UBU Green Thursdays and Apple & Blackberry Crumble

Last week, as I was settling in for my first RamAir show at the new time of between 11am and 1pm on Thursdays, I found that there was a rack in Student Central that was full of herbs like chives, rosemary and others as well as plums.  I looked at the What's On at the university sheet for that day, and found that this was the launch of UBU Green Thursdays Presents -, an initiative by the University of Bradford to encourage students and staff to grow their own fruits, vegetables and herbs (such as on the university's very own vegetable patches), buy food from local producers, and generally be "greener".  Today's launch was the Edible Campus Showcase, which included trying these foods harvested from the campus for free, taking an edible campus tour around the university to find the places where these fruits, vegetables and herbs are grown, and buying food from the main Richmond building canteen that was prepared using ingredients harvested on campus.  Events coming soon for Green Thursdays include a 1 Hour Love Your Campus Challenge on Thursday 1st October (yesterday) in which whichever team picks the most waste in 1 hour wins £200, a Sustainable Transport Festival on Thursday 8th October led by the Bradford Bike Hub which will include a how many people can you fit in a car challenge, an organic honey sale and cooking across campus on Thursday 22nd October, and a pumpkin cooking competition and carving, apple-bobbing, pies and peas event for Hallowe'en on Thursday 29th October.  During my RamAir show last week, which was during the Edible Campus Showcase event, I spoke on-air to Michael Allhouse from Cycling 4 All about the Green Thursdays initiative, and I've written up our little conversation below!

Interview with Michael Allhouse from UBU Green Thursdays

Katie: Can you tell us what this initiative is about?

Michael: Hello, I'm Michael Allhouse from UBU and I'm running a stall here giving away free fruit and vegetables grown on our campus.

Lavender grown on the University of Bradford campus.

Katie: There's potatoes here, there's apples, there's blackberries, there's lavender, which I actually helped to put into bunches last week for Fresher Fayre.  And then there's a big, green - what is that?

Michael: I think it's a marrow, but I'm not entirely convinced that I'm correct.

Katie: Is the marrow heavy?

Michael: It's extremely heavy, but we do want somebody to come and take it.  It's heavier than my 2 year old son, so it's pretty heavy.

Katie: Do you know of anything you can make with marrow, to encourage people to take it?

Michael: We do have some recipes right here, things you can make with our produce here that we are giving away, so we do have some recipe cards.

Katie: Is there anything with marrow in those recipes?

Michael: You had to point that out, didn't you?  No, there isn't.  I don't know anything to do with marrow.  I was trying to get out of that question.  But just so you know, the edible campus is something we are very proud of here at the University of Bradford.  All around the campus, you can find food which is grown here and we want students and staff to take it.  It's scattered around the campus.  As I said, you can take anything you can find.  You can take it, you can eat it - cook it first perhaps.

Katie: I'm eating one of the apples now and it's quite nice, and I've had a plum and some blackberries. 

Michael: Super!  So just to let you know, the Green Thursdays initiative - every Thursday, there's going to be a new, different event.  For example, next week we are going to be promoting sustainable transport.  We're going to be doing some trips to local beauty spots on the train.  We'll also be doing a led ride to a nearby spot.  And that will be happening every week, every Thursday there'll be some kind of green and sustainable event.  Hopefully, it'll be fun and interesting for students to get involved with. 

Katie: There's some herbs there?

Michael: There are indeed.  We have various things.  Dill, other herbs, again grown on campus for people to take.  They need to go so please come and take them.  The herbs are actually in Student Central all the time, so you don't just find them here today - you'll find them on other occasions too.

Katie: So can you identify any of these herbs?

Michael: Yes, I can.  We've got chives, thyme, rosemary, mint, sage, parsley, dill, all kinds of stuff.  We've already had a number of people point out to me that all of this stuff costs a great deal of money in Tesco, in the supermarket, so there's big savings to be made by taking this free stuff and please do.  Please encourage students to do so.

Katie: So this is in Student Central.  Are you here until a particular time?

Michael: We'll probably be here until about 2 or 3pm, or at least until the marrow goes.  So one HUGE marrow is left.  We've already had one huge marrow taken and there's one to go, so please come and take it.

