Beltane 2021

Hello friends! I haven't posted for a bit, because I have just been so busy with work and other things. I am so tired. But here is a fun little post about the food I ate to celebrate Beltane this year! Halloween only seasonally works in the Northern Hemisphere, given its pagan roots. While Halloween as a fun thing is gaining more and more popularity in Australia, I reserve the 31st to celebrate Beltane, the spring festival.

Beltane (31st October - 1st November, 2021)

Beltane is between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, and is a celebration life and fertility. Normally by this time of year in Brisbane it is hot hot hot. But strangely, we had a relatively cool and cloudy day that day, which was lovely. We opened up the house to let the fresh breeze blow through.

I started my Beltane with breakfast. Some rye sourdough English muffins spread with Nuttelex and drizzled with agave, served with some fresh strawberries and some oat milk. Also my daily multivitamin and morning neurofen. Chronic pain is no joke friends. For Beltane, butter and honey are both traditional foods, but we don't need to exploit animals to get the same delicious flavours. Oats are also traditional, and my homage to that was with my glass of oat milk. I know some vegans think it is pitiful to drink a glass of non-dairy milk, but I don't care. I like my oatmilk, and I love a serve of plant-based calcium in of a morning!



Pasta Primavera from Everyday Vegan Eats by Zsu Dever: The last few years I realised I have made some sort of pasta dish for Beltane. Why break with tradition now. Pasta loaded up with wonderful spring vegetables! I changed it up a bit, and used carrots, broccoli (florets and stems), asparagus, baby spinach, and baby peas, and I used 200g of linguine. The sauce is cashew based, and easy to make quickly in the blender. The sauce was a little on the bland side though. Next time I think I'd use some non-dairy milk in place of the water, and bump up the seasonings. But nothing a little nooch couldn't fix!
Rating: :)



For dessert, I tried out a beautiful Rosewater and Strawberry Cheesecake, from the blog Like A Vegan. The recipe called for Soyatoo Whipping Cream, but I used some of the new Made With Plants Thickened Cream that you can get from Woolworths. I had some of it in my fridge already, and to get Soyatoo would have involved a special trip to the other side of town. The Made With Plants cream is sold in the fridge section with the tofu, and does not have coconut in it, hurrah.



Maybe it was because of the difference in cream setting abilities, but my cheesecake didn't quite set. This is a no-bake cheesecake, which makes it great for an easy dessert on a warm day. I whipped the cream cheese (Tofutti, of course, the best) and the thickened cream with some hand beaters, and while it thickened up a bit, it wasn't as much as you would get from a whipping cream I don't think. But that didn't matter, because the flavour was beautiful! I love rose and I love strawberry and I love pink, so this was a perfect dessert. I ended up popping the cheesecake in the freezer for a couple of hours before serving, to firm up so I could cut it nicely. This was so delicious!
Rating: :D



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Of course, as an athiest witch with two black cats, I didn't completely leave Halloween unobserved. We watched Practical Magic (which I hadn't seen in so long! It is so silly, but kind of great.). And the cats, well, they just were themselves. As a black cat called Boo, we designated it her particular day. She didn't care.

Ostara 2020

Ostara aka Spring Equinox (22nd September, 2020)

Spring has sprung. Actually it sprung awhile ago. In Australia, our seasons start based on the months, so Spring starts on the 1st of September. Where as in the Northern hemisphere seasons seem to start based on solstices and equinoxes, which I like. Anyway, three weeks into our official Australian spring, and Brisbane cranked it up to summer with a few hot, humid days. Thankfully it has cooled off a little bit now. I am very jealous of all my Northern hemisphere friends posting all about Autumn (or Fall, I guess) at the moment. Seeing all those cosy posts... cosy is my happy word.

Many parts of the celebration of Ostara have been folded into the traditions of Easter, which makes sense season-wise if you are in the Northern Hemisphere. In Australia Easter is in Autumn. It is a celebration of new life and fertility. Hence why eggs are one of the featured foods. It is sad that int his modern world, this celebration of life centres so much around products of the trauma and exploitation of chickens. I am so glad as vegans we can avoid this.

Now, onto the food!

