Top 10 Eats of 2016

Well 2016 has definitely been a mixed bag food wise, I spent two months volunteering at Japan Cat Network, a cat shelter in Inawashiro almost 100 miles from the nearest vegan friendly restaurant, and I got food poisoning in Taiwan, but I also discovered a new-to-me cuisine, ate some of the best food of my life, and had some amazing culinary adventures. I'm looking into 2017 with a whole lot of uncertainty and anxiety, obviously the current political climate terrifies me, but on a more personal level I have literally no idea where the next year is going to take me. I don't think I've ever gone into a year with no solid plans at all, I have no idea where I'm going to be living, travelling, or working, but I'm excited about the possibilities ahead and as always I'm feeling lucky that I have choices to make.

Without further ado here are my Top 10 Eats of 2016. These are in the order that I ate them because ranking this short list would basically be impossible. The list also discounts anything I've eaten in previous years hence why Lagusta's chocolates, Vinnie's pizza, and the ramen from T's Tan Tan aren't on the list.

1 - Vegan Heaven in Taipei

I usually insist on picking one standout dish from each place for this list but every single thing I ate at Veggie Heaven was a delight. I can't choose. Don't make me! From the delicate coffee hazelnut macarons to the apple caramel cream cakes I didn't find a single thing that needed improvement. The owner and baker Li is also without a shadow of a doubt one of the nicest people I've ever met. Visit Taipei immediately. Order one of everything. You won't be disappointed!

Loving Earth Review & Giveaway

Whilst it was the gorgeous packaging that first drew me towards the Loving Earth stall at the Just V show earlier this year I was further sucked in by their ridiculously delicious chocolate bars - raw food has no business being this good! Their flavours range from the super dark 85% Dark bar all the way through to the Creamy bar which is made from 47% cacao and 23% coconut.

My veganism has always been driven by my love for animals first but my love for the environment comes in a close second. I know, I know, I fly a lot but I also pay to recycle all of the plastics, try to buy products in recycled packaging or, even better, with no packaging, I travel by train or bus whenever time allows, and I've never owned a car. What I'm saying is that whilst I was originally sucked in by the taste of these coconuty chocolate treats I've become a loyal customer because it turns out that Loving Earth really do love the earth.

Their whole philosophy is based upon respect for the environment and sustainability plays a big part in that. Loving Earth's bars come in 80g and 30g packs and all of their packaging is sustainable, the 80g boxes are made from post-consumer fibres and printed with vegetable inks and the 30g packs are compostable and made from cellulose from sustainably managed trees. Even the clear film the chocolate itself is wrapped in is made from a 100% renewable and compostable vegetable source.

2016 Vegan Holiday Gift Guide

Last winter I made a promise to myself to break out of old habits, to stop impulse purchasing things, and to try harder to support awesome businesses and people with my money. I have to say that I've been nailing it! I've been buying more stuff from charity shops, thinking about my purchases for longer, and I can't remember the last time I had anything from Amazon delivered to my house. I kept these things in mind when I put my gift guide together and I hope that you'd also like to give people things that they'll love, use, learn from, or treasure forever. Supporting both small businesses and vegan businesses is the best so over half of my gift suggestions come from vegan artists, chefs, and small biz owners who are doing really cool stuff with their time. I hope that you love these suggestions for your Christmas, Festivus, Hanukkah, Pancha Ganapati, or Yule shopping as much as I loved putting them together!

1. Lush Christmas Candy Box This sweet gift is stuffed with four gorgeous sweetie scented products including Snow Fairy Shower Gel, Rock Star Soap, the Luxury Lush Pud bath bomb, and the Candy Mountain bubble bar which really does make mountains of soft candy scented bubbles. £17.95 from your closest Lush store.
2. Adopt Don't Shop Tote This totes adorbz tote (yeah I went there) from vegan owned and operated store All Glamour No Guts is the perfect gift for the fashionable animal lover in your life. The classic black and white colour way goes with anything and it was designed by vegan artist Veronica Kolinska. Totes are £10 and 10% of that goes straight to the animals living at Hillside Animal Sanctuary.

Taking a Pause. Thinking About the Future.

If you've been paying attention you'll have noticed that I'm currently taking a pause from travelling. I'm not at home though - I'm not even in Brighton because my house is still rented out so I'm in a weird in-between place both physically as well as mentally.

Towards the end of my travels in Asia this summer I hit a bit of a wall. I still loved travel but I was really craving the sense of community that you get from staying in one place. I've always dreamt of having a close knit group of friends who want to arrange bake sales, host potlucks, watch movies, cook dinners, and go to protests together but I never really had that in Brighton.

Cooking With Friends.

I'm currently feeling super excited that I get to watch the seasons change from autumn to winter. This time last year I was in Thailand and I definitely missed all things autumn and winter; from bonfire night to drinking glasses of mulled winter punch on cold nights at home. The leaves are falling from the trees and the nights are drawing in and I'm loving spending evenings snuggled under a blanket reading by the fire at my sister in law's place.

When I've managed to pull myself out of my blanket cocoon I've been spending days in central London getting reunited with my old favourite food joints (and checking out some new ones), interviewing for the Christmas temp job of my dreams (cross your fingers for me friends!), and having a tonne of fun hanging out and eating with friends. Last week Randi and I made pizzas with the Miyoko's kitchen mozzarella I brought back from New York and whilst I didn't take any decent pictures you can trust me when I say that they were delicious. My favourite combo was pesto, potatoes, rosemary and mozzarella. So. Damn. Good.

My cooking adventures didn't stop there though, I hung out with Sal from Alien on Toast last weekend and we made both lasagne and lemon meringue pie. Two of my favourite foods ever. The lasagne was a true lazy person effort involving jarred béchamel, two blocks of Sainsbury's vegan cheese, and a homemade tomato sauce with sneaky hidden carrots and courgette. It was super good and I hope that we make it again someday. I didn't take a decent picture so here's a photo of my breakfast the next day. Yes, I am basically a genius!

The lemon meringue pie recipe we settled on was this one from the blog Seitan Beats your Meat, we chose it because you can always trust Kelly not to put a shitty recipe out there in the world. I'm kind of a renegade so of course I didn't read the recipe directions before I shopped for ingredients or before we started throwing things together in the kitchen so the 2 1/2 hour cooking time came as a bit of a shock especially as this was after "cooking" the pie crust (um, warming store bought pastry. Thanks Jus-rol!) and suddenly our lemon meringue pie dreams seemed doomed.

A Weekend in Paris

If you live in the South of England and a friend is visiting Paris all the way from the US of A then you kinda have to make sure that you're there to greet them with a vegan croissant and tips on where to find the best chocolate chaud. When that trip also coincides with another friends parent's visit to the continent then this applies doubly and explains why I recently drove to Paris to spend the weekend with Joanna (of Yellow Rose Recipes fame), Randi (I hope you read her hilarious blog), her husband Zach, and her parents Cheryl and Bob.

Whilst Randi and family were still en route to the city of light Nick & I met up with Joanna for dinner at Brasserie 2eme Art. Both this spot and sister restaurant Brasserie Lola are new additions to the Parisian vegan dining scene since my last visit way back in 2011 and what great additions they are. It's not often that you find the vegan spots situated on main streets and bustling corners, blending into the local area, and tempting people with their mood lighting and cosy patio heaters but here we are.