Blogging again, gingerly...

Haha. Planned to post more often this year... eleven months later as I look back, yeahnotsomuch. But moving along: here’s what I got up to, baking-wise, for Christmas. Inspired by ZuckerBaby’s spectacular gingerbread TARDIS, I decided to make a gingerbread house again (following my inaugural effort last year). I followed the same recipe guideline as ZB, over at this excellent e-book, and based my design on the Mountain Retreat pattern PDF there. But like last year, this was to be an Australian (Strayan!) house with no snow to be seen — strictly cocoa-coloured icing to cement the thing together, a textured 'tin' roof, and a bit of a front yard. The grass is quite a bright shade of green (they must have put down some fresh turf, eh?) and I took ZB’s lead and used eucalyptus drops to melt into the windows.

Here’s a view with a torch shining into the windows, and so you can see the less than perfect finish on the roof; I’m claiming that’s where the possums get in.

Also, I made the ‘Christmas cake’ for the family this year, which actually meant one dozen rum raisin cupcakes; I topped them with some little fondant gumleaves (ha, I sound really parochial!:

Oh, and one of the presents I gave to family was a selection of these fabulous fruity, chewy lollies (think soft taffy) from Stillwater Sweets. They’re in Kuranda in northern Queensland, but have an online shop — I can vouch for the deliciousness of their pineapple, mango, lime and strawberry flavours (the four included in the mixed bags) and banana, but they have many more that I look forward to trying one day. They’re even labelled as vegan. Highly recommended!

That’s all for now, but I can see a 2012 photo dump in my near future... P.S. I know the photos are less than ideal — I’m still getting used to my newish camera.

A fruit tart or two

For no apparent reason whatsoever, I got it into my head that I wanted to make a fruit tart (and, from here on, pies more generally — ordering Vegan Pie in the Sky is definitely in order). The first attempt last Sunday was very mediocre looks-wise, but still quite tasty; the second attempt on the Thursday public holiday went much better, and not only because I was at my parents' and ably assisted by my fruit-cutting sidekick, Mum (Thanks again).

So here's a photo of each one. The crust is from this recipe recommended by Matt — I'm buying a good-quality rolling pin any day now with some Christmas money from my grandmother, but in the meantime it was great not to have to roll out any pastry. The filling is a rice milk-based custard (I used a little Foster Clark's custard powder, but also a bit of corn starch and icing sugar and lemon zest so the custard flavour wouldn't be too strong). The fruit topping is fruit (no really)... The glaze even the second time just wasn't the right consistency, hence the uneven finish — I suspect practice makes perfect there. I'm also wondering what to do about the sheer amount of liquid (water/juice) that leeches out of the fruit. I guess letting the cut fruit sit in the fridge for a while could only help...

The first of fifty-two

One week into 2012 (well, a little over one week) and I've had a very lovely start to the new year. I had a quiet NYE at home on my own, with my brand new planner — I love writing things into it and feeling the excitement of what's ahead. I also opened a bottle of white wine (a fairly-drinkable chardonnay — nothing amazing) from a mixed dozen that my parents and I ordered together from Goodwill Wine for Animals Australia. They're one of several of the listed charities that have only vegan wines listed for their fundraising.



I kicked off the year with a hot brekkie and (believe it or not) the first scrambled tofu I've made myself; it was clearly not the best you could make, but tasty enough. So I get to keep my vegan licence, right? ...Right?! Even the mushroom, where I had to use powdered garlic when I realised I'd forgotten to buy fresh or crushed garlic, was extremely edible.



On Wednesday I had lunch at Organic Produce with Mandee and Lisa who was travelling through town. In spite of my best intentions I hadn't been to this place before, and the hot weather killed my appetite to the extent that I just picked at a small (tasty) salad and enjoyed my soy latte. But it was really all about the chance to meet up, after all, and it was a lovely couple of hours.

