Thank you, thank you, thank you!

It's the end of my second Vegan MoFo and while I won't have enough brain power left to analyse how this month has effected me for a few days yet there is absolutely one thing that is beyond doubt. None of this I could have done alone. My occasionally blogging but mostly silent partner Stephen.

A Side Show

We're winding down another MoFo so I'm going off the themes for the last two days. Although not quite. Because this one is again a product of how busy I am in the evenings. Which is a bit odd for an unemployed person to say but this month I became District Commissioner designate for my Guiding area (which basically means I look after the leaders in all the local units, eight in all) so I'm spending quite a few more nights and even quite a few days in Guiding Blue with trips and trainings this month.

Food themes for these busy evenings include grabbing a quick sandwich before an early meeting, a quick tossed together pasta after or a take away when I'm too tired to move. One particularly gruesome day involved having no lunch and stuffing myself with crisps from Tesco as I caught the train home.

Some nights I have time to eat at home before meetings, those are the best and perfect for those nights are something that I can do most of the cooking for in the morning then heat after my afternoons at Oxfam but before my evenings in blue. By far the most successful, most delicious and decadent is the Maple-Mustard-Glazed Potatoes and String Beans from Vegan with a Vengeance. A recipe I'd totally overlooked until I was desperate to get rid of the last of this summer's runner beans. I discovered it with many cries of 'where have you been all my life' and picking the last caramelized bits out of the pan.

Pav Bhaji: A Complete and Total Yum

One day, early for a meeting, I was walking around Exeter and went into a wonderful Indian market. The type of place I want to move in across the road from me. Fresh fruit, vegetables, dry stuff, packets of crisps, cleaning supplies. All in a continent local package. The type of place that makes me wonder why I don't live in a city any more. Of course I couldn't do my full weekly shop on that brief visit but I filled my handbag with some harder to find pulses and a box of this: Pav Bhaji Masala.

One Planet Stir-fry

I'm just going to open this post with one thing: no Dad, we didn't get snow today.

Did that stop if from being cold, however? No it did not. It was so cold we couldn't mark out the new forest garden at Occombe at today's volunteer day. Instead it was tidying up. One of the things that isn't particularly pleasant to tidy up are the perfectly edible, yet odd looking leaves out of the polly tunnel.

Chard and oriental greens: if they have holes in them people won't buy. So we had to go through the rows picking out the imperfect giving the young, new growth chance to thrive. Of course neither the volunteers nor the gardeners like waste so it got given to anyone with a bag and a desire to eat a lot of greens.

Sloe gin, spelt, and samphire

Clare’s taking a break from the blog today, so it’s time for my first ever Vegan MoFo post.

A month ago I mentioned to a friend that we had made sloe gin for my parents last year. She remarked that she was also fond of it, so I promptly promised her a bottle. We went foraging last weekend and arrived back at the flat with a bag full of sloes and another bag full of rock samphire.

The recipe is simple: prick 200 grams of sloes with a fork, add 200 grams of organic sugar, and pour on 75 centilitres of gin. Give it a stir, and then put it into a bottle. This bottle should be bigger than the one the gin came in — we didn’t think about that and ended up tipping the spare gin down the sink (as neither Clare nor I drink alcohol).

I decorated the bottle with a wintry scene using gel pens, and made a cute gift tag which I tied to the bottle with some spare ribbon. It was well received.

Meanwhile, I used the samphire to make crackers. I pulled the leaves from the stem, ending up with about two tablespoons full, then put them in a sieve, rinsed them, and steamed them for ten minutes over a stock pot. After chopping them finely I mixed them with 150 grams of organic wholemeal spelt flour, half a teaspoon of salt, 75 millilitres of water, and two and a half tablespoons (about 40 millilitres) of olive oil. I rolled out the dough onto baking parchment to make a layer about two millimetres thick, and then baked them for twenty minutes at 200°C.

Funny Thursdays: Chicken Style

It's our final funny Thursday and while I was sorely tempted to try the veggie haggis I came to my senses just in time. I actually tried for a third Redwood product with their new Meat Free Southern Fried Chicken Style Pieces.

Wicked Wednesday: Pudding

Chocolate, of course, was needed for today's treat. I've been shopping and the cupboards are at least half full rather than bare. To celebrate that and having more cocoa I made two of these for lunch. Chocolate Pudding from Vegan with a Vengeance. I can relax now.

Nothing New This Tuesday (A Vegan MoFo Tragedy)

I'm always torn writing about failures. Mistakes are a different thing entirely, I'm always making mistakes, but outright failures are tough to write. It comes down to this: I want to talk about my failures because failures are part of the process and if people see mine they might not be discouraged about there's. On the other hand who wants to read about something I nearly but didn't cook. So I'll keep this brief.

Today for MoFo I tried to make a vegan spinach quiche based on the asparagus quiche in Veganomicon. I had the pastry ready, the vegetables cooked, the beans soaked over night and put in my slow cooker for four hours. And then when it was time to put it all together I realised I had no walnuts. This week I had no cocoa, I ran out of two types of sugar, two types of vinegar. Our giant bag of bread flour is at an end. But I thought I could get through this one recipe at least without going to the supermarket.

Nope. I accidentally used the last of the walnuts in this lovely orange Pumpkin Baked Ziti Penne-We-Got-Cheap. It was delicious. And I'd love to have it again sometime. If only I could forgive it.

Sloe Hunt

Last MoFo we went out and had a good forage. I've learned a lot more about foraging since then and finding things has gotten a little easier but for this year's harvest I had to go back to the hedgerow we found so fruitful (literally, I suppose) last year. We've promised a bottle of sloe gin to our friends and, this being the first free day I've had for four weeks now, set out hoping there was some left in the hedge.

