Christmas in Edinburgh

Dear Readers

Edinburgh is now a blaze of Christmas lights and sounds and smells. The Christmas markets have arrived and the bustle of people buying trinkets and handmade decorations and gingerbread and hot toddies is all around when you go into town.

We went in to see for ourselves all the fun, as we always do every year. It gets better as our wee one gets older and understands more and can join in the fun and get excited about all the sights and sounds. The markets are truly magical and they are one quick way of getting you into the Christmas spirit if you're struggling to find it!

This year Princes Street Gardens has a magical garden for children to delight in. This is where you can meet Santa in his cabin and then after you've said hello you're led through a magical wardrobe into a fairy tale of pretty lights and trees to make your way through the maze of fairy lights and trees to the Elves cabin. It's lovely. There is a little red train circling the garden and above it all, in the German markets buzzing with shoppers, there is an ice rink too.

I will post more Christmas pictures from Edinburgh soon.

A Christmas Mantlepiece

Well, Christmas has crept up on me and suddenly I realised it was mid December. I've had a very busy schedule recently with setting up a new business and another big project that has taken up a lot of my time, but I decided to take some time out and start preparing for Christmas rather then pretending it wasn't really just round the corner.Yikes!

One of my favourite areas to decorate is the mantlepiece. We have a real fire in our sittingroom and there is nothing nicer on a winters night than a  log fire roaring away sending out warmth and golden light into the room. It can cheer the gloomiest of spirits any day. So decorating this space to make it look special and ready for Christmas is really fun.

And here it is with the lights off, looking cosy.

I always use lots of ivy at Christmas time, and holly when I can find it, they are both so pretty and natural. 

How do you make your home look Christmassy?

 

Here are some glass angels I always put out on the sideboard in the hall with some candles.

 Are you ready for Christmas?????!!! I'm getting there.............I think!

Weekend Pancakes

We have a weekend ritual that every morning we have pancakes made fresh at home and kept warm inside a linen cloth on a plate on the breakfast table. On these mornings I am invariably woken up by our little one asking if we can make pancakes. It's now something that we all look forward to as breakfasts just wouldn't be the same without making pancakes.


Now these pancakes are the traditional Scottish 'drop scones', not french pancakes or 'crepes', but they are similar to the American pancakes which are often eaten with blueberries, maple syrup or even bacon. The recipe is like most pancake recipes, basic with few ingredients. The difficulty in these pancakes is in the cooking - in some ways it should be straight forward and just a case of 'dropping' the batter in the pan and then flipping them over to cook on the other side. However, getting the lovely glossy chestnut coloured smooth top can take a few goes. It's not as straight forward as it should be!

 Scottish 'Drop Scones' or pancakes are chestnut coloured with a smooth top and a fluffy interior.

The Recipe

9oz Self Raising flour
3oz Caster Sugar
2 tablespoons golden syrup (not thick black treacle!)
3 eggs

Milk to mix

Put the flour and sugar in a mixing bowl and add the eggs to a hollow in the middle, then plop in the syrup and add a dash of milk to make a soft cake batter mix. Add more milk to the consistency you need.

 

The trick at this stage is getting the right consistency - you need it runny enough to come off the spoon easily but not too runny that you end up with a thin pancake that only rises a little. We're aiming for a thick fluffy interior so it's a balance of not too thick and not too thin. In the picture above you can see that the batter is running of the spoon but forming a soft pile in the bowl, not sinking and disappearing into liquid once more.

Once you've perfected this stage (!) you can get to the cooking part. 

 

You need a thick bottomed pan like a frying pan. (You can get traditional griddles or girdles here in Scotland for the purpose but they are rare now, usually only found in traditional hardware shops, which I love mooching about in. These are the kind of places you can buy all sorts of cooking paraphernalia.) You'll see above that I've dropped two spoonfuls into the pan together. they are about 3 inches in diameter. Now the key point at this stage is that the pan needs to be medium hot and LIGHTLY oiled with butter. If it too oily you will get a patchwork blotchy top to your pancake and you are looking for a glossy chestnut smoothness instead. I drop a tiny spot of butter in the pan, let it melt, then wipe the bottom of the pan over with a kitchen towl to spread the butter and soak up the excess. 

Each pancake will take a couple of minutes to cook on either side but the important bit here is to wait to see the bubbles appearing on the top. When there are quite a lot of bubbles then the pancake is ready to turn over using a fish slice. This is when you learn whether the pan is too cool or too hot or just right! You should have a nice smooth pancake with a rich colouring, anything from golden brown to a rich chestnut. But you don't want it to be too dark or it will taste bitter (although this is how my father likes then *sigh*)

  

Once they are cooked on both sides then pass them to a warm plate covered in a cotton or linen cloth to keep them warm. We eat ours with Nutella or jam, or just with butter. Actually, pancakes are traditionally eaten for afternoon tea in Scotland, we are a little unusual eating them for breakfast but they are really delicious with your morning cup of tea!

