Christmas vegan food swap

Well, it's that most wonderful time of the year: Christmas! It is fair to say, and I know I am not alone in this, that Christmas really is a special time. For me it's the perfect fusion of family, friends, love and food. However, I also believe it's a time for relaxing. Christmas ought not to be stressful. In fact, I think one should actively seek to find small moments of solitude. Try to enjoy and embrace the bustle in the kitchen and in the streets whilst doing last minute Christmas shopping rather than resenting it. I don't mind being busy so long as I am mindful.

If you are still not convinced, here's a lovely image I came across of Santa meditating. I saw it and instantly knew that this was the way forward this Christmas.

 

Anyhow, without further ado, here's what I purchased for my foodie friend.  

 Lentil chips, organic fig cake, Christmas collection herbal teas, organic crystallized ginger, dark chocolate and pretzels.

All this came from 8th day, aka my second home. 8th day is a rather lovely vegetarian shop and cafe on Oxofrd Road in Manchester. Here's a link for those living nearby http://eighth-day.co.uk/.

I so much wanted to make something special for this month's food swap, however we were right in the middle of moving house. Amongst this rather modest pile of goodies, the Cofresh chips are worth a special mention. I have not tried the lentil flavour but the hummus ones were very moreish and did not last long.

My favourite item here is the Christmas tea collection, mostly because I am a tea addict. I feel nothing warms the heart more than a luscious cup of tea. This collection of teas is perfect for the festive season with its warm holiday notes and exotic spices. It contains the following flavours:  Classic Rooibos, Sweet Chilli, Choco, Liquorice, Jamaica, Bright Mood, Heartwarming, Ginger Hibiscus, Ginger Lemon, Bedtime and Black Chai.

The only one that is missing from this collection is Masala chai - one of the few black teas I drink regularly. I do have a few bags of it in the cupboard but I always prefer to make my own. Here's the recipe I use.

Masala chai - makes one cup

1 cup water
4 fresh cardamom pods, smashed (the fresher the more fragrant)
2 thin slices fresh ginger
An inch of cinnamon stick
1 piece star anise
1 teaspoon loose black tea leaves
Sweetener and milk, to taste. I use agave nectar and omit the milk.

Put the water and the spices in a small saucepan, mix and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for a few minutes whilst enjoy the aromas. Add the black tea leaves and simmer for another minute or so depending on how strong you like your black tea. Now take off the heat and simmer for another couple of minutes. Strain into your favourite mug through a sieve, add the sweetener and milk in you wish and enjoy :)

Just thinking about masala tea puts me in a special, relaxed mood. Before I fall into a comfortable daydream, here's what I received this month.

Sea salt, rosemary and garlic kettle chips, twiglets, brandy liqueurs, spekulatius biscuits, black pepper crackers, wasabi peas, salt and pepper nut mix, salt and vinegar crisps, bag of chocs, chestnut cream and a selection of teas.

I am an avid kettle chips consumer but I have never come across this particular flavour. They did not disappoint. Last night, whilst slightly blotto, I gobbled half of the bag. Ooops. The chocs were very nice, as were the Spekulatius biscuits which I mentioned in my last post. 

The twiglets were a bit of a blast from the past. I haven't had them for about 15 years. I used to eat them all the time as a teenager. It's the marmity flavour that I really enjoy. It agrees with my taste buds which are definitely more attuned to savoury flavours.

One last final thing to add before I get back to Christmas festivities. The rose garden tea was exceptionally good. I forgot how much I like rose tea. It reminds me of sitting in an English rose garden on a lovely warm summer's day. Mmmmhhhhhh. Bliss.

Merry Christmas xx

November food swap

 Gosh, time has flown by. It seems months since my first ever disastrous vegan food swap. This time round, I was clever and bought all the food stuff rather than slogging away in the kitchen for hours. So what did I get for my foodie friend? Here's a pic:

 

Hazelnut nougat & dark chocolate bar, habas mojadas (roasted broad beans coated in spicy batter), soba wholewheat noodles with buckwheat, my homemade chutney, wasabi paste and lapsang souchong tea. 

