During my most recent time abroad I created journal entries and lists of food memories I experienced in all of the countries we visited. As expected, every country had unique flavours, and dishes. Being invited into homes of the locals for dinner, and dessert was a surreal culture and culinary adventure!
The story of Lamingtons for me began in New Zealand where we stopped at a grocery store to get materials for packing a lunch to eat on an island we planned to do hiking on. At the store there were colossal lamingtons. Lamingtons covered in chocolate or raspberry coating. Since we knew we’d be hiking we figured we needed the extra calories.
I decided at this moment in my life I needed to make these petit four-esque treats vegan friendly.
You can replace the coconut milk with cold water. I usually do that in order to save money, the cake turns out just as delicious!
I hope you try this recipe and enjoy it as much as I did!
Anna xoxox
When travelling in Vietnam it’s not uncommon to see baskets upon baskets of Vietnamese style baguettes. Bikes loaded up with the crispy loaves wheeling their way around each city block. It’s extremely difficult to resist purchasing one of these delicious snacks. It was also easy to find sandwich stalls on street corners which would usually serve a pork on bread style sandwich with loads of toppings. It was possible to get vegetarian options as well but that depended largely communicating correctly with the vendor. Thankfully I had a non-vegetarian friend who would gratefully accept extra pork on his sandwich.
Now that I am back in Canada, I was given a Vietnamese cookbook for Christmas Real Vietnamese Cooking by: Tracey Lister and Andreas Pohl, and I have been studying it as though every time I enter the kitchen there will be an exam as to whether or not the food is exactly how I remember it. The first recipe I attempted is the Vietnamese baguette, which was not an original food to be found in Vietnam. It was introduced by the French during the colonial period. The main difference between the French and Vietnamese baguette is the addition of rice flour in the Vietnamese version.
I made this recipe several times to test it out and get it just the way I wanted. I settled on making three baguettes vs. six which is what the recipe suggests. This way I have larger baguettes and can make beautiful sandwiches to share. The baguettes do require a little longer baking time though, but it’s totally worth it!
I’ve also included a few snaps from our adventures in Vietnam. We spent a month there and had an amazing time hiking, walking, biking, meeting new people, and of course eating! Every city/village/town has a dish specialty, and it was always exciting to see what that dish would be upon arrival.
In Vietnam we didn’t always arrive at our destination with an arrangement for a place to stay. This was usually ok, but there were a few times when we were walking in small towns and really didn’t know where we were and couldn’t find any sort of lodging options. The locals were always so helpful in showing us the way to a safe place to stay! We were even invited for dinner one night with the friendliest family, it was such an amazing evening. It’s super inspiring that strangers are so accommodating, I hope to help other strangers whenever I can, and maybe even feed them a few cookies and tea!
Back to the bread! An opportune moment for butter is fresh bread from the oven. Now you can devour this loaf instantly with the butter melting on a warm(HOT) slice. Or you can wait a few minutes until is cools enough to make a sandwich! I made vegetarian sandwiches like I would have ordered in Vietnam with scrambled egg, veggies, cilantro, and a spicy chili sauce.
Hope you enjoy this recipe, and thanks for stopping by! See you again soon,
Anna
xoxoxo
Vegan and milkshake didn’t always belong in a sentence together until this exact minute, where there is a photo of a milk-less shake in front of you and it can be yours in moments… well at least moments after making it yourself.
I love trying new beers, and I absolutely love when craft Ontario breweries create unique flavours and seasonals. When making vegan desserts coffee, and stout are the perfect way to add a unique flavour profile to make them taste extraordinary.
Taking photos of food should usually be quite easy since the subject matter doesn’t move. But because I move, and move everything around to get the perfect photo there are always spills. In this instance, as I was taking a photo of the stout, I happened to spill it, everywhere! Before hitting re-start and cleaning up I took this as an opportunity for a photo, and a story to share.
Don’t be scared off by the tofu, silken tofu has barely any flavour and absorbs the chocolate and stout flavour extraordinarily well.
