Lizzie Dripping

Wonders of Wheat

2010-06-03T13:08:00.001-07:00

Here's how much of a vegan geek I am. I brought this back from our honeymoon in Hawaii.

It's vital wheat gluten. It's listed in quite a few recipes in my favourite vegan cookbook back home, yet I've never seen it for sale in the UK. In retrospect, deciding to carry a package of unidentifiable white powder through American customs in my hand luggage might not have been the best decision but happily I got it back home in one piece & last weekend, finally got around to cooking with it.

It may not sound like the most exciting of ingredients to non-vegans but really, it's great stuff for making burgers & sausages as it binds like only egg can do. Consequently, I made two recipes with it. The first was vegan chorizo. You mix the gluten, pinto beans & a host of other lovely things including smoked paprika & cayenne pepper together in a food processor till you get a spongy mass like this.

The gluten does it's magic making the dough easy to roll into four sausage shapes which you then wrap in foil, tightly twisting the ends, and pop into a steamer.

40 minutes later the sauages turn out like this. Firm and tender, just like meat sausages. They're ready eat straight away or you can slice them up to top pizza, put in sandwiches, add to pasta sauces etc.

The second recipe was for black bean burgers & again the gluten worked a treat, making the burgers really easy to shape & helping to make them firm when cooked. Just need to find out where to buy this stuff in the UK now.

Two Very Strange Looking Catepillars

2010-06-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

Aren't they odd! Maybe they look this way so the otters won't eat them.

More Snaps From Skye

2010-06-03T12:34:00.001-07:00

Paul in the otter hide.

Violets were everywhere.

Nothing makes Paul smile like marmalade pudding. Mmm.

On the Trail of the Elusive Otter

2010-06-03T12:05:00.001-07:00

Part of our reason for wanting to visit Skye was to do some otter watching. We spent a whole day with Grace & Paul from the International Otter Survival Fund & they showed us how to look out for signs of otter activity.

1. Frog Skins

Frogs are apparently a favourite snack for otters but they don't like the skins so discard them instead.

2. Footprints

We spotted these track marks near to what was probably an otter holt.

3. Spraint Mounts

Or, to you & me, otter poo. Otters use their droppings to mark their territories & they can recognise other individual otters in the area just by the smell of their spraint. You can spot a spraint mound by the patch of unusually vivid green grass around it (natural fertilizer, you see). Paul & I drew the line at sniffing the stuff but Grace got right down there amongst it & was able to tell how recently the otter had been there & what it had been eating.

Despite all these signs there wasn't even a sniff of an otter sighting that day. All was not lost though. We were able to spend the day listening to Paul & Grace's fascinating stories about otters while we looked at this amazing view. We were also able to use their tips to help us locate an otter later in the trip.

Skye

2010-06-03T11:56:00.001-07:00

Some snaps from our recent trip to the Isle of Skye

The Barton Boys

2010-05-07T01:15:00.001-07:00

It was my father-in-law's birthday at the weekend so we had a family day out at the canal boat festival in Little Venice followed by a pub lunch. It was fun being able to nosy into people's homes & we even came across a boat owned by some Bartons. Naturally a photo was required.

One a Penny, Two a Penny

2010-04-04T04:38:00.000-07:00

On Thursday before this horrible cough descended I popped to the shops to get ingredients for making hot cross buns.

I spotted these lovely lamb-shaped cakes in the window of the Polish bakery.

My hot cross bun recipe has been adapted (& veganised) from one by Silvana Franco. The best thing about it is that it uses dried blueberries instead of currants.

The next best thing is it uses white marzipan for the crosses.

I guess being stuck indoors with this horrible lurgy has its compensations. I get to eat most of these myself!

Back to Yorkshire

2010-04-04T03:55:00.001-07:00

Spring was really peeking through when we visited Nunnington Hall in North Yorkshire a few weeks back.

Lovely Friends, Lovely Gifts

2010-04-04T03:26:00.000-07:00

It's Easter & I'm stuck at home with a horrible, horrible cold so thought I'd catch up on some long overdue blogging.

Recently we had some friends over for a board games/cocktails evening (as you do) & they brought us the gift of this beautiful pineapple. When we'd finished turning some of it into garnishes for our pina coladas there was still about half of it left. What do you do with half a pineapple?...

Turn it into cake, of course!

The pineapple came with its own specially made label. Despite its tropical appearance, its maker told me the image is actually from Butlins. God, I love Butlins! When I holidayed there with my family in the 80s I have very special memories of this restaurant.

Muffin Madness

2010-02-14T03:18:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed the sunrise muffins so much that I've decided to make vegan muffin-baking a regular weekend activity. They're so quick to make & I don't know why but I find baking really therapeutic. It always cheers me up.

Last week I made these blueberry & walnut muffins. I used this recipe & added a few walnuts just because I like them.

Today I made coconut muffins. I was looking for a way to use up half a tin of coconut milk I had left over & this did the trick. Here's the recipe I used. It intrigued me a bit because there's no egg substitute, only vinegar (?). Worked a treat though! I didn't ice the muffins as a slight concession to health. Also, Paul had already eaten two from the cooling rack before I had the chance. Guess that's a good sign : )

Sunrise Muffins

2010-01-31T03:17:00.000-08:00

Did a spot of baking yesterday. Thanks to Benhasten who sent me the recipe. We've snaffled down a couple for breakfast this morning & have frozen the rest to take into work as afternoon treats. They turned out pretty well & are packed with good things like apple, carrots, walnuts and apricots. They also contain a few slightly unusual ingredients like a combination of tofu & ground flax seeds which acts as a binding agent instead of egg. Worked a treat! Also, agave syrup instead of sugar. Never used this before but apparently it has a much lower GI than usual sugar so sounds good to me & tastes great too. You can find the recipe here.

