The Rocky Road to Christmas

The lights have been untangled, the trees wrestled indoors and the baubles co-ordinated - phew. Such a lot to organise in the run up to Christmas from decorations to gifts and enough food to see you through the festive days. There are parties to attend, friends and family to visit and cards and gifts to deliver. 

We were making a trip up north and heavy snowfall was threatened. It's always wise to take a few provisions for the journey ahead and Rocky Road seemed very apt.

- Melt together 125g butter with 200g 70% dark chocolate & 100g milk chocolate and 3 tbsp golden syrup

- Add 200g bashed up rich tea biscuits (fragmented not crumbed)

- Add 100g mini marshmallows until melted and marbled*

- Decorate with sieved icing sugar, edible glitter or festive 100s and 1000s**

- Line a shallow tray with cling film, enough to cover the top too & place in the fridge

- Once chilled and set, slice into squares as big or small as you like

* I've found vegetarian mini marshmallows in Holland and Barret and Sainsburys - check there's no gelatin.

**I used Waitrose Christmas 100s and 1000s which are vegetarian but not vegan as they are coated in shellac.

Thankfully we only had a sprinkle of snow and our journey was fine. The Rocky Road, however, was not wasted.

Sparkle and Shine

Today is the first Sunday of Advent and cardboard doors up and down the country have been opening since Friday. The old fashioned ones (my favourites) contain pictures from the Nativity, there is chocolate for children and cheese for vegetarians ... Say what?! Yes, this year Asda are selling a cheese advent calendar suitable for vegetarians. Fabulous.

Other foodie products I have my eye on are those which sparkle and shine or can be sprinkled to give our food a festive kiss.

Shimmer and bubbles for prosecco by Pop a Ball which pimp up your drink.

Winter Berries & Prosecco crisps by Marks and Spencer finished with a sprinkle of gold stars.

A dash of edible glitter on your baked goodies is fun and pretty but do make sure they are veggie/vegan as some contain E120, carmine and cochineal colouring. If that's a problem resort to a sieved snowfall of icing sugar (particularly good with the use of a stencil). It  makes a real difference.

London Calling

A weekend in the Big Smoke with girlfriends for art galleries, shopping, food and drink began with our bargain hunt being curtailed as we got caught up in the mass panic and stampede which reigned down on Oxford Street and Selfridges on Friday afternoon. Hiding inside offices and shops for an hour until we got the all clear was frightening and not the fun occasion we had planned. Thankfully nobody was seriously hurt and no terrorist attack had occurred.

The rest of the weekend went well and the itinerary progressed nicely. 

A couple of top tips for vegetarians visiting London:- 

Tibits in Heddon Square just off Regent Street. Set up by 3 brothers from Switzerland it offers fresh, fast vegetarian food. You simply get a plate, walk up to the counter, help yourself from over 40 titbits a day and then get it weighed and pay. You can eat hot or cold dishes, inside, outside or takeaway. Brilliant! My only reservation is that your hot food may get a tad cold if you have to queue to pay, as we did, at busy times. Otherwise a brilliant concept and execution.

Deliciously Ella on Weighhouse Street, Mayfair. Offering plant based, healthy food at a sharing table in a bright, trendy cafe. We ate porridge with peanut butter and banana for breakfast but could have been tempted back for lunch quite easily.

Two great spots for healthy, vegetarian food to counteract the gingerbread lattes and alcohol consumed during the rest of the weekend.

Crummy Brummie

A weekend break near Birmingham. A corporate event on Friday night and this was my place name card.

Great. They don't have my name but they do (more importantly) know that I'm vegetarian (although they couldn't spell it!) The meal was okay if not very adventurous; halloumi on lentils followed by a rather soggy filo mushroom tart.

The following morning at breakfast I watched a chef making omelettes to order. He had two on the go; one with ham and one vegetarian. The same spatula was used to stir both. I did challenge him about this and he apologised and produced a fish slice for the vegetarian one. I'm not going to name and shame the hotel as this probably goes on the length and breadth of the country in every B&B, hotel, pub and restaurant.

