Banana, White Chocolate & Honeycomb Strudel

If there is something that I find absolutely amazing about the British culture is their rooted recycling  and DIY culture. Maybe this ‘make do and mend’ attitude stems from the abrupt change in economic circumstances recently seen worldwide. In Spain it seems that people live in a throwaway society: if something is not brand new, then is not worthy of being used. In fact, things are thrown away just because they are not brand new. Even if they’re still working. It is a bit of “lest somebody think I cannot afford it”. Another good example of our lack-of-lessons-learnt attitude. The stuff we buy has become cheaper and cheaper over the last years and now retailers can sell clothes cheaper than a loaf of bread. This reduction in price has led to a devaluation of how we see and feel about the things we have. Why to bother mending a t-shirt if we can get a brand new one for £3. Even if we are aware of where all this cheap stuff is made and come from. Overconsumption at any cost.

I absolutely love the make-the-most-of-the-stuff culture. Make Do and Mend came about when clothes rationing was introduced during the Second World War. You can read more about this here.

Second hand shops, pre-loved sites, charity shops and of course, car boots. Possibilities of getting stuff you need but you cannot afford brand new or grabbing yourself a bargain or finding a truly treasure are never-ending.

And Brits are just brilliant in doing this. Recycling, reusing and giving a new life to old things is something so inherent to their nature that sometimes they don’t even realize how amazing it is for others. One of the greatest hobbies related to this is Upcycling. 

What Is Upcyling? Upcycling is the process of converting old or discarded materials into something useful and often beautiful. 

In the city I live in, the gorgeous and bustling Exeter, there are lots of different options to find a piece supposedly only fit for landfill, get all cut-and-stick crafty with it and transform it into something with a new lease of life, ready to be loved once more. But maybe my two favourite ones are the Exeter Scrapstore and the Matford Centre Car Boot Sunday Sale. 

In those I’ve found my much loved sofa and foot rest, absolutely brand new, from just £30 together with the 2 huge and stunning cushions I made from 50p worth of upholstery fabric. Or a quirky bookshelf somebody threw away which gives a vintage look to my living room after a coat of varnish. Not to talk about the marble and glass cheese dish I treated myself with last Sunday for only £1.

My son has been asking for a Mickey Mouse computer for months. We bought him one in brilliant condition for £1 a few weeks ago. It is worth around £40 brand new. 

My first attempt to upcycling was to transform the huge coffee containers which are discarded weekly in my office in beautiful and handy food containers by covering them with self-adhesive film scraps, and using them for storage food. I also converted some old toilet paper rolls into mini biodegradable planters for my tomato plants. I did a stunning Formula One car from a fridge box too. And, of course, the Advent Calendar my kids loved to play with last Christmas, made from empty tiny jam jars.

But probably my most remarkable upcycling creation was the toy kitchen we did for my eldest son’s birthday last year. Made of cardboard, paper, tubes and all sort of bits and pieces destined to rest in a rubbish pile forever, it was one of the best toys I have ever seen. 

After two weeks of really intense work, my husband and I couldn't wait to see his face. It had a sink, oven, fridge, microwave, kitchen towels holder, and even a kitchen clock! And it cost us less than £10 to build. But as an image is worth more than a thousand words, I leave you the pictures so you can judge by yourselves. 

There are thousands of websites with amazing project ideas I would like to do. Like the “folding chairs closet” or the “empty beer bottles lamp”. I just need to find the time to do them!!

I strongly recommend you to have a look to Upcycle That for inspiration and more info about the Upcycling movement.

This week recipe is a sort of upcycled food, as it is made using simple products that were almost out of date and otherwise would have ended up in the bin and transformed into one of the most delicious strudels ever.

Have you ever upcycled something?

WHAT DO YOU NEED

4 Really Rippen Bananas
1 White Chocolate Bar
100gr Honeycombe Pieces
1 Shortcrust Pastry Roll
1 Squeezed Lemon
1 Egg
3tbsp Icing Sugar

WHAT DO YOU DO

Heat the oven to 170C.

Unroll the shortcrust pastry. Cut the bananas in halves and put them all way long. Then cut the chocolate bar into pieces and put them all around. Don´t be shy with the chocolate. Always follow the rule better too much than too little. Finally add the honeycomb pieces and squeeze the lemon on top to taste.

Roll up the pastry trying to seal the borders perfectly so the filling does´t come out. Tip: this can be easily done with the help of a fork.

Paint with the beaten egg and sprinkle some icing sugar on top.

Bake for around 20 minutes.

This amazing strudel can be served warm or cold. Better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Everything is better with ice cream.