Rules rules.

2010-01-23T06:51:00.000-08:00

I’ve wanted to go to Rules ever since reading Graham Greene’s ‘End of the Affair’. It’s London’s oldest restaurant & has always seemed very glamorous and romantic to me.

Sadly, as a vegan, I don’t think I’ve got much chance of eating there. Their menu favors nursery food like steak & kidney pudding with not a vegetarian, never mind a vegan dish in sight.

I’d pretty much given up on the idea of going there until I heard that they have a little known cocktail bar upstairs.

P & I decided to check it out & found that on a cold & rainy January night it was a little haven of warmth, peace and quiet. As the prices are pretty steep, we managed to nurse a single cocktail each for an hour & a half.

I had a Rules Royale which involved champagne, vodka, violet liqueur & crystallized violet petals.

Paul had something with champagne, gin & Poire William which was very tasty too. The bill came to just under £30 (ouch). It’s pricey but a really lovely place for a special treat!

Foraged Mushroom Soup

2010-01-15T11:30:00.000-08:00

After spending Christmas in Chorleywood, Georgie sent us back to London with this jar of hand-foraged & dried wild mushrooms. She had collected them from the wood behind their house, thinly sliced them and dried them out on trays in the airing cupboard. We've been thinking of ways to use them ever since.

Rather than add them to a risotto we thought we'd try making a soup. This was super quick & easy to make but tasted delicious. The wild Chorleywood mushrooms gave it real intensity of flavour. Here's the recipe:

3 shallots
2 cloves of garlic
500g portabella mushrooms
handful of dried mushroom (like porcini or if you're very lucky, Chorleywood variety)
1.5 litres of stock (we used the mushroom soaking liquid plus some extra veg stock)
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
fresh parsley
half a carton of soya cream
salt & pepper

First, soak the mushrooms in hot water for 20 mins. Drain, reserving the soaking liquid for stock. Fry the shallots & parsley for 5 mins. Add the fresh & dried mushrooms & fry for another 5 mins. Add the garlic & stir for a minute before adding the stock. Simmer for 15 mins then add the mustard, soy sauce, soya cream & seasoning. You can puree it if you like a smoother soup but I like it just like this.

Sledging in Chorleywood

2010-01-15T10:58:00.000-08:00

Although most of the country seems to have been skiving off work due to the snow recently, us poor lambs who work in London & travel on the uber efficient Piccadilly line have had no such luck. All the more reason to make the most of the snow on the weekend. Sunday brought a trip to Chorleywood where we dragged Paul & Natalie's ancient sledges (unearthed from the garage) up to the common.

The sledges were pretty tiny but we weren't going to let that stop us.

Weeeeee!

Georgie joined in too. What a lovely, lovely day!

Reflections & Resolutions

2010-01-01T09:40:00.000-08:00

So another year ends already and a new one begins. Thinking back, 2009 has been a pretty eventful and happy year for me. My decision to leave my job and go travelling in 2007 ended a long & dreary period of procrastination and has been a great catalyst for change. This last year has brought lots of new things too. I've got a new job, got married, started learning to Lindy Hop & jive, made some new friends and got to know some old friends better. All these things have brought me happiness. Here's to more of this in 2010. And now for some resolutions:

1. Learn to be a better Lindy Hopper
I really want to get over my nerves and get really good at this. Must be brave & not get scared of falling over.

2. Be a more adventurous knitter
I do tend to stick to patterns that I already know I can do. Must try to learn some new skills.

3. Stay Positive
The world is a mad, mad place & it's important not to let the proverbials grind you down.

4. Go easy on myself others and
No-one's perfect & it'd be pretty awful if we were anyway.

I reckon this should be enough to be getting on with. A very happy new year to anyone who reads this. Wishing you all good things for the coming year!

A New Year Walk on the Heath

2010-01-01T09:32:00.001-08:00

We had a lovely walk on Hampstead Heath today after a very quite New Year's Eve involving scrabble & lots of yawning.

It was a beautiful afternoon for a walk. Sunny, cold & crisp.

The ponds were all frozen over.

It all looked very pretty.

Kenwood House looked very inviting in the sunshine but we managed to resist stopping for a cake & walked off some of those extra Christmas pounds instead.

Christmas in Chorleywood

2010-01-01T09:29:00.001-08:00

Had a very nice Christmas with Paul's family in Chorleywood this year. The 27th Decemeber was Alan & Georgie's ruby wedding anniversary. Here we all are having a glass of fizz to celebrate.

The Darts

2010-01-01T09:14:00.000-08:00

Before Christmas Paul & I joined some friends to go the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace. The tickets were a wedding gift from Rich.

I'd been warned to expect some usual outfits.

This is Paul's friend Sankar and his mates from university

A Christmas hat was the legal minimum of silly dress possible.

Oh, and there was actually some darts going on as well. It turned out to be one of the most bizarre yet fun nights out I've had for quite a while. Thanks Rich!

Strictly Lindy Hop

2009-12-20T02:50:00.000-08:00

I was at the International Darts Championship last night (I know! More of that later) so I missed the first appearance of Lindy Hop on 'Strictly Come Dancing' : (
Happily, youtube came to the rescue : )
Shame about Chris's ridiculous facial expressions but hey, it's nice to see some Lindy Hop on the telly.

Winter Wonderland

2009-12-20T01:38:00.000-08:00

I had my parents down from Yorkshire to visit last weekend. Here's some of what we got up to:

On Saturday we went to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. This snowman has a snow ball pool in his stomach. Sadly only for the under 10s : (

We watched the ice skaters & the scary fairground rides & browsed the market stalls. Then it was home to...

...dumplings!

It seemed like the perfect evening for a warming winter stew.

