A bit more about Sweeter than Oats
some low-grade nonsense that some people may or may not find of interest and the best pancake (crepe) recipe for Pancake Day
Let me pour you a coffee (ex-barista) and let’s chat.
Ok. So the first newsletters are always the hardest, so the song goes, or something like that. Fortunately I find it easy to write lots of crap down and quickly too. Which leads to the old adage that quantity doesn't always equal quality. Well, I'm keeping zipped on that one for now, but time will tell.
The point of this and other future newsletters (I am refraining from the word 'Blog' as it sounds so corny nowadays, a bit like the emojis that I also despise (but still use with aplomb)...but that's a whole 'nother post for a day when I'm overwrought. Don't worry, they come thick and fast)) is to share my 'diary' of cookery exploits.
Here’s a bit more about me, because you may not know much about the person to whose blog you subscribe (and thank you for that!).
When I first got married (2002) and left home, I had a few basic cooking skills which I had mostly picked up from home: the usual down-home stuff: spaghetti Bolognese, lasagne, curry, chilli (in those days just spaghetti Bolognese with chili powder. Oh and kidney beans). My now ex-husband was proving himself to be a real Mexican food aficionado and prepared enchiladas, fajitas, quesadillas etc. with effortless aplomb. So, it was with a competitive heart that I undertook cooking as a major hobby but it had been bubbling under for a while and I've always read cookery books as some people read existential novels (well, I read both but some are easier on the eye).
I had embarked on many other hobbies which I was mediocre at: photography, painting, aromatherapy. Either that or they just didn't hold my interest. It has been twenty three years since I started cooking in earnest and there is not hint of boredom setting in yet.
Whilst I adore books by the classic British writers: Elizabeth David, Nigella Lawson, Tamasin Day Lewis, Jane Grigson, Nigel Slater et al,. it seemed to me that most of these people had been brought up into a lifestyle where good food is taken as a standard and where eating in expensive restaurants is a regular occurrence. So, it is also with more than a pinch of envy for their early induction into good food that I am attempting to catch up with their palettes as quickly as possible. This is no mean feat.
I am an unconfirmed super-taster. It sounds like a cool thing: to taste everything acutely and lingeringly. Instead it is as irritating as a fly on a hot summer day. Despite several attempts, I could not bear the taste of game. I couldn’t drink dairy milk (thank goodness for soya milk). Curiously I can eat spicy foods and drink neat alcohol. It seems that my taste buds are also highly contrary. Some are super tasters, others defiantly not, some are sitting on the fence.
Yes, this is a random plate of green beans ↑
I also suffer from occasional IBS but I choose not to let this rule my life and I will eat as much bread, pastry, ice cream and pasta as I see fit. Not my stomach. My stomach can go to hell for all I care! Plus I take pills before each meal which is also a bold move against conquering my stomach issues. So, we shan't talk of it (my stomach) again. If we don't mention it, it will just go away. In theory.
The way I cook is erratic. I like to cook at least 3 or 4 different dishes each week, which is really all that time will allow me at present. I have found some recipes to be almost fool proof, others that are merely OK and some that are complete disasters.
What I’d love to do is share with you every dish that I prepare, the good, the bad and the icky. I'd also like to take a photo of each dish, just to add that element of hyper-realism but I suspect that this will never come to fruition.
Not only am I hopelessly and notoriously flaky when it comes to things like that, but also I tend to shove food in the pie-hole pretty much as soon as it is extracted from the pit of hades (also known as our current cooker. It came with the house, conversely as unwanted as a corpse under the floorboards or a poltergeist but also the most necessary item in the kitchen. It will be put out to pasture just as soon as funds allow). You would think that that alone would have killed off some taste buds.
So, that’s some of my food history but why do I follow a mostly plant-based diet? Initially and overwhelmingly it is always an ethical issue for me. I have been vegetarian since I was 12 with lapses in between. I admit that I still have lapses to this day when I can’t resist a Twix or something cheesy. I try not to beat myself up about it and move onwards as always.
Nowadays I just enjoy living a (mostly) plant-based life. I only cook plant-based food, and that’s helped by the fact that I know at least three people who are dairy or egg intolerant and so I have to be extra careful cooking for them. It just makes it easy.
I also enjoy the challenge of veganising a recipe so that everyone can enjoy it. And it’s the best feeling when you give someone a slice of vegan millionaire’s shortbread and they say it’s the best they ever had.
Pancake Day
I have already had pancakes for lunch! I worked from home today as I have thrown my back out doing literally nothing, but walking around helps a lot. That and Ibuprofen.
Anyway, here’s the link to my vegan pancake - or is it crepe? - recipe! Quick and easy to prep, I’m working on a savoury pancake dish too, watch this space!
Today’s Takeaway
The world I would like to occupy would contain a vast cross-cultural group of people enjoying plant-based food from all walks of life. People have always said that actions speak louder than words, but I’ve always thought that people should be judged on their intentions. Good people can make mistakes and do bad things with good intentions. Bad people can use good deeds to achieve evil ambitions. Stand by your principles, whatever they are. Don’t let yourself be swayed by people who seemingly share a common cause because it’s not always the case.
If you’ve read this far, you deserve a medal and I appreciate you!
Comment with an interesting foodie fact about yourself!
As always, the weekly newsletter is free to all subscribers, please share with all your friends if you think they would enjoy my content!.