Raspberry Dazzle Nails

I'm a big fan of Barry M nail varnishes! Not only do they come in a huge range of vibrant colours, but it's a company with ethics! Most of the production is done in the UK and the company is a proud supporter of cruelty free! All of the products are vegetarian, and most of them are vegan, there's even a handy little green V symbol in the ingredients list on the website, so you know exactly what's vegan!

Most of Barry M's nail paints cost around £2.99 so having awesome nails doesn't have to break the bank either! Hurrah!

Here's a quick how-to for creating my favourite glitzy nail manicure - I call it Raspberry Dazzle! It gives maximum effect without needing a degree in art!

You'll need:

Barry M All in One 54
Barry M Vivid Purple 161
Barry M Magenta Glitter 336

* First a base coat - always use a base coat! Leave this for a minute or two to dry.

* Now apply a generous coating of the Vivid Purple. This is quite a thick paint so one coat should do the trick! Leave to dry for another few minutes.

* Next apply the Magenta Glitter. Once I've done both hands I go back over them again (starting with the first hand) to give extra sparkle!

* Once this coat is pretty much dry, paint with a top coat of the All in One. Leave for a minute or two then apply a second coat for an extra smooth and glossy finish!

The key to a fabulous finish is letting each coat dry in between applications. Don't rush it or you'll end up with a smooshy mess that takes forever to set (and we all love those duvet/jeans imprints or lovely dents - ick!)

Top tip

I swear by the All In One paint - it really helps a manicure last! I usually find that with a generous top coat my nails will remain chip free for around 5 days, and if you wear marigolds when washing up (or do what I do and persuade the OtherHalf to do it for you) it can last for more than a week.
If the finish starts to dull after a few days you can shine it back up by simply adding a fresh coat of All in One!

If you want to read more about Barry M's cruelty-free ethos and its vegan ranges visit  http://www.barrym.com/be-cruelty-free
If you're feeling creative why not take part in the #BeCrueltyFree competition as part of Cruelty Free Week!

Valentine's Vegan

Valentine's Day just happens to be my boyfriend and I's anniversary, this year we decided to treat ourselves and booked into Brighton's top notch veggie restaurant Terre a Terre. Well I say treat ourselves, we had vouchers so it wouldn't cost us anything - talk about a win win situation! :)

The Valentine's menu was very tempting with lots of mouthwatering dishes, all with cute Valentine's inspired names! Both the starter and dessert dishes were sharers, leaving us only one difficult decision - the main! I chose 'Kelp, I Need Somebody'!

Getting started

But first our starter of 'Slap and Pickle'...

This contested of 'Brûlée Vous' - which was Jerusalem artichokes served with bay cream, pickled Jerusalem artichokes, deep fried with Poire William and raisin relish.

And.. Arepas Chilli Candy - which was deep fried corn cakes rolled on spice dust served with chilli chelly jelly, avocado hash, oregano and lime mojo and a candied chilli. Phew.

Plus there was a mini Truffle Porcini and Chestnut soup with fennel seed tempura mushrooms.

I don't think I could have picked a favourite out of all these but the tempura mushrooms were to die for! 

Kelp I Need Somebody

Slow soft sake baked aubergine sizzled with tahini, sesame and white miso finish served with edamame wasabi and yuzo pesto, sesame ginger dressed Arame Wakame vegetable thread salad and a hibiscus, amchur, nori salt dusted puffed rice seaweed cracker.

Wow! Notice how the cracker looks like a shark fin hee hee! I have to admit this was really rich, so I did start to struggle towards the end, particularly with the aubergine, but worry not, my other half polished up the last of it. I love wakame salad and the cracker was really tasty, with a wonderful texture.

Sweet endings

Dessert! Orgy Porgy Pudding and Pie sharing platter - I thought I was full but apparently not - I still made an excellent dent in this little lot!

Spice up your life - Coconut milk, saffron rice pudding.

Miss Marble - Snappy pistachio wafers served with snow balls. Kalamansi clementine spiced ice, almond amaretto freeze, coconut rum balls and sparkles. 

Armagnac Tartine - Rich prune and chocolate almond Tartine served with cream finished with apple and pear syrup, prune purée, apple snaps and pumpkin seed praline.

