planet vegan scotland

A good day today, work was not too busy and I do enjoy talking to customers a...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:35:17 GMT

A good day today, work was not too busy and I do enjoy talking to customers and the other staff. Tomorrow I've got the afternoon off :-)

reflections and windows

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:05:13 GMT

The bridge did get finished:

Now this may appear to be a blurry photo gone wrong – well, it is - but it is also a picture of trees reflected in chocolate so worthy of inclusion

It is a montezuma’s very dark bar…

I've had a mad busy weekend, I was working on Saturday but met friends after ...

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:11:27 GMT

I've had a mad busy weekend, I was working on Saturday but met friends after work then had lots to do on Sunday. Work tomorrow for a rest

Things I've Bought: Cream and Nuts Cake Necklace: http://en.dawanda.com/produ...

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:13:27 GMT

Things I've Bought: Cream and Nuts Cake Necklace: http://en.dawanda.com/product/3670354 via @addthis

polytunnels and taps

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 09:41:31 GMT

Weve had a few spring-like days now, causing me to dig over some ground for the little polytunnel and clean and set up the coldframe to let the ground warm up for salad seeds. Browsing Suttons trying to decide what to plant this year – will have more room with extra raised beds… this really does feel like waking up after winter! The pond is finally unfrozen today so I expect frogly activity soon It’s been like this in varying thickness of ice and pattern for months:

Dance mania continues with ballet, tap, jazz and contemporary being studied :)

Books and films amany dug out to accompany this in fine home educating fashion. The Ballet Companion is a gorgeous book, it’s been to good for me to read that things have come on with problems such as eating disorders and painful pointework (ouch pouches – love them!) being dealt with much more compassionately in general. High quality vegan ballet shoes are even available As for films… oh so many, from White Nights to A Chorus Line, loving them all, also deeply appreciative of friends sharing the enthusiasm and cost of DVD purchase… Had a nice time reading over T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats and then watching Cats and boring delighting others with tales of cast members I knew/was taught by or with… same goes for Billy Elliot… ah to be an old “when I was young — fill in with unbelievable sounding fact–” person – it’s great fun!!

Not a bad day today although I was late for work, I'm working tomorrow then ...

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:12:08 GMT

Not a bad day today although I was late for work, I'm working tomorrow then meeting friends and going to a ceilidh so it will be a good day

i ♥ will self!

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:58:03 GMT

one of my all-time heroes:

“The car is the sworn enemy of the walker in every shape and form: they stink, they’re noisy, they’re dangerous, and they – or rather their drivers – are responsible for the most egregious and insensitive modifications to the British landscape since its Iron Age deforestation. Driving to take a walk is a solecism on a par with shooting people in the cause of universal peace and harmony. My view is if you can’t take a train or a bus to do a walk, then don’t do it at all.”

sigh no more

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:21:27 GMT

so, i lied about more mills. i mean, there are more mills, but i never did wrote that blog post. so, anyway, amy and i went to see mumford & sons at the ABC (i think it’s prefixed by O2 or something pish these days). because of the way the space is laid out, we were pretty far back where the bar section is raised slightly. the best photo i could get looks like this:

they were brilliant. beautiful, technical and charming, their performance can’t be criticised. they covered their most popular material and introduced some new songs, while bringing in some old material for their encore. the only thing is this gig revealed to me why i don’t like going to them anymore: other people.

i did my time going to see bands where i was either alone or with a small group of teenage girls in a room of middle-aged men in leather jackets and tennis shoes. not always pretty, the venues of my youth were a proving ground for gig etiquette – my mum is a pretty cautious soul but let me go out pretty much as i pleased because someone always waited for me to be picked up afterwards. it wasn’t child-friendly, but it was friendly and respectful.

so, anyway, gigs these days… teenagers these days… jeez, what can i say? people pushing their way in front of each other, hollering mid-song and waving their arms around in everyone else’s faces? ah, it weren’t like that when i was a lass, i can tell you. but seriously, there is just no bloody etiquette these days. it’s all me, me, me: “i want the best view,” “i want to enjoy myself,” “it’s my right to do as i please.” what about everyone else who paid exactly the same amount for their ticket? what about the band, the artist? “nah, let’s clap loudly through every song, regardless of its tone or tempo, and cheer loudly during reflective instrumentals, because they should feel honoured that we’re here to see them even if we don’t value their creation.” frustrated, much?

so, i’ll end this with a photo of my city on a still night:

listening: the eiffel tower and the BT tower by the voluntary butler scheme

I hope all my friends remember to listen to my show on Celtic Music Radio htt...