On Sunday we had a lovely veggie lunch at Manna followed by a walk on Primrose Hill. Dad is sporting his paramilitary look. He doesn't normally look this scary, honestly ; )

Retro Make-Up Heaven

2009-12-06T03:03:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure anyone else out there shares my make-up fetish but here goes...
Had a little trip to What Katie Did on one of their discount christmas shopping evenings & discovered that they now keep Besame cosmetics. I'm in love! It's the sort of old-fashioned make-up that demands to be displayed on a dressing table and makes me remember playing with my Nana's hand mirror & powder puff when I was a little girl. I guess I never grew out of wanting to play dress-up. The design is beautiful, especially the compacts, and the products are really good too. My favourite is the lipstick. It comes in a tiny, bullet-shaped case. It's got great pigment, is long-lasting but creamy & smells ever so slightly of vanilla. Really, I should work for them, I love it so much.

Knitter's Envy

2009-12-06T02:34:00.000-08:00

A couple of weekends ago we decided to do a trip around the Scandinavian Christmas fairs in London. Last year we picked up some great goodies at the Finnish church & this year we thought we'd try the Norwegian & Swedish ones too.

Sadly the Finnish fair was so busy we couldn't get in but we got to discover the wonder that is glogg at the Swedish church & also to hear Anne sing in their fabulous choir (no photos of this I'm afraid as I didn't want to put her off with my snapping).

The Norwegian fair was also lots of fun. We especially liked the huge stall of handknitted items. Paul & I decided to get each other some early Christmas presents there. Here's what we got:

Some beautiful fingerless gloves for Paul.

A hat for me.

I'm so in love with these slippers!

Loved these tube socks, especially the spiral rib design.

It makes me feel rather ashamed that I've been knitting these same ribbed socks since the summer. I'm now too ashamed to show my face at the college knitting group as it seems so sad to turn up with the same old sock each week. There's a new year's resolution for me: I promise to be a become a better knitter in 2010.

Hawaiian Souvenirs

2009-12-06T02:28:00.001-08:00

Hawaii is great for kitschy sounvenirs. Here are a few that we brought back:

Some Tiki shot glasses,

A hibiscus quilted cushion,

and our favourite, gracing our christmas tree this year will be Santa playing the ukulele while sitting on a turtle.

Nearly Time to Go Home

2009-12-03T03:56:00.000-08:00

We splashed out on a top knotch Japanese meal with some of our wedding gift contributions.

Togged up in my new Hawaiian frock.

Magnum PB in our hire car.

Makena

2009-12-03T03:47:00.000-08:00

This is the view from our lanai at the Maui Prince hotel.

Sunset on Makena beach.

Turtle rock. We got up early to snorkel with the turtles here & boy were they friendly.

Paul (wearing another aloha shirt) enjoying some pineapple wine in our room.

Watching the Surfers

2009-12-03T03:44:00.001-08:00

Lei in the Supermarket

2009-12-03T03:41:00.000-08:00

There are whole chiller cabinets full of them. : )

The Road to Hana

2009-12-03T03:26:00.000-08:00

The road to Hana is a day long trip that takes you around the most beautiful part of Maui's coastline.

There are beautiful waterfalls and swimming holes at every corner (That's Paul in the water).

A little tentative at first but I do get in too, honestly.

Paul paddling on Black Beach sporting one of the three aloha shirts he picked up on the trip.

A mongoose.

More Maui

2009-12-03T03:05:00.000-08:00

Visiting the volcano.

Some lava from the last erruption.

Beautiful, beautiful spider.

It's a tough life being a cat in Maui.

Into the Mountains

2009-11-29T06:52:00.000-08:00

Before we left Kana'apali we made some more lei, this time with leaves from the ti plant.

We left the beach for the mountains of Haiku.

Our bed & breakfast was surrounded by almost jungle-like vegetaion & the owner had decorated it with some lovely Hawaiian trinkets.

There was a beautiful, traditional Hawaiian quilt on the bed & many strange noises outside.

Flowers, Birds & Breadfruit

2009-11-29T05:50:00.000-08:00

These birds wandered around the grounds of the hotel making the most amazing noise.

This breadfruit fell from a tree & very narrowly missed Paul's sleeping head.

This little fellow had a very sweet song which he treated us to every morning from our balcony.

Every few seconds one of these frangipani blossoms fell from a tree creating the most amazing smell & making free hair decorations. Yey!

Couldn't resist adapting the hibiscus for this purpose too.

Weaving & Playing the Uke

2009-11-29T05:33:00.000-08:00

Here's Paul learning how to weave a bookmark.

>
Our finished articles.

Along with surfing, aloha shirts & great cocktails, Hawai'i has given the world the ukulele. We got to have a beginners' lesson & learnt about 10 chords. By the end of the hour we could strum away to 'Hey Jude'. Great fun!

Our ukulele teacher also turned out to be a master weaver. Here's one of his bowls.

He taught us how to make an angel fish decoration for our cocktails from palm fronds.

Hawai'ian Honeymoon

2009-11-29T05:08:00.000-08:00

We had such a great time in Maui. Here's a taste of what we got up to:

The first of the three places we stayed in was Kana'apali. Our hotel was very keen on promoting native Hawai'ian culture so we got stuck straight in with some lei making classes.

Next, a bit of exploring. We found beautiful plants & flowers growing everywhere. Even on the beaches.

A spot of Hula dancing after lunch.

We found out that there was a colony of green sea turtles living right by the black rock on the beach. Even a nervous snorkeller like me couldn't resist this & swimming with the turtles turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. They were about four feet long and swam up to within two feet of us. Amazing!

Beautiful sunsets every night. Just gorgeous!

