Adult Colouring Book review; The World of Fairies by Ruth Sanderson.

cover

I received this book in exchange for an honest review (which I am delighted to so do)

This book is published by Golden Wood Studio in the USA.

It has 16 images , all of which have duplicates so there are  32 colouring pages in all . A few images are as follows.

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Here’s one I completed; I used Derwent Coloursoft Pencils. They glided over the paper, there were no bumps in the paper’s texture or imperfections .

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Coloured by Mary Taylor-Lee

The paper in this book is top rate; any  colouring media would be possible; ink(such as Faber Castell Pitt Pens or Inktense pencils), regular coloured pencils (I use and prefer Faber Castell Polychromos or Derwent Coloursofts)  , water colour pencils  (again Faber Castell Albrecht Durer water pencil crayons) and definitely regular water colours . Marker pens (water based )such as the ones made by Stabilo or Staedtler would also work well. I would be hesitant to use Copic markers unless you have tested on a separate page first.

I have been colouring in adult colouring books for a long time and really admire both this artist and the book.

The pictures are all beautiful and make one want to dive in and start colouring straight away. I like that there are duplicates, as if you have a favourite (and who wouldn’t ) the possibility exists to colour the image two different ways!

She is the first artist whose work I have encountered who draws such charming and graceful fairy faces . I look forward to more !

I really recommend this book.

 

available through the artist at :

https://ruthsanderson.com/

 

 

Vegetarian meat loaf..

carview.php?tsp=I bought a great cookbook in Costco about 2 years ago.

‘It’s called 330 Vegetarian Recipes for Health, published by Hermes House. Its a lovely British production which really reminds me of that other esteemed publisher, DorlingKindersly., simply because it is a great encyclopaedic aid for all the types of ingredients you might want to use in vegeatarian and healthy cooking.

It lovingly photographs each item and explains all information in detail. Then the recipe section , has a ton of tempting ideas

Anyhow, I made a “meat loaf” and we liked it so much that I have gone to that page again and again, so that the recipe itself is almost obscured by spilled ingredients and often, it’s hard to even open the page as it has somehow glued itself to it’s neighbouring pages using the handy spilt ingredients as a very effective glue.

I do have various cookbook protectors and contraptions to hold the book while cooking but somehow they never get used.

Here’s the recipe;carview.php?tsp=

“A great vegetarian alternative to meatloaf. Works great as leftovers as well. If you don’t have a food processor, you can mash up the beans with a potato masher.”

Ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 onions, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 celery ribs, finely chopped
  • 14 ounces kidney beans, canned (in Canada, our cans of lentils and kidney beans always seem to be processed in 19 oz cans. You COULD remove the extra beans and use them for something else OR adjust the recipe accordingly)
  • 14 ounces lentils, canned
  • 1 eggs
  • 1 carrots, coarsely grated (I put in more of everything, because I use more beans..)
  • 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, finely grated
  • 1 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon ketchup
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F Lightly grease a 9″x5″x3″ loaf pan.
  2. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onion, garlic & celery and cook gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat and cool slightly.
  3. Rince and drain the beans and lentils. Place in a food processor with the onion mixture and egg and process until smooth.
  4. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, add all the remaining ingredients and mix well. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
  5. Spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and level the surface. Bake for about 1 hour, then remove from the pan and cut into slices to serve.
  6. Can be eaten hot or cold.

It is SO yummy; husband and all and sundry have approved it….

recipe experiments

carview.php?tsp=Don’t you hate when you try a new recipe and it DOESN’T turn out?  You begin with such high hopes, and assemble your ingredients(can you tell that I am a cooking show junkie, lol) carefully,

You(I say you but, of course, I mean myself. Hopefully my dear readers,  you will have had a similar experience) have learned, over the years, that it is MUCH better to so do than to be suddenly faced with a task such as peeling and chopping apples, while your pan with a batter containing (among other things, baking soda) languishes coldly upon the counter, its rising abilities reducing by the second….(did you not read the recipe? Another wise thing to do.  😦

But I digress.

Its not nice to labour over a difficult recipe(or even , it could be an easy one, but you don’t know this, because it is NEW to YOU)  only to have it fail. Yikes.

If you have a sweet significant other, as I do, they are now faced with the onerous task of gamely sampling the disaster, trying to hide the horror as they eat, all the while , bravely telling you that, “no honey, it is DELICIOUS!!! ”

But happily, the recipe that I tried this afternoon, did NOT fail.

It was (and is, as it still exists, but won’t for long) a carrot cake but one made with healthy ingrdienets, and NO SUGAR and minimal oil AND spelt flour.

A recipe by Ania Catalano

This moist, luscious cake is a tropical twist on an old favorite–made even better with Agave nectar and wholegrain flours.

Serves 8 – 10

Pineapple Coconut Carrot Cake:
3 cups carrots, finely grated in food processor
½ cup unsweetened, canned pineapple, drained well and chopped
½ cup unsweetened, shredded coconut (plus extra to garnish outside of cake, optional)
2 cups sprouted spelt flour or 1 ½ cups barley flour and ½ cup oat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoons cinnamon
¾ cup light Agave nectar
3 eggs
½ cup canola oil
1 cup non-fat plain yogurt
1 tablespoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Lightly grease two 9” cake pans with canola oil ( can use an 13×9 pan)
Mix together carrots, pineapple and coconut in a large bowl
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon
In a food processor, blend Agave nectar, eggs, oil, yogurt, and vanilla
Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir to blend
Add carrot mixture and stir until combined
Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 30 – 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean
Let cool in pan, then invert onto platter
Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 8 oz. Package cream cheese at room temperature
½ cup light Agave nectar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Cream together butter and cream cheese
Add agave nectar and vanilla and beat well until creamy
Refrigerate frosting for about ½ hour to thicken (if needed) before frosting cake
Spread frosting in center of the two layers and over entire cake
Sprinkle with coconut, if desired

DELICIOUS!!!!! RECOMMENDED for anyone,…..