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:51:29 GMT

I hope all my friends remember to listen to my show on Celtic Music Radio http://www.celticmusicradio.net/ tomorrow at 8.00 pm

Mar 4, 2010: RED LIGHT SYNDROME / THE LA BARRONS / ALDEZ-MOI!

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:13:02 GMT

15:00

I'm off today as I'm going to be working on Saturday. I got more glass into ...

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:07:59 GMT

I'm off today as I'm going to be working on Saturday. I got more glass into my greenhouse and so it is nearly ready to start planting

A great day today, my wonderful wife bought me a great birthday present, a ni...

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:13:48 GMT

A great day today, my wonderful wife bought me a great birthday present, a nice shiny new rechargeable drill, a saw and some drill bits.

up brontë country

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:01:30 GMT

we spent the weekend in west yorkshire. it’s one of the most lovely places. not as sublime as scotland, but perhaps lovelier. i have an abiding affection for industrial landscapes and an undeniable fascination with wilderness; west yorkshire is as close to reconciling the two as i’ve yet come:

yorkshire’s spinning and milling history is undeniable when faced with such vistas. the houses are perfect worker’s terraces: rows of 2-up-2-down shoeboxes, with outhouses and coal bunkers, some displaying cellar doors and attic windows, others stained with the coal sediment of lost industry. it’s a romance i long for, and in west yorkshire it’s so tangible.

we spent the weekend traversing the moors and wandering mills, both those forgotten and those elevated. the friends we visited live in burley-in-wharfedale, a village of 6,000 inhabitants perched on the river wharfe that divides west and north yorkshire:

it’s a really lovely place and i could imagine just whiling away my days on the banks of the river, watching the lambs in springtime and the trees shedding their leaves in the autumn. the environmental isolation is perfectly balanced with the industrial built environment. saltaire is something else altogther:

it’s basically the yorkshire new lanark, built single-handedly by an enterprising businessman named titus salt in 1853 to house his workforce under better conditions than those common in bradford, the then wool capital of the world. but more of mills tomorrow… tonight, we sleep!

Back to work today after a fantastic weekend away in Liverpool.

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:52:04 GMT

Back to work today after a fantastic weekend away in Liverpool.

We had a great time away and yet it is also so good to be home. It was relax...

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:27:52 GMT

We had a great time away and yet it is also so good to be home. It was relaxing and fun being away yet so good to be home together

Sunday Playlist

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 17:00:41 GMT

Today I am mostly recipe-testing for a friend of mine so I am busy-busy-busy! Instead of a regular post I am giving you a youtube playlist of my top tunes to listen to while looking out the window at the disgusting wet snow and cooking.
Bon Appetit!

Another tea post coming soon... Dxo

walnut cake and sheep

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:21:09 GMT

Vegan Easter has been updated

Walnut cake with a tablespoon of Nocaf added to the mix. It is not coffeeish as had intended but is very nice:

1st of March tomorrow, so will it get more springlike?

Mar 1, 2010: THE VIEW / THE CHEEK

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 04:33:44 GMT

15:00

At home watching Celebrity Mr&Mrs and drinking Diet Irn Bru. So bad it's good!

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 20:54:31 GMT

At home watching Celebrity Mr&Mrs and drinking Diet Irn Bru. So bad it's good!

We are in Liverpool for the weekend, it is wet but not too cold so time to go...

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:17:03 GMT

We are in Liverpool for the weekend, it is wet but not too cold so time to go for a nice Indian meal

We are off to Liverpool tomorrow for the weekend. It's Anne's birthday so it...

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:35:33 GMT

We are off to Liverpool tomorrow for the weekend. It's Anne's birthday so it will be good to have a time away

moving on...

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:17:46 GMT

so, i've finally set up my new energy-saving wordpress site, which is where i'll be blogging from now on. please change your blogroll to stay updated on my endeavours.

time for a change?

