Author: Scottish Mum

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Sponsored: Eating and Drinking in Edinburgh

Caesar Salad

Scottish food isn’t just about haggis and deep-fried Mars bars you know, although if you want to sample those delicacies they are of course readily available in Edinburgh.  But Edinburgh is actually a gourmet’s paradise, packed with fantastic restaurants from the humble-yet-delicious to the Michelin-starred. And of course when dinner is over, there’s always a tempting-looking bar or pub round the corner to have a nightcap in. If you’re planning a short break full of eating and drinking to your heart’s content in the Scottish capital, it’s a good thing it’s easy to find a Travelodge in Edinburgh, so you can use the money you save on the hotel to put towards your dining fund!

Fine Dining

If you want to push the boat out to impress that certain someone, you’ve come to the right place. TV’s Saturday Kitchen regular, the aptly named Tom Kitchin is Edinburgh’s best-known celebrity chef and his two restaurants The Kitchin and Castle Terrace consistently receive rave reviews. Michelin-starred Martin Wishart in Leith also has the accolades and the waiting list to match.

Romance

Edinburgh is full of hidden gems worth tracking down for a date night to remember. The Stockbridge Restaurant, Le Café St Honoré and Angels With Bagpipes will give you the full candlelit experience but when it comes to rolling out the red carpet romance-wise, The Witchery, with its wood paneling, sumptuous food and Castle-side location will give you an evening out you’ll never forget.

Pubs

Edinburgh is famous for its pubs and with good reason – they’re plentiful and for the most part friendly and welcoming. If you fancy a bit of a pub-crawl, the Grassmarket area is the traditional place to start – try The Beehive for your first pint. Rose Street, which runs parallel to the main shopping streets of Princes Street and George Street is another favourite drinking drag – handy if all that shopping brings on a bit of a thirst. The best thing about Edinburgh pubs is of course the Scottish licensing laws, which mean that most venues are open till at least midnight, sometimes later.

On The Go

Edinburgh is packed with fabulous cafes serving up cakes, coffees and more substantial fare. Glass & Thomson in the New Town is the perfect place to relax with a coffee and a slice of cake and Urban Angel on Hanover Street is where to head for a lazy brunch.

Bars

If you fancy making a real night of it, Edinburgh has a thriving bar scene. Also home to the most upmarket shops, George Street is a good place to sample Edinburgh at its most glamorous – try Tigerlily for a pre-dinner drink and you’ll see why. Or Rick’s on Frederick Street and The Bon Vivant on Thistle Street, both of which also do great food, and are perfect places to party with Edinburgh’s beautiful people.

Phew, after all that, you’ll be ready for a good night’s sleep before getting up to do it all again. Cheers!

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Win a Pentax WG-3 Digital Camera worth £250 + with Specsavers. Closes 31st May 2014

I’ve teamed up with Specsavers to launch a photography competition.  It’s to capture the special bond struck up by children with their friends, siblings or even their family pets from a young age.

The winner of the competition will scoop a Pentax WG-3 digital camera worth more than £250 and a free sight test and eyecare for the winning parent and child, so it’s a really good prize to win.   The Pentax WG-3 camera is a waterproof, coldproof, shockproof and crushproof digital camera and comes in orange.  I just wish I could enter myself.  I’d personally love this camera.

Specsavers Camera 650

Anyone who reads my blog can enter, and the competition is to celebrate the start of Specsavers ‘two free pairs’ promotion in-store at stores across Scotland, which will see children qualify for one pair of specs free from the NHS and a second free pair from Specsavers free of charge.

Specsavers was founded in 1984 by husband and wife team, Doug and Dame Mary Perkins, who pioneered the optical joint venture partnership model and also revolutionised the industry with their innovative concept of affordable, fashionable eyecare for everyone.

As my optician of choice, specsavers are the suppliers of my current face framing eyewear and contact lenses.  I find them good quality, reasonably priced and very friendly.

Dave Quigley, regional chair for Specsavers Scotland,says:  ‘To celebrate our fantastic new offer we’re celebrating that perfect pairing that makes our children so happy. We know that at a young age, friendships are vitally important, it’s that bond that we’re hoping to capture through our photography competition.’

Specsavers Logo 1

The two free pairs offer is available now and is valid for children up to the age of 16. Details and information on NHS sight tests are available in store or online at Specsavers Online.

The Competition:

Obviously I can’t enter, but I’ve included a picture of mine from when my youngest had only been with us for two days.  My boys are adopted and three whirlwinds arrived to upset my resident canine baby at the same time.

This picture of the baby with my spoiled young girl lab was the beginning of a long beautiful friendship.  She inched closer and closer and they stayed in that spot for almost an hour, sizing each other up.  They became instant friends and are still close now that she is nearly 14 and the wee boy in the picture almost 12.