Katie: I've seen on your leaflets that you have tips for being greener.

Michael: Yes, we do.  There's a lot here about saving water and saving energy, so please come here and get our tip sheet.  Another thing we have been promoting is that we actually have free allotments here at the University of Bradford, so if anybody wants an allotment, just contact the Students Union.  They're free to students for you to do with as you wish - y'know, for food, that is!

Katie: Do you think it's difficult to be sustainable and green as a student?

Michael: Umm, no?  But it might not be at the top of anybody's priority list.  And we understand that, but of course any little effort you can make is a good thing and most students have got a sort of commitment to that sort of thing.  We're giving away little 2 minute timers for people to use in their showers, challenging people to shower for 2 minutes to save water, save energy, but hopefully still get clean.

Katie: I'd find that difficult, I think.  So do you have any recommendations of where else to find information about this?

Michael: Yes, we have all these leaflets and the herbs will be in Student Central all the time, so just come to the Students Union reception any time and pick up our advice leaflets as well.  Get involved with Green Thursdays.  We're here every Thursday doing something sustainable.

Katie: Will you have the smoothie bike around?

Michael: The smoothie bike will be on in about 2 weeks, so it'll be here in Student Central in a couple of weeks.

An orange, grape and apple smoothie, produced using the smoothie bike!

Katie: Thank you for talking to us.

Michael: Thank you!

Apple and Blackberry Crumble

At the stall, there was also a recipe sheet containing dishes that incorporated items of the foods and herbs grown on-campus.  This apple and blackberry crumble incorporates both apples and blackberries, which could both be found on-campus!

Ingredients

For the crumble topping:
120g plain flour
60g caster sugar
60g margarine (such as Pure) at room temperature, cut into pieces

For the fruit compote:
300g apples
30g margarine
30g demerara sugar
115g blackberries
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
vanilla ice cream, to serve (you can use vanilla banana nice cream)

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 190 degrees Celsius / 170 degrees Celsius with fan oven / gas mark 5.
2. Tip the flour and sugar into a large bowl.  Add the margarine, then rub into the flour using your fingertips to make a light breadcrumb texture.  Do not overwork it or the crumble will become heavy.  Sprinkle the mixture evenly over a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until lightly coloured.
3. Meanwhile, for the compote, peel, core and cut the apples into 2cm dice.  Put the margarine and sugar in a medium saucepan and melt together over a medium heat.  Cook for 3 minutes until the mixture turns to a light caramel colour.
4. Stir in the apple and cook for 3 minutes.  Add the blackberries and cinnamon, and cook for 3 minutes more.
5. Cover, remove from the heat, then leave for 2-3 minutes to continue cooking in the warmth of the pan.
6. To serve, spoon the warm fruit into an ovenproof gratin dish, top with the crumble mix, then reheat in the oven for 5-10 minutes.  Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Adventures in the USA part 7 - Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disney World Florida

Day number 8 (Thursday) of our 10 days in Florida actually started with my observation that my bow-drawing arm (my right arm, seeing as I'm right-handed) hurt.  To actually see if it was still aching at various points during the day, I actually positioned my arms as if I was holding a bow and drew my right arm back as if preparing to shoot an arrow at an imaginary target.  You can probably see how excited I was already to start properly going to archery at uni in September!  Anyway, although I didn't encounter any Disney character who was experienced in archery (such as Merida, Robin Hood or even Mulan) while I was there, my day at Disney Hollywood Studios was actually the first day that I'd really encountered characters in the parks (although I'd briefly seen Pluto while entering Epcot on Monday).  This was the day of many Frozen sing-alongs as various areas of the park were struck by Frozen fever!  In light of this, Frozen attractions will appear in my top 5 for Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Top 5