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:55:50 GMT

so, since i started knitting in april 2009, i've made 8 pairs of socks. that's not an epic turnover, but i've also been learning hundreds of new skills in that time, so i'm pretty pleased overall. however, i've recently been re-evaluating my priorities and started to think that there are other things i should make before my year is out.

the main reason for this is that i've spent the past month working on a project that, although i benefited from financially, i reaped no physical reward from. in other words, apart from a slightly healthier bank balance, i've got nothing to show for it. so, i started thinking about the things i knit and how i enjoy them.

i like socks because i can take them places and they knit into something quite quickly, but what about other things? well, in fact, i only really know anything about socks because i've not really knitted anything else. i mean, there are a couple of washcloths kicking about, and other people are wearing mitts i've made, but they were all practical projects. carrot rather than stick, if you like.

i remembered the rosalind scarf (rav) i started ages ago, and thought about how much i enjoyed seeing the illusion pattern appear, and the morgan hat (rav) that i'm knitting for j with its exciting shaping. about how i really want to knit fair isle and how i've been coveting a lot of sweaters recently... so i'm doing it. putting the sock yarn away, i swatched for 4 sweaters, cast on one, and i'm working on my scarf again.

listening: be true to your school on fortuna pop!
reading: i've just finished the road by cormac mccarthy

FO: socks!

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:34:13 GMT

so, i finished my brady socks yesterday (rav) and paraded around in them all day at work. they make me pretty happy in spite of the dreich weather that crept in this morning:

listening: loss by mull historical society
reading: journeys in the wilderness: a john muir reader

time for a change?

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:34:00 GMT

so, since i started knitting in april 2009, i’ve made 8 pairs of socks. that’s not an epic turnover, but i’ve also been learning hundreds of new skills in that time, so i’m pretty pleased overall. however, i’ve recently been re-evaluating my priorities and started to think that there are other things i should make before my year is out.

the main reason for this is that i’ve spent the past month working on a project that, although i benefited from financially, i reaped no physical reward from. in other words, apart from a slightly healthier bank balance, i’ve got nothing to show for it. so, i started thinking about the things i knit and how i enjoy them.

i like socks because i can take them places and they knit into something quite quickly, but what about other things? well, in fact, i only really know anything about socks because i’ve not really knitted anything else. i mean, there are a couple of washcloths kicking about, and other people are wearing mitts i’ve made, but they were all practical projects. carrot rather than stick, if you like.

i remembered the rosalind scarf (rav) i started ages ago, and thought about how much i enjoyed seeing the illusion pattern appear, and the morgan hat (rav) that i’m knitting for j with its exciting shaping. about how i really want to knit fair isle and how i’ve been coveting a lot of sweaters recently… so i’m doing it. putting the sock yarn away, i swatched for 4 sweaters, cast on one, and i’m working on my scarf again.

listening: be true to your school on fortuna pop!
reading: i’ve just finished the road by cormac mccarthy

FO: socks!

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:28:00 GMT

so, i finished my brady socks yesterday (rav) and paraded around in them all day at work. they make me pretty happy in spite of the dreich weather that crept in this morning:

listening: loss by mull historical society
reading: journeys in the wilderness: a john muir reader

Why are Mondays so manic at work. More calls than any other day and people s...

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:46:36 GMT

Why are Mondays so manic at work. More calls than any other day and people shouting at me and being angry, (be nice to people it is easy)

Illustrated Recipe- Fridge Cake

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:50:43 GMT

Live cooking action photos by Jay!

You will need...

8oz vegan digestive biscuits(I use Morrisons' Value ones)
4oz vegan margarine
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cocoa
1 heaped tbsp syrup
2 bars of plain chocolate
dried fruits and nuts of your choice(optional)

Crush the biscuits into crumbs Melt the marge, sugar, cocoa and syrup in a pan. Now add the biscuits to the melted mixture
Now press into a sandwich tin then put into fridge to set (should only take 20 mins)
Melt the chocolate bar over a bain marie(or a makeshift bain marie using a pan and a pyrex dish like I did!)Spread melted chocolate with optional added fruit or nuts (I used almonds and dried cherries) over the biscuit mixture Now press more nuts, like these walnuts, on to to garnish if desired, then ut back in fridge to set

...Voila, you have a fridge cake! Slice into pieces and serve!

