First blackberry crumble of the season

It's blackberry season - yay! This means lots of blackberry crumble. Ben went foraging and collected a huge container full yesterday, half of which got eaten last night. There are so many wild blackberries all over the place in Aberdeen and the fruit ripens at different times - I guess depending on how sunny a… Continue reading First blackberry crumble of the season

The Aboyne Games and foraging for dinner

Yesterday we went to the Aboyne Highland Games and Elizabeth competed in the highland dance. It's the first time we've been to the Aboyne games and the first time it has run since before the pandemic. Elizabeth came last or second last in her dances. The other girls were quite a lot better and I'm… Continue reading The Aboyne Games and foraging for dinner

Summer bounty

Tomatoes

I've got a lovely thistle in the garden that's blooming right now and bees love it. Isn't this much nicer than featureless paving stones and grass? It's supporting the bee population too. I've discovered another use for the bumper crop of plums we've got: plum crumble. This was delicious! We're also swimming in tomatoes so… Continue reading Summer bounty

Eating weeds

When everyone was panic-buying in March I saw some stinging nettle springing up in our backyard and decided to leave it there rather than weed it out. Stinging nettle is a highly nutritious food. It has anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties as well as being high in calcium and iron. How do you eat it… Continue reading Eating weeds

Eating during a pandemic

On Sunday, for Mother's Day, I felt like a fry-up and since all the restaurants and cafés were closed we made something at home. We had mushrooms, baked beans, toast, vegan sausages, spinach, my home-made sauerkraut, and vegan black pudding. The black pudding is made by The Bury Black Pudding Company and contains black beans.… Continue reading Eating during a pandemic

19th March 2020 update #COVID2019

Schools will be closing on Friday this week for the foreseeable future. It's unlikely they will open again before the summer holidays which means they'll be shut until August and potentially longer than that. Much depends on what happens in China when they lift their restrictions. Children of key workers and vulnerable children will still… Continue reading 19th March 2020 update #COVID2019

Eating insects

For several years now I have been quite interested in entomophagy which means eating insects. I've started buying insect dog food for the dogs we borrow and this week I bought a packet of ground buffalo (buffalo is a type of beetle, also known as mealworm) from a Welsh company called Bug Farm Foods. It… Continue reading Eating insects

Insect dog food

Sustainability in dog food is becoming a thing. The dogs we look after always come with their own food which their owners provide but I feel a bit depressed giving regular dog food to dogs. We know how unsustainable livestock farming is and we're already consuming beyond our resources just to satisfy our meat-heavy diet… Continue reading Insect dog food

A nutritious, cheap, and easy vegan meal that kids like and vegan bodybuilders

I made a delicious and disgustingly healthy meal tonight which was a hit with everyone, including the kids. It was also very simple, indeed half of it required no cooking at all. The cooked half was a recipe from Rukmini Iyer's The Green Roasting Tin which involved bunging orzo and tomatoes in the oven for… Continue reading A nutritious, cheap, and easy vegan meal that kids like and vegan bodybuilders

Fudgy no-bake brownies

Elizabeth made the fudgy no-bake brownies from Dr Gregor's How Not to Die cookbook yesterday. They're so easy to make even a kid can do it. I just helped her a bit with the food processor. They're delicious and healthy. There's no sugar in the recipe and they're gluten-free and vegan. Ingredients 1 cup walnuts… Continue reading Fudgy no-bake brownies