Category Archives: vegan

On Saturday I headed to the London Vegan Beer festival where I drank various fine vegan beverages, listened to bands, took part in karaoke, and partook of some vegan BBQ.

One of the dishes on offer at the BBQ was a potato salad. Alas it was so tasty I ate the lot before thinking that I should have snapped a photo. However let me describe it as the house special fried rice approach to potato salad, only not fried and minus the kind of animal related items. The potatoes had been mixed with peas, corn, gerkins, and mayonnaise. Possibly a few other items crept in to this king of potato.

I attended a family BBQ on Sunday. As is the case with my family it was over catered. So it would have been rude not to bring home with me some leftover jacket potatoes and create my own multi ingredient potato salad.

Into the mix went: chopped jacket potatoes, radishes, carrot, cooked peas, Fry’s Polony, Plamil garlic mayo, and gherkin burger relish.

To read – On stranger tides by Tim Powers

I’ve been trying to find a title of his that lives up to The Anubis Gate. This isn’t it, but it’s still pretty good. A good tale with plenty of swashbuckling, and a bearable amount of magic to add spice. I found the descriptions of sea battles hard going but it was satisfying watching our hero develop, and seeing plot elements come together.

Posted with Blogsy

Continue reading →

Use plenty of oil and fry an onion and some garlic. Dump in the cooked rice. Then add whatever you have to hand. In this case the last of a pan of marinated tofu ( a soy sauce free marinade), my faithful chilli flakes, and my new favourite seasoning turmeric. Then take this from plan old fried rice to amazing fried rice by turning off the heat and stirring in a few handfuls of greens.

It reheated really well in a microwave. Clearly it’s one of those dishes that benefits from reheating. I served with tomatoes and cucumbers. They complement the flavours and the heat nicely.

To read: The long earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

This is so easy to read, but at the same time fills your head with thoughts about how you would cope with the situation, and what the right thing to do would be. It’s the literary equivalent of enjoying a really well prepared and presented meal that leaves you feeling full but not stuffed.

I like the way that individuals are presented as being different, and that they are not always thrilled by this prospect. I’m intrigued by the different ways they deal with not fitting in. By contrast other characters think that they’re thinking outside the box, but they’re not. It’s a great demonstration that when mankind is presented with something really exciting their first thought is money, and their first action seems to be destruction.

This reads like a perfect blend of Stephen King, David Brin, and Philip Pullman. I’m delighted that it’s the first in a series.

The concept of the long earth itself is massively exciting. To be able to be elsewhere in an instant. To be able to escape from the madding crowd. To be alone. I was almost tempted to put my potato crop to use and build a stepper.

Posted with Blogsy

Continue reading →

Use plenty of oil and fry an onion and some garlic. Dump in the cooked rice. Then add whatever you have to hand. In this case the last of a pan of marinated tofu ( a soy sauce free marinade), my faithful chilli flakes, and my new favourite seasoning turmeric. Then take this from plan old fried rice to amazing fried rice by turning off the heat and stirring in a few handfuls of greens.

It reheated really well in a microwave. Clearly it’s one of those dishes that benefits from reheating. I served with tomatoes and cucumbers. They complement the flavours and the heat nicely.

To read: The long earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

This is so easy to read, but at the same time fills your head with thoughts about how you would cope with the situation, and what the right thing to do would be. It’s the literary equivalent of enjoying a really well prepared and presented meal that leaves you feeling full but not stuffed.

I like the way that individuals are presented as being different, and that they are not always thrilled by this prospect. I’m intrigued by the different ways they deal with not fitting in. By contrast other characters think that they’re thinking outside the box, but they’re not. It’s a great demonstration that when mankind is presented with something really exciting their first thought is money, and their first action seems to be destruction.

This reads like a perfect blend of Stephen King, David Brin, and Philip Pullman. I’m delighted that it’s the first in a series.

The concept of the long earth itself is massively exciting. To be able to be elsewhere in an instant. To be able to escape from the madding crowd. To be alone. I was almost tempted to put my potato crop to use and build a stepper.

Posted with Blogsy

Continue reading →

Use plenty of oil and fry an onion and some garlic. Dump in the cooked rice. Then add whatever you have to hand. In this case the last of a pan of marinated tofu ( a soy sauce free marinade), my faithful chilli flakes, and my new favourite seasoning turmeric. Then take this from plan old fried rice to amazing fried rice by turning off the heat and stirring in a few handfuls of greens.

It reheated really well in a microwave. Clearly it’s one of those dishes that benefits from reheating. I served with tomatoes and cucumbers. They complement the flavours and the heat nicely.

To read: The long earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

This is so easy to read, but at the same time fills your head with thoughts about how you would cope with the situation, and what the right thing to do would be. It’s the literary equivalent of enjoying a really well prepared and presented meal that leaves you feeling full but not stuffed.

I like the way that individuals are presented as being different, and that they are not always thrilled by this prospect. I’m intrigued by the different ways they deal with not fitting in. By contrast other characters think that they’re thinking outside the box, but they’re not. It’s a great demonstration that when mankind is presented with something really exciting their first thought is money, and their first action seems to be destruction.

