lets make a sandwich

Mmmm... deli style 'ham' sandwich with romaine lettuce, red pepper and olive pesto, seeds and sprouts on french bread with green olives and crinkly crisps. Trying a new vegan mayo and it is SO FREAKING GOOD. Went a little bit overboard with it as you can see.

fugly food week

I've been fixated on breakfast/brunch foods a lot this week.
And salad. 
Because, well you know....you gotta mix it up.

However I'm having a bit of an issue in that all the pictures I've taken of pretty meals end up looking horrendous and like they belong here.
Meanwhile all my ugly ugly food fails are photographing wonderfully.
It's like some sort of conspiracy.
I blame the terrible light at this time of year...


In other news, I've been watching so much Ace Of Cakes in the last few days... 
Cupcake Wars as well. Can't help but love my cheesy cooking shows. 
Then there's Man Vs. Food. 
My secret shame =p
Some people like to watch dancing-on-ice-with-stars-ultimate-idol-top-model-apprenctice crap. I like to watch Adam Richman test his gastronomical prowess and general capacity for asshattery while smug in the knowledge that I will never have to subject myself to the crap he's consuming. 
Plus it's hella funny.

My uglyass blueberry pancakes with lemon juice and bannana.  
Modified from a recipe from http://thebloomingplatter.blogspot.com/ 
These were yummy despite my inability to form them into anything that actually resembled proper pancakes.

Porridge with bananna, crunchy peanut butter, maple syrup and apple. Again, much nicer than it looks here. Cranberry juice on the side to wash down my vast supply of vitamins and supplements.

Boring looking but delicious 'meat' pie made with Redwood's Cheatin' Deli Mince, onions, peas, gravy, left over roasted potatos and savoury short crust pastry. Nom. First time I'd used the mince and was really pleased with it, added lovely texture and flavour without being too realistically 'meaty' cuz that creeps me the hell out.

Didn't get around to getting any pics of salads, they got eaten too fast. Maybe next week.

Going to Wagamamas with the family tonight which is always a nice treat =] not having to cook for myself and a menu with more than one meal option gets me pretty excited these days. Been doing an awful lot of general cooking at the mo, my brothers girlfriend has pretty much moved in with us so the ratio of vegans/vegetarians to meat eating peoples in the house has shifted in my favour. Means the boys are now eating at least vegetarian since they pretty much never cook but we do and none of us will cook them any meat. Haha. I'm sure eventually they'll crave it enough to make something for themselves, but for now we are an all-vegetable zone. 
Going to enjoy it while it lasts!

don't be a coccyx

I think I've broken my tailbone.

Last night while making my way downstairs to get a glass of water one of my cats did her ninja thing between my feet and tripped me.
I fell hard. It was excrutiating.
Now it hurts to stand up, it hurts to sit down and I can't find a comfy way to fall asleep. So not cool.
It's a pain in the ass (hoho) I am literally butthurt (haha)

In cheerier news, I had my make up New Years Eve hootenany* this evening.

(was very, very sick on NYE and had to cancel my awesome party in favour of worshiping the porcelain god and passing out at five in the afternoon)

* 'Well, a gathering is brie, mellow song stylings; shindig, dip, less mellow song stylings, perhaps a large amount of malt beverage; and hootenanny, well, it's chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny.'

The party was also a welcome home for my friend Rachel, who moved to New Zealand with her family earlier in the summer and has just returned to us. In celebration we had one of our traditional sushi/cupcake evenings. 

 

Below are many pictures, including some of her going away party from the beginning of the year that never got put up.

The going away spread.
The blue cupcakes, sour cream dip and tea cakes aren't vegan; everything else is.

Rachel's leaving cake. Chocolate and raspberry, my own recipe.
Check the epic icing/filling fail. Still tasty though.

Dark chocolate dipped strawberries and cherries. Slightly over exposed pic...

 The welcome home feast: champagne, beer and margarita cupcakes.

 Finally some decent icing. The pic doesn't do the colour justice; it's much more of a light lime green, not mint. Also, check my badass Barry M lavender nail polish =]

 Better pic of the icing and pink sugar sprinkles, also a tequila soaked lime slice on top.

Blueberry pie. A highly demanded dish in my house. Served while still hot, hence the juice.

Quick pic of the fresh blueberries and lemon zest waiting to be poured into the shortcrust pastry.

Also at the last minute did a satsuma and almond double tier upside down cake to use up the fruit left over from Chrismukkah. It's a pretty gross photo, but I promise it tasted delicious.

We also made some totally awesome and delicious sushi with avacado, carrot and bell peppers but it all got devoured before I could get any pictures.

turning it up for '11

I don't think I have ever been so happy to start a new year.

As a rule, I don't really buy into the 'new years' resolution thing.
Why should it have to be the beginning of the year to make positive changes to your life? I know I pick up bad habits irrelevant of the season or month.
Besides, January is the worst time of year to decide you're going to lose weight or quit smoking or go to the gym three times a week. It's cold and usually raining. The holidays have just passed; leaving in their wake a fridge full of extra comfort food and more time spent lazing around in the warm. Everyone's back to work or school and after a few weeks of the same old humdrum toil all your good intentions and fuzzy feelings about changing for the better have vanished under the ever rising tide of day-to-day crap.

Having said all that, I have this year decided to ignore my usual annual cynicism.

2010 was a really, really shit year; so in the interest of not spending another twelve months in a pit of misery, heartbreak and self pity I'm writing it off as a bad job and moving on. And so, the resolutions:

* Keep a blog.
I have tried to start blogs before.
They all ended the same way; a weeks worth of posts then nothing.
But not this time.

* Cook for my family and friends more
I like to cook, they like my food. Simples.

* Eat more raw.

Having been vegan for years I know a lot about the raw lifestyle and its benefits and after a year of being pretty lazy with my diet, its definitely time for a change.

*Pass my English Lit. course.

*Finish designs for my sleeve and get it done by my birthday.

*Pass my driving test.

*Take more photographs and paint more.

There's other things as well but they're a bit more personal and not really internet suitable, but those are a good start.