vegan. That the beefy burgers have no actual beef in them... I'm sure a large portion of their business is coincidental convenience; children who have seen ice cream and don't understand the notion of vegan and non vegan; rather chocolate or strawberry. It's a beautiful setting, and an inviting menu sits minutes next to it. I hope that VBites can survive when the weather is not so enjoyable, as it sits a fair drive from the centre of Brighton, and although I didn't eat anything from the menu- it wasn't altogether that tempting. Rather meals that I would rustle up at home.

The Mr Swirly looked impressive enough; it came straight from a soft serve machine, wound into a tasty cone. The texture of the ice cream was good. It just lacked the creamy flavour which I had been anticipating. No vanilla. It tasted more like very cold soya milk. Or frozen water. Which is a shame, because I think that this recipe could have been really worked on and made to taste just like Mr Whippy. They also offer flavoured ice cream scoops, which are Swedish Glace. I really would like to pop back and try their cakes though, they looked fantastic!

C R O I S S A N T S.

2009-08-23T16:11:00.004+01:00

Look at them. Just look at them.

Delicious little bundles of love. Oh my, they were worth the wait.

Thanks to Rach (http://www.vanillasugarblog.blogspot.com/) for the tip off, I went in search of vegan croissants. After a brief, blind panic Mr T found them in the chillers; tubes and tubes of croissanty goodness!

This is what you need to be looking out for, and you can find them in your nearest Aldi:

They come as a rolled up tube of pastry, slice along the edges which are partially cut, roll them up and pop them in the oven for 15 minutes. Brilliant. They aren't exactly how I remember fresh croissants, but the insides are buttery, warm croissant dough and the outsides are golden flaky goodness. So no complaints, I could eat ten tubes in one go.

89p a tube.

www.aldi.co.uk

Cute Vegan Things.

2009-08-21T00:37:00.001+01:00

Ok so it's late and I'm feeling in a cute mood, so here's a collection of cute/ funny vegan related things:

thelondonpaper

2009-08-20T23:54:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I was very pleased to open thelondonpaper (a free paper given out all over London all afternoon, brilliant for the journey home, and usually pretty interesting!) and see a double page article on the vegan options in London! It championed the delights of some of my favourite restaurants, and reminded me that I really do need to pop down to Inspiral in Camden and indulge in vegan ice cream and amazing cake flavours.
It also got me super excited about the London Vegan Festival! I literally can't wait. It's on Sunday 6th September in Kensington Town Hall. It starts at 11am (and yes I will be there waiting!) and is just two pounds entry. It's my first visit to the festival, and if it's anything like the Brighton Vegan Fayre then I will be more than impressed! Mostly I'm looking forward to stuffing my face with tasters, and bringing more cash with me so I can stock up on lots of lovely products!
Here's what I'm very excited about!

Links:

Article in thelondonpaper:
http://www.thelondonpaper.com/going-out/bars-and-restaurants/restaurants/best-vegetarian-restaurants-in-london

Information on the London Vegan Festival:
www.vegancampaigns.org.uk/festival

Artichoke Zine: FINISHED!

2009-08-16T13:45:00.000+01:00

Yesss! It's all printed and stuck together and finished and on sale TODAY!
If you're in the area you can buy it at this show in Brighton:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=99797213425&ref=share
If not message me and we can work out postage/ zine swapping/ cake swaps.
I can't make it today, I'm going to see the Get Up Kids in Kingston (!!!) but wave and say hi to my friend Steve who is doing merch for Spraynard and will be selling my zine!

Eat and Two Veg.

2009-08-12T14:06:00.000+01:00

I've been flat hunting all week, which has led to lots of eating out, yes!
Monday was Franco Manca (see blog a few weeks ago!) which was incredible as ever. And yesterday was Eat and Two Veg. I finally got to cross it off my list! I was so impressed; beautiful surroundings with cute booths and vinyl seats, the menu offers a fair few vegan options. Nothing too amazing in terms of vegan alternatives, i.e. if they normally use mayo, don't expect to see a vegan mayo replacement. Which is a shame, but the vegan options that they do offer are really great. A little pricey but this is to be expected in the ultra sleek Marylebone High Street, nestled in between the cutest Cath Kidston store I've visited, and plenty of unique independent shops.

I chose the EatV Burger, which was brilliant. Really meaty texture and lovely smoked flavour. It came in a bun with caramelised onions, salsa and salad, piled with chips and small salad. My friend ordered the Squash Salad which had such a lovely marinade. Tofu is the vegan option, which had a smoked flavour. Salad leaves, cherry tomatoes, olives and butternut squash, the salad is tossed with handfuls of toasted seeds and finished with a fantastic house dressing. Both main meals came in at just under ten pounds.
They also offer fresh juices, a labelled wine list, a breakfast menu and dessert menu. However both the breakfast and dessert menus offer a limited and fairly uninspiring choice- unless you enjoy fruit salad for pudding.
I'll definitely be making a return trip for lunch; I really want to try the Crispy Luck, or Butternut Crumble.

www.eatandtwoveg.com

Zine Update!

2009-08-09T15:39:00.000+01:00

Wow I've had such a busy weekend! I've got one week left to finish the printed Special Edition Zine, and it's all go here! I've been getting everything together, in the right format, adding pictures and sending emails, plus working and trying to have a life at some point! It's all going really well though and I can't wait to see the end result! Hopefully it will all be worth it.
The zine will be on sale on Sunday 16th August, at this show:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=99797213425&ref=share

It's for the Bangers/ Break The Habit split 12" record release show, and many other exciting people will be selling their wares, you can listen to some awesome bands, wish Chris W a very happy birthday and rejoice in the reunion of Circus Act!
The show is at Hectors House, Brighton, and it's FREE!
So come and say hi!

If there are any copies left then they will be touring around with Spraynard, being sold by my lovely friend Steve. Message me or leave a comment if you would like to buy a copy. I haven't figured out a price yet, when they're all printed I need to work all that out!

Well I better get on with things, hope you're all enjoying the lovely hot weekend!

No eggs, see!

2009-08-07T12:33:00.000+01:00

I am completely in love. With Vegan Brunch. Isa Chandra Moskowitz is a GENIUS!