This reads like a perfect blend of Stephen King, David Brin, and Philip Pullman. I’m delighted that it’s the first in a series.

The concept of the long earth itself is massively exciting. To be able to be elsewhere in an instant. To be able to escape from the madding crowd. To be alone. I was almost tempted to put my potato crop to use and build a stepper.

Posted with Blogsy

Continue reading →

From top right:

• Cucumber
• Vegan pancake filled with macadamia crème and strawberry compote
• Vegan pancake filled with cashew cheese and raw spinach
• Cherry tomatoes

To read: She-wolves by Helen Castor

I love to read about history, and Elizabeth I has always been one of my heroines. That said I have a slightly less rosy view of her than I did as three year old. Anyway I was intrigued by the thought of reading about other strong charismatic queens and I haven’t been disappointed. Family trees for the various noble families are always complicated and confusing so looking at three families in detail has been brilliant for filling in the gaps in my knowledge. I now understand why the loss of the White Ship was so significant. I’m finding this hard to put down which has got to be a good sign of readability.

Posted with Blogsy

Continue reading →

From top right:

• Cucumber
• Vegan pancake filled with macadamia crème and strawberry compote
• Vegan pancake filled with cashew cheese and raw spinach
• Cherry tomatoes

To read: She-wolves by Helen Castor

I love to read about history, and Elizabeth I has always been one of my heroines. That said I have a slightly less rosy view of her than I did as three year old. Anyway I was intrigued by the thought of reading about other strong charismatic queens and I haven’t been disappointed. Family trees for the various noble families are always complicated and confusing so looking at three families in detail has been brilliant for filling in the gaps in my knowledge. I now understand why the loss of the White Ship was so significant. I’m finding this hard to put down which has got to be a good sign of readability.

Posted with Blogsy

Continue reading →

From top right:

• Cucumber
• Vegan pancake filled with macadamia crème and strawberry compote
• Vegan pancake filled with cashew cheese and raw spinach
• Cherry tomatoes

To read: She-wolves by Helen Castor

I love to read about history, and Elizabeth I has always been one of my heroines. That said I have a slightly less rosy view of her than I did as three year old. Anyway I was intrigued by the thought of reading about other strong charismatic queens and I haven’t been disappointed. Family trees for the various noble families are always complicated and confusing so looking at three families in detail has been brilliant for filling in the gaps in my knowledge. I now understand why the loss of the White Ship was so significant. I’m finding this hard to put down which has got to be a good sign of readability.

Posted with Blogsy

Continue reading →

So today it was lightly toasted bread topped with hummus, peppers, tomato, and radishes. I had just enough cashew cheese to cover a single slice. Then I followed up with plenty of strawberries. You don’t get much more gourmet than that!

To read: Night Film by Maria Pessl

I adored Pessl’s first book Special topics in calamity physics. This one wasted no time in setting the scene and making you question everyone and everything. I particularly liked the bits of media scattered throughout the book revealing information about the mysterious Film maker Cordova. A great way of dragging the reader into the story.

Posted with Blogsy

Continue reading →

So today it was lightly toasted bread topped with hummus, peppers, tomato, and radishes. I had just enough cashew cheese to cover a single slice. Then I followed up with plenty of strawberries. You don’t get much more gourmet than that!

To read: Night Film by Maria Pessl

I adored Pessl’s first book Special topics in calamity physics. This one wasted no time in setting the scene and making you question everyone and everything. I particularly liked the bits of media scattered throughout the book revealing information about the mysterious Film maker Cordova. A great way of dragging the reader into the story.

Posted with Blogsy

Continue reading →

Summer has definitely arrive on my allotment. I came back from my plot with potatoes, spring onions, spinach, and strawberries. Sag aloo suggested itself as the ideal recipe. I decided to use the recipe for from indian cookery from Pebble Mill at one by Lalita Ahmed. It’s a cracking little book. Very matter of fact.

It might have helped if I’d actually started following the right recipe and not in an absent minded fashion gone along with the potato curry in gravy on the opposite page.

However the end results were good, if a little spicy. I think some flatbreads will be making an appearance with other servings to offer a contrast in texture and taste.

Sweet, fresh strawberries were very, very welcome for dessert.

I’m wondering what other recipes I can create using the four ingredients from my allotment. Potato salad? Some kind of frittata?

To read: My Amish childhood by Jerry S. Eicher

Arcadia, which I read last week included some Amish characters, but you only caught a glimpse as if they weren’t of much interest to our main character (a pity as his community surely had much in common with theirs – they ‘d just been doing ti longer). Anyway it seemed fitting when this turned up on my ‘to read’ pile. Admittedly I wasn’t expecting a tale of a new Amish commute in South America but it’s opened my eyes. I wasn’t entirely surprised by an Amish community that was so trusting and calm, but was expecting the struggles to adapt to a modern world and the questions about the direction their religions should take.

Posted with Blogsy

Continue reading →