Homemade Pasta with Basil Pesto

Arrr nothing beats fresh homemade pasta..

Store bought fresh pasta is always made with eggs, so veganini's miss out.

It is slightly arduous to make, but the taste more than makes up for this.

The quantities always vary depending on the weather and the type of flour you're using, among other things..

A woman I know always has an extra mound of flour on her chopping board, which she calls God.. "Because you never know when you might need it, it's good to always have it close at hand"

I basically add some plain flour to a mixing bowl. Add a generous slosh of olive oil. Sprinkling of salt. Just enough water to form a dough. Then I mix it around a bit, to combine it all really well.

Then I pass the dough repeatedly through a pasta maker, to make it more and more thin, ultimately using the cutting piece, to crank out my strings of pasta..

Fresh pasta only takes a couple of minutes to cook.

-Made by Stevie & Sally

Making love in the kitchen -Broccoli & Tofu with Tomatoes

There has been change a foot in the world of veganini..

I didn't intend to turn my back, (again), on my dear little & oft neglected blog.

I just lost the words..

There has been a lot of love making in the kitchen.

Learning the subtle art of co-creation..

I've done the director-&-the-directed kind before.. and even the you-do-the-cooking-I'll-do-the-washing-up kind, but I've never experienced true co-creation.

For someone that got very good at cooking for one, and thus, was very used to pleasing herself, it hasn't always come easy..

And really what else is it but what you're used to, when it comes to finely diced, or coarsely chopped, and other such things?

It's not even about jocking for position of who-knows-best, it's about finding that soft centre, where two people come together and the differences and similarities merge together in the most beautiful and satisfying way..

That soft centre, is the nicest place to inhabit..

He sizzled the tofu, and I simmered the sauce

Lime & Coconut Birthday Cupcakes

As you can see, I was very excited to get "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World", as a birthday gift..As soon as I lay eyes on the recipe for these cakes, I wanted to make (eat) them..

So, party cupcakes they were..

There was some recipe tweaking of course.

More lime juice, some lime pulp, more coconut cream, and some other little things here and there..

They were D*E*L*I*C*I*O*U*S :D

Mulberry Just Cares For Me

Hmmn mulberries.. you forgotten fruit of childhood.

We would collect branches from the tree, and keep them in a shoe-box.. where we'd watch our little silk worms, grow, and transform..

Always eating, eating, eating.. and then spinning, spinning, spinning..

We would squish the berries between our teeth, purple trickling down our chins, as we walked home from school..

There is a tree on my walk home now. I watch it change through the year, waiting for the berries to come. They are there now. Almost black and full of juice, leaving their lovely impressions on the ground below.

So, mulberry pie..

Ingredients

2/4 cup almond meal

1/4 cup plain flour

1/8 cup canola oil

1 Tbs cold water

1 Tbs maple syrup

1 1/2 cups mulberries (washed, destemmed)

2 Tbs jam (I used plum)

1/2 cup water

2 tsp arrowroot (or cornflour)

2 Tbs maple syrup

Method

1.Mix almond meal and flour together in a bowl, and add oil and water, combining with a fork as you go. You want a nice crumbley consitency to start with. As the dough begins to form, add the maple syrup, and mix to combine well, until mixture forms a dough.

2.Form dough into a ball and chill until berries are ready.

3.Put jam and water in a small sauce pan, on medium heat, and stir well as heated, to created a syrupy mixture.

4.Add maple syrup and arrowroot to the syrup (mix the arrowroot with a tiny bit of water first, so it doesn't clump together in your syrup).

5.Pour syrup over berries, and stir well to combine. Squish berries roughly with a fork.

6.Take chilled dough, and spread inside a small greased pie dish. Start in the centre and work your way out.

7.Pour berries into pie dish and bake in a pre-heated 200C oven for about 15 minutes

Easy and yummy!

If you can't get enough of mulberries- sigh, only for those in the southern hemmisphere this time of year.. follow this link:

http://recipefinder.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=150273

I'm thinking of making it for a party in a couple of weeks.