Scotland Christmas Trip

Mike and I spent our last few days in Scotland traveling all over the country. It was really amazing. We took loads of pictures and movies. When we went back to watch some of our footage, we realized our two over-used words were "beautiful" and "blustery." So I'm going to try and not use those in this blog entry, though they are very appropriate to this cold, crisp, dramatic trip!

Thursday afternoon, we moved out of our apartment, loaded our little Fiat with the last of our belongings, and drove out of Ayrshire in a snowstorm!! By the time we reached the Glasgow area, the weather was clear. We headed up to Tyndrum for one last stop at the Real Food Cafe and on into Glencoe. We spent the night at a fantastic inn called the Clachaig Inn. We wish we had found it sooner, it is great. Our room was really nice, clean, and comfortable, but the rest of the Inn, the pubs and sitting rooms, were really rustic. It's an old hiking lodge, and it had great atmosphere- really comfortable with lots of wood fires and a great pub with tons of whiskey! We met some hikers who were camping nearby and had come into the pub for a dram before bed (it sounds like this place gets packed with hikers like this in the summer).

We woke up and ate breakfast around sunrise (8:30am). They served wild Scottish boar back bacon, sausage, blood pudding, and all the good stuff the comes with a Scottish breakfast! We left around 9:30 to hike Hidden Glen, a walk Colin and Ashley had shown us when we passed through with them. We wanted to go a bit further up the glen, and it was worth it. The landscape was frosted and shimmering in the early morning sunshine. The water was crystal clear in he falls we passed. The mountains towered above with snow-capped peaks. Truly breathtaking.

We drove on to Fort William for a quick stop, and then on to our next destination, Tongue. We went up past Loch Ness (no monster to be seen) and circled around to the west coast. We stopped for gas in Lochinver (we will have to come back here and stay longer than for just gas) and watched the sun set over the impressive international deep sea fishing boats in the harbour. From there, we drove the last leg up through Durness into Tongue. It was very dark and we missed all the scenery, but we saw at least 15 deer in and around the road on our way through. We had a friendly welcome at the Tongue Hotel, we had dinner in the public bar, and enjoyed our huge room. They gave us an upgrade since I had been there before. They also stock each room with a decanter of delicious fortified British wine called Armadillo. The owner had told us it was sherry- is fortified wine the same thing as sherry?

Anyways... we woke to a big snow storm! The power kept going on and off and it was snowing/hailing right down the flue into our fire place grate (no damper to close that we could find!) We ate breakfast and contemplated what to do. It cleared a bit, the snowfall lightened, so we took off toward Durness. The landscape was just breathtaking with the dramatic weather patterns, snow covered mountains, and crashing seas. We went for a crazy windy walk along the beach overlooking Cape Wrath, it was really cold, but fun! We stopped at the Cocoa Mountain for some classic Durness Truffles before heading back toward Tongue. Along the road, we saw a pack of what I think were roe deer- about 10 of them walking along the fields. Back in Tongue, we admired the beautiful Kyle of Tongue and hiked up to Varrick Castle in a sleet storm. It cleared by the time we reached the castle and we had spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. We went back to the Hotel and enjoyed the view of sunset over Varrick Castle from our room.

There was a big Christmas party that night- we had a 3 course Christmas dinner complete with crackers and party favors like noisy balloons and streamers. The large, noisy party of locals were very entertaining. We chatted a bit with the DJ and his Polish friend and enjoyed the festivities.

