VO has closed for good!

VO stands for vegetarian orgasm and had the best vegan cake ever, possibly the best cake ever (as mentioned by a few dairy and eat egg eating folk).

It was also the place that was going to make our wedding cake. I knew that before I even met Mr T.

VO was the place were I would eat out once or twice a week when I first turned vegan. It was the only place I really longed for when I was in Hong Kong.

Admittedly they did make a few mistakes, including the move to gertrude street from smith st away from the smith st crowd. My guess is the biggest contributing factor to their downfall was the maker of the best ever vegan cakes leaving and only leaving one or two of his recipes, including 'the cake': peanut caramel nougart cake served warm with ice cream (soy or dairy).

As a result I along with probably a lot of other people stopped going so frequently. I did however still attend for 'the cake' and some of their other meal items.

I want to cry(please note I'm not) and as Jerome (recent VO cake addicted friend) claimed its the end of 'the cake era'.

Ex cake chef Mark where are you? Come back from Ireland and make a cookbook or start another restaurant or just at the very least make my wedding cake, hell I'll even arrange my wedding around your timing!

Tartex Pate I love You

For some reason last sat I had strong cravings for tartex pate, something I had two years ago and didn't particularly like at the time.

I drove around everwhere on sat with no luck finding it, I was devastated.

On sun I manged to get some from the health food shop on smith st (also have it at other healh food shops).

Now I am fully and trully hooked.

I'm onto my 3rd can now and have the 4th one waiting.

I've tried plain, herb, mushroom and will open the olive soon.

Mushroom is by far my fave and I don't even like mushrooms but they all taste amazing. Great on crackers and in a sandwhich (toasted or plain). My omni mother thinks it tastes a little like tuna. But i don't think its quite that fishy (never been much of a fan of fish).

It is added to my list of foods to serve for my house warming, for an apartment I haven't even started looking for yet.

I'm starting to think though perhaps I should try making some, this long weekend I will try the 'How it all vegan' recipe which I know I had at Ms Honey's years ago but can't quiet remember. Anyone else tried tartex and tried re creating it? At $4.95 per can its becoming a slightly pricy habit.



Disclaimer: I should probably say I've never had real pate, in fact the whole idea of real pate scares me so i can't compare it to the real thing.

Food Clarity

I've been thinking a lot about food lately. Well rather others thoughts about food. My theory is this: the majority of the population don't think much about what they shovel down their throat. They certainly don't see it in terms of what nutrition it gives you. Also little thought is given to where animals products come from (but thats another story). Instead, it something that has to be done quickly and often on the go. I remember when I first moved to Hong Kong how amazed I was by the fact that eating on the run didn't seem to be the thing to do. Even when people are eating foods from those stands (eg: fish ball stands) they tend to be stand around it eating it close by. I rarely saw anyone walking and eating or eating on the MTR or other public transport or anywhere rather than in restuarants or their homes. And this is Hong Kong fast paced Hong Kong.

I finally get it now though and this is going to seem so simple but food is fuel for our bodies, and minds.

Yes food also provides comfort among other things. I think the other problem is for people this becomes more about comfort than fuel for ourselves.

I used to be the same.

Not anymore though. I finally get it! Although it took me getting pretty sick (a few years) ago to get it.

Drinking on the other hand I still struggle with. I seem to forget to drink a lot of the times and I still struggle with water in particular but I'm learning slowly.

Anyway back to food. Last night I made miso soup. I've always eaten the instant type which is yummy. Now I realise it's kind of silly though because miso soup is perhaps the quickest and easiest type of soup to make.

I combined a few recipes and basically threw in some kale/chinese broccoli (instead of seaweed), carots into some water and cooked it for about 15 minutes. Then added the tofu, miso paste, and spring onions and cooked for a few minutes and whola it was finised and yummy and very good for you.

According to whole foods:

a little miso goes a long way towards providing your daily needs for the trace minerals zinc, manganese, and copper. In addition, a single tablespoon of miso contains 2 grams of protein for just 25 calories

I've also read somewhere that miso is supposed to be better than chicken soup for colds.

Happy CCC Day Mr T!

Today, a few years ago our relationship finally went from friends to partners and all because of a little miscaculation on my part.

Mr T and I had been friends for a while and had grown increasingly close over the last few months leading up that day. By this stage there was daily contact and a lot of flirting. Stupidly both of us though weren't completely assured that the other liked each other in that way. Anyway fast forward to April 5th.

Mr T had texted me and said 'I'm in causeway bay do you want to catch up?'. I of course agreed and I remember that day having someone sort of stomach upset so I sat on the steps below drinking my peppermint tea and waiting for him:



We had dinner together in this lovely Italian restaurant in my building that played old French music and talked and talked about everything. We then went to city super(supermarket) where I bought some soy chocolate choc chip ice cream (Us brand: Double Rainbow) and a few other things. He wanted to try the ice cream so we went to my place where we sat and talked and he tried the ice cream which he of course loved.

Eventually he reluctantly went to leave and to hug me as he usually did and to kiss me on the cheek. At the time however I completely misread the incoming kiss (aimed at my cheek) and kissed him on the lips. Thankfully he felt the same way and I only found out later of my mistake.

So why CCC day? In case you haven't figured it out: it was named after the ice cream.

Pak Choi flowers made by Mr T on a plate I got from Savers.

You win some, you lose some: baking

I've had a strong desire to bake lately.

First the chocolate chip cookies with macadamia nuts from vegan planet(below) rocked.

There was a lot more that were gobbled up while they were still warm.

Then the chocolate cupcakes from how it all vegan, which were horrible. I've made so many recipes from that cookbook and loved every one but this one sucked big time. All you could taste was the molasses. Big dissapointment!