A Foodie Weekend

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

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

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

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

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.

Sausage & Avocado Salad

A couple of weeks ago I had a fantastic vegan salad in Wai Kika Moo Kau, a lovely vegetarian cafe in Brighton. This is my attempt to recreate it. The salad included rocket, spinach, veggie sausage slices, avocado, red onion, carrot, cucumber & strips of sun-dried tomato all topped with some toasted sesame seeds. The best thing about the salad though was the smoked paprika dressing. Recreating this was a bit tricky because I couldn't really tell what was in it but I experimented & mixed some water, lemon juice, white wine vinegar, garlic, vegan mayonaise & smoked paprika in a blender & it turned out pretty good.

Sage Focaccia

I wanted to use some fresh yeast so thought I'd try a focaccia recipe. The yeast was lovely to work with, like playdoh.


After the first, short rise it's time to roll out the dough. It's flavoured with fresh sage & sea salt & a little white wine helps the fermentation process.


Ready for the oven...


All done.