quelle erqsome...

(nearly vegan) blueberry and banana bread

A couple of weeks ago, when I was getting all that food ready to take to Latitude, one of the things I made was a blueberry and banana loaf. Sweet crikey, I have never had such a successful baking experiment.

The resulting loaf is a cross between Victoria sponge and a proper blueberry muffin -- super light, super delicate and super tasty. This recipe seriously benefits from leaving it over night to settle into itself. Otherwise, you'll end up doing what I did the first time I made this and cutting into it too soon, thus leaving great fissures in the base which meant every other slice came away in two pieces.

ingredients:

8 oz plain flour
1 level tsp baking powder
1 level tsp baking soda
4 oz granulated sugar
4 oz vegan margarine
150 ml (1/4 pint) soya milk
1 tbsp organic honey (agave nectar would be perfect for veganising)
2--3 oz walnuts (though brazil nuts or hazelnuts would be awesome)
1 ripe banana, sliced
1/2 punnet of blueberries

method:

I was listening to The Splendid Table recently and Lynne Rossetto Kasper mentioned her frustration over the lack of direction with regard to how cups, etc. are measured, because whether you scoop or spoon, it makes a huge difference in how much flour you end up with. I tend to just weigh my flour out using my scales, but if I'm feeling lazy I scoop -- I take the measuring cup, dip it into the flour and scoop, then level off (not tap down). Apparently this is how Lynne does it, so I feel vindicated in my flouring.

In any case, preheat oven to 150 C or Gas 4 and have prepared a greased one-pound tin. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar in a large bowl, then add the margarine and rub together until crumbly in texture. Add the milk and stir until the batter gets to a nice dropping consistency, then carefully fold in the banana and blueberries -- because these are fresh rather than frozen, do take care to go gently so the blueberries remain largely intact.

Pour the batter into the tin and set in the oven on the next-to-lowest shelf. Bake for one hour or until the test knife comes out clean.

* * *

Because this bread is so light, it would be remiss of me not to mention serving this with a glass of fresh lemonade -- which reminds me, I really need to post that recipe. There is nothing in the world that spells summer like fresh lemonade.

from flock to sock

The flock at Latitude, our tent in the far distance.

The sock on my foot, Winding Cables in Wollmeise -- my contribution to the July Interweave Sockalong.

lookie, it's growing!

Orange tomato!

Teeny cucumber!

Phallic pepper!

There are garlic shoots coming up as well and loads of potato plants, but these babies I can actually see! With my eyes! Seriously, I came back from Latitude to a garden bursting with possibilty. We're going to the Big Chill next weekend, I can't wait to see what my garden will hold when we get back!

boredom is the killer

(This is where I should mention that there is a cure.) (Has it really been a week since I last posted? Crikey.)

cranberry chocolate granola bars

We're off to the Latitude Festival tomorrow so today, after I thrashed out the relationship between anxiety and articulation and the written word, I decided the only thing to do was make up some picnicky things to keep us going over the weekend. Egg-free potato salad, avocado tofu cream cheese, blueberry and banana bread*, and these granola bars. They are wonderful! Chewy, toasty and vaguely healthy -- what more could you ask for?

ingredients:

2 c. dry oatmeal
1/2 c. cranberries
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 c. pumpkin seeds
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1 c. honey or 3/4 c. golden syrup
3/4 c. vegan sugar
1/2 c. chocolate, chopped
1 tbsp non-hydrogenated vegan margarine

method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a deep pan dish with parchment paper, long enough so that it almost hangs over the edge of the pan, and grease liberally with some margarine. In a large bowl mix together the oatmeal, cranberries, raisins, pumpkin seeds, walnuts and chocolate. Add the honey, sugar and margarine and combine until completely incorporated.

Transfer into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for about 15--20 minutes until golden. When you remove the pan from the oven set it on a wire rack and, using a silicone sheet or a linen cloth, press lightly all over. Allow to cool.

Before you do the next step make sure they are completely cooled. Using the parchment paper as a lever, lift the whole thing out of the pan and place on the wire rack. I left mine to settle for a further half hour and then transferred the whole thing (again) to a cutting board and sliced it into piece. It's a bit fiddly, but well worth it!

