It’s very nearly time to buy the Christmas Tree – and that means it’s nearly time to make some new Christmas decorations too! We always make a batch of new salt dough ones each year because they are so easy to create.
For a start – you only need 4 ingredients: 2 cups plain flour, 1 cup salt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 cup water.
Start by mixing the salt and flour together. Make a well in the middle of the dry mixture and add the lemon juice, then slowly add the water to make a dough, folding the mixture inwards all the time. The exact amount of water depends on the flour’s absorbency, so keep checking until it is pliable but not too wet. To make self-coloured salt-dough, just add a little food colouring with the water.
Once mixed, knead the dough for 10 minutes and then roll out into a sheet until 0.5cm thick. You can use biscuit cutters, or the rim of a tumbler for circles, or for trees and holly leaves mark out the shape with the tip of a knife if you don’t have cutters.
Pierce each shape to make a hanging hole, then lay them onto greaseproof paper to air-dry for up to 48 hours, carefully turning them over after 24 hours. Once dry, paint each side with glitter glue to give a sparkly finish, allow to dry over-night between sides, then add a coloured ribbon and hang on the Christmas tree.
Easy!
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Great Christmas Gifts for Vegetarian Cooks
December 3, 2011 by Chrissie
Christmas means great food and cracking gifts, but what about the person who cooks all those wonderful dishes that everyone enjoys. What makes an interesting or useful Christmas gift for someone who loves cooking? Here are some of the best suggestions around.
1. Rachel Demuth is a top vegetarian chef, and her recipe books are a delight. Choose from the Green Seasons, with 120 seasonally inspired recipes from all over the world; or The Green World Cookbook, which has 100 of the best-loved recipes as used in Demuths Restaurant in Bath.
Rachel’s books are available from The Vegetarian Cookery School.
2. Vegetarian Living magazine offers both 6-month and 12-month subscription packages. The magazine is crammed full of articles and tips, along with tasty recipes, and the latest in animal-free clothing and beauty products.
3. Grinding grains and pulses can be tiring and time-consuming, but the WonderMill makes the task quick and simple. This home grain mill can grind 1kg of wheat into flour in just 74 seconds, and works equally well with many other grains, beans and legumes. It makes creating rice and other types of flour as simple as child’s play.
4. The Cordon Vert cookery school – a part of the Vegetarian Society – offers Gift Vouchers, in multiples of £10, which can be used to pay for any of their vegetarian cooking courses. Although based in Cheshire, the Cordon Vert school also runs classes in London. Courses range from single leisure sessions and evening classes to professional level diplomas.
5. And finally, a couple of handy stocking fillers for cooks:
Veggie Skrub’a Gloves
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Getting Ready For A Vegetarian Christmas
December 2, 2011 by Chrissie
Trees up, lights are on and most importantly, the sherry’s in your glass, now to decide on your Christmas menu. Whether it’s you or your family members who are vegetarians, a meat free Christmas needn’t be a headache (family quibbles and hangover headaches however are pretty much a given!)
The main decision for a veggie Christmas is to decide on your turkey substitute. Some of you may be extremely polite and offer to stick a bird in the oven, others may refuse point blank to let it in your home. That’s your call, but we tend to settle somewhere in the middle, the meat eaters can bring a turkey but it must be pre-cooked and the trimmings, especially the gravy, must be animal free.
For your main dish, you have quite a lot of choice. Probably the most obvious is a nut roast which is a delicious and simple option. There are lots of great nut roast recipes available. The basic ingredients are bread, bread crumbs, nuts, onions and butter and it takes about 55 minutes to prepare and cook – ah ha, the spending all of Christmas day in the kitchen joke is on you meat eaters!
Another great option which can be carved like a turkey is a tofu roast. Buy a large hunk of firm tofu, about a pound and glaze with barbeque sauce, mustard, olive oil and honey – delicious. Again it takes about an hour to cook.
Christmas day trimmings can be the usual and there are lots of great vegetarian stuffing options (watch this space!) that don’t require sausage meat. If people are bringing accompanying dishes, ask that they respect the no meat product rule and don’t cook roasties in meat fat but instead in vegetarian oil.
