VEGAN GINGERBREAD MUFFIN RECIPE IN COLLABORATION WITH HEATSOFT™ HAND MIXER BY BREVILLE (AD)
Disclosure: This is a paid advertorial with Breville. All opinions expressed in this blog post are my own and I was in no way influenced by the company.
Christmas is - hands down - my most favourite time of the year. I love the cosy feeling of sitting in front of the fireplace and drinking endless cups of tea. I also love hanging out with my family and finding an excuse to finally arrange that get together with my besties. Of course, Christmas is also baking season; I mean Christmas - Baking, they are practically one and the same, wouldn't you agree ;)?
But let’s be honest, Christmas can also be a bit hectic, which is why Breville created their brand new HeatSoft™ Hand Mixer, helping you save time in the kitchen by bringing all baking ingredients to room temperature 12x times quicker than usual. The aim is to take the stress out of baking and make it the joyful experience it was meant to be. Breville also promises to give your bakes a fluffier result, which got me even more interested and intrigued. So to see if Breville’s HeatSoft™ Hand Mixer is up to the intensity of Christmas baking and does all it promises, I put it to the test whilst developing the perfect vegan Christmas baking recipe (vegan gingerbread muffins anyone?) just for you.
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HOW TO MAKE FILLED VEGAN RICE BALLS + A COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY!
Ever 6 months or so I check my cookbook shelf to see if there’s a book that needs a new home. My criteria for passing a book on to a new owner consists of some pretty rigorous soul searching not unlike Marie' Kondo’s does-this-spark-joy-? method. The questions I ask my greedy cookbook-hoarding self are:
Have you actually cooked from this book in the last 6 months?
Flicking through it now, do you feel like putting on your apron and making magic happen in the kitchen?
Is the writing and/or photography so beautiful that - despite not cooking from the book since, like, forever - you JUST can’t let this one go?
If I answer ‘no’ to 2 or more of these questions, it’s time to part ways and create space for new cookbooks. One of those new arrivals, which I can tell you now I’ll NEVER let go of, is Mandy Lee’s debut cookbook THE ART OF ESCAPISM COOKING. Why? It’s stunning and the writing incredible and because I’ve been a fan of Mandy’s since I can remember.
What’s super cool is that Mandy generously agreed to send a copy of the book to one lucky winner. Yup, that’s right, YOU can WIN a copy of the book on the blog this week and find out for yourself why this one’s a keeper.
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VEGAN PUMPKIN CURRY IN COLLABORATION WITH MICROPLANE (AD)
Disclosure: This is a paid advertorial with Microplane. All opinions expressed in this blog post are my own and I was in no way influenced by the company.
When I write a sponsored blog post I have two core missions in mind. Firstly, to serve YOU with content that is helpful, valuable and interesting and secondly, to serve the companies I work with ensuring their message reaches people who’ll love what they do.
With those core missions in mind, I couldn’t think of a better collaboration than one with Microplane, whose incredible graters I’ve used in my kitchen for YEARS. And seeing that I know you love to cook and don’t mind an awesome giveaway or an amazing seasonal vegan recipe (it includes pumpkin you guys, need I say more?), I betcha’ll love today’s post!
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VEGAN DATE SYRUP SESAME TOFU POWER BOWL + A COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY!
If you love plant-based food, are partial to moody flatlays and adore scrolling through instagram, chances are you’ve come across Rakhee Yadav AKA @boxofspice’s super pretty feed and if you haven’t you’re in for a very special treat. Rakhee, a food blogger and food photographer living in The Netherlands, but originally from India, is known for her plant-based Indian food that she’s adapted to the herbs, spices and flavours available to her in The Netherlands. As a result, her plant-forward Indian recipes are less traditional and more rebellious than what you may be used to!
After years of sharing her recipes and photos online, Rakhee has worked with Page Street Publishing to bring us a gorgeous collection of her recipes and images in book form called Heavenly Vegan - Dals & Curries. And as luck would have it, Rakhee kindly sent me two copies of her debut vegan cookbook - one to keep and one to gift to YOU! Want to find out what the book is like and how you can win a copy? Then please read on…..