• For the First Time in Forever: A "Frozen" Sing-Along Celebration - Before seeing this show, my brother had managed to avoid seeing Frozen or really hearing the story of it.  Obviously, he'd heard Let It Go and Do You Want To Build A Snowman multiple times (like on the radio or from my iPod or from me just singing them), but for the times I'd seen it, he'd been a) at school when I first saw it in cinema (I saw it the day after finishing my first set of uni assessments in 1st year), at home while I saw it at my uni's student cinema with my friends, or just in another place in the house when I'd watched it on DVD at home.  He has now watched Frozen since coming home from Florida, but this 30 minute abridged version of the most recent film in the Disney Princess franchise was actually his first experience with it.  This version told the story of Frozen in 30 minutes using two narrators, the newly appointed historians of Arendelle, actors playing Anna, Kristoff, Olaf and Elsa, and was punctuated with a screen that showed clips from the movie for each song and had the lyrics of the songs for the audience to sing along.  Of course, my brother was not happy to have me sitting next to him as I excitedly sang along to Let It Go, Love Is An Open Door and the other songs.  In the evening was "Coolest Summer Ever" Dance Party, a DJ-led mini disco which included Uptown Funk and YMCA, followed by the Frozen Fireworks Spectacular accompanied by even more singing along to the songs from Frozen!

Grass sculptures of Elsa and Anna.

• Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular - This show based on Raiders of the Lost Ark invited volunteers from the audience to learn a few low-level stunts and participate in an Indiana Jones stunt show that included falling from building into soft beds, acrobatics from a Cairo marketplace set, staged fight sequences, a giant boulder chasing Indiana Jones, explosions, and fires.
• Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show - There are little changes to this ride between times of seeing it, but the premise stays the same - cars do stunts including flying through the air off a ramp, driving across the roof of a "fruit stand", high-speed car chases, cars changing behind the scenes (ssshhhh), motorbikes driving through a line of fire and the cyclist being extinguished, and a remote control being handed to a member of the audience so that they "control" a seemingly empty car.  On a previous visit, the well-known Disney car that visited in this show was Herbie (The Love Bug, Herbie Rides Again, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, Herbie Goes Bananas, and Herbie Fully Loaded), but this time it was Lightning McQueen of the Disney Pixar film Cars.
• Walt Disney: One Man's Dream - I think this is a new attraction in the past 5 years, because I don't recall having seen it before.  It's an exhibition of both original and replica artefacts used by Walt Disney himself (including a school desk) or clips and items used in landmark Disney films, short films and television shows, including new camera and motion techniques, the development of Mickey Mouse from an earlier version of his appearance to the appearance that we know and love today, merchandise, the Mickey Mouse Club, and the promotional programmes surrounding the opening of the Disneyland Park in California (which celebrated its 60th birthday on 17th July 2015, while I was at the Magic Kingdom park in Florida instead).  The exhibition actually charts most of Walt Disney's life, as well as plans for the developments of the parks after his death (including the different parks at Disney World Florida, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, and Shanghai Disney Resort (due to open in 2016).
• Fantasmic! - This fireworks display is a story told through the colourful imagination of Mickey Mouse as the Sorceror's Apprentice (as seen in Fantasia).  The audience sees scenes from Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid through Mickey's imagination, but when Mickey encounters Disney villains including Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Cruella De Vil and Scar, his dreams quickly turn into a nightmare.  Disney's animations projected onto walls of water, fireworks and laser lights bring this show-stopping performance to life as Mickey fights against the villains of Disney films past.

It's very dark, but a statue of a 1930s movie director
 using the viewing scope on his camera.  More information here.

Long have I heard about smoothies or homemade juices with carrots in them, but I've not tried it in person before.  This may be about to change.  In the past year, you've probably seen me go from only drinking water (and the irregular cup of coffee or tea) to really getting into my smoothie recipes, which is thanks to Ally Sheehan and the smoothie bike at uni.  This time, I have found a smoothie recipe on the Disney Mickey Check website that I found while in Florida, and it's probably sure to leave you with plenty of orange energy as it has both carrots and oranges!

Ingredients (serves 2, but may only serve 1)

1 cup orange juice
2 cups strawberries
1/2 cup carrots
1 orange, peeled
1 medium banana

Instructions

1. Cut up strawberries, carrots, orange and banana.
2. Pour orange juice into the blender and then add the cut up fruit.
3. Blend until the smoothie reaches your desired consistency.