The Miss Marble was really exciting. I know that popping candy is all the rage in gourmet deserts but I'd yet to try it and this was a wonderful surprise! So fun to eat! I also adored the Tartine. I literally couldn't eat another bite after this and almost had to be airlifted home.

Well done Terre a Terre for another amazing food experience!

If you've not been before then check out their website for their regular menu

www.terreaterre.co.uk

Lovely, lovely in Southsea!

What can be better in life than cake and a catch up with a good friend? This afternoon I spent a wonderful few hours with my old school friend and her little ones, we had lunch and put the world to rights over cake. Ace!

We'd heard that The Southsea Coffee Co. in Portsmouth sold vegan cake, and as her son has a dairy allergy we decided we had to investigate!

Set in Osborne Rd, Southsea, the cafe doesn't look much from the outside but the inside is wonderful; a really inviting space with plenty of seating and super friendly staff.

Although the menu wasn't huge the food was lovely - beautifully presented and tasted great too! Plus there was around 3 or 4 vegan cake varieties! The sandwiches are huge - I went for the hummus, sesame and carrot sandwich, just remember to ask for no pesto and butter. I also had a scrummy chocolate cake and the buttercream was to die for! 

My little companion had his heart set on porridge and jam. Unfortunately when ordering we hadn't remembered to check if it was made with milk and on arrival immediately realised it was. It couldn't be made without it either as the porridge contained milk powder. Totally our mistake for not checking but the staff couldn't have been nicer.

Instead the little man was offered toast and jam, which he happily spent a good 20 (sticky) minutes spreading on all by himself and then ate both the giant slices on no time at all. All washed down with fresh juice and raw flapjack. One very happy four year old.

We weren't charged for the porridge and the lovely lady even gave him a little treat to take home, as he'd been so disappointed about the porridge! What customer service!

The atmosphere is lovely - really relaxed and they even had a resident artist working on a mural. My favourite part was the chalk board wall at the back where your little companions can draw and scribble to their hearts content! (OK it was me!)

Well worth a visit if you're in the Southsea area and fancy a spot of lunch, or coffee and cake, I can highly recommend Southsea Coffee Co!

http://southseacoffee.tumblr.com/

Chocolate ponderings

My family have a massive sweet tooth, it's definitely some kind of gene, we are all choc-aholics! So, whilst visiting York everyone was desperate to visit The Chocolate Story - an interactive experience which explains York's part in chocolate making history.

Rowntree's was founded in York, although unfortunately it's now owned by ethically dubious corporate giant Nestlé. The Chocolate experience is sponsored by Nestlé and promised lots of chocolate tasting - so apart from not wanting to buy into it, I wasn't sure I was actually going to get much out of it, expecting it all to be the more kid-popular milk chocolate.

So when my family went off to get their chocolate fill, I headed off for a mooch around the shops of York, and treated myself to some scrummy chocolate and ginger tiffin from vegetarian deli Goji. An hour and a half later I got a call to say that they hadn't actually managed to get into the tour as it was fully booked so they had given up and decided to try again tomorrow! *sigh*

So today, after learning all about the grusome history of the Vikings at Jorvik it was time for take two. After umming and ahhing for a bit I decided I didn't want to walk around on my own in the cold again and to stick with the fam. It turns out I was pleasantly surprised! 

The chocolate tour

I learnt a whole lot about the history of chocolate in the UK (and beyond), more about the process of chocolate making, how to taste the full flavours of chocolate and lots more! There was plenty of chocolate tasting, including an Aztec drink. Nearly ALL of the chocolate offered throughout the tour was vegan, the only bits that weren't suitable were the lolly making, which I simply ducked out of, and the handmade chocolate demonstrated right at the end. I was very pleasantly surprised!

There was a fair amount of pro-Nestle, corporate self-promotion (to be expected) but despite this I actually really enjoyed the tour.

My favourite part was the chocolate demonstration at the end - the chocolatier Alison was so knowledgable and made the process look so easy. She was also more than happy to answer questions and even said if I had any difficulties in my experiments at home that I could email her! I love creating handmade chocs to give as gifts and made some for friends for Christmas this year, and while they usually taste fine they never look very pretty. Now I have have lots of new tricks to try which I'm looking forward to giving a go! I also now know how to create filled chocolates so am determined to be brave and try it myself!