We woke in the morning to lots more snow and the threat of continued storms, which was bad news because our goal was to reach Perth. We tried to drive down the A836 but our little Fiat couldn't make it up the snowy hill, so we figured we'd have more luck driving East toward Thurso and then down the A9 to Inverness. We got 7 miles in the first hour and managed to get stuck in the valley between two snowy hills. Luckily, there was a small house right there in the valley, so we knocked on the door and a nice couple- Mike and Denise- took us in. They called the local police, local friends, local radio stations, and our hotel to try and find out how the roads were further on toward Thurso. We found out the the DJ and Polish friend were stuck a mile or so behind us, so Mike and Mike went to go rescue them. I actually had a nice chat with Denise to learn all about local customs and other interesting Scottish news. By the time the men got back, the gritter had gone by and the roads were looking much better. Mike and the DJ and Polish guy gave us a big push and we were off. We made it to Thurso!! The 45 mile drive from Tongue to Thurso had taken us four hours, but the A9 looked clear and we were determined to make it!

We had a long, occasionally slippery afternoon drive down to Perth. Our little Fiat finally got us to Perth by around 7 that night. We were welcomed warmly by the kind Italian man that runs the Sunbank Hotel. After bringing in all our bags and boxes, we repacked for the plane and got some sleep. We had a really nice breakfast in the morning and took off through a bit more snow toward Glasgow Airport.

British Airways put us on an earlier flight to Heathrow, which was a good start to the long travel day. Many flights were getting cancelled as storms rolled in and we were getting pretty nervous. Our flight was delayed by about an hour and a half, but we were finally off! Somehow we managed to land on time in Boston, and that marked the end of our long, snowy travels.

It was a bittersweet homecoming. We were sad to leave friends and our much loved Scottish life. We were quite happy to be among family and friends for the holidays, however. I will miss my carefree life as I go back to work, but it has been great to see my students and by back in the classroom! Mike has a busy semester ahead, and then graduation!

Thanks for following this journey with us. We will look back on this time in our lives and remember the adventure and fun of it. It has been a truly remarkable time in our lives. Thank you!

Scotland in December

YouTube is great!

Some videos from the SantaDash:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFAdsLPgJUk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnSBnADX9w0

A video from the Tartan turnoot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqCmkDxUi7o

Visit with the Swiss Dows

Last weekend, Mike and I traveled to visit my Dow cousins in Switzerland! It was a great weekend, full of delightful family and beautiful Swiss scenery. We flew in Friday night and were excited to try a classic Swiss meal of Raclette. Mike fried bacon on top of the grill, and we melted raclette cheese in little dishes below. We had the bacon, cheese, prosciutto, and pepperoni over boiled potatoes or bread. It was so delicious. What could be better than bacon and melty cheese?
Saturday began with a fantastic breakfast of holes in one (egg fried inside the hole cute in a piece of bread). Katherine had ordered me delicious gluten free bread from a local bakery. She also had GF cereal and pasta! So fantastic! We took a gorgeous train ride through the country side to a town called Einsiedeln. There was a Christmas fair that wound its way up the streets of town from the train station to the lovely monastery on a hill. It was a perfect day, chilly and festive! We tried lots of yummy treats like huge sausages on sticks, mulled cider and wine, creamy orange liqueur, apple fritters, and more. It was just delightful. We returned to the house that night for a great meal of pasta and meat sauce, which Katherine made from scratch. We certainly ate well! So yummy! Natalie made fantastic meringues and she and Katherine made berry ice cream to go with them. We sat and talked and had a relaxing evening.Sunday Mike took us on a hike up a ridge that looked over beautiful lakes on either side, with Zurich in the distance. It was lovely, and nice to get out and walk some more! We had some lunch at the house and Mike and Audrey had a great time playing together! Natalie played us some fabulous piano music. Sadly, it was soon time to go back to the airport. The weekend went by quickly but was a perfect way to spend the beginning of this holiday season. It did feel like a holiday, all together with family, good food, laughter, and snow! We hope to go back and visit again some day!

The Return of the Scots

This one is going back a little ways to the begining of November. It fits in between our visit home the first weekend in November and our trip to Spain.

