​We started the season on the 30th of November at the Workhouse Christmas Market in Llanfyllin (you may or may not remember that was the venue of the Food Fair back in September) and it was a lovely start to festivities. I felt lucky to be around many of our new local friends at that event, given that it was a little jarring, leaping from eulogy writing to carol concerts! 

We'd planned to attend the Christmas Farmer's Market at Lake Vyrnwy the following weekend, Nik's birthday too, the 7th of December, but that was sadly cancelled owing to the imminent arrival of Storm Darragh. Whilst I do my best to produce everything as freshly as possible, you'll understand that by the day before a market I've finished 90% of the baking (apart from bread and gluten free stuff, which is baked last minute and often obscenely early on the day!). That sparked a last minute scramble for an alternative event since there are only so many mince pies that even Nik can consume, and so it was back to Llanfyllin for the Christmas tree lights switch on. The tree was outside, I as very grateful to be offered space inside a local hotel who let us use their breakfast room as a market hall!

​We were disappointed not to go to Vyrnwy of course and I really wasn't sure how it would go, since the good people of Llanfyllin had already patronised us so warmly just a week earlier but I needn't have worried and they must have enjoyed their purchases, as we made good sales that evening too, completely selling out of veg to boot! Llanfyllin really has such a lovely community of people and they clearly seem to appreciate the Earth Heart products so we came away from those weeks with a resolve to revisit the Thursday street markets in the spring.

​So, now that the preamble is all cleared up, may I have the pleasure of introducing the Uchiki Kuri, also known as Onion Squash? It's conveniently easy to grow, usefully sized for an average meal portion, doesn't require a power tool to penetrate, stores well (easily for three or more months), cooks quickly and tastes completely delicious. How marvellous! And better still, I have discovered a totally delectable thing to do with it! Though I would never advise anything other than a simple roasting was necessary to enjoy this sumptuous squash, it happens to scramble really well with tofu. ​

You'll need:

• 1 average sized Onion Squash
• 1 pack of smoked tofu (Plain is fine, smoked is tastier!) 
• A knob (or three!) of plant butter (I use Flora) 
• Unsweetened soya milk (oat would probably be OK) 
• Salt (sulphurous Himalayan black salt gives an extra eggy hint if you want that) 
• Freshly ground black pepper
• ​Chopped parsley (or whatever fresh herb you have!)

I can't quite believe it's already three weeks since I realised I needed a tactical break from the cycle of weekly baking that I'd launched two months previously. After peaking with a three week run of food fair and pop up bakeries, all requiring an extra push, I was feeling tired, rundown and a bit out of touch with my love for the craft. I knew I needed to be creative about that in order to remain more broadly happy and productive. Putting the brakes on and taking some time out seemed the best way to go about a system reset; I've recently taken the scary step of deciding to become my own manager after all, so I may as well make the most of that autonomy! In addition to creating much needed space for rest, I also wanted to give myself an opportunity to spend a little time on some of my other crafting, which has been a little neglected since the baking project came on the scene... There are only so many hours in the day after all!
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Of course I've read, used and ignored many cookie recipes in my time but I can honestly say I've devised this particular one myself based on trial and (thankfully not too much) error. I've been ably assisted in this noble task by my trusty tester, Nik and further encouraged by wider feedback, so I'm pretty confident that this is a good enough recipe to share. I've also totally sold out of these the last two weeks in a row, at the Llanfyllin Food Fair and again at my second Dragons baking pop-up yesterday, which is probably all the assurance you need!

It's an easily tweaked recipe. I use crunchy peanut butter because that's what I like but smooth would work if you prefer it more subtle, or other nut butters for that matter would also be great. It's a good base for holding other featured ingredients too; whole peanuts work well and I love the version I make with cranberries, raisins, walnuts and almonds, which I knead into the dough before forming the cookies. I keep meaning to try chocolate chunks too. Or candied ginger... Mmmm.

​That's enough waffle anyway. On with the cookies!

Still, we've been keeping in touch with the creative vision and since my first pop up bakery at Dragons last month, we've been gently delighted by the trickle of interest in the honesty box whilst our cockles have been well and truly warmed by some very lovely interactions at the roadside with passers by who've stopped to browse and buy from our selection of vegan baking, organic veggies and upcycled crafts. In terms of footfall though, you really can't beat an organised event and last weekend we attended our first food fair! Held at the Workhouse in Llanfyllin, the frustratingly timed (very) rainy day failed to deter a variety of stall holders, artists in open studios, musicians and intrepid members of public alike from showing up as planned and making a day of it none the less!

