yummmmmm....

i was inspired yesterday when i came across a very quick and easy, no-bake chocolate cheesecake recipe - vegan of course... so i had to make one (with a couple of minor changes) and this was the result... berries would have been a nice topping but i only had chocolate chips (and they only went on one piece - should have melted and then drizzled the chocolate over!!!) still, simple yet delicious - although i did have the munchies at the time so perhaps anything sweet would have been delicious...

my (slightly altered) recipe...

1 1/2 containers soy cream cheese (i used tofutti)

150g of dark dairy-free chocolate (i only had sweet william and only about half the required amount - and it's really only good for 'emergencies' - now a good quality raw dark chocolate would have made it richer - next time!!)

big slurp of dark agave syrup (i only had light syrup on hand but it's not as dense and full-flavoured)
approximately 8 plain biscuits (e.g. leda golden crunch or mcvities digestives)

3 tablespoons of nuttelex
cake tin or dish (in hindsight i should have lined this with baking paper!)

crush the biscuits until crumbs

mix the crumbs with the nuttelex until it all sticks together

pat down the crumb mixture on the bottom of the sandwich tin

place in freezer until finished next part of the recipe

for the filling:

place cream cheese in a mixing bowl

melt the chocolate and fold into cheese

add agave syrup
mix thoroughly

take the crust out of the freezer

pour the mixture into the sandwich tin

level out with spoon

put in fridge for 3 hours to set;

after set, top however you'd like and enjoy!!!

and no, allie and i haven't eaten it all - yet!!! for all her other elderly infirmities me old girl's sense of smell is amazing - that nose twitches away - then she's off the couch and on a mission - doesn't take her long to zoom in on her target!!! even shadow doesn't mind the filling (fuck the biscuit base he reckons though!!)

this'n'that...

had a very pleasant afternoon visit from larry the librarian on monday - we shared a bottle, some food, had a smoke together and caught up on each other's lives (i'd have more regular updates if you went back to your blog you 'turncoat' twitterer and facebooker!!!)

it was me mother's birthday on tuesday so it was a trip around to spend a bit of time with her... 'armed' with flowers, gifts and a bag of books from a friend (there's a library in the community room so once she's read them they go downstairs for the rest of the residents - all donations gratefully accepted!!) - it was only a short stay though because she get's really tired... she did ring the next evening to say what a thoroughly enjoyable time she had - doesn't take much these days - kidney disease is giving her a 'rough ride'... here's a few more early pics of her...

at a work ball with a friend approx. 1947

she can't remember the year this one was taken but the fashion was very WAAAF inspired...

taken around 1949...

i received an email from a friend on wednesday evening that led me to an article about smoking 'tailor-made' cigarettes that every vegan and vegetarian should know about...

"Cigs contain pig's blood, academic says. 

Cigarettes may contain traces of pig's blood, an Australian academic says with a warning that religious groups could find its undisclosed presence "very offensive"

University of Sydney Professor Simon Chapman points to recent Dutch research which identified 185 different industrial uses of a pig - including the use of its haemoglobin in cigarette filters." ... read more here

i was horrified... guess i'll have to think about a return to rolling my own ... i used to smoke rollies - champion ruby or drum menthol depending on how the mood took me... is there no end to the heinous uses humans will put anything animal to??

i came across a really good vegan recipe site yesterday - the post punk kitchen - i'll definitely be trying out some of the recipes from here...

i 'lashed out' and bought an ebook the other day - after seeing the beautiful pictures of the 71 recipes contained in the book (yeah, pics only on this site - you have to pay for the book before you get the recipes!!) - i just had to have it - they look mouth-watering...

"Gunter took up a Pastry Chef apprenticeship in 1971 and when he immigrated to Australia in 1987, he started his catering business “Gunter’s Gourmet Gateau” and later, “Gunter’s Cafe and Continental Cake Shop” on the South Coast of NSW.

In 1999 his dedication to a vegan diet inspired him to continue his passion for baking and adapting traditional recipes to his vegan lifestyle."

guess i might have to make something to take into work one day.... yeah, one day... until then i'll just drool over the pictures!!!!

i had a bit of a 'meltdown' at work on wednesday - allie had a wee regress - back to weeing in her sleep (that'll teach me for changing the lounge and bedroom around and don't i feel bad!!!!) - worry about her, judy and life in general got me really down, totally depressed and unable to cope with work on thursday (i had a wee regress too)...

but then Sailor Lily called in yesterday afternoon bearing some lovely treats to cheer me up - such a lovely thought... thanks Lil, the loving earth chocolate is quite delish and part of their philosophy is - "Conscious Consumerism : healthy - sustainable - fair - the 3 fundamental principles of Loving Earth and define the strict criteria, which we use to source and develop all of our products" - everything is vegan, gluten free and low GI... they're a melbourne based company that believes in fair trade and they work with indigenous communities here in australia and around the world... you can read more about them here...

okay, now i've spent some time blogging i might start reading jilliane hoffman's newest novel 'pretty little things' ... so enjoy one of the only things worthwhile from this christian (but once pagan Eostre) celebratory time... a 4-day long weekend!!!!!

It's been a crazy week.... and this is just a short post!!

Is it the weather????

It's been absolutely frantic at work this week - haven't even been able to relax at home!!!! What IS going on???

Ooooh, maybe it's been far too much chocolate for everyone - could that be the reason they're so 'hyper'????

SEE, religion IS bad for you - if it wasn't for christianity, there wouldn't be all that chocolate in your face for months!!!

And can you believe this - chocolate coated potato chips!!!!

Don't you feel sick just thinking about it!!!!

And while I'm adding a graphic, here's another one from Care2's retro e-cards that really took my 'fancy'...