Australian cooking: potluck

Showing posts with label potluck. Show all posts

Balsamic Strawberry Ice Cream and eat.drink.picnic

There was a bloggers conference this weekend in Sydney called eat.drink.blog. Sadly one of the major sponsors was Meat and Livestock Australia with meat masterclass events which is disappointing on so many levels including health, environmental, corporation supporting independent bloggers etc and is really not inclusive for vegetarian bloggers. Thankfully Jill from confessions of a food nazi decided to organise an alternative event for those in Melbourne which she named eat.drink.picnic for those who couldn't attend the Sydney event with more of a focus on vegetables.

I've been to countless vegan potlucks but never been to an omni picnic potluck until yesterday. I have to admit I was a bit nervous, I mean not only am I vegan but also gluten free. I thought these people are really going to think I'm a freak and worst of all there will be nothing for me to eat. I also wasn't sure if I was going to get the barrage of annoying questions such as 'how do you get your protein?' etc or more aggressive attacks that I occasionally get. There is a misconception that vegans are argumentative but I often find it is the other way around. Thankfully none of that happened, I was pleasantly surprised with lots of food for me to eat and about an equal number of vegetarians including 2 other vegans and some friendly accepting omni bloggers.

I met western suburbs food blogger Kenny from consider the sauce and we both discussed the disappointing food scene in williamstown and Jill was super friendly and within minutes of me arriving allowed me to use her towel to clean my grease stained fingers from fixing my bike chain. I also learnt about the use of coconut powder in making ice cream from essjayeats and I had fun catching up with those already familar to me like Cindy and Michael from wheres the beef, Johanna from Green Gourmet Giraffe and Lisa Dempster. I didn't get a chance to have a proper chat with Ed from Tomato, Carla from Easy as Vegan Pie or Claire from Melbourne Gastronome but I did enjoy playing a few games with Claire's bocce set. These was so much yummy food, highlights included Jill's refreshing watermelon salad, Michael's caeser salad, Carla's risotto balls and both Johanna and Lisa's chocolate desserts. The picnic was lots of fun and left me filling super full and sluggish as all good potlucks show. It was also a great example of what a community building activity blogging can be and for once Melbourne behaved and gave us a nice summer day.

I took along some dips and this ice cream. Unfortunately I didn't have enough spoons or any bowls so resorted to serving ice cream on plates with plastic knifes. I really enjoyed the tanginess of the balsamic vinegar paired with the organic strawberries. I don't think many people sampled it or enjoyed it because it was the first time that one of my ice cream dishes wasn't completely finished at a potluck. Although Lisa gave it the thumbs up and Toby loved the leftovers.

Balsamic Strawberry Ice Cream adapted from Spabettie

3 cups soy milk
3/4 cup sugar2 tablespoons of tapioca flour
1 punnet of strawberries, sliced
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon of vanilla essence

Mix 1/4 cup soy milk with tapioca flour, stir until blended and set aside. Combine remaining soy milk and sugar saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add tapioca mixture and vanilla essence. Place in fridge to cool completely- it takes a few hours.

Meanwhile, bring balsamic vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan, watch closely and stir occasionally. Reduce to a simmer and continue to stir until it reaches desired thickness, about 8 minutes or so. Set aside to cool.

Pour ice cream base into maker and prepare according to manufacturer directions. Add strawberries in the last few minutes and then mix in balsamic glaze to give it a swirly effect. Transfer to freezer til firm.

Read about Kenny's account of the event here.

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Ginger Ripple Cake-Vegan Mofo Day 1

I'm a bit nervous about signing up for vegan mofo again. What have I gotten myself into it? It was quite tricky last year when we blogged every day for a whole month but it did result in me being a bit more creative with meals and its all for a great reason, right? To celebrate a whole month of vegan food by writing about it as much as possible.

To kick start I want to share my dessert recipe which I made for the vegmel potluck, this is perhaps the laciest dessert that I have ever made but was still quite tasty I think.

It's a version of the great aussie chocolate ripple cake which is generally made from chocolate cookies called ripple biscuits and cream, like this. According to wikipedia there are similar versions in other countries and it's called icebox cake in the US.

Ginger Ripple Cake adapted from Fat Fuelled Vegan's recipe
2 packets of Leda Gluten Free gingernut biscuits
2 packets of soyatoo topping cream
2 tablespoons of Frangelico (optional)
roughly 1 cup of frozenbluberries (optional)

Mix the frozen blueberries and frangelico into the cream, put a thin layer of cream on the bottom of bowl, then add a layer of biscuits, repeat until all the biscuits are finish and top with last layer of cream. Allow to sit for at least 2 hours so the biscuits soften. Done!