If you have never tried lapsang souchong tea, I urge you to go and buy it now even if you think you hate tea. Lapsang souchong (meaning literally "Small plant from Lapu mountain") is a black tea originally from the Wuyi region of the Chinese province of Fujian. Lapsang is distinct from all other types of tea because lapsang leaves are traditionally smoke-dried over pinewood fires, taking on a distinctive smoky flavour (source: Wikipedia). Look, even if you don't like the taste, I swear it's good enough just to enjoy its aroma!

I hope my buddy falls in love with it. I also hope she appreciates the wasabi paste. My love for all things wasabi started in Amsterdam 3 years ago when I was introduced to wasabi coated peanuts (amazing!). I seem to have a natural affinity for Japanese and Thai food (well, actually I have an affinity for all food!). I think it's the umami flavour of Japanese cuisine that tantalises my taste buds.

I am ashamed to say that I have only recently discovered the term umami. Umami, a savoury taste, is one of the five basic tastes, together with sweet, sour, bitter and salty. A loanword from the Japanese, umami can be translated as "pleasant savoury taste". Umami taste is common to the following foods: fish, shellfish, cured meats, vegetables (e.g., mushrooms, ripe tomatoes, Chinese cabbage, spinach, celery, etc.), green tea, and fermented and aged products (e.g., cheeses, shrimp pastes, soy sauce, etc.). Humans' first encounter with umami is breast milk. It contains roughly the same amount of umami as broths (source: Wikipedia).

So there you go, I first fell in love with umami as a baby, developed the love by eating shedload of pickled gherkins and sauerkraut as a Polish kid and refined it by eating soy products and drinking green tea as an adult. And here's the best thing I learnt at a recent wine tasting, wine also has the umami taste! Well, I never. All this time I've been blaming my Polish genes for occasionally overindulging in wine, but actually drinking and enjoying wine is as natural to me as to anyone else (kind of).

Anyway, here's what I received.

Fruit gums (gelatine-free and vegan, of course), Alpro soya whipping cream, Speculoos spread, Bonne Maman Chestnut Spread, organic orange chocolate with cranberries, raspberry brownie and smoked cashew nuts.

I am very happy indeed with this lot. The attached note explained that many of the items were bought on a recent trip to Belgium. I think I love Belgium. Here are a few reasons why. First, there's the film 'In Bruges', need I say more? Second, this summer I met a couple of lovely people from Belgium. Arty types - just my kind of people. Third, I agree with the sentiments of their prime minister, Elio Di Rupo (see the image below).

Anyway, back to food. The chestnut spread will, no doubt, soon find its way into one of my cheesecakes. I've been planning some kind of a chestnut cake for a while now. No excuses now!

The speculoos spread is very intriguing. I've had vegan chocolate spread before but this one is a bit special. It's Belgian and tastes all wheaty and biscuity. Not surprising really since 60% of the ingredients is speculoos. Speculoos is a type of shortcrust biscuit, traditionally baked for consumption on or just before St Nicholas' feast in the Netherlands (December 5), Belgium (December 6), and Northern France and around Christmas in Germany (source: Wikipedia). I foresee toast with speculoos spread for breakfast (and when I get back home late at night with drunken munchies ;)).

That's all folks. Now do not waste another second. Get thee to a shop to fetch some lapsang souchong tea (somewhere in the back of my mind I hear Hamlet's: "get thee to a nunnery").

Courgette & summer squash overload

Courgette is Daniel's favourite veg and butternut squash is mine so it was an easy decision to dedicate 3 big patches of my allotment to courgettes and squashes. I grew scallop squash, pattypan squash, white bush Lebanese summer squash, round zucchini, pumpkin and butternut squash. The latter two are still maturing.

The trouble, of course, is that the summer varieties become ready to pick all at once! There's only so much you can eat and give away. Thankfully, the courgette and squash family provide a wide variety of cooking options including steaming, sautéing, frying, grilling, baking, roasting and stuffing. Wow!