Yesterday for Brunch Thursday (regular occurrence? yes please) I made her omelette. I slow fried some potatoes, onions, mushrooms and tomatoes, and was more than a little nervous as I began the omelette. I never liked egg omelettes, but decided that I had to give it a try. Plus since turning vegan, it seems that you can put pretty much anything in front of me, and as long as it's vegan I'll like it. Maybe I even like things purely because they are vegan!?

Anyway, I have no photographs as we were too excited/ hungry and had to just tuck into the omelette- but I assure you, it was brilliant and delicious, especially with a blog of ketchup and a glass of fresh orange juice.

Continuing the theme of egg-less egg dishes, I made broccoli quiche for lunch, also from Vegan Brunch. You need a couple of hours free for this dish, but it's totally worth it. Plus I'm pretty sure that the base is shortcrust pastry, so if you're short on time then buy it from the shops. But really, the longest part was waiting for it to chill, which is time I spent preparing the filling. It's a really amazing recipe, and the chopped cashews give it so much texture.

Vegan Brunch

2009-08-05T11:12:00.000+01:00

Now that my body has slowly digested the mountain of food that we ate while in Berlin, I can start planning the next things that I want to bake! I haven't had any time since I bought Vegan Brunch, to try out any of her fantastic recipes; but the date is set: tomorrow will be Brunch Thursday! I'm flipping through the book and can't decide what to make, so will probably end up making everything!
I never liked egg-omelette but am so inspired by others creations of v-eggy things like quiche and pancakes that I kind of want to give them a try.

Cranberry Orange Nut Muffins.
Banana Rabanada.
Pumpkin French Toast.
Scrambled Tofu.

Ok I'm dribbling now...
What are your favourite brunch recipes?

Berlin Diaries: Photographs.

2009-08-02T13:42:00.000+01:00

Berlin Diaries: Day Three.

2009-08-02T10:27:00.000+01:00

Day Three

Another stop at the breakfast buffet and then we were off to visit Checkpoint Charlie. Quite a surreal tourist stop, it stands within a regular neighbourhood, scattered with disturbing stalls selling gas masks and fur hats. Quite bizarre. You can pay €1 to have your photograph taken with a man in uniform (using your own camera...). The highlight of the trip was seeing a nearby cafe, called Snackpoint Charlie. Brilliant. I would have liked to have visited the museum, but funds and the need to pursue new and exciting vegan treats became too overwhelming.

We hopped back to Kreuzburg and found Tanna B. This amazing ice cream shop has around 6-8 vegan (soja) options, including hazelnut, chocolate and cherry. They have cones which are vegan, which seriously impressed me! Very very cheap too- two ice creams came to €2.20. Brilliant! I had chocolate, and it was amazing- real ice cream, as opposed to sorbet or frozen ice. Mr T had cherry, which was a little less creamy, but still really good. Round the corner we popped into a great little shop called Veni Vidi Vegi. Completely vegan, this store sells fruit and veg, fresh bread, tons of sweet treats, pasta, sauces and shoes. Literally everything you need if you're staying in Berlin and can cook for yourself. I stocked up on gummy bears, lollies and those amazing cookies that me and my sister would gorge ourselves on when we were in Greece, chased with Fanta and playing cards in the warm evening sun.

Next stop on the food tour was Voner. This place is literally a dream; essentially, it is a vegan doner kebab shop. Quite, quite brilliant! A hunk of soya rotates on a spit, dished up in the most amazing bread... pitta... thing...! Served with chilli sauce and salad, this is so much fun. The cafe is cute and political, with literature and books, flyers and posters scattering the room, and picnic benches outside to enjoy your kebab in the sun.

As we headed back to the hotel to collect our luggage, we had to have one last stop at Dolores! This time we went for a Burrito Bowl; much lighter, this is a bowl of the ingredients that go into a burrito (fajita veggies, black beans, rice, lettuce) and topped with a handful of corn chips (tortilla chips). We both had lemonade, and it was a great ending to a wonderful trip. Back at the

airport we had one last Mr Tom bar and a bottle of (NON CARBONATED) water.

Voner:

Dolores:

Burrito Bowl

http://www.tanneb.de/

http://www.veganladen.de/

Happycow entry for Voner: http://www.happycow.net/reviews.php?id=15157

Few extra notes:

The tubes are really easy to follow; the system is almost identical to London, but the travelcards include tubes, trams and buses- aswell as the coach to and from the airport. It costs €6.50 for all zones, all day. At the airport there are buses which take you to various parts of the city.

The people were so friendly, and more than prepared to speak English.

Berlin Diaries: Day Two.

2009-08-01T16:14:00.000+01:00

Day Two.

Wednesday morning we started the day off with a breakfast buffet at the hotel (pretty much what you would expect, plus a few little treats; fresh fruit, bread rolls, jam and orange juice. Mr T enjoyed some new potatoes and mushrooms on toast!) and we had a nice swim in the hotels' pool, before starting day two of the holiday; which shall now be known as Food Fest 2009. Honestly I've never felt so full in my life! Or eaten so well!

We walked from our hotel in Alexanderplatz to the Berlin Wall and through to Friedrichstein; my favourite district of Berlin. The wall was amazing; we walked along the longest standing section, and even though the artwork is pretty new, it was an awesome sight.

Friedrichstein was lovely; lots of nice shops, with people relaxing outside cafes in the sunshine, and YoYo was the perfect stop for lunch. Completely vegan, and run by some of the same people who started Yellow Sunshine, the cafe offers a pretty similar menu; fast food, and lots of it! I went for the bacon burger this time, along with fries and Afro-Kola, an independently produced cola from Hamburg. So good! Mr T had a currywurst which was pretty darn dog good! Two main meals with fries and kola came to around €15. We had sweet chilli dips, and amazing avocado mayonnaise, thousand island sauce and regular mayonnaise. Yum!

For dessert we popped over to the best cupcake shop I have ever been to; so inspiring! Cupcake serves vegan options including cupcakes, banana bread and cherry pie, as well as Almdudler (!!!) and other home comfort foods (including beans on toast...!) We both went for a raspberry swirl cupcake, and with a bottle of Almdudler it came to around €5, pretty much the same as the Hummingbird Bakery, except we can actually eat something here! Such a cute cute cute place, and the cupcakes were delicious. We began the walk back, and I nearly had to be rolled home I was so full. We stopped at a corner shop for some water and I made the rooky mistake (AGAIN!) of purchasing carbonated water. Y U C K. So we tucked into a couple of bottles of Fritz- Kola, awesome!

