Beltane 2020

I know that spooooooky season has just ended (though the horror of the world continues). I have never much been one for Halloween. I didn't grow up with it, and I just do not like food that is made to look like gross body parts. I don't want to eat it. Or look at it. Halloween has been growing in popularity in Australia, but I remain unmoved. Though I love seeing my friends getting a lot of joy out of it. Why am I talking about Halloween in a post about Beltane? Because in the Northern hemisphere, Halloween lines up with Samhain, and it is a nice autumny time. In Australia, it is spring but really it is already summer where I live in. And because our year of the wheel for sabbats is the opposite down here, the 31st of October is actually time to celebrate Beltane.

Beltane (31st October - 1st November, 2020)

Beltane is between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, and it celebrates life and fertility. Beltane fires are a common theme, but I did not light any fires here. And I certainly didn't jump over them. And certainly not with another human. Nor did I make a Maypole. Instead, I did what I do best and celebrated with food. All the recipes I made ended up being from books written by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau! That wasn't a concious decision, it just worked out that way.

Strawberry Lemonade from Color Me Vegan: My first time making homemade lemonade, it it won't be my last. In fact, I have another recipe chilling in my fridge as I type this. Strawberries are just going out of season here, so I made the most of them with this gorgeous drink. It is really nice and tangy, with the right amount of sugar and a good flavour balance. It did foam up a lot in the blender, which you can see here. But delicious.
Rating: :)



Pasta Primavera from The Vegan Table: Spring vegetables is a great way to celebrate Beltane, and this very simple pasta dish was packed with carrots, zucchini, asparagus, tomatoes, and basil. Also some olives. I left out the capsicum, scallions, and red pepper flakes. I made this with 8oz (250g) of pasta rather than 12oz (which the book says would be 160g of pasta, which is just completely wrong), and because I was using less pasta I only used 3/4 cup or stock rather than 1 cup for the final simmer. The next day I had the leftovers made into a pasta salad, with some Vegenaise, nooch, and chopped celery added. I love turning pasta leftovers into pasta salads, inspired by Food for Dissertating.
Rating: :)





Fruity Spinach Salad: I picked this salad because spinach is a great spring vegetable, and it had berries in the dressing, also very Beltane. The dressing is a really nice blend of raspberries (I used frozen ones, thawed out) and seasoned rice vinegar. I made a half recipe of the dressing, and kind of just went by feel for the rest of the ingreidents. But it has baby spinach, oranges, cucumbers, slivered almonds (that I used instead of chopped macadamias), and sunflower seeds in it. It was also meant to have poppy seeds in it, but I was out.
Rating: :)



Raspberry Oatmeal Bars from The Joy of Vegan Baking: This recipe is so quick and easy to make! It is a simple crumble of flour, brown sugar, oats, and Nuttelex that is pressed into the base, covered in raspberry jam, and then sprinkled with more of the oat crumble mix. The only think you need to think about is remembering to take your Nuttelex out to soften.
Rating: :)



And here is my dinner all together.



The next day I did not wash my face in the morning dew, as some people speak about. That would not really work here. But I did have a lovely breakfast of crumpets with rice malt syrup (instead of honey) and some fresh strawberries on the side.

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Just a couple of cuties.

Mother's Day 2020

Last weekend was Mother's Day here in Australia. We don't normally go out for Mother's Day, so quarantine didn't really make much change there. I normally make a dinner of Mum's choosing, and this year was no different. Unlike my dad, who always picks things for me to explore new recipes, my mum is very much set in what she wants, and this year was no different!

Stewed Tofu and Potatoes in Miso Gravy from Vegan With A Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz: I have made this recipe several times before, and it is a favourite. It is so rich and savoury and good for cold nights. It is full of mushrooms as well. This time I just served it with some steamed broccoli, though in the past I have also served it over mashed sweet potato. I cut the tofu triangles a bit smaller compared to previous times, just for easier serving and eating. This recipe is always highly recommended.
Rating: :D



Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry Sauce: from The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick Goudreau: This was a new recipe, though on a familiar theme. This mousse is that classic old school blend of melted chocolate and silken tofu. It had a lovely taste and texture, and wasn't too rich or too heavy. The recipe said it served six, but I split it into three serves in these ramekins. I also topped it with some raspberry sauce, which was so easy to make. Just defrost frozen raspberries, add some sugar, blend. It was a nice bright contrast to the mousse. Also finished off with some pieces of raspberry chocolate.
Rating: Mousse :), Sauce :)



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Speaking of mothers, here I am with my child. Who once again didn't get me anything for Mother's Day. But she herself if the best gift and blesses me every day, so I don't need anything else.

