Ideal Home Show 2015

Let's never lie that one of the best things about blogging is the events you get invited to. Out of all the events I've been invited to the Ideal Home Show was one of the best, and someone clearly listened to my prayers and I was invited back for the 2015 show.

This year myself and the other bloggers were given our own private talk from Emily Rose Vintage, Zero Waste Scotland, Revolve and interior designer John Amabile of Amabile Design on how to upcycle our older furniture. Emily Rose Vintage (and her beautiful home) were already on my radar and she gave us a talk through her process for updating old furniture in her shabby chic style. Zero Waste Scotland were also there to talk about the Revolve trademark: a seal of approval second-hand shops can get to ensure customers that the 50 year old second-hand chair they are buying is of high quality.

TV interior designer John Amabile then took us into the main show and had a chat about each of the show rooms he had designed. They were all predictably beautiful and John talked through some of his thought process for each design. I also took away some interior design tips, like spacing and also cupboard handles (minimal handles are better in kitchens as there can be over ten handles in one kitchen - too many bright handles would be overpowering). Also, who wouldn't love bath right at the end of their bed?

Amy McGregor design

After our chat we were left to wonder at our leisure. This was also the same day as Eurovision and I'd be jetting off to Edinburgh later that afternoon so I had a quick sprint round. I didn't stop to buy anything but obviously still tried a few nibbles and chatted to a few owners, and picked up leaflets to consider at a later date. Some brands that did catch my eye were Amy McGregor, Boulevard Cuisine, Gin Bothy, Radiance London, Jaw Brew, Cochrane Cottage and MaRobert's. In the gardening section there was plenty of solar panels to be found. Being a renter I obviously can't install a solar panel but if I owned a house I'd be looking at alternative ways to source energy (my full time gig is in the utility industry, in case you were wondering why I was nosing at electricity products). Antaris Solar, SolarKing and Solar Electricity Systems are three brands to nosey at if you own and are thinking about solar panels. A more conventional gardening brand I came across was Glasgow Wood Recycling, who sell some really nice small and large wood products.

And finally I have to give a shout out to the organisers and brands who provided me and the other bloggers with a very generous goody bag. For me the most exciting product was the grow your own chilli pot from The Eden Project which will be added to my little balcony garden in the near future. Alongside that I also got a packet of chilli hot (vegan) chocolate. You'll also spot the gin from Rock Rose - an independent gin company in Scotland. I'm more of a rum girl myself but my mum is a gin drinker and her verdict is it has a natural/herbal taste to it but it's a very easy gin to drink (she took it with bitter lemon). I also received some Root Candles, which are made from beeswax but they also included some seeds to plant bee-friendly plants with. The artwork you see is by Betty Bay Design and is now sitting up on my bedroom windowsill, and the wooden heart from White Rose Creations is hanging off a shelf in my bedroom. Finally I received a sample from Stur to add to my water (it taste a lot more natural than most diluted juices).

Thank you for a great day Ideal Home Show and for the very generous goody bag!

mòrag

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The Linkables

An open letter to Dan from Gossip Girl (and introverts everywhere).

I love an inspirational quote but I still laughed at this video.

For any business blogger pals: building your dream mailing list.

I haven't managed to make it to the DJCAD degree show since 2012 but here's a recap from Christina and Helen.

So this is totalllly not safe for work and maybe a bit personal, but it's an issue a lot of women have dealt with and this is the only article I've seen on it: you vagina is not too 'tight', it's society which is the issue.

I'm a big supporter of the 5 Love Languages and this article reinforces why they're important.

Looking for a new TV show? Buzzfeed has you covered.

The idea of being a boss terrifies me, but that's okay.

Ireland voted yes to equal marriage last weekend, with some people flying home especially for it.

Bisexuality has been documented in many animals but biphobia only exists in humans. 10 animals who are proudly bisexual.

A cancer survivor designs the cards she wished she had received while she had the disease.

Maxim is embracing feminism and not screwing it up.

19 things people on anti-depressants wish you knew.

There's an anti-austerity march on the 20th of June in Glasgow.

The ever fabulous Ruth has introduced me to a fabulous new jewellery company.

Also new onto my jewellery radar is Dundee based Jane Gowans,who is a bit out of my price range but she also has a lovely blog to read through written by her in-house employee Ann Russell.

Listen to my girl Charlotte chat about blogging (and give yours truly a mention) on the RGU feminism radio.

Staying on the topic of Charlotte, her and my other girl Hayley have put together a bloggers book club.

Lauren chats about the cruelty-free products she takes away on holiday.

And Lizzie is having a cruelty-free themed giveaway for her blog's first birthday!

I'm still feeling deflated about the fact that foxhunting could realistically come back, but apparently some Scottish hunts have been ignoring the law anyway.

I've always found Game of Thrones difficult to watch because, you know, rape and such. But apparently there a lot more rape in the books.

UK Veg Gardeners is a thing that I need to join.

A shopping site that I've been loosing a lot of time to and might cost me quite a bit of my paycheck: Yumbles, full of indie food companies.

And, finally, if you're in Aberdeen I'm planning to stop by the Granite-City Comic Con on Saturday.

mòrag

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food

RECIPE: Vegan satay sauce

It's a commonly known fact that vegetarians and vegans need to be careful with some foods that contain meat but aren't actually meat. Most people know about gelatin but some common surprises across the vegan community have included certain alcohols, worcester sauce, hard cheese and...satay sauce.