Our Wedding

2009-11-21T04:51:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the long absence. I've been a bit busy getting married & going on honeymoon & have only just got around to blogging again. So... here are few snaps from the wedding:

Here we are rigid with fear outside Islington Town Hall before the event. We'd been so relaxed in the run up to the wedding it was a real shock to find we were both so nervous on the day.

Feeling much better now that the serious bit is over & we can get on with the party!

We took a routemaster bus with all our guests from the Town Hall to The Green in Clerkenwell where we had our reception. Here we are arriving.

Choosing what to do for our first dance was a bit tricky. In the end we decided to mix up the old and the new and Lindy Hop to 'There Is A Light That Never Goes Out' by The Smiths.

Love + Family & Friends + Music + Champagne = A great, great day.

Bunting

2009-10-02T01:25:00.000-07:00

I spent yesterday finishing up some little jobs before the wedding.

The most fun of these was assembling the last of Anne's beautiful handmade bunting to make decorations for our reception.

Ribbon, glue, otters, ribbon, glue, birds, ribbon, glue, cats...

Lovely, Lovely Colleagues

2009-10-02T01:09:00.001-07:00

Wednesday was my last day at work before our wedding and my fantastic colleagues really bowled me over with their kindness. They wrote lovely things in a card for me & gave me some vouchers and these beautiful, beautiful flowers. Aren't they gorgeous!

I also received some wine, a card and a special letter from the library's most mysterious employee known only as 'The Lady'. No one has ever actually seen 'The Lady' except Ken our security guard but through him she is able to perform great acts of kindness. I love the lady!

Lemon Poppyseed Cakes

2009-09-27T07:51:00.000-07:00

Had a little baking spree this morning & finally got to use the little mini cake moulds I bought a very long time ago.

Jumble Finds

2009-09-27T07:39:00.000-07:00

Some friends had a stall at the the Wills Moody Jumble Sale at the Aloysius Social Club last Sunday so I popped down to say hello.

Found some lovely pearls for £2 & this badge for a mere 50p.

Couldn't resist the chance to get into the aloha spirit for the bargain price of 50p with this vintage Hawaiian LP. What with this & last weekend's hula fun I'm really in the mood for our Hawaiian honeymoon now.

And so to... Bar Italia

2009-09-26T11:53:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed myself so much that I wasn't ready to go home once it was all over & so I had a lovely post hula chamomile tea & chat with Anne & Cara into the early hours. Thanks so much everyone who came along for making it such a great night & big thanks to Anne for sending me her photos.

More Hula Hens

2009-09-26T11:35:00.001-07:00

Everyone enjoyed the Lindy Hop class & especially the teachers' demonstration afterwards but the surprise hit of the night was definitely the hula hooping.

Especially popular were the hoops with little light in them. Three of our number are now proud hula hoop owners.

This girl was very, very good although she did somehow manage to make a wholesome children's activity look really dirty.

These lovely creatures are the Whoopee Beaux Belles. Apparently they're a tap dancing troup from East London (get it? Beaux Belles?) but on Friday they kept us entertained by running ahead of us and making arches for us to walk through. Very bizarre!

Here is the hot tub. Sadly none of us were brave enough to get in it but that didn't stop up nipping in there for a few snaps.

Hula Hula Hen Night

2009-09-26T11:22:00.001-07:00

Last Friday was my hen night. A gang of us went to Rock a Hula at the Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes. No L-plates or veils for me. Just your regular 1950s Hawaiian beach party themed hula hooping & swing dancing night.

Here are the girls...

Watching Elvis shake his thing at the showing of 'Blue Hawaii'.

We like!

A Walk in the Country

2009-09-13T02:57:00.000-07:00

We went out to visit Paul's Parents yesterday & had a walk in the surrounding Chiltern Hills.

That's Chequers, the Prime Minister's country retreat.

Here we are setting off again after our pub lunch.

Map boy!

the final trudge up the hill was pretty steep but we were rewarded with great views over the vale of Aylesbury.

Cannellini Bean & Rosemary Burgers

2009-09-13T02:49:00.001-07:00

I found a really good vegan bean burger recipe online.

Check it out at 'What the Hell Does a Vegan Eat Anyway'.

London Vegan Festival

2009-09-13T02:20:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I went to the London Vegan Festival at Kensington Town Hall.

There were more vegans there than you could shake a stick at.

If you think that a lack of meat makes vegans mild-mannered creatures you should see how they behave when a tray of free vegan sausages is on offer or watch them squabble over the last chocolate tiramisu.

To be honest most of the vegan festival was a bit much for me. Too many hunt sabs (isn't that the government's job these days) & white people with dreadlocks. I was just there for the food which happily was great. I also liked the 'Secret Society of Vegans' stall. They have great design & a sense of humour about themselves. Apparently they have a stall in Camden Town now. Must go and check it out.

Mmm, ginger cake.

Birthday Treats

2009-09-04T01:15:00.001-07:00

It was my birthday yesterday & I had a lovely, lovely day. I had to go to work (boo) & didn't get any cards in the post because of the wretched postal strike but this didn't stop me from having lots of fun & feeling thoroughly spoilt.

Paul got me this ukulele. I'm so excited about learning how to play it!

I love the dolphin-shaped bridge.

In the evening we went to Saf, a vegan & raw food restaurant in Shoreditch. Here's our starter: a taster plate of beetroot ravioli, vegetable maki, cashew cheese & flax-seed crackers - all raw.

Here's Paul's main course: a raw mushroom lasagne. I pinched a bit. It was very tasty.

And my main course: squash & rosemary cannelloni. Delicious! Really enjoyed our trip to Saf. It's not cheap but it's lovely for special occasions & we were pleasantly suprised by the raw stuff we tried. They also have an excellent cocktail list. The importance of this cannot be overstated ; )

Step Away From the Book!