Kids-1

To Enter:

Photos submitted to the competition can be taken by either a child or a relative, so long as they capture the child’s favoured pairing.

The competition will be judged by Specsavers.

I would like to post the winning entry on my blog, as would Specsavers, so please ensure you are happy for it to be published before sending it in.

Obviously I would like everyone who enters (or even those who don’t) to leave a comment and Tweet or Facebook about it, but it isn’t mandatory.  As it’s a photographic competition, you can enter by either:

  • Tell us your name and which part of the UK you are from in your entry so that we know for publishing the winner.
  • Send the photograph to specsavers@scottishmum.com OR
  • Writing a blog post and leaving the link in a comment on this post.

Add your entry to the linky below if you wish to share your fabulous photos.  I’ve added mine although it doesn’t count, to show you how it will look.


That’s it, easy peasy.  The competition will close on the 31st May 2014 at midnight.

As long as I get the photograph and a way to contact you, your entry counts.

Terms and Conditions:

  • Closing Date:  31st May 2014 at Midnight.
  • The Competition is open to UK Entrants only.
  • The Winning entry will be published on the Scottish Mum Blog and Specsavers Promotions.
  • 1 Winner will win a Pentax WG-3 digital camera worth more than £250 and a free sight test and eyecare for the winning parent and child.
  • The prize will be sent to you from Specsavers.
  • The Scottish Mum Blog is not responsible for your prize and cannot be held liable in any way for non delivery or non receipt at your end.
  • Winners will be notified within 7 days of giveaway end. If the winner does not respond within 7 days of being notified, a new winner will be drawn.
  • The winner will be chosen by Specsavers.
  • Scottish Mum Blog and Specsavers reserves the right to amend, add or withdraw this giveaway at any time.
  • Ensure you have consent for any persons included in your picture.  The Scottish Mum Blog and Specsavers are not liable in the event of publication or the submission of any images without explicit consent of the people included, and the responsible parent or guardian in the case of a minor.
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Macaroni Cheese Recipe

Apologies, the photos are a bit rubbish, I just snapped them with my phone.

This recipe is one that I came up with to make macaroni cheese just that little bit better, and with more taste than my older versions. Adding the garlic brings out a fabulously strong taste that is just enough for me to taste but not as much as will put the kids off eating it.

I tend to make macaroni and cheese when I don’t have much time and the kids are saying they’re ravenous. I always have some grated cheese in the freezer and just put it in the microwave on defrost for a few minutes before putting it into my white sauce.

If you don’t have the traditional shaped macaroni, you can use almost any other pasta that you have for a similar effect. I also used to use mozarella, but have now moved to a stronger cheddar, which the kids seem to prefer.

Go on, experiment with your pasta.

Lesley S Smith

Macaroni Cheese Recipe

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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings: 6 - 8
Course: Lunch
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 500 g Macaroni Pasta
  • 400 g Mature Cheddar Cheese Grated
  • 1 Onion Peeled and Chopped
  • 8 Cherry Tomatoes Halved
  • 1 clove Garlic Peeled and Chopped
  • 1 l Semi Skimmed Milk
  • 50 g Butter
  • 2 tablespoons Cornflour
  • Teaspoon Salt

Method
 

  1. Pop the macaroni pasta into a pan to cook. Add salt, onion and garlic and let it simmer for 15 minutes. If you prefer, you can shallow fry your onions and garlic before adding them to your pasta. When your pasta is cooked, use a colander to drain it, and run at least two kettles full of boiling water through the pasta to take away all the starch.
  2. You might prefer to make a roux to make your sauce (ie cook flour and butter until it forms and then add milk slowly until it is a smooth mixture). I tend to put my milk into a pan, pop in the butter and let it heat up to almost boiling, and then take it off the heat to add a mix of cornflour and a little cold milk to thicken my sauce, and put it back on the heat to cook in, just in the same way as I would do to thicken gravies etc.
  3. Put the oven on to heat at around 190C and butter an ovenproof dish. For these quantities, I use a big stone dish that does the job well. you might find you need to split this over a couple of dishes to finish it off in the oven.
  4. Take the white sauce off the heat and add in 300g of cheddar gradually. Put in a handful and stir until it is melted. You can put it back on a low heat while it is melting.
  5. Once the cheddar is all melted, pop the macaroni into the sauce and mix well before pouring into the prepared dish for oven baking.
  6. Sprinkle 100g Grated Cheddar Cheese on the top of your dish and place your halved cherry tomatoes.
  7. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until the top begins to show a golden brown colour.

 

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Breadmaker Recipe: Basic White Loaf

Using a breadmaker is like coming home to warm slippers.  Yes, really.  It’s so handy to have if we run out of shop bread and means I don’t have to run out for extra supplies late at night for the next days packed lunches.

