Proper Tea

We've been away - both from the blog and from the flat - but now we're back. While usually that would mean some posts on where we went I... well I smashed my camera. So we're light on holiday content. Cast your mind back to the Saturday before last though for this...

We arrived in manchester after a long, somewhat depressing, train journey. The train line connecting our part of devon, and everything further west, to the rest if the country torn to bits and Summerset is so flooded that it could be mistaken for the sea. So we arrived in manchester late, sore and both frightened and awed by the power if the weather.

After the obligatory stops - Purl for yarn and V Revolution for primal strips - we made a pilgrimage to Proper Tea. Proper Tea is the sister (cousin? related anyway) shop to the fabulous Teacup so you can trust that it provides lovely tea in a friendly atmosphere. The space is rented from Manchester Cathedral you also get an amazing architectural as you drink. Just an added bonus.

I ordered the hot chocolate, it's too bitter for Stephen's taste but I find it rich and devilishly delicious. Stephen had a beautifully presented Rosy Grey. An Earl Grey mixed with fabulous florals. Proper Tea serves their tea - loose leaf - in one teapot and when the timer counts down to the perfect time you strain it into a second. It turns a drink into a ritual and ensures that it tastes fabulous.

Even I was impressed by the Rosy Grey and I don't drink tea. Every chance I got I greedily stole sips from Stephen. Some he knew about, some he didn't. Then as I went back to my hot chocolate the staff brought round a sample of Cacao Vanilla - a real treat.

Am I a tea convert? If anyone can make me one it's Proper Tea. And until I'm fully brought round I'll keep going back for the Hot Chocolate and charming staff.

Grass

Last night we where told that Chelsea has no lawns this year. All football jokes aside (because I don't know any) it's an interesting idea.

A friend of mine, visiting from the Netherlands, remarked that the British and a tendency to find an empty bit of land, plonk a lawn in it and sit there. It's what we do. But really is that the best way?

My favourite lawn in a good example of their darker side. The grand sweeping lawn of Cockington is a pure English village postcard. Against all odds a cricket pitch lies in the centre, the lawn slopes down on all sides. Trees, both natives and relics of a botanically minded ancestor, surround it.

Our image of this lawn is something pure and natural. Anglophiles and bankers wishing to escape to the country may even be swooning. But before a cricket pitch sat on that lawn, before the lawn itself that little patch of land was in use. It was home.

On that site stood the Almshouses. Almshouses are provided for the needy so it was quite a useful plot of land. Certainly if you live there you would think that a lawn was a wast. Not so for the people living inside the Manor. There quest for rural, sweeping 'what England should look like' views lead them to demolish the houses and put in grass. The almshouses where moved elsewhere. Must have sucked.

Still, more than a few years after the fact, I enjoy the lawn for lounging and reading. Others play cricket, some erect gazebos and have picnics. Not all lawns are like that though. I can't imagine reading on the ornamental patch of grass outside the flat. It's just there as punctuation in an expanse of parked cars.

Even if the grass is given up to the people it isn't always accessible. For the last couple of years the grass in Piccadilly Gardens (my favourite green space in the centre of Manchester) has been covered in 6' fencing. Each patch of grass takes it in turns to be replaced after the scorching sun has killed it off. While neighbors are left untouched for you to lie on the effect isn't the same.

So Chelsea doing away with lawns. Is is a victory for the little people who had their housed destroyed? Not really. In the most part what was once grass is currently hard landscaping (ie not plants). They make interesting viewing but is this really the type of garden design we should be looking at?

I have no idea. Lawns certainly have their uses. Aside form sitting they do give water somewhere to go other than sitting on tarmac. At the same time they are labour intensive for what they are. And the path to have a green, daisy free lawn is one of environmental irresponsibility. But when you have nothing but a few beams of wood suspended in the sky grass is a dream. And a welcome sight.

Brought to you by the letter C

Twelve months. Good things have happened and bad things have happened in that time.

I now live in Devon. That's the biggest change, the one that is good some days but bad the next. Although it was hard to leave my Guide unit, my Dad and all the good shops behind it was even better to come here and live with Stephen.

