Food Product Review: Rude Health MultiGrain Crackers (Vegan & GF)

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

VAST ~ Ecstasy
Willie Nelson ~ Whiskey River (Live)
Thunder ~ Dirty Dream
Stevie Nicks ~ Rooms On Fire
The Union ~ Holy Roller
Elkie Brooks ~ Don't Cry Out Loud
Stevie Ray Vaughan ~ Leave My Little Girl Alone (Live)
JET ~ Get What You Need
Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa ~ Nut Bush City Limits
Thirty Odd Foot Of Grunts ~ Things Have Got To Change
Jewel ~ Do You
Train ~ Sing Together
Neil Young ~ Harvest Moon
Dave Gahan ~ Endless

I sometimes despair at the gluten free offerings although I do admit it is better than was when I first tried to give up gluten. I shudder with nausea at the memory of the sponge bread and how awful every mouthful was. It was seriously that bad...cutting up a shower sponge and spreading jam on it would've been preferable. Yuck! OK so it's come a long way since then...lol. 

Although I am by no means fully GF I do make a conscious choice to have a gluten free option where possible. We recently invested in a bread machine and we have been experimenting with a few different vegan/GF bread mixes and recipes. Throughout all this I have discovered that I can eat, enjoy and digest Spelt. So last night the bread machine was fired up and a vegan Spelt loaf was made. I will report back on that on Saturday. Today is about GF crackers...

In my archive I have a smashing GF cracker recipe which comes from the Oh She Glows kitchen. I really enjoy them but I have to be well enough to make those. So I have been picking up the offerings from our health food shop and maybe that is what made me despair because the only ones I could get were Buckwheat or Amaranth 'air' shards. The Buckwheat variety are so crunchy that I often end up fearing for my gums...then I tried the Amaranth version and they were slightly softer but still...not enjoyable. Recently during one of our stop offs at the health food shop we found a new cracker sat next to the others.

Crikey indeed! lol

Rude Health's Multigrain Crackers at first look are reminiscent of the old style rice cakes. Well they are round..lol But they are thinner which I prefer and the taste is a good rounded flavour instead of the blandness of rice cakes. They aren't salty and they hold their shape when topped. All plus points for me...they are also slightly more filling than a rice cake which is also a good thing as with rice cakes it is sometimes like eating air. (Unless they have peanut butter and chocolate spread schmeared on them. Thanks go out to Trustworthy for introducing that concoction to me! Grrr. lol) Ahem...anyway...when I tried these I felt like pitching the boxes of the alternative crackers straight into my kitchen bin..or at least break them up and leave them out for the birds. I didn't but that is how much nicer and more satisfying these crackers are. 

Two of the many toppings I've tried so far...

My favourite toppings to date are Smooth Cashew Nut Butter with Sliced Banana and my recent find Edamame Avocado Spread with Sprouted Lentils & Beans. Delicious. lol. 

There are three other varieties in this range and they also sell a number of gluten free and vegan cereals although not all of their products are vegan! But they don't claim to be a vegan specific company. Check out Rude Healths website. Even when I am up and about full time I know I will still be buying these crackers and trying to find new and inventive ways to top them...Oh! And they are also great dipped into homemade soups...lol 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Friday is a great one...I am escaping R & R HQ for a few hours and visiting historic York whilst ML is at a meeting. Cannot wait.

~Red~

Rocket & Rose's Tamari Vegetable Stir Fry with Crispy Smoked Tofu

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Jace Everett ~ Just A Little Less Lonely
Louis Armstrong ~ I'm In The Mood For Love
Shelby Lynne ~ Go With It
P. Diddy ft Nicole S ~ Come To Me
Feist ~ 1234
Joan Jett ~ I Still Dream About You
Gordon Haskell ~ How Wonderful You Are
Holly Williams ~ Railroads
Joan Jett ~ Love Me Two Times
The Eagles ~ Love Will Keep Us Alive
Sugababes ~ Stronger
Nirvana ~ Lithium
Sandi Thom ~ Gold Dust
Anna Nalick ~ Breathe (acoustic)

Today is a good day for no real reason..it's just a good day. I still feel lousy physically but emotionally I feel good. After getting myself together I made it into my kitchen again and I think I was actually wearing a smile the entire time I was in there. I know being in the kitchen is some peoples idea of hell and I get that. Ask me to sit at a table doing jigsaw puzzles and I would be tearing my hair out..lol But for me food related kitchen work is one of my Zen places...stood at the counter with a sharp knife in hand..slicing or chopping veggies and I am one very happy chick. So with my time spent in the kitchen everyday this week...my smile is massive.