I have a Panasonic which is fairly aged now but it still churns out the bread beautifully.  It also means I can put some in the freezer too.

Breadmaker Bread: Basic Large Size White Loaf

4.35 from 20 votes
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings: 11
Course: Bread
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 320 ml Water
  • 25 g Olive Oil
  • 1.5 teaspoons Sugar
  • 1.5 teaspoons Salt
  • 1.5 teaspoons Breadmaker Yeast I use Allinsons or Dove’s Farm
  • 500 g Strong White Bread Flour

Method
 

  1. Breadmaker recipes tend to differ on how they explain using ingredients for bread. I tend to add in the water first as I really have not got the hang of putting in the dry ingredients first.
  2. Add the water and olive oil.
  3. Put the flour on top of the water until it completely coats the surface. If you’re not confident, make a little well in the middle of the flour for the yeast.
  4. I put the salt and sugar on top of the flour into one side and then add the yeast in last, making sure that it is not in contact with the water or sugar at all.
  5. Select a four hour or basic bread setting. You can also use this recipe for a thicker French crust effect by using a longer setting to get a thicker crust. I find this is the best recipe for making sandwich bread for school packed lunches.
  6. Leaving your bread to cool fully means it will cut more easily, but if you’re like my boys and like some warm bread to use immediately it comes out of the breadmaker, then it tends to be more of a tear and share effort here. I can get up to 11 slices from this, but when I first started to cut a loaf, I was lucky if I got five or six. It does take practice.
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The Allotment / Plot Is Under Way for 2014

We have an allotment, but we call it the plot.  It’s great for the kids and it means they get to know the origins of our fruit and vegetables in life.  It’s good for middler as he gets to potter in dirt and keeps the garden for being a garden.  It also means the hub can take a child or three now and then to give me a bit of peace.

I wrote about the plot first here, where the old shed that stood on it was falling down and in a terrible state.   You can also see the completely overgrown plot area where the people are all trampling over.  It seemed to be mostly carpet sewn into grass and earth.

Last year, I wrote about it as it moved along here.   This year I am hoping to get many more and better pictures as our goodies grow.

Plot 20143

The man built a new shed rather than buy one as he wanted a sturdy wee box to live in while he is there.

Plot 20141

Here’s how we’re shaping up so far this year.  Peas are in, as are strawberries, rhubarb, some potatoes, cabbage, lettuce, onions and leeks.

I can’t persuade him to put in blackberries or raspberries and since I don’t plan tending the plot myself this year, I think I’ll have to do without.

Potatoes, neeps and carrots still have to be finished, and we have lots of different herbs this year.

I think there are even some melons on the go, as well as cucumbers and marrows, but we’ll just have to see if he manages to grow those.

I just hope we don’t get too much nicked this year.  That really winds me up when people just come to take the harvest when they don’t bother to do any work for themselves.  It’s also seems to be one of the biggest reasons that people give up their allotments.

They trash things they can’t take in the process of stealing the crops, so we tend to harvest early and have smaller fruit and veg than they would be if they were fully grown.

Plot 20148 Plot 20147 Plot 20146 Plot 20145 PLot 20144  Plot 20142

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Making Chocolate Eggs For Easter

A wee while ago, the people from Stay In Devon sent us a wee kit for making your own easter eggs to try.  Middler, who has special needs decided he’d be the one making them with a little help from his brother.

As much as I tried to persuade him to use the fried eggs as eyes, he wanted to do it his way, so ours have a fried egg inside, and he ate the other two.  He put the lips and nose on to please him and he’s delighted with the result.  We left ours overnight before de-moulding which was perhaps the wrong thing to do as the chocolate speckled, but he’s happy with them 🙂

Making Chocolate Eggs 4

How did we do it?  Here’s how.   We used a chocolate easter egg kit.  You can buy moulds to make them from any good mould seller.

Chocolate Easter Egg Kit

He found it quite difficult to wait in-between layers so if I did this again, I’d let him do one and head off to school, then I’d do a couple more before he got home.  I had to heat up an oven tray and put some greaseproof on top of it to melt the edges so that they could be stuck together, but it all worked out fine.

 

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Basic Meringue Recipe – Great For Meringue Nests

Being able to make meringue nests is one of the jobs I wish I had learned years ago.

Now that I know how to do it, making all sorts of meringues is now quite easy.  For this recipe you can use a piping bag, or if you don’t have one, just pop your meringue mix onto your making paper and use the back of a spoon to form peaks.

This will take around 30 – 45 minutes to dry in the over if the nests are small, but one large pavlova size meringue will take up to an hour and a half to dry out in the oven, and then it has to be left to cool.

The vinegar is in all my meringue recipes and will be forever more.  It helps to stabilise it, and the chances of it collapsing are greatly reduced, although meringues are by their nature, crumbly and light.