I've tried just about every way there is of preparing them. It's a well known fact that allotment holders end up throwing away surplus veg! If you're one of them, promise me you'll never, ever waste another veg again! Here are some examples of using up your courgette and squash glut.





















You can use the flowers in salads. They're pretty and edible. You could also try deep-frying them.

                                               Pattypan squash


                                     




                             Pumpkins  
                                                               

Zucchine tonde ripiene (stuffed round zucchini,  as if you needed the translation...)

When I cook I loosely work off a recipe and adapt it to what I have available in the cupboards. My cupboards are full of weird and wonderful things. For this recipe I thought I'd use the polenta that's been staring at me for a few months! I am ashamed to admit that before this I haven't cooked with polenta. 

Anyway, you'll need:

- round zucchini (courgette), one per person
- an onion
- 3 crushed cloves of garlic
- 4-6 mushrooms
- a handful of sliced asparagus
- a few sun-dried tomatoes
- a handful of pine nuts
- cubed polenta
- salt
- pepper
- chili flakes
- veg stock powder (I use Marigold Swiss vegan bouillon powder)



Put the oven on 180C. Cut the top off the courgette and scoop out the insides (pulp and seeds). Drizzle the inside with chili infused oil and pop in the oven on a roasting tray. Meanwhile, fry the onion and garlic in some olive oil, add the chopped mushrooms, asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes, and the pine nuts. Fry for a few minutes then add the polenta, stock powder, chili flakes, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Fry for a few minutes then transfer into the hollowed courgette and pop back in the oven for about 20 minutes. Serve with couscous. For non vegans, 5 minutes before you take it out of the oven crumble some blue cheese on top (try gruyere, gorgonzola or stilton). 


Summer squash, saffron and roasted pumpkin seed soup

I love making soups because they're so easy to make and are so satisfying. If you're dieting it's the perfect food. Research shows that liquid-rich foods like soups are good at filling your stomach and are slow to empty, leaving you fuller for longer. 

All good soups start with frying a chopped onion, a few crushed cloves of garlic and fresh chili in some olive oil in a large saucepan. Chop your chosen veg, in this case summer squash, and fry until part tender. Courgette and summer squashes are all quite watery so you won't need more oil. Harder squashes like the butternut and pumpkin may need a little more oil.

Add a litre of stock (I use 4 tsps of
Marigold Swiss vegan bouillon powder dissolved in a litre of hot water) or enough to just cover the squash. Add a few threads of saffron and cook until the squash is tender. 

Blitz the soup using a stick blender. Toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry pan over high heat until they start to brown and pop. Do not burn them! So easily done, trust me. Use to garnish the soup. 

Summer squash risotto

I love making risottos. Again, they're quick and easy to make and very filling. This one serves 4 (or two really greedy people). 


Again, your base for this is an onion and a few crushed cloves of garlic. Fry them in some oil in a deep frying pan.

Add cubed squash (any summer or winter squash is fine, just not courgette!). 1 large squash will do for 4 people.

Fry until part soft. Add 250g risotto rice and fry for 2 minutes. Add a litre of stock (I use 4 tsps of Marigold Swiss vegan bouillon powder dissolved in a litre of hot water) and a handful of pumpkin seeds. 

Cook on medium heat until all the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender. If you're not vegan add 250g gorgonzola (delicious!), if you're vegan add a small carton of soy cream. Cook until well incorporated and serve.







A good trick for getting rid off spare veg is give them to your friends in the hope that they'll make something for you :) One day my friend surprised me with Summer squash stew and Courgette salad. If he ever gives me the recipe for the stew I'll update it on here. It was delicious! 

The courgette salad he made is similar to these two:

 http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/6339/marinated-courgette-salad-with-pine-nuts-and-parme#

http://www.canbebribedwithfood.com/2010/08/courgette-overload-then-make-grilled.html#












And how about baking with courgette? A few years ago I got a lovely book that uses raw, grated veg in cakes instead of fat. All the recipes I tried in this book are absolutely sublime apart from Parsnip vanilla fudge.