Last week I threw together a veggie stir fry and I had forgotten just how much I enjoy them and have been craving another since. This time I wanted something a little different. I obviously wanted it to be crammed with veggies but I wanted to keep the flavours subtle. I wanted the delicate flavours of the veggies to come though but I also wanted another layer of flavour. I had recently bought a packet of Organic GMO free Smoked Tofu and usually I use it as a binder in a veggie pattie recipe. But as I was pulling the veggies from my fridge my instinct told me to grab the tofu too. Unlike me...as I very rarely use tofu this way.

One of my issues with tofu is the texture. I enjoy it as a binder but as a stand alone ingredient I still struggle. Guest host and good friend Dev has cooked it and I have enjoyed it very much but my own attempts have always been...ok. They have usually been marinated and baked until the texture has hardened. It's the soft squishy texture that I don't enjoy. I never 'fry' anything..not even shallow fry if I can find another way of making a recipe work. But in my mind I wanted crispy strips of tofu to complement my stir fry. (I even get hinky calling stir fries a stir fry..lol I tend to part steam/saute them instead) But there was no way I would be pouring oil into my wok and then frying the little strips I had cut. I did add a little sunflower oil to my strips, put them in my wok and kept them moving over the highest heat and within minutes I had crispy strips. Marvellous.

This stir fry has subtle flavours but there are plenty of them. It has many different textures and all of them are enjoyable. I also threw in some pumpkin seeds at the end of cooking. I devoured every last bite and I'm happy I am finding my stir fry love again. Some classics are irreplaceable but sometimes we forget!

Rocket & Roses Tamari Vegetable Stir Fry with Crispy Smoked Tofu

Rocket & Roses Tamari Vegetable Stir Fry with Crispy Smoked Tofu 
(Original recipe from the Rocket & Roses Vegan Kitchen)

No fixed amounts for the ingredients...quantity to your own personal need

White cabbage, shredded 
Green cabbage, shredded 
1 onion, sliced
Beansprouts, handful
Carrot, grated
Mangetout, handful
Babycorn, handful

1 tbsp tamari 
drizzle of Sriracha sauce

1 portion of smoked tofu
1 tbsp sunflower oil

pumpkin seeds, handfull

Take your smoked tofu and cut off one portion if it's marked like mine was..otherwise cut off a quarter of the tofu. 

Handy pre-portioned tofu slab. lol

Then slice the tofu and then cut into thin strips. Toss then in the sunflower oil and place then into a very hot wok or skillet. I kept them moving by flipping the wok whilst I was chopping the veggies. When every side of the strips are browned, leave them over the heat for a couple of minutes longer and then scoop them out and let them rest on a piece of kitchen towel to absorb any remaining oil. 

Toss the chopped and shredded veggies into the hot wok and keep them moving over the heat until they have mulched down some and then add tamari and sriracha sauce and stir to distribute the sauces throughout the veggies. Serve the veggies up and top with the crispy tofu strips. Toss in some pumpkin seeds at the end.

Gratuitous foodie close up...lol

Enjoy! 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Thursday has been an interesting one...