If you weren't vegetarian you wouldn't understand. My family know that utensils must be kept separate for meat, fish and vegetarian but only because I've brought them up that way. There is an element of "if you don't know it won't kill you" but I really think there should be some rules and regulations in place for working kitchens as part of the food hygiene training and certification. Raising awareness would certainly put our vegetarian minds at rest.

By the way, I didn't get to sample any of the Brummie culinary delights but can always eat some of the vegetarian foods which were invented in Birmingham. Typhoo Tea, HP Sauce, Bird's Custard and, of course, Cadbury's chocolate.

Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme

As the glorious clear skies and sunshine of late autumn days turn to cold nights and frosty mornings, I see my rather sad looking herb garden. Where once there was an abundance of chives, oregano, marjoram, mints, basil and parsley, I am left with the hardier sage, thyme and rosemary. 

(My herb garden in June).

Luckily I have preserved some herbs for the months ahead:-

a) Freezing - basil, mint, chives washed, dried and stored in freezer bags.

b) Drying - marjoram, oregano and parsley tied at the stem & hung in a cool dry area.

This means they can be enjoyed during the winter months. They are never quite as nice as fresh but very useful in soups and stews where they just be crumbled in.

Herbs add a fresh taste to food. If I only had a small garden or a pot on a balcony I would definitely give it over to herbs. Not only do they look and smell amazing but it's a wonderful feeling to just go outside, snip a few home grown leaves and perk up a meal. 

After all, we are herb(ivores)!

Bon(fire) Appetit

November 5th in the UK is Bonfire Night. Back in the early 17th century our very own Yorkshire born Guy Fawkes was part of a gang aiming to assassinate King James I. They hid gunpowder below the Houses of Parliament and, basically, Guy Fawkes was caught and executed.

Since 1605 we have commemorated the event every year on November 5th. Now you might wonder why we celebrate the Gunpowder Plot. In actual fact we are celebrating the fact that it was uncovered and Guy and his gang were brought to justice. His effigy (the Guy) is burned on a bonfire and the fireworks signify what might have happened if the gunpowder had been lit.

It's a good time to have a bonfire with all the Autumn garden waste and debris. It's also a good time to eat comforting food whilst watching the burning guy and the firework display. Hot soups, jacket potatoes and chilli are followed (in Yorkshire) by a satisfying oatmeal cake called Parkin, Bonfire Toffee (treacle toffee) and Toffee Apples. 

Apples are abundant at this time of year and the tradition is to coat them in hard toffee or a sugar coating. A stick is inserted and they are eaten like a lollipop. When not standing around the bonfire, I prefer to bake my apple in the oven, again coated in melted butter and caster sugar for about half an hour. For the last ten minutes place a few pieces of toffee or fudge into the core-less centre until melted. Delicious served with cream, custard or ice cream.

It might not be the prettiest dessert, but it is scrummy.

Not on my (pumpkin) patch

Halloween this week and all things spooky, scary and sinister will creep onto the streets for trick or treating. It's an occasion for dressing up and having fun. The garden and house can be decked with spiders and cobwebs, witches and cauldrons, monsters and bats.

Pumpkins can be found in greengrocers and supermarkets, gardens and pumpkins fields. They are reasonably cheap and can be carved and displayed with a tea light inside to ward off bad spirits.

The best thing about pumpkins is actually the flesh and the seeds. It can be used in various recipes but my favourite at this time of year is soup.

- Chop the pumpkin into chunks, drizzle with oil and roast in the oven with onion, garlic and chilli

- Place in the liquidiser with vegetable stock and blitz

- Serve the soup with a soupçon of:-

- cream

- coconut milk

- olive oil

- toasted pumpkin seeds 

- fried sage leaves 

- dried chilli flakes

- nutmeg

- croutons

Pimp up your pumpkin!