Well, these last couple of weeks have been a bit of a
whirl-wind.
Cake still adorns all surfaces- waiting to be eaten,
unwrapped presents lounge in boxes and bags, post-it notes and ‘to do’ lists
remain half ticked off….
…..but this evening I relaxed! Work in the office is over
for the rest of the year and now I can look forward to the holiday season with
increasing excitement and last minute preparations!
Actually I have been getting quite excited this year,
since the festive recipes have swung me into the holiday spirit, but some years
Christmas is literally knocking at my door before I realise that time has come
around. That’s the problem with being
‘too busy’… if you’re not careful it’s easy to miss all the fun, particularly
all the build-up and anticipation which is often just as much fun as the big
day itself.
Sometimes you just need to take a little time out. Take a
step back and spend just 5 minutes looking around you. Smile from within. Calm.
I’m always busy, always rushing and always have another
plan up my sleeve. It’s the way I love to be, but I also know I can be my own
worst enemy when things don’t go to plan. I am not very good at creating some
flexibility and allowance for if things take a ‘slightly different turn’ from
how you anticipated. It is very easy to blame others or to blame the situation,
which only serves to leave you frustrated, when in actual fact you simply need
to build in a little contingency plan. That way you can’t lose…and if it does
all go to plan- bonus!
This statement is definitely a case of ‘do what I say and
not what I do’. I really need to learn to listen to my own advice. It’s crazy
that I can see this so clearly sitting here on the sofa, as I type with a clear
and peaceful mind, the house is quiet and it’s almost time for bed. Why is it
that in the flow of day to day chaos my mind seems set in a permanent state of
‘fast-forward’. Stop…rewind…so what was it I said?
Sometimes you just
need to take a little time out. Take a step back and spend just 5 minutes
looking around you. Smile from within. Calm.
Ok, ok I’m listening. Practice makes perfect. Hopefully one
day I’ll master the balancing act.
But now for food, since that’s probably what you came
here for? Although you may find my questioning mind creeping in a little more!
Sometimes simply writing it down helps.
I’m all caked out.
So this is a savoury post…a round up if you like of
savoury nibbles or buffet bites (as
it sounds cute).
These healthy nibbles should help see you through the
holidays and beyond. I have here a combination of my previous posts, plus the
outcome of my ‘egg’ nog investigation and experiments that some of you will be
aware of from my facebook page- we simply cannot get soy-nog in the UK!
Some savoury nibbles to get the party going….
Speedy seedy crackers
Great for dipping, also great cut into strips as a healthy alternative to cheese straws!
Er, no explanation needed!
‘Meat’ balls
Serve these instead of scotch eggs or sausage rolls, satisfying finger food!
Plus I came across a great idea for using up Christmas Day
‘leftovers’….. Pasties!
I will try and post this recipe and my results on boxing
day as I plan to make the pasties, but in essence the method is simple….
Use four smallish plate
sized rounds of rolled ready-made or homemade shortcrust pastry (it’s usually
vegan anyway but check the label). Add a mug of veggies and up to a mug of nut
roast/stuffing all crumbled up together. Add a few dollops of sauce (whatever
type you had with the meal- cranberry, bread sauce, gravy). Lastly add a few
pinches of herbs. Spoon ¼ of the mixture in to the centre of each pastry round
leaving 2-3cm of pastry round the edge. Lift up and seal the edges together
making a semi-circle with the seam at the top. Place on a baking sheet, brush
with soy milk and bake at 180C for approx. 40 mins until golden. Serve warm or
cold.
So simple… I’ll try and post pictures on boxing day.
Now, for my ‘egg’ nog experiment
(Gosh this has ended up being a long
post- hope you're still with me!)
I checked out various recipes and they were all so
diverse!! Some used tofu, some used nut butter, and some used banana. There seemed to be various options to obtain
the desired thickness. I wanted to
create a nog not using tofu, no real reason for that other than I fancied the
challenge. A banana and nut butter combo inspired me as I didn’t want there to
be an over-dominant banana-ry taste. I also used a thickener to ensure light and delicate flavours but it may also work by doubling the amount of banana and nut butter and omitting the thickening stage- note this has not been tested!
The result….? A thick milkshakey frothy drink that is creamy
and lightly spiced. It tasted good to me but then I have never had real or soy
egg nog before….maybe you can be the judge?
Recipe: Christmas Nog
Ingredients:
1/4 cup cashew or almond butter
½ a large banana- chopped (I used a frozen one but fresh should
be fine also)
4 dates
2 cups ‘milk’ (I used a combination of 1 1/3 cups rice
milk and ½ cup soy milk)
2 tsp thickener (I used cornstarch but arrowroot/tapioca
should also work)
1 tbs ground flax
1 tbs maple syrup
Spices- 1 tsp vanilla extract, ½ tsp nutmeg, ½ tsp
cinnamon
Makes approx. 2 large glasses
Method:
Mix thickener with approx. 2 tbs of water for form a
paste. Pour the ‘milk’ with the thickener paste added into a small saucepan and
also add the dates. Simmer until it boils and thickens and the dates begin to
soften. (note: it should be at least half as thick as the nog will end up). Add
the ‘milk’ mixture to a blender along with all the remaining ingredients. Blend
until totally smooth and creamy and frothy on top.
Chill until cold and then pour into glasses to serve.
Sprinkle some extra grated nutmeg to the frothy top if desired.
Cheers!!
For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.