I would also halve this recipe unless you were making it for a large group of people. I altered two things to his original recipe, one I decided to add frozen blueberries to the cream and to the top and I used ready made vegan cream and a bit of left over alcohol and cream from the tiramisu. Next time I would probably leave out the blueberries, they just seemed kind of out of place and I don't think the frangelico really added anything to it flavour wise.

I decorated it with a V for planet vegmel.

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Mini Potluck

Bec and Craig had a small potluck a few weeks ago at their house. I ended up making two desserts since it was far too hot for Toby to stay home and prepare a savoury dish. I made these raw frozen cookie dough bites from Sketch Free Vegan, except I made a few substitutions which make them not raw.

Frozen Cookie Dough Bites from Sketch Free Vegan

Dough:

1 3/4 cup cashews ground into a flour (don't soak unless you are able to dehydrate them)
3/4 cup oat flour
2 tbsp agave
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil
Pinch of salt

Raw Chocolate Chips: (I just used regular choc chips)

2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup carob powder
1/2 cup raw cacao powder
4 tbsp agave nectar/maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Coating: (I used the vegan ice magic)

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
2 tbsp agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla extract

First prepare raw chocolate chips by combining above ingredients, you will be left with a doughy consistency. Spread out on a flat pan or plate and put in freezer for at least an hour. Then, cut into small chips.
Next, prepare the cookie dough filling by combining above ingredients, then mixing in chocolate chips. Then form into a flat slab about 1/2 inch thick and freeze for 15 minutes. Once frozen, cut into small bar sizes (enough to take 2-3 bites out of it) and skewer each one with a small toothpick.
Prepare chocolate coating by combining all ingredients in a small bowl.
One by one, dip each bite into chocolate, place on a flat tray and freeze for 1-2 minutes. Dip again in chocolate and top with chopped cashews, or other desired topping. Freeze until frozen. Makes 24 bites.

They were tasty although not quite as amazing as I expected because they were too coconuty. However, that could have been all of my substitutions, for example using the vegan ice magic was a bad idea and I think I used the wrong type of coconut oil. Also, they didn't really freeze properly and didn't look as pretty either:

I also made Blueberry Chia Pudding from my new ebook Desserts without Compromise. This was my first time using chia seeds and I was pleasantly surprised, it kind of resembled tapioca pudding when soaked. I substituted the stevia with about 1/4 cup of maple syrup. This was quite simple and quick to make (except for the soaking time). It was refreshing and I loved the lemon zest in it. Although it was not quite as sweet as I am used to desserts being. We gave the leftovers to our friends Adam and Sarah and they said they thought it was just sweet enough, so I guess it just depends on your preference.

The hosts made fried rice:

Deep fried tomato tofu which I think was roughly inspired by a Luke Nguyen dish:

And a raw dip, I forgot what was in it, but I gobbled down lots of rice crackers with it:

Michael made this yummy quinoa salad which made me realise that quinoa and avocado are friends and Troy made these rice paper rolls with my fav ingredient smoked tofu:

Now on to the rest of the desserts, Cindy made nutella and banana tortillas with a beautiful home made vegan version of nutella:

Fat Fueled Vegan came up with the genius idea of a ginger biscuit version of ripple cake, it was soggy but so delicious:

He also made a banana custard dessert, I forgot what it was called??:

My fav dessert was probably Brunswick Bec's (just to clarify there was there was two vegan Bec's) Lemon Pie, it was sweet and tart and had an awesome gelatinous type texture. So making this for my next family gathering, it's an awesome summer dessert!

And best thing about this mini potluck? Everything was g/f so I could eat it all. I really am spoiled!

The hosts made fried rice:

Deep fried tomato tofu which I think was roughly inspired by a Luke Nguyen dish:

And a raw dip, I forgot what was in it, but I gobbled down lots of rice crackers with it:

Michael made this yummy quinoa salad which made me realise that quinoa and avocado are friends and Troy made these rice paper rolls with my fav ingredient smoked tofu:

Now on to the rest of the desserts, Cindy made nutella and banana tortillas with a beautiful home made vegan version of nutella:

Fat Fueled Vegan came up with the genius idea of a ginger biscuit version of ripple cake, it was soggy but so delicious:

He also made a banana custard dessert, I forgot what it was called??:

And best thing about this mini potluck? Everything was g/f so I could eat it all. I really am spoiled!

