Just over 2 years ago now I wrote this post discussing the various reasons why I'd given up eating meat. The cruelty, the environmental impact etc etc. Now, anyone who has read the latest issue of The Idler will know the secret we had been keeping until it's publication... Andy and I have both eaten meat in the last year. Several times now in fact, and in no way by accident like we often did while we were away. No, indeed, this was fully intentional devouring of charred flesh. What has happened? Well a number of things really. Firstly we spent several months travelling around the UK WWOOFing with the intention of picking up hints and tips for gardening our way to self sufficiency at some undefined point in the future. Along these travels we saw animals kept in the respectful way they should be, children being brought up knowing exactly where their food came from, including the explicit gory details of the animals' execution (which, by the way, didn't seem to upset them in the slightest), we also thought a lot during that time about whether or not a strict vegetarian diet for the UK to feed itself was really possible. ...

Not that I'd usually want to spoil the ending of a story, but I couldn't wait to show this - Rachel's first loaf of bread, fresh out of the oven at the end of our first venture into bread making workshops. Perfect, light and crusty. Wow! [caption id="attachment_1542" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Perfect!"][/caption] It was a pretty amazing day really. In the space of an afternoon we managed to make a plain white loaf, a dozen rolls, bread sticks, a focaccia, tortilla wraps and some nachos! All turned out great. Rachel certainly was a natural - she has great baking hands. Watching Rachel and Andy's synchronised dough kneading it was difficult to tell who was teaching who. [caption id="attachment_1521" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Synchronised bread making"][/caption] Even the kids got stuck in. Beth helped cut dough into strips to make bread sticks, which Ellie then did a marvellous job of shaping and adding grated cheese to make them extra tasty. [caption id="attachment_1534" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Beth makes bread sticks sticks"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_1536" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Beth and Ellie make the breadstick shapes and sprinkle cheese"][/caption] Even little Lily helped, she made the important decision that lemons were indeed too yakky to be added to the mix. [caption id="attachment_1520" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lily discovers lemons are ...

And so it began... Just over a month ago now, on the Summer Solstice of 2009, a group enthusiastic picnicers gathered on Hoxton Square, London, under the red and white flag that was the symbol of the first event, "A Taste of Things to Come". An anarchy symbol morphed into a picnic bench to spell out the intention - no longer were we fools to the robbery of overpriced bars and restaurants serving up expensive drinks and salads of limp lettuce and unripe tomatoes. No longer will we be slaves to the supermarkets. We won't eat your pre-packed out of season processed food and snacks. We will reclaim the power of good, simple, local, seasonal food and show it off in fantastical picnic extravaganza! At least that was the idea. As the man at the local offi pointed out after questioning the significance of our lovely little red badges, our choice of lubrication for the event was arguably off theme, "Ah a picnic to promote local food! Excellent idea... I see you have chosen 8 cans of Jamaican Red Stripe to compliment your food". Hmm.. seems we still have some way to go. "But it goes with the colour scheme" is not ...

I can't believe it! I feel as if I have been being robbed, lied to and generally deceived. It's a conspiracy. They know what they are doing and they do it anyway. I wonder how they thought they'd ever get away with it? Maybe I'm to blame. Maybe we're all to blame. Who knows? But what is for sure is that it won't be happening anymore. What what what? What has happened? What happened was this. Today we mixed some plain flour and some water in a bowl, kneaded it a bit, left it a bit, rolled it out and dry fried it. And you know what happened? We made lovely, fresh, soft, tasty tortillas. It was easy. AND they tasted REALLY nice. I'm MAD. £1.69 it is for a pack of 6 Old El Paso tortillas. £1.69!!!!! It cost us about 25p to make the same amount. GRRRR. How can this have happened? At what point did we become so insecure of our cooking/baking skills and so dependent on other people making things to sell to us that someone worked out they would be able to sell something to us that is so cheap and easy to make yourself. Seriously it would take more effort ...

"A Taste of Things to Come" is the first (hopefully) of a series of events I plan to organise with the aim not only of getting a group of friends together to have a picnic, but to bring people together in a space where they can share their ideas and hopefully inspire each other and the way they choose to live. This is an open invite event. All are welcome. Just turn up on the day, or there is a facebook event you can sign up to for more information. Come loafe with us on the grass. Join us for an afternoon of fun in the sun! It's a gathering of people bringing together good food and good conversation. Bring food to share, drinks, your own plates cutlery etc, a nice rug and an open mind. We have a lot to talk about. If possible food should be home made, show off your marvelous cooking skills! You lucky London people have lots of lovely markets to choose from so get some good local seasonal produce and cook up something special! If you really can't cook just bring some fresh raw fruit or veg to share. Everyone loves a few crunchy carrots! Food markets: http://www.urbanpath.com/london/food-markets/ What's in season? http://www.eattheseasons.co.uk/weekbyweek/26.htm How to find ...