Sunday Supper Frittata from Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson: Honestly, who needs eggs when you can have tofu! This is a pretty simple frittata to make: sautee some veggies, blend up the tofu mixture, combine, bake. For the veggies, as well as the called for potato, onion, mushroom, and spinach, I also added some broccoli and grated carrots, and some FYH cheddar shreds and bacon bits because why not. I also realised that I have not been processing my tofu mix enough when I have made frittatas in the past. I don't know how, but this time I gave it some extra time (plus my food processor is pretty powerful these days), and it came out so nice and smooshy. The recipe says to put the tofu mix on top of the sauteed veggies, but I mixed it all together before I put it in the pan. I used a 9in springform cake pan. It baked up and held together really nicely, and as a bonus I have an extra piece to take to work for lunch tomorrow. I served it with some roasted asparagus (lovely spring greens), and after this photo we drizzled on some ketchup.
Rating: :)



Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting from Everyday Vegan Eats by Zsu Dever: A carrot cake is a pretty classic way to welcome Spring, with the bonus being that I love carrot cake. This recipe was super simple to make. I baked it in a 9 inch square baking dish, and while the cake doesn't rise super high it is an excellent size for a snack or dessert without being overpowering. The flavour of the cake is really nice, and not too sweet. The cream cheese icing is also not to sweet, and has that great cream cheese tang to it. I skipped the nuts on top. This cake was great on the first day, but might I suggest that leftovers are even better? After being in the fridge overnight, the flavours really melded that the frosting took on an almost marshmallowy type texture.
Rating: :)



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



I cannot talk about carrot cakes without thinking of my own little carrot cat. Sahara, my cinnamon Abyssinian queen, posing here with the carrot toy I brought home from the US for them one year. Sahara and I shared our carrot-top colouring. I miss my baby red.

Father's Day 2020

Hi friends, I had to take a little blogging break because I lost all energy and motivation. Still kind of struggling with that, but trying to get back into regular habits again. I am back at work now as well, which is not helping my energy levels!

But on to happier things. The first Sunday in September is Father's Day in Australia. So, as usual, I made my dad a special dinner of his choosing. He picked Mexican, but then as I dreamed about all sorts of delightful beans and rice and totillas I checked in and he was thinking more along the lines of the cheesy/sour creamy 'Mexican'. But also nothing he had to eat with his hands. So enchiladas it was!

Spinach and Bean Enchiladas with Cilantro-Lime Cream Sauce from Everyday Vegan Eats by Zsu Dever: These hit the spot of cheesy, while also allowing me to use some beans and even some spinach, yay! The enchiladas are filled with a mix of onion, tomatoes, pinto beans, baby spinach, and cheese (I used the Daiya mixed one). For the spices, I left out the chili powder and used a mix of regular andsmoked paprika instead. I have zero luck with corn tortillas, so I used some nice little flour ones and they rolled so nicely. So, technically this says it serves 4-6, but the three of us ate it all! It is served with a lovely cilantro-lime cream sauce, which is cashew based and super easy to make. The lime is not overpowering either. I needed to add an extra splash of soymilk to mine to loosen it up a bit enough for pouring. Because my mum is avoiding citrus, I served it on the side rather than pouring it onto the top of the enchiladas after baking. I also served this with a chopped salad (no green leaves, as per my dad's request), of grated carrot, cucumber, celery, tomato, and corn.
Rating: Enchiladas :), Sauce :)







Chocolate Mousse from Tofu 1-2-3 by Maribeth Abrams: For dessert he requested a chocolate mousse, which is what my mother wanted for her mother's day dinner as well. I need more adventurous people to make weird desserts for! Anyway, this time I tried a recipe from my Tofu 1-2-3 cookbook, which was that classic combination of silken tofu blended with melted chocolate. This is RICH! I served it topped with a scoop of So Delicious Vanilla Cashew Youghurt, and some sliced strawberries.
Rating: :)



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



The sun is coming up earlier every day, which makes for a very happy little black cat.

VeganMoFo 2019 #28: Z is for Zsu Dever

The final letter of the alphabet! But not the final day of MoFo. For z (which I pronounce zed, being Australian), I had to go with cookbook author and blogger Zsu Dever. Zsu has authored three cookbooks, of which I have two. The one I don't have is Aquafaba, because I think I am the only vegan left who hasn't done stuff with aquafaba. I mean to, but it just isn't high on my priority list. One day! Zsu also has a lovely blog (though it hasn't been update for a while), with lots of recipes available there as well. I'm posting one recipe from each of the two books I have, as well as from her blog!