Rose hip Jelly

We collected these rose hips on a cheery autumn picnic but cheery autumn rose hips aren't at their best. They need bletting which is a fancy term for starting to go a bit yucky. We put them in the freezer to mimic the deep frosts and as soon as I remembered them it was time to go.

Free Friday: Roasting

We saw some Highland Burgundy Reds for the first time in the supermarket this week. We love them for their nutty flavour, buttery texture and luscious red colour. They're our favourite potato and one of the first things we have to plant should we ever get to the top of the allotment waiting list.

What we usually do when we find these little jewels is to roast them. Then eat them. Yes, our first bag is eaten plain without any distractions. But Stephen's friend Tom was over for tea and reluctant to appear like weird potato enthusiasts I thought this time I'd best serve it with a couple of extras.

Funny Thursdays: And Now The Chorizo

When I tried the veggie bacon out last week I managed to sang this one half price. So that is the fascinating back story behind why I ate veggie chorizo today. And to be honest I didn't really know what I wanted to do with it. So I followed this simple rule of thumb: When in doubt toss it with pasta.

Wicked Wednesday: Chocolate Croissants

I don't have much time to be wicked this Wednesday however I do have a pack of frozen puff pastry, some cute vegan chocolate chips and about 20 minutes. Enter the quick and easy, cheaty Chocolate Croissant recipe from Nigella (without the egg). Even with my absolutely amateurish shaping they taste fantastic. Perfectly wicked, just with a time limit.

Try Something New Tuesday: Empanadas

Living in the West Country I'd actually had pasties on my list of new things to try for MoFo but the fates conspired to give it a little South American twist. Once again it started at the kids cookery club on Saturday. I strolled into the Occombe Farm shop to buy myself lunch and poke through their vegetables and I saw the most wonderful thing: and Acorn squash.

As I'd spent a lot of this month with my nose in Veganomicon I knew I could find more uses for it than roasting (I won't say 'just roasting' because roast squash is too delicious for me to pretend it's anything but magical). I picked the Acorn Squash and Black Bean Enpanadas and got to work at about 10:20 this morning roasting the squash and cooking the beans in the slow cooker.

Meat Free Monday: Girls In The Lead, Leaders In Dips

Two of my lovely Guides took over the meeting last week. They planned, bought ingredients and lead the other girls. It was very impressive and inspirational. It's a scary job, well done to them. But I thought I'd supply a few more grown up nibbles.

So for sampling I made my own crackers. Usually I whine when I want a cracker for Hummus or something and there aren't any in the pantry but it turns out they are super easy to make and just being flour, oil, and water they're also dirt cheap. I added some chopped chives from the balcony.

Washing Up At The Preserves Class

I spend some Saturdays helping out with the kids cookery club at Occombe Farm. It's where I spend yesterday but the day ended with a big clean up so I asked 'what's in here tomorrow'. It was the preserves course taught by the lovely Lori of Shute Fruit. The course I wanted to go on, taught by the woman who keeps my family in jam only I'd forgot to sign up. But they needed a hand. A volunteer. Someone to help with lunch an d the washing up. And even though it would mean spending all weekend there would I mind helping out.

Well, come on, when do I not jump at the chance to spend the weekend at Occombe. I was up bright and early to help set up. Which meant playing around with all the equipment before everyone got there. Fun! The 22 ladies of the class were going to make Three Fruit Marmalade, Apple and Tomato Chutney, and Apple and Blackberry jam. And we also managed to sneak in some apple jelly and Lori demonstrated making a curd (which I'll casually gloss over).

Pumpkin Cookies

As the contents of the squash box are slowly being eaten (and then added to, and then eaten again) I thought I'd give you an update on just what type of yummies I made with the purée that I made last Saturday

My beautiful orange goo turned into Sell Your Soul Pumpkin Cookies. At midnight no less. Or perhaps ten in the morning but they were definitely eaten by midnight. The recipe is, of course, from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

Free Friday: Bonus Brownies

Serendipity makes life worth living sometimes. Like for instance did you know that the chocolate ice cream I made for Wednesday's post only uses half a carton of silken tofu. And that to make the brownies in Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar you need only a quarter of a carton. And that warm chocolate brownies taste brilliant with cold ice cream.

Just one of the many reasons that I'm ending the second week of Mofo with a stomach ache and a head ache. Don't pity me. It was brilliant.

Funny Thursdays: I Ate Veggie Bacon... And Lived

Oh lord. I wasn't excited by this mock meat trial. Bacon butties are an institution in the UK and probably my number one comment on telling people I'm veg is that they don't know how I can manage without them in the morning. The answer to that is simple: clearly you've never had my Mum's cooking.

But I know people who love pigs more than a sandwich but still want that fatty, salty treat. And they swear by this stuff. Who am I to argue. I guess. So in the spirit of trying new

things for Mofo I went out and bought the veggie bacon. God bless Redwoods! My choice was between the Streaky Style Rashers and the Organic Rashers. I went for the Organic Rashers not just for the ethical implications but also because fake rind on fake bacon is just a step too far for me.

Wicked Wednesday: Chocolate Ice Cream

So Stephen has his signature brown bread ice cream. It comes out for parties and it makes me jealous. But it has diary and eggs so I think it's about time for me to make a happy cow and happy chicken ice cream. A signature ice cream for Clare? It has to have chocolate.

I took the recipe from Veganomicon using, of course, the chocolate variation. And, although it has been on the shopping list since we moved in, I don't have an ice cream machine so I had to churn it by hand.