Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows in Our Tiny Kitchen!

So, this week has been busy, fun, yet sentimental. It's my last week in London as Heidi and I are going to Heidelberg on the EuroStar on Monday so I'm trying to fit it all in. I woke up quite congested today, so I have been taking it easy with sleeping all day (tired from being ill as well as from our other flat mates being awake all last night with their last minute packing) and packing. Heidi and I went to Wahaca for lunch today - delicious, but no photo because I've posted about them before. So, let us begin with what I've been eating, etc.

So, for class on Monday we went to Richmond and then walked to Twickenham from there. It is a fair tube ride outside of central London, but very beautiful. Here are some flowers that I saw in a garden there.

I just thought that this sign was amusing - no dog poo on the pavement or you are inconsiderate, bad-mannered, and unhygienic!

I can't remember what this is called, but apparently it is a type of gate that badly-behaved men would trap women in until they got a kiss from them. It's a bit hard to tell from the picture, but there is a gate that swings near the opening and you go in with the gate pushed one way, move along the edge, and then swing the gate the other way to get out. Quite easy to get trapped, no?

So, finally a photo of Maoz Falafel! Heidi and I went there on Monday night for dinner and I got a regular Maoz Hummus. It has a pitta pocket with five balls of falafel and then hummus on top. Then you can put as many toppings on as you like. They are all vegan besides the cole-slaw, so pile it on! You can see carrots, coriander sauce, roasted cauliflower, and a big blog of tahini. What you can't see is shredded carrots, tomato-herb salad, gherkins, cous cous, and shredded cabbage. This is definitely one of my favourite places to eat in London. Plus we got to sit by the window and watch the activities on Old Compton St. in Soho!

On Tuesday, Heidi came and visited me for lunch and of course we went to the Rootmaster off of Brick Lane. We both got the Rootmaster Panini, which was made with sourdough bread, home-made vegan mayonnaise, sprouts, shredded beetroot, marinated tofu, sun-dried tomato paste, and rocket. It was absolutely delicious! The bread was soft and the tofu and sun-dried tomato paste really complimented each other. It was just the right amount of food to be followed with dessert!

So, here was my dessert. I opted for the biscotti, which came with fruit, vanilla creme, and ice cream. It was really good, but admittedly a bit strange. The big bowl was the vanilla creme and then on the side is the oranges, stacked with the 'biscotti' and a scoop of ice cream on top. I honestly thought that there would be less creme and more ice cream and that the biscotti would look more traditional. The biscotti were shaped like hearts and looked more like biscuits. They were delicious though and I ate it without complaints!

Wednesday night, Heidi and I went to Giraffe for dinner. We were looking for something close by with some good food options so we went there. It was pretty good - I got a falafel burger without cheese. It came with harissa, which was extremely spicy, but good to spread on the burger bun and some yummy chips. I really can't think of many things that are better than a bowl of chips covered in malt vinegar, salt, and pepper with ketchup and HP sauce on the side. The drink is a 'Wannabellini,' which is peach-based with some sort of alcohol. It was tasty and half-priced so it was definitely worth it!

On Thursday (my last day of work with FoodCycle :(), I went to lunch at Pilpel with Kelvin, Taryn, and Katie (I hope you all enjoy being mentioned on my blog!). It was absolutely delicious and really cheap. I got all of the food here: hummus, six falafel, numerous yummy salads, and a wholemeal pitta for £5!!! It was so, so good that Heidi and I will probably go there Monday before we head off to Heidelberg!

This was Taryn's falafel bowl from Pilpel. I just thought it was interesting that it looked so different from mine since it was prepared by a different person. The food was so, so good that I'm sad that I waited so long to go there for lunch - I would definitely recommend it and don't be put off by the queue - they move fast!

Here's a picture of me at work!!! It was my last day so I got a t-shirt, cute FoodCycle cup, and a fun coffee-maker (not pictured). This isn't my desk (Kelvin: I hope you don't mind that I borrowed yours!), but you get the idea.

And now to get to the title of this post. I made some cookies for my friends at FoodCycle Wednesday night for my last day on Thursday. I decided on Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows since I have probably made them about 10 times and everyone seems to love them. Here are the ingredients that I used to put them together - all shoved together on our little counter-top.

Here's a photo of our tiny, little oven along with the baking sheets and the one mixing bowl that I had. These cookies were definitely made with some quick improvisations and creativity!

So, these cookies are made in two parts - the chocolate exterior and peanut butter interior. Since I have only one mixing bowl I had to make each part and then empty it out onto a plate. Here is the chocolate outside - looks delish, right?

Here's the peanut butter inside - all mixed up and ready to be rolled into little balls. It is very tasty on its own as well (how I know this should be obvious if you know me at all!)

So, here are the little peanut butter balls and the chocolate coating waiting to get put together. The peanut butter portion is made into a ball first and then you flatten the chocolate part in your hand and wrap it around the peanut butter ball. Then you have to roll them until it is all sealed in. It sounds more difficult than it actually is and I finished all two dozen of them in less than an hour from start to finish.

Here are six of them waiting to go in the oven. They're so shiny when they're raw!