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Candy Cane Fudge and Mushroom Tarragon Pate

So it turns out we don't have any pictures of Toby's ice cream dish or his xmas potluck dish. Yes we had two potlucks this weekend! A ice cream one on Saturday and xmas themed potluck on Sunday. For the ice cream potluck Toby made a super alcoholic large version of the frozen margarita pie that I made last time. Except this time he made the ice cream using the lime recipe from vegan scoop. For the xmas potluck he made this:

Mushroom and Tarragon Pate using this recipe from BBC.

50g margarine
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 leek finely chopped (he used a regular onion)
2 garlic cloves crushed
100g chestnut mushrooms , finely chopped (he used button mushrooms)
100g shiitake mushrooms , finely chopped
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
2 tbsp crème fraîche (see vegan version below)
3 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon plus extra to garnish(he used dried)

Heat butter in a large frying pan. Add shallots, leek and garlic, then gently fry for 7 mins until softened.
Increase the heat, add the chestnut and the shiitake mushrooms, then cook for 10 mins, stirring, until the juices have evaporated and the mushrooms are tender. Stir in the mustard and crème fraîche, then season well. Cook for a further 2 mins then stir in the chopped tarragon.

Almond Creme Fraiche loosely based on recipe for cashew cream fraiche from Vegan Epicurean.

Makes approximately 20 tablespoons (he made much less)

Ingredients:

1 cup almond meal
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (start with half)
1 pinch of salt (optional)
approximately ½ cup of water to process

Directions:

Place the almond meal, half the apple cider vinegar and salt in your blender and turn the machine in. Add water slowly until the cashews have just been liquefied. Stop the machine and taste the mixture and adjust the flavors to your taste. Refrigerate until needed.

I quite liked the pate despite my mushroom texture issues and Toby loved it.

I was exhausted by Sunday so I opted to make something which I thought was easy and quick for the Xmas potluck. This Candy Cane Fudge from A profound Hatred of Meat.

I loved the simple idea of adding crushed candy canes on top. I had all sorts of issues with the fudge though. First, I almost the burnt the coconut milk, then had to use the kitchen aid to mix it together but it was still too dry. So I ended up adding more and more coconut milk and then in the end you couldn't get it out of the pan. It also results in way too many dishes for such a simple dish. I think next time I would opt to make the five minute fudge from my sweet vegan and just add the candy canes to that.

Check out what fat fueled vegan made for the ice cream potluck, and Lisa's post about the her dish at the xmas potluck and hopefully there will be more recipes posted online!

50g margarine
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 leek finely chopped (he used a regular onion)
2 garlic cloves crushed
100g chestnut mushrooms , finely chopped (he used button mushrooms)
100g shiitake mushrooms , finely chopped
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
2 tbsp crème fraîche (see vegan version below)
3 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon plus extra to garnish(he used dried)

Heat butter in a large frying pan. Add shallots, leek and garlic, then gently fry for 7 mins until softened.
Increase the heat, add the chestnut and the shiitake mushrooms, then cook for 10 mins, stirring, until the juices have evaporated and the mushrooms are tender. Stir in the mustard and crème fraîche, then season well. Cook for a further 2 mins then stir in the chopped tarragon.

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G/F Chocolate HoneyComb Ice Cream Cake

Cindy had a ice cream potluck for her birthday on Sat. So I made her this gluten free chocolate honeycomb ice cream cake with chocolate crackle base. I took inspiration from two online non-vegan, non-gluten free recipes and combined them. The chocolate crackle base idea was from Koali's life blog and the inclusion of honey roasted nuts was from the Eat Drink Live version of nigella's cake.

First I made the honeycomb, unfortunately I had tried a few more honeycomb recipes which all failed. Maybe due to the humidity before finally returning to the original recipe that I made last time. I covered in chocolate again and cut it into small chunks.

To make the chocolate crackle base. I simply copied Koali and followed the same recipe but substituted the chocolate for dark chocolate and the rice bubbles for g/f version of rice bubbles. YES STUPIDLY REGULAR RICE BUBBLES AREN'T G/F!

1 250g dark chocolate
roughly 1 1/2 cup of g/f rice bubbles
1. Line a 20cm spring form cake tin with baking paper (I didn't do this but it didn't seem to matter)
2. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler
3. Add rice bubbles a large serving spoonish at a time. Mix through until you get the consistency of chocolate crackles. You want enough chocolate to set but enough rice bubbles to give a constant crunch.
4. Spread the mixture over the bottom of the cake tin.