2009-09-04T01:07:00.000-07:00

I found this in the library I work in. Although it was published in 1962 I thought I'd have a browse. Things can't have changed that much for brides & grooms in 47 years, right? Wrong! Absolutely terrifying stuff! So glad it's 2009.

Tofu Omelette

2009-09-04T00:51:00.000-07:00

This is the first recipe I've tried from my new 'Vegan Brunch' cookbook. The only thing I really miss since becoming vegan almost a year ago is eggs so I decided to have a go at creating a vegan 'omelette'.

I combined silken tofu, chickpea flour, olive oil, nutritional yeast, arrowroot & seasoning in a blender to make an eggy looking batter. It held together in the pan just great.

There are lots of suggestions for vegan omelette fillings in my cookbook. I went with mushrooms & spinach, fried with a little garlic.

The moment of truth. Does it taste like an omelette? Well, it's not exactly the same but pretty similar & even omni fiance (the ultimate critic) thought it was mighty tasty. Thumbs up indeed! : )

Kew for Free.

2009-08-23T10:28:00.001-07:00

Had a lovely trip to Kew Gardens after work on Friday evening. I'm so sad that the summer is almost over. Where did it all go?

Kew's Japanese Garden

2009-08-23T10:15:00.000-07:00

Brought back lots of happy memories of our time in Japan.

Early evening was a lovely time to visit as the sun was low in the sky & gave a special glint to everything.

Love that perfectly raked gravel!

A Bit of Old Fashioned Glamour

2009-08-19T12:36:00.000-07:00

Today I spent the afternoon with Leila and Isadora of Nina's Hair Parlour trying out hair & make-up styles for the wedding.

I was looking for classic Hollywood era style a la Rita Hayworth & boy did I get it!

I've actually got a hairnet on in these pictures but didn't feel a bit Ina Sharples.

They even found these two beautiful flowers for me to pin in my hair.

What a treat! I've never felt so glamorous before. When I mentioned to Isadora that I felt a bit overdone for strolling around on a Wednesday afternoon she tutted at me & said, 'Fifty years ago you wouldn't have even considered leaving the house without curling your hair'. That told me.

Well, it must've had some effect. I was chatted up in the street twice on the way home and a stranger in Superdrug made me do a twirl for them. Amazing what a touch of eyeliner & a few curls can do.

Kingly Court Spree

2009-08-19T02:01:00.000-07:00

I popped into Kingly Court on the way home from work on Monday looking for a few accessories for our wedding. I found a great 1950s clutchbag in Fur Coat No Knickers but lo and behold I was tempted by some other stuff too...

I found these fantastic knickers in Black Pearl,

and this lovely, jolly fisherman bowl in 'Circus' where they have 20% off homewares at the moment. I love Kingly Court.

Allotment Envy

2009-08-19T01:45:00.000-07:00

My colleague Darren has three allotments (yes, three allotments). Having been on the waiting list for an allotment in Islington for five years (yes, five years) he took pity on me before I imploded from allotment envy and brought me some of his lovely produce to try.

Hmmm. What to do with a butternut squash, corn on the cob & some tiny carrots?

I roasted the squash with olive oil & garlic,

and grilled the corn with some olive oil & a little salt

I made a pasta dish with the roasted, garlicky squash, some shallots, a little soya cream & some sage. We ate the grilled corn on the side. The carrot? They were too delicious to cook. We just washed & ate them as they were, Bugs Bunny style.

Vegan Brunch

2009-08-19T01:38:00.001-07:00

Yey! I've found a vegan cookbook for my favourite meal of the day. What's more it's written by Isa Chandra Moskowitz of The Post Punk Kitchen fame. Can't wait to get cooking with this one.

Pretending to Be 'Debs'

2009-08-19T01:22:00.001-07:00

There was a really interesting temporary exhibition on at Kensington Palace called 'The Last Debutants'. It focused on the 1958 season, the last year that young, aristocratic girls were presented to the court. As well as looking at the clothes they wore and listening to the stories of the last 'debs', visitors can practice their court etiquette, such as:

learning to waltz...

Mum & Dad seem to be doing pretty well

and balancing a book on your head (I was rubbish at this).

If you get it all right maybe you could indulge in one of these.

Kensington Palace

2009-08-19T01:11:00.000-07:00

My parents came to visit us this weekend. The sun shined on us & we decided to visit Kensington Palace & Gardens.

Children? Hard Work?

2009-08-19T00:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of Paul's friend Mark with his two kids, Sam & Annie on their visit to London. Shaun, Paul & I met up with them for a couple of hours in Green Park. Adorable though they both are, Annie spent most of those hours leaping up & down on her Dad's neck & there was a lot of running around & screaming. We were exhausted just watching.

Shaun had spent the previous day entertaining his niece & nephew. The strain is starting to show.

What Katie Did

2009-08-09T01:56:00.000-07:00

Decided to have a little potter around Portobello Road yesterday & enjoy the sunshine. Had a little trip to 'What Katie Did' to look for some undies for my wedding day. What a lovely shop! Beautiful underwear & not crazily priced either. They have a really good sale on at the moment so if you like your smalls retro & enjoy a bargain check it out.

The Cushiest Librarian's Job in the World

2009-08-08T04:23:00.001-07:00

Situation Vacant
Librarian needed to manage small collection.
Must serve the needs of sailors.
Hours: 3 per week

Yes please!

HMS Belfast

2009-08-08T04:15:00.000-07:00

We weren't too disappointed for long as HMS Belfast proved to be fascinating & it was great to be able to look around with only a handful of other people there.

