General Chat

:-(

Just got back from a week away with my sister - up the west coast to Glasgow, a couple of days there, then onto Skye - three days there - down to Edinburgh, a couple of days there.
We had beautiful weather - bright sunshine, not a drop of rain, and it was warmer on Skye than in Hampshire.
Sister and I now know we're not the 'rainmakers' on family holidays!! :-D :-D :-D

So, arrive back about 7pm.
As the evening went on it got a bit chilly. Went to turn the heating up - nothing, zilch, it's not working!! :-| :-| :-| :-| :-|
It must have decided to stop working today, as there was hot water in the tank. :-(

I am glad you enjoyed your trip away, Maggie, and sorry you've come home to heating problems. Hope you can get the boiler working again soon

Lizxx

Hope it's fixed soon meanwhile enjoy a nice glass of whisky to remind you of the holiday.

I've brought back a few haggis products :-D

I can get haggis down South, but not haggis sausages, haggis slices and fruit pudding 'haggis' :-D :-D :-D :-D

Maggie,

You are making me homesick talking about fruit pudding, haggis sausages etc.

To each to his own Rollo but you still eat Scottish!!

I eat a varied diet, and am sure Scottish national food can rival some of the French food found outwith the cities of that country.

For example: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/9326521/The-unpalatable-truth-about-French-cuisine.html

We ate in local restaurants and bars in both Glasgow Skye and Edinburgh, and the staff - and food - were terrific!! :-D

Have to admit, the Skye Black stout was delicious, as was the Scottish Black Stout.
I encouraged my sister (not a beer drinker) to try the 'Worlds End' ale, with the scrumptious fish and chip supper we had there (at The Worlds End pub in Edinburgh) - she really enjoyed it :-D

At the Oyster Shed on Skye, we had the freshest, most delicious shellfish I've had in years.

Oh, and there's nothing wrong with offal - it's the way you cook it, Rolo!
Besides which. Haggis is more than just lungs, and Aberdeen Angus cattle, and therefore, steak can be bred/ bought anywhere, so it's hardly 'authentic'.

Robert, the Co-op in Broadford, Skye, sold the biggest black pudding I've ever seen :-S
Oh, and I bought some Scottish fruit slices for the train journey home :-D :-D

Maggie, the World End pub has a grim history.

The murders in 1977 - after the girls had left the pub?
True, but it also has a longer history than that.

Way back in the late 1980's I was billeted for four months in the Copthorne Hotel in Queens Square Glasgow (now renamed the Millenium, I believe) whilst working away from home.

One week there was a Haggis starter on the menu which we ordered. After half an hour and no sign of our food we called the Maitre d' over only to hear that the haggis were particularly frisky at this time of year and it was proving difficult to catch enough of them to keep up with the orders.

:-D :-D :-D :-D

So if, and I quote you: " Scots nosh is different to France neither better nor worse."
Why slag off the haggis? If it's a personal choice, why not say so?
Some may say snails are the devils food, to others, they are manna from heaven.

Yes, I'm aware one can eat well all over Scotland, but on this journey, we didn't go 'all over Scotland'. One can eat well anywhere, providing you choose a restaurant, or even café, that serves the type of food you like - and it's not necessarily everyone's favourite!
It's not exactly rocket science.

Maggie, who would want to eat snails no matter what posh name the french give them :-P :-P :-P :-P :-P. Or for that matter frogs legs :-P :-P :-P :-P

I've eaten snails - they're okay, as are winkles, but what makes snails any better than winkles?
Snails may be bred for the purpose, and winkles can be picked by anyone - to me, that makes winkles better - they're not put through some 'regime' to make them edible. :-D :-D :-D
By the same token, I'd rather eat outdoor bred pig than one that was confined to a sty, and/or routinely dosed with antibiotics, or carrying a strain of MRSA. :-0

Boilers been fixed now :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

Yah to the boiler!

:-D :-D :-D :-D
Very nice plumber/boilerman.
He even 'acknowledged' the cats - they like people at least saying 'hello' when they come in. :-D

I think you'll find the winkle is an edible sea snail.
They're also free - from rock pools - (or at least were when I was a nipper), so comparing cost per gram doesn't work.
Winkles were probably the first 'meal' I ever cooked, at about 5 years of age.

Hmm - I quite often eat Wild boar - freshly butchered at Bramshaw, or shot at Wellow - you know, part of the New Forest, that area you sometimes appear to be au fait with.
Oh yes, and Pedigree Aberdeen Angus cattle are also bred at Bramshaw.

Raising pigs outdoors doesn't come under the 'organic' logo, it's just a more humane way to treat an intelligent animal. The pigs also prepare and fertilise a field for a crop the next season.
Beef is still generally raised in fields in this country - no-one wants a beef 'factory' near to them, so planning for a vast cattle torture chamber is difficult to get.

Yep they are sea snails.

There is at least one farm in Scotland that I know of which breeds wild boar and the market for their meat is an increasing one. One thing I did learn is that one has to be very careful around them.