*the recipe for this beauty to come -- yum!

cleaning up my crafting

I think I'm about to re-enter my quarterly foray into sewing, as I've been spending an awful lot of time lately gazing longingly at my computer screen thinking how marvellous it would be if I could just get my hands on that fabric. I'm not asking for much! Just enough to make a brooch, or a bear, or a billowing empire-waisted tuxedo tunic with cinched sleeves and a wide wingtip collar. Sigh.

Regardless, what I really want is to source my fabrics from companies that are striving to make a difference for the better in the generally suspect world of textiles and as fate would have it there are loads! These are my favourite:

Bishopston -- a UK-based company which specialises in fair-trade imports from rural India. Their fabrics look fantastic, but it's their manifesto that really makes them stand out.

Chop Chop Timber -- based in Canada, which could be very dangerous for my bank balance because for some reason their waffle blanket weave is giving me ideas. Wonderful ideas involving my sister, who is coming over from Canada in September.

Organic Cotton -- another UK-based one, this time from Wales. Like most of these places they sell sample books for a fiver and I am so tempted! They actively encourage their customers to order a swatch before placing a full order to make sure the colour is right -- how awesome is that?

Above All Fabric -- who carries the gorgeous bamboo/cotton blend I've linked to there. Yum!

Green Fibres -- also UK-based and another primarily fair-trade organisation, which seems to specialise in canvas and heavier weight fabrics, which screams totes and bags to me.

Sample Scrap -- a US-based company that deals with reclaimed fabrics! Most of them have been salvaged from architectural projects, and they're all awesome.

Kirin and Co -- possibly my favourite of the lot, the fabrics here are all designed by Lara Cameron, who you may remember had a Etsy shop. She's based in Australia, which is just gutting. Gutting! I want all of it.

Most of these sites I found via Crafting a Green World, a fantastic multi-craftual site that promotes intelligent, environmentally aware crafting of all kinds. The brainchild of Autumn Wiggins, CaGW is basically an online magazine, regularly updated, covering every craft you can greenify -- so basically every craft in existence. The articles span DYI project ideas, organisations and people in the crafting world, where you can find supplies and materials from ethical retailers and investigations into the political side of crafting, here (well, there -- they're based in the US) and abroad.

Most importantly, for me, their articles are not only well written and well edited, but they're also well researched, highly informative and readable. They are first and foremost a craft mag, which means that should you be a right-wing freakazoid with a SUV and bear traps in the front yard for added suburban security, if your trigger finger reaches for a glue gun you'll still find things here to interest you. I think the reason why I like it so much is because it speaks to all the things that were drummed into me when I was growing up in Toronto. They're so ridiculously common sense you'd think you were talking to Blair, but what they inspire is truly revolutionary. Reduce, reuse, recycle becomes remake, re-appropriate, reconsider -- the idea itself isn't a new one it's simply readdressed and it's got me aching to create.

Their article on natural dyeing has made me yearn to buy plums and set to (and have another think about the slightly aged nectarine currently sitting in my fruit bowl), another on upcycling old clothes reminded me I've got some great fabric with a silkscreened moose print just waiting to be cut up, still another brought me back to the wonder that is Steampunk and a fourth has had me rooting about in my recycling bin for jars. (CaGW also directed me to Knit for Brains, a yarn shop after my own heart, which has a dangerously fabulous vintage button selection.)

If you haven't checked out CaGW before I highly recommend it, and if you've got any recommendations for fabric suppliers let me know! I'd love to hear them.

vegan chocolate chip cookies -- at last

These are among the easiest, chewiest, most deliciousest cookies in the entire world. I challenge you to bake them and not like them. I challenge you to find someone who turns their nose up at them and declares them unworthy of their tastebuds. ('Nay, sir! It be your tastebuds that are not worthy!' That's what I would tell them.) Indeed, I challenge you to share even one. I've shared five with Matthew and I've regretted the loss of each and every one. Adding a pinch of nutmeg to the batter dangerously enhances the experience.

ingredients:

1/2 c. margarine
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp. soy milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. plain flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1 c. chocolate, of some lovely, large button variety

method:

In a large bowl, cream the margarine, sugar, and brown sugar until it's light and fluffy. Dissolve the baking soda and cornstarch in about three teaspoons of warmish water, then beat into the batter along with the milk, salt and vanilla. Add in the flour and combine until dropping consistency, then fold in the chocolate.

