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!


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:


Potato Dahl:


And 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!


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


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


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!).


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!).


Checkout my lame decorating skills!


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


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!).


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!

A mixed bag of vegan goodness (plus a special visit from a friend or two)

Howdy. Hope everyone's doing well. We've been a wee bit boring of late. I've been doing lots of reading for my thesis (trying to make sense of Judith Butler & the notion of gender as performance - long story) & Cam's been doing pre-med study (I'm learning lots of new words).

I finally got around to making the Cookies 'n' Cream cupcakes from VCTOTW - I know, I should have made them earlier (but I'm seriously addicted to the Gingerbread ones). They were AWESOME! And FULL of fat! (The icing is 1/4 cup nuttelex & 1/4 cup copha)

So here's a mini photo essay, plus an idea of what you can do with leftover icing (you do not want to eat too much, I felt SO sick after licking the bowl out!)....


That's right people - a Super Stuffed Oreo cookie. It may not be that original, but dammit, it tasted good!


A batch of foccacia I made to go with Leek & Potato Soup:

I made some seitan on Sunday arvo (let's face it, Sunday afternoons are the best time for baking & seitan making). Firstly, with the recipe 'stolen' from Vegetation, I give you Bryanna's 'Chicken' Seitan!
I know it looks kinda gross, but it tastes good....

I also made a SoG, I mixed it in the food processor, so it was a lot smoother this time. I haven't thought of anything to put in it yet (but Cam's been snacking, so I better be quick about it!).

I'm an avid reader of Lolo's website & a few months ago she posted a recipe for Crispy Sweet & Sour Tofu. So I made Crispy Sweet & Sour Chicken. So tasty.....

Finally, I thought I'd take a few pics of our turtle tank!

Here's the mean gargoyle that protects the tank inhabitants (we have three bristlenoses in there that love to suck on him (that's a good thing))!

Snappy the Turtle (I named him):


Mr Turtle (Cam named him - guess who loves My Name is Earl?):


Theresa nominated me as a Rockin' Girl Blogger, but do you think I could get the graphic to work? Arrgghhh...

And Vegetation, those 'chicken' nuggets from last post are made of soy, so sorry!

Ruiyi, glad to see you're having fun! When you get back we'll have to bake.

Peace out everyone!