Tuesday 28 August 2007

Update 28th August

Here's a selection of what we've been chomping on for the last few weeks!

We went out to dinner about two weeks ago for family birthdays (my brother is born on the 13th and my sister and dad are born on the 14th of August!). We went out to a really yummy restaurant called Olivetto's. It's really fancy (we had real table linens and napkins - you really don't get that in the cheap vegan cafes!).

This was all that I remembered to snap (I was unable to after 4 glasses of Pimms!). It was a mushroom and potato thing... Don't remember what it was called. Do remember that it was AWESOME and I wanted MORE! This isn't from a vegan restaurant, but isn't it funny that "normal" chefs can produce excellent quality non-meaty food!
Awesome Mushroom & Potato Thing

Next, we had our friends Kath and Adam over for dinner. I was studying that day (surprise, surprise), so Cam made an Indian feast!
Chickpea Curry:
Chickpea Curry

Potato Dahl:
Potato Dahl

And Indian Flatbreads:
Indian Flatbreads

As I recall, the Chickpea Curry and the bread came from our normal Indian reference text. Potato Dahl was (I think) a Cam original. I'll check & let you know! My contribution was VWAV Gingerbread Apple Pie. It tasted good, but it really sticks to the pan!
Gingerbread Apple Pie

Speaking of Cam originals, I present, Mushroom & Pea Curry! Our local Indian restaurant makes a recipe exactly like this one. So good!
Cam's Mushroom & Pea Curry

We've also made La Dolce Vegan Stroganoff (I found portabellos on special!!).
LDV Stroganoff

As inspired by PPK Food Porn, I made Scalloped Potatoes, which we had with "chicken" nuggets from the chinese supermarket & random vegetables (they're buried UNDER the gravy!).
Scalloped Potatoes & chicken nuggets

Tony, who gets to share an office with me at work (isn't he lucky?), had his 55th birthday on the weekend, so on Thursday night I made Pistachio and Rosewater Cuppers from VCTOTW. I ate too many (and I'm now sick of rosewater!).
Pistachio & Rosewater Cuppers

Checkout my lame decorating skills!
My bad decorating skills

And the reason I was so excited about making cupcakes - I got a proper cupcake carrier!
Cupcake holder1

And finally, Susanna, a lovely girl that I work with, bought this for me! She's heard me go on and on about how much I LOVE Hello Kitty! She's so awesome (I need a new adjective)! It's a lunchbag (yes, I'm a 26yr old who has a pink Hello Kitty lunchbag - I rock!).
Hello Kitty Lunchbag

Hope everyone's doing well. I sent off chapter two to my thesis supervisor yesterday, so I'm onto chapter three. I have ten weeks (from yesterday) until it is due! I don't need sleep to live, do I? LOL... Peace Out!

10 comments:

Vegan_Noodle said...

Looks like some good grub over the past few weeks!

I think most chefs would do an awesome job making vegan meals if they would just step outside their comfort zone and get creative. It's so nice when they do...

Don't you love that cupcake holder? Sometimes I feel like it's my second purse at times, I take it out so much! Your cupcakes look delicious, and so does everything else.

Good luck with Chapter 3!

Amy said...

The food looks yummy as usual!

And as for hello kitty lunchboxes, it's cute (and I'm a 28 year old who's still addicted to Sylvestor and teddy bears...oh and little fluffy moo cow toys.....there, you don't feel so embarrassed now do you? :P)

Anna said...

That top photo totally sucked me in for the rest of the post. This all looks delicious. And what are you saying about your cupcake decorating skills? They look great! Cam seems to be quite the man with Indian food...yum!

Sounds like you are getting there with the thesis... Is this honours, masters level? Good luck with it all!

Theresa said...

Wow, it's good that you get to eat so well even when you're stressing about your thesis. Even if you're not getting much sleep, you're doing better than most people when they are in the writing-up stage. Those cupcakes are cute--understated and elegant, I think, is a good way to describe white icing with sprinkles.

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

what delectable dishes you've got there!!

I too have recently purchased a cupcake carrier, for the abundance of muffins that I bake - perfect for toting vegan baked goods on vacations, which I did on my trip to Chicago a few weeks ago :0)

oh and Hello Kitty is awesome - don't be embarrassed!!

Amy said...

I think I'll have to track down a Hello Kitty cookie cutter, so I can do an entirely Hello Kitty based post.... HA! Mmmm Hello Kitty cookies..... (Check this out - Holy Crap! http://www.amazingmoms.com/htm/party-hello-kitty-birthday.htm)

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

Cutie cupcakes! I have that carrier & I love using it without the insert as a place to store baked goods I'm not refrigerating.

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

perhaps while you're busy writing your thesis, I could borrow your cupcake carrier?! I want one. I'd also like some Potato Dahl -- all the food looks great! :)

Peace, Love and Veganism said...

Oh, the days of graduate (post grad?) work! It will feel so good when you are finally finished! Good luck! Also, I was caught by the catchy blog title - I can't help watching Iron Chef, but sometimes I have to turn it off if the main ingredient is a really bloody dead animal :P However, I wanted to ask you about your vegan Indian recipes. My husband and I LOVE Indian, but don't have a ton of good vegan recipes. Can you suggest a site or book?

Peace, Love and Veganism said...

Oh! And I have that exact same cupcake carrier - I love it!! Beats the days of foil over platters, getting stuck to the pretty icing!