Of course no good attraction is complete without exiting via the gift shop. Most of the chocolate in the shop was from UK based companies and there was a huge amount of vegan options to choose from including Booja Booja truffles, MooFree, Divine and Montezuma. It also has a chocolate bar which makes proper hot chocolate and has soya milk available. Of course I had to get a cup!

UK Vegan Food Swap October

Yay! My goodies from this month's food swap have finally arrived!

There's lots of healthy treats from this month's partner and I can't wait to try these Sweet Potato and Buckwheat noodles with the Chilli and Garlic Sauce in a stir fry.

The ground Hemp and Flaxseed are perfectly timed as porridge season is officially upon us now that the clocks have gone back. In fact I've been meaning to look out something like these as they are ideal for adding to porridge for an extra omega kick to your breakfast! So this is great!

The chai smells amazing and is currently filling my kitchen with a mouth watering aroma. I'll definitely be taking this with me to work for chilly days. I adore chai and haven't bought any in ages!

For more info on the swap or to join visit 

http://www.tohappyvegans.com/wordpress/uk-vegan-food-swap/

Steampunk Tea Party

So, my lovely friend Jema is the queen of steampunk! As well as making beautiful and whimsical jewellery she is also a mean cook! Her latest book 'Steampunk Tea Party' is a veritible wonder of yummy sweet and savoury treats essential for any elegant affair - or just for munching on when you want a snack! It's beautifully presented and has lots of quirky additions along the steampunk theme.

Lots of the recipes in the book are vegan, like the pear loaf, or easily veganised by replacing butter with dairy free marge, like gingerbread.

I decided to be adventurous and try two recipes in one day! I thought I'd try Gingerbread Woppits and Oriental Fruit Cheese! Oooh!

For the gingerbread I didn't have any bunnies but I thought squirrels were an excellent substitute. I substituted the butter with Stork (the hard block stuff that comes in the foil packet is vegan and great for baking). These turned out perfectly! :) I decide not to ice 'em but I love the colours Jema used for hers!

For my fruit cheese I chose raspberries and cranberries which Jema assured me was a great combo. I'm still waiting for these to set - I'm not 100% sure how successful these were but I put this down to my cooking skills and my rubbish hob, rather than Jema's instructions. If they don't set I'll definitely use them as jam! :)

*Amend - for anything like this a sugar thermometer is recommended to make sure your fruit and sugars get hot enough. If they don't then like mine they won't set.

Chilli-tastic

I love making chilli! It's easy, quick and great comfort food, plus it's fairly healthy too. Not to blow my own trumpet but I make a mean vegan chilli that will satisfy meat eater and veg lover alike!

Here's how I do it...

This will serve 3-4 and takes around 10 minutes cooking time. A perfect Friday night meal!

• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tin of kidney beans (I cheat and use the supermarket own-brand ones which come in a chilli sauce, as it gives a really nice flavour and thickness to the sauce.) 
• If you're not into cheating then use chilli powder, paprika and a stock cube
• Large handful of chopped mushrooms 
• 1 courgette 
• Soya mince (I use the dry TVP from Holland and Barratt as it is wheat free and less processed than some of the other brands - plus one bag goes for miles)
• Rice or plain nachos

1. Chop all your veg. Chilli is great for using up veg from the fridge or left-overs, so you could also throw in half an onion, carrot - whatever you like!

2. In a medium to large saucepan lightly fry off your veg in a small amount of oil. If using spices sprinkle some over your veg at this point to allow it to absorb the flavour.

3. Add your kidney beans and stir in. You could really use any type of beans - even baked beans (these also make a tasty sauce!). Add your tinned tomatoes.

4. Give it all a stir. Sprinkle in your mince until you have enough to fill the sauce. Stir again. If it looks very thick add some water as the mince will soak up some of the sauce. I usually fill up about a third of the empty tomato can, and use that, this way you get every scrap of tomatoey goodness!

5. If you're not using the cheatin' beans then add your spices now and your stock. Or add spice if you want it extra hot! Make sure you do a taste test. 

6. Simmer for around 5minutes. Serve over rice or plain nachos. Add some guacamole or salsa to make it extra fancy!

Tips:

• The Sainsbury's Be Good Guacamole is vegan friendly!
• Leave out the kidney beans and spices, add a bit of garlic and serve over pasta for an equally quick spag bol!
• This tastes even better the next day - stick your leftovers in the fridge - then simply re-heat and serve on toast for a cracking brunch