Become Pro Vegetarian Chef

The practice of Secret Santa in the workplace is meant to create a warm, convivial and harmonious  environment.  Secret Santa is supposed to bring joy and laughter to what can be a very long dreary day with everyone patiently waiting for their festive holidays to begin. Secret Santa only works if every one who wishes to participate participates , but there will always be some people who will try to sabotage it; or plain and simply be bah humbug, but we will not them them spoil it for the rest of us.  I was ever so pleased to have pulled out a good friend at work for Secret Santa.  She is into Matryoshka dolls also known as Russian Nesting Dolls.  I found these festive themed Russian dolls a few months back, so it was quite timely and fitting that I pulled her name out of the jug,(don't worry I also bought her another gift). I was given a beautiful Fair Trade hand crafted silk scarf by my Secret Santa - its just my colours.  I also received this Cinn...

I celebrate my Blogiversary today.   Hip Hip Hooray.  2009 2010 2011 2012 2012-2013 2013 2014 2015 Blogging is not the same world anymore when I begun.  It has changed enormously - these days more about ratings, chasing awards, promotion of products, competition give aways and so on.  I am not of that blogging world. I am on the periphery of that world, though I must admit I been seduced sadly a couple of times when I should have stuck with my gut instincts and principles.  I miss honest and down to earth blogging.  There have been times when I have had to remind myself of the reasons I set my blog up in the first place as I haven't enjoyed it so much over the past couple of years.  I have to make blogging succeed for me. And I shall as I enjoy my blog space.  I will continue with my blog adventures and share what inspires me, what I create at home in my kitchen.  Its also a way for me to stay in touch ...

In more of an effort to make use of my cookbooks from my Vegetarian Library, today we have Mildred's The Cookbook.   I  was fortunate to win Mildred's The Cookbook last year.   I've made a few recipes from it including  the most delicious vegan  Brownies with Peanut Butter   and a smoky  Lapsang Chestnut Mushroom Strogonoff .   This time I wanted  to try something with piquancy.  I decided on the Cauliflower and Green Olive Tagine.  I like olives, it wasn't always this way and to satisfy D it had his favourite white vegetable.   Although the Tagine was filling and full of different textures from the cauliflower, carrots and chickpeas, we both felt the sauce lacked depth.  Why? This recipe does not have onions, but is substituted with celery sticks.   I do understand the need for such recipes.  When I did a bit of freelance vegetarian cooking, one of my customers had an allergy to alliums: the onion famil...

So its Five on Friday and I am sticking once again with my Welsh theme especially as it is St Davids Day next Tuesday. I thought I would share five Made in Wales things in my home. I picked up this 'Made in Wales' framed picture from a crafts arts and fair market. Its handmade and upcycled with a  traditional Welsh blanket, almost tartan style  and some cute little alphabet cards.  I fell in love with it instantly and D bestowed it upon me within moments.  He has a terrible habit of spoiling me.  I love him. These graceful Welsh ladies are handmade by Kingsmaker  and carved from real welsh coal.  I  think they date back to the 1950s.  I know such things are terribly old fashioned but I like them.  I picked these charming Welsh ladies in full Welsh costume from a charity shop last summer, there is something quite solemn about them and somehow that impacts on my mood in a positive way.  I hold one in the palm of my hand when I...

D keeps asking me 'Are there any cookbooks you want?'   He knows, its a silly question as I will always say Yes .  But recently I haven't been saying 'yes' as I have to be realistic.  Will I ever cook from all these cookbooks?  I am trying, honestly.  I won't tell you how many cookbooks I have, but my bookshelf is burgeoning , that it  just looks a mess.  So, I have been having a slow sneaky clear out of cookbooks that I know that I will not really use, starting with celebrity chefs: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall as it happens (and his new River Cottage merchandise will only come into my home now via the  library  which I have been frequently a lot in recent years.  Don't be upset with me Hugh I still have a signed copy of you DVD and your Veg Every Day).  D does not know that I am doing this (yet) and I don't really want him to notice it yet as he thinks we have space in our home right now.  Part of me agrees and part of ...

I am gobsmacked to see so many social media lovies who have converted to veganism in the last five years or less get vegan cookbooks published and then act as if they are culinary geniuses, fooling people that they are the innovators and creators of recipes such as aquafaba meringues, tofu scrambled eggs, seitan mock mheat (bacon, beef roast, chicken) made with vital wheat gluten, carrot as 'smoked salmon', King Oyster Mushrooms 'Scallops and Pulled 'Pork' as Jackfruit. It may be true that they are bringing beautifully photographed and presented vegan food substitutes to the attention of the those who do not necessarily cook from printed vegan or vegetarian cookbooks or food blogs and their main source of inspiration seems to be social media and Instagram. I applaud that, but to pretend that these innovative vegan recipes are their own invention by a simple adaptation or a little tweak does not bode well with me.  They do not get my praise or admiration. One re...

Usually towards the end of the working week, namely Thursday and Friday - the meals I had prepped in advance (at the weekend) to heat up after work is gone, so on these days between D and myself - we will tend to cobble something together with what we have in the fridge or store cupboards. I often opt to make a relatively quick pasta dish.  Its either Arrabbiata, vegan Puttanesca or Aglio, Olio e Peperonicino ), b ut last week I decided to make a bookmarked spaghetti recipe that looked very hearty.  Once you start making the sauce for the Cincinnati Spaghetti, you quickly note that lentils are an old fashioned way of mimicking meat for vegans and vegetarians, nothing wrong with that, its quite a humble dish in fact - elevated by some millennials favourite ingredient - avocado. The recipe for this vegan Cincinnati Spaghetti comes from a very hefty cookbook The Superfun Times: Vegan Holiday Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.  I thought it was a made up dish b...