In the evening we went to a lovely neighbourhood, and tried La Mano Verde. A beautiful gourmet restaurant which is 100% vegan, with plenty of raw and gluten free options. We were lucky that the weather allowed us to enjoy our meal outside, and in such a peaceful neighbourhood. To start I had beautiful summer rolls filled to bursting with finely sliced veggies, and with sweet chilli and hoi sin sauce to dip in. Mr T had satay skewers and peanut sauce, which did nothing to impress me (especially after eating this same starter at the Routemaster, and it being brilliant). Soggy cardboard on skewers dipped in a watery sauce. No thanks! However his main course totally made up for this, and in such contrast each flavour seemed to have been hand picked specially. The spinach and mushroom ravioli (something I'm not usually keen on) really was fantastic. I, however, chose something a little dull; Pasta Valentino. Pretty much pasta with salad. It came with a cute small dish of 'parmesan' which turned out to be crushed pine nuts.

The owner came and chatted to us for a while, and it turned out that he was one of the group who opened Saf, in Shoreditch. He plans to open another restaurant in the centre of Berlin by the end of the year. This man was a gem to chat to; he knew so much about food, chefs and restaurants from all over the world- including my absolute favourite, Terre a Terre. He suggested the Mixed Dessert Platter- which was a lovely way of tasting more dessert for your money!- and brought us complimentary liquors. For such a small glass it really packed in flavour; strong ginger with a hint of chilli, and plenty of alcohol. He has one almost every day. Including a bottle of wine and tip, this meal came to almost €100. It was worth it to have such a wonderful conversation with the owner.

YoYo:
Bacon Burger with fries.

Currywurst with fries:

Cupcake:
Raspberry Swirl

Almdudler:

Almdudler is an Austrian soft drink which tastes of energy drink, without the energy kick. It's sugary and sweet and pretty yum.

La Mano Verde:
(Apologies for the poor photos; moonlight and all that.)
Satay skewers and peanut sauce:

Summer rolls:

http://www.yoyo-foodworld.com/
http://www.cupcakeberlin.de/
http://www.lamanoverde.de/english/Vegan_menu.html

Berlin Diaries: Day One.

2009-08-01T15:37:00.000+01:00

Day One

We landed in Berlin (not before almost missing our flight; we woke up at 5am, when we should have been checked in!) and immediately purchased two Mr Tom bars- we're in Mr Tom Land after all! A coach journey takes us to Alexanderplatz, the road which our beautiful hotel is on (complete with an aquarium which reaches from the reception to the 5th floor- wow!) and immediately start prioritising which food places we want to try first. Literally a couple of hours after we land we're eating amazing burritos, from Dolores. This burrito cafe serves meat and veggie, with vegan options clearly labelled with a cute green heart. We both chose the Dolores Vegan, which was stuffed with lime chilli tofu, black beans, fajita veggies, salsa, rice and guacamole. The burritos were huge!! I recommend the awesome lemon, mint and brown sugar lemonade- large! It's fantastic. Two burritos, lemonade and a beer came to €15.60. Not too shabby. The cafe itself is super cute, filled with the finest Berlin folk and playing cool tunes. What a lovely start to our holiday!

We had a walk around to try and digest the awesome first meal of the day, and walked around the Reichstag building, sat by the river and fell asleep in a park. The cathedral was beautiful, with patches dotted around the building where bullet holes had dented it. Amazing.

For dinner we visited the lovely district of Kreuzberg, and ate burgers at Yellow Sunshine. A totally vegetarian fast food cafe, they serve burgers and weiners and other deliciously indulgent junk food choices. I had the Mac Wheaty Burger with fries, and the best mayonnaise I've ever had- really brilliant. The vegan options are clearly marked on the menu (roughly half is vegan). A lovely burger, in the same style as Red Veg. For two burgers with fries, a beer and a fizzy orange it came to around €15. We sat outside in the warm evening sun.

Most of Berlin's bars offer cocktail happy hours; so many offer cocktails for around €4, so make sure that you don't pay more! But watch out, they're pretty strong...

Dolores:

Yellow Sunshine:

http://www.dolores-online.de/1000.html

http://www.yellow-sunshine.com/speisekarte.html

Girl, Excited.

2009-07-25T16:27:00.000+01:00

I've had a very exciting week this week; Mr T and I booked a little holiday and we're off to Berlin next week! I've wanted to visit this city for over a year and am so super excited to spend three days there. The research we've done for food places has pretty much tripled this excitement!
I've also been asked to contribute something for a record release show in two weeks, which is very exciting but also a little scary in that I only have two weeks to come up with something! I'm thinking of a mini zine filled with bits and bots from this blog, and articles that I've been writing and keeping to myself.
My sister came home a couple of days ago from a months holiday, so I baked her some chocolate cupcakes with a blob of strawberry jam in the middle. Yum!

Vegan Brunch.

2009-07-22T16:17:00.000+01:00

I've got some cupcakes baking in the oven (chocolate with a blob of strawberry jam inside, yum!) and just enough time before I have to make pizzas, to tell you that I bought this lovely ladies book yesterday:

Isa Chandra Moskowitz is an amazing vegan chef; she's also written Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World and Veganomicon, and as I've just seen on Amazon: Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar (!!!).

Vegan Brunch (brunch being the second best meal of the day; LUNCH is my favourite. So versatile) offers sweet, savoury, side orders and bread recipes, all of which I really can't wait to get cracking on! It's my birthday in a month, and I'm hoping for a waffle maker so I can get on with trying the many waffle recipes; gingerbread waffles, yes please!

Cupcake Sneak Peek!

2009-07-18T12:15:00.000+01:00

Here's a sneaky peeky at the cupcake experiments I made yesterday!

All of the cupcakes have the same basic cupcake: vanilla, cinnamon, yum. Except for a few which I put jam in the middle. They taste so good, but I needed to put a lot more jam in. Next time!

I really just wanted to experiment with icing, and I really liked some of them:

From the top:

Squirty cream with a cherry on top, and a dusting of cocoa powder.

Peppermint icing with a peppermint cream on top.

Jam filled cupcake with buttercream icing.

I'm putting together a flickr account of all my cupcakes, and trying to make a sort of cupcake portfolio to apply for jobs. Why is it so hard to write your CV, without sounding like a total div? It's impossible really. Anyway, I'll show you guys the flickr when it's looking a bit fuller; I'm trawling through hundreds of photos on my laptop at the moment trying to find photos of all the good things, and kicking myself when I realise I never photographed some of the best things; like Mr Tom II (the return of the new and improved version).