Many of the recipes use eggs but I've managed to veganise them. The one that works particularly well as a vegan veg cake is the Cherry and Almond cake. I just use Ener-G egg replacer and it works a treat :)




Here's the veganised recipe:

You'll need two 18cm-diameter x 5cm deep sandwich tins, greased and lined

250g glace cherries

3 Ener-G egg replacers (if you're not vegan just use 3 eggs)

180g caster sugar
200g finely grated potato
100g plain flour, plus 2 extra tbsp to coat cherries
1 tsp almond extract
100g ground almonds
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
finely grated zest of 1/2 unwaxed lemon
250g cherry jam
20g of toasted almond flakes
1 tsp icing sugar
small sprinkle of ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Cut the cherries in half and coat in 2 tbsp flour.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg replacer with the sugar for 5 mins until pale and light.

Next, beat in the grated potato until well combined. Finally, add the flour, ground almonds, almond extract, baking powder, salt and lemon zest until well incorporated.

Divide the mixture between the two sandwich tins and gently place the cherries on top of each cake so that they are slightly sunken into the mixture. Place them in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes.

Once cooked, remove the cakes from the oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool for 10 mins. Gently peel away the baking parchment.

Toast the flaked almonds until just golden in a dry pan. Spread a generous layer of cherry jam onto one half of the cake. Put the other half of cake on top, sprinkle with the flaked almonds a dusting of the icing sugar and cinnamon mixed together. 

The same book has many, many recipes using courgettes. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to expand their baking repertoire.

You could also try these two:

 

  http://www.lonehomeranger.com/2012/08/sneaky-pete-summer-squash-muffins.html#    

 http://dearloveblog.wordpress.com/2011/08/28/augusts-fresh-from-the-oven-challenge-courgette-cluster-bread/#  

And how about some Grilled zucchini hummus to go with that lovely bread?

 

 

http://www.timescolonist.com/life/food/Recipe+grilled+zucchini+hummus/7244149/story.html 

 

Vegan food swap

This month was the first time I signed up for vegan food swap. The idea is that once a month you send a parcel full of vegan goodies to a randomly assigned partner who's also vegan. The budget for the goodies is £10. Here's the link:

http://www.tohappyvegans.com/wordpress/uk-vegan-food-swap/

I love the idea of food penpalling. It seems a good way of exposing oneself to new foods, learning new cookery skills, and maybe even making like-minded foodie friends.

As a typical newbie I went for far too much which meant I spent 6 hours in the kitchen struggling to make the food I had planned to. It was rather epic, and not in a good way. Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. My trusty chocolate cupcake batter escaped from flimsy paper cases, the falafel wouldn't cook, the chocolate truffles recipe (pictured below) was actually a chocolate mousse recipe so I needed to save them by adding dates and nuts, and the hummus came out too garlicky (perfect for a garlic fiend like me just maybe not so for anyone else).

The falafel went so disastrously wrong that I am considering never, ever making them again. The recipe was a bit weird and, whatever I did, they just wouldn't cook. I tried baking them, as per the recipe. Did they bake? No. Then Daniel suggested deep fat frying them. What happened, I hear you say... They disintegrated. Finally, after re-mashing the mixture (yes, it did look minging) I gently fried both sides. They tasted OK, but only just. A few days after this unsuccessful attempt, my friend made some lovely falafel using a shop bough dry falafel mix and I would highly recommend it to anyone attempting to make falafel for the first time.

                                                          Amaretto chocolate truffles

                                 Truffles, falafel, hummus and cupcakes ready to be packaged         


Anyway, I did my best to package it up, wrote a quick note and did my usual morning dash to the post office (why can't I ever leave on time?). Hopefully it got there in one piece, I haven't heard anything from my partner yet. Obviously I did not include the recipes in my note and I am not including any in this post because it all went a bit wrong.

On a positive note, when I received the parcel from my partner I was more than happy with it. I got winter-spiced parsnip crisps with chili, organic black rice noodles, rice paper, cranberry and sanguinello orange tea, a box of booja-booja chocolates and 3 home baked 'cheese' scones (pictured below).

