Cocktails , Desserts/Sweets/Baking , instagram , PeaSoupWears , personal , Vegan
A Month of Sundays
from top left….1. favourite summer ‘aloha’ dress with lemon polka dot blouse tied at waist 2. fruli time in Blackheath 3. dress pockets are made for stashing sweeties (gelatine free) 4. indoor gardening – a man and his plants 5. Blackheath Common in the sun 6. Greenwich tea time (geddit?) 7. early breakfast – toast with pb, sliced banana, cinnamon and nutmeg 8. workday dress – tights in July?9. asos polka dot high waisted bikini and annie greenabelle organic mint vest 10. cocktail time – rum, vodka, pomegrante & lime juice 11. jeans, tee and no make-up day 12. a man and his camera – testing out the new lens 13. back on the sugar wagon – pancake sunday 14. lights, camera, fall back into a makeshift ball pool 15. new ‘accidentally vegan’ snacks 16. chilling in the park 17. late night hot cocoa 18. lucy’s vegan cookies from wholefoods 19. little pan, lotta yum 20. Greenwich Park in all its glory
Not literally a month of Sundays but it’s certainly felt like it!
So here’s the thing.
I’m toying with the idea of changing the name of my blog. What with it not solely being a food blog any longer and more along the lines of a lifestyle blog, I’m not sure the name fits.
Yes, I still eat and yes, I still blog about food but I think peasoupeats no longer cuts the mustard and I’d hate to be misleading people who’ve come to the blog expecting food, recipes, drinks and instead are getting food, clothes, beauty with a little bit of home thrown in for good measure. Know what I mean?
My food obsession remains. If I’m not thinking about food, I’m making it, reading cookbooks, other foodblogs, thinking up recipes and generally pottering about my kitchen, which remains my sanctuary.
But I don’t regret for a second introducing other elements into the blog. I enjoy having the freedom to write about my other passions and there really is no going back now. I’m having way too much fun!
My question to you wonderful people is what should I call my little part of the web? It could go one of two ways…..I stick with peasoup (and use it alone….i.e. peasoup.com) or add another appropriate noun at the end – suggestions welcome! OR…..scrap the name altogether and start anew. Eek! That kinda freaks me out a bit but I’d be willing to go for it I thought it would benefit the blog.
Let me know what you think and while I wait for your magnificent ideas to roll in (help me!), let me leave you with a refreshing drink recipe. This cucumber cooler makes a great mocktail or pop a bit of rum in for a super summery alcoholic drink.
ingredients
1/2 cucumber, peeled and deseeded
2 apples, peeled and cored
1 carton coconut water – flavoured or plain
juice 1/2 lime, more for serving
small handful of garden mint and basil
ice, lots of it
method
put the cucumber, apples, coconut water and lime into a blender and blitz until smooth.
place mint, basil, sliced lime in the bottom of two glasses, top with ice and divide the cooler between them.
spritz a little more lime on top and finish with a few more mint and basil leaves.
serve.
We’ve been planting. Flowers, asparagus and herbs. It seemed silly to put the herbs in the garden when I’d need immediate access to them – not that a two minute journey is such a hardship but anyways. Not shown here is the basil and chive plants, which are further over on the ledge….
I like cocktails. You probably know that already – strawberry margarita anyone?I’ve been using my giraffe cocktail sticks a lot lately – freebies from, not surprisingly, Giraffe. I like to keep plastic cutlery because I fear it will end up in a landfill when they are all perfectly reusable….
I acquired a jug that I happen to LOVE. Bonus that it cost me only 2 pounds in a charity shop and it fits right in with all my other kitchen acoutrements. Oh and we finally converted our Dualit toaster (we had to change the elements, yawn) so we can now have toast in two minutes flat. This is kind of (very) exciting…..
The NSPCC left a bag for us to fill with clothes and fill it I did. I donated numerous pieces I haven’t worn in ages and as it was for a good cause I didn’t hesitate for a second. It also made me realise I have an embarrassing amount of clothes I wear far too infrequently if indeed ever. This dress/top (I’m not brave enough to wear it as a dress) is one such garment, which my Mother bought me in St.Ives, Cornwall. I thought I’d don it for a recent trip to the supermarket and it definitely brightened up my day….
