Catching Up...
I won't say "eek" - I've been hauled up by the Majumdars on that one - but I need some expression of surprise. After a month of pretty good, regular blogging even while travelling, August should have been a steady month of catching up on foodie things, even more regular posts and trying to secure more income. And it's been a bit of a fail on all fronts. The month has whizzed by, every possible commissioning editor appears to have gone on holiday and, while the eating opps have been pretty good, I've been a very bad blogger.
So, over the next few days - or possibly weeks, if September flies by like August - I'm going to play catch-up and rattle through them in no particular date order. Starting with the most recent, another little jaunt to Scotland.
Following a very pleasant surprise call from the chaps at Square Mile, I found myself stepping into the breach on a couple of things. First of all, the chance to speak to a very interesting chap called Stephen Bolger who's heading up the European operation of Crushpad, a Californian company that gives anyone (with a reasonable disposable income) the chance to live the winemaking dream. Well, for 300 bottles at least.
In a true coals to Newcastle move, Bolger's set up the Bordeaux operation and Square Mile will be making their own wine in the coming months. I'm hoping to blag my way onto one of their visits - if you're reading this chaps, I'm happy to carry the bags - but I'll try and put links to their reports as they happen.
It wasn't much of a chore, but the next bit of deputising was even less stressful. Would I mind flying to Aberdeen, staying at the Macallan Estate, drink interesting whiskies, eat some lovely food and, er, drive some rather shiny Bentleys around Speyside?
It was every bit as enjoyable as it sounds. A fine bunch of people, and a marriage of lifestyles and passion - single malt and engineering - that complimented each other perfectly.
Food included an excellent meal to mark the "Six Pillars" of Macallan's production, with each course matched by a different single malt, lunch at the newly Michelin-starred Boath House, and a Top Three of All Time roast beef experience at Innes House.
Here's a few pics of those. Pay particular attention to the olive choux buns at Boath House. Wibble.
i
All utterly delicious and I'll be writing more about Boath House asap. However, the stand out bit of eating? A completely unexpected homemade cakey elevenses up The Cairngorms.
The big driving day saw us whizzing through some beautiful countryside in a GT, a GTC and a Flying Spur. We all took it in turns to do 20 miles or so in each car. Could I justify spending the money - a chunky six figures - on a car like that? Probably not, although I'd like to wealthy enough to at least be able to consider it one day. Mind you, if I was Bill Gates wealthy I'd have taken the GT home. On a very quiet straight road, James Barclay talked me through how to drop the car into sports mode and put my foot down from a standing start. It hit 60 in the blink of an eye, then apparently skipped straight to 80 in around four seconds, I'd estimate. Unbelievable.
What made the speed more noticeable was the stomach full of lovely cakes. There's a little restaurant at the top of the Cairngorms and they'd put on a bit of a spread.
I say "a bit of a spread" but hell, my grandmother would have been proud of serving that little lot. Scones, cheese scones, tiffin, millionaire's shortbread, sticky toffee cakes... Even the Scottish Victoria sponges - one layer of sponge, then loads of buttercream to appease the Scottish sweettooth - were pretty good and I'm a Victoria Sponge snob.
So, over the next few days - or possibly weeks, if September flies by like August - I'm going to play catch-up and rattle through them in no particular date order. Starting with the most recent, another little jaunt to Scotland.
Following a very pleasant surprise call from the chaps at Square Mile, I found myself stepping into the breach on a couple of things. First of all, the chance to speak to a very interesting chap called Stephen Bolger who's heading up the European operation of Crushpad, a Californian company that gives anyone (with a reasonable disposable income) the chance to live the winemaking dream. Well, for 300 bottles at least.
In a true coals to Newcastle move, Bolger's set up the Bordeaux operation and Square Mile will be making their own wine in the coming months. I'm hoping to blag my way onto one of their visits - if you're reading this chaps, I'm happy to carry the bags - but I'll try and put links to their reports as they happen.
It wasn't much of a chore, but the next bit of deputising was even less stressful. Would I mind flying to Aberdeen, staying at the Macallan Estate, drink interesting whiskies, eat some lovely food and, er, drive some rather shiny Bentleys around Speyside?
It was every bit as enjoyable as it sounds. A fine bunch of people, and a marriage of lifestyles and passion - single malt and engineering - that complimented each other perfectly.
Food included an excellent meal to mark the "Six Pillars" of Macallan's production, with each course matched by a different single malt, lunch at the newly Michelin-starred Boath House, and a Top Three of All Time roast beef experience at Innes House.
Here's a few pics of those. Pay particular attention to the olive choux buns at Boath House. Wibble.
i
All utterly delicious and I'll be writing more about Boath House asap. However, the stand out bit of eating? A completely unexpected homemade cakey elevenses up The Cairngorms.
The big driving day saw us whizzing through some beautiful countryside in a GT, a GTC and a Flying Spur. We all took it in turns to do 20 miles or so in each car. Could I justify spending the money - a chunky six figures - on a car like that? Probably not, although I'd like to wealthy enough to at least be able to consider it one day. Mind you, if I was Bill Gates wealthy I'd have taken the GT home. On a very quiet straight road, James Barclay talked me through how to drop the car into sports mode and put my foot down from a standing start. It hit 60 in the blink of an eye, then apparently skipped straight to 80 in around four seconds, I'd estimate. Unbelievable.
What made the speed more noticeable was the stomach full of lovely cakes. There's a little restaurant at the top of the Cairngorms and they'd put on a bit of a spread.
I say "a bit of a spread" but hell, my grandmother would have been proud of serving that little lot. Scones, cheese scones, tiffin, millionaire's shortbread, sticky toffee cakes... Even the Scottish Victoria sponges - one layer of sponge, then loads of buttercream to appease the Scottish sweettooth - were pretty good and I'm a Victoria Sponge snob.
Comments
And never let it be said that the Scots don't enjoy sweet things... I was up there a couple of months ago. Ratio of sweet to savoury things consumed and on offer seemed to be about 5:1. Not that I was complaining.