Samhain and Yule 2019

Following on from my post last week, here are my food celebrations for the other two sabbats that have already been and gone this year. If you missed the last post, have a quick read to see what they are all about and what they mean to me.

Samhain (April 30th, 2019)

Samhain in the Northern Hemisphere is October the 31st, which everyone knows as Halloween (which has its origins in Samhain). Samhain is considered the new year of the wheel of the year. You can have a lot of fun with food for this, there are traditional foods but you can also go the fun Halloween route if that is your thing. Though given that it is not Halloween here for another 6 months I generally just go with something more traditional.

Punk-Kin Pasta from La Dolce Vegan by Sarah Kramer: I got the idea to make this from Bianca's blog, she always posts about her sabbat feasts and I often search on her blog for some witchy food inspiration. This is a simple but tasty little dish, with a very easy sauce made from a tin of pumpkin puree. I did thin it out a little but adding some pasta water, a splash of oat milk, and a sprinkle of stock powder. The sauce also has sauteed chunks of sausage in it, and I used Field Roast Apple Sage. An excellent combination. Sprinkled with a bit of FYH Parmesan. I used 250g of pasta, which was enough for 3 serves.
Rating: :)



Jen's Raisin Soda Bread from La Dolce Vegan by Sarah Kramer: I had planned on making some sort of cute fancy dessert, but ended up going for something simple with a quick soda bread recipe. This is quite dense and doesn't rise as much as some other soda breads that I have made. I had planned on using currants instead, as I am not the biggest fan of raisins (I just find them very sweet), but then I discovered that I was out of currants and only had raisins. This also has caraway seeds in it, though I misread and only added 1/2 tsp instead of 1/2 tbs. This was good with a bit of butter, and as the recipe said was even better the next day.
Rating: :| but only because of the raisins, otherwise would be :) if it had currants (or even sultanas)



Yule aka Winter Solstice (22nd June, 2019)

Normally Yule is the sabbat where I make the biggest effort food wise. I love making either Christmas or winter menus from my cookbooks, and I had planned to do something similar this year. But then I was working late on the actual day,and I then I was super sick. So I went for very simple, and even then it had to wait a week. Oh well!

Portobello Pepper Steak Stew and Caulipots from Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz: I am a huge fan of the caulipots recipe with AFR, which is mashed potato and cauliflower. Not because of any caloric concerns, but just because it is tasty and a fun way to get some cauliflower into your life. The book has several flavour variations, and while I had made all of them I hadn't actually ever made the original one. But now I have! And I topped it with this lovely warming stew, that has slices of seitan and portobello mushroom. It is meant to have red and green capsicum, but I used carrot and celery instead. And I left out the chili flakes. This had a lovely, savoury flavour. Really it was only three serves with the caulipots. I have saved a bit of the leftover stew to make a wrap out of at a later time (it is currently in my freezer), which Isa suggests and a fun way to enjoy it as well. This was a great combination, served over some baby spinach.
Rating: Stew :), Caulipots :)



Baked Apples from The Joy Of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau: This is a very simple recipe. I halved it to make two apples as I was only serving two people, and I used granny smith apples. Apples are cored (but still leaving some flesh at the bottom) and half-peeled, filled with butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon, ad baked. After baking the apples were lovely and soft, and the filling was very runny! I served it with some So Delicious Snickerdoodle Cashew Ice Cream (my favourite ice cream).
Rating: :)



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Speaking of witchcraft and Samhain and Halloween, have a black cat! She is pretty magical! Did you know that even to this day, black cats are the hardest to adopt out because people some people still think they are bad luck? I have met several people who say that black cats make them nervous. Obviously this is ludicrous! So give a black cat a home, or at least a pat if they want it. Black cats are awesome!

Recipe Round-Up: The Joy of Vegan Baking

I am fairly sure that The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick Goudreau was one of the first vegan baking books I ever owned. It is a book I have turned to many times, both for old favourites and for trying new things. A lot of the recipes I made before I started taking photos, so I don't actually have too many on my blog. But I will be remaking them with time. You can see what I have posted before here.