Chocolate Chilli Recipe (as brought to potluck)

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:28:59 GMT

(serves 2-4)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, sliced

1-2 cloves garlic, crushed

75g textured vegetable protein OR vegemince

1 ts yeast extract(eg, marmite, vegemite or equivalent)

1 can chopped tomatoes

2tbsp tomato puree

1 tin red kidney beans, drained

3/4- 1 1/2 heaped tsp chilli flakes(to taste)

1-2 squares high cocoa content(minimum 70% cocoa, the higher the better!) dark chocolate

optional vegetables (you could use chopped mushrooms, jalapeno peppers(sparingly! They're hot, so cut the chilli powder content!) or bell peppers)

Top Tip!- if someone you’re cooking for is a spice wimp and doesn't like their chilli quite so burn-the-roof-of-mouth-and-make-eyes-water hot as the others, the solution to this, is to move their milder portion of the chilli to a seperate pot once you've cooked it, then add extra spice to the other pot, then let simmer separately. Just remember which one’s which!

-saute onion and garlic (and vegetables if using) in olive oil until transparent

-add tin of chopped tomatoes, vegetable protein, kidney beans, tomato puree, stock, chilli flakes, yeast extract, and chocolate, and bring to the boil, simmer for 15 mins and serve!

~ideal served with rice, tortillas or other grains~

~alternatively, omit tvp and use a drained can of chickpeas or other beans, to make a bean chilli~

My daughter and her partner were out visiting us today, it was really good to...

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 19:18:21 GMT

My daughter and her partner were out visiting us today, it was really good to see her looking so happy. He is a great guy

A good day today, I got a little more done to my greenhouse, made lots of sou...

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 20:01:44 GMT

A good day today, I got a little more done to my greenhouse, made lots of soup, cleaned the flat and had time to relax a little

fox in the snow

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 08:08:44 GMT

Lots more has fallen – we are ankle deep again…

just as I was taking photos this fox came and had a good look into the garden. We do see them quite often here, but not usually when holding a camera

then, while eating my porridge by the window this morning I noticed I had an onlooker!

Friday tomorrow then the weekend, I like weekends

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 21:38:49 GMT

Friday tomorrow then the weekend, I like weekends

Sundae Wednesday! Happy (Birth)day!

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:26:05 GMT

You remember Rhona, don’t you? My rescue roasting tin? Well Rhona’s talents don’t stop at granola baking.

Here she is filled with a yummy mixture of the following: a sprinkling of olive oil; chopped onions; some cloves of garlic, left whole; chunks of carrots, sweet potato, butternut squash, red and yellow pepper; some mangetout, broken in half; a mixture of half and half olive oil and maple syrup, with a wee spot of salt. She’s about to do duty in the oven at Gas Mark 8/450F/230C for an hour.

When the hour was almost up, we heated some tortilla wraps and smothered them in hummus or Tofutti Cream Cheese, according to taste (Jane had one of each) and then we filled them with the roasted vegetables and rolled them up.

Oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So good!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m planning on making these OFTEN!

‘But wait!’ I hear you say. ‘What’s that got to do with Sundae Wednesday Happy (Birth)day?’ And the answer is, ‘Nothing at all! That bit comes next.’

Read on…

It was my birthday last Wednesday (10^th February) and I had forgotten to buy the jellies for the trifle. This trifle is the standard pudding for birthday teas in our family. Here’s how I make it…

In a trifle bowl I make up one-and-a-half strength jelly with half a (usually chocolate) sandwich cake layer crumbled into it and leave it to set. I then mix up another one-and-a-half strength jelly with some tinned ‘fruits of the forest’ mixed in. Then I top it all with a huge mound of vanilla Swedish Glace ice cream. And I sometimes grate some chocolate over it. Recently I’ve also been making a big bowl of vanilla custard. Here’s how I make the custard…

First, I heat up most of a pint of soya milk with about a tablespoon of margarine and two tablespoons of sugar. In the measuring jug, I mix together the rest of the milk and two tablespoons of custard powder. Then I stir the custard mix into the pan and whisk as fast as my aching muscles will allow until it’s all thick and bubbly. It’s then put in a bowl and allowed to cool.

I’m sorry. I was SURE I had a photo of a trifle I made before, but just can’t find it anywhere. I must organise my photos SOON!

I would actually like to have the custard on top of the jelly as part of the trifle, but Jane, who’s a creature of habit, loves the trifle the way I traditionally made it, without the custard, so she doesn’t want me to change a winning formula. She does sometimes have some custard with it, though…

Also, a note on tablespoons… We’re not talking wee measuring spoons here. This is the type of chap you want for this recipe.

