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.