If you are serving treats and appetisers either on Christmas or Boxing Day, again you can pick traditional treats but serve veggie style. Vegetarian sausage rolls are always delicious, especially if homemade and roasted vegetable dips with crisps and raw veggies are a nice light snack.
Christmas stress should be kept to a minimum, so sticking with food you like and hell, you’ve got great taste, should mean your guests stay happy.
Category Christmas, Veggie food | Tags: | 1 Comment
Some Interesting Facts About Vegetarians
October 30, 2011 by Chrissie
Interesting fact number one: Vegetarians eat a plant based diet. Now that might not seem interesting to you, but you’ll be surprised how many people think eating fish is vegetarianism. If you’ve opted for a semi vegetarian diet you will eat some meat products.
Interesting fact number two: Vegetarians make better lovers (you knew that was coming didn’t you!) It’s true, most libido boosting foods are fruit and veg. Bananas, avocados, celery, almonds and fenugreek are all foods that make you hot, steamy and very very sexy and are all staples in the vegetarian diet.
Interesting fact number three: There are records of vegetarianism from as early as ancient Greece and ancient India where the worship of animals forbade the consumption of them. Early Christianity more or less wiped out the practice and it did not re-emerge until the late 19th Century.
Interesting fact number four: More women than men are vegetarian but the jury is still out as to why. There are several theories but none proven.
Interesting fact number five: The ancient Greek translation of vegetarianism was ‘abstinence from beings with a soul’.
Interesting fact number six: Contrary to popular belief, vegetarians are not all anaemic and lacking in iron. There are great sources of iron in herbs, lentils, nuts and beans.
Interesting fact number seven: Famous vegetarians include: Albert Einstein, Pamela Anderson, Aristotle, Socrates, Ghandi, Leo Tolstoy, Damon Albarn, Jeff Beck, Elvis Costello, Sadie Frost, Joanna Lumley, Linda McCartney, Reese Witherspoon, and Lisa Simpson. Yes, Adolph Hitler did follow a vegetarian diet occasionally but this had everything to do with curing his horrific flatulence problem and nothing to do with his concern for animal welfare.
Interesting fact number eight: Yogis do not partake in the consumption of the flesh of any animal, it is against their faith and practice.
Interesting fact number nine: Indians make up over 70% of the global vegetarian population.
Interesting fact number ten: The next step form vegetarianism is of course vegan and the one on from that is fruitarianism, where you can eat plant based products as long as you don’t kill the plant. Fruit is fine because you do not kill the tree when you gather its crop but most other vegetables are a no go.
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Great Veggie Treats for Halloween
October 22, 2011 by Chrissie
With Halloween right round the corner, you are probably already sat concocting spells to create the finest of veggie treats for you party! Well look no further and put your wand down! Here are a few ideas that you can whip up without any magic!
- Pumpkin Faced Veggies – use a base of carrots to create the shape of a pumpkin head, use small bowls of dip for the eyes and nose, broccoli for the stork and cucumber pieces for the jagged mouth (this is a dish you let no one eat until all the guests have seen it!!)
- Coffin Sandwiches – make your favourite sandwich using sliced bread and cut into the shape of a coffin. Using a condiment that compliments write RIP on each one!
- Witches fingers – make almond shortbread (25 g (1/2 of 250-g pkg cream soft cheese, 1/2 cup butter, softened, 3/4 cup icing sugar, 1 tsp. almond extract, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1-1/2 cups flour) and shape into fingers, use a fork to mimic skin creases. Then add a sliver of almond to each one for a fingernail, paint the fingernails green or red with food colouring.
- Eyeball cupcakes – make your favourite chocolate cupcakes and ice with white icing, red icing threads for a crazy bloodshot look and use jelly sweets for iris and pupil!
- Cauldron Stew – great fun for dinner and if you love curry even better, make a green curry and serve in a cauldron style pot! Throw in eyeballs, a fake rat and fake bat for extra effect but make sure your guests are aware so no one needs show off the Heimlich manoeuvre!
We’ve got one word: KETCHUP! Throw it on everything and you’ve got yourself a massacre of a buffet table!
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