Mushroom Strogranoff from Everyday Vegan Eats: I made this to use up some sour cream kicking around, so stroganoff always sounds like a good idea! I just used regular white mushrooms for this, though it would be fun to use some more exciting varieties. I did find that the sauce needed a bit more flavour, perhaps some extra tomato paste and a bit of broth or mushroom powder would have been good. I made this with 8 oz (rather than 12 oz) of linguine, and added some peas as well, and I got three serves over baby spinach. I've only posted one other recipe from this book so far, which you can see here.
Rating: :)



Lentil Picadillo Bowl from Vegan Bowls: Vegan Bowls is one of my favourite cookbooks, I've used it a lot. You can see other recipes I have posted from this book here. This bowl has a few steps. I didn't read it through thoroughly enough, so learn from my mistake and even though it is the third step, make the spice mix first! You need to add it to the lentils while they are cooking. I had made my lentils earlier in the day, for quicker dinner time prep, so I missed this (but I just added it to the final mix). The recipe calls for a mix of brown and green lentils, but I just used all green. I also left out the capsicum, and I had to use kalamata olives because I realised that I didn't have any green or black regular ones. I like the salty sweet combination of picadillo, and this certainly hit that brief. I also did not have any farro, the cooked grain of choice, and while you can sub barley, I just used some white rice I had leftover from something else.
Rating: :)



Japanese Caramelised Noodles: Finally, a recipe from the blog. There are a lot of great recipes on there (some are from her books as well), but this one spoke to me. Udon noodles are cooked, then pan-fried to get golden (I did have trouble with this step, they just caught on the bottom of my pan a lot, use lots of oil!), then have vegetables and tofu (my addition) and sauce added to them. The vegetables are stir-fried initially while the noodles are boiling, then returned once the noodles have been pan fried. I added some snow peas to the vegetable mix. The sauce is easy to make, I used the vegetarian stir-fry sauce and water option. It is obviously on the sweet side, with all that brown sugar, but it is not overpoweringly sweet. Highly recommend.
Rating: :)



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



One of the nice things about a kitty of the post photo is that it lets me trawl through old photos of my girls, and sometimes I find absolute delights that I had forgotten about. Like this photo of Gizmo, trying out Sahara's basket! She looks a little awkward, but the important thing is that she is trying. She was comfortable no matter what, a champion snoozer.

VeganMoFo 2017 #17: Boozy Suzy

17th: Let’s get boozy! – Food involving booze, like beer brats, Welsh rarebit or a boozy dessert. Feel free to make a non-alcoholic version if you prefer.

I don't drink, but am happy to use alcohol in cooking (where it will be cooked out). Sometimes I might use an extract instead of the alcohol itself (like in rum dishes), but I almost always have some wine or beer on hand for cooking, as well as the occasional spirit.

Here are some things I have cooked involved beer, wine, and spirits!

Welsh Rarebit Casserole from Vegan Casseroles by Julie Hasson: This is a super easy casserole, that can be served as an appetizer for 4 or you can bulk it up with some sides for a main for two people. The booze here is beer, with Julie's Pub-Style Cream Sauce the crucial creamy part of the recipe. The cashew-based sauce is amazing! It uses a pale ale, and is is cheezy from nutritional yeast. This is poured over cubes of crusty bread (I toasted mine a little first to avoid it going too smooshy), and dusted with paprika and pepper.
Rating: Rarebit :), Sauce on its own :D





Roasted Cauliflower Piccata from Veganize It by Robin Robertson: When I think of wine, I think of piccata. I love this lemony, capery, white wine sauce! Robin puts a vegetable twist by using a slab of roasted cauliflower as the 'meat', and adding sliced mushrooms. It is served over a mound of her Mashed Potatoes with Sour Cream and Chives, and I also roasted some green beans to go alongside. So delicious!
Rating: Piccata :D, Potatoes :)



Rigatoni with Vodka Tomato Sauce from Everyday Vegan Eats by Zsu Dever: Ever since I fell in love with the vodka sauce recipe in Vcon, I am always keen to make different versions. This recipe calls for almonds to be blended and strained, but I am lazy and my blender is powerful so I didn't bother with the straining. It was maybe a bit thicker, but it was good! The sauce also has finely grated carrot sauteed along with the garlic. The recipe called for 1/2 cup of vodka, but I only had 1/3 cup left and that seemed fine. Everything is then blended up with an immersion blender before being poured of the pasta. I also added some peas to my pasta, and served it over baby spinach and with some vegan sausages on the side. It wasn't as good as the one of Vcon fame, but it was very tasty indeed.
Rating: :)



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post - Month of Sahara



We have a cat enclosure for the girls, and Sahara loved using this wheelbarrow as a bed. We put in some pillows and towels for her to make it extra comfortable.