BHK Lockdown Diary – Sunshine, Cakes and Frogs

Welcome to lockdown BHK style. I’ve lost count how long we’ve been hanging out around the garden and house, but we’re the very lucky ones, with a garden and loads of Snowdonian sunshine! It’s been like Bermuda up here for the past couple of months which has made this whole time feel much brighter for us.

We’ve been getting on with cooking new recipes, playing with new ideas in the kitchen and in the garden too. The veg patch is up and running, we have modest ambitions and if we get a few Broccoli floret and a cabbage out of it, we’ll be very happy. The slugs round here resemble ugly anacondas (I like snakes). We’ve been really fortunate with all the foragables in the area, loads of sorrell, nettles, hawthorn and crab apple flowers, fresh hawthorn leaves, mints, dandelions, wild garlic, all the joys of spring and early summer. All that makes for some pretty awesome salads!

Slice of our White Pizza, Vegan Style! Middle-Eastern Flavours – Roasted Cauliflower and Red Onions, Za’atar and Roasted Garlic Puree, Sun-dried Tomatoes, Sumac

In these uncertain times (how many times are we reading those words of late!!) we feel blessed to have a local supply of organic veggies. Our veg box is one of the highlights of the week and Tyddyn Teg are producing an amazing array of fresh local veg for us to base our vegan dreamin’ on.

People keep talking of a new world sprouting out of this, we’re ever hopeful that things will get better and we’ll start taking better care of each other, animals and the world. One of the key factors for us is a vegan lifestyle, but also keeping food local. Focusing more on local, sustainable, organic farming. I don’t like the idea of massive corporations feeding us. I can’t trust those who put profit before health and wellbeing. I can see from our groups and your emails that many of you are growing your own and from a produce point of view, it doesn’t get any better than that! I don’t really have very green fingers, but I’m good at getting my hands muddy. Does that count?

Jane out by the pond, there are loads of frogs, newts and toads this year. We’re keeping it topped up and making shelters for them around the ponds.

Vegan Shish Kebab – Marinated Tempeh, Tofu and Oyster Mushrooms with Apricots, Tahini Sauce and Pilaff. Oh, there’s a Beetroot and Ajwain Flatbread too:) Got to have big colours!!

We think we’ve noticed more birds and insects in the garden. There’s definitely more newts and frogs this year, we’re being invaded! They try and get into the house, which is very cute. I was hanging the washing out the other day and a Peregrine Falcon leapt out of a bush. What sight! It was amazing to see such a bird of prey up close. We get the buzzards overhead, but they rarely land near the garden. We’ve also made friends with the local horses, see below. Bob, Tanny and Hera are our names for them and they seem to be warming to us. They’ve started to hang our beside our wall and even lie in the sun just outside our bathroom window. It’s lovely to wake up to see horses chilling and rolling around. Every sunset we get a crescendo of grunting horses, blackbirds twittering and the occasional croak from the pond.

Meet Bob – One of the neighbourhood horses who keeps us company in the garden. We raided there fields the other day and now have a mighty pyramid of horse poo. For the garden next year.

Pineapple and Pistachio Up-side Down Loaf with a Rose and Cacao Sauce. Gluten-free. I’ve had some extra time to experiment with new recipe ideas. I cook something everyday and have realised I’ll never get through the backlog of recipes I’d like to share here. Maybe you could give me an idea of what you’d like to see? I’m sure I’ll have a recipe tucked away somewhere for yah!!

Plenty of brews in the garden to wash down all the cake;) Apparently we’ve both got sun tans from being out in the garden, hanging out with frogs and cabbages.

Sunsets!!!

[caption id="attachment_10516" align="aligncenter" width="470"] We’ve got Sorrel coming out of our ears. I love the zesty flavour in salads, stews/ soups

Summers really kicking in over here. We’re enjoying loads of salads, this one includes Korean Mint, an interesting member of the mint crew. It looks like marijuana, but tastes like mint crossed with liquorice. Apparently bees, butterflies and hummingbirds like it. So it must be cool.

We try to keep the BHK blog up-to-date, but there’s plenty more vegan cooking action and chat over on our Facebook cooking group

We’re loving our afternoon walks up the hills. Appreciating more than ever right now!