Adventures in the USA part 3 - Animal Kingdom, Disney World Florida

Day 2 of exploring in Florida, and we're at Disney's Animal Kingdom.  Unfortunately, we went there on a day with shorter hours (closing at 5pm), so there are things I would have liked to have seen but I missed (things that I've seen in the past though).  I think that this time though, I had a larger appreciation for the wildlife aspect of this theme park, especially with the recent killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe, the conservation and protection of such majestic and special creatures is even more important.  You may question if you should support Disney's Animal Kingdom or not out of concerns about animal welfare, but from what I can currently tell, the organisation takes good care of the animals, allowing animals to not be on display to the public if they seem distressed, keeping them at a safe distance from the public, and keeping the park's closing hours early to give the animals some peace and quiet.  If anyone reads this and disagrees about Disney's treatment of animals, please send me links to educate me in the comments.  Now, onwards to my top 5 of things to see and do at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park:

• Festival of the Lion King – This indoor attraction has been a family favourite for many years now. It’s a sing-along, acrobatic celebration of The Lion King.  In preparation for the show, audience members are invited to learn the sounds made by lions, giraffes and warthogs, and learn the Swahili names of the main performers.  As puppeteer-controlled moving platforms carrying Simba, Pumbaa, Timon and a giraffe move into the arena, the festival begins with the use of the previously-learned sounds to greet the animals.  With favourites such as The Circle of Life, Can You Feel The Love Tonight (with a dancer flying in the air as Nala) and Hakuna Matata (complete with a hand-jive from the acrobats), you'll be singing like one of Simba's pride in no time! 

• Kilimanjaro Safaris – It probably hasn't been my favourite part of the Animal Kingdom park before, but it certainly seems like it this time.  On this tour that takes about half an hour, you are driven with other visitors in a safari bus into the depths of the park, where you can see a wealth of animals from a safe but relatively close distance.  During our mini-safari, we saw elephants, giraffes, a hippo (completely out of the water, which is unusual for an animal that spends most of its time below the water's surface in order to stay cool), zebras, flamingos and lions, and although I am currently non-vegan (but still trying to cut back on my animal product intake), I did find myself looking at and taking photographs of these beautiful creatures and wondering why anyone would want to harm them and other animals. 

• Flights of Wonder

• Kali River Rapids – Kali River Rapids is a water ride where you sit in a circular raft complete with safety belts and a central compartment for the storage of bags and valuables during the ride. This was the first ride we had a Fast-Pass for, which made waiting time MUCH shorter. Fast-Passes can be organised through the My Disney Experience app available in the iTunes and Google Play stores. I’d suggest to ride on Kali River Rapids quite late in the day, as you WILL get wet!
• Maharajah Jungle Trek

If you've not already noticed, I find taking the time to eat breakfast every day very important - especially if you're going to school or university or work - to keep your mind and body nourished and energised for the day ahead, and a day at a theme park should be no different.  After all, you'll be running around to go on as many rides as possible and see the animals.  This recipe for a "banana breakfast dog" is one I found on disneymickeycheck.com, which identifies it as a nutritious option for kids.

Ingredients

whole grain hot dog bun
peanut butter (may use sunflower butter as nut alternative)
sunflower seeds (shelled)
banana
low-sugar jam

Instructions

1. Open the whole grain hot dog bun and spread peanut/sunflower butter on the bottom half.
2. Sprinkle sunflower seeds onto the spread half.
3. Peel a whole banana and place on the bun.
4. Add a small amount of low-sugar jam on top of the banana, add the top half of the bun, and enjoy!

Look back next week for part 4 of my Adventures in the USA series, in which I share my favourites from the Universal theme parks in Orlando!

Rainbow Salad with Chocolate Dip

Last Friday (26th June 2015), shortly after I published my post for last week, it was announced that same-sex marriage has now been legalised in all 50 states of the USA.  Although I'm UK-based, where legislation to allow same-sex marriage was passed in July 2013 and came into force in March 2014, I think that it's a great step for Americans to be granted this right as well.  So many couples have been negatively affected by their relationships not being acknowledged by the American government and in some cases, the medical system.  One example of this that I have been reading about is Shane Bitney Crone, who was prevented from seeing his partner, Tom Bridegroom, who had accidentally fallen from a friend's roof.  Crone and Bridegroom's 6 year relationship was not acknowledged by the hospital or the government, thus Crone was not considered as "family" when it came to knowing about Bridegroom's condition.  Unfortunately, Crone was also banned from attending his partner's funeral by Bridegroom's parents, who threatened Crone with violence should he attend the funeral.  I hope that this step forward will prevent things like this from happening to anyone else in the future, but with so many countries still to legalise same-sex marriage and some to even decriminalise homosexuality, there is still a long way to go.

