🗁Added 16 photos to album Fife 2022.
A quick detour through some woods on the way to Perth and.... spent the rest of the afternoon there. Just a few agates. Canny tell ya where.
Week in review: 25th April - 1st May
- Took the week off work! But still had loads to do.
- Took part in a panel for the W3C AC meeting, about sustainability and web standards.
- Planted chillis and potted up romanesco.
- Made coconut chia puddings at the Community Kitchen, peppers stuffed with lentils and mung beans with tempeh on top, and krompirusa again.
- Called the fire brigade for the first time ever. Fortunately nothing turned out to be on fire, but better safe than sorry..
- K, M and Lowenna came to visit.
- Dryad's saddle season is beginning. The early warning tree is fruiting, but nothing so far anywhere else. Did clean up a load of stuff from the woods when we were out looking though.
- Went in the sea. Some beautiful days.
- Caught up on Picard.... quite disappointing tbh.
- Got various little DIY things done... or partly done... door thresholds in hallway, internal kitchen cupboard improvements, clocks/hooks on the walls..
- Went on an adventure to [redacted] woods in Perthshire, where we discovered large quantities of amazing shiny rocks...
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🗁Added 4 photos to album Foraging 2022.
More dryad's saddle on the Early Warning Tree. But either someone had taken most of the new baby fruits, or the slugs had had a mega party. Kind of hard to tell, but I'm sure they were taken too young. A few survived under the nettles at the back of the log (until I got to them).
Kasknopfle, Liechtenstein: food I've never eaten
This week I checked out cuisine from Liechtenstein, and came across kasknopfle or spaetzle. I more or less followed this recipe for a veganised version.
The texture of the batter was surprisingly compliant. I used a chopping board and bench scraper to make strips to drop into the boiling water. The main mistake was making them far far too big. But they nonetheless cooked quickly and tasted fine.
I layered the dumplings/pasta with grated not-cheese. In lieu of dried onions to top with, I used the tops of home-grown onions, which caramelised a bit in the oven, and baked it all together. I would have just eaten that alone, but I was feeding my brother too who has greater quantity and diversity requirements for his evening meal, so I served it with breaded chicken-of-the-woods from my freezer (the closest thing I could think of to thematically appropriate schnitzel) and steamed broccoli from the garden.
There were plenty of leftovers, and they reheated well for a substantive lunch.
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🗁Added 33 photos to album Fife 2022.
Max time, a couple of walks into town (coffee at Black Cat Cafe), braw days and grey days.
🗁Added 6 photos to album Homemade food.
Quiche was on the menu at the Community Kitchen this week, so I swooped in to make a vegan one with gram flour as well. I also used aging mincemeat for tarts, plus jelly with the rest of the fruit cocktail.
At home I baked seedy bread, and a victoria sponge with homemade raspberry compote, and coconut cream. Dusted with coconut flour, instead of icing sugar, and only uses coconut sugar inside. It's a bit denser than ideal, though not solid. I might have a go with margarine (instead of oil) next time.
🗁Added 20 photos to album Homemade food.
Khichdi (mung bean dal, rice, tomato, spices), an Indian dish I picked up from Vipassana kitchen.
Spaetzle (veganised with semolina and spelt flour instead of egg), baked with not-cheese and onion, served with breaded chicken-of-the-woods and greens, from Leichtenstein, Germany, Switzerland and thereabouts.
Kanom krok, sweet/savoury coconut mini pancakes from Laos or Thailand.
Kanom krok, Laos: food I've never eaten
One day I'd love to visit Laos, and making kanom krok made me even more keen. They are small coconut pancakes, vegan without any modifications, also commonly found as street food in Thailand.
I made the pancake batter up ahead of time and left it in the fridge for a couple of hours. It seemed quite thin. I combined coconut milk (the thickest parts from a can that had separated in the fridge) with rice flour, desiccated coconut, some leftover cooked rice, and brown sugar in the blender. For the filling, I whisked coconut milk (again, the thick part) with a little white sugar and cornstarch. Lacking a proper kanom krok pan, I made do with a muffin tin and the oven on high. I heated the tin to melt coconut oil in each one first, then poured the batter in. It sizzled.
Baking these until they had a small skin on top took about 7 minutes. I pulled them out, added the filling, topped with sweetcorn and spring onion, and put them back in for another 12 minutes or so. I could/should have probably cooked them slightly longer to make the edges crispier.
They were delicious, if a little soggy or droopy. I waited just long enough for the tin to cool enough to hold it with a tea towel before removing them with a spoon. They came out surprisingly easily and had more structural integrity than they looked like they should. I got eighteen in total out of the mix, and most of the first twelve were eaten before the second batch were done. An eater-of-eggs who tried them swore they would have passed as eggy desserts without question.
They were easy and quick to make, and so so good, I'll definitely be making them again.
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🗁Added 9 photos to album Fife 2022.
Beach walkies. Max was getting in the way of mowing the lawn so we put the seedling-protector over him. He was happy. Wagging for a new ball access challenge.
🗁Added 6 photos to album Stuff I made.
Planted out tomatoes, cucumber and dwarf french beans in the footpath garden. Some things are sprouting in places I do not remember planting them. Also more aubergines have come up, some very belated sweet peppers, and a whole load of long slim chillis.
Week in review: 2nd - 8th May
- Caught up on Co-op stuff that I've been neglecting.
- A grey week, in contrast to last week, warm and cold.
- Finished Shadow of the Hegemon, started The Vampire Lestat.
- Baked vegan quiche, mincemeat tarts (still dragging out the christmas leftovers), and made jelly at the Community Kitchen.
- Made khichdi, a victoria sponge cake, spaetzle/knoepfle (Liechtenstein) and kanom krok (Laos).