~Red~

 

  

Rocket & Roses Baked Eggplant with Marinara Sauce (GF)

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Chely Wright ~ For The Long Run
Gina Sicilla ~ Addicted
The Band Perry ~ Lasso
Scissor Sisters ~ Filthy/Gorgeous
Joan Jett ~ Don't Abuse Me
R.E.M ~ Nightswimming
Pearl Jam ~ Rearviewmirror
Queens of the Stone Age ~ I Sat By The Ocean
Orianti ~ Shut Up And Kiss Me
Santana ~ Adouma
Lissie ~ Oh Mississippi
Billy Joel ~ Tell Her About It
Jacqueline Du Pre ~ Sicilienne
Europe ~ Roll With You

In my vegetarian days..gosh they seem so long ago now..lol...eggplant/aubergine was one of those vegetables that I would groan when served. It was always woody or chewy or a combination of both. It was up there with mushrooms, avocado and tofu for me...I was convinced I would never enjoy any of them. Ever! Nowadays I can enjoy tofu in its many forms as long as its not cold lumps of the white stuff...I enjoy it made into frittatas, omelette's, Spanish omelette and many other ways. Only this week I found a great recipe for enjoying avocado!! Hooray! Sadly I am still at odds with mushrooms...I don't enjoy the taste or texture so I fear that one is doomed. I can just about tolerate them thinly (I mean wafer thin sliced...see through!...) sliced in something with huge flavours. Eggplant or aubergine as they are known in England, I can enjoy them as long as they are in small cubes when in a stew...or melt in your mouth tender when stuffed. If there is a hint of toughness or chewiness I'm outta here. lol.

Back in the day my good friend Michael and his lovely husband Tim took on the mission of making me find my aubergine love. Michael is from a strong Italian/American family and was taught all the family's secret recipes and one being Eggplant Parmesan. He patiently reassured me it was vegetarian and that I would love it. One evening I sat at their dining table as Michael put the finishing touches to his masterpiece...my heart sinking with the thoughts of "Oh god what if I really don't like it..." because he had poured love into every step. I had to admit though it smelt so good when it was baking in the oven. Finally we sat down to eat and I overloaded my plate with salad so that my piece of eggplant would be a small one..lol. (What a brat!! lol) Tim cut my serving and placed it on my plate and he and Michael did the one thing I really didn't need...they waited for me to take my first mouthful...(I hate people watching me eat..)..I told them to get their own plated up and I would wait for them. As they faked busy I sat staring at my plate...it smelt divine...but it was still eggplant. I picked up my knife and fork and carefully cut off a small piece and brought it to my lips and then went for it. I bit into the most delicate and beautifully flavoured thing I had ever had cooked for me. I actually groaned with pleasure as I ate and cut my next piece. Michael never stopped grinning all night and even called his Mom back home and reported in that it had been a huge success. Cute! I never ate anything else when dining at their home from then on. lol. I wasn't complaining because it was nice to be cooked for. Over the years I have tried many other Eggplant Parmesans and never had one to equal it. I am always disappointed. I am a one Eggplant Parmesan girl...Michael's and always will be. Then I became vegan and the point was moot. Of all the cheeses from back in the day Parmesan is the only one I miss because it was sharp in flavour and never went gloopy or fatty. And I always bought the veggie option. Recently they have started to sell vegan Parmesan in our health food shop and although its sharp...its strong and I mean strong...1 tsp of the stuff is enough to overpower and destroy a dish made for 8! It's ok but it's not great.

I have been craving Michael's food of late. Maybe because it was the ultimate comfort food or because its that time of year...I really don't know but it inspired me to try and make something in honour of that lovely evening many years ago. So this ones for you Michael..Peace, Love & Light..wherever your soul is now.

I wanted mine to be simple, easy to make, healthier (Sorry Michael and Michael's Mom) and not be based around the whole cheese factor. So I made a choice to leave out the cheeze completely and for it to be used as a condiment at the end if desired. I also wanted mine to be Gluten Free. I decided to dip mine into a Low Fat Italian salad dressing then coat with Quinoa flakes. My method of cooking the eggplant was simple..onto a tray and baked in a hot oven. My marinara was, as always, the K.I.S.S Marinara sauce from Isa & Terry's Veganomican cookbook. It never fails and is always perfect in flavour. So I take no credit for the sauce. lol.

It worked! OK its a long way from Michael's heady dish but its a damn good version and the eggplant was tender and succulent and the quinoa flakes worked a treat. Combined with the sauce...well..Oh Yum! lol. And you get to enjoy leftovers in a sandwich the next day, should you choose.

R & R's Baked Eggplant with Marinara Sauce...perfect with a side order of steamed veggies.