My herbs, spices and oil collection is reasonably big (I would love more oils but they’re so expensive!). Cooking is so much more fun when you have all these flavour combinations at your fingertips – cumin might be my favourite spice closely followed by smoked paprika….
Cocktails , personal , Vegan , vegan cosmetics , Vegan Fashion
What I’m loving. Eating. Wearing.
So it would seem one post a week it all I can muster whilst I’m interning. Hmmm. Still though, I hope I can content you with a rundown of what I’ve been currently cooking, eating, drinking, wearing and generally loving over the past few weeks.
I wholeheartedly intend to post a recipe tomorrow though just so you don’t forget this is in fact a food blog. When I say recipe, of course, what I really mean is a dish that requires no more than a few steps – so, yet again, an ‘assembling’ jobbo. Likewise, just about all I can muster when I either a. get up in the morning, b. come home in the evening or c. can be bothered to make at the weekend whilst I am recovering from my working week.
On the plus side, I’m pleased to say my stamina levels are on the up and up, as I slowly acclimatize to my new 9-5 routine (or 10-6, as the case may be).
Dinner has generally been a rushed affair although no less tasty than usual and as I grapple with adjusting my already existing recipe repertoire to fit in with my new lifestyle I am finding new ways of cooking and eating on the hop. Sushi rice seasoning is a great way of injecting a bit of flavour and zing to my stirfries and where I would normally allow my tomato sauce to simmer for hours, I’ve found a bit more herb, balsamic and muscovado sugar action goes a long way to bringing out flavour in a short space of time.
To further save us time and energy, we have succombed to having our fruit and veg delivered. After much research we settled on The Organic Delivery Company who provide us with an enormous box of seasonal produce on a weekly basis – all of it so wonderful we could never go back to Supermarket stock again. Quite honestly, it is the best 40quid (we opted for the largest box) we part with and even though we always ate a substantial amount of fruit and veg, our intake has probably now doubled. They also deliver cupboard essentials like pulses, canned tomatoes and tofu – a good range of it too. Fantastic.
Clothing wise, I’m still a thrifter at heart and therefore most of what I wear is vintage, second hand etc, which I usually pair with basic essentials from places like Zara, Gap, H&M although I aim to be a bit more selective in the future where I get my newbies from, as I really loathe partaking in fast fashion although I can’t deny it is my one of my biggest downfalls.
We’ve totally curtailed our spending since February and I have to say we are doing pretty darn well on the frugal front with less and less being spent on non-essentials. However, in my world cupcakes and coffee are still regarded as essentials….
Friday saw the end of my internship with The Daily Express although I wasn’t too sad as I have a feeling I’ll be back at some point for another little stint with the fashion team. I can’t thank everyone enough for the magnificent opportunity to work there, it’s been an invaluable stepping stone in my endeavour to make this styling/writing lark an actual career. I was so chuffed with my goodie bag too, full of super pretty things -including several eco-conscious items from ecotools and weleda. They know me too well.
I might as well end with my enduring love for Marmite. If you don’t know how I feel about the stuff already, then read this and you’ll be in no doubt about how greatly my regard is for this sticky, salty glorious goo that I spread on toast, dollop in sauces and, at times, eat straight from the jar.
Not so much a recipe post, as a this is what i’m currently digging post.
I doubt anyone needs to be told that mixing two kinds of juices creates an uber delicious juice but what the heck……pomegranate and orange is definitely worth a mention. Dare I say it – it trumps cranberry and orange by about a thousand percent. No lie. I’m digging it. Big time.
You may note my 80′s patterned tall glass, which was picked up in a random Welsh charity shop several years ago. We were spending News Years Eve in a cottage with friends and our 80′s theme needed some appropriate accessories – you can’t be drinking out of a modern glass whilst clad from head to toe in neon for petes sake!
And the crazy naked lady cocktail stirrer? Well, that was ‘gift’ from my Mother. Nuff said.
ingredients
orange juice
pomegranate juice
method
put ice in a glass.
fill half with orange juice and top up with pomegranate juice.
stir.
drink up!
What an unbelievably stressful few days it has been.
As if Christmas wasn’t all consuming enough, we’ve just gone and moved back to London in the midst of it and things haven’t exactly gone according to plan – the plan being, to move in, unpack, decorate our new flat and begin preparations for the big day. No such luck. We arrived to a filthy flat that requires total repainting, a dodgy boiler, a nest of ladybirds in the spare room, I think I’ll leave it there.