Mandee and I swapped a few things from our pantries, so I came away with some Biscoff speculoos spread to enjoy. Having finally tried the stuff several months ago, I thought I'd do more than just eat a teaspoonful with my coffee or for dessert; on the weekend I made some plain vanilla cupcakes with a Biscoff icing (plumped up with some extra cinnamon, because there was still no way I was going to dedicate more of my Biscoff to this than was absolutely necessary). These were also the first cupcakes — or the first vanilla, at least — that I made with rice milk rather than soy, and I did think it gave them a subtly different flavour. But who knows — maybe it was my imagination, or more or less vanilla extract than usual.



Other than that, nothing new here. No resolutions other than to continue to strive for awesomeness and see where that takes me throughout the year (I expect most people feel that way at this time of year, even if they phrase it less ridiculously or keep it to themselves). I suppose I do want to post a bit more often after things got so quiet last year; I've finally put up a photo header for the blog, so that's a start. Maybe I also want to get out a bit more; I've been doing very nicely already, but for one thing there are so many vegan-friendly places around Sydney I have yet to try. I wonder if I should use that planner...

And all through the (gingerbread) house...

So that's another Christmas done and dusted. We had family gatherings on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day, which meant slight variations on a very tasty spread of salads and vegetable dishes. Photo time here — I think it's all pretty self-explanatory. Thanks, Mum, for another delicious vegan lunch, and to my brother for awesome fruit-cutting skillz.



This year I thought I'd finally attempt a gingerbread house, as I'd been meaning to do for a few years. It is definitely not the easiest undertaking. I used this recipe posted on Vegansaurus, which was simple enough, and followed the templates they suggested. Rolling and cutting the various pieces without the dough breaking or cracking proved trickier for me. Assembling the baked pieces was surprisingly easy, and decorating was as fun as you'd expect. I only started it on the 24th, so was adding the finishing touches after lunch on Christmas Day. Time for more photos (and note the lack of "snow" — this is a Strayan Chrissy, mate)!



It ended up looking almost exactly like this:



There certainly is room for improvement: the gingerbread was a little thin, slightly overcooked, and warped or bubbled in a few spots; I'd use a smaller board and keep things closer together (although I quite like the "huge suburban yard" look this has); I'd remember to... um, cut windows into the damn thing; I'd bother adding a chimney next time, and maybe use a more complex design. I'll call this a good start.

Also, there are some questions such as, "How come they used the same home-made macadamia praline stuff on the roof as they did in their gardens by the front door?" and "Why did they use such coarse crushed mint gravel for their front path?" and "Do you suppose they'll lay down some turf in the back yard, or just leave it covered with that aluminium foil?" These, however, are all Things We Don't Need to Know.

Christmas turkey, Christmas marshmallow...

So it's the 22nd December, which is about the time each year that I think, "Oh right... Am I going to do a Christmas tree this time?" Being the non-religious type and the kind who accumulates all too much stuff during the rest of the year, I'm a big fan of a low-key Christmas time, with minimal gifts exchanged (and donations or edibles are always great) and minimal overall outlay and stress. I feel very lucky that, thanks to a like-minded family, the scenarios described in the annual "How to survive Christmas Day" articles are almost completely foreign to me.

But... I do like any excuse to be a bit silly. And to do things on the cheap. And so — here's the tree that I decorated up this evening. I bought it from a cheapo variety shop a couple of years ago for about $5, along with some mini multicoloured clothes pegs. The gnome hanging ornaments were a gift in the same year. This year, I picked up a couple of craft ribbons from the same (or similar) shop, and two packs of card pegs (that is, little mirrored tree-shaped pegs that are meant to be for hanging your Christmas cards somewhere) and a pack of glitter foam — the last because I didn't have a star for the top of the tree, and it's amazing what you can do with some foam, a pair of scissors and about sixty seconds, especially when you keep your expectations very low!

Oh, and I found this little guy.



