Month: <span>March 2017</span>
Month: March 2017

Not My Fault

We are at the CMC’s caravan site at Stonehaven, the Queen Elizabeth Park or something like that. It is a small site, right on the sea front and just on the edge of town. It was a fifteen minute walk for Mr Snail to the Railway station this morning. from Aberdeen station he took a bus to the infirmary and had plenty of time in hand for his midday appointment..

The appointment went well and he does not have to return for 12 months. The consultant says if we are still in France, so long as he still feels well, Mr Snail can swap the appointment for something more convenient if necessary. So, we may be back here this time next year.

It’s pretty convenient. Sadly the open air salt water pool next door does not open until the end of May but the town has some useful shops and there is an award-winning chippy about 100 metres from the gate.

Today we took a stroll along the cliff path to go and view the Eastern end of the Highland Fault. I was wobbly about the cliff path and Mr Snail was wobbly about the fact that the path skirts the golf course, so we ended up cutting our walk short and not getting to the Point.

We are off to Glenmore tomorrow and staying for two nights. Internet reception there is poor to non-existent… so I’ll do a brief catch up on the week to date right now.

Saturday: rose early to a very grizzly day. Readied the van in very wet conditions and set off in time to grab some brunch at Tesco in Dumfries, where we picked up what few provisions we needed for the week. Rain continued until we reached the upper Clyde Valley, around Crawford, where the sun embraced the landscape to great effect.

Saturday night: wild in the car park at New Lanark Mills. We walked Nell along the Clyde for a while and then I cooked the Gousto meal we had lined up for the evening, a dish of Dal with some spiced Aubergine. All hopes of spotting badgers were dashed by what appeared to be a kids’ party and lots of lights and noise and rushing around. Of course, the smell of curry may have warded the badgers off too!

Sunday:  (ETA material regarding Wilsontown 23/3/17) beautiful morning initially but cloud built as we drove up to Forth.  We rose early and set off without breakfast so as not to be a nuisance in the New Lanark Car Park. We stopped at Wilsontown to walk Nell and to make bacon rolls. It was quite dull by the time that we arrived but we managed to stay dry on both walks, before and after our late breakfast,  and I managed to take a few photographs.

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There is not much remaining of the works but the site is rich with interpretation boards and a number of  quotations engraved on stones give pause for thought. Often the interpretation boards invite one to use imagination to bring to mind an image of the filthy belching plant sited in the middle of nowhere upon the moors. I need no imagination however… I have been to Consett!

After a brief stop at a Lidl somewhere in the Lothians (I forget) a lovely scenic ride up the East Fife coast to Cellardyke in bright sunshine followed. We stayed at the Silverdyke site for two nights. This was the same site that we stopped at on our way South in September/October last year. (This is the point where I discover that I never got round to writing that part of the trip up so I cannot link to it now – I will do it. I will. Soon…ish)

Sunday Night: dinner at The Cellar.

Monday night: Anstruther Fish Bar.

These I will write up separately.

Anstruther

Tuesday: Further good weather for the ride up here to Stonehaven. We stopped in Montrose for some KFC fodder and an item or two from B&Q.

There has been little camera action, I am afraid, and what use the camera has seen has by and large been dedicated to food. I will try to do better.

Stonehaven

As already noted – we depart from here in the morning to do 100-ish miles to Glenmore. We hope to break our journey somewhere interesting with a walk for the dog. We shall be two nights at Glenmore and then will do one further night wild or Britstopping before getting back to base.

Snow is forecast for tomorrow night. Perhaps the photos from Glenmore will be pretty ones!

We shall be busy once we arrive back in Kippford. We need to pack, to post excess baggage home, and to plan our route and stops back up Scotland to the ferry.

Soon be home now!

 

I am never going to catch up!

Things have been a little lax around here since we came home. I caught a cold at Glenmore and have been lethargic ever since. Resting …

Am I being boring?

Looking back, I see that the past several posts have been all about the food. I apologise if this is of no interest. Normal service …

Once more, with Gousto

We treated ourselves to what may be our last Gousto box before we return to Orkney, where they do not deliver. The box arrived today, with four meals therein:

  • Chicken Katsu Curry
  • Rosemary Lamb Meatballs & Mint Sauce
  • Harissa Chorizo With White Bean Mash
  • Two-Lentil Dal & Spiced Aubergine

Tonight we plumped for the Lamb Meatballs, and very good they were too.

Rosemary Lamb Meatballs & Mint Sauce

  • Date made: 8/3/2017
  • Used: Two gas rings and the Remoska
  • I added: nothing 
  • ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Odd as it may seem I do believe that this was the first time that I ever made big meatballs for a meal other than cooking small meatballs in sauce for pasta.

The meatbal mix: lamb mince, panko breadcrumbs, stock cube, rosemary, garlic, seasoning

The timing of this meal was a bit up in the air as I roasted the potatoes in the Remoska and was uncertain how long that they would take. I did expect them to need more than the 20 – 25 minutes suggested time. I elected to leave cooking the carrots and meatballs until the potatoes showed signs of browning.

Meatballs made. Remainder of Rosemary to chop for the potatoes

Due to Mr Snail’s preoccupation with van servicing tasks, the potatoes were in the end really well browned (50 minutes total cooking time.)

Impromptu “Pestle and Mortar” for the Mint Sauce.  Yes. I am a messy cook

The potatoes went onto the Remoska, which I lined with foil.

Prepping the spuds

However when I tested the potatoes to see if they were cooked through, I found that the bottoms had stuck to the foil. I took them out, eased them off, and then chucked them back into the Remoska without the foil.

Ready to roast

I reduced the carrot liquor down to a glaze at the end of cooking

A little sparse-looking on the plate and I should have appreciated a second vegetable

I liked: all of it

I disliked: the usual shortage of accompanying vegetables

Verdict: Quick and easy. Next time I would add a second veg.  Not so sure about adding oil to the mint sauce… it seems unnecessary and adds nothing so far as I could tell.

Order again?: Probably, though it would depend what other dishes were tempting me on any given week

We are thinking probably the Katsu Curry tomorrow…

You can take the lass out of Yorkshire but you can’t take the pudding out of the lass

Today’s Remoska Adventure was the making of a good old-fashioned Toad in the Hole for our dinner. All the gory details may be found at Rumbletums.

Curry in favour

Curry-cooking and van life do not sit happily together. Who wants their bedding reeking of curry, when all be said and done. Mr Snail however …