Rocket & Roses Baked Eggplant with Marinara Sauce
(Original recipe from the Rocket & Roses Vegan Kitchen..except for the sauce..) 

2 medium eggplants, cleaned and sliced into rounds
Low fat Italian dressing to coat
Quinoa flakes to cover

K.I.S.S Marinara Sauce:
1 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
1/4 tsp dried oregano 
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp low sodium salt (my preference)
1/2 tsp sugar (optional) 

vegan Parmesan (optional)

Preheat the oven to 2oo'C/400'F/GM 6 and prepare two large baking sheets. Stray lightly with a spray oil. Take your slices of eggplant and then dip them into the dressing and brush off the excess on the side of the bowl and then place them into the quinoa flakes and cover each side and then place onto the trays until all slices are coated. Place the trays into the hot oven and bake for 9 minutes and then take them out and carefully flip them over and swap the trays around on the shelves for even cooking. Bake for a further 9 minutes, checking at the five minute mark to make sure there is no burning. (I baked mine for a further 5 minutes and then turned the heat off...and left the door ajar as I finished making the sauce and steaming the veggies. They were perfectly cooked at this point) 

They should look toasty like this! Golden brown discs of eggplant.

In a saucepan heat the oil and then add the garlic...keep it moving until it's lightly golden and fragrant. Add the tomatoes, herbs, salt and sugar and pepper and stir well to combine. bring to a simmer and cook without a cover for 15 minutes.

On a serving plate ladle a small spoonful of the sauce and then layer with slices, repeat and then put a little more sauce on the top of the stack. If using...grate a little vegan Parmesan cheeze on top. Serve with steamed veggies. 

Gratuitous foodie shot...enjoy...lol

Enjoy! 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Wednesday is a good one...

~Red~ 

 

Heather's Edamame Avocado Spread

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Anna Nalick ~ Shine
David Guetta ~ Sexy Chick
Portishead ~ Cowboys
Rufus Wainwright ~ Complainte De La Butte
Feist ~ Past is Present 
Annie Lennox ~ Wait In Vain
Black Drawing Chalks ~ Cut Myself in 2
Sting ft Annie Lennox ~ We'll Be Together
Foo Fighters ~ Over and Out
Lenny Kravitz ~ Where Are We Runnin'
Ini Kamoze ~ Here Comes The Hotstepper
Newton Faulkner ~ I Need Something
The Stranglers ~ 96 Tears
Madonna ~ In This Life

I am sat here in my chair, laptop balanced precariously, nibbling pumpkin seeds with one hand and sipping my barley tea with the other whilst writing this posting on this damp, cold wet day...and I am feeling quiet happy with my lot. The day didn't start to well as I'd had a bad night health wise which meant I had to cancel plans with my friend A...and also the plans I had with the gang this evening. The city we are moving to hosts a yearly fair and we were all meeting up to walk around and take in the rides, sideshows and just general atmosphere as we do every year...but I'm simply not well enough and reluctantly had to admit it. So after the decision was made I was a little blue...but thankfully I was able to get some sleep and woke up later feeling, physically just as dreadful, but not so blue. I was determined to get my ass in the kitchen and have my time spent in there because it's been making me so happy...and I did indeed make it. I am shattered now but it was worth it...lol. 

Can you get addicted to pumpkin seeds?? lol. I am feeling very virtuous sat here typing away..because I made a spread using edamame, avocado and sprouts. It was a powerhouse of goodness and for the first time I can actually say I enjoyed avocado. I have it in smoothies but other than that I struggle and I want to like it so badly. 

I found this recipe via my Pinterest account and knew instantly I wanted to try making it. I love trying out recipes from other peoples kitchens and for the original posting of it please visit Heathers website.  It's a great site chock full of healthy recipes and great advice. I'm writing up the recipe using the ingredients I used but for the exact original recipe simply follow the previous link. I really enjoyed this spread as it was rich but fresh, not too salty or sweet...it just seemed to be packed with flavour without any one ingredient obviously taking over. I tested mine on GF crackers this time but can't wait to try it in sandwiches and wraps. This will be made often..thank you to Heather at HealthyVeganRecipes.net for a great recipe and for getting me over my avocado thing! lol. 