Some of you may know already, so forgive for repeating myself, but we have moved into the apartment just above my Sister – much to my Mothers delight! It’s a two bedroom flat, which means Mama and Papa have their own room for when they come to visit and seeing as the flights back to Ireland were of a colossal nature they have instead decided to travel to us this year.
That means I will be in charge of Christmas dinner, and whilst this is not unfamiliar territory, I am a little more anxious than usual because of the move.
Delegation will be key. I shall be dividing tasks between myself and my Sister, as my list of side dishes almost runs into double numbers:
sweet potato casserole
green bean casserole
braised cabbage and apple
maple roasted parsnips
stuffing balls
sliced brussels with chestnuts and dried cranberries
roast potato
cranberry sauce
bread sauce
gravy
Wait! That is double numbers. I must be mad.
And not forgetting dessert, snacks and bread for Christmas morning….
pumpkin pie
Nigella’s veganized trifle
ginger bundt cake
vegan pumpkin everything bread (this has become somewhat of a tradition in our house)
Yes, I am most definitely mad.
Factor in the fact our apartment is nowhere near habitable and I have another weeks work experience at Closer Mag and you’ll begin to understand why I need a few festive cocktails to get me help me through what has turned into a mega manic time.
If, like me, you need some alcoholic aid to see you through the yuletide season then look no further than my Winter Warmer cocktail, which has just enough bite to put a spring back in your weary step.
It’s great to see that cider is taking off again as a Christmas drink here in Britain. Many moons ago, it was traditional to have cider at this time of year but since our tastes have become more ‘sophisticated’ we have swapped cider for Champagne. Look at us getting all European! I for one am glad to see cider taking main stage again, as I’m all about championing local produce and here in the UK we have some fabulous ciders on offer.
Aspall cider is my current favourite although it changes periodically. For this cocktail you don’t want anything too dry so go for a medium sweet cider and definitely not anything too fizzy.
Now forgive me whilst I scarper but I must attend to my ladybirds. Any advice on how to remove these creatures without using a vac on them (as per our Landlords advice)?
whiskey warmer
1 part scotch
1 part disaronno
3 parts cider
2 parts ginger ale
Firstly ensure your selected cider and scotch is vegan friendly. Next up make sure the ginger ale and cider are nicely chilled.
You’ll need a champagne flute – it will work in other glasses, of course, but I find the flute works best.
Measure out and pour in one shot of scotch followed by the disaronno. Tip the glass slightly to pour in the chilled cider and then carefully and slowly top with the ginger ale.
Serve immediately.
Need some more vegan inspiration for the Holidays? Look no further, we have a the entire meal sorted…….
Appetizer
Carrot Pâté by Diet, Desserts, and Dogs
The Drink
Winter Warmer Cocktail by Pea Soup Eats
Main Dish
Vegan Holiday Casserole by Namely Marly
The Sides
Cranberry and Orange Ginger Mango Chutney by Loves Veggies and Yoga
Vegan Sweet Potato Puree with Maple and Sour Cream by Vegan Good Things
The Bread
Crescent Rolls by That’s So Vegan
The Best Part: Desserts
Four Ingredient Vegan Pumpkin Pie by Lunch Box Bunch
Skillet Pear Gingerbread Cake by The Tolerant Vegan
Chocolate Pecan Cookie Pies by Your Vegan Mom
Eggnog Cheesecake by Manifest Vegan
Bread , Cocktails , Desserts/Sweets/Baking , Vegan , Vegetable side dish
Vegan Christmas Ideas!
I’m branching out. Whilst food blogging has been a major focus in my life for almost two years now, I can’t deny my enthusiasm has somewhat waned of late and, as my life evolves, I find myself wanting to write about my other interests too.
That’s not to say I won’t be adding the odd recipe but PeaSoupEats will be diversifying a bit to include most notably a PeaSoupWears (ya dig?) and PeaSoupMakes (crafty!) section, which I hope will be of just as much interest as my food.
I love blogging. It’s what I do. I almost treat it like a journal (I’m not so sure that’s a good thing!) and it has been my salvation on many occasions but recently I’ve struggled to write about my food. Recipes have generally come easy to me and whilst I’m no Nigella, I’ve never really struggled in the kitchen, however, over the last few months my cooking confidence has slowly been dissipating (I don’t know why and where to but it has) and I feel like now is the time I should address it.
