the Extended Circle - A Dictionary of Humane Thought edited by Jon Wynne-Tyson

I am inspired by the book 'The Extended Circle' A Dictionary Of Humane Thought edited by Jon Wynne-Tyson. It makes me think, it makes me cry. It is a collection of phrases, quotes and short stories about animals and the way they are treated, by humans. It is hard to read in places, and some stories have left a deep impression on me that will haunt me forever. This is the most harrowing tale I have ever read:

Joseph Addison 1672-1719
 A person who was well skilled in dissection opened a bitch, as she lay in most exquisite tortures offered her one of her young puppies, which she immediately fell a-licking; and for the time seemed insensible to her own pain; on the removal she kept her eye fixed on it and began a wailing sort of cry which seemed to proceed rather from the loss of her young one than the sense of her own torment.
Spectator, No 120, 1711

I will from time to time relay quotes and stories from this thought provoking book. Read it and weep.

Vegan Apple and Cinnamon Muffins for Dogs - But you don't have to be a Vegan Dog to enjoy them!

The wonderful Molly of It's a Vegan Dogs Life very kindly donated recipe cards to the Vegan Sample Bags and I have wanted to try one for quite some time. Finally earlier today, I got baking!

I had some ingredients ready, but the ingredients I didn't have, I decided to 'make do' with very similar. The main ingedient that was different was 'Corn Flour' instead of 'Corn Meal', I sort of thought they may be different, but decided to use it anyway, as I haven't seen Corn meal recently. I discovered that they are quite different in their results. Corn flour is easily available in UK and used to make sauces, or as a thickening agent, whereas Corn Meal is more popular in USA and used to add to muffins etc. So the end result was maybe not quite as it was supposed to be, but edible nonetheless. Also I couldn't find a non sweetened apple sauce, so I used a tin of apples, and doubled the amount, it seemed to need it, but that may be due to the corn flour! I also used plain white flour, as I didn't have any wholemeal flour in the cupboard, and couldn't wait to try out the recipe. So not entirely different, but adjusted to my cupboard! I should say also, that US recipes use cups as a weight measurement, whereas UK uses grams or ounces, I looked up 1 cup= 230g. I decided to quarter the recipe, as my dogs are small, and are a bit overweight already, also I only have a small 12 cake baking tray. That's why you can see pencil notes on the recipe!

I must say, they were really easy to make, very quick, and simple. Took no time at all. I put them in the oven and left them to bake. Now this is where the corn flour mistake made a difference! they came out very pale, and a bit sticky in the middle, even though they were cooked. I had to try them, of course, mmmm not bad, just another bit, mmmm quite nice, better leave some for the dogs!
Left them to cool down. Took the dogs for a walk, to work up their appetite and make them work for their treat!

When we got back the muffins were cool, the house smelled of apple and cinnamon, lovely! I got my camera, and tried to take some photos of the dogs eating their muffins, but they were too eager to wait, and would have had my hand off! Therefore the photos are not brilliant, but as you can see they thoroughly enjoyed their muffins. look at Maggie's eyes, she wild for the muffin! And I couldn't even get a photo of Kady with hers, I just wasn't quick enough, here's the best photo I managed:
The muffins are a hit!
Thank you very much to VeganDogsLife for the recipe. I've put the rest of the muffins securely away, and will ration them, so that Kady and Maggie can look forward to them over the next few days (assuming I don't eat them first! - only joking -as tasty as they are- I'll leave them for Maggie and Kady!). You too can treat you doggie companion by baking them a fab, tasty vegan treat, courtesy of It'sAVeganDogsLife, and either download a free copy (PIF), or buy a hardcopy. Your dog doesn't have to be vegan to enjoy them, they're a healthy alternative to mass produced junk food. Also Molly's website It's A Vegan Dogs Life is a fabulous read with lots of information, adorable photos, and wonderful insights. I thoroughly reccommend it.

Vegan Cupcakes really do rule the world (no need to take it over!)

This is my favourite recipe book. The cupcakes are amazing. I tend to stick to the basic vanilla cupcake with the buttercream topping or the chocolate cupcake, with ganache topping. I usually change a bit here and there, adding something or substituting something either for convenience (that's all I've got in stock) or to try it out or cos it's what i fancy. They have always turned out fabulous. So I can very highly recommend this book. There are superb basic recipes, also some very fancy cupcakes, with mouth watering pictures and easy to follow recipes. I'm not much of a baker, so if I can make a decent cupcake anyone can.


Today I fancied lemon cupcakes. Actually I've been fancying lemon cupcakes for a few weeks but only just got around to making some today. I finely shredded the rind of 2 unwaxed lemons. Then squeezed the juice from them. Quite a bit of lemon for a cake, but I really fancied the 'zing' of lemon with the sweetness of a cake. I used the basic vanilla cupcake recipe from this book, leaving out the almond essence (I find it too overpowering- even in small amounts), and added two-thirds of the fresh lemon juice and rind.

For the topping, i used the 'lemon cream cheese frosting' recipe from the above book, but added a bit more sugar and the rest of the fresh lemon. I already had some vegan soft cream cheese in the fridge, which has a sweet taste, and not savoury as I was expecting it to be, so perfect for cakes, or even a vegan cheesecake. I found this dairy free spread at Waitrose, it's new product to me, so I don't know where else they sell it.
The recipe for toppings in the book, are always generous in the amounts that they make, so unless I want lashings of a topping, I will half the ingredients. Today, I went for the full amount.
The cakes cooked in about 20-25 minutes on a low heat. they smelled delicious. I waited for the to cool down, then added the frosting, which as predicted, the recipe made a bit too much topping. Still, it was nice, no, it was more than nice, it was delicious. Sweet and Zingy, lemon cupcakes with lemon frosting, perfect!

To see this recipe and lots more, check out theppk.com, where you will find this book, and lots of other recipes. The ppk.com is a wonderful place to interact with vegans. There is a forum, blog, shop and much more. Very funky cool.

This amazing cupcake book is available at Amazon. Which is a convenient way to shop, or by searching google you can find lots of suppliers that sell it.