I'm so sad I just want to cry :(

I had my bag stolen from my local bar last night! Along with my phone, debit card and 1 euro in change my beloved camera was also nicked. I am so gutted. :( The person was caught on CCTV and the Guardia Civil will be taking a look at the footage later but I'm not holding out any hopes of getting my camera back. If you all could cross your fingers and wish really really hard for me and my camera to be reunited though, I'd be very grateful. The thief grabbed my bag in seconds and she's obviously a professional as there was a table full of people and no-one saw her commit the act. She scarpered off to the toilets, took out what was of any value to her and chucked the rest in the cistern of the toilet and replaced the lid. However, we didn't find it until today so last night we had to call a lock smith out to the house to bust the door open and fix a new lock. At least our car keys were retrieved which was really the most important thing as there was also a letter in my bag with our address on so she could have easily nicked the car too! I'm so angry with myself because normally I am so vigilante and I NEVER leave my belongings unattended. I let my guard down for 2 mins and that was all it took. Also in my bag was my newly purchased copy of Cruelty Free Shopper which is now just one big soggy mess (a bit like me really!!). I know these things can be replaced but I'm still sad and angry about it all. :(

Don't buy anything new for a year - and Carrot and Hazlenut Roast.........

A few of you have asked me about my "Don't buy anything new for a year" challenge, so I thought I would elaborate a bit more and let you all in on what it's all about.

I'm not sure who's responsible for starting this but many of the ishers are participating and the title basically says it all. Don't buy anything new for a year! I'm not an extravagant person but I do tend to buy a lot of tat. You know, pretty shiny things covered in glitter and the like, most of it ends up going to charity in a few years time anyway, so this is a really good opportunity for me to break my tat buying habits and save some pennies in the process.

Plus I think we live in such a throw away society with items being replaced at the first sign of a problem with a similar object all shiny and new. Our parents and grandparents were more from the "make do and mend" school of thought and this is more where I'd like to be too.

Now, because everyone is different and we all have different needs I have basically decided on my own rules and regulations for this challenge. Items not included in this challenge are as follows: Food Loo roll and cleaning products Medicine Anything that would jeopardize the health and safety of me and my family Certain people's birthday and anniversary gifts Tobacco I had started this on 1st January but I have failed dismally already so I am re-starting this again. Why did I fail? Because the gym I've just joined informed me that DM's are not suitable footwear for their gymnasium!! The cheek! I had put up a request on my local Freecycle group requesting for a pair of trainers any style, any colour, didn't matter if they were for men or women so long as they were size 6. I got zero replies so was forced to go out and buy a pair of shoes suitable. Trust me, I have come up with a garzillion excuses NOT to join my local gym, I really didn't need any help in this matter - but I was determined to join and get this aging body of mine back to a reasonable state of fitness. So suitable foot wear was kind of an emergency. Kinda. Loathed as I was to buy new anything, I was even more loathed to buy traniers, which I NEVER wear. So I managed to pick up a pair of black baseball boots for under ten euro and left the shoe shop feeling reasonably pleased with myself. At least baseball boots I will wear outside of the gym as well. Just to elaborate further, buying second hand is OK. Whether it be from ebay, Freecycle or charity shops and boot sales. Now onto tonight's food. This has to be the BEST Nut Roast I've ever had (yes, yes...I've had a few). It's the first recipe for me to try out of a book I bought myself for Christmas - Vegan Vitality by Dianne Hill. Holy Schmoley! Amazon have got this second hand from as little as 1p!! Go snap it up I say - it is an amazing book and even though this is the first recipe I've tried so far - I have my eyes on oodles of things in this book that all look fantastic. There's Cheez recipes in there too! Now obviously I can't print the recipe here because that is naughty BUT lo and behold the identical recipe can be found here HURRAH! Though it does miff me that no credit has been given to Diane Hill! HARRUMPH! The only thing I did different was I subbed Nutmeg for the Mace because that is what I had (who has Mace in their cupboard? 'Fess up!) Anyhoo - I'll let my GORGEOUS photos do all the talking necessary

served with Roast Tayties, Broccoli, Peas and LOTS of Onion Gravy. YUM!