Our friends Colin and Ashley arrived in Scotland! This was really cool, because Colin is not only from Scotland, but he grew up in Ayr, the town we live in. (Plus we were excited to see them)

Unfortunately, their rental car reservation got screwed up and they ended up with a ... I don't remember, but Colin was not happy with it. This led to a series of FOUR visits to the car rental place until we found one that was satisfactory... the Ford Mondeo, which we all agreed was a very nice car.

We had a fantastic trip up to Skye that weekend, the drive was gorgeous. A few highlights from the trip.

-Stopped at Auchentoshan Distillery, tours were closed but we checked out the shop,

-Stopped at Loch Lomond for sunset (see below)

-Stopped at the Real Food Cafe for a chippy dinner... twice (this is pretty much required every time we pass it, because it is the only place that has gluten free fish & chips)
-We stopped in at Fort William, went on a pub crawl through fine establishments such as the Grog and Gruel, the Ben Nevis Club, and Crofters, met some locals (an excitable Scottish chef and a stoic Polish? traveler)

-Stayed at the Isles Inn which had a pub downstairs and rooms upstairs. Was a fantastic place to stay. Hung out by the fireplace while it was raining out, watched some rugby, ate some haggis.
-Skye was as incredible as ever, shrouded in mist and fog, we went for a great tour of the island, and hiked the Quirang. I tried to run to the top of a mountain... I did not make it far.
-Colin later decided it would be fun to drive away while I was taking a picture... more running.

-The girls found a yarn shop where they hand dye Scottish wool and the woman who worked there gave us a tour.
-Stopped in Glen Coe for a fantastic hike down to the bottom of the glen where a small bridge crosses the water and then up the other side.
-Found a local band in Portree... (I fell asleep, but they were good from what I remember)

-Had a Chinese food picnic in our room

Colin's sister, Wendy, and fiancee, Sean, flew in to surprise Colin for his birthday. When we got back to Ayr we told him that we wanted to go to the West Kirk to see live music (turns out they never have live music). We got him there and made sure he sat so that his back was to the door. When Wendy and Sean showed up Colin was blown away. Which was amazing, because we each had blown the secret at least once. We were able to go out with them to their favorite local spots and meet some of their friends.

Pictures from the Tartan Turnoot

Found this link on Flickr!

John from Ayshire Cancer support commented on our blog that they have posted thier pictures from the Santa Dash!

Thanksgiving and St. Andrew's Homecoming Finale

What a weekend. We have done a lot of traveling in the last six months, but this weekend at home in Ayr was one of my all-time favorites. We are certainly lucky to have been here for Ayrshire's St. Andrew's Homecoming Finale.We started the weekend off with a good American Thanksgiving for 2 (plus left-overs that lasted... well, there are still leftovers!). We made a chicken instead of a turkey, but all the right fixings were made! Our starters were bacon-wrapped figs stuffed with cream cheese and an Italian shrimp, mozzarella, sun dried tomato, and basil salad. Delicious. We enjoyed those while the chicken cooked and we started our TDay movie- Monsters vs. Aliens (It's no Incredibles or Monsters, Inc., but entertaining!). We then finished up the fixings and carved the bird.

Our table included chicken, gravy, stuffing, good ol' tatties, green bean casserole, glazed carrots, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie (starting from a whole pumpkin, no cans of puree here in Scotland!). It was super delicious. On Saturday we made a second pumpkin pie with the rest of the pumpkin we had steamed and mashed. On Sunday, we made a chicken pot pie with some of the savoury leftovers. And there are still more leftovers!We took a quick TDay food coma nap, and then got ready for the first Homecoming Finale event, The Great Tartan Turnoot! Now, for anyone that's been on a good bar crawl, this event topped even the best. The Turnoot began at Wellington's Pub, where Scottish flags were affixed on our cheeks. Anyone wearing a kilt, flag, or tartan of some sort got a prize at each pub along the way. Wellington's gave us Robert Burns t-shirts. Other prizes were giant flags (that the crowd wore as capes), flag pins, and balloons.
Mike- ready to go in his Kilt and Sox jersey!