The first time I ever had satay sauce was after my lifestyle change upon finding it in a recipe book but when I found a pre-made bottle in Tesco I discovered fish sauce on the ingredients list. So no store bought stuff for me. But I've noticed quite a few veggies getting caught out by satay sauce, which is best left alone in restaurants unless it's been confirmed it's 100% plant-made.

This recipe is actually one of my favourites to put together (you might have spotted it on my Instagram) and I almost always have these ingredients in my cupboards. Also a note that I cannot take credit for this recipe as I found it in a BBC Good Food recipe book I bought from a car-boot sale. It's from 2005 so I assume it's no longer in production (it appears to be one of these free supplements attached to a magazine).

My basic vegan satay sauce contains the following ingredients:

3 tbsp peanut butter

3 tbsp sweet chili sauce

100ml coconut milk (I use coconut milk powder)

100ml vegetable stock

2 tbsp soy sauce

And my method is:

1. In one bowl mix the peanut butter, sweet chili sauce and soy sauce

2. If you use coconut milk powder like me mix this in a separate bowl (if you're using prepare coconut milk, just include it in the first bowl)

3. Prepare the vegetable stock in another bowl

4. Mix the three bowls together

It's important to mix these ingredients separately as it can make the sauce lumpy if all of them are mixed together immediately.

This sauce can be used for a wide range of dishes but the dish I made in the photo above is the following:

1. Create the satay sauce using the method above

2. Put the noodles onto cook (if you're using pre-cooked noodles you can skip this step)

3. Heat some toasted sesame oil in a sauce pan and once heated stir-fry some ginger, broccoli, peppers, broad beans and sliced onions for three minutes

4. Add some chopped garlic and stir-fry for three minutes

5. Pour over the peanut sauce and bring to the boil

6. When the noodles are cooked, either add to the stir-fry and mix through or serve in a separate bowl

As I said, you can use this sauce in a wide range of dishes. One of my favourite vegetables to use is broccoli as it soaks up the flavours so well! So much I've been known to serve satay broccoli as a side dish. But other foods that also soak up flavours well include tofu, friend bean curd and potatoes.

Do you have any other satay sauce recipes? What was a type of food that caught you out when you realised it wasn't veggie?

mòrag

3 Comments

cruelty-free

Update to my cruelty-free brands list

Before I list this months additions to my cruelty-free brands list I want to to throw a question out there. How long do you guys think is appropriate amount of time to give brands to respond to an e-mail before listing them as a grey area? I currently wait two weeks as most brands get back to me within the first week (the bulk of them first three days!). However I am interested in hearing your views on this!

The following brands were all e-mailed on the 3rd of May so have had 20 days to get back to me. As you can see quite a few ended up in the grey area list. Some were because they didn't respond, but some brands did response however I had that feeling in my gut. Let me know if you want any further information on why I included a brand where I did.

Cruelty-free

100% Pure
Aromatika
Aromi

Grey Area

Alexami
Beauty UK
Bonne Bell
Charlotte Tillbury
Lottie London
Make-Up Revolution
Orly
SLG (owns Zoella brand)

Tests on animals

Palmer's

mòrag

1 Comments

the linkables

The Linkables

From here.

This is going to be a bit of a snorefest but here's a PDF on the developments in the Single Irish Electricity Market. (If you're into Scottish Independence you should inform yourself on the combined market between RoI and NI - it provides an example as to how Scotland and rUK could work).

Not sure what to say to someone going through a difficult time? Maybe this illustration of animals can help.

I'm totalllly not into meditating, but if you are I've found a free course which might just be up your street.

Currently I'm trying to get into Game of Thrones but not quite feeling it. The numerous rape scenes aren't quite doing it for me, maybe this show that claims to be quite feminist will do it for me instead.

I have just about zero interest in ever biologically reproducing but adopting a child is something I would consider. This post on open adoption was so touching.

Teaching is one job you couldn't ever pay me enough money to do. But if you are a teacher here's Tami on how she stays sane.

Hahahaha: tips for living with a blogger.

I've mentioned before that my mum went to work whilst my dad looked after me/the home. I've also dated men who earned less than me and dated men who earned more. Here's an interesting article on gender, relationships and income gaps.

Dundee made Buzzfeed: 21 Things to Eat in Dundee.

And something to eat in the kitchen: kidney bean and peanut butter burger.

When I'm blogging either on mo'adore or professionally, I sometimes spend more time proof-reading than I do writing! Here's some tips on proofreading which I wholeheartedly agree with.

Some honest words on blogging and PR.

Charlotte Church is awesome: here's her response to some journalist calling her a champagne socialist.

Y'all know that I'm not the biggest fan of ~~pseudo-science~~ detox diets and here's Heather's not so nice experience.

Luxembourg's Prime Minister marries same sex partner!

Christina has a very similar view that I do towards people who cheat their way to the top.

I agree: e-mails are better to discuss professional projects.

I couldn't give an eff about Girl Online, but when Gala Darling announces she's writing a book? Alllll over it.

And finally, after last week's Dundee themed post and some pursuassion on Twitter, I went ahead and made a Facebook group for Dundee Bloggers (something I've been considering for ages). If you're in Dundee or have a strong Dundee connection, go join.

mòrag