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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 17 2010
cup of tea, anyone?
Tetley for Soya
I was most intrigued during the week to be offered the above product samples for review on the site. It didn’t seem likely that a major company was producing something so accommodating to vegans and non-dairy drinkers. I googled to make sure it was true… and it was: Tetley for Soya
I don’t usually drink black tea now – I’ve had two cups this year. Once when out with a friend in a cafe and then again when visiting another friend after a long day out. I sampled this however and it is rather pleasant – it looked a bit pale after brewing and soya milk poured into it and I expected it to be mild tasting, even bland. But it has a strong flavour without being bitter. Basically I think it’s rather a better quality tea than standard Tetley. Davie is a more regular tea drinker and declared it “affa fine” (English transaltion: very good/nice) 
Currently available in selected Tesco stores, all of them in England, going by the Tetley website!
no delicate floral teacups here
While on the subject of tea and dairy alternatives we were sent another great product a couple of weeks ago: Good Hemp Dairy Free Alternative to Milk (from the makers of Good Oil that we use all the time), which I imagine would be nice in the above tea too. I tried it in Nocaf, Dan on cereal and we both really liked it, more nutty than soya milk. According to the booklet sent with it, it’s in Waitrose and health food shops from Monday.
Good Hemp Milk
Related posts:
July 12 2010
new designs in shop
borage being my favourite
Great program photoshop I’ve created a few new designs for the spreadshirt shop, some based on flowers from the garden, some ballet, old pictures and still the original vegan and home ed categories too. There is an offer on from today, 12th July to 30th July (2010 for future clarification) – if you buy £40 worth of stuff you can choose a baseball cap, messenger bag or apron for free with the voucher code ADDONFREE
Other designs:
pink
little flowers
rose
ballet shoes
purple pointes
sign at Findhorn
and the old faithfuls, gorgeous...
and not a school bag
Related posts:
July 08 2010
if the mountain defeats us…
Mither Tap against sun
but it didn’t, so we did not have to brave the mines of Moria, 3 times up and down Bennachie accomplished and quite a bit of money raised for the trees :) My legs hurt today!
at the bottom of the Mither Tap path
top of first climb up steep Mither tap path
down the Donview way
caterpillar
back up on top and heading down Rowan
These new signs help to avoid confusion, there are even paths at the bottom linking different carparks so you can go down different ways without reclimbing if you wish
no such plan for us - back up Rowan
This was the toughest climb being our third, even though it is the easiest path and most gentle slope.
resting on way up - some of the shoes did not make it (5 years old, ethical wares, much walking done)
reaching top 3rd time
steep final descent
down down down
treat picnic at bottom
rose cupcakes
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:
inside a flower
seeds within
Related posts:
May 18 2010
stones, chickens, nettles
stones in the light
Parkhouse stone circle – we have visited this circle so many times, having lived closeby for 12 years, that it always feels very welcoming and familiar
the circle
the large recumbent
At the farming museum we saw a Rhode Island Red mum with Silkie chicks (she had sat on the eggs):
mother and babies
silkie chick
another
The dandelion pancakes have been written up here, chive variant below:
chive pancakes
Drying some nettles for tea this morning, having worked out that it’s a bit ridiculous how we buy nettle tea (lovely as it is) when we are surrounded by them! Will finish them off in the dehydrator later.
nettles drying in sun
having said that no exotic planting experimentation would take place… well…
melon in the front porch
flowering rather later this year but so beautifully:
cherry blossom
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
April 08 2010
of Russians and swans
woods and loch
Totally loving the gorgeous springness that is all around now Had some lovely wild garlic pesto yesterday and think may do same today. Seems to have less of a garlic hit when very young though still very good.
freshly picked wild garlic and the sky
Swans are still following us around – whooping ones fly over the garden and woods regularly just now and look – we have new swan taps on the bath following a water gushing disaster with the old very antiquated ones!
swan tap
fitted for us by a Russian plumber, first plumber to come here who didn’t make a soap opera-esque drama about getting the water on and off with our old system and was also gentle and kind to elderly cats and frenzied frogs! More Russian-ness in The Turning Point from the beautiful Misha and Grishko ballet shoes from here:
ballet shoe heel
sandy shore of the loch
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…
March 06 2010
polytunnels and taps
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!!
February 28 2010
walnut cake and sheep
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?
