nestled in it's box

Open the box and it hits you: that exciting, sugary Easter Egg scent from childhood. I don’t know why chocolate should smell different when formed into an egg shape, but it does.  Dark chocolate eggs are of course gorgeous, but altogether more grown up. This is the one for children and those who don’t like high cocoa content chocolate. The moo free egg is sweet and mild and could easily be mistaken for a milk chocolate product.

in the frost and sunshine

It’s a good 100g size and the bunny, butterfly and flower packaging is a nice change from dark eggs which are usually aimed at very mature people…

of course, once opened, it didn't last long in this house

Available from Goodness Direct and larger Waitrose stores. Moo Free Chocolates have full details of all stockists on their website

Related posts:

sage and onion potato pie

vegan haggis from goodness direct and our old Burn’s Night blogpost from 2008 complete with poetry and music!

other Scottish recipes you might like for Burn’s Night:

skirlie (oatmeal stuffing)

cranachan – pudding of oats, (soya) cream, whiskey and raspberries

Balmoral Pie (scroll down through the mains, it has pics) – sausages and baked beans topped with mash

Scotch Broth

Scottish Macaroons

mince and dumplings

Related posts:

Related posts:

sun sets on the Solstice over the garden

You will need:

1 square cake tin,  greased

2 100g bars of good chocolate

1 tablespoon of margarine

1 tablespoon of golden syrup

1 200g pack of bourbon biscuits (other biscuits will do), bashed up

and here’s the Christmassy part… a crumbled slice of  Christmas cake including bits of marzipan and icing

a handful of raisins

Method:

Melt 1 bar of  chocolate in a Bain Marie (bowl over pan of hot water) along with the marg and syrup. Once nice and smooth, stir in your other ingredients and press mixture into tin.  Melt the other bar and spread on top. We topped with sugar stars… chill in fridge until set and cut into squares.

It’s gorgeous… quite different with the Christmas cake but very, very good and dangerously moreish

your calorie requirement for the week in one handy square

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to make a Christmas cake or plan your vegan Christmas dinner

to buy a vegan cookbook or kids book  – today, Monday 19th is the last day for free shipping with Amazon but there are various other delivery choices all week.

to get a t-shirt  from us, the deadline is 20th Dec with express shipping

order from hotel chocolat by 4pm Friday for Christmas Eve delivery.

Ethical Superstore‘s last order dates are Tuesday 20th 12pm for standard delivery and Thursday 22nd for express

The Book People have next day delivery available until the 22nd.

Or you can just say, ‘no, I am not buying anything else,’ and go for a nice walk instead… probably the better option

in the woods

 In case we don’t blog before it’s all over, have a happy festive time

Related posts:

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:

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

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

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

Related posts:

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 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):

Related posts:

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

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one of my favourite books ever

An older book, now out of print, but I don’t think anything has come along to best it as a veggie festive title (do comment if you know otherwise!). I got the hardback out of the library something like 18/19 years ago and it impacted me. The gorgeousness of Christmas food, the hints on preparing and freezing taking the hard work away from the day itself, the photos all through it. In fact looking through the pristine copy I now own (thank you Amazon marketplace, used condition, 1 pence!) I see obvious influences there for some of the recipes on our Yule page

a puff pastry mushroom Christmas tree!

I waited for frost and sunshine to write this post, dismal downpours were not hitting the right mark for the photos.

that's the chestnut and red wine pate en croute that we all love

There are five complete Christmas dinner menus, sections on preparation, party food, puddings and cakes, lighter festive lunches and so many cute sides. There’s also a craft bit about making your own gifts.

little Santa pizzas, easily veganisable

As with all Rose Elliot books there are vegan adjustments added in where appropriate.

parsley potato stars

As mentioned both paperback and hardcover are out of print but it is available secondhand from both Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com though I think the 1 pence ones have all gone…

a search for Vegetarian Christmas on AbeBooks.co.uk turns up quite a few editions, very well priced, but remember the paperback does not have the photos!

As I was out there in the frost our daily visiting whooper swans flew over. I stared up at them as usual, the cogs of my brains slowly grasping the knowledge that I had a camera in my hand. They were almost out of sight by this point but a quick aim in the direction of the sky caught a glimpse of their wings through the trees.

most indistinct picture of swans ever

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Visually there are still some autumnal things going on:

beautiful yellow leaf

How did I miss the twenty pence piece beside it? Only noticed it in the photo! *plans reconnaissance mission*

enchanting leaf laden path

brightly sunlit loch

But the temperature tells the true story. Hot water bottle season is upon us. Winds whip round the house and through the trees. Vegan Yule and Frugal Christmas are updated and well populated.

the last of the big, fat carrots for soup

Leeks are still in the ground in great numbers… it is so cold…

purple legwarmers on; winter, we are ready

purple legwarmer

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