VeganMoFO Post 1. Vegan Toolkit Workshop, Vegetarian Society

And so this is MoFo, let the blogging begin …..

I have wanted to start blogging for a long time, partly in answer to all those people who know me  and my cooking/cookery book obsession saying “you should write that recipe/tip/info down”, “write a book”. A book is far too onerous a task (heavens, a month’s blogging is looking mammoth at the moment!) but a blog should be do-able. Kate (Female Offspring to add to her titles) will be joining me but I guess in more of a behind the scenes or guest appearance capacity.

Becoming involved with VeganMoFo this year appealed to me because of the discipline it provides of “having” to make at least 20 blog posts in the month and also, co-incidentally, Kate and I have a number of “vegan related” activities occurring in October so it seemed to fit nicely.

The first event didn’t quite make the cut as it was held last Friday, 28^th September, but I will begin with the beginning of its review and will finish tomorrow otherwise it will be much too long (this may become a recurring theme!)

Vegan Toolkit Workshop held at Cordon Vert Cookery School, Vegetarian Society HQ, Manchester.

Both Kate and I have attended a number of Courses and workshops at the Vegetarian Society in Manchester. In the past but they only offered Vegetarian course (they are the Vegetarian Society after all!) but they have always catered for Vegans and given variations to recipes etc.. They have now introduced two courses the Toolkit and a Party one that we are booked on in November.

We arrived, on time “Thank You Traffic Gods”, at 9.15 for a 9.30 start which is quite early for a workshop where people have had to travel, most are 10.00 for 10.30. However, I was excited about the day and pleased to get there and meet the other participants, it was also the first time I had been at the Veg Soc for a number of years so it was a little like a homecoming with lots of hugs and catch ups with the staff.

My hope had been that Vegan courses were now on offer because of the growth in interest so I was disappointed to find there were only four participants, Kate and I plus a married couple who had travelled from Ireland. This does give me a general cause for concern that the message of how to “think Vegan” that I struggled with for so long isn’t reaching as many people as we would like. However, on a selfish level, it was nice to have a chance to chat and swop experiences and ideas. The couple were very friendly, I am sure we will stay in touch, and although not Vegan themselves it was an area of interest especially as she was embarking on a course on Nutrition.

Over coffee and drinks in the lounge we met out Tutor for the day, Jane, who, again was not Vegan herself (she did spend a month following a Vegan diet last year) but is a committed Vegetarian of many years and “knows her stuff”. She is the Editor of the Veg Soc’s magazine and Secretary of the Food Writer’s Guild, definitely a “done that, got the tee shirt” woman who I could have happily sat chatting to for the rest of the day, but, there was cooking to be done.

Tomorrow I will tell you about the recipes …