Happy New Year guys.
Did you miss me??
Yeah...I know you did really.
Thanks for all your lovely words of condolences, they all meant so much to me.
I've not really had time to grieve as Salem passed away and then we left for England the very next day. Being home now I am feeling the full force of my loss - the house is so empty and lonely without him.
But onto brighter and happier things and a chance to regale you with tales of my first Vegan Christmas. I am completely in love with Toffuti. It was my first taste of vegan cheese and I absolutely love it. The tubs of Cream Cheese are just amazing. I tried the French Onion, Garlic and Herbs, and Herbs & Chives and they are all AWESOME. I smuggled 2 tubs back with me which I am rationing myself to and I also bought some Cheezly but have not tried that yet, I'll give the verdict after I have. Bought some Cheese Powder, Bouillon, Custard, Mayonaise, Chocolates, Braised Tofu, Paté, Pepperred Steaks, Mince, Fry's Polony (sliced sausage), Agave Nectar, Reggae Reggae Sauce (OMG how good is that stuff!) and ...ummm....there's more I'm sure but you get the general idea - I WENT VEGAN SHOPPING MAD AND LOVED IT!!
Santy bought me a nice new shiny camera so hopefully my photographic skills will improve and won't make your eyes bleed looking at my photos. Having said that - I have no photos of my Christmas dinner because Mr treehugger's family don't open presents 'til after dinner, which is around 6pm.
Yeah I know!!
But we had McSween's Haggis with all the usual trimmings and my plate was piled so high it wouldn't have made for a pretty picture anyway!
Managed to see lots of people, missed a few too ;) and got out and about on lots of walks to the Forest, the river and the beaches.
Went to Wagamama's (AMAZING!!) and visited two other restaurants where I had Spanish Tapas and Greek food. The Greek place, Bar Zuka, did the BEST Dolmades and Falafels I have ever had!
All in all, I had a fantastic trip to England but I am glad to be home and looking forward to getting back to normal. Well, as normal as I can ever be.
Cue the montage
26 comments:
Welcome home! Looking forward to hearing what you think about Cheezly. Haven't tried it myself, but generally fake cheeses get me down (except the amazing Tofutti Creem Cheez). Great photos!! Happy New Year :-)
i'm glad you're back, Jeni! i missed the hell outta ya, girlie!
glad you had fun in England! and hooooooray for a new camera! i really love the montage! it's so awesome! thanks for sharing with us!
isn't tofutti so delicious! i think i'm addicted, too! hooray for some good 'ol vegan shopping.
i'm gonna have to tell you again - i'm glad you're back!
Glad to have you back!
Happy New Year! I'm glad that you had such a wonderful sounding holiday, but sorry to hear that now you have the difficulty of grieving for Salem. :( Sending hugs and happy thoughts your way.
It seems like you have a load of great products to try! I didn't know Tofutti came in that many flavors!
Welcome back, missed you heaps!
It sounds like you had a good time in Blighty. Good luck with the cheezly. I've totally given up on vegan cheeze (except for parmezano sprinkles and the cheddar version thereof).
Yay for our first vegan christmases! I found my vegan crimbo dinner far superior to last years veggie one (which royally sucked! Thanks for nothing Quorn!).
Loving the montage. Beautiful pictures.
I can't wait to see more pictures with the new camera now.
*Massive Squishles*
Welcome Back! We've missed you!
Looks lik eyou had lots of fun though!
Hey Stranger! Glad to have you home as well! You did do some crazy shopping whilst you were in the UK... YUM YUM YUM... or does this mean we won't see any recipes because you're sitting in your pajamas right now eating tofutti straight out of the tub???
hehee... I won't tell...
**WORMY COMPOSTING HUGS**
Love,
Guava
yay! you're back.
of course we all missed ya!
hope you had a good new years.
looking forward to more of your posts.
oooh greek tapas. interesting.
Happy New Year lovely lady, welcome back. Not to tempt you but.... one can make the most splendifourous vegan cheese cakes with toffuti (possible not the garlic & chive variety though!).... tempt... tempt :)
DAMN RIGHT I MISSED YOU!!!