However, to celebrate this (and a late Pride weekend), it could be fun for a Pride party to prepare a rainbow assortment of fruits on a plate for guests to dip in chocolate.

Ingredients

A handful or two of strawberries
1 orange
1 banana
1 green apple
A handful or two of blueberries
A handful or two of purple grapes
Approximately 50-75g good quality dark, dairy-free chocolate

Instructions

1. Wash and prepare all fruits – a sieve may be useful here. Remove skin from orange and banana, and cut both these and the apple into slices.
2. Place all fruit into a large bowl or plate.
3. To make fondue, break chocolate into pieces, place into a bowl and heat, either in a microwave or in a saucepan filled with water over low heat for a few minutes.
4. Dip fruit pieces in melted chocolate to serve.

Choc-Caramel-Vanilla Ice Cream Cake

Guess whose favourite food blogger/musical theatre person/student radio presenter/web design student is turning 20 this Sunday???  That's right, it's ME!  And to celebrate, I'm planning to spend tomorrow making the following ice cream cake that I found at The Peachy Pear.  This cake is vegan, gluten-free and low-fat, making it the perfect cake to share with two of my best friends from secondary school (one of them has recently gone vegan and the other is vegetarian with intolerances to both lactose and gluten), but wouldn't be an ideal cake to share with my uni friends because it contains a total of SEVEN bananas (one of my friends is allergic to bananas).  In any case, I can share this cake with my family, so I suppose we're onto a winner!  Plans for my birthday itself may include archery :D

Ingredients

Base

• 10 medjool dates
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 tablespoon desiccated coconut

1st layer

• 3 frozen bananas
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon desiccated coconut

2nd layer

• 3 frozen bananas
• 1 tablespoon cacao powder
• 2 medjool dates
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Icing

• 1 frozen banana
• 2 tablespoons cacao powder
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup (optional)

Instructions

1. Cut the bananas into slices and freeze for a few hours or overnight.
2. Use a food processor or blender to combine the ingredients that make the base of the cake.  When well-combined or a ball forms, spread at the bottom of an approx. 15cm round cake dish.
3. Repeat process for the next 2 layers of the cake, then place in freezer until hard.
4. Combine ingredients for the icing of the cake, then spread on top of the cake.  Top with any desired toppings, such as dark chocolate squares, strawberries or blueberries.
5. Store in freezer until serving.

Lemon Ice Cream

It's been quite warm and sunny here in the UK over this Easter week, so it's time for a little summer post.  If your first choice is ice cream, you're in luck!  This lemon ice cream from The IceCreamists is refreshing, sweet, zingy and dairy-free, so it's suitable for vegans or anyone with lactose intolerance or dairy allergy!

Ingredients

200ml (7fl oz) water
200g (7oz) caster sugar
150ml (5fl oz) freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4 lemons
1 heaped tsp grated lemon zest, plus extra to decorate

Instructions

1. Pour the water into a saucepan and add the sugar.  Place over a low heat and bring to the boil, whisking often, until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 5 minutes, continuing to whisk until the liquid turns into a syrup.
2. Pour the syrup into a heatproof bowl and set aside for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cooled to room temperature. For more rapid chilling, half-fill a sink with cold water and ice and place the bowl of mixture in it for 20 minutes.
3. Add the lemon juice to the syrup and mix with a stick blender. Cover and refrigerate, ideally overnight, until thoroughly chilled (at least 4 degrees Celsius).
4. Pour the chilled mixture into an ice cream machine and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions.
5. When the churning is completed, use a spoon or spatula to scrape the sorbetto into a freezer-proof container with a lid. Freeze until it reaches the correct scooping texture (at least 2-3 hours).
6. Decorate each portion with a pinch of lemon zest before serving.

