This year has seen huge changes in my life: the start of my second year as a vegetarian (and moving away from pescatarianism, but not inflicting really hard and fast rules on myself – there was an incident with a tuna sandwich – there, I said it); committing to the #Ruleof5 (still haven’t bought anything new); taking a new project at work with more responsibility; I daren’t even say it but *whispers* hopefully a new cottage coming our way… completing ‘Run the Month’ for Prostate Cancer UK – running a marathon over the course of January and raising over £800, something of which we’re rightly pr ..read more

This lamb biryani was always one of my favourite things to cook together.  I adore the chopping, stirring and just pottering about in the kitchen together, and since I gave up meat, I’ve really missed it.  We’ve tried it a couple of times with mushrooms, and various other bits (crumbled tempeh is good), and I’m now absolutely certain that this vegan mushroom biryani is as good as the meaty version (although it would probably upset some purists).  It’s just such delicious comfort food and there’s nothing nicer than a gorgeous bowlful topped with all the crispy onions, dried fruit ..read more

Every year, my final blog post of the year is one of my absolute favourites to write.  I love a New Year – it’s even better than September for me – just a fresh, clean notebook all ready to fill with memories made: laughter, food, travel, love and fun.  Last year I wrote about softness, and so much still resonates with me now: the feeling you have when someone loves and understands you so completely that you can be 100% yourself.  A lovely pal of mine (follow Sasha on Insta – Inmyjournallately) was talking about this great journal prompt recently. A couple of questions that ..read more

We’re a bit of a mixture in our house over Christmas: there are vegetarians, meat eaters and vegans all coming for Christmas dinner. You would think this was a bit of a faff, but honestly , with a few easy swaps it’s a doddle to cook Christmas dinner for vegans, veggies and meat eaters alike without any stress or having to make ten different dishes to suit everyone.  Here’s a quick guide to doing Christmas dinner for vegans, and a load of top tips about everything else, from the yummiest sides to desserts, and some snackage options too.  Oh, and just so I don’t have to keep saying it ..read more

We’ve been on such a journey with this recipe.  We’ve made it multiple times, tweaked it, improved it, and now I’m absolutely sure that this is the best vegan meatball recipe you’ll be able to find. We’ve served these twice to meat eaters now and they’ve absolutely loved them, and I’m also thinking if we make them a bit bigger, and maybe add in some sage, they’ll be perfect for Christmas too.  I think a lot does depend on the quality of your sausages.  We’ve switched from the Richmond vegan ones as they’re a bit too ‘sausagey’ tasting – good for a sausage sarnie, but you need a ..read more

Updated November 2023: I have a complicated relationship with cantucci.  On the one hand, I love baking them (and eating them) but on the other hand, listening to people say ‘oh wow these biscuits are SO hard!’ makes me want to throw the aforementioned hard biscuits at their heads.  Yes, cantucci are hard. That’s kind of the point. They’re twice baked and made to be dunked – traditionally in Vin Santo, but they’re also delicious dunked in coffee (or if you’re a coffee hater like me, hot chocolate, where they’re perfect for scooping out your melted marshmallows).  We did a b ..read more

Just before we went to Florence last week (more of this soon – what a gorgeous city), we were in London for the evening before our flight from London City Airport and decided to take advantage of a lovely invitation we’d received to review The Knight of Notting Hill – a brand new gastropub with gorgeous, funky interiors in the heart of Ladbroke Grove.  And what a fabulous way it was to while away a rare evening in the capital. While it’s a traditional pub (previously the KPH, the pub has an incredible history – Tom Jones played his first gig here in the 60s) with an amazing location on t ..read more

I love autumn don’t you?  Quite apart from the whole fresh notebook/new pencil case loveliness that September brings, there’s the bonus of darker, misty mornings (I don’t mind these at all), scented candles, lamps lit and snuggly throws on the furniture, Sunday walks and roast dinners (although ours look a little different these days without the meat, they’re still just as delicious), pumpkin spice and cinnamon everything.. We’re enjoying the last of the summer from the garden: the few last tomatoes; basil, oregano, rosemary (all drying, ready to be added to soups, pasta sauces and roast ..read more

Plant based baking can be a bit touch and go.  Baking without eggs can be a challenge, but I’ve made this super easy vegan lemon drizzle cake recipe a few times recently and it’s always come out really well.  I made one with aquafaba (the liquid from chickpeas) for Charlie’s last birthday and it really wasn’t nice – a bit dense and cardboardy tasting – but this one genuinely doesn’t taste any different to a sponge cake made with butter and eggs, I promise. There’s an awful lot of reasons why having a best friend who’s a therapist is a good thing.  As well as knowing that I’ll al ..read more

A ..read more