Then I made honey roasted nuts, but instead of roasting them or using honey. I followed this recipe from the sweet and salty life for agave walnuts and substituted peanuts:

Agave Glazed Peanuts

4 TBSP Raw Agave Syrup
2 TBSP Margarine
1 Cup Peanuts

Pour it all into a medium pan and sauté on medium heat.
When the Peanuts are hot, lower the flame and allow the nuts to simmer until the glaze has become thick. You will know the Walnuts are ready when there is no liquid in the pan and the nuts have completely soaked up the Agave and Earth Balance. Let them cool and then store the nuts in an air tight container to keep them soft and moist. I then cut them into chunks too.

For the ice cream, I just followed the vanilla ice cream recipe in Vegan Scoop but instead of adding vanilla essence I added a whole vanilla pod and cooked it with a combination of rice and coconut milk. I don't think the vanilla was needed though and probably wasted with alll the other flavours combined.

In the last few minutes in the ice cream maker I added the chopped honeycomb and nuts. Then spread it over the chocolate crackle base.

And decorated it by making a C with some honeycomb and nuts that I had put aside.

I was pretty happy with the end result, especially given that it was a big experiment and I wasn't sure how it would all go together. It was pretty sweet and had loads of crunch. I think you could easily reduce the nuts and/or honeycomb and just get rid of the chocolate crackle base or the nuts if you wanted to.

Instead of taking pictures like I normally did, I just relaxed and ate and ate and ate. There was so much amazing ice cream and g/f penguin waffles! Toby will talk about his ice cream dish next.

And decorated it by making a C with some honeycomb and nuts that I had put aside.

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BBQ potluck

We hosted a BBQ potluck today, except there was only 2 things actually put on the BBQ so maybe we should call it a picnic potluck. I ate a ridiculous amount of food, in true potluck form and had fun chatting with everyone. Thanks for a great day!

I made mint ice cubes, simply add mint to ice cube trays, add water and freeze, don't they look pretty?

Which I put in pomegranate lemonade, it was pretty watered down and subtle, no way near as sweet as lemonade I normally made. But great for washing down food to allow more room in my belly. Pomegrante Lemonade recipe from here, I made a double batch and everyone seemed to think it was iced tea:

Ingredients

* 3 tablespoons sugar
* 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
* 1 cup pomegranate juice
* 2 1/2 cups water
* Crushed ice

Preparation

1. Combine sugar and lemon juice. Stir well to dissolve.

2. Pour lemon mixture and pomegranate juice into a pitcher, and stir well.

3. Add 2 1/2 cups water.

4. Add crushed ice as needed to each glass.

and cheesecake. I had big issues with this, because I combined two different recipes and probably used the wrong side dish too, so ended up with loads of crust and hardly any actual cheesecake filling. To make up for it, I added a whole jar of jam mixed with lemon juice and some blueberry glaze. The excess fruit overpowered the tiny cheesecake part which is a shame because surprisingly the MILLET filling worked quite well and it was actually gluten free.

Crust recipe is from Manifest Vegan:

* 2 cups almonds
* 1 cup dried Medjool dates

To make crust:

Blend almonds and dates in a food processor until finely chopped. Press mixture very compactly into the bottom of a spring-form pan. I copied her and used the bottom of a glass to press the crust down.

The millet type 'teasecake' is from the ultimate uncheese cookbook but it got it from vegalicious:

the filling:

* 1/2 c. uncooked millet
* 2 c. water
* 1/2 c. raw cashews
* 1/3 c. lemon juice
* 1/3 c. agave or maple syrup
* 2 tsp. vanilla extract
* 1 tsp. lemon extract (I didn't use it)

For the filling:

1. Bring the millet to boil in a small saucepan with a tight fitting lid.
2. Once the millet is boiling, turn the heat down to simmer and cook with the lid on until the liquid is absorbed, this will be 30-40 minutes longer. I did not peek, but until after 30 minutes, and the millet was done.
3. Meanwhile, puree the cashew nuts, with the lime juice, syrup and vanilla. I used my blender. Puree until it is a very smooth creamy liquid.
4. When the millet is done, add millet and blend as creamy as you can get it.
5. Sample the mixture and adjust according to your taste. You may want it a bit sweeter, or more of a citrus flavor, however I found it perfect and not needing any adjustment.
6. Allow the millet mixture to slightly cool.
7. Once your crust has cooled, pour into the crust and allow to sit for 30 min at room temperature.
8. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

Toby made the ultimate BBQ tofu from vegan dad which is a version of the same tofu that he made for another BBQ potluck, we ran out of time to freeze it though. I enjoyed this but possibly not as much as last time we made it.

sauce:
- 1/4 cup margarine
- 1 sweet onion, sliced
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp mustard
- few dashes of hot sauce

1. Melt margarine in a saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic for 15 mins, until onions have cooked down and are nicely browned
2. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to bubbling. Simmer for 15-20 mins, until sauce thickens and gets a nice deep red colour.