Two things that are of note here. First, if you didn't already know what a sanguinello orange is, it is more commonly known as a blood orange. The word sanguinello comes from Italian.

Blood oranges may have originated in either China or the Southern Mediterranean, where they have been grown since the 18th century. They are now the primary orange grown in Italy. The anthocyanins which give the orange its distinct maroon color will only develop when temperatures are low at night, as during the Mediterranean fall and winter. Blood oranges cultivated in the United States are in season from December to March (Texas), and from November to May (California) (source: Wikipedia).

If you're into your cocktails why not give this a try? I wonder if instead of the blood orange juice I could use the tea I received from my vegan buddy, cooled of course.

Ingredients:

• 1 oz Campari 
• 3/4 oz limoncello 
• 2 oz blood orange juice
• blood orange wedge for garnish

Preparation:

1. Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
2. Shake and strain onto fresh ice in a highball glass. 
3. Garnish with a blood orange wedge. 

Second thing of note are the booja-booja chocolates. Oh my, these are just amazing!  They are vegan, organic and hand made with love in Norfolk (my home county).

 http://www.boojabooja.com/

I have never cooked with rice paper or black rice noodles. I am planning on making some spicy green papaya rice paper rolls and/or veggie spring rolls. I love the sound of the carrot-ginger dipping sauce in the Martha Stewart recipe. Here are the recipe links:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/spicy_green_papaya_rice_38576

http://www.organicgardening.com/cook/vegetarian-spring-rolls

http://www.marthastewart.com/315105/spring-rolls-with-carrot-ginger-dipping

The noodles will probably end up in one of our usual stir fries, though I do like the look of these two recipes:

http://feedright4people.com/2012/01/08/black-rice-noodles-with-garlic-mushrooms-gluten-free-vegetarian-dairy-free/

http://thelemursarehungry.wordpress.com/2012/09/14/sichuan-spiced-black-rice-noodles/

So, what have I learnt from this experience? Two things actually. One, standing on your feet for 6 hours is not good for your lower back particularly when you're 6 foot tall and sport a bizarre posture. Two, when you're trying to impress someone with your food do not try something new, stick with what you know best!

Anyway, I think the idea of vegan food penpalling is a brilliant one and I am looking forward to choosing/making food for my next buddy.

A trio of vegan cakes

I love baking cakes. The problem is that I also love eating them and with just the two of us it means we eat an awful lot of cake which is catching up with us, most visibly on our bellies!





One of my favourite pastimes is drinking herbal tea and eating vegan cake, preferably in a quaint tea room like this one http://www.richmondtearooms.com/About-us.aspx







People often think that it is either impossible to make good vegan cake or that it's somehow extra challenging or difficult. In fact, this perception couldn't be more wrong. Vegan cake is just as simple as non-vegan cake to make with the added advantage that you can lick the bowl clean afterwards without the worry of raw egg!! What I've found about vegan versus non-vegan cake is that the egg in non-vegan cakes makes them dry out quickly. All my vegan cakes always come out moist and stay moist for about a week (this is a lie since cakes in our house never last a week. Usually they are eaten within three days of making them!).

 I have never been able to make good sernik (that's cheesecake in Polish in case you didn't know). Even before I went vegan my cheesecakes never came out good. The following recipe worked brilliantly the second time. The first time the main problem was that I over baked the cake and the fat in the cream cheese separated. It wasn't pretty! I also tweaked the recipe the second time. Here it is:

White chocolate and raspberry cheesecake

15 vegan digestive biscuits (I made my own), blitz in a food processor until like fine crumbs
4 tbsp melted vegan margarine
450g firm tofu, drained
450g vegan cream cheese (I used Tofutti)
225g caster sugar
55ml sunflower oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
0.5 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
200g melted vegan white chocolate (I made my own)
85g raspberry jam (I used my own)

Preheat the oven to 180C. Lightly grease and line a 9 inch springform pan. Mix the cookie crumbs with the melted margarine and lightly press into the prepared pan. Put tofu, cream cheese, sugar, oil, lemon juice, salt, and vanilla in a food processor and blend until smooth. Melt the chocolate in the microwave and add to the cheese mixture and blend again. Take out half a cup of the cheese mixture and pour the rest over the cookie crust. Add the raspberry jam to the cheese mixture in the cup and mix until smooth then pour over the top of the cake and swirl lightly to marble the top of the cheesecake. Bake for 45 minutes then turn the oven off and leave the cake in the oven for another 40 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Refrigerate overnight before taking out of the pan.