We even got to see that sailor boy DJ we'd been hoping for : )

Battleship Boogie

2009-08-08T03:56:00.000-07:00

After my long Lindy free convalescence period I was really looking forward to getting my dancing shoes back on at the Battleship Boogie on HMS Belfast this Thursday. The scene was set for an evening of 40s fun & frolics...

What I hadn't counted on was the depressing predictability of this summer's weather. After a day of glorious sunshine, the heavens opened just in time for boarding & the deck of our lovely ship was flooded with water.

Nope, it didn't stop all evening so Anne & I decided to explore the ship...

Hello Again

2009-08-04T11:04:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long absence. I've been ill with the flu & although this blog often covers some of the more mundane aspects of life, even I couldn't subject you to a blow-by-blow (sorry) account of my last week. After a lot of sleeping, coughing, Mad Men watching & sock knitting I'm finally back on my feet & hope to be posting properly again very soon.

Hollywood Style

2009-07-23T12:50:00.000-07:00

Went to a new Lindy Hop class this week where we learned a different style of the dance known as the West Coast, Hollywood or Dean Collins style. Up until now I've been learning the original Harlem Lindy Hop. The Hollywood footwork is a bit different from the East Coast moves. Not sure which I like best yet. Here are some 'You Tube' clips of the Dean Collins style. First there is a clip from 'The Powers Girl' with Benny Goodman, Jewel McGowan & Dean Collins hmself. Next is a clip from 1945 film 'Twice Blessed'. Enjoy!

The Mysterious Mr Button

2009-07-20T10:34:00.001-07:00

I got home from work today to find this note waiting for me. This made me smile so much. I'm about to marry a fantastically lovely and ever so slightly odd person & I couldn't be more happy about it. As for the button... we'll see.

Tofu 'Egg Mayonnaise'

2009-07-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

I never really miss cheese the way that I thought I would before I became vegan but I do sometimes miss eggs. Nothing can quite replicate a lovely soft-boiled egg with soldiers but happily I've had successful experiments with scrambled tofu so I felt hopeful about trying a recipe for a tofu version of egg mayonnaise. Crumbled tofu and vegan mayo just need a little bit of help from some Dijon mustard, red onion, cider vinegar & a little dill to turn them into a tasty sandwich filling as good (and maybe even better) than the real thing. I usually fall back on hummus, nut butter or sliced veggie sausage for my sarnies so it's nice to have something new to try.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

2009-07-19T04:37:00.001-07:00

We had the lovely Rebecca & Phil round for dinner last night & decided to cook some Vietnamese food. It was a bit of an experiment but turned out largely okay. We started off with these spring rolls which we've been meaning to have a go at since we got back from our travels. We really enjoyed eating them in Vietnam as they're so light & fresh tasting, very different to fried spring rolls. Handling the rice papers turned out to be not as difficult as we first thought. Sadly, I was so busy chattering that I forgot to take any more photos after this one.

Good Old Oxfam

2009-07-19T04:30:00.001-07:00

It's so hard to find anything good in charity shops now that I've almost stopped shopping in them but then I came across these beauties in the Camden Town yesterday and it restored my faith. Just £6.39 for the set. They're slighly water damaged but I love them.

Marinated Grilled Tofu & Vegetables

2009-07-18T02:35:00.001-07:00

Inspired by Laura Barton's article in the Guardian this week I thought I'd have a go at making a dish with marinated tofu. I used a marinade recipe from 'Veganomicon' which is basically a mixture of white wine, soya sauce, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, herbs & seasoning.

Here's my recipe idea (serves two hungry people):

Cut a block of firm tofu into four steaks. Sit them in the marinade for a hour, turning them half way through. While the tofu is marinating, start cooking some brown rice. Slice some aubergine, yellow pepper & courgette & brush them and some asparagus spears with a mixture of olive oil & balsamic vinegar. Grill the vegetable for about 5 minutes on each side. Meanwhile, heat up a griddle pan & sear the tofu for a minute or two on each side. Serve up the rice with the grilled vegetables and place the tofu steaks on top. Pour over the remaining marinade. Serve with tahini dressing drizzled over the top.

Kerry's Tahini Dressing:
This is my version of a tahini sauce I ate in a vegan restaurant in Glasgow years ago. I usually tweak it a bit. Sometimes substituting different herbs, leaving out the yogurt, adding some soy sauce etc.

4 tablespoons tahini
4 tablespoons hot water
1 glove of garlic (minced)
juice of half a lemon
salt & pepper
2 tablespoons plain soya yogurt
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

Whisk all the ingredients together & serve.

A Few More Snaps From Kefalonia

2009-07-18T02:11:00.000-07:00

Just so we can all wonder whatever happened to the summer here.

Vegans Like Junk Food Sometimes Too

2009-07-16T12:19:00.001-07:00

Oh yes we do. This bacon cheese burger with fried onions and HP sauce was naughty but nice.

Hurrah for Vegans!

2009-07-16T07:54:00.000-07:00

Laura Barton wrote a great piece in the Guardian today in which she bigs up vegan food.

In it she mentions a fab vegan food blog called Vegan Yum Yum

If you've got an interest in great food. It's really worth checking out.

Goats

2009-07-11T09:09:00.000-07:00

There are goats everywhere in Kefalonia. And frogs, and geese, strangely.

Vegan Greece

2009-07-11T09:04:00.000-07:00

Kefalonia turned out to be pretty vegan friendly. It really helped that we had a little stove in our room so I could whip up some meals using the lovely local produce.

Our Feline Friends

2009-07-11T08:47:00.000-07:00

There were lots of very scrawny looking stray cats in Skala and we semi-adopted this lovely ginger creature for the week, naming her Flossy.

She sometimes brought along some companions too.

The Beach

2009-07-11T08:28:00.001-07:00

And so to the beach. It didn't take us long to go from this...

to this.