Watermelon Wonder Smoothie

Another recipe from the recipe cards handed out at the healthy eating stand at the health fair at uni last week, this time for a Watermelon Wonder smoothie.

Ingredients

chopped watermelon
fat-free plant-based milk of your choice
ice

Instructions

1. Gradually add each ingredient to blender.
2. Pulse until the mixture reaches a smooth consistency.
3. Enjoy!

Strawberry and Kiwi Smoothie

On Monday morning, I headed to Student Central for my student radio show and came across the Health Fair (there seems to be a lot of things like this at the moment).  I didn't have much time to spare, so I went straight for the stand where there were trays of smoothie samples.  I tried a Watermelon Wonder smoothie (the recipe for which will come next week) and a Strawberry and Kiwi smoothie.  We were also given questionnaires which had the question of "How would you define healthy eating?"  I would define healthy eating as eating lots of fruits and vegetables and drinking plenty of water, but also treating yourself in moderation to things like chocolate.  How would you define "healthy eating"?

Ingredients

apple juice, chilled
1 banana, sliced
1 kiwi, sliced
frozen strawberries

Instructions

1. Gradually add each ingredient to blender and pulse until mixture reaches a smooth consistency.
2. Enjoy!

Apple, Orange and Grape Smoothie

Carrying on from the theme of the Food Festival last week (and while it is still Fairtrade Fortnight), I'm going to take the time to share another recipe found at the Food Festival.  This time, it came from my visit to the Sustrans smoothie bike.  The last two times I attended events that had the smoothie bike around (a stall where you could have a smoothie and a massage as a break from exam revision on 8th January, and at the Sustain Health and Wellbeing Fayre on 29th January), the smoothie you could pedal on the smoothie bike to make was a mixed berry smoothie, but last week's smoothie at the Food Festival consisted of green grapes and orange segments as an alternative to the mixed berries.  This now sounds an awful lot like how to make a smoothie containing the fruits I normally have in containers to eat for lunch and as snacks at uni (apple, oranges and grapes) ... Here's the recipe to make at home!

Ingredients

1/2 a banana
3/4 cup apple juice
handful of green grapes
handful of orange segments

Instructions

1. Peel banana and cut into two halves.  You can eat one half.  Peel an orange and cut into segments.  Rinse a handful of grapes.
2. Cut remaining half of banana into slices and begin to pulse in blender.
3. Gradually add orange segments, grapes and apple juice to the blender.
4. Pulse mixture until it reaches a smooth consistency.
5. Pour into glass and enjoy!

Berry Smoothie

First of all, a belated Happy New Year!  Second of all, it's the middle of exams here and everything's a bit of a mess, but after my deadline this afternoon, I have nothing until my presentation next Friday morning, so I'm going to give myself some time over the weekend to do a few non-academic things that need doing, such as writing a letter about an exciting little project that is coming up in February (the Food Festival), putting more stuff together for that, planning a few more radio shows, and catch up with a little bit of reading (which has been taking a back seat lately).  Thirdly, my only New Year's resolutions are to eat even more fruit and drink more water than I do already, and to sing, dance and enjoy life.  Tying in with the eating more fruit thing, yesterday, as well as three tubs of fruit (apple slices, oranges and grapes) during the day, I also rode the Sustrans smoothie bike that was at uni this week and made myself a yummy berry smoothie to drink while I was revising!  Here's how you can make it at home without a bike:

Ingredients (to make one cup)

1/2 a banana
a handful or two of mixed berries (e.g. raspberries, blueberries, blackcurrants, strawberries), chopped
a "glug" of apple juice

Instructions

1. Gradually mix all the ingredients together in a blender.
2. Once the mixture has reached a smooth consistency, pour into a cup and enjoy!