Available at any charity shop near you… (If you live in Scotland, that is. I can’t speak for other parts of the world…)

Anyway, back to 10^th February 2010, 63 years since my birth on a cold, snowy day in Glasgow… And no jelly… As far as trifle was concerned, I was snookered…

So, first I thought of just having the custard and ice cream.

Then I thought of my favourite pudding in the whole, wide world: chocolate custard and ice cream. I could eat bucket-loads of this, with or without a sliced banana on top, if my weight weren’t such a problem. I make the custard as above, but with two tablespoons of cocoa powder added to the custard powder mix. OK, so there are probably several days’ calories in a small bowlful…

Then, however, I had such a good idea that if I’d been a cartoon drawing a wee light-bulb would have appeared over my head. CHOCOLATE NUT SUNDAES!!! Now, I’d never made these before, but necessity is the mother of invention. Here’s what I did.

I made half a pint of chocolate custard, but as I didn’t have custard powder I used vanilla rice milk and cornflour. I also made some chocolate sauce thus:

84g margarine

90g golden syrup

About 30g cocoa powder (more or less, depending on how strong you want it)

I melted the margarine and sugar together and then added the cocoa, all over a low heat.

Then, in our two sundae dishes plus two tall mugs and a pint beer mug, I layered ice cream, chocolate custard, chopped nuts, ice cream, chocolate sauce, chopped nuts and so on to the top.

It was SO GOOD! Unfortunately the camera didn’t like photographing it with flash and it was too dark to get a good picture without the flash, so you’ll just have to make do with this one and imagine its chocolate-y goodness, because I’m afraid that not even for you was I going to keep it till the next day, to take a photo in daylight!

So, what could have been a disappointment on the pudding front was turned to unmitigated delight! I’ll be making these again! But not too often… Just for birthdays…

I must tell you about the wonderful home-made birthday card I received from the offspring. Last year they themed my card around my new Vita-Mix; this year it was themed around my new studies and it featured a cartoon bear, created by Johnny, who stars in most of his home-made cards. There was a chart showing grades for ‘sweetness’; ‘compassion’; ‘inspirational qualities’; ‘sense of humour’; ‘chef skills’ and ‘devotion to family’ and I was awarded the top grade of ‘excellent’ for all of them! I’ll be honest with you. The tears were streaming down my cheeks, sentimental old fool that I am! There was a lot more sweet and loving stuff in it, too… (sniff)

And here, just to finish with a nice picture, are two people who also tick all the boxes (though not exactly the same ones as me!): Tom and Mimi… (What do you mean, ‘Oh, not HIM again!’???)

Today’s title: Sunday, Monday, Happy Days – theme song from the series Happy Days. John suggested Sundae Girl by Blondie, but I’m not going to pander to his adolescent fantasies about Debbie Harry…

Today’s soup: onions; red lentils; chunks of carrot, turnip (Swede/rutabaga), leeks, celery; passata and water all pressure cooked together, with some salt added at the end. Mmmm… Perfect for a cold winter’s day!

Remember to listen to www.celticmusicradio.net on Thursday evening at 8.00 or...

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:45:45 GMT

Remember to listen to www.celticmusicradio.net on Thursday evening at 8.00 or Friday lunchtime at 1.00 to hear my latest show

busy like the busiest bee

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:40:09 GMT

i'm silly busy at the moment. i will return to the blogosphere when i get over it.

a clue.

busy like the busiest bee

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:38:00 GMT

i’m silly busy at the moment. i will return to the blogosphere when i get over it.

a clue.

Drinking a lovely cup of tea - thanx mama - while watching Corrie and eating ...

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:38:30 GMT

Drinking a lovely cup of tea - thanx mama - while watching Corrie and eating pink rabbit buns with red bean paste. Feel almost genteel.

Monday again, I think we should have a five day weekend and a two day working...

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:00:52 GMT

Monday again, I think we should have a five day weekend and a two day working week. Why does a weekend day go so much faster than a weekday?

skintvegan.blogspot.com/... New blogpost. More Eating my way round the World ...

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:59:02 GMT

skintvegan.blogspot.com/... New blogpost. More Eating my way round the World - vegan chinese food to celebrate new year. #yum