My hobbies and vegan

Ookpik

l thought I'll show you a painting of " Berwick upon Tweed" right on the Scottish borders of the NE. The original Lowery painting fetched 1,6 million quid .[lthink] This is one of my favourites because it shows what the people had to live in. A place is full of smog. and poverty. But today this place has clean air and is more vibrant 

Tori_Scope

Thanks for sharing the vegan recipes @Ookpik I'll have to take a look!

Ookpik

I'll have a go at making some vegan mince pies from this recipe. l never tried this before, due to my disability, but l am sure my wife will mainly do the work. l can always supervise with the added danger of my wife shoving a bowl of flour in my face. Hey!, but that is the consequences l have to accept.

Morgan's Vegan Mince Pies

Morgan Shelly, model and clean beauty guru, shares her vegan mince pies recipe.

 

As Christmas rolls around, so does the imperative purchasing of mince pies. Mince pies are a treat like no other. Their spicy, chunky filling surrounded with a buttery crust beats hot-cross buns and any other festive special in my books. These vegan and gluten-free mince pies give you the exact same satisfaction minus the dairy and double the goodness. They’re easy to make and will make you the dessert king/queen this December.

For the pastry:

• 2 cups of chickpea flour
• ¼ cup of melted coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons of maple syrup
• 4/5 tablespoons of water (use more if needed)

For the filling:

• 1 cup of raisins
• 1 cup of sultanas
• 1 cup of almond flour 
• 1 tsp of vanilla essence 
• 1 teaspoon of mixed spice
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• A pinch of salt
• 1 Tablespoon of maple syrup
• A splash of water
• Optional: 1 shot of whatever alcohol you have - I used whiskey but brandy, vermouth or even Aperol/Campari would work

Method:

For the filling:

In a small saucepan, add the raisins, sultanas, alcohol, maple syrup and vanilla essence. Slowly cook this down on a medium heat. You can add a splash of water as you go to help soften down the mixture. As soon as the raisins and sultanas start to soften, add your spices and almond flour. Cook this down until everything becomes smooshy and spicey. You’ll know when you have the right texture. Leave aside to cool.

For the pastry:

In a large bowl, mix all of your ingredients for your pastry. Using your hands, work the pastry until you have a putty-like texture. Place your pastry in the fridge or freezer to chill. Grease 6 sections of a muffin tray with a good amount of coconut oil.  Once cooled, remove your pastry from the fridge or freezer and save 1/4 and place that back in the fridge - we'll use that for the stars on top at a later stage. Roll out the other 3/4 until about 0.5cm thin. Using a round cookie cutter, or a glass, cut out 6-7cm rounds. Add this disk to your muffin tray, creating little pastry pockets. If the pastry breaks, you can use extra pastry to build up areas that look weak.

Don’t worry if the pastry unevenly overlaps the edges - these crispy bits will be amazing once baked! Repeat until you have 6 mince pie pastry cases. **** the bottom with a fork and then place in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes. Set your oven to 180ºC.

Putting it all together:

Remove the pastry cases from the fridge (you can run a knife along the top of the muffin tray to remove the overlapping pastry and neaten up the sides but this isn't necessary.) Bake for 10 minutes until the pastry cases are golden brown.  Once the cases are baked, leave to cool for a few minutes. Remove the remaining pastry from the fridge and roll it out to about 0.5cm thick. Using a star-cutter, cut out stars to place on top of the mince pies. Once the pastry cases are cooled, fill to the brim with the filling making sure to press the filling down right to the bottom. When filled, top with a pastry star, brush with a little maple syrup and bake for a further 15-20 minutes or until the stars on top are golden brown. 

When they're done, cool in the tray and remove when ready to indulge and enjoy. 

 

L_Volunteer

They look wonderful @Ookpik

I particularly like the stars on top!

