Wild venison. It’s the monarch of meats; lean, flavoursome and nothing but nutritious. Its appearance on menus heralds the onset of autumn and winter. Time to coorie down, stoke the fire, and enjoy its rich flavours alongside other seasonal ingredients; root vegetables, brambles, roast squashes and pumpkins. But clever charcuterie has elevated this seasonal meat… Read more »
After more than a decade in the public eye and half a million followers, you’d have thought singer and presenter Myleene Klass might have learned to be a bit more savvy about the impact of what she puts on Twitter. Last week she raised a serious point when she posted an email exchange with parents… Read more »
To be honest, it wasn’t really that bad being stranded in England for an extra two nights while Flybe grounded flights between Manchester and Inverness; I would have rather been at home, but I caught up with some work, and had a night to myself in a lovely hotel. But I wasn’t happy. While the… Read more »
Now that January is almost behind us, can we all agree that making the most miserable month of the year even more miserable by depriving ourselves of alcohol, eating nothing but kale and broth and forcing ourselves to queue for gym classes, is just nonsense? The internet is awash with juice cleanses and baby food… Read more »
As a student in the mid-80s I spent four months living in a tiny flat in Edinburgh’s Elm Row. The flat had three things in its favour; It was cheap It had a payphone which accepted incoming calls It was directly opposite the Italian deli Valvona and Crolla. I’m not sure I was aware at… Read more »
You’ll have heard the news about Tesco who have scrapped plans to build shiny new supermarkets in Banff and Aviemore. I must admit that I was surprised by the level of disappointment from some quarters. Surely fewer supermarkets is a good thing? Living in Inverness city centre, we are overrun with the things. Within a… Read more »
Cullisse Highland Rapeseed Oil Olive oil. For decades it has been the one ingredient that cooks have said they would least like to be without. An onion sautéing in olive oil has long been the starting point of most of my recipes. But move over, Olive, there’s a new kid in town. And she’s Scottish,… Read more »
Pantomime. It’s a uniquely British tradition; men dressing up in outlandish frocks, jokes for the kids (and jokes to go over their heads), a sloppy love story, spontaneous singing and dancing, and loads of audience participation. The Americans can’t understand the genre at all, and the French are far too cool to bother trying. In… Read more »
2015 is Scotland’s Year of Food and Drink. Hot on the heels of the successes of 2014 – the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, the Ryder Cup and the Year of Homecoming – Scotland’s larder will be in the spotlight. From the freshest of fish and cheeses, the finest lamb, beef and venison, tothe best and brightest… Read more »
I had expected the sadness to descend on Christmas Eve as it finally sank in that Daughter #1 wouldn’t be joining us for Christmas this year. But the sadness didn’t come. There were times when I was acutely aware of her absence, but in the five months since she flew to Honduras to spend a… Read more »