Pre-Christmas soup

I am about to go to Stansted Airport. Once again, like many times before, I am checking my luggage, hoping that is not too heavy, look at my passport to check the expire date and check that each Christmas present is safe and it’s not going to crush during the journey.
I made myself a breakfast soup (yes insane I know), to make sure that I don’t have to rely on the airport Prêt a Manger, and in a kind of last attempt to have something healthy before my parent’s lovely starchy approach-olive oil showered food, (delicious but hard work to digest when you only sit on the sofa and chat all day).

Cook in boiling water some soba noodles and at the end rinse them under cool water.


At the same time heat up about one half bowl of water per person and use this to prepare vegetable soup. I used: baby leeks carrots and cabbage, I added some Wakame seaweed, and a couple of shitake mushrooms.
Towards the end I added grated ginger and few drops of toasted sesame oil. I turned off the heat and added a few drops of Tamari.
I put noodles in the bowl and just poured over the soup.

After this my fridge does not contain any more veg from 2007!

See you in the new year
X

I give you my cookie if you give me your pickle

It’s probably my job that is making me so allergic to shopping, as I have to “buy” stuff everyday so a Saturday afternoon on Oxford Street is my idea of hell.
I wish I was consuming less then what I am and have a more clutter free existence, but I am aware that this is not going to happen so easily.

This post would have been perfect on the 24th on November this year, on the Buy Nothing Day, oh well it comes a bit late but just put the date in your diary as it’s happening every year on the last Saturday of November.

Well we have bought very little today as I was at the Good Festive food swap but we ate a lot!
It was so much fun, I brought some mini sourdough bread rolls, some focaccia, macro cookies (recipe below) and gomasio.

I brought back:
Vegan cookies, bread, pickled pumpkin, fresh organic rosemary and bay leaves, vegan lemon cake, a bottle of elderflower vinegar, some lovely dried pear rings and some seeds to make salad on my balcony!


There was so much passion in the preparation that each person put in what they brought, especially the girl that did the pickled pumpkin attached a little bag with the story of the pumpkin variety and the story of how it arrived to the UK!
Everyone was really friendly, some people had an allotment and some just a good recipe, all were willing to share and chat.

Mulled wine kept me warm, it was an awful rainy afternoon, and I can’t imagine a better way to spend it.


Very "swappable" oatmeal currant cookies,
adapted from an Oliver Cowmeadow recipe

2 cups oat ( I used normal porridge one)
1/2 cup wholeweat flour
2 tbs sesame oil
2tbs maple syrup
3 tbs dried currant
1/4 spoon seasalt
1/4 spoon cinammon





Cover the raisin with water (1/2 a cup) bring to the boil and simmer for 5 min.
Mix dry ingredients and add the oil, add the maple syrup and the currants with the cooking liquid, add more water if necesary to have a thick batter. Oil a baking tray and shape the cookies (1/2 cm thick).

Bake for 30 min/180 °C


you can now swap them with the neighboor, post them to your old friend or just eat them while you spend a lazy Sunday reading a book.