Cooking With Dia

Who loves bread and butter pudding? Who hasn’t been able to eat it since becoming vegan? Who hasn’t been able to eat it since starting the gluten free diet? Would you believe me if I told you this pudding could be good for you?
Did you know you could make banana marmalade? OK, I will stop asking questions.

Tomorrow night is Burns Night, and many a Scot will be sitting down for a Burns Night Supper to celebrate the birthday of poet, Robert Burns. Traditionally a Burns night supper consists of cock-a-leekie soup, haggis and tatties and then either clootie dumpling or tipsy laird to close the meal. But I’ve changed that all around and upside down to suit me and my vegan and gluten free friends.

I know many blogs as well as websites have been raising money to help the relief effort in Haiti. But for those of you who would really like to donate, but can’t afford to, there is another option–Oxfam. Oxfam is a wonderful confederation dedicated to relieving famine in all parts of the world. It has over 15,000 stores and shops worldwide, where people can go to donate just about anything–Books, clothing, old records, tableware, crockery, curtains, etc. If you are wanting to help those affected by the devastating earthquake in Port-au-Prince, check to see if there is an Oxfam shop near you, and all of those books or clothes you don’t know what to do with, you can give away for a great cause. The money raised from the sale of these items goes straight to helping in their relief efforts.

Oxfam was one of the first charities there straight after this horrible disaster occurred. So far they have flown in over ten tonnes of water, sanitation, health and shelter equipment. They have also teamed up with the UN and other aid organizations to prevent more and more people from spending the night out in the open. Because of this multiple camps have now been set up around Port-au-Prince to give people somewhere to sleep.

The devastation is vast, there are no words really to paint a proper picture. If you are feeling helpless because you are not able to donate an enormous amount of money, sift through some of your things and pop down to your local Oxfam shop.

The volunteers working in these shops are some of the nicest individuals you may ever meet. If you want to know anything in greater detail, just ask, and they will explain everything.

A few days ago I made about 4 lbs of strawberry jam. It wasn’t meant to be that much originally, but as the kind grocer gave me 2 boxes of free strawberries, I thought, “Why not make a big ol bunch of jam?” I have been having crumpet after crumpet with this wonderful strawberry jam spread on top, but wanted another way to showcase it. What better way than to make a Victoria Sponge Cake, or as some call it, Victoria Sandwich.

For all of you stuck inside because of the snow outside, here is something to keep you busy.

If you are like me, you are constantly trying to veganize dishes you remember from your pre-vegan life. I for one have been obsessing on how to make the perfect vegan mozzarella. I’m pleased to say I’ve finally cracked the code, and managed to make a ball of vegan mozzarella, and I will be sharing that recipe with you soon. While obsessing on things like that, I forgot that the best part of being vegan is staring right in front of me-All the wonderful fruit and veg I get every week. So, today it’s back to basics with this very simple spicy risotto. If you’ve never made risotto before, this is a good starter recipe, and then as you get more confident, you can add whatever you like to it.

You can bet your bottom dollar that the Scots are still partying it up for Hogmanay today and probably well into tomorrow as it is a bank holiday in Scotland. What better way to continue the celebration than with my Clementine Chocolate Cake? The flavor of clementine goes so well with chocolate and topped with my brandy cream icing, this cake is to die for.