Sometimes I think I'm a bit too obsessed with food. This morning I had a shower using shampoo that smells of parma violets, and lemon sorbet shower gel. And now I'm listening to Fiona Apple. Yep.

Cooking Round Up.

2009-07-15T23:36:00.000+01:00

Sometimes it's the turn of Mr T to do some cooking, and he came up with the brilliant idea of NACHOS for lunch!

Tortilla chips, guacamole, salsa, mayola, sheese, chilli, oh my! I loved the way the chilli made the chips slightly softer but soaked them up with flavour.

We tried Smoked Sheese, which is so good. I ate it raw, which isn't something I can usually say about vegan cheese.

I made white chocolate and strawberry cupcakes for treats afterwards. I made them listening to Dr Dre on Spotify, it was fun! I definitely felt more street afterwards. Then we did some line dancing to Dire Straits, with our cat, Rasputin. It was a good afternoon. No photos of the line dancing sadly, but here's one of the cupcakes:

The cupcakes were so super nice I decided not to ice them, which isn't like me! Usually I like to pile a cupcake with icing, but they were sweet enough, and I wanted to be able to taste the strawberry. If I iced it, I would have made butter icing with grated white chocolate on top. Or maybe strawberry icing. Maybe with a cherry on top.

A few weeks ago we collaborated and made an awesome cannelloni, avec salad and garlic bread:

I'd never had cannelloni before, and was very impressed! Although we didn't make it 'proper'; there was no kind of cheesy sauce or anything, just tomato with veggies, but I really liked it!

This week I'm trying to bake a whole heap of cupcake ideas and photograph them all, get people to taste test them and tell me what they think. I want to bake more themed cupcakes, i.e. Mr Tom Cupcakes, maybe some ginger biscuits or maybe fry's peppermint creams. Yum!

VBites II

2009-07-14T12:41:00.000+01:00

I wanted to develop a previous blog about Heather Mills' latest venture; VBites. The website is fully launched and shows just how much is on her menu, and all completely vegan.
I watched her give a brief cooking lesson on This Morning, where she made a lovely lemongrass 'chicken' with coconut rice, and the recipe for chocolate muffins.
Looking at the menu on the VBites website, the majority of food is meat replacement; I'm not sure if this is an 'easy' way of making people believe that by going vegan, you can still eat meat-based meals. Personally I use very little meat replacement, and when I do I see it as kind of a treat. Meat replacement can often be fairly expensive. My favourites are:

1. Taifin, Tofu Weiners. In a baguette with ketchup, oh my they are good!
2. Redwoods Rashers. Best part of a fry up, or in a sandwich.
3. Linda McCartney Sausages. Goodbye hangover.
4. Redwoods Chicken Pieces. So versatile and YUM.
5. RealEat Mince. Not often, but Mr T makes the best spaghetti bolognaise in the world.

Maybe I'm just not used to seeing so much meat replacement on the menu. Most vegan/ veggie places rely on good old fashioned veggies, with the guest appearance of some home made bangers.

The real reason that I really want to try this place, is because Mills' mentioned on This Morning that they have a conveyor belt of cupcakes. This sounds amazing!! Like a sushi bar!!

Links:
http://www.vbites.com/
http://www.itv.com/lifestyle/thismorning/features/heathermills321/default.html
http://www.itv.com/lifestyle/food/thismorning/recipes/lemongrasschickenstylewithcoconutrice/default.html
http://www.itv.com/lifestyle/food/thismorning/recipes/veganmuffincupcakes/default.html

Fashion Conscience.

2009-07-11T15:11:00.000+01:00

I've spent most of today writing articles for Artichoke, which has made me super happy and inspired! I always planned on having a printed Issue One ready by the end of the summer, and maybe just maybe this will still happen. Whilst writing and researching I came across this fantastic site; Fashion-Conscience.Com.
The company focuses on ethical, fair trade, recycled, sometimes vegan and always beautiful pieces. Some come with a price, but for what you're paying for it's totally worth it. Here are my favourites:

From a collection titled 'Sea Bags', these amazing pieces are created with a nautical theme, and all made from recycled industrial materials. My favourite is this amazing bag made from coffee sacks.

Recycled Coffee Bag, 75 pounds.

There's also a section dedicated to vegan products, which is where I found these beautiful and amazing shoes:

Cherry red 'vinyl' plastic wedge Mary Janes', 50 pounds.

This beautifully pretty dress for what's left of summer please:

Khaki jersey summer dress, on sale for 27.30.

Everything can be found on www.fashion-conscience.com/

Butternut Squash Stew with Couscous.

2009-07-09T19:24:00.000+01:00

After a day feeling rather hungover, I needed something nutritious and filling, and this recipe did the trick! Fairly fast to make and you can make huge batches to freeze.

Shopping List

Onion
2 cloves of garlic
Butternut squash
Half aubergine
Parsley *
Coriander *
Ground ginger
Ground cumin
Lemon
350ml stock
Salt and pepper
Spinach
Couscous

* Probably best to use fresh, but I used dry herbs and it was tasty.
Makes enough for two.

1/ Chop the onion in half and then into thick slices. Heat some oil in a deep pan and fry the onions until they soften. Peel and chop the garlic and stir into the onions, and fry until they are golden.
2/ Peel and chop the butternut squash into large chunks. Add to the onions. Cube the aubergine and add to the pan. Pop the lid onto the pan and leave for the veggies to soften, for around 15 minutes. Keep stirring to stop them burning.
3/ Juice the lemon and add a teaspoon (or so) of parsley, coriander, and half a teaspoon of cumin and ginger. Add some pepper and a dash of the stock. Stir well. Pour into the pan, cover and bring to the boil. Season well with salt and leave to simmer for 20 minutes, until the squash breaks easily and there is little water left.
4/ Stir in the spinach (around half a bag) until wilted and serve with warm couscous.

This dish isn't very spicy, so when my tum tum's not feeling quite so dodgy I'd like to add some fresh red chillies or at least some paprika and chilli powder. Would be really nice to serve with some kind of flatbread.

Weekend Round Up.

2009-07-05T09:19:00.000+01:00

Well this weekend has been a random mix of lovely food combinations. My boyfriend's Mum got re-married at the weekend, and they made us our own very special cakes, as part of the cake tower:

How cute! Like little top hats. We also enjoyed melon to start, a tomato risotto and a fruit salad. Oh and lots of free alcohol.