Arrange healthy-sized scoops around a greased cookie sheet and bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 9--10 minutes or until edges are brown.

In theory, it's best to let them cool on a wire rack and then eat them. I challenge you to manage that, too.

basil-tomato breakfast rolls

It seems my cravings for cinnamon rolls has been converted into a craving for rolled foods period. Enter an unusual twist to breakfast.

We made pizza last night and unusually had dough left over. When I discovered it in my kitchen this morning, resting quietly, covered, in its bowl, I suddenly knew what I wanted: fresh breakfast rolls. These aren't breakfast rolls in the traditional (British, at least) sense, but they are certainly rolls to eat at breakfast, lunch, on picnics -- seriously multi-purpose. Best of all, they're quick and easy and delicious.

ingredients:

dough:

1 level tbsp. active dry yeast
1 1/3 c. warmish water
3 2/3 c. plain flour (Type 'O' is substitutable, though you may want to vary amounts)
1 tbsp. sea salt
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

filling:

1--2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
leftover tomato-based pasta sauce
handful fresh basil leaves -- though 2 tbsp dried basil would be perfect
any other herbs to taste

method:

The dough is pretty much the exact dough you would use to make the focaccia, and in fact, as there will be so much dough, consider using half of it for focaccia instead!

Dissolve the yeast in the water and leave for about 15 minutes, or until it's nice and foamy head. Mix the flour and salt in a bowl together, add the yeast mixture once ready and then add the olive oil. Combine thoroughly, then knead on your counter for about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Leave in the bowl, covered, to rise for about 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in size.

Turn the dough out on to a well-floured surface and work the dough into a 6" x 21" rectangle, between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick. As with the cinnamon rolls, I would suggest dividing the rectangle, as this dough is a bit sticky and you don't want it to tear.

Drizzle the olive oil as even as you can and then spread with a brush, or gently with your fingers, until you've got as much of the surface covered as you can without disturbing the dough too much. Scoop out a few tablespoons of the tomato sauce onto the dough and spread evenly -- much the same way you would if you were using the dough to make pizza instead. Tear the basil and distribute as you fancy, with whatever other herbs you decide to use. Then, starting from the 6-inch edge, carefully roll the dough into a log and slice into pieces about an inch thick. Arrange the pieces cut-side up on a lightly greased 9" x 13" baking pan, cover and leave to proof for about half an hour.

Once they've filled out a bit (which is all proofing is meant for), bake for about 25 minutes in a pre-heated 400 degree oven. When they're golden, let them cool for a bit in the pan, then remove from the pan and place them on the wire rack so the bottom doesn't go soggy from the tomato.

All you have to do now is make yourself an espresso and enjoy!

 

vegan avocado cream cheese

This has very quickly become my new favourite snacking accessory, though oddly enough the first time I had it I was not a fan. It turns out that this is one of those dishes, like most soups and sauces, that needs to be left to its own devices for a day or so for the flavours to really meld together.

ingredients:

1 packet firm silken tofu
1/2 avocado
1--2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 c. almonds (I found sliced almonds incorporate best)
7--8 fresh basil leaves
1 tbsp. dried oregano
1 tbsp. water
2 tsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper

method:

Wrap the tofu in a linen towel and use it to sqeeze out the excess moisture. Be gentle, but don't be afraid of giving it a good throttling. I was rather surprised to see just how much liquid it releases -- upwards of a third of a cup, if not more.

Once drained, place in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients. There will be remnants of the tofu sticking to the towel, so I used the blunt edge of a knife to scrape them all up. Use a hand blender and blend until smooth. Adjust to taste -- bear in mind that the first time I tasted it, it was as though every single ingredient exploded in my mouth at the same time. It was too sweet, too salty and too lemony all at once. I adjusted as I thought necessary and then put it in an airtight container and left it the hell alone.

The next day it was heaven on a pita, and it just keeps getting better.

put 15 july in your diary

As an aside, I love that picture of them. I took it on their last evening of a three-day studio maratthon. They still look gorgeous, no? Simon (genius fantastico) is on the left; Matthew (genius magnifico) is on the right.

ETA: I've just discovered that everytime you go to their Myspace page not only does a new picture pop up, but you get a new song too! I mean, you could just click on each one to have a listen, but this more-manual-than-usual random shuffle thing is ace!