Heather's Edamame Avocado Spread

Heather's Edamame Avocado Spread 
(Recipe from HeathyVeganRecipes.net)

1 cup of edamame beans (frozen and shelled)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp water
1 avocado 
2 tsp sweet white miso
1 tsp fresh ginger, micro grated
1/4 cup fresh coriander
1/2 cup of fresh mung bean and lentil sprouts 

Leave the edamame beans to thaw overnight. Puree them with a little water and the apple cider vinegar until roughly chopped. 

Add the miso, ginger and avocado and puree. Add the fresh herbs and sprouts and blitz again until you have your preferred consistency. I left mine a little chunky. Taste to check the flavouring for your personal requirements. (I didn't need to do anything with mine at this stage..) Serve...

Gratuitous foodie shot...so good! Yum! lol

Enjoy! 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Tuesday has been a great one....

~Red~ the virtuous! lol 
 


 
 

Ms Dahl's Soba Noodle Salad with rainbow vegetables and sesame dressing...

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Glen Campbell ~ All I Want Is You
The Eagles ~ Doolin' Dalton/Desperado
Natalie Clein ~ Brahms: Cello Sonata: Passionato
Rob Thomas ~ Her Diamonds
JET ~ She Holds A Grudge
Harry Connick Jr ~ Don't Get Around Much Anymore
Lacuna Coil ~ Falling Again
The Animals ~ We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
Jem ~ Aciiid!
U2 ~ Desire
Bowes & Morley ~ Dancing The Night Away
Buckcherry ~ Timebomb
Buckcherry ~ Dead Again
Deap Vally ~ Women of Intention

Monday mornings are something to look forward to for me now, as my sister comes to visit for a couple of hours whilst the Littlest One is at her play group. The time speeds by but its much treasured time. Today I enjoyed our time whilst pottering about my kitchen and laughed as my sister pulled faces at the veggies coming out of the fridge. lol. Although she was a little resistant at trying a strip of Daikon at first...eventually she gave it a try. And as there was no obvious spitting it out, I think she didn't mind it.

I recently picked up a used copy of Ms Sophie Dahl's From Season to Season cookbook and yesterday I posted  the Baked Pumpkin recipe and was inspired to make another dish from this great cookbook. Today it was the Soba Noodle Salad that looked absolutely divine in the photograph although I always carry a healthy dose of scepticism about food photography, as recipes rarely turn out anything like the cookbook photographs. And maybe I should've chosen another dish today because it is cold here and pouring with rain...and maybe not the best day for a cold noodle salad. I don't mind...*shivering*..it will be just fine. lol.

I adapted the ingredients to fit what I had in my stores so I used buckwheat soba noodles, chinese lettuce and agave nectar. But as always I'll provide the original recipe for your information. I found this salad to be refreshing, crunchy and filling and the sesame dressing to be comforting. A great salad.

Ms Dahl's Soba Noodle Salad with rainbow vegetables and a sesame dressing

Soba Noodle Salad with rainbow vegetables and sesame dressing Serves 2
(Recipe from From Season to Season/Dahl)

250g/9oz soba noodles
1/2 large daikon, cut into thin strips
1/2 a small white cabbage, shredded
1 medium carrot, grated
a handful of radishes, thinly sliced
1 spring onion, finely sliced

3 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp brown rice vinegar
1 tsp tamari
1 tsp honey or agave syrup

Cook the noodles as per the packet instructions and then drain and leave to cool. When the noodles are cool place them in the bowl you are going to serve them in and add all of the vegetables - shredding, grating and thinly slicing. 

In a small frying pan, toast the sesame seeds for a minute or so. Add to the noodles. Make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients together, adjusting according to taste and pour over the noodles. Serve. 

Enjoy! 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Monday is the start of a great week ahead...

~Red~

NB: I sprinkled on some black sesame seeds at the end for the photograph but think I'll do so next time also.  