- Went to the Black Cat Cafe, and discovered many exciting new things down the far end of the High St where I don't normally go.. a new veg shop and organic food store! Also got top Kirkcaldy gossip in the cafe.
- Harvested more dryad's saddle from the early warning tree.
- Potted up French beans. More aubergines sprouted, and sweet peppers, better late than never. A few nasturtiums and mystery seedlings sprouted in footpath garden. Planted out tomatoes in footpath garden. Only inkycap mushrooms are coming up in the new chilli farm, but Hungarian black peppers are ripening.
- Soya beans hadn't come up, and some digging around revealed they seem to have rotted. Will be contacting Johnson's..
- Hung out with Max.
- Put yellow and pink cellophane (that I found in Furniture Plus!) in my bathroom light to make it warmer and less stark. Definite improvement.
- Started a series of posts on cooking experiments from countries I've never been to. In lieu of actually travelling, and inspired by worldle generating a new inspirational country every day.
- Went to the Scottish vegan festival in Edinburgh, spent about £100 on hot sauce and other tasty things, then stayed over with K&M and poor wee Lowenna who is recovering (well) from emergency surgery.
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🗁Added 13 photos to album CoGM May 2022, Wortley.
A lift to Edinburgh with K for a visit to the Scottish Vegan Festival. I bought many treats. Then an afternoon and night with K, M and Lowenna. Before heading back into Edinburgh for a train down south... by way of a long chat with a Cat's Protection charity man who persuaded me to sponsor a moggy.
🗁Added 28 photos to album CoGM May 2022, Wortley.
Checked into a room bigger than my flat, including a bathroom with ceiling arches, and a view over Wortley Hall's fantastic grounds. Day one of the CoGM, with some team building and strategic thinking, lunch with aggressive ducks, plus a long walk through the fields in the afternoon.
🗁Added 2 photos to album Stuff I made.
Cellophane addition to my bathroom light to change the moooood.
🗁Added 45 photos to album CoGM May 2022, Wortley.
A sunset walk in the hills around Wortley. Definitely no getting lost, confrontations with cows, or strange men burning logs. Found an inkycap, and left it to go splat to make some mushroom art, before redistributing it in the Wortley Hall grounds.
The next day, clear skies for sunrise, and I had front row seats. Into Sheffield for a fantastic brunch at South Street Kitchen. And then the train ride home.
🗁Added 8 photos to album Fife 2022.
Cutting rocks.
🗁Added 6 photos to album Foraging 2022.
A few large dryads in the nearby woods. Some already too old. Not all within reach. More than enough for dinner.
🗁Added 10 photos to album Fife 2022.
A few hours in Buckhaven, helping CLEAR out with a plant and local produce sale and gardens open day. Then a walk through the woods to admire the bluebells. Found a few dryad's saddle, but not a lot and nothing else.
🗁Added 7 photos to album Stuff I grow.
A wee chilli harvest. Many long peppers are growing. Planted out brussels sprouts and romanesco in the garden. Potted up aubergine, sweet peppers and yet more celery. Planted sunflowers and rockery plants in the footpath garden.
Look at the flower on the salsify we have been neglecting!
🗁Added 14 photos to album Homemade food.
My upstairs neighbour left me a bag of massive cabbage leaves, so what else is there to do but make stuffed cabbage rolls? I've eaten the like in Czech Republic, Ukraine, Poland, and doubtless other places in Eastern Europe too. I didn't follow any particular recipe, but made the rice filling with brown and black lentils, onion and goji berries, and the sauce from onion, tomato and carrot. After blanching and stuffing the cabbage leaves, I simmered them in the sauce for about an hour. Delicioius!
In a further burst of inspiration, I made matcha and white chocolate cookies, and they came out perfect. I have been seeking this cookie texture my whole life. I hope I can replicate it with other flavours.
Also pictured: lunch with Kama vegan bakes pies and homemade pickled tomatoes.
Week in review: 9th - 15th May
- Long peppers sprouted! Many!
- Three days in Wortley Hall with ODSC! For our first almost-whole-coop IRL meeting since the beforetimes. We had a great time, got some useful strategic thinking done, went on long walks in the Yorkshire countryside, and - as is traditional - ate lots of carbs.
- Attended a W3C FO Council meeting.
- Saw the Ethical Web Principles and Privacy Principles move onto the W3C Statement Track.
- Looked inside some rocks.
- Enjoyed a day in Buckhaven for a CLEAR gardens open day and plant sale. Helped out at the stall selling locally grown and made jams, chutneys, relish, etc. Came home with two sunflowers, and two pretty rockery succulents..
- Looked for dryads saddle on the way back, and found enough for a few meals, but not a ton.
- Planted out brussel sprouts, and many romanesco, and for some reason loads more onions. Potted up even more of the celery seedlings, with a view to giving as much away as possible, and also the aubergine and sweet peppers that sprouted late, though no idea where they're going to live yet.
- Someone deposited a bag of large cabbage leaves on my doorstep, so I made stuffed cabbage, Eastern Europe stylee.
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🗁Added 10 photos to album Homemade food.
Homemade ravioli stuffed with smoked cashew cheese (from Kama Vegan Bakes) were a success!
Tried to adapt my perfect stuffed matcha cookies to use peanut butter and be stuffed with compote, but they were way too soft, and should have baked longer.
Also bread.
That feeling when you are braced for a drawn out and infuriating customer service experience, but your problem is solved without any hassle within 2 mins of an online chat. Now I feel like I have the whole day free!
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🗁Added 5 photos to album Homemade food.
Matcha and chocolate cookies at the Community Kitchen. Only vegan margarine available was in 10g sachets.. we make do..