And this...

to this. Paul looks rather fetching my my sun hat, don't you think?

Skala

2009-07-11T08:17:00.001-07:00

After leaving Northumberland we just had time to repack our rucksacks before heading off for Skala on the Southern coast of the Greek island of Kefalonia. These are the sights that greeted us when we arrived.

Exploring Northumberland

2009-07-11T08:06:00.001-07:00

Somewhat hampered by inevitable hangovers we weren't able to do quite as much exploring as we'd planned but we still got to see something of this beautiful county.

Dawn & Phil's Wedding

2009-07-11T07:55:00.001-07:00

We had a lovely time at our friends' wedding at Langley Castle in Northumberland. Guess which is Dawn's Mum. Not difficult, is it.

Having fun with Phil's brother and friends.

Each table was named after a place Dawn & Phil visited on their travels. We were on the Franz Josef table, named after a glacier in New Zealand.

Don't Ben & Mark look dapper as ushers.

I'm Back!

2009-07-11T07:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long absence. I've been on my hols for a few weeks and decided to have a break from cyberspace while I was away. It was really nice. Got lots of reading done & didn't stress about unread emails at all. I did take lots of photos with Paul's jazzy new camera though so I've got lots to share with you...

A Sneak Preview...

2009-06-25T04:54:00.001-07:00

I received this lovely parcel from my wonderfully talented friend Anne yesterday. For the past few weeks she's been beavering away making our wedding invitations and they're all done now. I'm so, so happy with them. Thank you so much Anne! Don't want to spoil the surprise for the recipients but there are a few clues in there.

Bulghur, Cannellini & Rocket Salad

2009-06-25T04:46:00.000-07:00

I seem to be making loads of salads at the moment. I really enjoy them and they're great for leftovers which is pretty convenient when you want to make the most of the long summer evenings. I can't find a link to the recipe online but it's from the authors of the Post Punk Kitchen blog and they have lots of other fantastic recipes online so here's a link to their site anyway.

Lindy Graduation

2009-06-25T04:27:00.000-07:00

I went to the last of my 12 weeks Lindy Hop foundation course last night. It was actually a little bit emotional as it's been so much fun to see the same group of people every week & so great to watch everyone improve. Our teachers Caron & Steve are the sweetest, sweetest people & even gave us a mini graduation ceremony at the end of the class. Caron mysteriously disappeared for a while then came back with all our certificates freshly made up. We rounded off the class with the Bunny Hop, a 1950s party dance. Haven't giggled so much in ages. If you live in London & fancy giving Lindy Hop a try I definitely recommend their course. No-one will look after you better.

Panzanella

2009-06-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

The only bad thing about Paradise Gardens was having to come home sooner than I'd have liked. Early Monday shift = no fun on sunday nights : (
Still, I got to make some nice Italian bread salad. This was Donna Klein's recipe from her book 'The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen'. It made a lovely, light summer meal. Think I'll make this one again.

Paradise Gardens

2009-06-22T11:49:00.001-07:00

Had a really lovely afternoon with Ben & Lorraine at the Paradise Gardens festival in Victoria Park this Sunday. It was a huge, free event with complete with Lindy Hop, live music, stalls and a fantastic funfair.

Blimey, those swings went pretty fast.

Feeling a little dizzy.

No, you're not hallucinating & neither was I. That's a giant, papier mache Pearly Queen. What can I say.

Idle Pleasures

2009-06-22T11:40:00.001-07:00

This is my bedside reading at the moment. Wonderful for remembering all the simple, pleasurable stuff that doesn't cost a penny like watching clouds, doodling and taking a bath. It's also inspired me to start my own list. So far I've got:

- dunking biscuits
- people watching (especially from the top deck of the bus)
- folding blankets
- but above all... daydreaming (Boredom? Don't believe in it!)

Please feel free to add to the list. I've found it's a really good exercise for getting out of a grump.

Happy Birthday Paul

2009-06-22T11:35:00.001-07:00

Someone was 37 last week so we went out with Paul's parents to Wahaca for some Mexican food and a couple of drinks to celebrate.

Lindy Picnic

2009-06-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

We went to a Lindy Hop picnic in Regents Park last weekend.

Our picnic basket / rucksack got a long awaited outing & we got to sit around in the sun getting slowly sozzled on rose with great tunes & lovely company.

Big thanks to Cara for the pictures.

It was a lovely, lovely afternoon & we were very sad to pack up & go home.

Broad Bean & Red Pepper Salad

2009-06-14T03:46:00.000-07:00

When I got home from a hard day at the library yesterday this was waiting for me with a cold glass of wine. How lucky am I! Paul found the recipe on the BBC food website. It makes a lovely summer meal with some bread.

Bookselling Tales of Joy & Woe

2009-06-14T03:05:00.000-07:00

Having worked as a Bookseller for almost eleven years I was really tickled when I heard about this blog through bloggersphere friend Tracey. It's about the highs & lows of working in Bookselling with all of its fun & maddening lunatics. Enjoy!

Turkish Kisir

2009-06-10T05:46:00.001-07:00

I'm at home today trying to avoid tube strike hell & making some kisir, a Turkish bulgar wheat salad. It's one of Yotam Ottolenghi's recipes from the Guardian. Here's the link.

I wanted to make this because I had some last Friday when we went to the fabulous Mangal II in Dalston with Shaun & Frances. The food there was exceptional. If you like Turkish food check it out.

Boogie Back, Shorty George

2009-06-10T04:07:00.000-07:00

There's been some exciting news in my Lindy world this week. After three months of gentle persuading, Paul finally agreed to go to a class with me. Yey! A new cycle of classes began at Wild Times this week & Paul very valiantly agreed to come along if I'd accompany him. He only needed one fortifying shot to steady his nerves at a nearby polish vodka bar beforehand & did really, really great as I knew he would. Well done Paul!