Cheers to stopping by, I hope you enjoyed another recipe from my kitchen, what sort of things do you like to make with stout?
Just got back from the sweetest date! It involved three hours of baking up sweet surprises. The best thing was the date was free! Ok, so maybe I was in my kitchen dancing and baking with dates, but that counts as a date too!
I love baking with dates, and usually get the cheapest ones out there, and even that is a treat. For this recipe thanks to Natural Delights I used the plump fresher ones. They were so delicious and I don’t know if I will be able to go back to the vacuumed dried variety.
This cake is pretty filling with the sugars from dates, and the added sugar but the crunch of the walnuts is perfect. It is a simple cake with no added flavours but I am thinking the next time I whip up this recipe I will add a bit of cinnamon. I also contemplated adding some carob chips but am glad that I didn’t. It might have been too sweet if that is a thing with that addition.
With the chilly nights that are on there way, this cake will definitely be enjoyed with a warm glass of tea and a good book. It is best to have a cuddle buddy nearby too if available.
Thanks for stopping by, hope to see you again soon! oxoxox
Much Love,
Anna
Vegan doughnuts! A doughnut made with mashed potatoes! Don’t let this scare you, it is a little different but it is super easy and delicious. There is no rising the dough, no rolling of the dough, cutting cute doughnut shapes or filling the doughnuts with a pastry cream or curd. Just mashed potatoes mixed with a few ingredients and fried. Super easy, delicious and not time consuming at all.
I just got back from a grand adventure to Ottawa and it was fabulous to catch up with friends, see some awesome music, and enjoy the beautiful green spaces that Ottawa and Gatineau have to offer. It is a beautiful place and I totally recommend a visit. If you drive definitely check out Wakefield in Quebec as well!
There you have it! Vegan doughnuts can now be checked off the list! You can get playful too and switch up the flavours to whatever suits your taste. I still had freshly picked strawberries and basil that I wanted to use up so that was where this combination came from.
Thanks for stopping by! Hope you have a lovely day,
This Vegan Chocolate Mint Pudding has me smiling from cheek to cheek! With the fresh mint flavour and chocolatey goodness, you really can’t go wrong.
This pudding takes no time at all. It can be a morning breakfast, a smoothie after a workout, a dessert, a snack in the day, or just because (Do you actually need a reason for something yummy and reasonably healthy?). The avocado and banana make it super creamy and rich. If you’re not a mint fan, just don’t bother adding it and you’ll have some delightful vegan chocolate pudding!
Now it is time to get in the kitchen and blend up a bit of deliciousness! Let me know how it goes!
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and look forward to seeing you again soon!
Remember the days when there was only one choice for a peanut butter and jam sandwich? Obviously a PB+J is a classic combination, but now we have SO many different nut and seed butters to choose from. That PB+J can be a cashew butter and jam sandwich, or even a roasted macadamia butter and jam sandwich (that was a mouth-full!).
If you even feel inclined to make your own nut or seed butter it is super easy. If you even look back at my older post on Peanut Butter Cookies… it was actually my first EVER blogpost and the photos say so too… you can see that I started making my own peanut butter! The bottom line is that there is no bottom line when it comes to nut and seed butters.
Nut and seed butters are great in vegan baking, they really help to hold everything together. For this recipe (if you missed the title) I used Tahini (sesame seed paste). I actually started this idea with Liz. She planted the sesame seed and it grew!
The past few weeks I have been experimenting with a new lens I have purchased for my camera, I read a lot of food blogs and my favourite bloggers swear by a 50mm lens. I just got one, and it is amazing! I decided to share a couple photos that I have taken with it.
Pretty cool huh? Ok now I am just boosting my own ego… Do you have a favourite camera or lens you like to use when taking photos?
Now back to the more important cookie at hand! These cookies were super, I served them to several people and they really enjoyed them and couldn’t believe they were vegan. They are really easy to make and perfect if you are in a pinch for time.
Enjoy the long weekend and the many Spring days to follow! As always, thanks for stopping by!
Cupcakes Always Win 