Just think.

Twelve months ago Stephen had never eaten pasta. He'd never been further north than Wales. He still ate pork. I was technically homeless with no job. I had no plants. I had no plans.

I can now recognise wild garlic, germinate seeds and sprout. I cook lovely crispy roast potatoes and the perfect vegan mint chocolate chip cookies. And Stephen has done it all with me. Even if he won't eat purple sprouted broccoli.

In honour of our first year together we cooked a meal. We decided on roast potatoes as we perfected the method together over Christmas and Macaroni and Cheese.

I topped the Macaroni and Cheese off with the disturbingly sexy Greens of Glastonbury Mature Cheddar. Which is not a sandwich cheese, or a cooking cheese but an eat a sliver and have your mouth watering for hours. As a finishing touch it made a very decadent mac and cheese.

For desert it was cupcakes. Basic chocolate iced and topped. The green ones where given edible sparkles and the purple ones got vegan chocolate buttons.

All in all a lovely anniversary meal, hopefully many more to follow!

Mushroom Chilli Noodle Bowl

Following the last entry about my perfect comfort food I went over my Mushroom noodle bowl recipe. It has the chewy meatiness of the mushroom, the carby comfort of the noodles and the lovely, deep heat of Chili Bean Sauce.

As much as I love finding four types of soy sauce in my local Tesco and garam massala (rather than just curry powder) at my old Morrisons I'm always disappointed by the lack of chili bean sauce. Why? Well it's yummy. It makes everything hot, of course, but the heat is really an after taste. Before you get the deep flavours, the beans, the slight smoky edge and hint of sweetness.

It's well worth getting hold of some if you can. I got mine from Kim's Thai Supermarket in Manchester's China town. Fellow Torquay residents can find it in the Chinese shop just off Belgrave road. In the UK it can be ordered online from Wing Yip.

Ingredients (for one person, multiply as desired)  

A hand full of mushrooms

Noodles (mine are wheat flour noodles that come in single servings)

3 cups of mushroom stock

1 tablespoon of hosin sauce 

2 teaspoons of chili bean sauce

2 teaspoons of sugar

Oil for frying and salt to taste

Garnish: here I used chili flakes and red onion to add a crunch. Other ideas are spring onion and/or freshly chopped chili. 

• Put the noodles on the boil for as long as the packet tells you to.
• While you are doing that fry the mushrooms in a bit of oil. Use the pan you'll be making the broth in to save on washing up.
• Drain the noodles and place in the serving bowl.
• When the mushrooms are done put to one side and heat the stock on a medium heat until it starts to simmer. 
• Add the hosin sauce, chili bean sauce and sugar and simmer for five minutes
• Taste the stock and add some salt if you're into it.
• Bring to the boil and immediately pour over the noodles. You want the top of the noodles just to poke out from the broth.
• Place the mushrooms and the garnish on top and if you have some extra spoon over some stock. Pretty as a picture. 

 

Goodbyes, Hellos and Cookies

So I've left Manchester. Well that is not strictly true, I've never lived in Manchester. Heywood, Shaw, Huddersfield. All less then an hour away but I never managed to live right in the city centre. I always wanted to. I still want to.

Manchester is the city that spoilt me. When I go into a restaurant or cafe and I'm shocked that there are only two or three vegetarian dishes it's all Manchester's fault. Vegan food wasn't impossible to find either. The best chocolate cake in the world lived in a vegan cafe in the city centre.

And where else on earth can you get Afflecks Palace? An old warehouse filled with small alternative and vintage shops since... well forever really.

Then there is the stuff you don't pay for. The Buddhist Centre, Urbis, the lawns, the fountains, the statues, the people. Beautiful and wonderful. All of them. Well not Oasis. They did suck.

Now I'm a resident of Torquay. I've left behind the city I love and now I have a cozy bed in my boyfriends house. With him in it. Naturally. Living in sin by the seaside. The strangest thing about living here is that I am not responsible for my meals. Strange. Very strange. But that doesn't mean I'm not getting cooking done. Last night we made the chocolate chip cookies from Vegan With A Vengeance.