But here's the best part- when it was time to move to the next pub, we were all escorted in a parade led by bagpipes and banners through the town! The bagpipers would march right in to the pub and keep playing behind the bar. People were singing along and dancing through the streets. The second pub was Billy Bridge's, then on to the Tam 'O Shanter, Burns Statue Square where Robert Burns himself (looking good for 250 year old!) gave a speech and lit up the statue, and finally on to the Twa Dugs for a Ceilidh and haggis, neeps, and tatties! Along the way, we met loads of people and made some new friends. Great music, great people, and so much fun!Saturday came and we decorated our costumes for Sunday's Santa Dash 5K. We went into town to a Coffee and Craft Show fund raiser and walked around enjoying the festive atmosphere. That night, we enjoyed some great Scottish music at the St. Andrew's Folk Festival. The musicians were really good. Sadly, the event hadn't been well publicized and it was a small audience, but we really enjoyed it.

Sunday was race day! We had raised 100 pounds (well, Mike had at work) for Ayrshire Cancer Care. At 2:30, over one hundred Santas gathered by the Citadel to run/walk 5K. We ran down the beach and then back into town. The last 200 yards were straight up high street through the Christmas festivities! Everyone cheered on the Santas as we ran passed. Mike waved at EVERYONE he passed, and we stopped to take pictures of the amazing scenery (it was a perfect day- Arran was clear and snow-capped across the water!). I even had my picture taken with a kilted Scot driving a tuk-tuk! Check out our pictures and movies online:

Santa Dash

We checked out a bit more live music at the Folk Festival Sunday night. All in all, an amazing weekend!

Madrid!

Mike and I have made the command decision to do some jumping around chronologically, so... we went to Madrid last weekend! We flew out on Friday and landed around 10:15. The amazingly fast, clean subway whisked us to the Tribunal stop where Cay and Gary met us right outside our hotel (actually, our pension, like a hostel with private bedrooms and shared bathrooms. Totally all we needed!) We went out and had some delicious food, sangria, and caught up with our buds the Walshes!

In the morning, we found out that Madrid was hosting the country's farmer's strike, or manifestacion. There were thousands of people from all over the country who had bussed in, carrying banners, flags, cowbells, drums, and we even saw a giant cow balloon. It was a very organized strike. It was amazing to see.

We walked through the beautiful park and enjoyed the architecture. We walked back into the city and stopped for a snack at the Jamon Museum, or ham museum! It was covered with giant hams hanging everywhere. People stood up against the counters and ordered all sorts of plates of food, wine, and beer. We ordered a round of house red and a plate of ham and a plate of Spanish cheese. It was delicious! We stood in the crowd enjoying the ambiance, food, and the especially delicious Spanish olives that we were served with our food.

We reached our destination, the Plaza Mayor, where there were many street performers and two famous duelling fried calamari sandwich shops. Cay and Gary and Mike divided and conquered both shops, realizing that in their opinion, they tasted pretty much the same (and delicious, so they said!). We walked on toward the Reina Sofia museum. Mike and Gary tried to order dos cervezas at a small cervecaria, but for some reason, they were just not understood. After a bunch of pantomime, we realized the confusion was whether we wanted to sit inside or outside. At least we finally figured it out!

We taxied to Reina Sofia, a modern art museum. It was a long three hours in the museum. If you want to know what we think of modern art museums as a whole, we would be happy to have that conversation with you later. There were a few works that we really enjoyed, but on to dinner!

We ate at a fantastic paella place and found a great wine that we ended up getting more of to take home with us. We finished the evening in a strange bar where the four of us had one more glass of wine before turning in for the night. It had been a great day!

In the morning, we returned to the plaza mayor for a fantastic flea market. It stretched down to another part of the city and was a lovely stroll. A few hours in, it got PACKED, though! We returned to our pension where sadly, Mike and I gathered our bags and set off back to the airport.

