Mysterious Announcement / Fresh Lime & Coconut Condensed Milk Tart. (Ovo-vegetarian)

So my little brother & his girlfriend (M) have invited both of their families for dinner tomorrow, saying they have something exciting to tell us. Not something we usually do, so I presume they're engaged? Maybe pregnant? Probably engaged?

I want to take something nice for dessert that we can all eat.
This is complicated, as M has various food allergies: gluten, dairy, potatoes, lots more, and she is ALSO a picky eater who doesn't like fruit or "weird" ingredients.
On top of that, I eat 99% vegan - the only exception is eggs from my pet hens, who we recently adopted from a battery farm rescue group. Between four of them they lay one egg most days, which is technically a very low production, but to me is an abundance! I feel so wealthy with three precious happy-eggs in the fridge!

I also have an abundance of limes lately, so despite M's dislike of fruit, I thought I'd try making a lime pie based on the Lime Pie recipe from Everybody Likes Sandwiches (a vegetarian cook).

Have you tried peanut butter on celery sticks again lately?

So I saw this post on hipsterfood ... it's what I had for lunch yesterday! Celery sticks with peanut butter. <3
I have 1/4 of a tub of tofutti left in the fridge too and this would be a much more appetising way to eat it than on crackers. Yum.

Recipe: Pumpkin Soup with Amazing Chick Pea Croutons

This recipe serves two hungry vegans! I like it with a bit of greenery on the side - try sugar snap peas or snow peas for some crunch.

The amount of soup you end up with will depend on the size of your veggies. If you're using butternut pumpkin you may want to skip the sweet potato, but when using jap pumpkin I prefer the taste with some sweet potato. 
If you have some carrots that need to be eaten you could even throw those in too. 

Recipe: No-Knead Faux-Sourdough Bread

Makes one small, dense, delicious loaf.


I adore this recipe. I could theoretically come home drunk at midnight, mix up a batch of dough, then not have to mess with it till any hangover is gone the next afternoon. Fresh bread with dinner! Yum!

If you wanted bread rolls you would gently shape them at step two.
This recipe is easily adapted to fruit 'n nut bread with cinnamon or any other bready variation you desire. 

Recipe: Lentil, Leek & Spinach Savoury Vegan Crumble

This might serve four (or six small appetites) - quite rich!

This recipe was rustled up from a couple of sources.
I love the idea of the spinach-and-lentil pastries from King Ahiram's (the excellent and cheap kebab place in West End), but in reality they're too strong for my taste. I've been wanting to try making a less authentic alternative for a while now.
Tonight I read Smitten Kitchen's new baked spinach recipe, a streamlining of an original Julia Child creamed spinach recipe (from Mastering the Art of French Cooking).
I thought I could try veganising it and combined the two ideas into this savoury crumble. It may seem like a lot of steps but don't worry, this is quite a quick meal to cook. It doesn't look very pretty (especially because of the crappy flash photo), but it turned out super delicious and I'm definitely making it again soon!