New Free Recipe Book, Vegan Fish & Vegan Pastry Masterclasses

Happy Summer People!

We’re stoked to announce our new Thrifty Feasts II recipe book has landed. Grab a copy when you attend one of our community classes or download it here. Don’t forget to send us pictures of the dishes when you cook them!

Besides cooking in children’s centres, community centres, rehab centres and with some epic elders in a windrush specialist baking class (see left), this month we’ve been busy planning our epic Summer Celebration Party. It’s popping off on Wednesday July 3rd at The Redmond Community Centre and will feature acrobats, divine food and drink and the world’s best free raffle! Invites pending. 

With kitchen love, 

Sarah, Nynke, Veryan, Dilupa, Fran, Jayshree, Andi and the whole MIH gang 

Masterclasses

	Vegan Baking with Melissa St Hill Sunday 9th June 11.00am - 3.30pm Join food blogger and vegan baking specialist Melissa St Hill for this epic masterclass. You’ll learn alchemy of vegan baking, substituting and make a raw chocolate tart, the perfect banana bread and protein rich bites and bars. Read More
Vegan Pastry with Chiara Siatta Saturday 22nd June 12.00 - 5.30pm Join vegan pastry chef Chiara for this special afternoon learning to make vegan croissants and pain au chocolats with no special equipment, Italian ‘bombe’ donuts, a show stopping vegan quiche and presentation skills. Read More
	Vegan Fish with Ollie Bragg Sunday 23rd June 11.00am - 3.30pm Create divine fishy-tasting dishes with nothing but plants. Ollie Bragg will show you how to make the perfect carrot lox (like smoked salmon), chickpea tuna, watermelon poke, battered tofish and how to cook seaweed. Read More
Nut Cheese with Bruna Oliveira Saturday 29th June 10.00am - 2.30pm Founder of The London Nut Cheese Company Bruna Oliveira will teach you to make hard and soft cheeses such as parmesan, feta, cheddar and blue cheese; crème fraiche and coconut yogurt and present platters. Read More
	Summer Foraging Walk with Rachel de Thample Saturday 29th June 11.00am - 1.00pm Join wild food expert Rachel de Thample on a walk in Victoria Park identifying edible plants and sampling delicious tasters. Previous samples include nettle and chickweed falafel, wild garlic tahini and pickled cherry plums. Read More

Community Classes

Community Cook & Feast @ The Redmond Community Centre Friday 7th June 4.00 - 7.00pm Join Steve cooking up a delicious Japanese feast then sit down and share it with your neighbours. This is not a class but a communal feast.
Cooking For 1 @ MIH Cazenove Road HQ Sunday 16th June 12.30 - 3.00pm Need some inspiration for some 1 person dishes? Adriana will share her recipes and healthy eating tips.	One Pot Wonders @ MIH Cazenove Road HQ Sunday 30th June 12.30 - 3.00pm Nutritionist Deepa will show you how to make tasty, simple one pot dishes.

A die-in for the bees, butterflies and other pollinators was held on May 17th on the steps of Hackney Town Hall. The action was to demand the council stop using glyphosate weed killer on the boroughs streets, parks and playgrounds. As well as being harmful to pollinators, the chemical is linked to cancer and has been deemed ‘probably carcinogenic’. It also pollutes the boroughs water. Coordinated by members of the Extinction Rebellion Hackney families group (including our Sarah) this picture shows children presenting Cllr Jon Burke with dead butterflies to put on his desk to remind him of the action. London council Hammersmith and Fulham went pesticide and herbicide free two years ago and we hope Hackney will soon follow suit. If you feel strongly about this issue get in touch with your local councilor. Don’t know who they are? Plug your postcode into www.writetothem.com and you’ll get their contact details. 

We're marking Volunteers Week (1st - 7th June) this year by doing some special shout outs to our volunteer heroes. Since January this year we've clocked up well over 1,500 volunteer hours – wowzers! We’ve asked some of our most committed volunteers what motivates them to support us – and you can read Jill, Otilia, Samah and Leo’s stories over on the blog now. To say thankyou to our volunteers we’re holding a forage walk led by Rachel de Thample on 5th June – and have two more volunteer appreciation events in the pipeline. So if you volunteer for us and you want in – contact Nynke quickly. 

Why buy seasonally? Eating non-local, air freighted fresh produce contributes to climate change. Reduce your carbon footprint by buying from box schemes & farmers markets.

Vegetables		Fruit and Nuts	Wild
Asparagus Broccoli   Carrots Jersey Royal New Potatoes Lettuce and Salad Leaves New Potatoes	Peas Radishes Rocket Samphire Spinach Spring  Onions Watercress	Rhubarb   Strawberries	Chickweed Dandelion Elderflowers Gorse Flower Nettle Pennywort Ramsons Ribwort Plantain Seaweeds Wild Rose Flowers Wild Strawberry

Lemon Balm Tea

Feeling a little anxious or stressed before bed time? Put down your phone and unwind (gadget free) whilst sipping on a cup of calming lemon balm tea and it should help induce sleep. You can pick lemon balm fresh now or buy tea bags. It grows well in containers and pots in a sunny spot like a windowsill or balcony. Give it a try today. 

Photo by nastyabogdanova on Unsplash

Always consult a medical practitioner before using a new herb.

Jobs To Do In The Garden

• Make a liquid comfrey plant feed
• Pot on and plant out seedlings
• Earth up potatoes as they grow
• Plant out cabbages and use collars to prevent cabbage root fly attack
• Manage pests - organically and compassionately
• Keep sowing seeds
• Pinch out tomato side shoots
• Prune plum or cherry trees

What To Sow Now

• Beetroot • Broccoli • Carrots • Chicory • Courgettes • Endive • French Beans • Herbs • Kale • Lettuces • Oriental Greens • Peas • Pumpkin and Winter Squash • Swedes • Turnips •

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Banana & Peanut Butter Flapjacks

Delicious, hearty power-jacks by our Mark Breen sweetened with apricots and banana. Yum. Recipe

Cauliflower Korma and Lemon Pilau Rice

Tasty meal from our Thrifty Feasts II recipe book using seasonal cauliflower. A classic. Recipe