It was a whirlwind, but so much fun! Thanks Walshes!

Link to our pictures:

Madrid with the Walshes

Tajimas visit, rendez-vous in London, hometown blast

Here is a quick recap of the past month for all our avid blog readers (I think we have 3).

Just after our excellent weekend with our friend Laura, my parents and sister arrived. During the week Steph showed them around some of the local attractions, Culzean castle, Arran island (my favorite place in Scotland) and Glasgow. Here are mom's pictures from the Rodger wedding and the trip to Scotland:

Mary's Pictures

Tajima Visit to Ayr - Moms Camera

The next weekend we all went down to the Lake District in England, which is a beautiful area of hills, small villages and... wait for it... LAKES. We also met up with some cousins from my mom's side Anne, Pete, Hilary, Dave, Jackie & Cliff. It was a fantastic weekend fall weekend and we all went for a hike around Lake Buttermere. Picturesque would be an understatement.

Steph, Laura, Mom and I went for a nice walk the next day on some less than well marked trails through a variety of sheep fields, over several fences and past some rather loud and angry sounding dogs. Adventures are fun! It was a great weekend getting to know some relatives and there was plenty of eating, drinking and good times.


The weekend after my family left, we flew down to London to meet our friend Cay. She is in med school and had a conference in London on that Monday. London is an awesome city. I expected NYC, it was more like a vibrant, crowded Paris. Beautiful city, tons to do, it seems like there are awesome restaurants and bars everywhere. We toured the city saw the British Museum with artifacts from around the world. That night we saw Avenue Q which was hilarious. Plus, we learned that when English people try to put on an American accent it often comes out sort of Australian... who knew?
Cay, Steph and Ben
Like Sesame Street.... kind of... not really at all... well, there are puppets.
Had to take this one!I got really excited about seeing the Rosetta stone. Way cool.

On Sunday we even stumbled upon an apple festival at a somewhat outdoor market. It had loads of stalls selling sweets, wine, raw meat, produce, soups, paella, curry, fish & chips.... My favorite was when saw two teenage girls thoroughly confused by a carved jack-o-lantern at the produce stand. They kept opening the top and looking inside. We enjoyed some mulled wine, food stands, an awesome atmosphere and a weird Native American/Olde English/Tree People caroling group.

The next week we returned home for a whirlwind tour! Amy's birthday at Oceanaire, Andrea's birthday at the Dow's and pumpkin carving contest (Steph had a contested win), Tajima family 5k/10k race day at the Lexington Battlegreen Race (Grant is getting HUGE), visits with friends, a Team 7 reunion, and finished with a massive fever (I think I had swine flu, Steph just thinks I am a wuss). Oh and there was some recruiting in there too.

Next up... Colin and Ashley arrive!

Andrea, Robyn, and Stephanie's Orkney Adventure

I am very behind in my posts. I am going back to where I left off, to cover the first half of the fantastic trip Andrea, Robyn, and I took to Orkney! I've made a slide show with captions. Hopefully Andrea and Robyn will post some comments to add to what I've said!

Andrea and Robyn

Some favorite moments:
*Driving the single track roads! I had the best time driving!
*Getting SOAKED walking to Varrich Castle in Tongue
*I loved the Brough of Birsay, definitely a favorite spot
*Accordion and Fiddle Club at the Albert Hotel
*Dinner at Foveran was AMAZING (lemon curd and honey comb sorbet...yum!)
*Good wine at Foveran: 2008 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, Alan McCorkindale, New Zealand
*the sad dying snail (that wasn't really a snail, but a pepper)
*Shopping and Tea in Dornoch
*Jacket Potatoes and Clootie Dumplings in the Speyside Heather Center

THE SECOND HALF OF THE TRIP WILL POST SOON,
featuring THE BRAEMAR GATHERING and EDINBURGH!

