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Veggie Guide to Glasgow
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July 27 2010
sweet things

Alpro soya milks and puddings
Have been sent some Alpro goodies to try
We do like their soya milk. The only one I didn’t know about was the ‘milk alternative’ suitable from 1 year old. Lots of extra vitamins and iron in it (and surprisingly nice in nocaf!). The chocolate puddings are lush lush lush…
Blackcurrant smoothies, there have been a few more – here’s a before pic
Layered up are borage flowers, gooseberries, blackcurrants, leaf beet, parsley, linseeds (flax), brazil nuts, bananas and apple juice.

smoothie to be

sweet red onion from garden - very pleased with these

blackcurrant cake - currants cooked in batter and raw squished into icing too
also made some banana muffins with lots of redcurrants in – no pic but very good

Charlotte's strawberry jam bubbling on cooker - taking 'sweet' to new levels!!
Related posts:
July 22 2010
a blackcurrant smoothie

blackcurrants
Very blackcurranty and lovely, makes a big jug (about 3 and a half pints, good for 4 people, quantities very adjustable):
lots of blackcurrants, about a quarter blender jugful
lots of borage flowers (optional)
huge bunch of parsley
a handful of brazil nuts
1 banana
1 avocado
1 apple
1 litre of orange juice
Blitz it all in a blender…

enjoy in the sun
Related posts:
July 21 2010
the tale of the strawberries
Once upon a time a princess planted 3 tiny strawberry plants in her garden.

carefully planted in the newly created bed
They began to grow. Then, despite being guarded by a beady eyed and brave fox, they were eaten down to the quick by saucy young rabbits who were very numerous throughout that kingdom. Over the summer one of the plants recovered and produced 2 strawberries
Many years later (well, 3), many self planted runners later, this is how they looked:

a wild and mysterious forest had grown up around the fox
Rosemary and lovage were shunted to the side, still doing well at the edge of the forest (one of those stray potatoes growing among them too). And what a royal harvest there was! Big bountiful bowls for all the family several times a week

with soya cream

with a cherry on top
a strawberry from this magical garden was even purple-ised and put on a t-shirt…

purple strawberry tank top

the frog prince
Frogbert called from beside the pond, “I’ve found the golden ball that you dropped in here some time ago!”, but nobody heard as they were all too busy with their strawberry obsession
There is even a strawberry Lucy now
Related posts:
July 04 2010
rhubarb, tweets and elderflowers

rhubarb and ginger jam
We have a veritable forest of rhubarb so into jam some of it went yesterday! recipe over on frugal where there is also a twitter competition detailed on the front page to win my copy of The Moneyless Man (who is vegan by the way, don’t think I mentioned that before)
Gathered some elderflowers in the wood yesterday too and made some cordial sort of from this recipe though I made much less as I know it doesn’t keep for long even in the fridge, even with citric acid which I didn’t use this time… the taste of summer in it is amazing…
Related posts:
June 27 2010
green soup and juice, raw chocolate pud

minty pea and nettle soup

wheatgrass
been drinking wheatgrass juice with friends

slight deviation away from green
Raw chocolate pudding teamed up with Swedish Glace (booja booja stuff in a tub is raw if you prefer). Pudding was made thus: grind up some raw chocolate nibs (could use cocoa though of course not raw) then blend with a large avocado and 2 ripe bananas with a squirt of agave nectar – makes enough for four people. I also added a little water for a smoother result.
Poppies:

seeds within
Related posts:
May 15 2010
planting log, sitting, eating, stones and sea

broad beans and leeks in one of the raised beds
I have just planted over 300 little leeks, lots of kale and purple sprouting brocolli seedlings, carrots, radish, garlic, basil, sunflowers and flat leaf parsley as an alternative to the madly (but wonderfully) continually self seeding curly

allotment bit at bottom of garden, greenhouse left
The thinking of the planting this year is to grow things that both do well up here and that we eat lots of, no experimentation with things like aubergines which only just manage to flower before winter! Also in are lettuce, rocket, mixed salad leaves, french beans, broad beans, peas, potatoes, onions and in greenhouse there are tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, courgettes and a giant grapevine obtained on freecycle and doing very well so far. Perennial things like rhubarb, chives, lovage, bronze fennel, mint and leafbeet are thriving. Fruit bushes and trees all look to be heading for a bumper year. Cold winter can’t have hurt them

sitting together continues, even in sunless situations
and the eating: chocolate sesame snaps now have thick chocolate stripes on them

chocolate sesame snaps
Made some gorgeous dandelion fritters to go with wild garlic pesto – saw them on home baked a while ago and used basic vegan pancake mix of soya milk and self raising flour beaten to a thick batter, a flower in each spoonful/fritter:

a nice lunch

no shortage of this ingredient in the garden
next wild food recipe on the list to try – Cat’s nettle pies!

stones and sea
broken arm update: after two weeks it has healed so well it does not need cast anymore and writing can take place again
March 17 2010
Spring pics

The only crocus to survive intensive rabbit grazing

beautiful biscuits for a ballet day with the girls...

cake too, no anorexic dancing here

poor mangled nut feeder - deer trample it to get the peanuts out!

soon there will be daffs

willow catkins and the sky

chives

parsley
free veg seeds from the bbc here
March 09 2010
reflections and windows

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…





February 14 2010
toast, Valentine cookies and a cheesecake
We do still favour green smoothies for breakfast but on a cold winter’s day sometimes only decadently topped toast will do

Valentine cookies: made this basic dough and did half plain (some topped with coconut), a quarter of it with a little finely chopped fresh ginger and the other quarter with unwaxed lemon rind, beautiful flavours!


Tried this Mamma Cucina cheesecake, very impressive to get a vegan one readymade in a shop but not a patch on homemade… what is though?


and a scene from a recent sunny day (more snow predicted for tomorrow!)

January 24 2010
Scottish macaroons
If you’re looking for a Scottish dish to make for Burns night other than haggis*, these are very good – nothing like the English item of the same name and containing the somewhat surprising ingredient of potato (undetectable, is lovely fondant) – the recipe is still up on Cat’s old blog with pics of them properly covered in coconut, of which we are out of this time…
other Scottish recipes on site include cranachan (traditional pud at Burns suppers), Balmoral pie, skirlie, bradies and mince with dumplings and here’s a previous Burns night posting from 2008 complete with haggis, poetry and music.
*note: do not serve the macaroons with neeps and tatties
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