Libby_Alumni

Yum @Ookpik they look lovely! Definitely a lot more professional than mine  

Ookpik

l been occupying myself in the shed carving away little ornamental birds for the Christmas tree. They're not that good, but l did rush them a little due to the little time l had for the decoration. 
Blackbird, long-tailed tit, Bearded Tit, Golden Orielle, Tawny Owl, Golden Crest, Robin, King Fisher, and some little make Believe birds

66Mustang

They are really good

Ookpik

l was inspired by a member on the Springwatch website painting feathers. And l thought l would have a go at it. lt not as good as the person l learnt from. But ,l think the first attempt is somewhat not bad at all
 

Libby_Alumni

Oh wow, I missed both your posts @Ookpik  

The birds and feathers look amazing! SO detailed and refined. I love the butterflies and glitter on the feather. Did you enjoy painting the feather?

Ookpik

Painting the feather was a challenge .Libby_Scope But l managed to do it with certain tools l have to steady my upper body. These feathers are from the birds in the back garden my wife and l attract. They shed feathers at a certain time of year, and that is when l collect them to create art forms. The best feathers are from the crows. l enjoyed painting this one, and others will follow.

Alex_Alumni

Amazing work @Ookpik

Thanks for sharing, I know crows sometimes have a negative reputation but I think the shine on their feathers is very pretty. And they're supposedly very intelligent as well! Looking forward to seeing more as and when

Libby_Alumni

The feather looks fantastic @Ookpik and you've done a great job I can imagine with the black crow feathers, the paint will stand out more and there will be more of a contrast in the colours? Looking forward to see your next project  

Ookpik

l am just waiting for the crows to shed some of their feathers. l do hope they are kind enough to shed the big ones. Also, the pigeons have some remarkable tints of colour . Mainly springtime this happens. My next painting on the feathers will be hummingbirds on flowers. And when l had enough of feathers "Only For A Short While" l'll probably go onto carving charcters

Libby_Alumni

I have my fingers crossed for you. I guess when they do shed some feathers, it will be that extra bit special. Are pigeon's feathers mainly grey/white? I can't wait to see it  

What is your favourite piece of woodwork that you've ever produced?

Ookpik

Hello Libby.
l really have no favourites, but this one seems to be close to being the best. lt is a man in the Victorian era, that love drinking ale. Which gives him the appearance of a Toby Jug. l also carved an owl on a branch. 
Some of the pigeons that come into my garden are quite attractive. with feathers that have patterns on them. l had one last year with blue and light brown and a tinge of white. The feather l would like is the Jay. Their feathers are outstanding.

Libby_Alumni

Oh wow @Ookpik he looks like a friendly chap! Do you use the mug a lot or does it take pride of place somewhere? So much detail has gone into that work, it looks amazing  

I've just googled a Jay bird and they're beautiful. I assume they're quite rare? The blue/turquoise in their feathers is so pretty.

Ookpik

He stands proudly on the shelf in the kitchen "Like A Good Luck Charm" while my wife is busy in the kitchen cooking up some lovely grub 
l don't think the jay is rare What the jay does is wait just above him on a branch looking down at the squirrel eating. And once the squirrel had his fill, he jumps off the branch and onto the nuthatch gorging as much as he can before the squirrel comes back. They all have their little personalities.
Here is another painting l made years ago on wood. The wood was a part of a wooden fence someone was throwing away, l made good use of that wood making things out of it. like a hog house, birdhouses and other paintings etc.lt is amazing what can be someone's rubbish is another person's treasure.
The picture tells a story. lt is about the hand of nature offers us a home of love to care for it and live in harmony with what was given to us. This is what l see in my mind what human activity can do living in harmony with natures creation of life. That is the story
 

Libby_Alumni

That's lovely @Ookpik I'm sure your wife cooks some lovely grub too!

Haha, how cheeky of the Jay bird, but also representative of their personality. Nature is so wonderful - I just bought a book called 'The nature fix' and it details our connection with nature and the importance of exposing ourselves to nature for mental/physical health benefits. 

The picture looks incredible, well done! How is it painting on wood compared to other materials? My dad has a similar hobby to you and collects beach drift wood and makes it into all different types of things. He also collects sea glass and makes necklaces and other things with it it is amazing what you can do with some creativity and nature's resources  

Libby_Alumni

This is a picture of my Dad's 'drift wood otter' @Ookpik  

L_Volunteer

Aww, some really wonderful creations! Thanks for continuing to share your photos with us