November 2009 – Lauren Gemmell

St Andrew's Day

On 30th November 2009

The 30th of November is St Andrew’s day, which is the National Day of Scotland. I had lots of grand plans of what I could post, different Scottish inspired cakes, main courses, at one point I was even planning a whole menu. Alas I ran out of time, so instead I have picked some of my favourite pictures of Scotland from the past year to show to you.

Earlier this year I went up on my first trip to the north of Scotland, where we spent 5 days in and around Banffshire. The weather was beautiful and some of the bluest skies I had ever seen.

Walking along the beach, taking photos of our footprints in the sand.

White Tin Loaf – Fresh from the Oven

By lauren

On 28th November 2009

In Bread

Everything had been going so well this month, I had been posting regularly with some seasonal recipes. I got my Daring Cooks post up on time, made mincemeat and all manner of other interesting recipes that I have yet to share with you all.

However November has suddenly vanished from underneath me. I missed the Daring Bakers deadline yesterday, and have no time (nor any real wish) to make the Cannoli next week. I am off work for three days next week and have barely planned anything to do. More importantly however at the start of November I signed up for the Fresh from the oven Challenge, posts are meant to go up today. Have I started? Barely. My plan is to update this post during the day as I finish off my challenge bread.

Update: I have now finished my loaf, but you can read my updated commentary below.

Ginger Muffins

By lauren

On 25th November 2009

In Cakes and Desserts, Muffins

Recently I have fallen in love with ginger all over again. It all started on a cold blustery day, it was dark, and my head was all stuffed up. Instead of making myself the usual cup of coffee and choccy biccy to cheer myself up, I decided to try something a bit different and made ginger and lemon tea. It really cheered me up, it was so wonderfully strong and spicy. The next day I bought the biggest ginger root I could find and began to scour the internet for ginger related recipes.

Tattie Scone

By lauren

On 23rd November 2009

In Breakfast, Scottish Food

Tattie Scones are thin scones made with Potatoes (or Tatties) that are perfect as a substitute for hash browns or toast in a fry up.

They are also quite good hot out of the frying pan in a roll with tomato ketchup. Back home, right beside my old high school there was an Italian Cafe that sold cheap breakfast rolls to the kids. Bacon rolls were always more expensive, so if you wanted your can of juice, a roll and a chocolate bar, you always went for the cheaper option – the Tattie Scone Roll.

Spice-rubbed Chicken with Orange and Pomegranate Salad

By lauren

On 19th November 2009

In Dinner

Last Friday night I made a light dinner, this would be perfect for a main course of a large meal, or as a lunch. I didn’t immediately think that the orange would work with curry spices but it really was a fantastic flavour combination. And super healthy.

They gots feet!

By lauren

On 17th November 2009

In Cakes and Desserts

I’m so excited! After all the macaron problems I had, I finally made a batch with feet. (These are plain shells with a white chocolate ganache).

More to details to come in the near future!

Spiced Cranberry Muffins

By lauren

On 16th November 2009

In Cakes and Desserts, Muffins

There are lots of things I could have done with the last of my fresh cranberries, and fighting the temptation to just make Chicken and Cranberry Sauce again, I decided that it was time for another post on muffins.

Turnip Chips

By lauren

On 15th November 2009

In Recipes

This week when my organic veggie box arrived it contained one turnip, I also had half a turnip in the cupboard and so much in the freezer that I have no room for anything else.

“Enough is enough”, I said to myself. I have to find something more interesting to do with turnip. Scouring the web I found recipes for turnip curry and turnip stew, but lets face it – neither of those sound particularly appealing.

Then I read that turnips can be used as a replacement for potatoes for those on low carb diets, although dieting is not a word in my vocabulary, I had my eureka moment. Maybe I can use turnips just like potatoes…

Sushi : Daring Cooks

By lauren

On 14th November 2009

In Dinner

In keeping with the Japanese theme this month, I am going to be going all minimalist on you and keeping the words short. And yes it has everything to do with me running late, and my blog being rather temperamental these days.

The November 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was brought to you by Audax of Audax Artifex and Rose of The Bite Me Kitchen. They chose sushi as the challenge.

More details on the recipe can be found at the Daring Kitchen Sushi [PDF].

Scottish Soup : Cock-a-leekie

By lauren

On 11th November 2009

In Scottish Food

Cock-a-leekie is a traditional Scottish soup, so much so that I rather OD’d on it as a kid and for years afterward I couldn’t face the sight of a tin of Baxter’s Cock-a-leekie soup. However recently I have come to realise that

Just because I didn’t like something as a child, does not mean I won’t like it now.
Just because I don’t like something that’s mass produced doesn’t mean I won’t like it when I make it.

So I decided it was time to give this old Scottish favourite a go myself. Cock-a-leekie isn’t a particularly attractive soup, getting nice photos of it I think is difficult, with my photography skills it’s an impossibility, but I gave it a shot anyway.

Lauren Gemmell

Food, Fitness, and Technology

Month: November 2009 (Page 1 of 2)

St Andrew's Day

White Tin Loaf – Fresh from the Oven

Ginger Muffins

Tattie Scone

Spice-rubbed Chicken with Orange and Pomegranate Salad

They gots feet!

Spiced Cranberry Muffins

Turnip Chips

Sushi : Daring Cooks

Scottish Soup : Cock-a-leekie

Categories

Archives