Yesterday we found a new and even more local Co-op, so I stuffed myself with doughnuts! And while in town I found this amazing game:

NINJABREAD MAN!! A ninja gingerbread man running around cupcake land. Amazing!

Anywho I'm trying to think of something new (and, most likely, SWEET!) to bake today. Any suggestions? I found a sheet of paper with a recipe for chocolate baklava scribbled on, but maybe I'm feeling a little too lazy for this? We'll see. I hope the sun perks up a bit!

Mildreds.

2009-07-02T13:03:00.001+01:00

Oh I am enjoying all these lunches out and trying new places!
This week was a long awaited trip to Mildreds. On the edge of Soho this trendy vegetarian restaurant is bright and fresh; the food is varied and so difficult to choose! A huge specials menu ranging from daily soups, salads and burgers, to desserts and a special lunchtime menu deal.
I literally spent around fifteen minutes poring over the menu, before finally deciding on the burger of the day; butternut squash, onion and cumin. Yum! It was served with the best chips I've ever had, with BASIL MAYO (yes, this was amazing). My boyfriend had ale and mushroom pie, which also came with fries, and a brilliant serving of mushy peas. The perfect consistency, the peas zipped with mint and were refreshing against the dense flavours of the pie. We shared a vanilla and blackcurrant tofu cheesecake which was lovely (no photo, silly me).
Everything's labelled vegan, or vegan option, and the setting and food were all perfect. I would suggest booking in the evening because I can imagine it being packed out, but we enjoyed a very leisurely lunch. Friendly staff, fantastic food and very reasonable price. The drinks list was brilliant, and also fully labelled.
http://www.mildreds.co.uk/
45 Lexington Street, London , W1F 9AN
020 7494 1634

Note: a couple of doors down is Mrs Marengos, which is run by the same lovely people, and offers more of a takeaway option. I've eaten here before and recommend the sizzling stirfry!

http://www.mrsmarengos.co.uk/

VBites.

2009-06-29T14:44:00.000+01:00

Heather Mill's latest venture is an all vegan restaurant in Hove: VBites! It launches on Saturday 4th July, from 12-10pm, and the menu looks really promising. I'm not really sure if there is a food theme for this place; their seems to be the staple 'British' food (Shepard's pie, fish and chips, roasts) scattered with curries and pizza. Desserts look interesting, including ice cream, cakes and muffins. The website is very limited with no price indication, but it looks promising and hopefully I'll find some time on Saturday to pop down!

http://www.vbites.com/

Infinity Foods, Brighton.

2009-06-27T13:39:00.000+01:00

Yep, another blog dedicated to my favourite foodie: Infinity Foods, Brighton.

Their cafe is just so lovely, and this week me and my other half enjoyed a leisurely afternoon lunch. I had the mezze platter (again!) which is packed full of yummies, such as dips, bread, falafel, salad, olives, oh my! They do two options; platter for one and a platter to share (7 pounds, and 12 pounds). My boyfriend had a caramelised onion and sausage sandwich, with a small salad:

Everything's labelled vegan, and there are so many options. Sit upstairs and watch people wander by, or sit outside and enjoy the sunshine.

www.infinityfoodsretail.co.uk

Tempting Thoughts!

2009-06-15T16:45:00.000+01:00

I'm being greedy and dreaming of the next vegan place that I want to try! Here's a list of what's tempting me this week:

1. Cafe Kino.
This workers co-operative in Bristol offers 100% vegan delights from quick bites to larger meals and desserts. Oh my the desserts look good!
Daydreaming of trying: American style pancakes with fresh berries and maple syrup!
http://www.cafe-kino.com/index.htm

2. The Real Greek. This fairly large chain of Greek restaurants clearly labels which delights are suitable for vegans, and although none of the main courses are OK, there are plenty of starters. So eat tapas-style with piles of food!
Daydreaming of trying: Santorinian Fava (Tiny yellow lentils from the volcanic island of Santorini, puréed with olive oil and herbs). http://www.therealgreek.com/index.html

3. Eat and Two Veg.
This fast food based vegetarian restaurant offers breakfast, lunch and dinner (and dessert!) with a clearly labelled menu. Not too many options for vegans, but what they do offer looks delish.
Daydreaming of trying: Butternut Crumble. http://www.eatandtwoveg.com/

4. Gossip.
I popped in quickly to have a peek at this amazing cute tea&coffee shop. Vegetarian with plenty of tempting vegan delights; I seem to remember a ham&mayo baguette catching my eye, plus blueberry cake! Broadway Market is beautiful and runs on Saturdays. Have a browse!
Daydreaming of trying: Blueberry Cake!
No website, but it's address is 62 Broadway Market.

Simple dinner.

2009-06-14T12:47:00.000+01:00

There's nothing particularly fancy about this dish- I just really enjoyed it, and it involves one of my new favourite foods; GREENS! I don't really know how I left it so long before trying them, but they're good, and I've been eating them a lot.

I chopped them up fairly thicky, then popped them in a pan with a knob of butter and chilli oil, fried them for a while until their soft, along with some onions, and boiled some spaghetti. My other favourite thing to do is toss some cashew nuts under the grill for a few minutes. Wait until they've cooled and they go crunchy and delish. Oh my, cashews are amazing. I threw everything together in a bowl with some sesame seeds and Gomashio (Ground sesame seeds and salt. Brilliant- get it from health food shops).

Good Food Mini Round Up!

2009-06-12T11:51:00.000+01:00

I've been a very lucky girl the last couple of weeks and have tried two amazing cafes, both of which I highly recommend you try!

First off is Franco Manca, Brixton.

Nestled amongst busy market stalls and cute independent cafes, this beautiful pizzeria uses sourdough bases- with a vegan option listed on the menu, so no awkward "no cheese please" conversations. I added olives to mine:

It's super good value for money- 4.50 (including addition of olives, 4. without). Plus their range of drinks are very affordable; wine is 7.50 a bottle. Saturday's are insanely busy, so I suggest miss the lunchtime rush and relax in the afternoon.

http://francomanca.co.uk/
4, Market Row, Electric Lane, Brixton, London. SW9 8LD. Monday to Saturday 12-5

Next up is Idyea, Brighton. Brighton is amazing and I always have trouble deciding where to eat; there are too many good options! Idyea offers a range of hot meals, around half of which are vegan (and labelled) which come with either vegetables or salads. They also offer amazing looking cakes, smoothies, juices etc. Very reasonably priced and filling:

I had the vegan option roti: pancake filled with spicy potatoes, spinach and veggies, with an amazing potato salad,mixed bean salad, houmous, salad leaves and seeds, which came to 4.90.