Here they are straight out of the oven. They flatten a bit, but still have the bump where the peanut butter is. These cookies are like miniature gifts to everyone who eats them (cheesy I know, but true!). I didn't have a spatula, so I used my chef's knife to get them off of the baking sheets and onto a plate to cool.

Here's a close-up of the deliciousness! This is literally making me drool right now!!!

This is the mini one that I made for myself so that I could eat a bit of it raw. The good thing about vegan cookie dough is that it won't make you ill if you eat it raw. Sometimes my sister and I even just make a batch of it to eat raw. Just another reason to make vegan cookies!!! I really can't decide whether I prefer them raw or baked. I'll just continue to eat both.






That's all for now, I hope you enjoy the pictures and my journey to make some delicious cookies for my last day at FoodCycle!

Trying to Soak Up the Last Bit of London!

So, these past few weeks have been filled with lots of yummy vegan food. I have been staying in London, just trying to soak up the last moments of everyday life here that I can. So, we'll start with a photo of the area where I live.

It's a bit difficult to explain the photo completely, but the Great Portland St. tube station is the round-ish building in the middle and the road in the front is Marylebone Rd.

And now to the food!

I went to Mildred's in Soho last Saturday and this was the soup of the day. It was absolutely wonderful, but I couldn't tell you the flavour. It was a coconut, butternut squash, courgette, something, something, something flavour. It was really good anyways!

This was my main at Mildred's. It was a mushroom-ale pie with potato wedges and mushy peas. I know mushy peas sound strange, but they are absolutely wonderful! They have mint in them and are mostly creamy, but also have some whole peas. The pie was full of rich gravy with a light crust - so fantastic!

i had no room for dessert, but this was Heidi's - a berry crumble with soya cream. She said that it was great! It looks beautiful, right?

This was Margaret's dessert - a pear sorbet. I tried a spoonful of it and it was so smooth and refreshing. It wasn't too sweet, but just enough!

This isn't anything too exciting, Heidi and I visited Caffe Nero (a chain coffee shop in the UK) and got drinks. I just thought that the cups were extremely cute!!!

More soup! This was the soup of the day last Sunday at the Rootmaster Bus near Brick Lane. I'm not sure of the flavour, but I think it was coconut based. The bread was delightful and there was a lovely little bit of olive oil on top with some sprouts to stir in. The soup was incredibly creamy and great to scoop with bread!

Sorry about the shadow on this one - it was nearly impossible not to have! This is from Safadi Express on High Holborn. Heidi and I have gone here twice on Mondays during our British Life & Culture Course and we love it. This is a photo of a falafel wrap and chips. It's pretty cheap and super delicious.

On Tuesday last week, Heidi visited me for lunch while I was at work and we of course went to the Rootmaster Bus. I got a teriyaki stir-fry with tofu and cashews. It was so good - with great vegetables and chewy brown rice. I would definitely get it again - I was happy the entire rest of the day at work!

On Thursday, Lindsey, Heidi, and I went to Manna near Primrose Hill in North-ish London. These are the nachos we had for a starter. They had cashew cheese, black beans, guacamole, and tomato salsa. Absolutely delicious!

For my main at Manna I got organic Bangers & Mash. It had a mash of not only other potatoes but as well as other vegetables, bangers made of pumpkin seeds and other things, and onion rings all smothered in gravy. I'm telling you, this was absolutely amazing. The mash was creamy, the bangers had good texture, and the onion rings were indescribable!

This was Lindsey's main. A burrito with a veg/fruit salsa on the side with rice. She said that it was great, but that's all I really know about it. She liked it so much her hands are in the photo!

This was Lindsey's dessert - a fruit crumble with vegan ice cream on the side. She said that it was great and it looked great!

Finally, here is my dessert! A banoffee trifle!!! It had layers of chocolate cake, bananas,toffee-y sauce, and berries and almonds on top. This thing was to die for!!! I am so, so glad that I ordered it, but by the end of that meal it was nearly like I had to be rolled out of the door. I would definitely recommend Manna to anyone visiting London!

On Friday, Heidi and I went to Hummus Bros. I got hummus with sauteed mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes. I got a small, which comes with one pita - it was definitely plenty along with the tabouleh salad that I got. I really enjoyed the atmosphere here as well as the food. We even got to sit by the window and people watch in Soho!!!

On Saturday, Becca and I had dinner at the InSpiral Lounge in Camden. I got spanakopita. It had tofu and spinach in it with a flaky pastry on the outside. For sides I got chips/wedges, steamed broccoli/greens, and sauteed onions and fennel. I also got some hummus on the side. They even had nutritional yeast to sprinkle on top. You can also see my organic pear cider in the background. It was quite crowded inside, but other than that it was quite lovely.

For dessert, I got a scoop of maple vegan ice cream. It was extremely creamy and delicious! Even thought the photo's not great trust that it was amazing!

Today, Heidi, Lindsey, Becca, and I went to the Tea Rooms off of Brick Lane to see Ms. Cupcake. This is a photo of my cupcake - peanut butter chocolate flavour! It was so amazing!!!

This is Lindsey's cupcake - raspberry flavour. It looks fab, right?










Well, that's all for now folks! I'm sure that more will be to follow soon enough. I definitely have more food to eat before I get on that train to Heidelberg!