Enjoy your Scottish pancakes!

  

  

A Few Of My Favourite Things

I've been a bit remiss in posting these last few weeks, for two reasons. First, I've been setting up my new business which has taken up a lot of time. It's really exciting and I'm champing at the bit to really get going and I'm hoping things will get moving soon once I've finished the prep! And second, the camera broke. I usually always use my own photos so not having a camera made it a bit difficult.

Anyway, I thought I would share with you some of my favourite things that I use on a regular basis that make my life better. I always like passing on good things in the chance it might help someone else as well. 

NUMBER 1.  WHEATGRASS & BARLEY GRASS

I am a number one fan of these grasses and I take them every day. They have helped clear my psoriasis and my rosacea and I cannot be more grateful. I have had trouble with my skin since I was 14 years old after being diagnosed with psoriasis. Later I got rosacea on my face, as then as a kind of acne that started in my 40's. There have been stays in hospital to try to control the flaking painful skin and countless doctors appointments and different treatments. However I have found that apart from reducing stress in my life which is really important too, the green superfood grasses are superb for detoxing, reducing inflammation and clearing the skin. My psoriasis is now nearly 95% gone (rough guestimate). When I was a teenager I had the map of the world on my back and around my waist like a belt, and it hurt! It burned like the kind of burning heat you get when someone gives you a chinese burn on your wrist. I had a scalp that regularly reduced me to tears for the sheer embarressment of having flakes and dandruff that I couldn't control, as well as the medications that were a torment in themselves to use, even when trying to wash them out again. All in all it was pretty distressing and awful and left me with no confidence as a teenager and young woman in my twenties. Anyone who has suffered this condition will know how miserable it can make you feel and how it strips away your self esteem and confidence, especially when you are young and vulnerable. However, I absolutely swear by the improvement that wheatgrass and barleygrass has brought to my skin. It's a burst of vitamins and minerals to your system as well as a detoxifier and I think it strengthens you from within which shows in your skin after a while.  It also cleared up the rosacea flushing and the red irritated spotty face I would wake up with every morning, no matter what creams and potions I used to try to sooth, calm and clear my face. Now my face is clear I use simple cleaners and moisturisers- I stick to good quality budget brands that use good ingredients, but that's it, nothing fancy. I drink lots of water which most of us now know is essential to good skin. But the biggest difference has been the daily consumption of dried wheatgrass and barleygrass in capsule form. You can get it fresh etc or in powder form but for me, swigging down three capsules twice a day with water is the quickest way to get the goodness in.

NUMBER 2. YVES SAINT LAURENT LE TEINT TOUCHE ECLAT FOUNDATION

Still on a skin theme, I have to recommend this lovely foundation. It was recommended on the blog of the great make up artist Lisa Eldridge. I took her advice and bought some for my summer make up look and I'm so glad I did. It really is a beautiful foundation - it blends into your skin to look competely natural and is barely visible on the skin. You can wear it as a light coverage or build it for a more glamorous look. Generally I wear foundation for a natural everyday look to cover my pinky tones as I am quite pale with red cheeks (I have a thoroughly Celtic heritage) and this foundation was just lovely to put on in the morning, so easy, it never caused me any problems with blending or streaking. It is pricey but it is worth it. There are some things I think you need to spend money on to get quality, shoes being one, and foundation is sometimes another as there are so many chalky or badly pigmented ones out there (although there are some excellent budget brands as well, I will not deny!). Having moved into winter now, my skin has lost the little colour it caught being out and about with my dog during the summer months and I've had to change to another foundation because I am so pale. It can be difficult to get really good colours for pale skin and the Yves St Laurent Foundation wasn't the best for paler skin tones I found (a little too yellow). But as a summer foundation it was fantastic and a joy to use.

However....I have also bought another of Lisa Eldridge's recommendations - Bourjois' 'Healthy Mix Foundation' which is another lovely lovely foundation with the same excellent natural coverage as the more expensive Yves St Laurent. It's about a third of the price too. This will be my winter foundation as it is also a little more hydrating than the other one and a paler soft cream colour which is perfect for my Scottish colouring.





NUMBER 3. A JUICER

I have juiced for many years now with the odd interuption but generally I've juiced consistently for about 15 years. It is the one thing that really makes my skin glow along with the wheatgrass and barley grass. I got into juicing for both health and beauty reasons and the benefits have always shown themselves in my skin. I usually just juice apples, carrots and ginger but occasionally will get a bit more daring and juice some green vegetables etc. I recommend juicing though, it really gives you a glow.