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LONDON CAKE STYLING WORKSHOP BEHIND THE SCENES - A SUMMER'S BOUNTY
There’s the romance of being a creative/photographer/stylist and then there’s the very grounding reality - how do we stay inspired, how do we keep pushing ourselves to do better and how do we avoid repeating the same tried and tested formula, making way for new forms of creative expression instead?
Though attending food styling workshops like the one Silvia and I taught late last month isn’t the answer to every creative stumbling block a budding food blogger or food photographer might come across, it IS indescribably nourishing and creatively stimulating to see the world of food through someone else’s lens.
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ARE INSTAGRAM ADS WORTH IT FOR BLOGGERS AND INFLUENCERS?
NOTE: This blog post is part 23 of my INSTAGRAM SERIES - content all about helping YOU manage your way around instagram. In the INSTAGRAM SERIES I've touched on subjects such as how much money should bloggers and influencers earn, how the algorithms really work and is your instagram account worth following. Just click here to find all the other parts in the series. Now on with today's post...
INSTAGRAM ALGORITHMS ARE AWESOME! Said no one ever! Or did they? Well, you may be surprised to learn that when I was researching the instagram algorithms for one of my INSTAGRAM SERIES posts last year I came across this guy on twitter who was raving about how awesome the algorithms are and how his blog traffic and business had exploded since they were introduced. WHAT!? I thought - as did a number of perplexed tweeters. HOW? He explained that he used instagram ads and promoted posts and noted that IG algorithms’ ability to target the right audience for his blog was incredible!
That different take on the algorithm stuck with me, so much so that when I heard THE social media expert Gary Vee REPEATEDLY say that entrepreneurs/business owners/probloggers who don’t use ads, are making a MASSIVE mistake, I took serious note. Was I playing it small by not going down the paid instagram route?
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EASY VEGAN GRANOLA WITH POACHED RHUBARB + A COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY!
What makes a good cookbook? It’s the question I asked on my instagram a few weeks ago as well as inside my creative community and it was so interesting to hear everyone’s thoughts. Some people felt that it’s all about the recipes which need to be delicious, easy and creative. Others believed that engaging writing was what set a good cookbook apart from a mediocre one, and yet others thought it was all about the food photography.
I believe a great cookbook should have all three - photos that make me WANT to cook, recipes that sound delicious, yet achievable and writing that warms my heart. Ryan and Adam, also know as Husbands That Cook, have just released their debut cookbook and it has everything a wonderful cookbook should have! And moreover, YOU can WIN a copy of the book on the blog this week!
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LONDON FOOD STYLING AND INSTAGRAM WORKSHOP / BEHIND THE SCENES
In the lead up to every food photography and food styling workshop I host right here in London, I’m always frantically running around till the 11th hour, sourcing the most photogenic food, getting the right food photography props and scouting the perfect lunch locations, whilst wondering if I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. But then, when students come from near and far, I realise it is all worth it and that I’d do it again in a heartbeat!
As I had such a wonderful time this March teaching the 3-day London workshop, I thought perhaps you'd like to see what happened over the course of those days, what the final shots taken during the workshop looked like and basically, what exactly went down. Ready to take a look behind the scenes? Awesome, then please scroll down and read on …
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VEGAN BROWNIES WITH AQUAFABA CHOCOLATE FROSTING + A COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY!
How do you follow up an international best-selling debut cookbook called Vegan in 7? With another fantastic vegan cookbook of course! Well, at least that’s what you do if you happen to be Rita Serano, vegan chef, cookbook author and plant-based instagram queen.
After the phenomenal success that was Vegan in 7, Rita decided not to rest on her laurels, but instead to write another cookbook - Vegan for Good - packed full of inspiring and delicious vegan recipes for longer, lazier weekends as well as busy, hectic weekdays. Seeing that I got my hands on Rita’s fab cookbook early, I thought I’d share my impressions of Vegan for Good and tell you how YOU can win a copy for keeps. Sound like a plan?
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