I think pictures sometimes tell a better story than words. We had an amazing time at our vegan cooking retreat last week at Trigonos.

I would like to thank all who attended and the Trigonos team for making it such a special and memorable time.

We were lucky with the weather as the sun shone for most of the retreat and we had a good walk around Snowdon.

We cooked food which we love and enjoyed on our travels around the Balkans, China, Indonesia, Italy, India, Mexico and more.

I came up with a menu filled with original recipes, created especially for the retreat. I love sharing the bounty and creativity of pure plant-based cooking. With a few tricks and tips, it can be so easy to recreate wonderful, healthy, wholefood vegan food at home.

Everyone who attended mentioned that it was a daily feast, but there is always room on the last day for the chocolate tasting. Thanks to Willies Cacao, Essy & Bella and Vivani for supplying an interesting range of chocolates. We traveled all around the world, just by sampling chocolates of differing origin. A great way to travel!! I think one of the most popular times is when we make hot chocolate with Willie’s 100% Single Estate Peruvian Black Cacao. It tastes like no other hot chocolate!! As we all know, chocolate is very, very important and should be taken seriously;) Results of the chocolate tasting will be on a post soon.

We made a variety of vegan cheeses, from Smoky Cashew Cheese to Baked Almond Cheese, but I’d also like to thank Vegusto, V-Bites and Mozzarisella for contributing cheeses to our cheese boards at lunch and dinner. I’d also like to mention the incredible Tomato Stall, based on the Isle of Wight, who produce some of the most delicious tomato based delights. Their Oak Smoked Tomatoes are one of my favourite things. I’m also loving their new Sun Dried Tomato Balsamic Vinegar. Wow!!

We used a lot of Trigonos produce, grown to organic standards. It’s such a privilege to cook with home grown produce.

Many of the group woke around dawn to pratice Tai Chi by the lake, even spotting otters most mornings.

Judy and Owain picked fresh herbs and vegetables every morning from the Trigonos gardens and poly tunnels.


It’s a brilliant experience for me to meet so many people passionate about cooking and open to learning new techniques and recipes.

Great to see Janice from the ace blog Nourished by Nature again and thanks to Jan for taking some of these pictures. I must mention Ninja Blenders for providing the BHK with a new, high quality blender and food processor, after ours finally gave up on a chocolate mousse one day. It’s got so many features and we’re loving making ranges of smoothies, raw desserts and sauces with our new gadget. It’s easy to clean and use, with loads of power to make things creamy and smooth. We’ve never had a blender this good!

We’d also like to thank Laura from Yoga Wellbeing for coming up and teaching our yoga and meditation classes, plus John, Sarah and Gillian for the music and storytelling in the evenings.

These cooking retreats go so quickly, sometimes I wish they could last for longer, we meet so many like-minded people and always make new friends.

We will be hosting other cooking retreats at Trigonos in the future. Home Cooked Happiness – Creative Vegan Cooking Retreat starts this Saturday, 16th Septemeber. We still have a few spaces available, more information on our Facebook page or call Trigonos directly 01286 882388.