 

Ms Dahl's Baked Pumpkin with lemon, sauteed greens and toasted cumin dressing

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List: 

Chris Cornell ~ Like A Stone 
Maroon 5 ~ How 
Stevie Ray Vaughan ~ Say What!
Bowie ~ Loving the Alien 
Xtina ~ Candy Man
Foo Fighters ~ Everlong
Louis Armstrong ~ What A Wonderful World
Metallica ~ Whisky In The Jar
Hutch ~ Just One Of Those Things
Prince ~ Sexy M.F
Manic Street Preachers ~ Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
Shakira ~ Good Stuff
The Union ~ You Can Share My Dreams
Sarah McLachlan ~ Ice

I am sat here writing this post watching the dark grey clouds looming outside and the rain that's been coming down for the last few days...listening to my iPod...smiling at the selections of my shuffle function. I'm reminded how beautiful the world is by Louis...(I'm a dark weather rain loving freak remember?! lol)..how, no matter how I am feeling physically, my mind and body can react to a great rock tune by Metallica..not to take life so seriously by Hutch...and that sharing your dreams with the one you love is a beautiful thing by The Union. Yep...I love music. 

I also love cooking and I was able to do some yesterday..well in a fashion. With the help of my trusty assistant Noo. My little niece is the coolest kid and when ML & I started to gather the ingredients together for this recipe, she was glued to my side asking if she could help and ...."Auntie Red can I do that bit? Can I? Can I? Show me how?.." To be honest its one of my greatest joys showing the little ones their way around my kitchen..(actually I was sat my dining table prepping with ML being my legs..lol Thanks ML)..I taught Noos Mum and our brothers kitchen skills when they were all little ones too. (Major age difference between me and my sibs)..and my brother stills remembers making Mushroom Risotto with me. Noo and I had a great time as we worked our way through the recipe and she listened carefully despite being a little over eager sometimes but for a four year old (nearly 5 Auntie Red! lol) she responded well to her first Knife Skills lesson and was confidently slicing veggies to her little hearts content. lol. Proud Auntie moment for sure. Anyway....lol 

This recipe is from the kitchen of Ms Sophie Dahl and from her cookbook From Season to Season. I originally found this book in my local library and booked it out and kept it out for a year! lol. Ms Dahl has a great mix of veggie (easily veganised) and naturally vegan recipes but also has meat & fish dishes. I believe Ms Dahl was once a vegan herself so she still incorporates those recipes in her work. I fell for this cookbook back then and reluctantly took it back to the library. And then recently I found a used copy for £2!!!! It was meant to be...

I had a small Harvest Squash sat in my kitchen which I had purchased for stuffing but when my copy of Ms Dahls cookbook arrived I knew exactly what it was going to be used for. So once it had been scrubbed and dried I set about slicing it with Noo carefully removing all the seeds to take home and dry out and plant...she's quite the keen gardener, don't ya know. Plus she believes that pumpkins are magic...and shes going to grow them for me so I can eat them and get better. Gotta love the little ones, eh? 

Now I adapted the recipe somewhat...in as much as I used a regular white onion instead of red for no other reason than its what I had to hand. I used a rubbed sprinkling of a little dried sage as I didn't have any fresh sage. I also changed the dressing slightly from using either ground cumin or cumin seeds to using a little of both and leaving out the creme fresh/sour cream. I also used a beautiful savoy cabbage as the green instead of swiss chard and kale...once again..because its what I had. And I left out the oil in the greens as I felt there was enough oil in the dish already in the baking of the pumpkin and dressing. But I shall write the recipe up as Ms Dahl intended. 

It's a beautiful dish with many layers of flavour and very filling. And as with all the other recipes of Ms Dahls I've tried...it will be a regular meal in this kitchen.

Ms Dahl's Baked Pumpkin with lemon, sauteed greens and toasted cumin dressing

Baked Pumpkin with lemon, sauteed greens and toasted cumin dressing 
(Recipe from From Season to Season/Dahl)

2lb pumpkin, deseeded and chopped or sliced
1 large red onion, peeled and chopped
a few fresh sage leaves, roughly torn
salt and pepper 
2 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds or ground cumin
juice of half a lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp of creme fraiche or sour cream (obviously vegan options, eh?)