An important note: do not bake for more than 45 minutes even if you think the cake wobbles too much. It will set once out of the oven and in the fridge, trust me.

Versunkener Apfelkuchen (German apple cake in case you needed a translation)

1/2 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup applesauce (I used cider applesauce)
2 tbsp soy milk
1 1/2 cups plain flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder

Topping:
3 apples, peeled and cut into slices
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 180C. Lightly grease and line a 9 inch springform pan. Mix the butter and sugar in a large bowl, add applesauce and milk. Add flour and baking powder and stir well into a smooth batter. Pour the batter into the pan and arrange apple slices in a circle on top of the cake. Mix together the 3 topping ingredients and sprinkle over the cake. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Wait for 15 minutes before unmolding from the cake pan.




Chocolate cupcakes

This is my favourite recipe because it works well every time and it's so quick and easy. Also, people love these delicious little cakes :)

1 cup soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt

Frosting:
1/2 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups icing sugar
3 tbsp soy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp orange extract


Preheat the oven to 180C. Whisk together the milk and vinegar and leave to curdle for a few minutes. Add the sugar, oil and the two extracts. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cocoa powder. Add to the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. Pour into 12 silicone cupcake molds and bake for 20 minutes. Whilst the cupcakes are cooling mix all the frosting ingredients together until smooth and pipe over the top of the cakes.

 Chocolate cupcake with lapsang souchong tea. I have recently become a bit obsessed with lapsang souchong tea. The smokiness of that tea is tantalising and, as my friend would put it, it makes me ebullient.

Autumn's goodies

I love all the seasons equally. For me it's a perfect cycle, as soon as one season ends I am ready for the next one. Each season brings with it new feelings of excitement, expectation and plenty of joy. My allotment has finally succumbed to autumn and the only veg left to pick are winter squashes and Brussels sprouts for Christmas (Christmas - eeeeppppp!).

I love autumn for its explosion of bright colours. It's a good time of the year for picking leaves, pine cones and conkers for crafting with. For me walking amongst rustling leaves is only second best to walking on crisp, crunchy snow on a bright winter's day. So, on Sunday we decided to go for a 10 mile walk to Trentham which left me with two rather painful blisters! My motivation was gathering nature's goodies and Daniel's was ice cream!

We walked along the Trent and Mersey Canal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_and_Mersey_Canal) which runs alongside lovely meadows. In one of the meadows we saw some wild horses.

A lovely tree with half its leaves missing at the Trentham Estate (http://www.trentham.co.uk/). I collected a whole bunch of them for crafting.






                                                                    




  The Trentham estate has something for everyone. There are pretty wooden huts selling lovely stuff, restaurants, a garden centre, a monkey forest (yes, with real monkeys!) and a two mile walk around the lake in the estate's lavish grounds. If you're lucky enough you might even spot a giant, red squirrel. They're so endangered that there's only one remaining. I managed to capture one on my camera. He is particularly happy because he's just had an ice cream.

              Lovely Michaelmas daisies below and
              Anemone Honorine to the left.

Mushrooms

                                                                                                              Lovely echinacea

 

Ruins of the old hall at Trentham estate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trentham_Gardens)

The leaves I collected were dipped in wax to preserve their colour. I used paraffin wax flakes but a small candle/tea light chopped into smallish pieces would do just as well. Start with 4-5 tea lights and see how you get on. You can always add more if needed. 