I'm a big fan of gnomes anyway, so he's come to a good home. I think I will call him Gnoel — yes?

Cheap-arse star:



And who's that in the background? ...Yep.



On that ridiculous note... let's take it up a notch. I'm looking forward to what has become something of a Christmas tradition for me: watching Santa Claus Conquers the Martians from 1964. If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing it before, at least watch this ten minute edited-down version. The film is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, and just this week was voted (presumably not for the first time) the worst Christmas movie ever made.

Shiny...

As my pitiful post count attests, I have not been blogging much at all these past several months. I haven't been any busier than usual, even — just not inclined to do much baking, and not getting out to any noteworthy vegan events or restaurants.

Finally I realised the only way to revive my baking mojo was to jump right back in — with a bit of help from Bowie on the stereo, and some shiny objects to draw my attention.

I happened to start today with my first green smoothie in quite a while, too — and few things say, "Look out, this vegan's back in the kitchen!" better than that beautiful, toxic sludge-coloured spinach-banana ambrosia...



Got a shot of (some of) the ingredients and utensils, too. Oh yes, that's right — big day Chez Drossolalia.

Within a couple of hours, I had these pretty little things: passionfruit cupcakes with white chocolate icing, cachous, and some shards of a toffee of sorts (slightly undercooked, I think) or maybe "nutless nut praline" if you prefer.



Happily, they tasted equally pretty. I'm surprised they rose properly, considering all the passionfruit pulp I added to the batter. Must be the mojo...!



I have to admit this last photo might be one of my favourites of my own, of cupcakes or otherwise. It's at this point I also admit that the toffee was almost inedible — far too sticky and not nearly brittle enough to break with your teeth — but considering what professional food stylists get up to, I'm giving myself a pass on the "questionable garnish" front.

Flight delay

Now where was I... Oh right — cupcakes.

I'm playing catch-up here, but I really wanted to show these off (she wrote immodestly). They're from a couple of weeks ago, made for a birthday. I decided I wanted to top the (rum 'n' raisin) cupcakes with little aeroplanes made of fondant; also, I decided to make twenty-four cupcakes to go around. So there was nothing for it but to make twenty-four miniature aeroplanes, and I figured the best approach was to make the wings and tails first, then stick them onto (and into) each fuselage (that's a word vegan bakers use to describe the bit that isn't wings or tail). It was just like working with Fimo, except with an edible product at the end... possibly only slightly more edible than Fimo, depending on your feelings about fondant.

Anyway! — even without engines, they did turn out looking pretty much like planes.



You can definitely see the construction technique in this one. I'm bloody glad the wings didn't decide not to stick...



Production line bonus shot...

Fit for a Queen

Birthdays — I had one last week, and so did the Queen (mine was my real birthday but on the other hand it wasn't marked by a public holiday, so I suppose Her Majesty wins that contest...) My birthday was on a weekday, but I made excellent use of the weekend for a delicious dinner at Almustafa Lebanese restaurant (omni, but they explain very clearly on their website that their vegetarian dishes are vegan, which is always a welcome sign of an understanding kitchen), and a home-cooked brunch of the kind I'd usually go out for.



You've got your roasted herbed tomato, your fried seasoned mushrooms, your hash browns and sausages and your (over-)wilted spinach.

My birthday spoils included some chocolate. The dark-coated orange pieces by Delicaseys are sublime, and I also recommend the grapefruit I've had before. And thanks to Mandee I had a chance to sample the new bars from Go Max Go: the Cleo's peanut butter cups and the Snap rice crackle bar. Delicious!



I didn't bake or eat any birthday cake at the time, but I made up for that on the public holiday by pulling some plain chocolate cupcakes from the freezer and smothering them in peanut buttercream icing. The marriage of PB and chocolate still doesn't make me wax lyrical the way it does some people, but I'm certainly a convert these days. I happen to know this is also the Queen's favourite flavour combination*.



*Well, I'll bet you can't prove that it isn't.