My plan of action is simple. Back to basics. No more experimenting in the kitchen. Just plain, simple meals that I know like the back of hand, require virtually no thinking power and taste great. Luckily, I have a long list of those already up my sleeve so my plan shouldn’t become derailed too easily.
I’m also excited about reading more cookbooks, blogs and occasionally making a few carefully chosen recipes and I may or may not feel compelled to photograph them. We’ll see. I’m not putting any pressure on myself, just doing what feels comfortable and going with the flow.
Like many of you, I am ever so slightly freaking out about Christmas and this move isn’t helping. So, over the next few weeks, I’ll be relying on familiar recipes, like the ones below, to keep me sane. These are quick, easy and delicious recipes. Minimal ingredients, short prep and cooking time, exactly what I need at this time of year.
I was pretty relaxed last Christmas and I hope I can breeze through this year in the same fashion. One thing’s for sure, these recipes will most certainly help keep those stress levels at bay.
1. festive slaw and winter fizz cocktail
I love a good cocktail. We stock a pretty limited basic bar but the one thing I’ve discovered I cannot live without is tequila.
Tequila cocktails are my ultimate because if I decide to have a drink I want to taste the alcohol and there ain’t no masking the distinctive flavour of tequila. No siree!
I cannot abide those cocktails that are sickly sweet and almost akin to an alcopop – yuk! I like proper grown up drinks with bite and tang and no spirit does that better than tequila.
When I worked at the Roundhouse in Camden, my drink of choice was a tequila and lemonade and even now when I go out I order what I call ‘a poor man’s margarita’, which consists of a shot of tequila, a splash of lime cordial, a good spritz of soda water and a squeeze of fresh lime. Do I get strange looks when I order this in a pub frequented by seafaring folks? Hell yes. Do I care? Hell no.
The great thing about being older is that one cocktail will suffice. No longer only drinking for the effect, I savour every glorious mouthful. I rarely feel the need to make another, which means no hangover for me. Smug mode:)
Margaritas are definitely in my top five favourite cocktails but boy are they calorific. This offering is my attempt at a healthier version (can anything containing alcohol be deemed healthy? I doubt it) and I was seriously ecstatic with the results. Like jump up and down clean mad about it. The only thing I failed to do (doh!) was to salt the rim – grrrr. Nevermind, it was gorgeous none the less and such a pretty colour.
To accompany the cocktails I made some spiced tofu quesadillas - yeah baby! All in all I was very happy girl and Hubbie was pretty darn content too.
I know that some of you may be scarred by your teenage encounters with tequila (shot anyone?) but may I be so bold as to order you to put those experiences in the past where they belong and encourage you to forge forward into your adult tequila drinking (dare I say savouring) years with this little strawberry margarita. Aw go on! Go on go on go on go on………(any Father Ted fans out there?).
Ingredients makes 2 cocktails
5/6 strawberries washed and hulled
juice 1 lime
1/4 cup filtered water
1 tbsp vegan sweetener of your choosing – I used Sweet Freedom (rich)
good splash of grenadine
2 measures of tequila
1 measure cointreau or triple sec
ice cubes
little more lime for spritzing and decorating
Put the strawberries, lime juice, water, sweetener and grenadine into a hand blender and blitz until completely liquefied. You could also pass it through a strainer to collect the strawberry seeds – I didn’t bother. Place in fridge to chill for several hours (recommended but not essential).
Put several ice cubes into a cocktail shaker along with the tequila, cointreau and strawberry mixer. Give it a good shake until the outside of the shaker frosts up.
Rub the rim of the cocktail glass with a lime. Place decent quality salt (pink Himalayan would be awesome!)into a plate and twist the rim of the glass in the salt to coat.
Divide the margarita between two cocktail glasses and spritz in a little more lime.
Decorate with a small slice of lime and serve.
Hallelujah! Never has this word more accurately summed up how I am feeling right now, for it is two more sleeps my friends (two more, I tell ya!) until I am finally back home in the arms of my handsome fella. Two more sleeps until I am back in my beloved Cornwall. Two more sleeps until I am back in my adorable, bijou but perfectly formed flat that, even though I’ve spent more time away from it than I have actually living in the place, has become my home. Home. There really is no place like it!