Your vegan stash sounds great. I love Fry's polony. Is Reggae Reggae sauce from the guy that was on Dragon's Den? I haven't tried it yet, but I think it should be on my shopping list.
I know exactly what you mean about missing Salem. I've lost two furbabies over the years. I still think about each of them and still miss them. Time DOES make it easier, even though that's a cliche.
Anyway, so glad you're back!
oh! i love the tofutti too. i try not to buy it too much, but sometimes the recipes just demand it!
happy 2009!
yeah! i was pretty excited to see your comments on my blog...i missed you. ((hugs))
i totally love tofutti!! it's the best vegan cream cheese and 1 of the only 2 vegan cheeses i will actually eat. the other is called sheese...i think. you can only buy it on line where i live. (BOO)
anyway, enough talk of cheese...glad santy was good to you and that you had tons of fun.
xoxo
YAY you're back!! Glad you had a good chrimbo - hahaha the Reggae Reggae Sauce got you, it's good shit!
Glad santa bought you a camera, looking forward to lots'o'food porn in the future.
Glad you're back and you had an awesome Christmas - how good is Fry's polony sausage, btw? Sometimes it's nice to do a whistlestop tour of old haunts, I know I always love going back down to Manchester for that reason!
Looking forward to seeing your new, whizzy photos!
Happy New Year Honey!!
I'm so sorry about Salem, I do know how you feel ((hugs)).
Here's to a great 12 months ahead xxxx
So glad you're back!! And with a new camera! Geeze! Tofutti is so yummers, but I only get to eat it when I visit the US - I can't get it here!
England??!! You lucky girl!!
Hi Jeni! Good to see you back, glad you had a nice time. Haven't tried Tofutti but think I will give it a go now it's been given your stamp of approval!!;-) Cheezly is ok, the mozzarella is pretty realistic. Braised tofu yuck! (too much like tuna!) Had a rather nasty experience with about half a bottle of Reggae Reggae sauce and one veggie burger, so thats out of bounds for me! Agave is AMAZING I buy it by the truckload. And Plamil's mayo is made in the town where I live! So thats it for Emma's food round up. Lol. Enjoy your foodie treats! (i bought myself vegan fudge for christmas...except i bought it in october and it didnt really last that long...)
sounds like you had an awesome time....
cheese, camera and england...ha just realized the pun...ahem anywho, glad you had a wicked time.
i have the uncheese cookbook that i will be experimenting with, i will let you know how it goes...
Awww thanks guys - now I really feel like I'm home.
:)
Guava - do you have a spy camera in my home??? Hee hee hee...
Pixie - I realise I should have picked up the plain Toffutti as well but I think I was just so excited that the thought of making Cheese Cake slipped my mind. DOH!
DJ - Fry's Polony is totally yum. I slice it thinly and put in a sammich with some Branston Pickle or fry slices in a little oil for a fried breakfast with all the usual suspects.
YUM!
Em - LOL! A Christmas treat in October - I can totally dig that. You MUST go and buy Toffutti - you will be amazed.
Barbara - LOL! Say cheese.....
Your pictures could never make anybody's eyes bleed! They can make mouths water and hearts flutter though! :)
I'm so glad you're back, don't you ever leave us for such a long time again! *stomps hard*
Your montage is beautiful Jeni! I love the duckies, and the squirrel, and the super cute puppy!!
Yay! Found ya blog, looks like it will be interesting reading hun. Feel free to check out mine. :)
BTW I am looking for camping recipes for a new eBook, got any?
Love, Edain x
I'm glad you had a good xmas and got lots of treats. mmmm... cheddar cheezly, my fave.
just hearing about england makes me hungry. I really want to go back and visit (and eat).
I made a mistake - it's Sheese I bought. I got the one with Chives and it tastes like soap!
BLEURGH!!!
However, when melted it takes on the flavour of Stilton!! Weird huh!
I'll never use the whole block before the best before date and I won't buy it again - but it's good to know you like Cheezly Bethany - I'll have to give that one a try next time.
Edain!!!
Hello friend, good to see you here.
:)
River - you are as sweet and delicious as your creations!!
Glad you liked the animals.
:)
Welcome back!
YAY! "Cheese" powder!!! Now you can also try the vegan cheese soup or dip (whatever you prefer) ;-)
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