 I put the flakes in a metal container (that I don't use for food!) inside a pan of boiling water (thus creating a double boiler). It took about 5 minutes for the wax to melt.  I turned the hob off but kept re-heating the wax when it started to get too hard. The leaves were dipped into the hot wax one by one and held above the pot of wax until they stopped dripping (about 1 minute), then set aside. I made a mobile with my leaves but you can do a string of them. Here's a link www.apartmenttherapy.com

 

Using up tomato and runner bean gluts

This morning I picked about 3kg of tomatoes and 3kg of runner beans on my allotment, and there's a whole lot more!! Vegetables like these can be problematic because unlike gourds, for instance, they don't keep for long and there's so much you can eat before you start looking like a weird bean/tomato hybrid (I already smell herby I am told).

Anyway, I always find that the best way of using up fruit and veg gluts is to make chutneys and jams as they keep for years. In fact, I've found with chutneys the longer you store them before eating, the more flavoursome they become. Last year I made a green tomato and chili chutney and thought it was OK. Now a year on, the same chutney tastes absolutely superb.

So, today I made Runner bean and tomato chutney. Here's the recipe:

1.5kg runner beans (topped, tailed, de-strung and finely sliced)
4 medium onions (finely chopped)
500g tomatoes (peeled and chopped)
300ml malt vinegar
300ml cider vinegar
400g granulated sugar
55g cornflour
2tsp ground mixed spice
2tsp ground coriander
4tsp mustard powder
4tsp grain mustard
4tsp turmeric
2tsp salt

Pop the onions in a large pan with the malt vinegar and all the spices and seasoning. Bring to a boil then simmer for about 10 minutes. Mix the sugar with cider vinegar and add to the onions along with the beans and tomatoes. Bring to a boil then simmer for about 45 minutes until the beans are tender. Take out a little of the liquid from the pan and mix with cornflour into a smooth paste then pour back into the pan and stir until the chutney mixture thickens (a minutes or so). Ladle into hot, sterilized jars and pop the lids on. Done.

Slice the beans diagonally into thin, long shreds.












I like my chutney hot so I put 2tsp of chili flakes in with the beans. Only do this is you like a spicy chutney, otherwise follow the recipe without the chili.











Just couldn't resist arranging the bean slices into flower shapes. The beans are such a lovely vibrant, pink colour. Hmm, it's given me a few craft ideas.







You could also try making a soup with the beans. This recipe couldn't be easier. You simply fry an onion and garlic in some oil in a large saucepan. Wash and de-string the beans thoroughly. This step is important! Stringy soup isn't good. Just peel both sides using an ordinary veg peeler. Slice the beans and add to the saucepan. Add a litre of hot stock (or enough to just cover the beans) along with a good pinch of ground cumin, ground coriander, salt, pepper and a few chilli flakes. Boil until the beans are tender. Blitz with a stick blender and serve with a fresh, crusty bread roll :)

And how about slow roasted tomatoes? These are absolutely delicious. We had them for the first time a few years ago at a friend's house. We have made them a few times since but never with our own tomatoes. After picking about 5kg of tomatoes from my greenhouses there was only one way to use them up. This recipe is, again, very easy and requires almost zero effort which fits in perfectly with my motto for life: minimum input, maximum output.

Wash the tomatoes and quarter them. Pop them on large baking trays, sprinkle liberally with mixed herbs, salt, pepper and chilli flakes and douse with lots of olive oil. Toss a little and pop in the oven on 140C for about 4 hours (yes, 4 hours!). You could, of course, speed things up by halving the time and turning up the temperature to about 180C. I like to let them roast slowly for the flavours to develop to their maximum. Put your feet up and enjoy the aromas. Do check on them occasionally.

Once roasted you could eat them as they are. Store them in an air-tight container in the fridge and use in sandwiches. Alternatively, you could make soup or pasta sauce from them by adding a bit of hot stock and blitzing with a stick blender. Enjoy :)

Pretty, crafty York

The latest news is that Daniel and I (and our two cats) are moving to York before Christmas. Very exciting! The other day we both went to York to see what it's like and I instantly fell in love with it. It reminds me of Winchester but larger and, dare I say it, nicer. Although I did love the St Catherine's hill walk in Winchester and the walk to our favourite pub in Shawford called The Bridge. I do occasionally have pangs for Winchester.  But anyway, here are some photos I took.









