Seasonal greetings all rolled into one post!

 Rice paper parcels filled with day lily petals, coriander, ong choi leaves, 

eggless aioli and smokey tempeh. Part of our Christmas Day feast.

It's New Year's Day so, happy 2010 everybody!
We've had a week of friends and family and feasting, and it's all left me in a very good frame of mind for a brand new year.
I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, but who I want to be this year is calm, brave, compassionate and joyful.
My first big challenge will be my new series of heart-healthy cooking classes which start, very appropriately, on February 14. It's all about changing habits and I had time to think about that when I caught the ferry across Auckland Harbour yesterday to visit some friends and collect Mack. Normally I'd take the car, just because it seems easier (actually it's much easier and way more pleasant to go by bus and ferry and have someone else do the driving!). It was sunny and windy and I had such a lovely trip, and it reminded me to be willing to do things differently.

 Me and Mack on the ferry heading back to the city, 

all wind-blown and squinty-eyed.

This little mousse of mine

So good!

On Sunday, I'm going to be filming a little promo for next year's cooking classes and this is one of the dishes I'll be including - I figure if anything can get people signing up, it's chocolate mousse!

I topped it with my cashew cream and some orange zest. To be honest, the zest was purely there to add a little colour, but once the photography was done and Mack and I had gobbled up the mousse, we agreed it really added a lot to the flavour, too!

Anyhoo, without further ado, here's the recipe.

Chocolate mousse

120g (3/4 cup) dark chocolate

250g silken tofu

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

1. Put the tofu, sugar, vanilla and salt in a food processor and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary.
2. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (which can simply be a metal or glass bowl sitting over a pot of boiling water).
3. Add the melted chocolate to the mixture in the food processor and process again until well blended.
4. Pour into serving dishes and allow to set.

It's an easy way to impress the socks off anyone, particularly tofu-haters and vegan-doubters!

Exciting development

I love teaching cooking classes. For much of this year, I've been learning, on the job, how to teach. I've learned how thoroughly organised you need to be - but I also learned that it's not a complete disaster if an ingredient gets left at home (one class had the thrill of seeing me mime the making of split pea soup because I forgot the split peas!).

Anyway, on to the exciting news: in early 2010 I'll be teaching a series of three classes for non-vegans on how to cook delicious low-fat vegan meals. My very savvy friend Sjaan Evans is working on the project with me, bringing her nutrition expertise (she's studying for a Master of Human Nutrition) to the party. We want to help people with diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Can't wait!

I'd had teaching on my 'list of things I want to do' for quite a while - thanks SAFE for getting me started by asking me to teach a series of classes at the beginning of this year!

Hana and me. She organised the first lot of SAFE cooking classes for me and has assisted me brilliantly at many a class since then. Cheers Hana!

Channelling my inner granola-making Earth Mother

My boy Mack likes cereal for breakfast.

I hate shopping for cereal. It's hard to find one that he likes that is vegan, isn't full of sugar and evil additives without buying the expensive imported organic varieties.

Finally, I realised I should be making the cereal myself - doh!

It tastes great, I can use mostly organic ingredients without taking out a second mortgage, and we can vary the flavourings each time. (Mack loves to cook and my plan is that he'll help out and eventually take over the role of Granola Maker.)

Gourmet granola

2 tablespoons coconut oil (or vegetable oil)

3 tablespoons sweetener (I used shakkar, aka jaggery, aka Rapadura)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla powder (or vanilla essence)

Pinch of salt

Sprinkle of powdered ginger, ground cloves and nutmeg

1/2 cup walnut pieces

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1 1/2 cup quick oats

1. Melt coconut oil, mix in cinnamon, shakkar, vanilla and spices.
2. Add nuts and seeds, stir well so they’re coated with the seasonings.
3. Add oats and stir well again.
4. Bake 180C 10 minutes, stir and bake for another 5 – 10 minutes, until walnuts are crunchy.
5. To serve, add fresh and/or dried fruit.

Bonus pic of roadside roses. I always prefer to put my gardening energy into things we can eat, but I do love miniature roses. I saw these beauties while I was on a long walk yesterday.