Putting it together:
- 1 pkg firm or extra firm tofu, sliced into 8
- 1 recipe Sweet and Sticky BBQ sauce (but finely dice the onions)

METHOD
1. Bring ingredients for BBQ sauce to bubbling in a saucepan. Add tofu, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 mins.
2. Remove tofu and place in a Pyrex dish. Cover with sauce, cover, and place in the freezer. Let freeze completely.
3. The day before you want to eat said tofu, place in the fridge to thaw. Or, just thaw in the microwave before grilling.
4. Grill tofu on a hot grill 3-4 mins per side, then rotating 90 degrees and repeating. Baste regulalry with the BBQ sauce. If you like, set aside some sauce and thicken in a saucepan on the stove, then slather over the grilled tofu.

Sarah and Adam made vanilla cupcakes with chocolate icing:

Anikee brought along this salad which was made by Raq but hardly got eaten because we were so full by that stage.

Eat More Vegies blogger made this yummy fudge:

and lemony asparagus risoni salad which was perfect summer/spring food:

Keira made lemon cheesecake with proper cheesecake to crust ratio, which was very lemony (in a good way) and kind of refreshing.:

Shawna made this healthy but yummy coriander rice/bean salad:

Zac made chocolate peanut things which were filled with peanut butter and extra peanuts, so good:

Cindy made vanilla slice which I think stole the show:

Michael made Kentucky BBQ ribz which surprisingly didn't kill me and tasted great, Toby said this was his favourite dish:

Lisa made chocolate mocha cupcakes:

Fat fueled vegan blogger made corn bread which was slightly sweet but savoury, and crumbed tofu with tartare sauce which I didn't get a photo of but loved:

Craig made curried pasta salad, the curry powder went surprisingly well with pasta salad:

and extra crunchy roasted potatoes:

Bec and Troy made mini tacos with homemade corn tortillas which were inspired from these tacos and were held together with toothpicks and rosewater and pistachio cupcakes. Both were awesome:

Erin made grilled kabobs which I think were from this recipe , she used rosemary branches in place of skewers which i think is genius:

which was served with muhammara sauce:

which we brushed on with the cutest brush:

Also not pictured but equally tasty: Danni's pizza slices, Jo's salad and Johanna's salad.

If I have forgotten something or someone or gotten something wrong please correct me, I look forward to seeing lots of the recipes posted on your blogs people.

Sarah and Adam made vanilla cupcakes with chocolate icing:

Anikee brought along this salad which was made by Raq but hardly got eaten because we were so full by that stage.

Eat More Vegies blogger made this yummy fudge:

and lemony asparagus risoni salad which was perfect summer/spring food:

Keira made lemon cheesecake with proper cheesecake to crust ratio, which was very lemony (in a good way) and kind of refreshing.:

Shawna made this healthy but yummy coriander rice/bean salad:

Zac made chocolate peanut things which were filled with peanut butter and extra peanuts, so good:

Cindy made vanilla slice which I think stole the show:

Michael made Kentucky BBQ ribz which surprisingly didn't kill me and tasted great, Toby said this was his favourite dish:

Lisa made chocolate mocha cupcakes:

Fat fueled vegan blogger made corn bread which was slightly sweet but savoury, and crumbed tofu with tartare sauce which I didn't get a photo of but loved:

Craig made curried pasta salad, the curry powder went surprisingly well with pasta salad:

and extra crunchy roasted potatoes:

Bec and Troy made mini tacos with homemade corn tortillas which were inspired from these tacos and were held together with toothpicks and rosewater and pistachio cupcakes. Both were awesome:

Erin made grilled kabobs which I think were from this recipe , she used rosemary branches in place of skewers which i think is genius:

which was served with muhammara sauce:

which we brushed on with the cutest brush:

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BBQ potluck

We are thinking of having a vegan BBQ potluck next Sunday in a Brunswick park if the weather is ok. If you are interested in coming then please leave a comment or email us at inthemoodfornoodles (at) (gmail) (dot) (com) and I'll send you the rest of the details.