17 Kensington Gardens, North Lanes, Brighton BN1 Tel: 01273 667992

Annie Greenabelle.

2009-06-06T09:27:00.000+01:00

Sorry about the lack of posts for a little while; I've misplaced my USB lead and so can't upload any new recipes that I've been making! Hopefully this will be fixed soon.

In the mean time I wanted to mention the lovely Annie Greenabelle and her beautiful clothing and accessories. Annie uses organic and fairtrade cotton, combining them with reclaimed fabrics, to create her lovely designs. Happy clothing! Her dresses can be found in Topshop (Oxford Street/ Edinburgh/ Leicester/ Preston) but it's her bags and coats which I really love:

Bag: Long handle shopper bag, 9 pounds.
Coat: Lightweight Anorak, 38 pounds.
http://www.anniegreenabelle.com

Herbivore Clothing.

2009-05-20T10:43:00.000+01:00

Herbivore Clothing is an amazing group of people who make clothes, accessories, books, magazines, patches- everything you need! Everything's vegan, and although their statements are pro- action, their images are beautiful and not in-your-face.

Browse around the beautifully designed website, they have a great variety of clothing and books.

They ship to the UK (and many other countries).

1. The Deathless Cardigan : I am completely in love with this! $38
2. Cow Hugger Wallet: SO CUTE! $14
3. Bike Log : Record all your lovely bike rides. $3
4. Wings are for Flying not Frying: Stickers. $1

http://www.herbivoreclothing.com/

Montezuma's Chocolates!

2009-05-17T16:35:00.001+01:00

I'm sure most chocolate lovers have tried this amazing shop; it's beautifully artistic delicacies have a huge selection suitable for vegans, all labelled and oh so tempting!

In their delicious truffle cabinet is a whole shelf dedicated to us, my favourite being the orange and cinnamon truffles... oh my!

On the shelves they have jars of giant buttons, heavy slabs of dark chocolate filled with fruits and nuts, cherry covered chocolate, chilli chocolate....

http://www.montezumas.co.uk/

Vegan humour!

2009-05-06T12:53:00.000+01:00

Ok so generally vegan comedy is pretty poor. But this I like!

Mr Tom Cupcakes.

2009-04-25T17:50:00.001+01:00

You might remember in my Nice Vegan Things round up (a few blogs down!) that I have a love for Mr Tom bars. They are seriously good- they're from Germany and you can find them in random places like some petrol stations and corner shops. They have funky packaging and taste delish. Peanuty chewy goodness. A few weeks ago I also invented peanut butter icing.
And so today I decided to combine the two inventions to make MR TOM CUPCAKES!!

I made a basic cupcakes recipe, using bananas (my new favourite egg replacement) and some oil, iced them with peanut butter icing, then topped it off with a chunk of Mr Tom. I bought a new piping bag set this week so had to try them out.

* PEANUT BUTTER ICING DOES NOT WORK IN A PIPING BAG*

The chunks of peanut clogged it up. Lovely. Though I actually prefer the 'rustic' icing anyway. Yum!

I ♥ Chickpeas.

2009-04-20T20:56:00.000+01:00

Spiced Chickpea and Lemon Soup.

This recipe is inspired from a lovely little cookbook from Rose Bakery. The book is called 'Breakfast, Lunch, Tea', by Rose Carrarini, the co- founder of a cute deli in London, and restaurant in Paris. The cookbook offers a variety of recipes, mostly non-vegan and non-veggie but easily veganized, plus they even have a couple of vegan recipes!

3 cans of chickpeas (yes, I'm lazy!)

2 onions

1 carrot

2 stock cubes (2 pints of stock, roughly)

2 garlic cloves

salt

pepper

1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon (ish...!) chilli powder

1 squeezed lemon

Garnish: sesame seeds and cumin seeds.

Heat oil in a deep saucepan, then cook onion and carrot until just tender.

Add garlic, salt, pepper, ground cumin and chilli powder.

Stir for a few minutes, then add chickpeas and stock until the vegetables are covered by about 3 cms.

Simmer for 30 minutes, take off the heat to cool a little, then liquidise until smooth. If it's a little thick add more stock, or maybe some oat milk, but it should be fine.

Add the lemon juice and garnish with seeds. Serve with warm crusty bread and a glass of wine.

Aniseed Toasts.

2009-04-06T14:57:00.001+01:00

Kind of like a cookie. With aniseed in. They were too tempting to pass up when I saw them in the crazy food section in Tesco's.

Verdict: Thumbs Up!

Other people's verdict: Meh.

Give them a try!

The Co-operative: Good for vegans!

2009-04-05T16:07:00.001+01:00

I literally get so over excited at the sight of a Co-op, and I believe I have good reason to!

These are the goodies I picked up at the weekend (possibly the only good thing about Worthing?).

No your eyes are not deceiving you; that is a pack of jam doughnuts (actually I bought two packets, but shh...) a packet of JAM FILLED ICE BUNS (have these existed for a while and I have just never tried them? Oh my!!) AND a bag of American Hard Gums, which I totally spent my childhood eating, yumyumyum!

http://www.co-operative.coop/

Rootmaster, Brick Lane.

2009-04-03T12:01:00.000+01:00

I've only managed to visit this amazing bustaurant a couple of times, but it is a firm favourite. Discreetly 100% vegan, this place serves seriously delicious food, verging on gourmet!

Great atmosphere, great food, and a great price. And you're on a BUS!!

From Liverpool Street Station walk towards Brick Lane. At the corner by the All Saints store turn right, and the next left, as if you're walking toward Rough Trade. The bus is parked down this lane, you can't miss it!

http://www.root-master.co.uk/

Rootmaster

Elys Yard

The Old Truman Brewery

Hanbury Street
E1 6QL

Satay Skewers. Cubes of perfectly cooked tofu, smothered in peanutty goodness, on a bed of lettuce, scattered with sesame seeds. Yum!

Nice Vegan Things!