No-Bake Strawberry Pie with Chocolate Chunks: This recipe comes together pretty easily. Using a No-Bake Pecan Crust, you need a lot of strawberries to fill it. Sliced fresh strawberries are layered into the crust, and then topped with a quick strawberry puree mix made on the stove using strawberries, dates, and lemon juice. I found it best to put down half the sliced strawberries, then top with half the puree, then repeat. Otherwise the puree tends to just pool and not run down to all the nooks and crannies.
Rating: :)



Chocolate Brownies: These are some moist (sorry) fudgy brownies. I baked for almost about hour (rather than 40 minutes as the recipe said), and they were still very moist (sorry). At 40 minutes, they were really not quite cooked. Though to be fair, I know my oven does tend to take a little longer.
Rating: :)



Lemon Bars: I love lemon bars, and these are definitely some of the best. The short crust base is a quite stiff and a bit hard to spread out, but some damp fingers helped to press it out nicely. These are tart and sweet and oh so good. They have silken tofu in them, but you can't taste it at all. My oven needed about an extra 5-10 minutes for each baking step. Make these!
Rating: :D



Apple Cobbler: I prefer crumble, but cobbler is always fun. Plus it is kind of like having pie without having to make a pie crust! Tart apples and cinnamon are under a flaky dough. Again, my oven needed an extra 10 minutes to cook the dough through all the way. Great with ice cream.
Rating: :)





Hot Chocolate: A warming mug of hot, melted chocolate and nondairy milk, what is not to enjoy? Topped with some Dandies that had dried out a little.
Rating: :)



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



So, I'm that sort of cat mother now. $7 for a unicorn hoodie at Kmart and I couldn't resist. She was less than impressed. She wore it for a few minutes while I took photos, and then I took it off. I don't think I can put it on her again, but geez it was adorable!

Second Christmas!

My little brother lives in the UK, but he has just come home for his first holiday here in two and a half years. He got in late on the 2nd, so on the 3rd we had second Christmas. Yay! This was a lighter affair than first Christmas, but was still very yummy.

Fiery Fruit and Quinoa Salad from Salad Samurai by Terry Hope Romero: This was the centerpiece of the meal, and I think you can see why. It is a stunning salad! Quinoa, black beans, lots of herbs, grilled onions, grilled peaches, roasted corn kernels (these were meant to be grilled but I was just using a little George Foreman grill, so I cut the kernels off and roasted them) and a great Chipotle Chia Dressing. I only used about half the amount of chipotle in the dressing as called for, which gave it a nice smokey mild heat without it being anything scary. This was so delicious!
Rating: Salad :D, Dressing :)



Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Moroccan Spices from World Vegan Feast by Bryanna Clark Grogan: My brother mentioned he would like some sweet potatoes with lunch, and these sounded like they would go well. Whole cumin, coriander and mustard seeds are mixed with maple syrup and grated lemon peel. The seeds go wonderfully crunchy and sticky!
Rating: :)



Just some sauteed kale seasoned with Braggs and some garlic powder.



I also fried up some big mushrooms (just regular white field mushrooms, not portobellos) and then glazed them with some HP sauce. They were yummy! And of course some cranberry sauce. I was going to make some myself but we still had half of the jar left from Christmas day so I just used up the rest of that.



Group shot!



On my plate, shortly before heading to my stomach.



After lunch we played our traditional game of Trivial Pursuit - parents vs. kids. Sadly Greg and I lost this year, though we totally would have won if we hadn't talked ourselves out of so many right answers! Oh well.... To go with our trivial pursuit, I made some trifle.



The layers were (from the bottom up):

1. Strawberry Cupcakes from The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau: I had some leftover cupcakes in my freezer that I had been saving for this. I love these cupcakes!
   Rating: :D
2. Strawberry jelly from a vegan packet mix
3. Tinned peach slices
4. Custard made with Orgran custard powder
5. Tofu Whipped Topping from The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau: This was a lovely, sweet cream. It didn't thicken up that much with chilling, but it was still just right for this sort of thing.
   Rating: :)
6. Sliced toasted almonds and chocolate sprinkles

No action shots, because trifle always looks good assembled and then turns into a pile of kind of gross looking slush in the bowl. But it was damn tasty!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



A special Christmas photo of my beautiful Gizmo on her last Christmas in 2011. I miss her so much.

