30 November 2015

Hemp Protein Bars // Good Food


Vegan, naturally sweet, chocolatey and moreish, these hemp bars have become a staple in our household for both us and our small to enjoy. Taken from our favourite recipe book The Green Kitchen, and modified to suit our tastes, these bars are an instant, nourishing energy hit on many a busy adventure.

Dry Ingredients

1 cup (160 g) pumpkin seeds

1 cup (100 g) dried shredded coconut

1/2 cup (80 g) hemp seeds

4 tbsp chia seeds


6 tbsp rolled oats

2 tbsp poppy seeds

Wet Ingredients

20 dates (pitted
)
6 tbsp coconut oil (room temperature)

4 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preperation
Roughly chop the pumpkin seeds (or you can leave whole if preferred). Mash the dates with a fork until they are sticky and smooth as caramel.

Method
Mix together all ingredients, adding one by one, and kneed by hand until well combined.
Spread the batter evenly into a 11 x 7-inch (28 x 18 cm) baking dish, pressing down to compact. Place in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Cut into bars and store in an airtight container in the fridge. Will keep around a week.

Image and original recipe The Green Kitchen

23 November 2015

The 5 Senses Of Christmas // Creative Living


As we near the end of November, thoughts are turning to Christmas. It is such a sensory season isn't it? As the dull days and dark nights draw in, we have started thinking about what stirs our 5 senses at Christmas...

Sight - Traditional rainbow fairy lights clinch it for us. There is nothing more nostalgic at Christmas than the beautiful, warm lights that were so heavily featured in our childhood Christmases.  

Smell - Cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, are spices that are so prominent at Christmas, and feature heavily in the scent of our home during the festive period - whether in our cooking or in our decor. Warming, comforting, calming and homely.

Sound - Silence. The silence of snow. When we wake up and everything is so silent that we just know. Snow has fallen. As we peel back the curtain, the excitement bubbles up inside of us just the same as it did when we were children - it never goes. And the beauty - it never ceases to stagger.  

Touch - Warmth. The feel of warmth as we enter our home on a winters day. The feel of the flickers of heat, radiating from the licking flames. Pure bliss after a wintry walk.

Taste - Of all the tastes of Christmas, mulled wine is always the most prominent. It has the funny ability to soothe us at the same time as making us feel celebratory.

What stirs your senses at Christmas?

Christmas Lights (source unknown), Spices Half Baked Harvest, Snow (source unknown), Log Fire (source unknown), Mulled Wine Adeline and Lumiere

17 November 2015

Stocking Treasures // Inspiring The Small


Dinosaur Planter Ohh Deer, Woodland Nesting Dolls Tigerlilly Quinn, Another Night Before Christmas Rob Ryan, Knitted Scandinavian-Style Stockings Not On The High Street

There is nothing more exciting than finding unusual things to inspire our small with. These are a few of our purchases so far, all ready to be wrapped and tucked into that special stocking.

It feels great to buy from and support small independents when possible, and you really feel that sense of value - they are not things that you would necessarily find anywhere else.

We hope that these inspire you as you start to think about stocking ideas this Christmas.

09 November 2015

Books for Designers // In The Studio

At a time when we are looking to expand our studio book collection, we've been reflecting on our favourite reads on our shelf.

Impressive

Impressive is a Printmaking, Letterpress and Graphic Design book, absolutely brimming with visual inspiration from creatives who are using old-fashioned techniques to create cutting-edge work. It is a topical exploration of the interplay between current trends in graphic design and traditional handiwork such as letterpress printing. This is an essential book for print-loving designers like us.




How to be a graphic designer, without losing your soul

Written by Adrian Shaughnessy, this book is a practical and inspirational user's guide for designers. It offers guidance on employment options straight out of college, setting up as a freelance, establishing a firm, finding and keeping clients, pitching, and generally doing good work. It was a great purchase back when we were looking to start Leaff, and an easy reference point when we were on our feet, but it still serves as a good read even now.



Obey The Giant

This is a book by Rick Poynor - an acclaimed design writer. It is a really rich source of knowledge on the communication of design and branding, on every level - even levels that you hadn't perhaps considered before. It is in this way that Poynor exposes what is really beneath the surface of contemporary visual culture, which shows how designers and image-makers both collude with, and resist, corporate control of the image world.



Do you own any really inspiring books that you couldn't do without? We would love to hear about them - they may be just what we are looking for to expand our own collection.

02 November 2015

Super Granola // Good Food


Originally found in our amazing cookbook The Green Kitchen, this super-scrummy granola is a staple in our house. We have tweaked the original recipe to our own taste over the years, and tend to make this every fortnight. Packed full of super, raw ingredients, it is a breakfast that brings together superb taste with superb good-for-you ingredients. A match made in heaven!



Basic Ingredients
175g rolled oats
175g rolled rye or spelt
150g almonds (either whole or flaked)
40g coconut flakes
50g sunflower seeds
50g pumpkin seeds
1 tsp cinnamon (or nutmeg)

Liquid Ingredients
2 tbspn maple syrup
2 tbspn melted coconut oil
1 tbspn water

Dried Superfood
80g dried cranberries

Special Extra

100g dark chocolate (broken into small pieces)


Method

Preheat the oven to 180 C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Combine all of the Basic Ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Pour in the Liquid Ingredients and use your hand to toss until everything is well combined.

Spread mixture out in the baking tray and roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon a couple of times during cooking to keep it from getting burnt.

Remove from oven and leave to cool before adding the Dried Superfood (and the Special Extra if using). Store in a sealed glass jar at room temperature. Keeps for at least a month.

Goes particularly well with coconut yoghurt.

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