Basic Meringe Recipe – Useful For Meringue Nests

Print Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 10
Course: Dessert
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 5 Egg Whites
  • 250 g Caster Sugar I used golden sugar for the meringue in this picture.
  • Half teaspoon Vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
  • 2 teaspoons Cornflour

Method
 

  1. Put the oven on to approximately 130 C or Gas 1 - 2. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
  2. Separate the egg yolk from the egg whites and put them into a mixer bowl. Whisk them for a few minutes until they form stiff peaks.
  3. Add the sugar slowly, about 50g at a time and whisk again for a few minutes each time, until the sugar is all added.
  4. Add the vinegar, cornflour and vanilla essence and continue to mix for up to 8 minutes, until the mix is smooth and glossy.
  5. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Put your meringue mix into a piping bag with the nozzle of your choice. Starting from the middle, work out by going round in circles to create the meringue nest shape on your baking paper.
  6. Pop your meringues into the oven for approximately 30 - 45 minutes. Let the meringues cool down in the oven if it's possible.

 

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Shortcrust Pastry Recipe

For almost every other pastry, I buy it in the shops as ready make blocks and sheets, but for the shortcrust pastry version, I usually make it as it is just so simple and quick to make.

It can also be frozen once it’s made for another day, so for example, if you were going to make 4 x 4″ flan case base size portions, I would use half this quantity.

What I often do is make the full batch and freeze half of the dough for another day.  This batch size will make up to 8 x 4″ flan case size bases.

Lesley S Smith

Shortcrust Pastry

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Prep Time 45 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course: Baking
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 500 g Plain Flour
  • 220 g Butter
  • 1 tablespoon Caster Sugar
  • pinch Salt
  • Water

Method
 

  1. Put flour and butter into a bowl and either rub the butter into the flour, or mix it in the food processor until it is a breadcrumb consistency. Make sure that all the lumps of butter are rubbed in.
  2. Add a couple of pinches of salt and caster sugar, and mix with the breadcrumb consistency ingredients.
  3. Add a little water at a time and either mix by hand, or in the mixer / processor until the dough forms a ball. Stop when the dough has bound together. I add a tablespoon at a time until the ball begins to form.
  4. Wrap the dough up with cling film and refrigerate for approximately half an hour before using it.

 

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Roasting Bag: Chicken Breasts in Chicken Tonight Country French White Wine Sauce …With Cream & Chives

This is a speedy way to have a home cooked meal in a sauce.

Roasting bags are one of my favourite things to cook with, as the food really just never goes wrong.

I have made this recipe with 1 jar, which just gives the meat and vegetables a very nice coating with this level of ingredients.

This worked perfectly for us, but I suspect I might add 2 jars at my next attempt at using a jar of sauce for a roasting bag.

Roasting Bag: Chicken Breasts in Chicken Tonight Country French White Wine Sauce …With Cream & Chives

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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 6
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 6 Chicken Breasts
  • 1 kg Baby or Mini Potatoes
  • 2 Large Carrots Chopped
  • 1 Large Roasting Bag
  • 1 jar Chicken Tonight in Country French White Wine Sauce

Method
 

  1. Set oven to 180C . To make this dish easier, I used a dish to mix the chicken breasts, potatoes and carrots in while I coat them all with the jar of chicken tonight.
  2. Pop all the ingredients into the roasting bag and seal it well.
  3. Lay your chicken out so that each piece is separate and on the floor of your roasting tray. If they are piled on top of each other, they will not cook properly. This is why you need a large roasting bag. If you only have smaller ones, split your ingredients into smaller batches.
  4. Cook in the oven for an hour, or until the chicken breasts are fully cooked. This could be more or less, depending on how large your chicken breasts are.
  5. Just take out of the bag and serve. Easy Peasy.

 

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We’re all going to die !!!!!

Long term readers of my blog will know that I have adopted children, one of whom has full-blown foetal alcohol syndrome and is in a dedicated special school, where he is now settled after a few years of sad instability at the hands of the education department staff.

He is now 12 years old and heading towards the teen years very fast.

He has also just begun to learn how to join simple words from some simple letters. Read cat sat on the mat, but not so advanced yet. Just the cat is a huge deal.

For 12 and a half years, he has rarely watched TV, and on the rare occasions he has, it hasn’t been sustained, but more of a one-off.

Imagine my surprise when he came through to see me last night.  He’d been in the family room while I was in the lounge, reading in peace.

“Mum, the news is bad.”

“What’s on the news?”

“Well, the army has killed two of their own people.  Cigarettes are now banned forever so dad has to stop smoking or he’ll be in jail, and Saharan sand is smothering everybody and we’re all going to die.”

Sand

Then, off he pops, happy as Larry, to listen to more gore from the news while I go and put on the kettle.