Sunrise, Scotland

This was taken from our breakfast nook looking out over the river.
I have so much blogging to catch up on, as Mike pointed out in our last post, but I wanted to share this perfect morning with you!

football, dre and robyn, scottish wedding in maine, home againe, laura's visit, other football, pretend football, and I need a job

It has been a long time since I rambled off a blog entry, so I know you all must be waiting eagerly with anticipation. If you haven't checked in a while Steph has been uploading some delicious food blogs so don't miss those. The past two months have been packed with new adventures and so we begin...

Played in my company's 90 year old football tournament called the Ellison Trophy. We played 5-a-side with over 20 teams. Since none of you were there and can't check the results, lets just say my team won the whole thing.
(the nice thing about losing is that you get to grab a pint at the pub, carry it to the sidelines, and watch the rest of the games)

Dre and Robyn came the next day, and proceeded to whisk my wife away on a week long trip around Scotland. (I know, I know, this meant I actually had to cook for myself. Shocking right?) Luckily, I got to meet up with them the next weekend and we spent the day at the Braemar Gathering. This was a fantastic highland games event, with all the usual tossing of big heavy objects, the all day tug-of-war competition between Army units (my favorite team was the 52nd division Army ENGINEERS!), highland dancing, bag-pipe band competition, and track & field events. The best was the hill run, where competitors ran several miles up a windy path to the top of a mountain behind the stadium, and then ran (tumbled) straight down. Mental! The Queen even came and sat right across from us!

A week after Dre and Robin arrived, we spent a weekend in Maine at Colin & Ashley's wedding. What an awesome time, it was on Pemiquid point, right next to the lighthouse. Seriously, such a beautiful wedding and a ton of fun. It was just fantastic to see everyone and we had an inedible time (and the guys looked really awesome in their kilts). And even better, Colin and Ash just booked their tickets to Scotland! (For those that don't know Colin grew up in the town in Scotland that we are living in now)

A week after that came the whirlwind trip back home. Birthday celebration lobster cook out (thanks Mom & Dad) , saw nephew Grant who is getting huge!, reunion with the kids at school, first night ever at BHP, birthday celebration with the Dows, home friends get together with Tito and Lara.... and back again. Fairly sick of flying by now.

Then our friend Laura came for a visit cause she just happened to be passing through the area (the area = Europe). We had an awesome time and checked out Edinburgh, the local fare, and my personal favorite part of Scotland, Arran Island. Visited the distillery and some castles, met some Aussie charity bikers... good times.
Tomorrow, the parents arrive and sister comes over a couple days later. I will probably blog about that some time around Thanksgiving.

The plan for today (based on the advice of my barber), drive south past Girvan, turn off the main road and get lost... properly lost. Supposedly beautiful lowland mountains and glens. We will see.

Other than that, Tommy and the Patriots sound like they are doing ok (the other football), which has me quite choffed (pleased?), but both my fantasy teams are absolutely horrible, and MBA recruiting season has begun. So anyone in need of a student who is terrible at fantasy football and is lost in Scotland please give me a job.

Glorious Game at Braehead Cook School

I was famous today! I was interviewed on the radio during my class. 96.7 West FM was doing a segment on the cook school and they asked me for two 30 second interview slots (oh so long, right?) Oh yes, I am a famous cook now.

The day was spectacular, as it always is! We had lots of glorious game. We started with dessert- an apple tarte tatin. The chefs asked if I'd mind making the recipe as listed, using phillo dough, so that my husband could enjoy it later. They would then make me a special dessert to eat! So Mike gets the tarte!

Next, we watched a demonstration of Pumpkin and Wild Mushroom Gratin and then cooked that, too!

By 11:30 am, I was getting really hungry with all these delicious smells! I needn't have worried, however, because we were about to eat a bunch!

We had a long demonstration session which included carving the saddle of a roe deer to remove the loin. We also saw wild duck, hen pheasant, grouse, red leg partridge, and hare prepared for roasting as well as breasts removed for pan frying. The chefs demonstrated the preparation of a braised cabbage dish that we would eat with lunch.