Yorkshire wheel, right by the train station. It was the first observation wheel of its kind in North Yorkshire, and was inspired by the London Eye which opened a few years earlier. At 54 metres (177 ft), it was somewhat smaller than the 135 metres (443 ft) of the London Eye, but could be no higher than York Minster, York's skyline height limit.






Rowing on the River Ouse which runs through York. The Ouse is partly formed from the River Ure and the combined Ure/Ouse river is about 208 km (129 mi) making it the sixth longest river in the UK.



There were lots of very friendly squirrels in the Yorkshire Museum Gardens.









York Minster. I just couldn't get far out enough to get all of it. It's pretty impressive and one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. It clearly charts the development of English Gothic architecture from Early English through to the Perpendicular Period. The present building was begun in about 1230 and completed in 1472. It has a cruciform plan with an octagonal chapter house attached to the north transept, a central tower and two towers at the west front. The stone used for the building is magnesian limestone, a creamy-white coloured rock that was quarried in nearby Tadcaster. The Minster is 158 metres (518 ft) long and each of its three towers are 60 metres (200 ft) high. The choir has an interior height of 31 metres (102 ft). I think that's about enough info you'll need.

All in all, York seems lovely and I am especially pleased because it has about five decent craft shops which suits me just fine. I didn't see many charity shops which is a shame as I acquire much of my craft material from charity shops and freecycle. Maybe I just needed to look harder for them instead of spending hours in cute little gift shops. I particularly liked the Shambles, an old street in York lined with shops selling all sorts of lovely stuff. I had to restrain myself in the Peter Rabbit shop. I could have so easily walked out with tons of stuff having spent tons of money.

On the whole, I think we'll really enjoy living in York and it will certainly make a big change from living in Stoke-on-Trent which is decidedly lacklustre. Although I will miss my allotment and leaving Flossy's patch will be hard. 

Signpost marking the Shambles.

 The ruins of York's medieval Norman castle is sometimes referred to as Clifford's Tower. Built originally on the orders of William I to dominate the former Viking city of York, the castle suffered a tumultuous early history before developing into a major fortification with extensive water defences. After a major explosion in 1684 rendered the remaining military defences uninhabitable, York Castle continued to be used as a jail and prison until 1929.



 It will be good living in a place that has 2 veggie/vegan restaurants (Stoke has none!). I really loved El Piano. It is completely vegan and the owners are absolutely amazing. They also do weddings there. Worth keeping that in mind as I would actually like to get married in an unconventional place. I'd love to get married in the woods but in England it's not possible to get a license to do that.

Anyway, back to crafts. Here are some ideas:

        Owl mobile. Enough said.

Painted stones. I have tons of stones at home. I have often thought about painting them with chalkboard paint and using them as place cards for a rustic wedding. You could write the guest's name with chalk.

 I think these earrings are made from bicycle inner tubes. I have been meaning to make crafts using bicycle parts since I collected a bike advertised on freecycle. It's still in the shed. My PhD is preventing me from crafting at the moment. Grr...

Wood glorious wood. I have enough wood to build me a house! This reclaimed wooden coat hook is so pretty and rustic. 

Have you guessed yet that I am obsessed with squirrels? I found these squirrely handing decorations in the Cath Kidston store. So pretty. They're made of felt and would be so easy to make.

I was going to make bunting with my second hand copy of Peter Rabbit but greetings cards would work just as well.

Dried rose buds heart wreath. These are so sweet and I know just the shop in Manchester that sells dried rose buds. It's a Chinese supermarket and the rose buds are actually for making tea!

Small houses made from cardboard and covered in fabric. Again, I have been planning these for ages now. I have been saving cardboard from cereal boxes for about a year and have tons of different fabric, just need the time to make these!!