Tinned Tomatoes

Unfortunately I've been sick for the last week or so, but I'm mostly feeling better now and can start to catch up on blogs, including my own. Since I started my blog I haven't gone this long without updating it - I really miss blogging and reading blogs. I hope this doesn't happen again anytime soon! Anyway onto the topic of this post: Adopt a Blogger.

Introducing, the lovely Holler of Tinned Tomatoes!

Holler

I'm sure many of you have heard about Kristen's Adopt a Blogger event. For those of you that haven't, Kristen describes it like this: "The whole idea of this is to encourage new bloggers, support others with like minded interests, and hopefully build friendships within the food blogging community." (Yes Holler, I copied how you introduced Adopt a Blogger! Hope you don't mind.) So Holler adopted me! We've had our blogs for about the same amount of time so we kind of decided to adopt each other. Either way it's a great thing.

To introduce Holler and her blog to you, I did an interview with her that of course includes yummy pictures featuring recipes from her vegetarian blog!

Tell me a bit about yourself.

I live in Scotland. I am 37 years old and I have been with Graham for 17 years. Graham and I got married in October 2007, in Cyprus, We had a wonderful day in a monastery with friends and family and so I am just sliding gently into married life.

How long have you been blogging and what first got you interested?

I have been blogging since April 2007, so not long, all-in-all, but I am totally immersed in it now and have made some good friends. I first, stumbled onto a blog called The Next Nigella and really enjoyed following the posts and started to think, I could do that and so a few moths later I did and Tinned Tomatoes sprang into existence.

What are a few of your favourite recipes that you've made?

Truffle Torte - starting back to front with dessert. This was an amazing piece of chocolate heaven and it had to be good really, because it was a recipe by the hunky James Martin!

Spicy Tiffin Eggs - I love these. I always looked at people eating Scotch Eggs with jealousy and never thought there could be a vegetarian version, until I saw a recipe in BBC Good Food Magazine. Try these they are seriously good picnic food! (I've never heard of these before but wow do they look amazing!)

Spicy Orange Soup - A bit of a misnomer, as this soup is spicy butternut squash soup, with no orange in it at all, but it is the most beautifully, startling orange colour! I made it over and over all winter, because I love it so! But now I am completely scunnered with it and have no intention of making it again for quite some time! This is also one of my favourite photographs.

Pea Pesto - This has become a bit of a celebrity, my friends and family love it, it has appeared on a few other people's blogs and on a couple of featured favourite's lists. It is a good old fashioned cuboard or should I say freezer standby. Whizzed up in minutes and ready to grace pasta, bruschetta, gnocchi, salad wraps and oatcakes. Fab!

Why did you decide to become a vegetarian? And for how long have you been one?

I have been a vegetarian for about 18 years now, I was always a fussy eater as a child, so my mum made lots of soups for me and macaroni cheese and cauliflower bake, along with her lovely fruit loaf, to keep me happy! I finally sat down at college one day with my friend Grant and thrashed this whole vegetarian thing out. I became a vegetarian that day and look on it as a lifelong choice. I am very lucky that my husband is a vegetarian too and was when I met him. An extra added bonus!

Is there any type of food you've always wanted to make but never have?

Pasta. I purchased a pasta machine with a wedding voucher and would like to learn to make really good quality fresh pasta. (Me too. I just got a pasta maker for Christmas and have yet to use it!)

What one recipe from your blog do you think that everyone else should try making at least once?

My mum's fruit loaf. It is very easy to make, as the ingredients are weighed out in cups and it all cooks in one pot, you just throw it all in. It is super delicious, especially when still warm and buttered!

What's your favourite vegetarian cookbook?

Oh, this is a hard one, I love a lot of cookbooks that aren't vegetarian. OK, if you are going to be strict, I would go for World Vegetarian Classics by Celia Brooks Brown. I am also very excited about Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian, Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant & The Bean Book by Rose Elliott. I need more time to explore them all further, but I am really enjoying them. Cookbooks are great bedtime reading in my opinion! (I definitely agree that cookbooks are great bedtime, or anytime, reading!)

Is there anywhere on the internet that you think is a good source for vegetarian recipes?

I would say that blogs are a good source of vegetarian recipes, including this very blog. Here are a few of my favourites:
Green Gourmet Girraffe - Australia
Lisa's Kitchen - Canada
Walking the Vegan Line - United States
Vegetarian Foodie - United States

Do you have a recipe that you'd suggest for a non-vegetarian?

All of them, of course! Well maybe Shepherd's Pie is a good place to start. It is a warm, comforting, winter dish, that is made with soya mince, carrots, mushrooms and onions, So quite a hearty dish that a meat eater would probably love.

What are the best and worst things about blogging?

The best thing about blogging is the friendships we make and the small community feel to the food blogosphere. There is always someone to give you tips and advice, while inspiring you to want to create new and interesting recipes or just to cheer you up!

The worst thing about blogging for me at the moment, is that it is too dark all the time for getting good photos and I just don't have the technical ability to improve them with the little light I have. it is very frustrating!

Thanks for the interview, Holler! Go check out her website, Tinned Tomatoes.