As you can see, I have been acquainting myself with my new camera and these lush photos are all down to Vegan Yum Yum's most excellent post about taking photos for your food blog. If you haven't read this yet and want to learn all about the little tips and tricks to get the best out of your camera, then head on over there now. It is SUPERB!

Pay it Forward and Cornish Pasties

GAH!

I knew there was something I'd forgotten. My apologies to everyone who entered and who have been waiting patiently with baited breath for the results and thanks to Guava for reminding me. Now...drum roll please....... The lucky three people who will be receiving a gorgeous home made gift from yours truly are: Georgia DJ Ginger YAY! Congratulations guys. Email me your addresses and I'll make sure to pop a little something in the post for you all within the next 365 days and go Pay it Forward yourselves. Now onto food...... I had a load of casserole/stew leftover that we had for dinner last night, and whilst eating it Mr treehugger declared how it would make nice Pasties. Not being one to disapoint, Pasties is exactly what the man got for dinner tonight. This a GREAT way to use up leftovers and they are so versatile and easy. Shortcrust Pastry Makes enough for 3 Pasties. You could make them smaller, but why would you want too!!!?? Ingredients 8 ounces Flour 4 ounces Marg pinch of Salt 6 Tablespoons ice cold Water Method Sift the Flour into a big mixing bowl, add a pinch of Salt and the Margarine. Using your fingers and thumb, rub the Margarine into the Flour until it resembles Bread Crumbs. Add the ice cold Water and gather the dough into a ball. Roll round a clean surface for a few minutes (DO NOT KNEAD) until it is all smooth. Set aside until ready. When ready, lightly Flour a clean surface and roll out the Pastry. Take a small plate, place on top of the Pastry and score round the edge with a knife. Gently lift up the cut out piece of Pastry and place on a lightly oiled baking tray. Gather up the remaining Pastry and repeat until you have as many cut outs as you can get. To make the Pasty Spoon filling of choice on one half of your cut out Pastry and lightly water round the edges. Fold over one half of the Pastry and press along the edge with your thumb, crimping the edges tightly together. Brush with Olive Oil and bake in a hot oven (200 degrees) for 50 mins. YUM!

(sorry about the poor quality of the photo - I am having issues with my lovely new camera and I'm not sure on the exact settings I need to take good pictures in my darkened kitchen at night - which is when we always eat)

Mysteries

There are many mysteries in and of the world: Atlantis Stonehenge The Bermuda Triangle Why my camera spent Saturday night down the toilet Yep - you read that correctly. We went to an alternative Music Festival on Saturday night and got home about 5 in the morning a little bit inebriated to say the least. When I got up a few hours later to go for a pee - there down the toilet bowl was my camera!!!! You should have seen the look on my face - would have made for a good photo........ I have absolutely no idea how or why my camera was down the toilet - I didn't even take it out with me and it was nowhere near the bathroom when I went to bed. It is a total mystery. The only thing I can think of is divine intervention. I am always moaning about my camera - it's so old it should have been in a museum somewhere so maybe I needed some cosmic intervening like this to kick my butt into getting a new one. BUT - even though I always moaned about the crappyness of my camera it was still my camera and I did love it in my own special way. AND there were a load of photos on there that I hadn't uploaded to my PC! BooHooHoo. And the worse thing is I'm going to be cameraless until I go back to the UK in two weeks time. BooHooHooHoo! So...was it divine intervention? Or was it my subconscious addled with alcohol that makes me sleep walk and do totally uncharacteristic things such as trying to flush my camera down the pan? Do I have a poltergeist and this was how they wanted to introduce themself to me? Who knows.....like UFO's and Crop Circles....it will remain a complete mystery for all eternity......

R.I.P