NUMBER 4. LUSH HENNA

I love Lush's Henna. It conditions and colours your hair whilst making it smell gorgeous and shine like polished wood. They do four colours - caca brun, caca noir, caca marron and caca rouge. I use caca marron for my chestnut coloured hair and it enhances the natural colour and just gives it a burst of colour and shine. I get lots of compliments about my hair and it's because of Lush's henna! It's also totally natural with none of the nasties you get from salon dyes. And it costs probably a tenth of what you'd pay to have those nasties put on your hair in a salon too! I've used it for years and it's become a staple in my beauty routine.


Do you have any 'must haves' in your life that you always depend on?  
 

Our Rescue Puppy

Earlier this year, in March, we brought our rescue puppy home from Dogs Trust. He is a Lurcher, and we named him Thumper after the rabbit in Disney's Bambi because of his long legs. He had been a stray at only four months, unloved and without a home or shelter in the freezing snows, the poor baby. We first saw him in his cage at the dog rescue centre, where they were looking after him very nicely. He had a little room mate 'Paul', another puppy who was also looking for a home. The cage was big with an inside room for them to sleep in and an outside play area with lots of toys and blankets to play with and chew. Even after having been thrown away and abandoned this little boy was still so happy and loving and playful. He won our hearts in an instant.

We brought him home and showed him as much love as we could, he was a little nervous and overwhelmed by all the new sights and sounds. He sat on his little bed and looked around him as if mystified by it all. He didn't now how to climb stairs or go down them and for the first day or two we had to carry him to the garden to allow him to pee. That's if we caught him in time, as he had no house training so there were lots of accidents!  The first night he slept with me on the sofa as he didn't want to be left alone and I swear that once the light was switched off and all was quiet that little puppy burst into tears, just like a child might. He sobbed in a way I have never heard a dog cry before. I think he was so overwhelmed and missing his little roommate Paul who he had bonded with after two weeks in the pound and then another two weeks in the rescue shelter. My heart broke for him. I cuddled him and made him feel as safe as I could but only time would allow for him to feel safe and at home.

But what a beautiful, sweet natured boy he was. We couldn't have asked for a more loving and gentle boy. He learned quickly that the best things in life are cuddles and getting as close as he can to whoever is sitting on the sofa and resting his head on their lap. He learned how to chew everything including shoes, books, wallets, credit cards and even an electric wire (close call!). He learned how to ride in the car with us, sitting nicely on his bed, although by the look on his face I don't think its his favourite thing!

  He learned very quickly how to make himself at home and get comfy

It wouldn't be too much to say he was spoiled rotten!

With all this snoozing, he kept growing

and growing

into the most beautiful boy!


And he's still growing!!

Have you ever given a rescue dog a home? I'd love to hear your stories.

A Typical Sunday

Today has been, for me, a typical Sunday in some ways and in others, not. As my other half often works on a Sunday I am usually on my own. It's a quiet day where I catch up on things that I haven't managed to get done in the past week; a little paperwork, a little housework and some tidying up perhaps, a phone call to a friend, then preparing a nice meal for his arrival home in the evening. I like these days.  I felt slightly melancholic today however. Yesterday had been a sad day as I attended the funeral of a young boy. Witnessing the grief of his parents and family was in its own way exhausting, trying to hold your own emotions together, knowing there is nothing really that can take away pain like that. Only time. And even then it will always be with them. He was thirteen. His coffin had been painted in beautiful blues and greys depicting a seascape. It looked lovely and fitting for a young life, instead of the sombre polished wooden coffins we normally see.  There is at times so much sadness in this life that for me it's important to really appreciate the beauty there also is. I like to celebrate, highlight, and really take part in the joyous things around us, I think it can help and give us something to hold onto when those overwhelming times in life do come around.

So, this morning I had my usual lovely walk with the Furbaby. The woods are slowly turning away from the vibrant greens of summer to the rich autumn colours and the leaves are falling. There was a warm blustery breeze, a teasing reminder of the summer just past, a soft air that swirled and twisted through the trees making them creak. It's one of my favourite sounds.  We walked towards Stockbridge and then headed back where Furbaby came upon one of his best friends and they had a race and a play.

 I found some mushrooms. I think they are so pretty and so expressive of this time of year when the warm dampness brings them out.

Back home, it's meal preparation time in the kitchen listening to Radio 4. Tonight we're having poached chicken in a cream and tarragon sauce with pasta and vanilla sponge covered in chocolate ganache for pudding, although it's not technically a pudding :-)  We're not fussy that way.

Furbaby is tired after two nice walks and catching up with friends and he's settled now on the sofa ready for a snooze until suppertime. What a life! 