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Memphis BBQ Tofu and Peanut Butter Cups

A few weeks ago, I attended a pre-roller derby BBQ potluck at Emily's house. It wasn't the usual potluck crew, well except for Danni and Steph (and Jo), who have already blogged about it here. I was a little worried that there would be nothing I could eat with other vegans but there was loads of g/f options that I could eat and I got to meet a few more awesome vegans too. This all helped to soften the blow, because my fave roller derby team the dead ringer rosies got thrashed. We need you back playing Skate Bush!

Anyway derby speak aside, Toby made the Memphis BBQ Tofu from Vegan Dad and it really rocked. It is marinated in spices and then you add a lovely sweet home made BBQ sauce when it is almost ready. I loved it and it certainly got polished off really quickly. We will definitely make it for future BBQs.

And I made peanut butter cups using this recipe from Bittersweet, which is simple to make and yummy, although I used Lindt dark chocolate which I think made it a little too bitter. Are you sick of me blogging about various peanut butter-chocolate combinations? Here is Jo, showing the inside with her opposition derby colour nails:

Both photos taken from Danni because I'm slack

Thanks for all of the yummy G/f dishes everyone and Emily for inviting us!

Both photos taken from Danni because I'm slack

Thanks for all of the yummy G/f dishes everyone and Emily for inviting us!

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"This is why you are fat" potluck

Vicki hosted a vegan potluck last night and the theme was "this is why you are fat" based on the website. I was a little concerned that with my weak stomach that I would end up vomiting and while I did feel a little sick at times, it passed quickly and it was so worth it.

I made Haggis Nachos based on Johanna's recipe here using my g/f oats. I've never had haggis before so can't compare it but it was really yummy and had such an interesting flavour and texture. I think it worked quite well with the nachos. I used one packet of nacho cheezly, and served it with home made guacamole, and purchased "sour cream" and salsa.

Vicki made nacho pizzas with home made pizza bases and I think tvp, I couldn't eat this but Toby said it was his fave.

Craig made potato gem, gravy and cheese calzones and Steph made potato gems with gravy and cheese. I couldn' eat the calazones but enjoyed Steph's variation on their own.

Craig also made his gluten free potato cakes which were a big hit from the last potluck and which I have been craving since. This time it was fried twice so was super crispy. He also very kindly gave me the leftovers to take home.

Rachel made fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and chip butties with fries.

She even made me my own version with g/f bread. They tasted just like the real thing.

Bec decided to combine a few of the things, so in this chip butty there was nachos, a potato cake and pizza.

Toby made rocky road ice cream from vegan scoop, with nuts and marshmallows, it wasn't quite the same as rockyroad but was yummy. It was really great timing that radical grocery had just received Dandies marshmallows. They are awesome!

Vicki made cupcake skewers which I think are perhaps the most impressive thing that I have ever seen and they were gluten free!!!!!! They had home made cupcakes and donuts, as well as leda choc biscuits and vegan candy. So so so so so awesome. You are now officially my hero Vicki.

Bec made cream horns with puff pastry and "cornettos" with chocolate and ice cream. I couldn't eat them and Toby was over desserts really quickly but everyone raved about them especially the "cornettos". She tried to make me own version with g/f puff pastry but it didn't work out so to compensate Bec made me a parfait style dessert with cream, ice cream, chocolate, and crushed biscuits which was over the top but I still managed to eat most of it. You can see it in the background of this pic as well as Rachel's chocolate peanut butter smoothies with home made ice cream.

Today we had doubled the haggis recipe so had plenty left over Toby used it to make a haggis and potato cake/potato gem casserole with gravy and cheese. It was good but I prefer it on nachos.

Don't worry though tonight we are having brown rice and plenty of veggies and tofu to try to compensate.

Vicki made nacho pizzas with home made pizza bases and I think tvp, I couldn't eat this but Toby said it was his fave.

Craig made potato gem, gravy and cheese calzones and Steph made potato gems with gravy and cheese. I couldn' eat the calazones but enjoyed Steph's variation on their own.

Rachel made fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and chip butties with fries.

She even made me my own version with g/f bread. They tasted just like the real thing.

Bec decided to combine a few of the things, so in this chip butty there was nachos, a potato cake and pizza.

Today we had doubled the haggis recipe so had plenty left over Toby used it to make a haggis and potato cake/potato gem casserole with gravy and cheese. It was good but I prefer it on nachos.

Don't worry though tonight we are having brown rice and plenty of veggies and tofu to try to compensate.

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