(Partridge, Grouse, and Roe Deer)

We were given a breast of grouse and a breast of partridge to pan fry. We fried them in a mixture of oil and butter on high induction heat in a nonstick pan, and then put them in a 225oC oven for a few minutes to finish. We ate them with the braised cabbage, yum! I really like grouse, it was very interesting- nothing like other birds I have eaten. It had a deeper flavor and an almost starchy texture. It went fantastically with the braised cabbage.

We next watched a demonstration of Pheasant in a creamy Madeira Sauce with Chicory and Dijon Mustard. We tasted the roasted duck and talked about how to prep, cook, and carve the birds. We talked a lot about turkeys and the native Americans. One chef asked if turkeys are indigenous to the US and specifically to MA. I talked about the flocks of turkeys running through Indian Village, and how Andrea and I once watched two turkeys chase some kids down Seneca on their way to the bus stop! It went over well.

We prepared roe deer on a salad of beetroot and walnut, similar to a recipe last class but with some effective and delicious changes- specifically that we toasted the walnuts and cooked beetroot before putting them on the salad. Warming the beets really was fantastic with the warm roe deer.

We were served our salads followed by the tarts. I was served this amazing poached apple dish with homemade ice cream- just brilliant. By then I was WAY too full, but what can you do? With such spectacular food, you need to eat it all!

Lucky Mike, I was sent home with my pumpkin and wild mushroom gratin, a breast of grouse and pheasant to cook, and a roe deer steak! Oh, and the apple tarte tatin, of course!

Slainte!

(Hot Chocolate Fondant Pudding from last class)

Some New Recipes

I have two new recipes for the week. The first is BLT soup, the second is almond trail mix cookies, gluten free, of course!

BLT SOUP
(serves 4)

2 leeks
1 large carrot
1 turnip
4 fingerling potatoes or 1 small baking potato
1 225g can chopped Italian tomatoes in tomato sauce
Chicken, Vegetable, or Beef stock, to cover veggies.
bacon
flat leaf parsley, chopped
Parmesan cheese, grated thickly
olive oil, salt, pepper

Put 1T olive oil in a pan, heat it up.
Cut leeks in half and then into thin half moons, rinse.
Cut Carrots and Parsnips in thin rounds.
Leek, Carrot, and Parsnip slices should be as thin as possible, a few mm.
Saute veggies in oil for 10-15 minutes on medium/low heat, stir often.
Add tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Cook 5 minutes.
Add stock to cover, add as much as you like for a thin or thick soup.
Bring stock to boil, meanwhile cut potatoes in thin rounds, similar to raw potato chips.
When soup begins to boil, add potatoes and simmer until potatoes soften.
Brown bacon, crumble.
Serve the soup topped with generous amounts of parsley, bacon, and cheese.

GF Almond Trail Mix Cookies
(makes 6 large cookies)

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C, 400 F

1 large egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chunky almond butter
3/4 cup fruit and nut mix
6 squares good dark chocolate

Mix first four ingredients together.
For the fruit and nut mix, I used chopped pecans, almonds, raisins, sultanas, currants, and candied citrus peel.
Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray or use butter or muffin cups.
Divide the batter into the six cups.
Press a piece of chocolate gently into the center of each cup.
Cook 15-18 minutes.

Note: I have a fan/convection oven here in Scotland, so cooking time may vary. Check the cookies like you would a cake until they're done. I had to put foil over them in the last five minutes so that they wouldn't darken too much on the top before the bottom was cooked. It takes a bit of watching the first time, but trust me, they're worth it!

Michael's Birthday!

We celebrated Mike's Birthday yesterday! Here are some highlights:

The decorations (a monster theme!)

Special Breakfast:
Banana and Nutella stuffed French Toast
with bacon, of course! Streaky bacon!

