Friday 13 July 2007

More VeganYumYums + a fucking mindblowing ice creamy treat

More goodies from Lolo's test kitchen!

GRILLED PEACH, CORN & TOMATO SALSA


This stuff was so good. As Amanda (fellow tester) pointed out, it's nice to have a salsa recipe without onions. I mean, I love onions. I really do. But raw? Damnit, why the hell would anyone eat raw onions? Between the eye pain and sniffing, the fact that everything tastes like raw onions for six hours (no matter HOW hard you brush yer teeth) and also that you become a walking human repellent (ok, I'm something of a misanthropist, but I don't want to alienate the few people near and dear to me with my disgustingly potent stinky bulb breath), I really can't see what's to be gained from eating raw onions. THEY DON'T EVEN TASTE GOOD. Anyway, rant aside, I hate raw onions, and it causes me endless dispair that almost all salsa recipes ask for raw onions (I always end up cooking them beforehand anyway). But Lolo's recipe was onion-free, and GORGEOUS. A perfect balance between hot from the chilies and the sweetness from the corn and peaches. Lush.


AFRICAN YAM STEW


Yummeh. Nice n spicy and warming, but also sweet thanks to the raisins. So comforting that it felt like junk food, despite being insanely healthy (so I scarfed it down in large amounts, oh yeah). Also the perfect balance between sloppy + chunky - exactly how I like my stews. I actually had to say to my dad "you don't know what you're missing out on by not being vegan" (of course I didn't share it, don't be stupid).


HERBED LEMON BUTTER SPAGHETTI WITH ASPARAGUS


As Pumbaa + Timon would say, "slimy, but satisfying". Lolo is actually reviewing the recipe, since a few folks (including me) found it just a wee bit too slimy. But it was still relaly nummy. Gorgeous combination of citrussiness, "butteriness" and herbiness. Mmmmm. And also the contrast between the squidgy slimy pasta and the fresh n crunchy asparagus was a real sensory treat. Me likes (but with slightly less oil).


CINNAMON RAISIN SWIRLY WHIRLY BREAD


Heaven. In. My. Mouth. I know I say this all the time, and yer all sick to the little bit of gum behind the wisdom teeth of me saying it, but I am seriously IN LOVE with Lolo. Is there anything she can't do? (Answer: no) The taste was nice and subtle - not too cakey (because it was bread, duh). I liked the fact that the sweetness came more from raisins than sugar. And it was amazing toasted, speshly with some soya marg on it. So fucking delicious. Gorgeous texture, too. Really soft; exactly how freshly baked bread should be, but with a proper krusty crust, thanks to a genuis tip from Lolo.


KNICKERBOCKERFUCKINGGLOREEEEEEEEEEE!

Last Saturday I went up to Hackney to meet up with some Brit PPKers at Pogo Cafe. And I have so much love for this place. It's fucking amazing. Totally vegan and mostly organic. With a great playlist (they were playing The Cure while we were there, and they play a whole range of punk, post punk and other punk-related stuff), really cool artwork (the stuff up at the mo is meat-related images/graffiti on chopping boards) and a great atmosphere too; you can just walk in, order a burger and milkshake and fuck off afterwards. Or, if you're us, you can sit there for 3 hours and not get any dirty looks from the waiting staff like you do in a lot of restaurants.

But OH MY GOD the menu! There were about six types of tofu burger (cheezeburger, bacon burger, mex burger with jalapenos and shit...), pumpkin + spinach lasagne, risotto, soup and loads more. And a kiddies' menu. About 16 flavours of milkshake. But the dessert menu really takes the cake (HAR!). Cheesecake, chocolate biscuit cake, brownies, ice cream, banana split and... knickerbockerglory. Three flavours of ice cream (choc, strawberry + vanilla), two types of custard (plain + choc), whipped soy cream, mango sauce, strawberry jam, crushed digestives and nuts on top. Fucking amazing. I just cannot stop ranting. As you can see. I'm sorry. I'll shut the fuck up now and post a delicious picture to make you really jealous. Suckers.

Sunday 8 July 2007

Recent Bakesale Madness

Sorry for the long hiatus. My hard drive died. It's still MIA. I'm doing this entry via flickr.

I recently made a shitload of cakes and cookies for two bakesales at my music centre: one to raise money for our tour to Dublin + Belfast next year, and one for the mass summer 'extravaganza' type thing, where all 900 students perform in their respective groups. there were about students and parents included, there were over 2000 people there. Needless to say, there were a lot of cakes.

Anyway, for both events I worked my socks off - no, I'm not ashamed to say it, because I really DID work bloody hard - and I'm pretty proud of what I achieved. For the mammoth event in particular, I spent about two days baking/frosting etc. (on and off). I think you can tell that I'm really committed to/in love with my music centre. I've been there for 11 years, and the staff and students are some of the best people I know. I definitely like them a hell of a lot more than the people at my high school. That was just Pretentious Bitch Plc., co-owned by Insane Unnecessary Pressure Ltd.

Anyway, enough about how much I hated high school. Let's get onto some delicious and fattening edible shit.

BAKE SALE #1 (The Dublin/Belfast Tour Fund)

CHOCOLATE & CHERRY RICE KRISPY CAKES


Rice Krispies + cocoa/syrup/marg + glacé cherries. Yum!

BLONDIE WITH CHOCOLATE CHIPS


Isa's recipe from the PPK. These were so fucking good. Moist + gooey and chocolate and just like heaven. Amazing.

COFFEE & DATE CUPCAKES WITH COCONUT FROSTING


Brain food! I made these up as I went along. And the frosting was melted (solid) creamed coconut mixed with icing sugar.

CHOC ORANGE SPICE FLAPJACKS


The flapjack bit had candied orange peel in, and the chocolate was Green & Black's Maya Gold chocolate. These were really popular!


MICROMINI LEMON CUPCAKES WITH STRAWBERRY


Another brain recipe. I did them in a really mini muffin pan, and then put raspberry jam inside, and covered them with strawberry buttercream + fresh strawberries.

BAKE SALE #2 (The mass event)

MEXICAN CHOC ORANGE CUPCAKES


The cupcakes had candied orange zest, orange juice, candied orange peel + mixed spice in, and the buttercream featured Green & Black's Maya Gold chocolate (that stuff is great). And yeah, I know they look a bit like tits. What's not to love? They sold out in about an hour.



BLONDIES: ROUND TWO


Isa's recipe again. They came out even better than the first lot, coz I let 'em bake a bit longer, so they had a crunchier top, but were still lush and gooey underneath. I could marry this recipe. Oh, and they sold out in 20 minutes.



COFFEE & DATE COCONUT CUPCAKES: ROUND TWO


Same recipe, but with a bit more coffee (it was pretty subtle the first time). Also for the frosting I just did a basic buttercream frosting but added in desiccated coconut, and then rolled the frosted cupcakes in the leftover 'dust' at the bottom of a Chocolate Shredded Wheats packet.

TIGER BISCUITS


Plain biscuits smeared in coffee buttercream and rolled in Grape Nuts.

ORANGE CREAM SANDWICH BISCUITS


The biscuits were orange flavoured, and so was the buttercream. So yeah, the name is pretty descriptive, eh?

LEMON & STRAWBERRY CUPCAKES: ROUND TWO


But normal size this time! I adapted the recipe a little, and this time put the jam on top instead of inside. Also the frosting was a better consistency, so it was more pipeable, rather than just being spready like the last lot.


What a fuckload of baked goods, eh? My teeth hurt just to look at it all.