moon during eclipse

moon and snowy fields

moon and snowy fields

moon

moon

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winter

loch

loch

trees

trees

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slightly festive thoughts

this is happening outside this morning

this is happening outside this morning

see that orange glow at the side? Sitting room fire reflected in window :)

Have just added a ‘pick of the vegan Christmas chocolate’ bit to the chocolate room. Here it is:

Gianduja Bombe Rudolph The Reindeer

Hotel Chocolat’s Gianduja Bombe, the Moo Free choc Santa and
Rudolph The Reindeer
from hotel chocolat again…

Also added this Pyramid Rosemary Tree to the  Yule page:

rosemary tree in red pot from suttons

rosemary tree in red pot from suttons

We have a really old (21 years) rosemary tree in a pot outside which still gives us lovely flavour and nutrients all year round :)

our vitamix

our vitamix

Was quite excited to discover our favourite food prep appliance ever, the Vitamix (page on it here with lots of blendy recipes) is now available at both Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com as are Blendtecs :)

That was a lot of linkage, off for a long walk in the small amount of snow now :D

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heron in the trees

suspected of eating frogs in the pond

suspected of eating frogs in the pond

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far over the misty mountains cold…

but no dungeons deep or caverns old…

we start with a mince pie

we start with a mince pie

up through the trees

up through the trees

onto the mountain face

onto the mountain face

Hill in question: Bennachie

mither tap obscured by mist

mither tap obscured by mist

misty cairn

misty cairn

and yes, a moo free chocolate Santa made it up there… very impressive on his fat little legs :) *patronises chocolate fondly*

aww bless...

aww bless...

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toad in the hole

toad in the hole with onion gravy, peas and roast tatties

toad in the hole with onion gravy, peas and roast tatties

Turned out lovely, soft and light and delicious. Here’s what I did:

cook sausages in hot oven (chocolate cake beside optional)

cook sausages in hot oven (chocolate cake beside optional)

once sausages are nearly cooked, pour over batter

once sausages are nearly cooked, pour over the batter

Batter made thus: mix 5 tablespoons of self raising flour with 3 tablespoons of gram (chick pea) flour, a pinch of salt and a pinch of bicarb. Beat in enough soya milk to make a creamy pouring batter. This quantity was to cover 12 sausages, adjust as needed.

back into hot oven until it looks like this (maybe 20 mins?)

back into hot oven until it looks like this (maybe 20 mins?)

Yum, yum, yum.

that's a roast potato

that's a roast potato

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lots of pictures of a digger

yellow and blue

yellow and blue

I’m not actually trying to appeal to an entirely new demographic (three year old boys) but I like the contrasts here; well I like the colors, the conflicting realities of the situation are not quite so pleasing. Wind turbines are great but lovely trees being destroyed to make way for them seems an ironic destruction. Miles of track has been widened to let the much larger crane in and many very large Scots Pines have had chunks carved out of them… *primal urge to protect trees kicks in, glares at digger*

resuming pretty colors…

big digger

big digger

dig

dig

The picture does not convey quite how large and deep that hole is – if you fall in there you’re not coming out!

hmm... would quite like a go, actually... no tree hurting obviously...

hmm... would quite like a go, actually... no tree hurting obviously...

and because I love it, The JCB Song:

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it approaches… chocolate calendar time…

Yes, the time of year when it’s acceptable to eat a chocolate each day first thing in the morning… I hope those little images align properly in everyone’s browsers, else they won’t make sense :)

The Modern Housewife Series Vol 1 is doing a countdown to Vegan Christmas starting on Nov 18th…

but back to those Advent chocs:

Already on the sidebar is the moo free one :D Then we have Montezuma’s dark – big blocks of chocolate in that one, and the most expensive but containing such beautiful shapes is the Ultimate Dark Advent Calendar from hotel chocolat…

Don’t forget the non edible but so much fun Playmobil ones either – Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com both have a good selection of them.

An advent candle pic from ‘days of yore home edding younger children‘ time (original post):

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kissing is still in fashion

title proved by gorse flowers

title proved by gorse flowers

No matter how cold it gets there’s always one somewhere :)

Seasonal bits:

Frugal Christmas and Vegan Yule have been updated and weeded free of dead links and outdated information. Lebkuchen from Lidl now contain butter :(

Drawing attention to Rose Elliot’s Vegetarian Christmas just now (see last years blog review of it) as it is currently still available for 1p from marketplace sellers on Amazon. That will change nearer Christmas.

A new inhabitant of the wood shed, he joins the toads for winter, they will probably not be kissing…

newt

newt

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Happy Samhain or Halloween

20111031-080309.jpg

Looking for a pumpkin soup recipe today? Try the modern housewife blog or our own soup page :D

Squirreling underway:

the wood pile grows

the wood pile grows, all from free sources / saved from skips etc.

and then there’s been some baking for the freezer:

four loaves of wholemeal

four loaves of wholemeal, not the prettiest packaging, but hey it's recycled!

Come on then winter, what you waiting for?!!!

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Posted in food, reuse | Tagged | 2 Comments