So, it is with joy that I post this cocktail recipe because I know it will be the last one I will have to write from a grim flat up North. I thought a cocktail would be in order by way of a cyber celebration and I hope you can join me in raising a glass to the end of a very stressful tour that has quite honestly knocked me for six. I’m still unsure about giving too many details about the whole saga – I’ll feel more comfortable divulging once I’m back home and I can truly say goodbye to a hardcore three months that I will not be repeating any time soon.
With regards to the cocktail. You must think that a. I’m completely obsessed with ginger ale (you’re not far wrong, it is definitely my new fav mixer) and b. I have a limited range of spirits at my disposal (again, you’d be correct). I don’t let that worry me too much, as many of my recipes are derived from what I have lying about the fridge, cupboard or pantry (I blatantly don’t have a pantry but oh how I want one – a girl can dream!). More significantly we finally managed to get our hands on some cocktail glasses (don’t ask! No, seriously, don’t ask.) and I am thrilled by how amazing they are. I kid you not, they actually make drinks taste better – there must be some scientific reason for this because we are convinced it’s not our imagination (although an actress and an animator do tend to have pretty wild imaginations!).
I’ve called it a Ginger Snap because it contains ginger ale – obviously. The snap bit is just a bit of humour on my part because the first sip made me want to snap my fingers hoochie mama style to indicate the fierceness of this drink. Yes, I did just call a cocktail fierce. Ahem, moving on. On second thoughts I realised the snap could also be the tang of the citrus from both the lemon and the cointreau so whichever way you look at it the name fits.
I should say at this point it is imperative to use flat ginger ale. Ours had been opened and used a few days later. A little bit of fizz won’t affect it but as flat as you can manage – it will only enhance it. I’m thinking you could substitute the ale for a glorious ginger cordial – I may just have to make a purchase! You could also toss everything into a cocktail shaker with some ice and then pour into the martini glasses, which would work wonderfully too. I didn’t but that was mainly due to sheer laziness. In the meantime, and until I further investigate the ginger cordial, here is the recipe for that snappalicious cocktail.
ginger snap cocktail
1 part chilled vodka
1 part cointreau
juice of 1/4 lemon
3 parts flat ginger ale
In a martini glass pour in first the vodka followed by the cointreau, the lemon juice and finally top with ginger ale. Stir with a cocktail stick – preferably from the Hancock Tower or failing that a chop stick will do.
Alternatively throw everything into a cocktail shaker with some ice. Give it good shake and pour into a martini glass.
Sip. Snap. Repeat.
I am in cocktail mode at present and when that happens anything goes! I had been previously, albeit briefly, crowned the ‘cocktail queen’, thanks to my efforts at a house party. My technique at the time (with the aid of a few cocktails myself) was to toss just about any spirit and mixer into a glass and hope for the best. Funnily enough some of those cocktails turned out pretty darn drinkable but I’ll be darned if I can remember what on earth I put in ‘em.
This time I’m a little more cautious because a. alcohol is expensive and b. I have a serious fear of failure. So I use other cocktails as inspiration and try to include what booze I have at my disposal. My weeny little cocktail bar isn’t brilliantly stocked but there’s enough to be working with. Obviously over Christmas I discovered the fantastic Winter Fizz and despite us being unable to find martini glasses anywhere the Candy Cane Martini’s I served to my sister in law Michelle went down an absolute storm despite them being served in a cactus style margarita glass – whoever said I wasn’t classy?!
So I thought I’d carry on the cocktail momentum and rustle up a few other winners, which is how the ‘whiskey warmer’ came about. This is a unusual drink that found its origins in the classic Stiletto Cocktail. As nice as the stiletto is I’m certain the whiskey warmer pips it to the post in the taste stakes. You may screw your face up when you read that one of the ingredients is cider but all I can say is trust me, this works!
Bottoms up!
whiskey warmer
1 part scotch
1 part disaronno
3 parts cider
2 parts ginger ale
Firstly ensure your selected cider and scotch is vegan friendly. Next up make sure the ginger ale and cider are nicely chilled.
You’ll need a champagne flute – it will work in other glasses, of course, but I find the flute works best.
Measure out and pour in one shot of scotch followed by the disaronno. Tip the glass slightly to pour in the chilled cider (I use to work on the champagne bar in the Roundhouse) and then carefully and slowly top with the ginger ale.
Serve immediately.
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