New Year

I am not a big New Year person. I don't really see a new year as being the start of something amazing, it is just the continuing passage of time. I don't do resolutions. I don't stay up until midnight. But I still do some food things. The last several years, I have had a pizza and pie theme for new year's eve. But this year I was working until late afternoon, I was tired, and I was stressed thinking about making pizza. So you know what, I just let it go. I made that tradition, I can break it, I can make another one! I can do whatever I want! Instead I decided to put together some platters of ready made things. That way I could just come home, sit down for a bit (my feet get so sore standing all day), and then platter things up.

These are some of the bought things I used in my platters, but I'll elaborate more on below!





First I made a savoury platter!



Clockwise from top:

• Grape tomatoes
• Beetroot Hummus
• Fine Cultures Port Wine Cheddar
• Leftfield Aged Cashew Brie
• Celery and Carrot Sticks
• Chris' Sweet Potato Vegan Dip
• Always Fresh Dolmades

Most of these things I have tried before, but it was my first time trying the Leftfield cashew cheese. This is a new vegan cheese available from Coles, and I was a bit wary as it has coconut oil listed. But it is honestly mostly cashew, and the coconut oil isn't very present. Maybe if I ate a whole block, but it is too rich for that! It was a great cheese.

On to a sweet platter:



Clockwise from top:

• Deli Originals Fresh Brownie Batter Dessert Dip
• Pink Lady Apple Slices
• Booja Booja Truffles
• Plantitude Meringue Nests filled with mango peach jam, vanilla yoghurt, and a blueberry

Friends, I finally found some dessert hummus! And it was DELICIOUS! It is from Aldi, which means I probably won't get it very often as Aldi is endlessly frustrating to me. Also, COVID everywhere. And I think it was limited edition. But this was SO GOOD! Definitely going to try and make my own. I served it with some apple slices for scooping. I also tried the Plantitude Meringue Nests from Woolworths. I don't actually like meringue, but I bought these for science. They space inside them was extremely shallow, so I couldn't put much filling in. I am not sure if they are all like this, or I just got a dodgy batch. Anyway, they were extremely too sweet, as I always find meringues.

I also had a few extras, for things that wouldn't fit on the platters. These included green grapes, Kettle Sea Salt crackers, water crackers, and peanut butter filled pretzels.



I spread everything out on the table, then we snacked while we watched You've Got Mail. And then I went to bed well before midnight.



Cranberry, Elderflower, and Rose Spirtzer from Delightful Vegans: I had bought some elderflower cordial and Ikea ages ago, had some left over cranberry juice from Christmas, and always have rosewater in my cupboard. So this seemed like a fun thing to make! I used lemon juice as I didn't have any lemon zest (I have loads of frozen lemon juice ice cubes in the freezer), and I topped mine off with coconut water rather than fizzy. It was a lovely refreshing drink!
Rating: :)



For the last several years, I have also traditionally made pancakes on New Year's Day for breakfast. But see above re tired. And being able to actual do whatever I want. So I didn't! I did try and make some pancake overnight oats for fun. I cobbled this together from few places, but basically just add some quantity of vanilla yoghurt, maple syrup, cinnamon, oat milk, and almond butter to your oats. The in the morning top with more yoghurt, almond butter, and maple syrup, and fruit and nuts of your choosing. Does it taste like panakes? Of course not. But it was still a nice breakfast for any time of year.



I did keep up with my New Year's Day tradition of making beans and greens for dinner. I used to try and make black eyed peas, as is the Southern US tradition. But I can't buy them tinned, and sometimes I just can't be bothered soaking and cooking them from scratch, so I have expanded it to just be any bean. Also, can't get collard greens here, so it has long been any green.

Southern New Year's Stew from Vegan On The Cheap by Robin Robertson: This recipe calls for both black eyed peas and collars. I used white beans and baby spinach. As I was using spinach, I got to skip right over the initial step whre you have to cook the collards, and just added it the end to cook down in the pot. I also used some pre-cooked brown rice and quinoa mix added at the end, rather than cooking brown rice in it. This was a great collection of beans, greens, grains, and vegetables.
Rating: :)



Anyway, it is now 2022, for better or for worse, or for more of the same. Back to your regular Kittens Gone Lentil Programming next time!

Cute Kitty Of the Post



New Year's Day is Abby's gotcha day. Not her adoption day, because when she first came into my life I was fostering her. Sure, it was a foster to adopt arrangement, but the formalities came later. She was a terrified little cat, hiding under a bedside table on her first day. But she opened herself up to me so quickly! Now she is a sweet, sassy, adorable little friend. She still has her limits, don't get me wrong. But she seems to be really living her best life and we have lots of snuggles.