Cooking for a Cure 2011

Every year for the last few years I host a Girl's Night In for the Cancer Council, to raise money for women's cancer research and support. Though mine is more of a Girl's Day In. One Sunday afternoon each year, the ladies from the clinic all come around to my house for afternoon tea, and I provide lots of vegan goodies for them to eat. This year was a smaller group - a lot of people were away, but I still tried to make a good spread. Here's what we ate.

Blueberry Orange Bundt Cake


(From Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau)
Bundt cakes make me excited, and this lovely citrus blueberry cake was beautiful. I suspect my bundt pan may be a bit deeper than the US bundt pans, as I often have to bake my bundt cakes for about 15-20 minutes longer, and they come out looking taller than the ones in the book sometimes. Also, if you are using silicon, make sure to wait until it is completely cooled before sliding out. This was a big hit, one of the girls took some home for her partner, who I believe said it was the best cake he'd had all year.

Chocolate and Vanilla Marble Cupcakes


(From Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero)
There were adorable in the end, but did give me some stress when doing. The recipe says if you are coordinated enough, you can pour the vanilla and chocolate batters in side by side to the liner. I started this, but the vanilla batter was thicker than the chocolate and did not pour well. I ended up doing the other option, alternately dropping spoonfuls of each side by side. I marbled them using a toothpick, but I wonder if using a knife would get a better pattern, as they did not marble much. I also used these cute little cupcake liners, which you can see above. The recipe calls for filling to the top, so I only got 10 cupcakes using these. In these liners they did come out looking a bit funny on top, I think because they don't allow the normal shape of a cupcake to form, maybe? Next time if using these liners I would split the batter between the full 12. For the frosting I made the buttercream frosting from the book, and blended half of it with Dutch cocoa powder. I then firmed each frosting up in the fridge in separate bowls before marbling them together, put in the fridge again, then just dolloped onto the top. They ended up looking adorable, I think. And they tasted yummy. They also seemed to improve in taste as they sat in the fridge, so consider making these in advance. Here ends the essay!

The following pictures all appeared during my MoFo posts, so you may recognise them and some of the comments if you read my posts during that time. Still, they are pretty to look at again. :)

Deluxe Cocoa Brownies


(From Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero)
I think that brownies are a pretty sure bet for any sort of social gathering. Rich, moist and chocolatey.

Cranberry Almond Cookies


(From The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur by Kelly Peloza)
These are large, comforting cookies. They would be great with a glass of plant-based milk of your choosing! One of the girls took home all the leftovers and her partner apparently ate them all before his bike ride the next morning! Carbing up, I assume.

Mango Cashew Balls


(From 1000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson)
This recipe was a last minute addition to the menu. You know how you suddenly panic and worry that you won't have enough food (even though you have more than enough)? I am so glad I did. This is a variation of Apricot Walnut Balls, and I chose it because it sounded like a delightful tropical mix. They are heavenly!

Of course, there needs to be some savoury snacks as well.

Hummamole


(From Quick-Fix Vegan by Robin Robertson)
What happens with hummus and guacamole love each other very much. Delicious. Also, even though it has avocado in it, it didn't go brown over several hours. This was gobbled up with lots of fresh vegetable sticks - carrots, celery and green beans.

Red Bean-Chipotle Dip


(From Quick-Fix Vegan by Robin Robertson)
This stuff takes less than five minutes, and is seriously delicious. I only used one chipotle, which gave it a nice smoky kick. I think if you left out the water in this recipe, it would make a great almost-instant refried-bean style tasting filling for tacos and burritos. Served with tortilla chips.

Cheezy Cashew-Roasted Red Pepper Toasts


(From 1000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson)
Another of those last minute additions. I am so glad I added it, because it ended up being the star of the show! This is the only way capsicum should be eaten - roasted and blended up into a cheezy sauce. There it just adds a depth of flavour, and does not give me indigestion. Yay! Instead of making toast and cutting it into small shapes, I bought some mini melba toasts. This is one of my favourite things ever.

Here are some photos of the table, with all the food set out.


The dips with all their dippy friends.


Tiered serving stands always make everything extra adorable.


You can just see here the watermelon I also cut up and served. I like to serve some fruit at these things. The watermelon was perfect as well.

So, that is done for another year. It is a great way to showcase delicious vegan food, have a good time with friends and colleagues and raise money for a great cause. I'm already thinking about what I shall make next year!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post


Possum chilling out on the carpet, like the total stud he is. Look at his little toes!