2 tbsp olive oil 
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 handful of swiss chard
1 handful of curly kale 

Preheat the oven to 220'C/200'cfan/GasMark7. Put the pumpkin into a roasting tray with the onion and sage, season, and pour over the olive oil. Cook for around 30 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender. 

While the pumpkin is cooking, make your dressing. In a small pan on a medium heat toast the cumin seeds. This should only take a minute, and you will know its ready when the dusk of the cumin is roaming around your kitchen. Cool for a minute, then squeeze the lemon juice into the pan, followed by the olive oil. Put this into a jug or something and leave to the side, stirring the creme fraiche in just before serving. 

Now, the greens. In a big frying pan heat the olive oil and garlic. Throw in the greens and cook until tender, about 5-10 minutes. 

Take the pumpkin out of the oven, put the greens on a plate with the pumpkin on top and cover with the dressing. 

Gratuitous foodie shot...lol

Enjoy! 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Sunday has been a great one....

~Red~ & Noo 

  
 
 
 

Art: Hesther Van Doornum

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Thunder ~ A Million Faces 
Nerina Pallot ~ Human
Tina Dico ~ Break of Day
Steve Earle ~ Galway Girl
Artful Dodger ~ Please Don't Turn Me On
The Union ~ Cut The Line
Duffy ~ Stay With Me Baby
PCD ~ Hush, Hush
Sara Sant'Ambrogio ~ Perlude No 4 in B-flat minor
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band ~ Baby The Rain Must Fall
Doris Day ~ Love Me or Leave Me
The Kinks ~ Sunny Afternoon
George Michael ~ Outside
Alter Bridge ~ I Know It Hurts

Have you ever looked at a piece of art...someone's creation...and been so drawn in by it that when you do pull yourself away from it...you feel a physical and emotional snap? Like a stagger? And you know that if you look back at it, you will be pulled back in and not be able to fight it? You do? Phew..that's good because I thought it was just me. Oh..but you don't? Well then all I can say my friend is that you haven't experienced true art love. Keep trying...because when it happens you will never be the same. 

I found my love for art at a very young age as my mother is a very talented artist and back in the day it was mainly drawing but since her retirement she has found new talents in painting and pen & ink sketching. The woman is ridiculously talented..lol. But through her I found my art love and will forever be thankful for our completely covered in drawings shared bedroom/art room bedroom walls. lol. It became a passion for me and when I was a young teen I would escape across to the city and roam around the art galleries and find peace there. When my friends were looking forward to the new movie coming out..I was eagerly awaiting the new exhibitions. It was my secret happy place...and I protected it. It's just ironic that I can't even draw a stick figure...lol Ah well, I have other talents...

Right...recently I've had two new P&E moments as I call them and the first being a very charming artist Loui Jover who I am writing a future post about...and the second moment was a painting by Hesther Van Doornum. She is a Dutch artist who has an amazing body of work and has a unique style. I have been aware of her for a while and enjoyed the pieces I have been fortunate to view so far but yesterday I found a piece that just grabbed my mind and soul and held me captive...

Daring Spirit ~ Hesther Van Doornum

...yes...this is the piece. And every time I look into her face I am drawn into her gaze and feel completely helpless but to try and understand what she is trying to wordlessly say to me. The connection is made and I am lost in her...until I feel reality pulling at me and the connection is lost and I feel a deep sense of loss. An epic P&E moment...felt on every level possible. 

I enjoy many of Van Doornum's pieces and shall include two more for this posting but none have the same effect as the one above. The second one reminded me of a snapshot of a memory from long ago and it feels like Van Doornum has been inside my mind and pulled a thread and created this piece from there...

I remember you! lol

...when I look at this piece I can feel the back of the chair I was leaning against as this moment played out in front of me. It's quite surreal...lol. But another great piece in my opinion..

And lastly a piece I found just this evening and although it didn't have the impact the first piece did..I enjoyed it greatly...

You can see Van Doornum's unique style...

...maybe its the way she paints her characters and the use of her muted colours...and the emotion she manages to layer in..or maybe its the grey eyes in this one..lol. I can't put my finger on it, I just know that I enjoy and like her work very much and shall seek out past creations and wait with anticipation for future ones. 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Saturday is a splendid one...

~Red~