Well, it feels like time has absolutely flown since my update just over a fortnight ago after the launch of the new Earth Heart Kitchen at our roadside honesty box! After the busyness of preparing all that was needed to open (and a working trip to London with Nik's company Feature Greens immediately afterwards!) it was good to allow ourselves a gentle few days, so whilst there was indeed fresh baking in the honesty box last Friday there were much smaller batches and only one variety of cookie! Interestingly enough, the rhubarb and loganberry flapjack, which was the shining star of the launch week and absolutely flew off the shelf down to the very last slice, didn't receive so much attention but I was glad that the gluten free offering (banana loaf) and the peanut butter cookies still made sales from passing trade.

I've been enjoying my involvement at the Dragons Craft Collective down the hill in Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant village since March and volunteering weekly shifts to support and promote the community of local crafts people who also sell their wares there. Fresh, home made produce that is kitchen not factory packed doesn't have the same shelf life as crafts or poetry books so it wouldn't be appropriate for me to leave a batch of cookies to fend for themselves next to my painted jars all weekend but there's no reason why I couldn't make all kinds of baking available for sale whilst I'm anyway in the shop, hence the 'pop up' nature of the venture!

This Saturday, I signed myself up for a double shift so I'd have a bit more time to make the most of the summer tourists to the waterfall and made sure I'd baked enough for a decent stock back at home in the honesty box as well as for a little table on the corner outside the shop. I was grateful to my fellow crafters for being game to let me experiment from Dragons but I was also encouraged by the enthusiastic support of the Dragons housing co-op next door to the shop and other local residents in the village, to whom I'd mentioned the idea.

Nik and I rocked up a little early on Saturday and spent some time having a bit of a sweep and sort out of the cobbled space in front of the shop. It's a lovely space anyway, with an abundant, leafy grapevine... But it's amazing what a vase of flowers, a bit of bunting and a gingham table cloth can do!
I'd barely even got the cakes out on the table before I had a customer and sold my first beetroot and cacao brownie; a new recipe and one I was keen to share. That was a pretty encouraging start to the day and it continued happily in that vein. I was certainly pleased with the amount of cake I didn't have to take back home with me! Having said that, I wasn't ever so busy that there weren't plenty of opportunities to spend some time chatting with locals and visitors alike. I've said before, the Earth Heart project, be it glamping, baking or anything else that it may unfurl itself into, is ultimately about fostering connection. The first Earth Heart Kitchen pop up bakery at Dragons did much to demonstrate its potential to do just that!

It has not escaped me that since launching a small baking start-up, I've had no time to share any recipes! Oh, the irony! When I first started writing this blog at the beginning of the year I was having to pace myself a bit and hold back from posting something or other from the kitchen pretty much everyday. Still, the sabbatical is over and I always knew that once the Earth Heart project was underway there would have to be a shift of priorities!

Seasonal is as important to us as homegrown organic, though of course the two go hand in hand. You might think baking is all about sugar, flour and butter (or plant based alternative, of course!) but happily even cakes can enjoy a seasonal home grown twist. Fruit might be a fairly obvious bed fellow of sweet teatime treats and perhaps carrot cake is a relatively well known example of how vegetables can get in on the picture but it needn't stop there!

• 125g Self Raising flour (gluten free is an option but reduce the liquid a bit, e.g. less liquid beetroot)
• 40g Ground 100% Organic Cacao
• 1 tsp Nutmeg
• 140g Raw Organic Beetroot, (grated and boiled down until you have about 200g mushy mixture)
• 100g Demerara Sugar
• 100 ml Maple Syrup
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• Pinch of sea salt​

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It's not been uncommon in our kitchen over the last few weeks for Nik to appear at the door with a bundle of freshly picked broad beans to shell and stir into pretty much whatever I'm preparing, from salad to soup, kedgeree to curry. It's been a delicious trickle of home grown gorgeousness on our plates but it was time for the broad beans to move on and make way for the leeks, ready and waiting to take the stage. Now, the broad beans haven't enjoyed the wet spring and the cool start to summer any more than the rest of us and they've pretty variable in size from what you might expect to smaller than your average pea, but they've been no less tasty for their inconsistent stature even if they've been a little fiddly to get out of the pod at times! It was a pretty full morning of picking and shelling, towards the end of which Nik headed over to the other veg patch to fetch in some beetroot, a handful of small parsnips and a few baby fennel bulbs. Well, all that fresh produce kept me fully occupied while he got on with weeding the freed up bed and companion planting some brussel sprout seedlings around the lettuces. The Marvel and Little Gem lettuces are also starting to be past their best, though they've been as abundant as they've been succulent over the last month or so and I shall miss them when they're gone!

So what did I whip up in the kitchen, you may be wondering!? I'd already decided that when the time came I'd fall back on the trusty houmous template to celebrate all the joy of the broad beans and since beetroot and parsnip always speak to me of a big tray of herbed roast veg, that magical playmate of houmous, that was that pretty much sussed! I'm sure you don't need me to tell you how to roast veg but here's a quick rundown on the broad bean prep!

