We have our friends Mark & Gary staying with us for a few weeks before they move into their new house. Mark is veggie and Gary is vegan, so me and Thomas have been have been putting our cooking skills to the test to knock up some tasty vegan dishes!!

As a cook, I find it really interesting experimenting with vegan dishes. It makes you think about alternative ingredients which increases your culinary knowledge.

So far we’ve made Fennel Sourdough bread, Sweet Potato Thai Curry, Green Pepper Udon Noodles, Roasted Mediterranean Vegetable Pasta and Mushroom & Celery Risotto. The only time I wasn’t completely vegan here was when I added some butter and Parmesan to my bowl of Risotto, I couldn’t resist! Gary enjoyed his vegan version though!

I’ve also eaten tasty vegan food when I’ve been out and about recently. I enjoyed lunch at Leeds Corn Exchange’s Hummus Pitt with a Hummus and Falafel bowl https://humpit-hummus.com. We then went to one our favourites, Corner Cafe on Burley Road last Friday night, where we shared some delicious vegan curries https://www.cornercafeleeds.co.uk

Garden Update:

Seeds are finally down in the garden! We have a separate pots for Mint, Basil and Rosemary. Mint can apparently go a bit wild so the advice is to grow it away from everything else! In the wooden raised beds there are Onions, Courgettes, Rocket and Thomas favourite Chard. I’m a complete novice to the world of growing your own veggies so let’s see how it goes!!

Matt Healey at The Beehive, Thorner

My latest review for Leeds Living was a visit to award winning chef Matt Healy’s new venture at The Beehive. The Masterchef the Professionals 2016 Finalist, has opened his third eatery in Leeds in just over a year. Read about how we enjoyed our evening at this gastro pub in a Leeds pub that’s steeped in history.

Matt Healy Opens The Beehive at Thorner

A Surprise Trip Away!

For the first time ever, I’m off away this week with no idea where I’m going, other than it’s somewhere in Europe. I’ve always fancied the idea of rocking up at an airport and seeing what last minute flight I could get (although modern day travel doesn’t allow for this anymore!). Thomas has planned the trip as a surprise for a big birthday that’s just around the corner (the big 40!)

All I know is that we have 2 nights this weekend in London, I am on the train down as I write this blog. On Monday morning we are then away somewhere for 4 nights!!

It’s been nice not having to plan a trip for once, and exciting not knowing where we are going!!

Keep posted for the next blog on where we end up!

x The Messy Cook x