Well we made them again. Last time we forgot the bicarb. This time they where a little dry. We had to add more vegan marge and some of them where slightly undercooked but not bad undercooked. Still yummy. Instead of chocolate chips we broke up a chocolate bar (half the weight) and used that instead. I think this results in a better look and flavour especially as we used some vegan mint chocolate.

A Masters in seed bombing

Do not take lightly small good deeds,
Believing that they can hardly help:
For drops of water one by one
In time can fill a giant pot.
from the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish

Indeed! This time I took Stephen seed bombing. And we made lots of bombs. We spent the day in quiet meditation and learning about Buddhism at the Manchester Buddhist Center. I'm including a link because even if you don't want to take a class the book shop and vegan cafe are unmissable. Try the chocolate cake. And take a class, they are good. In the evening it was back to Urbis for a good old fashioned seed bomb.

I'd like to note at this point that the impressively arty pictures are not taken by me. That is why I am in some of them.

Mixing the seed bombs went well. Stephen drowned his batch but we managed to make some good ones out of it. We where given some of the bombs to take home. Home being, as of this time next week, Torquay. Transporting them back from Urbis was a challenge, they glooped together and needed re-rolling when we got home. Although Stephen went home yesterday the seed bombs didn't go with him. Instead I'll take them when I move (!!!!!) down next week.

So on with the pictures....

Isn't Manchester beautiful? I'll really miss this place, the people and the vegan chocolate cake. I love it. And that's why I bomb it.

Colouring outside the lines

So today Kelsie and I went to Urbis. Oh yes. For the seed bombing.

We had a quick tour around the gallery. Quick because it was only us two and we'd seen it before but here are the highlights from this visit.

Proving that you can grow something in the city are these lovely strawberries and tomatoes. They weren't there the first few times I viewed the gallery and are there now so I assume that they grew there. I really do want to pick and eat one. Or I wish someone would.

Yes, I do love strawberries but I also think it's such a shame that they are just left on the plant until they are rotten. You can see the life cycle of the fruit here. The green berry , followed by the red berry, followed by the old one in the back. I suppose that should worry me about the gallery at Urbis. It is just a gallery. The plants are just there to be looked at. But considering I have been inspired to garden I imagine someone else has. And the staff lovingly prop up the wilting ones. But I do wish someone would eat that strawberry...

But by far my favorite bit of the gallery at Urbis is the insane gadgets. From the flowerboxes to the balcony post to this. A tree fed by a drip.

After we had a look at the plants it was time to move on to the seed bomb making. Kelsie and I got to work chucking together the ingredients. Clay, compost, seeds, water. Then we rolled them up into little balls. He he. Because the bombs need 24 hours to dry out. We left them for the next group and took out some that had already been made. Our first target was just outside Victoria station. We waited for the tram to go past and attacked, throwing our bombs over the railings.

Then we moved on to the next site. And look at what a wasteland it was. Luckily we had plenty of bombs. So we emptied out our bag of bombs. With any luck the place will bloom with poppies and wildflowers. If it does, it will be so brilliant. And I think, one day I'll make more bombs.

Naughty, naughty

Hay, what are you doing next week? I'm seed bombing in Manchester!

Kelsie (the cousin of Urbis sunflower fame) and I are going into Manchester after school (her school) getting some nice veggie food and then heading down to Urbis for a seed bombing thing. From what I can remember from the leaflet that I have since lost there are seven seed bombing events the first of which is on this Sunday.

We're going to be going to the Tuesday one and I may be able to drag Stephen to the one on the 29th if we can manage to get away from the Buddhists in time (and he wants to, of course [I must try to be less controlling]) . It's £3 and you get a look round, a crash course in bomb making and then boom!

I can't find anything on the website about it but if you ring or email nice people at the tours they should tell you all about it.

With any luck I'll even have a new cable for my camera by then. So if you can't make one you can at least look at the pictures.

Edit: seed bombing is now listed on the tour page:
"The events will be taking place of the following dates from 5-6pm Sunday 22 June, Tuesday 24 June, Thursday 26 June, Sunday 29 June , Tuesday 1 July, Thursday 3 July , Sunday 6 July"