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 
January 12 2010
a casserole and a cookbook
We will have been married 20 years this year… which causes me to reflect how far weve come, how much the world has changed in that time and to note the two items above. They were given to us as a wedding present by friends who I used to babysit for and here they are still with us, I don’t think any other dish we own has survived that long! The Cranks Recipe Book sparked my interest at once, as I had eaten in their restaurant in London while a student, and it called to mind lovely brick walls and earthenware plates of hearty soup (they now have one restaurant in Devon).
It really taught me to cook, being the only cookery title I had at the time (bit of a change there then) in our first flat that we loved so much. I was fairly clueless when it came to the culinary arts. I remember phoning my mum at times with questions such as ‘how do you cook a neep? I can’t even seem to cut it up’. With the book I learned to bake bread, make cakes and the wonderfully frugal crecy plate pie, prepare soups and casseroles got put in the dish It influenced me in more subtle ways too. Being the one and only it got thoroughly read and I absorbed the health oriented nature of the pages, reading for example, how much adding fresh herbs enhanced the nutritional value of the food. I remember the excitement of planting up a small herb garden and reading more deeply into these subjects. Looking at it now I notice all the cheesy recipes but you could just use any one of the many vegan cheeses available now or leave it out altogether.
Bit different when we first went vegan - a vegan cookbook obtained from the library that shall remain nameless (mainly as I can’t remember it’s name, I think it was somewhat generic, but also I do not want to slander it as it may have had other redeeming recipes) was responsible for me making a vegan cheese out of marg and yeast extract 13 years ago - absolutely disgusting, totally foul!!
So, my cranks book, heavily marked with food, water and childrens crayons. It is now available in a swanky new asparagus covered edition but you can still pick up the original for a penny
As for the dish, it still gets used though not as much anymore. The odd apple/rhubarb crumble is popped in it. I now favour my big Le Creuset that you can cook on the hob and in the oven with - very handy for making a sheperdess/red dragon pie base in and just putting mashed tatties on top and then into the oven it goes. I am very lucky to also have two similar cast iron AGA pans/casseroles given to us by another friend who had them sitting unwanted and unused in his garage, and these are my 3 usual dinner cooking pans now.
Weve always been blessed with friendship I am currently reading Walking to Greenham sent to me by a wonderful woman and friend… a fascinating book and I find myself contemplating the larger worldwide changing of the times. What will the next 20 years bring?
January 06 2010
bloggage, food and snow
First off the Home Baked blog is having a monthly baking challenge - read about it here and see January’s theme here. I’m the guest judge this month - v exciting
Then we have a new blog on the sidebar - Vegan Kid - lots of gorgeous looking food there too…
Then, thanks to the Skint Vegan blog I found an amazing bargain food site - Approved Food, sellers of clearance food and drink (close to or just by the sell by date) where I got various goodies such as 5 bottles of Mayola for £1 and 4 bags of soya mince for 99p
It snowed heavily all morning here (we were doing a 6 mile hike in the woods at the time - quite an experience in such weather) leaving great beauty all around
it’s a great expanse of layered up ice and snow that - looks like really flat land!
December 23 2009
snow and trees
A stroll round the garden yesterday:
Wonderful things that help us through the Scottish winter: hot water bottles filled from the big kettle on the wood stove each night, so cosy for the feet and full spectrum light bulbs, good for the mood in the dark times
December 04 2009
white chocolate buttons
ooh ooh ooh 
Humdinger are now doing these, available from health food shops and supermarkets and Goodness Direct here They are really delicious on cakes along with their darker counterparts….
December 02 2009
ice and woodland Advent
Been very cold here!
Here’s a cool and free advent calendar for kids from The Woodland Trust with different outdoor activities for each day
We watched RV: Runaway Vacation with Robin Williams - a great film with a home ed family in it, all really enjoyed it.
and I just have to…
November 24 2009
pressies
Ethical Superstore have a good offer on until the 1st of December - spend £60 and get a free £10 voucher, a free lavendar soap and free delivery
The Book People and Stocking Fillas also good priced gift finding places.
Our kids book store lists many books that our kids have loved over the years in various themes from vegetarian and spiritual to self esteem, caring for animals and the environment.
and on the decadent side:
November 14 2009
WW2, purple soup and festive chocs
Another Historic Scotland educational event with the home ed group yesterday - very entertaining, I learned things
Photographer form P&J there by steps, should be something in Monday.
This is what happens when you add red cabbage to miso noodle soup (recipe here, scroll down a bit, there’s also tofu in pictured Disney cartoon soup):
onto the festive choc, there’s some really nice things around this year, a couple below:
Divine Christmas Dark Chocolate Foiled Balls
Maybe Soup is currently being updated? I'll try again automatically in a few seconds...
