almost vegan little travels

The kitchen's almost ready... one more day of finishing touches, but since Saturday, we've had running water in the kitchen again : )
Did any part of the UK escape the snow storms? It's been so picturesque, all the cars and houses look regal iced, the quantity of snow is just so unusual- it was amazing to see it drifted rightup to the front door!

Of course the cold calls for some real comfort food:
We've enjoyed lentil pie- a lovely red lentil and veggie mixture topped with potato as in shepherds' pie, plus mung bean dahl mixed with shortgrain brown rice today. (Cooked mung beans, sauted with some spices, water, lemon sugar... forgot to add the jar of passata I'd bought today, which makes it richer, but the boys happily devoured it anyway: )











Broadstairs was beautiful (we hired a cottage for the first week of the kitchen work being done). Cold of course, but still wonderful and more or less we got into a routine of spending an hour on the beach making sandcastles before going to one of the cafes. The boys loved 'Morelli's' in particular. A real old style ice cream parlour, which apparently hasn't changed in decor since the fifties. The boys really do love ice cream. At home, we only buy swedish glace because its vegan and we all love it, but when we are out and about its very unlikely to find vegan ice cream, unless of course you're in a veggie or vegan establishment. Morelli's, being Italian, offered gorgeous looking coffees, however no soya milk. (When I asked the lady behind the bar if they had it, she shook her head, her body language signalling 'don't be ridiculous!') No matter. I developed a love of americanos. Sometimes all the froth of a capuccino gets a bit much anyway!


Broadstairs was full of lovely cafes, with no chain in sight, and although I love 'Costa' etc for a quick fix, it was nice to be in a place with independent cafes. In the holiday cottage (it was very, very nice, I'd recommend it... a three minute walk from the beach) there were some copies of a local rag called 'the broadie' and there was an article within which made an interesting read. Called 'How to spot a dfl ( 'Down from London') it went on to list several ways of spotting them... including descriptions of young families with posh buggies, blackberry owning, skinny cappucino seeking people who couldn't appreciate the essence of the town because, somebody claimed, it takes twenty plus years to be accepted as a 'broadie' by the locals! Quite an insight into local views of visitors... although there was some ambivalence because the article did acknowldege the boost to businesses that tourism brings to the town. Well, our buggy is old and tired, I don't have a blackberry, and we were just visiting (not buying a house for a holiday home! But ah.. dream on!)

It was a beautiful place to be...of course things really open up in the summer, but there were plus points to a January visit- it was easy to get around, and we were the only people making sandcastles every day!