Cooking for a Cure 2011

Every year for the last few years I host a Girl's Night In for the Cancer Council, to raise money for women's cancer research and support. Though mine is more of a Girl's Day In. One Sunday afternoon each year, the ladies from the clinic all come around to my house for afternoon tea, and I provide lots of vegan goodies for them to eat. This year was a smaller group - a lot of people were away, but I still tried to make a good spread. Here's what we ate.

Blueberry Orange Bundt Cake


(From Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau)
Bundt cakes make me excited, and this lovely citrus blueberry cake was beautiful. I suspect my bundt pan may be a bit deeper than the US bundt pans, as I often have to bake my bundt cakes for about 15-20 minutes longer, and they come out looking taller than the ones in the book sometimes. Also, if you are using silicon, make sure to wait until it is completely cooled before sliding out. This was a big hit, one of the girls took some home for her partner, who I believe said it was the best cake he'd had all year.

Chocolate and Vanilla Marble Cupcakes


(From Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero)
There were adorable in the end, but did give me some stress when doing. The recipe says if you are coordinated enough, you can pour the vanilla and chocolate batters in side by side to the liner. I started this, but the vanilla batter was thicker than the chocolate and did not pour well. I ended up doing the other option, alternately dropping spoonfuls of each side by side. I marbled them using a toothpick, but I wonder if using a knife would get a better pattern, as they did not marble much. I also used these cute little cupcake liners, which you can see above. The recipe calls for filling to the top, so I only got 10 cupcakes using these. In these liners they did come out looking a bit funny on top, I think because they don't allow the normal shape of a cupcake to form, maybe? Next time if using these liners I would split the batter between the full 12. For the frosting I made the buttercream frosting from the book, and blended half of it with Dutch cocoa powder. I then firmed each frosting up in the fridge in separate bowls before marbling them together, put in the fridge again, then just dolloped onto the top. They ended up looking adorable, I think. And they tasted yummy. They also seemed to improve in taste as they sat in the fridge, so consider making these in advance. Here ends the essay!

The following pictures all appeared during my MoFo posts, so you may recognise them and some of the comments if you read my posts during that time. Still, they are pretty to look at again. :)

Deluxe Cocoa Brownies


(From Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero)
I think that brownies are a pretty sure bet for any sort of social gathering. Rich, moist and chocolatey.

Cranberry Almond Cookies


(From The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur by Kelly Peloza)
These are large, comforting cookies. They would be great with a glass of plant-based milk of your choosing! One of the girls took home all the leftovers and her partner apparently ate them all before his bike ride the next morning! Carbing up, I assume.

Mango Cashew Balls


(From 1000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson)
This recipe was a last minute addition to the menu. You know how you suddenly panic and worry that you won't have enough food (even though you have more than enough)? I am so glad I did. This is a variation of Apricot Walnut Balls, and I chose it because it sounded like a delightful tropical mix. They are heavenly!

Of course, there needs to be some savoury snacks as well.

Hummamole


(From Quick-Fix Vegan by Robin Robertson)
What happens with hummus and guacamole love each other very much. Delicious. Also, even though it has avocado in it, it didn't go brown over several hours. This was gobbled up with lots of fresh vegetable sticks - carrots, celery and green beans.

Red Bean-Chipotle Dip


(From Quick-Fix Vegan by Robin Robertson)
This stuff takes less than five minutes, and is seriously delicious. I only used one chipotle, which gave it a nice smoky kick. I think if you left out the water in this recipe, it would make a great almost-instant refried-bean style tasting filling for tacos and burritos. Served with tortilla chips.

Cheezy Cashew-Roasted Red Pepper Toasts


(From 1000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson)
Another of those last minute additions. I am so glad I added it, because it ended up being the star of the show! This is the only way capsicum should be eaten - roasted and blended up into a cheezy sauce. There it just adds a depth of flavour, and does not give me indigestion. Yay! Instead of making toast and cutting it into small shapes, I bought some mini melba toasts. This is one of my favourite things ever.

Here are some photos of the table, with all the food set out.


The dips with all their dippy friends.


Tiered serving stands always make everything extra adorable.


You can just see here the watermelon I also cut up and served. I like to serve some fruit at these things. The watermelon was perfect as well.

So, that is done for another year. It is a great way to showcase delicious vegan food, have a good time with friends and colleagues and raise money for a great cause. I'm already thinking about what I shall make next year!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post


Possum chilling out on the carpet, like the total stud he is. Look at his little toes!