Yesterday Islay and I made sesame and kinako crackers. Well, the original recipe says ‘cracker’ but it’s more like biscuits. The original recipe is by ooLife who cooks organic food. http://oola.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2008/05/post_08a4.html

I doubled the amount of ingredients of the original recipe which claims it yields about 25 crackers, and yet I was only able to make about 30. Perhaps I should roll the dough thinner.

There are more cracker recipes on the internet and I would like to try savoury ones at some point.

Adjusted recipe (doubled amount)

A… 100g all purpose flour
A… 40g kinako powder
A… 2 tbsp cane sugar
A… 3 tbsp black sesame seeds
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp water\

Instructions

1. Pre heat the oven at 150.
2. Combine A.
3. Using hands, combine A with olive oil. Add water little by little to make a dough.
4. On the baking sheet, roll the dough to 2 mm thickness and cut it into squares. No need to separate them.
5. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes.

This week Islay and I made cranberry oatmeal bar (well, Islay was mainly picking at the bowl). It was super easy and delicious! It’s something Jon can eat, too. Just like the last time, I reduced the amount of sugar and I am glad I did that. I garnished some chocolate chips on top but maybe it’s better to mix them with the last layer. The original recipe is by Veggie Inspired (https://www.veggieinspired.com/cranberry-oatmeal-bars/).

Adjusted recipe for the cranberry oatmeal bar

A… 2 cups old fashioned oats (I used the porridge oats from Coop)
A… 1 cup white all purpose flour
A… ½ cup coconut sugar
A… 1 tsp baking powder
A… tsp ground cinnamon
A… ½ tsp salt
B… ½ cup coconut oil
B… ¼ cup runny almond butter
¼ - ½ cup dairy free milk (I used semi oat milk)
½ cups cranberry sauce
sprinkle of chocolate chips (optional)

Tools

I used two shallow baking pans -one for baking and one for pressing down. The original recipe recommends a parchment paper but it was totally fine without it.

Instructions

1. Pre heat the oven at 180.
2. Combine A.
3. Combine B (warm them up in the microwave if needed) and add it to A. Squeeze the mixture between fingers!
4. Coat one baking pan with oil. Make a layer of the mixture, cranberry sauce and the mixture. Press the the layers well.
5. Bake it for 30-40 (30 mins was good) and cool it for 20 mins before cutting.

‘I realised I was changing. She was teaching me to become sentitised to the other. Especially wild creatures.’

‘You slowly start to care about all the animals. Even the tiniest little animals… you realise that everyone is very important.’

‘What she taught me was to feel that you are a part of this place, not a visitor.’

I was browsing films on Netflix last night and suddenly a man with an octopus in water caught my eye. Having been fascinated by octopuses since I read about their lives last month, I was quickly lured to this documentary My Octopus Teacher. Wow. It was the most moving nature film documentary I have ever watched. By far.

My Octopus Teacher is about a strange bond between a filmmaker Craig Foster and an octopus. To heal from burnout and depression, Craig took a career break and came back to his hometown, Cape Town. One day, while swimming in a kelp forest, he stumbled across a ‘ball’ that was covered with shells. It was an octopus. Enchanted, he decided to come visit her every day for a year.

While watching it, various emotions were triggered. I felt curious, intrigued, happy, nervous, sad and empowered. As they gradually built trust in each other, the octopus started letting Craig witness her ordinal behaviours like hunting, resting and what it seems like playing. The sequence of her being attacked by a shark and surviving it was particularly nerve-wrecking and it really hurt me to see the magnificent creature being so weak.

At the end of the film, I felt totally captivated by the beauty of life and made me want to learn about wild creatures more.

Ehrlich, P., & Reed, J. (Directors) & Foster, C. (Producer). (2020). My Octopus Teacher [Motion picture]. Netflix.

Yesterday I baked an apple cake modifying the recipe by Loving It Vegan (https://lovingitvegan.com/vegan-apple-cake/). The reason of the adjust is the amount of sugar in the original recipe. I often find the American/European baking recipes contain way too much sugar!

The cake was tasty with strong flavour of brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. It goes really well with whipped cream or ice cream.

It might be an good idea to make baking a Sunday thing for me to do. It provides me and Islay with snacks for the week! I shall use the cranberry sauce in the next baking.. maybe a bar?

Adjusted recipe for the apple cake

• 2 and 1/2 cups (312g) All Purpose Flour
• 180g Brown Sugar (originally, 300g)
• 1 and 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
• 1 cup (240ml) Vegan Buttermilk (fresh lemon juice mixed with soy milk)
• 1/3 cup (80ml) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) Chopped Apple (Peeled)

For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping

• 1/2 cup (100g) White Sugar
• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp Vegan Butter (Softened)

Tools

I used two pound cake tins.