Morning Presents (note the monsters)

New scarf for Michael

Dinner:
Peppercorn encrusted fillet steak marinated in balsamic vinaigrette
Rosemary Oven Fries
Goat Cheese Stuffed Broiled Tomatoes
We made balsamic lattice candy as a decoration
(accidental, but fun!)Happy Birthday, Michael!

Robert Burns National Heritage Park

Today, I walked from Ayr to Alloway to visit Robert Burns National Heritage Park. This is where Burns was born and lived until he was 7, and it is the location that inspired the poem Tam O'Shanter, a Scottish classic. Visit the Robert Burns Country link to check it out! The day was gorgeous and the park is really nice. Check out my pictures:

Goatfell, Isle of Arran

On Saturday, Mike and I spent the day on the Isle of Arran hiking Goatfell, the tallest peak on Arran. At 874 meters, or 2,866 feet, it provided amazing views of the islands in the Firth of Clyde, including the Cumbraes (which we visited last weekend)!We got up at 5 and caught the 7am ferry from Ardrossan across to Brodick. We then took a bus up to the Goatfell trail from High Corrie. Starting at Corrie instead of Brodick allowed us to do a straight walk without backtracking, which was nice. We were able to see more landscape that way! We started on a small local road which turned into a dirt path. We followed the path up along Corrie Burn. At one point, we climbed over a 'kissing fence,' or a ladder fence that connects two fields. It started to drizzle and then it really rained on us for the length of the glen, but it was just gorgeous, even in the rain. There were a few times when we had no idea of we were following a trail or just a riverbed, but we figured it would all work out either way... Always up for a good adventure!It rained a lot. We were soaked. The forecast had called for a beautiful day with good visibility, so we kept hoping that it would clear for us. When it did, we were just arriving at the top of the glen where the Corrie path meets the saddle, the low point in the ridge trail that connects Cir Mhor with North Goatfell. What was so spectacular here was that we suddenly peaked the ridge as the sun came out, giving us a breathtaking view of the mountains and glens that span the middle of the island. It's impossible to do this place justice, it was fantastic. Also, we stopped here to watch a herd of red deer cross the path just above us. We stayed in sight of the herd for a good hour or so as we made our way up North Goatfell and on to the peak of Goatfell itself.The Isle of Arran is called a miniature Scotland because the terrain changes drastically from South to North, mimicking the change from lowlands to highlands on the mainland. The peaks around Goatfell really do resemble the sprawling, stately peaks in the highlands, complete with expanses of moorland and strewn rocks and boulders.If anyone has ever done the Castle trail from the top of Mount Jefferson in NH, the ridge trail has some similarities. It spans small peaks, or 'castles,' all along the length of the trail. On this hike, you have the choice to scramble over the castles or take a lower trail around them. We tried to scramble some of them, but the rocks were still a bit slippery and the drop from the trail is extreme into the glen far, far below.We had been hiking alone all morning, but we found a few groups of people when we reached the summit of Goatfell. The trail we would take down the other side is the more popular ascent, as it leads from the grounds of Brodick Castle. At the summit, there's a map of the surrounding islands and mainland to help you get your bearings. We had a great picnic and enjoyed the sunshine and the views from the top.We passed many other people on our way down to Brodick Castle. When we finally reached the bottom, we turned down a quiet lane of hedges bordering farms and walked on to the Arran Brewing Co. where Mike tried the local beers and I enjoyed a Strongbow. We then checked out the Arran Cheese Co. (SO GOOD!) and bought some cheese to bring home. We caught the bus to take us back to the ferry and we ran into four guys that Mike works with! They had finished a different hike and were heading to the pub in Brodick. We went with them and caught the later ferry.
All around, it was a spectacular day! About ten miles of perfect Scottish hillwalking, about 2800 feet of elevation gain and then loss, and some good pints with great people. Definitely worthy of the Adventurer's Club!

Kungaloosh!