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I also make the vegan pastry from cranks, can't remember the recipe but I just do it by eye basically adding equal parts oil and water I sometimes make my own, but quite often I use Sainsbury's own brand ready made - the standard shortcrust and puff pastry are both dairy-free (obviously not the one...

Yes, mrsflibble, I can help with dairy-free recipes! Tell me what kind of things you like to eat, and I'll try to come up with something suitable. (I'm vegan though, so if you want meat in your dairy-free, you'll have to work that bit out yourself!). So... Pasta? Curries? Pastry? What shall we have?...

Hmm. Vegan cheeses are almost universally horrid. I've tried so many of them and have decided that it's easier not to bother. Having said that... There's a brand called Cheezly, made by Redwoods. This is without doubt the best of the vegan cheese replacements. The other brands all seem to taste acti...

I think with strawberry jam, there's a real risk of that happening. So you're advised to leave it to cool for 10 minutes before bottling it, then give it a very good stir to redistribute all the fruit...

I get very het up about elections and people not voting. In my view, it's not just a right, it's our responsibility to do it. I've voted in every single election since I turned 18. Having said that, I do think there ought to be a 'none of the above' box. If there were, that would force the greedy co...

I think I found some in a bottle of white wine vinegar that I had kept in the kitchen for about a year... does it look like a white cloud, suspended in the vinegar? Dunno, Annpan! Mine is in red wine, so I can't really see what it looks like - it seems sort of blobby. And I've heard it described as...

Well, according to the things I've read in France, it does seem that everyone has one of these mothers lying around, so finding one there is supposed to be easy. And, according to a website I was drifting through the other day, if you don't have a mother, one will create itself if you leave a mixtur...

What did you want to be when you were "all growed up"? What do you do for work now? Editor Who introduced you to Selfsufficientish thinking? I suppose it was in The Good Life, when I was a child! What was the first thing you ever planted? Alyssum seeds, when I was about 4 What was the firs...

I'm very excited. I've just got back from a week in France, where I became the proud owner of a small glass jar containing a vinegar mother (and a little red wine vinegar). I've got the perfect pot to put it in, and apparently I just feed it with red wine whenever there's some open (so that'll be mo...

No sign of the books - Amazon are supposed to have sent them 1st class, but presumably didn't.

I've sent an email asking where they are - let's hope they show up soon... And when they *do* arrive, I'll have the knitting needles out before you can say knit one!

Thanks to all - I'll let you know when the books arrive and I've made a start. And if I can manage it, I'll post some piccies of whatever I end up with (good or bad!). Can't wait. Keep expecting the postie to knock on the door with them at any moment. And then I'll be doing no work at all while I re...

Has anyone here tried felting? I've just ordered a book which has patterns for bags which you knit and then felt - it sounds fantastic, and I wondered if anyone here had any experience of it?

Any thoughts/advice? (Other than 'read the book when it arrives'!)

Ta
MLH x

Graye - would it be possible to canvas for a vegan option, rather than something which includes dairy?

For example.... a vegetable curry pie? or an italiano pie, containing tomatoes, onions, herbs, peppers, olives etc? Or a vegetable and bean chilli pie??

Just a thought!

MLH x

Here goes: 10oz (300g) shortcrust pastry 3/4lb (that's three quarters!) (350g) potatoes 1lb (450g) onions 3 tblsp (45ml) olive oil 1oz (25g) butter or margarine 1/2oz (that's a half) (15g) parsley, chopped 4oz (100g) grated cheese 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 tblsp (15ml) milk salt and pepper Roll out...

Hi Graye

I'm pretty sure there's a recipe for them in my old Cranks' cookbook. Shall I look it out for you, or would you prefer to wait for an authentic wartime one??

Lemme know. I'm just off to look in my book...

MLH x