Gingerbread Ice Cream

Well, it's only another three sleeps until Christmas Day, and following a busy week of a concert rehearsal, a concert itself, a meeting and a Christmas meal/theatre trip, then a week of not really doing much other than watching Christmas DVDs and continuing to make a scrapbook, the Christmas week, although less busy than two weeks ago, is starting to fill up with things to do.  Yesterday was the church Nativity production, I'm going out carol-singing on Christmas Eve, and then there's the church service on Christmas Day.  The recipe for today is a vegan-friendly Christmassy gingerbread ice cream, inspired by this vanilla ice cream recipe from The Rawtarian and Ally Sheehan's banana and blueberry ice cream recipe.  It only needs three ingredients (plus toppings) and a blender, and is rather easy to make, so even if you can't really cook, this is one dessert you can make this Christmas.  And on that note, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Ingredients

4 bananas
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
2 teaspoons ground ginger
Toppings

Instructions

1. Cut bananas into slices and freeze in a Ziploc or freezer bag for a few hours or overnight.
2. Put the bananas into a high-speed blender and pulse until it reaches a smooth, ice-creamy texture.
3. Before you finish blending, add 2 teaspoons of vanilla essence and 2 teaspoons of ground ginger.  Blend the mixture for a bit longer.
4. Serve into bowls, top with sultanas and candied peel (if you have any) and enjoy!

Raw Chocolate Cake

I previously mentioned this treat a few weeks ago in an edition of What Katie Wants to Eat (WWKE, which should return once I have seen more things to show you).  This chocolate cake is completely raw and does not need to be cooked in an oven.  It’s a cake full of fruity, nutty and chocolately goodness, from the recipe of Laura-Jane the Rawtarian, that is perfect for small birthday parties!  I thought I might make this for my brother's birthday this weekend, but when I'd have made it this afternoon, I'll be preparing to go to and then participating in a 24 hour show between this evening and tomorrow, so I intend to make it when I can after that - by the way, nobody in my family is a vegan, I just think it'll be fun and easy to make!

 

Ingredients (makes 10 servings)

1 ½ cups walnuts

1 ½ cups pecans

1 ½ cups dates

1 ½ cups raisins

1/3 cup raw cocoa powder  

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. In a food processor, process nuts until they are very well blended, so that they look like chunky flour.  Basically, you should just see little chunky bits of nuts.
2. Then, add everything else to the food processor and continue blending.  You’ll probably want to add the ingredients one at a tie otherwise your food processor might get a bit stuck.
3. Keep on processing until your mixture looks like a big ball of dough.  There shouldn’t be big chunks of anything.  You will probably see small flecks of nuts though.  Once you’ve got a giant raw chocolate cake dough ball, you do not need to dehydrate the cake or anything, but just need to decide on the presentation of the cake (i.e. the shape of the cake and icing).
4. Press the dough into the desired shape for whatever you want to make.  For example, take a nice cake plate and press the dough into a cake shape.  Ice the cake, if desired.
5. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour to allow the cake to firm up.
6. The cake can be stored in a fridge for up to 5 days.

 

Watermelon Sorbetto

Rumour has it that after a record dry September, it's supposed to start to get a lot colder (and wetter) as October settles in.  In fact, when going for a walk on Wednesday (1st October), the first thing I noticed was a light shower of rain on my skin.  Talk about being prompt and getting down to business!  I, however, wish to feel like it's still summer for as long as possible.  I spent my weekend in short overalls, and have been carrying my inter-seasonal coat over my arm while I've been outside.  I'm also still managing to find my favourite summertime fruits, strawberries and blueberries.  This week's recipe contains a new fruity favourite of mine, which I've used in a recipe or two already this summer - WATERMELONS!  This time, the watermelon is being brought to you in the form of a light pink, ice-cool sorbetto, once again from Matt O'Connor's The IceCreamists.  Who said that you have to let go of summer?

Ingredients

125ml (4 fl oz) water

125g (4 oz) caster sugar

750g (1 ½ lb) seedless watermelon flesh, chopped

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon lime zest plus extra to decorate

Instructions

1. Pour the water into a saucepan and add the sugar.  Place over a low heat and bring to the boil, whisking often, until the sugar dissolves.  Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 5 minutes, continuing to whisk until the liquid turns into a syrup.
2. Pour the syrup into a heatproof bowl and set aside for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cooled to room temperature.  For more rapid chilling, half-fill a sink with cold water and ice and place the bowl of mixture in it for 20 minutes.  Cover and refrigerate, ideally overnight, until thoroughly chilled (at least 4 degrees Celsius).
3. Add the watermelon, lime juice and zest into the syrup and mix with a stick blender.  Pour the chilled mixture into an ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions, or churn by hand.
4. When the churning is completed, use a spoon or spatula to scrape the sorbetto into a freezer-proof container with a lid.  Freeze until it reaches the correct scooping texture (at least 2-3 hours).
5. Decorate each portion with lime zest before serving.