2009-03-30T18:36:00.000+01:00

1. Else Bua, Pop My Cherry.

This lovely lady makes beautiful vegan cakes! elsa@mischiefmakers.org.uk.
2. Saf.

Please someone take me. Please? www.safrestaurant.co.uk
3. SSOV.

Shhhop in Camden...
4. Food For Friends.

Amazing restaurant in Brighton. www.foodforfriends.com

5. Tofu Robot!

Best. Robot. Ever.
6. Mr Tom bars.

Yum yum peanut fun.
7. Haribo’s new vegan friendly sweets.

I want a taste!
8. Mymimi, on Shanalogic.com.

Everything she makes is super fun and cute!

Oatmeal and Raison Cookies.

2009-03-29T16:38:00.000+01:00

I got this recipe from my good friend Hannah months and months ago, and have finally found the time to try it out for myself! I've tweaked it slightly and added things that I think all good cookies recipes should have; enjoy!

1/2 pound butter

2 cups golden caster sugar

2 eggs worth of egg replacement *

Vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups self raising flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg **

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon **

3 cups rolled oats

1 1/2 cups raisons

* I use Allergycare, which you can find in Holland&Barrett.

** I used much more than this, but really not sure how much more. I would think it's about a teaspoon of each, but it depends how much spice you like in cookies.

1/ Preheat oven to 175 c.

2/ Beat butter until creamy, add sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.
3/ Mix flour, sald, baking powder, nutmeg and cinnamon in a seperate bowl. Add to butter bowl, stir in oats and raisons.

4/ Grab a large handful and push down onto lined baking sheets, about 1cm thick. Don't be scared to make these cookies BIG! They cook really well, and the bigger the better! Smaller cookies tend to be crisper, these stay really moist.

5/ Bake until the edges are golden brown but the centres should be a yellow-white colour. About 20- 25 minutes. Wait at least 10 minutes before trying to move them, let them set.

I love recipes that ask for measurements in cup sizes, because then I get to use my heart shaped cups and teaspoons!

Infinity Foods.

2009-03-26T18:39:00.000Z

This amazing co-op has been my favourite in Brighton for years. Beginning as a small shop in the 70s they have now tripled in size, with the addiction of Infinity Foods Cafe and a line of wholesome foods which you can find in independant health food stores across the country. Throughout the past almost forty years their ethics and principles have remained strong; to provide healthy, organic, fair trade and environmentally friendly products.

Infinity Foods Cafe provides a vegan friendly menu, including soups which change daily, freshly baked breads, salads, burgers, falafel, and with a recent addition of sandwiches and pizza, the list goes on. The cafe hosts the best vegan cakes in the UK in my opinion, with usually 70% suitable for vegans, they also take into account allergies such as gluten and wheat. These guys know about food and how to make it taste great, whilst being suitable for as many as possible.

Their beautiful new website unfortunately doesn't have a pdf of the menu, but I recommend the Mezze Platter, which offers a delicious sample of salads, tofu, falafel and dips. And make sure you leave room for a slice of Banana and Chocolate Chip Cake!

Infinity Foods: http://www.infinityfoodsretail.co.uk/
25 North Road, Brighton
01273 603563

The cafe is just round the corner on Gardner Street.

Brighton Vegan Fayre.

2009-03-23T17:20:00.001Z

It's the first Vegan Fayre that I've managed to get myself along to; many times I've promised to attend the variety of fayre's through London and Brighton- and I'll definitely be making sure that I attend more from now on!
The fayre hosted stall after stall of a variety of companies, groups and charities. There were the leading brands in vegan food; Fry's, Redwoods, Provamel and Sheese, as well as charites like Animal Aid and Shac, fun vegan campaigners like SSOV (Shhh...) and highstreet favourites Lush!
Almost every stand had something to taste, and I definetly got my 8 pounds entry worth!

Provamel were prepared with a cooker, dishing up piping hot chillies and marinated tofu, as well as yoghurts, soya milk and cream cheese. Redwoods and Fry's had tasters of all my favourites; Chorizo and Chicken pieces from Redwoods, Spiced burgers from Fry's. Though I did see- horror of horrors, the stuff of nightmares- someone reach for a USED toothpick, and eat a sample from it. YUCK!!

The suprising highlight for me was the Sheese stand. Never being a particular fan of vegan cheese, I hadn't actually given their products a taste; if I make something using cheese I've stuck to Redwoods Gauda Cheezly, and Tofutti Cream Cheese. Laid out were rows of crackers with different varieties of cream cheese (oh my, the garlic and herb variety!!), tubs with cubed hard cheeses, and rows of crackers with sliced cheese.

I'm a convert and off to buy some Garlic and Herb soft cheese and a stack of crackers! And I've been introduced to the wonder that is digestives+cream cheese+jam= H E A V E N.

Another delicious suprise was from the Sanctuary Cafe. I've been to this cafe in Hove once to see some acoustic bands, but never been back to sample the food. Although it does serve fish, the vegan selections are great and clearly labelled. At the Fayre they were selling jars of chutneys and sauces- and garlic mayo. It's seriously the best mayo I've ever tasted; nothing artificial or 'vegan' tasting, these had real crisp, raw flavours.

Plamil offered a whole host of their delicious chocolate bars and spreads. Oh my, the chocolate spread was good; rich and thick and chunky. And the rum&raison bars were orgasmic. We had to avoid the stand after our 3rd trip round; we were being recognised...

The Heavenly Cake Company were there with a delicious range of amazing cakes, cupcakes and truffles, offering not only healthy versions, but also more ethically inspired cakes.
The day also featured a number of bands and talks by leading vegan campaigners and companies, which sadly I missed due to poor timing and addiction to Sheese. I did really want to see King Blues, and hope that they managed to pull more of an audience than the afternoon acts did.

All I wish is that I had brought more cash with me! I really could have gone mad here, especially as the prices were genuinely reduced from shop prices, and a lot of the stands gave free organic bags with every purchase.

The Sanctuary Cafe: http://www.sanctuarycafe.co.uk/Sanctuary/Welcome.html

51-55 Brunswick Street East

01273 770002

Bristol Vegan Fayre: http://www.veganfayre.co.uk/

Amphitheatre and Waterfront Square in Bristol

May 30-31st

7th Annual Vegan Fayre!

London Vegan Festival:http://www.vegancampaigns.org.uk/festival/

Kensingston Town Hall, Hornton Street.

