I begin my site relaunch with a confession.
I am a committed vegetarian and I keep my diet largely sugar-free. But sometimes… Just sometimes… I eat sweet, chewy, colourful, gummy, artificially coloured, jelly sweets. I love them.
Yes, I know they are poison. Poison!
And yes, I know they are not vegetarian.
I also want to lay down here my disturbing obsession with salt and vinegar chipsticks. Just thinking about them now is making me want to snaffle a packet. Luckily I generally keep my flat chipstick-free. Generally.
Would you like to confess too? What foods do you eat that fly in the face of everything you truly believe that is good about food? Because they are just so yummy.
My weakness Cadbury’s milk chocolate – dairy, sugar – all that bad stuff but very occasionally – I adore it!
Mary
ps I think it’s really nice to get to know the person behind the blog!
Thank you Mary!
I felt very apprehensive about hitting publish on that post (only one unsubscribe so far!), but I read someone on Blogher describe that apprehensive feeling was a sure sign to post. So I did!
So glad to hear that I’m not alone!
I’d also like to put more of myself into my blog and I admit to giving in to high carb foods once in a while if it’s something I really enjoy like tiramisu. It’s always great to get to know the person behind the blog.
And thanks to you too Lisa for joining in our mini confessional!
Tiramisu IS delish. But I make it all the time at the restaurant I work in, so fortunately/unfortunately I am not allured by it anymore.
I really appreciate the encouragement to step out from behind my blog mask.
Today I went all out for burger and chips from a well known fast-food chain (which shall remain nameless.) It was (of course) desperately unhealthy and contrary to all principles- but hey- it was delicious in the moment!
Welcome to the support group Danielle – we’re all friends here!
Thanks- By the way, I like the Escher-esque placement of the jelly crocodiles. Artfully done!
Poison has never looked so pretty!
Ok. How about some crispy unhealthy chips and some very sugary chocolate? Pleaseeeee buy some for me tonight 🙂
I’ve been good all week!
I’m on it Luiza!
I agree with the person who said that it’s nice to get to know the person behind all the lovely stuff that you post! Also, we all have a weakness, you are not alone in that!! 🙂
Hi Jennifer!
Thank you so much! The warm encouragement I have received so far in personalising my site has been very heartening. Happy!
FYI: Sour Patch Kids and Swedish fish are vegan! And sometimes hippie gummies from the health food store are as well. Sugary gummy treats are my weakness as well!
Hey Margo!
I’ll have to spread my net further in search of vegan gummy treats! Glad to hear I’m not alone 🙂
Hello, I am just a newbie on here so I ‘m not sure where you are, but in the UK Marks and Spencers do vegetarian jelly caterpillars and also percy pigs if that helps anyone at all 🙂
Welcome Bex!
I have been flitting between Stockholm and the UK, so do have access to Marks & Spencers – I appreciate the tip!
I’m a vegan – most of the time – and my one weakness is cheese. Oops, make that two – milk chocolate. I can’t resist at times!
In the spirit of cheese-based confessionals, I also sometimes eat gorgeous, artisan, European cheese that I’m pretty sure has rennet in it…
Maynard’s wine gums. I won’t buy them, but if my Mum’s packet is open and no-one’s looking…..
There are some truly wonderful veggie cheeses out there. However, some of the most amazing cheeses are not vegetarian and never will be, no matter how much you jump up and down: Parmigiano reggiano, comte, grand jura, coulommiers…. What’s really annoying is that some technically could be, but are not permitted by their certification. But they look like cheese and you eat cheese so you can either eat them or….um… not eat them.
In restaurants I ask about gelatine in desserts just because it just kind of twisted to put meat into dessert except for medieval banquets. They need to know that they will not be making a sale with this kind of carry-on. However I don’t query their cheese because they probably didn’t actually put the rennet in it themselves and I would probably starve in most restaurants if I didn’t eat the cheese. I’m trying to cobble together some logic here to show that I’m not just callow.
I had amazing homemade passionfruit flavoured marshmallows at a restaurant once. I didn’t order it – they were a ‘gift’ at the end of the meal. Obviously I scoffed the lot. To save you from yourself, I’m not even going to tell you where this was because the guy doesn’t like vegetarians. (Didn’t know that at the time). I looked up how you make veggie marshmallows. Basically, you need a lab. You can buy them on the internet, but who’s going to do that?? Sweets are something you grab at the till and hate yourself for even before you start eating them. l’Artisan du Chocolat has started selling flavoured veggie (not veggie-flavoured – that would be disgusting) marshmallows covered in chocolate. Put that packet of jellies down and run to the nearest exit! Sooner or later someone comes to the rescue.
Now can someone please make a veggie version of Maynards wine gums, so I can hate myself for being a lardarse instead of a veggie sinner?
I think you have won the prize for best ever comment on Ramsons & Bramble! Everything you say chimes so strongly with me, I can’t believe how unexpectedly fantastic the reaction to my ‘confession’ has been.
Cheese, cheese, cheese. I freakin’ love cheese. I mean me and cheese basically have a spiritual relationship. The variety and complexity of international, artisan, unpasteurised cheeses. So many of which use animal rennet, as you said, even though it is unnecessary. The questions I was asking myself today was, surely it would be only a very, very small fraction of a cow to make up all the rennet I’m going to eat in my life. My partner (a perfectly jolly carnivore) helpfully pointed out that it was definitely at least one life. Hmmmm…
I used to work the kitchen of a very fancy vegetarian restaurant, Vanilla Black in London, and we used to make our own marshmallows. I remember being terrified of messing it up, when I started preparing them, because it involved three different pans on the heat at the same time, all of which needed to be a particular temperature. But after I got the hang of it and it wasn’t so bad after all. We did use a few different molecular gastronomy additives in that kitchen though, so perhaps that qualifies as a lab.
It is truly amazing to hear your perspective! I basically agree with every single thing you say. Although I think we should let the whole guilt thing go – even though we’re clearly morally corrupt.
Nancy x