I actually came round to the murky world of smoothies a few years back when I was having some nutrition coaching and learning to balance and add more fats and proteins to my diet. (Vegan diets don't generally lack in carbohydrate or fibre!) I went over to the dark side briefly and had a phase of relying on packaged protein powders for an extra breakfast protein hit. Putting these into smoothies convinced me that a breakfast of mashed up stuff that you ingest through a straw could be made to taste better than you might expect and, being portable, was actually extremely convenient at times. But packaged protein powders, even the ones without all the extra junk in, are expensive and processed, and I do like to try and eat, well, actual food where possible. I even experimented with using banana. Desperate times...

Thankfully, at that point, I made the happy discovery that cooked red lentils can supply all the lovely thickening action of banana without the actual banana, at the same time as supplying a decent hit of protein without the expense (and questionable packaging) of commercial protein powders. 

​This is a sweet, thick, rich, filling, nutritionally balanced and tasty breakfast which requires some, but minimal prep and can be served in a portable container! You're essentially making yourself a lentil and vegetable soup for breakfast, but  I wouldn't call it that, it tastes much better if you call it a smoothie. I find a bit of prep before bed is ideal as it allows a nice long cooling/stewing time. I tend to start mine about half an hour before bed, while I'm having my sleepy tea! Here's what you do:

Take whatever you consider to be a sensible portion size of dried red lentils. I use about a third to half a cup, depending on what sort of day I'm anticipating! Get them boiling (soaking is not necessary but you'll want to skim the foam off) and prepare a chunk of sweet potato, about half a chunky carrot and a thick slice of butternut squash by peeling and roughly chopping. Pit and chop two dates (apparently these don't count as fruit according to Ayurveda. Woo hoo!), then peel and thinly slice a piece of fresh ginger root. When the lentils are underway, add all the chopped veggies and dates, cover and simmer. 

​In the morning, or when it's cool if you've skipped the 'before bed' bit, scoop the whole lot in to your smoothie jug or blender with a good handful of fresh spinach (Ayurvedic principles would probably suggest this should be cooked too but I've got to draw the line somewhere) and just enough soya milk to whizz it all up well to your preferred viscosity. Almond and coconut are tasty too but often full of junk so I prefer the 100% soya and water milk for even more protein, actual coconut water or a homemade almond milk! And there you have it, a low sugar, vitamin and mineral packed, proteinous slug of tasty, convenient joy to take with you on your next adventure, or just to sip gently while you gaze out at the world from the gentle glow of a happy morning.

Incidentally, I like to top mine off with a generous spoonful of home made soya yoghurt for extra creamy richness but I've never got as far as working out what the ancient rishi would have had to say about that. At least I'm not eating it with fruit..!

​Enjoy xx

Hooray, the radishes are here! Though it's been a strange, cold, wet, spring, we're finally enjoying some dry, warm, sunny weather here in the Tanat Valley and the first bites of Nik's carefully cultivated crops are also beginning to make their way to our plates. We're had some lettuce, some cultivate sorrel, some pea shoots... and now we've got radishes! These delightfully cheery, rosy, crispy, peppery little roots are delicious in salads, eaten as soon as possible after you've plucked them from their little beds, but I also really enjoy pickled radish. I think I first discovered it when I was in Japan, it's often served as a little side dish with meals or as a snack. You might think pickling is a long, slow process and for sure, it can be... but I'm here to introduce you to the wonder of the quick pickle, otherwise known as 'quickle'!

I've occasionally indulged in cooking that takes a full day in the kitchen but quite frankly, though I love cooking and I especially love cooking nourishing, tasty food for people I care about; I also love doing a whole heap of other things so these days I like to keep my kitchen time to a respectable minimum required for a non-processed, balanced diet.

Happily, I've found all sorts of ways to make good food, fairly quickly; and this is one of them! To make radish quickle, simply pick (preferably from your garden but maybe from the shop!) an average bunch of radishes, that's fifteen to twenty medium sized. Give them a good wash, top and tail them and slice them as thinly as you can. If you're brave enough, the slicing side of a box grater will do well, but mind your fingers! Simply pop your sliced radish into a jar with cider vinegar, warm water, sugar and salt (see gallery images for my notes on quantity). I also like to add some dried dill and a bit of fresh ground black pepper. Some recipes will suggest you can leave it for an hour and that will be your quick pickle, but for my very own Radish Quickle I like to leave it 2 to 3 hours. It's still quick enough that you can make it after breakfast in time for lunch but all those lovely flavours just get a tickle longer to do their thing. Never the less, if you're in a hurry, an hour will do and you'll find the vinegar solution turns a gorgeous pink colour as the radishes become gradually pickled. Serve it with salads and sandwiches, or simply as a tasty little side-snack, and enjoy it while it lasts!