I’m not going to win the bake off. Let’s get this out of the way. I don’t have the skills, the delicate touch or the imagination. I’m not comfortable with pretty. At least I’m not good at it. But I can make something that tastes good.

So when I came to make desert at the end of vegan food and make up night I just went for yummy. Double chocolate chip cookies and vanilla Swedish Glacé made into an ice cream sandwich. Delicious, not necessarily show stopping in looks.

We actually had some of our best friends over last night for a vegan food and make up night so this prompt comes with incredibly good timing. Also the nails that I’m typing this post with look fabulous.

I like to use people coming over as an excuse to cook something I can’t ordinarily get away with. I’ll cook something like cannelloni which would otherwise be too elaborate or something that Kate doesn’t like but comes in too large a serving to manage by myself. Arroz Con Seitan from Viva Vegan fit the bill last night. As a handy bonus it also looks fabulous when you pull the lid off to reveal the olive and caper studded rice. As a cook you have to appreciate a dish that’s cooked in one pot but manages to incorporate so many flavors. Between the sofrito, the olives, the tomatoes… you’re just going to have a very happy tummy.

But how to accommodate my very best of bestest friends? Well I know Kate likes the Chicken Taco filling made from Linda McCartney Pulled Chicken (the very first recipe on the blog!) So why not do a little bit of a taco bar too? We had shredded lettuce, avocado, sauces, and those cute little taco shell boat things because I saw them and thought they were adorable. Combined it all made a delicious, filling, flavourful meal.

 

Despite my claims about being an anti-social hermit we have actually had people over in the last few weeks. Mostly just to eat vegan food and play with clothes and make up. I like to have nibbles available when people come in.

I love the Lettuce Wraps with Hoison-Mustard Tofu from Appetite For Reduction however I hardly ever make them as a lettuce wrap. I use the flavourful tofu as one of the components or a bento box, toss it with noodles, use them to top a salad. In this instance I made them super fancy by making them into lettuce cups.

If you are coming round to our flat and I’m  making you something fancy this is what you are going to get: spinach and ricotta cannelloni. I’m not sure that it’s actually fancy. I don’t have much of a sense of what is fancy. It does have a lot of different steps and a lot of it I make by hand.

This isn’t Tesco ready meal cannelloni. For one thing it’s vegan. I make the ricotta myself, from nuts. I roll out the pasta in Kate’s parents old pasta machine, cook the sheets and stuff them with ricotta mix. Then homemade tomato sauce to top it all off. I feel fancy by the time it comes out of the oven. If a little hot, sweaty and covered in flour.