 

Summers End

Summer has been good to us here in Edinburgh this year. It's been hot, sunny and glorious for the most part, when it's often a disappointing grey and damp wash out with the odd warm day. Not this year! I've even been able to wear summer dresses and shoes! Usually they can hang in the wardrobe hoping for an outing but the weather dictates it's jeans and boots as usual. And a wee jacket just to keep off the chill! This summer has been a long awaited change.

But although the warm weather has lingered and been kind there is now that hint of coolness in the air. The brambles are out and apples are dropping from the trees. My neighbour popped over with a bag of the prettiest soft green and pink apples this week and we decided to make a Tart Tatin and an Eve's pudding. There is no nicer smell in the kitchen than caramel bubbling on the stove gently cooking slices of apples before the whole lot is covered in pastry and popped in the oven for 30 minutes. We ate slices of it with cream and then had a portion of Eve's pudding when it came out of the oven a little while later. What a lovely way to spend an afternoon!

With autumn drawing in I am anticipating the cool, crisp days and pulling on warm jumpers, kicking up leaves, cooking up pies and bringing puddings from the oven ready for a slosh of custard to be poured over the top. I do love the changing seasons and I enjoy the different things that each one brings.

If you fancy a treat and have a spare hour, here is a lovely recipe for Eve's Pudding. It's a simple but delicious traditional pudding with apple at the bottom of the dish, covered in cake mix and baked for 30+ minutes. Pour over cream or custard. 

Eve's Pudding 

2 large cooking apples

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons water

2oz butter

2 tablespoons caster sugar

Topping

4oz butter

4oz sugar

4oz self raising flour

2 eggs

1 tablespoon water   

Heat the oven to 180 C. Prepare the apples by peeling, coring and chopping roughly. Place in a saucepan with the lemon and water and cook briskly for 5 minutes. Add the 2oz butter and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Mix to a nice cream. (You can leave the apples chunky but I prefer a creamy apple base). 

Now make the topping. Place all the ingredients in a bowl (they should all be room temperature for ease) and mix until you have a creamy cake mix (don't mix too long or it will flatten and not rise so well). 

Place the apples at the bottom of a greased gratin dish and spoon the cake mix over the rop. Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes (until the cake mix is cooked - keep checking as this can vary from oven to oven. If you have a fierce oven watch it doesn't brown too much on top before cooking in the middle - turn the oven down a little and extend the cooking time instead)

Look how the pinkness of the apples came through when they were baked!  So pretty.

    

      

A Scottish Farm

It's well into August now and I haven't written a thing about..............The Edinburgh Festival!! Shocking! But as is often the case when you live somewhere special you take the special things for granted. It has been known for some Edinburghans to actually avoid all the fuss of the festival. Well, I didn't go that far, it just so happened that we'd planned a break away at my parents farm for the first week or so of August. It's a beautiful place, a little bit magical, and unchanged in a way that makes you feel history hasn't left, but is still lingering around. You can feel it in the old stone buildings and in the fields and the trees. The stone walls (dry stane dykes) make pretty green parcels across the land. But perhaps only pictures can tell its story.......
 
The farm house is a traditional Scottish but n ben. Small and cosy with the thickest walls and smallest attic bedrooms. There is nearly always a fire burning inside the house, even in summer, because the walls keep the rooms so cool. Only on the hottest days is it not lit.

The farm land is pretty and pastural in summer, but it's a harsh place in winter.

  My Dad has an old tractor that he'll never change. It does whatever he asks of it.

We picked raspberries to make raspberry jam

Someone we know had a ball running wild in the fields

 We went to the local and famous Alternative Games in New Galloway

and enjoyed the vintage cars

and the Sheep Throwing Competition

  And after a busy day there are nice places back at the farm for a cosy snooze

It truly is a magical place.

   

Sunday Summer Rain

The weather has turned! Well, it couldn't last and we did have a great run of beautiful perfect summer weather. We've been able to sit outside for breakfast eating pancakes with Nutella and drinking tea under a warm morning sun. We've had suppers under the trees as the sun faded behind the Edinburgh roofs. But all this heat was turning the lawns yellow and drying out the flower beds. It felt like those long ago summers from childhood, running barefoot on the grass and paddling in cold stoney waters.......

And then the storms came and with them the rain. The thunder was terrific and the lightening a little bit too close! Luckily our very sensitive and gentle lurcher Fur Baby didn't seem to mind at all - not what we expected from such a shrinking violet! But he took it all in his stride - although he did object strongly to being taken out in the rain (quick dashes for a pee!).

Today, it was cooler and darker in the house as the clouds were heavy. So I felt the need for a bit of cosy whilst listening to the rain outside.

With candles in the sittingroom

A gooey chocolate cake for afternoon tea

Then more candles in the evening........with a good thriller on television, sitting in my pj's on the sofa.

And another slice of cake with a final cup of tea. That's what weekends are for, whatever the weather :-)

 
How did you enjoy your weekend?