It was a pretty scary day for me too as Anne & I went to our first intermediate Lindy Hop class. Can't believe we've been learning for three months now & have finished the beginners course. At my Wednesday night class last week we finished learning the Shim Sham with the final & notoriously difficult move, the shorty George. Have a look here for a great clip of Rita Hayworth & Fred Astaire executing it with style, and here for some footage of Shorty George himself with his partner Big Bea. You'll see how they got their names. Enjoy...

Vegan Ice Cream

2009-06-07T03:16:00.001-07:00

Although it's possible to buy really good vegan ice cream (Swedish Glace is expecially tasty) I couldn't resist picking this up when I saw it in Foyles yesterday. The recipes have some really interesting flavour combinations. Along with the usual vanilla & chocolate there's a lavender & mint recipe & lots, lots more. I also came across this 'Vegan Ice Cream Paradise' blog which is entirely devoted to making vegan ice cream. Can't wait to have a go now.

Sock Stress

2009-06-07T03:06:00.001-07:00

I've been a very slovenly sock knitter lately. I started a new pair with some beautiful DK merino Cherry Tree Hill yarn that I picked up at last year's Knitting & Stitching Show. It was all going swimmingly until I came to the heel. This'll teach me to start knitting something before reading the pattern through. It's completely foxed me. I'm supposed to use DSTK & DSTP, two stitches that I've no idea how to do. The fact that they're explained in the pattern is no help at all. I've taken the pattern along to the knitting problem clinic that is the Imperial College weekly knitting group and it's got everyone there flummoxed too. What to do?

Paul's Quinoa Tabouleh

2009-06-07T02:55:00.000-07:00

Now that so many of my week nights are taken up with Lindy Hop classes Paul has been getting his chef's hat on more often & producing lots of lovely vegan food for us to eat. Last week we ate this yummy tabouleh salad that he made. Quinoa is fab. It's the only non-animal foodstuff that is a complete protein all by itself. Usually I get my protein pretty easily by combining beans or pulses with grains (eg. beans on toast, lentils with rice etc) but clever quinoa is like vegan prorein magic and it's delicious too.

Hi Nayelli

2009-06-04T02:17:00.000-07:00

Please join me in welcoming this gorgeous creature to the world. Our lovely friends in Portland, Terri & Dan are now proud parents of pictured little girl, Nayelli Kendall Pratt. She weighed in at 7lb 4oz. Is that heavy or light? I never know. More importantly, I hear that Mum & baby are doing fine (hopefully Dad is too). Well done Tezza!

Veganizing Nigel's Pasta

2009-06-01T12:05:00.000-07:00

A couple of summers ago we were growing our own cherry tomatoes from our balcony. They needed a lot of careful attention: feeding, watering & shoot nipping but once the plants had started to fruit there was no stopping them. So much so that I had to scratch my head a bit to think of different ways of using up the bounty. A Nigel Slater recipe for orrechiette with a cherry tomato sauce became a bit of a summer staple for us as it used up a whole punnet's worth & tasted delicious. No tomatoes on the balcony this year but we do have Salvino's, a lovely Italian grocery shop right on our doorstep, currently selling huge boxes of delicious cherry tomatoes. Time to get to work veganizing this recipe:

Nigel's Veganized Cherry Tomato Pasta

approx 500g cherry tomatoes
3 or 4 cloves of garlic (sliced)
2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt
fresh basil
2 or 3 tablespoons of vegan single cream (sojade brand is especially good)
2 tablespoons of vegan parmesan
black pepper
200g pasta

Put the pasta on to boil. Put the tomatoes on a baking sheet with the garlic slices tucked in between them. Drizzle with olive oil & sea salt & grill on a high heat till the tomatoes are starting to blacken & release their juices. Drain the pasta & leave in a colander while you tip the tomatoes & their garlicky juices into the hot pasta pan. Use a potato masher to squash them (be careful of the hot juices). Tip in the basil, vegan cream, parmesan & black pepper & stir to combine & wilt the basil. Stir in the pasta & serves straight away.
(serves two)

A Foodie Weekend

2009-05-31T03:57:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know it's sunny outside but last weekend I got burnt so this time I'm mixing up the sunbathing with some kitchen pottering.

I found some quinces in the local greengrocer's (soon to be poached),

I unnveiled the results of my chive vinegar experiment (yes, it's definitely pink),

and I made some black bean burgers.

Lovely Harriet

2009-05-28T03:06:00.000-07:00

Someone was feeling very cuddly this weekend.

Daddy gets a hug too,

and there's another cuddle for me.

then it's off to paddle with Mummy.

Filey Fun

2009-05-28T02:57:00.001-07:00

Had a lovely day on the beach at Filey with Alice, Neil, Harriet & Wilma on Sunday. It brought back happy memories of family holidays at Butlins & Primrose Valley & had all the elements of a great British seaside experience:

wet dogs...

fish...

paddling...

and donkeys.

There was also a little bit of sunburn but you I'll spare you photos of that.

Home for the Weekend

2009-05-28T02:54:00.000-07:00

We went to visit family & friends in Yorkshire this weekend. Here's Dad hoovering up the leftovers & showing off his chopstick skills in The Queen's Head in Amotherby.

Lemon & Coconut Tofu Cheesecake

2009-05-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

Only very narrowly averted disaster by trying to unmold this when it hadn't had enough time to set. I've been eating a similar cheesecake every time I've been to London veggie institution, Mildred's for years but this is my first attempt at making it. My tip? Ignore any recipe that tells you it will set in a few hours. Maybe with eggs it will. With tofu it'll need overnight, but it'll be worth the wait.