6th September

12th Annual Vegan Festival!

The Heavenly Cake Company: http://theheavenlycakecompany.co.uk/

020 8291 7320

Yum Food

Sheese:http://www.buteisland.com/

Redwoods: http://www.redwoodfoods.co.uk/

Plamil: http://www.plamilfoods.co.uk/

Fry's: http://www.frys-special.com/

Reminder: Brighton Vegan Fayre!

2009-03-19T13:33:00.000Z

Just a quick blog to remind everyone that this Saturday is the Brighton Vegan Fayre!!
I'm so super excited, it should be a really good day. My camera is charging ready to take photos of all things vegan, and hopefully a whole host of products and companies to blog about!
Details of the fayre are a couple of blogs down.

See you there!

Tizz x

Two down, lots to go.

2009-03-11T20:51:00.000Z

I've managed to cross two foodies off my list this week! First off is Terre a Terre, Brighton.

The restaurant itself has a wonderful mix of contemporary colours and fittings, with a traditional sense of style. The food reflects this, with delicous experimentation and chefs who really understand food and flavours. To start we had Terre à Tapas. A selection of dishes from the menu, this came on a large round plate and just the right amount of each dish. Including cheese. A hasty replacement was made and apologies were given. This starter was seriously good! The flavours were raw and zipped around your mouth, each taster was unique and left you wanting the whole dish! Salads, noodles, cashews, tofu, foccaccia, aubergine dip, oh my! I was worried I would be too full!

The main came, and my fellow food taster ordered Porcini Pudding and Cranberry Kraut. This is a great option if you're bringing a meat eater. Almost like a steak and kidney pudding, the mushrooms are shockingly similiar to meat, the 'smashed' potato is beautifully creamy and topped off with a small jug of gravy, this dish is simple but well finished. I ordered Rosti, Revisited (2). Which came covered in cheese. More apologies and the meal was taken off the bill, a replacement ordered quick smart. Even though I did have to wait (and endure the wafting smell of cooked cheese, yuck!) this restaurant really handled the problems well, and no fuss had to be made! When my meal came o-h - m-y it was worth the wait!! Not mentioned on the menu, is that the vegan option is creamy spinach topped with tofu in hoisin sauce and sesame seeds. The tofu was cooked perfectly; chewy and crispy on the outside, melting in the middle. Together with the soft creamy spinach which wrapped around the sauce, it was so delicous. Piled on top of a crispy rosti and sitting in a pool of pea sauce, this dish is one of the best vegan meals I've ever had.

And for dessert?
All I'm saying, is order Rain Vodka Cherry Chocolate Churros. Just do it.

Second on my list of places to try was V&M, London. Taking over the previous location of my favourite Vegan Thai Buffet on Greek Street, this is two restaurants; one 'express' side, one restaurant side. We took the express route. 100% vegan, the menu offers a range of really good fast food options (don't expect anything raw, healthy or consisting of any of your 5 a day...!) I chose the Combo Meal; burger, chips (or onion rings) and a milkshake (chocolate or strawberry) for 4.99. Real friendly staff and a free sample of some spring rolls, the meal didn't come 'express'ly but my burger came how I like it (COVERED in gherkins), a small portion of chips and a large milkshake. My fellow food taster ordered the onion rings which were pretty good. I'm definitely popping back to this place, especially as I want to try the cheesy jalapeno bites. The dining restaurant next door is on my list of must-tries, with a menu of salads, stir fries and similiar fast food.

Terre a Terre: http://www.terreaterre.co.uk/
71 East Street
01273 729051

V&M: http://www.vandmrestaurants.com/
10-11 Greek Street, Soho.
07531777278

Vegan Thai Buffets: These are almost a chain, with around a dozen scattered around London. They offer a wide selection of dishes, including prawn crackers, spring rolls, prawn toast, duck, mock meats, noodles. The buffets range in price but are usually between 5 and 7 pounds depending what time you go, and they offer a cheaper take out price.

40 New Oxford Street, Bloomsbury
40 Great Windmill Street
33 Old Compton Street, Soho
3 Great Chapel Street
6 Kentish Town Road
11 Islington High Street

(The branch of Islington High Street is very good!)

Lush, Animal Aid and Brighton Fayre!

2009-03-04T17:14:00.000Z

Hello again!

Sorry it's been a while since I last updated; everything's very hectic at the moment but I am working on Issue One whenever I have a chance! And I shall be blogging randomly when I discover new and exciting things that you simply must know NOW!

My favourite shop for beauty buys is Lush; everything is labelled vegan, and the products are fantastic. They are currently working with Animal Aid, a fantastic charity who promote vegan and ethical living: http://www.animalaid.org.uk/.

They make the most amazing boxes of vegan chocolates!!

They have put together a free leaflet, 'Meat Free! Feed four for under a fiver' which you can pick up from your local Lush. It's packed with information on healthier eating, the truth behind the meat and dairy industry, the impact this diet has on our planet, as well as loads of fantastic recipes!

I am already so excited about the Brighton Vegan Fayre! It's Saturday 21st March at the Brighton Centre. It's 8 pounds to get in and the fayre will be packed with products to buy, information stalls- and The King Blues will be playing! Along with a variety of other musicians, talks from the Vegan Society and stalls from Infinity Foods, Montezuma's, Peta and Secret Society of Vegans! It's going to be a really great place to find out more about becoming vegan if you're considering it or stocking up on supplies if you're already vegan! It's Mother's Day the next day so buy your Mum some delicious Booja Booja truffles, or some hand made goodies.
http://brighton.veganfayre.co.uk/stalls

Tizz x

Issue One.

2009-02-05T16:18:00.000Z

Hello!

I'm very excited to complete my first issue of Artichoke Zine. I wanted to make a magazine/ zine which focused on all areas of living an animal free life. It's full of recipes (all sorts; starters, snacks, sweet things. OK mainly sweet things...!) reviews of vegan cafes and restaurants all over the UK, new products, news and my current favourite animal friendly things.

Read an interview with vegan dessert angel, Rebecca's Cakes, and go and order platters of delights from her! Find out my favourite places to eat, products to buy and try out some of the yum recipes. I'll be blogging when it's printed and ready to go, and give you guys information about where to purchase it from. Now tell your friends!

I've set up a Facebook page, if you could become a fan that would be dandy!!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#/pages/Artichoke-Zine/48580868835?ref=nf

Thanks,

Tizz x