Watermelon and Raspberry Cooler

It's summertime in the UK, and from what I can tell, it is either reasonably warm or raining heavily (at the time of writing this, it's not raining, but from where I am inside, I can't feel the sun on my arms or anything).  In any case, one of the things that you do when it's hot in summer is to keep cool and hydrated.  According to a few DIY blogs that I've read, watermelons are supposed to be the new "it" (i.e. fashionable) fruit to be seen in design, and I've actually come across watermelon necklace pendants and how to make a watermelon serving tray during my glancing through blogs for things that I might want to make (not food), and of course, I've recently posted a watermelon ice lolly recipe that I found in a book (which can be found here).  I found this recipe for making watermelon and raspberry coolers in the Tesco Food and Living magazine for July/August 2014, which would be perfect for a summertime picnic or dinner.

Ingredients (to make 12 glasses)
1 kg (2lb) watermelon (about half a large watermelon), flesh sliced into triangles
300g (10oz) raspberries
2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 tablespoons mint leaves, plus extra to serve
ice cubes
sparkling water, to taste

Instructions

1. Put three-quarters of the sliced watermelon into a blender and add 200g (7oz) raspberries, the sugar and mint.  Blend to a purée, then pass the mixture through a sieve.  Chill until needed.
2. Add enough watermelon purée to fill half of each glass, add a couple of ice cubes, a few of the remaining raspberries and a reserved watermelon slice.  Top up with sparkling water and decorate with extra mint leaves to serve. 

Watermelon Ice Lollies

For the UK, summer is almost here, and the bottom draw of my family's freezer is full of lemonade and orange ice lollies which I eat on most days.  Years ago, we had some ice lolly moulds and I think it would be a good idea to use them to make some delicious fruit lollies.  I found the following recipe for watermelon ice lollies in The Icecreamists by Matt O'Connor.  Due to the possible use of bone char in the process of making the caster sugar in the recipe, I'm not sure how suitable it would be for vegans.  Have a great week!

Ingredients (to make 6-8 ice lollies)
100ml (3 1/2 fl oz) water
100g (3 1/2 oz) caster sugar
flesh from 1 watermelon, seeds discarded
juice of 1 lime

Method
1. Pour the water into a pan and add the sugar.  Place over a low heat and bring to the boil, whisking constantly, until the sugar dissolves.  Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 5 minutes, continuing to whisk until the liquid turns has the consistency of a syrup.  Set aside and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
2. Put the watermelon flesh in a blender, pulse until crushed, then sieve into a measuring jug.  You should have around 500ml (17fl oz) of juice.
3. Add the watermelon juice and lime juice to the syrup and whisk together.  Pour into lolly moulds, filling them about two-thirds full so that the mixture is able to expand as it freezes.  Place in the freezer for about 30 minutes, until almost solid, then insert a stick in each one.  Freeze for another 30 minutes.

Vegan-Friendly Banana and Blueberry Ice Cream

So this is my first proper post, and I haven't even said hello yet, but I couldn't think of much to say about myself other than hey, I'm Katie and I'm going to try to regularly post recipes here. 

I'm going to start with a recipe that I tried today after looking through the Instagram of the Melbourne-based Green Girls Gang (although I don't even have an Instagram).  What I made was a vegan-friendly banana and blueberry ice cream, and even though I'm not a vegan or even a vegetarian, I have a rather "yayyy, fruit" attitude, and I already had the necessary ingredients in my kitchen to make this tasty ice cream.

Ingredients
4-8 bananas
1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Method
1. Chop the bananas into halves (or slices, as I found halves quite difficult for the blender) and freeze in a ziplock bag overnight.
2. Put the bananas into a high-speed blender, add 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries and pulse until reaching a smooth, ice-creamy texture.
3. Sprinkle with optional toppings and enjoy!