Category Archives: Scones

All of our scone posts

Ordinary, Scones

Speyside Coffee Roasters

5 Comments
Okay, this scone deserves a bit of historical background. In 1649  Charles II had had to flee to France after his dad was accused of treason and decapitated. England became a republic under the rule of the thoroughly objectionable and infamous arsonist Oliver Cromwell. Sign for Speyside Coffee RoastersThe following year though Charles decided to try and regain the throne by overthrowing Cromwell’s Parliamentarians. He sailed in from France and started his campaign here at Speyside Coffee Roasters. Okay, perhaps not exactly here but certainly within 100m of here. That same year, 1650, according to Samuel Pepys, coffee had started to be enjoyed in the Grand Café in Oxford. Charles, however, would have been oblivious to the joys of Starbucks and would have been totally flummoxed by Speyside Coffee Roasters. Exactly why he chose to start his campaign here in this pretty little village where the River Spey joins the sea, we have no idea. Internal view of Speyside Coffee Roasters
Back to France

As soon as he stepped ashore he signed the Solemn League and Covenant and set about raising an army. It was all for nought, however, in 1651, Cromwell’s New Model Army showed him the way back to France after a comprehensive defeat at the Battle of Worcester. When you are here in Garmouth it’s almost impossible to believe that this sleepy little backwater saw the beginning of such momentous events. . Coffee at Speyside Coffee Roasters

Charles II was known as the Merry Monarch. He left no legitimate children but acknowledged twelve by other means. They were all given dukedoms and the current Duke of Buccleugh, who owns much of Scotland is a direct descendant of one of them.

Enterprising

The cafe is run by a lovely young enterprising couple who seem to be running a successful business roasting coffee for all the local cafes and restaurants as well as their own.

A scone at Speyside Coffee RoastersThere is a large outdoor area to the side of the cafe where you can eat your bacon rolls or toasted panninis. Part of the building is dedicated to their roasting business and the rest is the cafe. They have a good selection of cakes for sale as well as their range of different Brazilian and Guatemalan coffees. Our coffee was great … almost as good as our favourite, Henry’s. The scone was great as well and almost a topscone but not quite. It had good texture and the crispy crust we like but the overall presentation let it down a little. However, we thoroughly enjoyed everything about this place and wish the owners every good luck with their enterprise.

External view of Speyside Coffee Roasters
outside seating area
Making sure

By the way, Charles II went on to issue the Royal Declaration of Indulgence in 1672. You would have thought that a declaration like that would have made mention of scones … but it didn’t. All boring stuff about religion! He did regain the throne again after Cromwell passed away peacefully in 1658. The fact that he was already dead didn’t stop Charles beheading him and displaying his head on a spike. Aah, the good old days!

The last time we were in this part of the world was back in 2017 in Burghead, just along the coast from Garmouth. There are lots of distilleries around here but Pat still hasn’t bought me a bottle of whisky since our abortive attempt at Dalwhinnie. She has bought me a jar of marmalade infused with whisky though so I suppose that’s progress. 

IV32 7LU     07772 402451       Speyside Coffee

///broke.grew.installs

Ordinary, Scones, self-service

Loch Ericht Hotel

7 Comments

What’s the coldest village in the UK? A clue, it’s well over 1000ft above sea level and has a mean annual temperature of 6.6 °C. One April it even managed to record a high of −1.0 °C for the month … brrrr!. Okay, we’ll tell you … it’s Dalwhinnie! What’s more, we’re here at the Loch Ericht hotel and it’s actually quite hot! The village also has a distillery.

View of Dalwhinnie distillery
Dalwhinnie distillery

We are here because we decided to take a slight detour off the A9, the road that runs from Falkirk to Scrabster in the far north. This section of the road was opened in the 1970s and had the effect of bypassing Dalwhinnie. At the time, many thought it would kill the village off completely.  Actually, back in our early days when we decided on the Cairngorms rather than Glencoe for our weekends we would pass through Dalwhinnie quite a lot. Back then there was only one road and it went straight through the village. Gosh, how old are we?

Crushing

It was a military road built by General Wade back in 1731 so that the English army could have better and quicker access to the Highlands. You know what those pesky Highlanders can be like! They thought the Highlands belonged to them and, of course, that sort of thing had to be discouraged at all costs. Wade is actually the only person named in the National Anthem:

Lord grant that Marshal Wade
May by thy mighty aid Victory bring.
May he sedition hush,
And like a torrent rush,
Rebellious Scots to crush.
God save the King!

Tumbleweed

We could easily have whizzed past but today we decided to see what affect the bypass had had on the village. We fully expected tumbleweed and the odd highland cow wandering about aimlessly on the road. Not a bit of it … it was buzzing!  The hotel doesn’t exactly scream out at you, in fact we struggled to find anything indicating it was a hotel at all.  There were lots of cars though and when we went into the restaurant area it was big and very busy.Internal view of the Loch Ericht Hotel

The folks behind the self service counter were very smiley and friendly. Soon we were kitted out with some lunch and a scone to share and went off to find a table. It was surprising that so many others had taken the trouble to come off the main road to visit the village. It has a distillery, did we mention that?

Must be love

Lunch was excellent and then we turned our attention to the scone. A scone at the Loch Ericht HotelThere wasn’t any cream but it did come with some nice Scottish jam and Irish butter. Pat normally takes the top half but this time she cut it the other way so I could have a bit of the top as well. Must be love! It was all very nice but what with it being self service it was never going to make topscone grade. Very enjoyable though.View of Dalwhinnie distillerySign for Dalwhinnie distillery

Fancy stories

When we were leaving Pat suddenly announced that she wanted to buy me a bottle of whisky at the distillery … hurrah! Did we mention that there was a distillery? Only a couple of hundred yards further on and we were there. From the outside it looked deserted but when we went inside it was heaving with people, you could hardly move!

They had a weird system where you actually had to retrieve a bottle from the display cases opposite the counter then take it to the counter to pay. Very confusing! No pricing, so suffice to say that the bottle Pat selected turned out to be £65. We left empty handed. Disappointing but I had to agree with her, that’s a lot to pay. No matter what fancy stories they tell on the label … it’s still just whisky! We are heading for Speyside so plenty more whisky buying opportunities to come … fingers crossed!Internal view of the Loch Ericht Hotel

Brilliant

One of the things about being away is that you don’t get as much news. These days that’s a good thing, as Sunak and  Truss battle it out, making ever more outlandish claims. One thing is for sure … neither of them give a toss about Scotland. Truss has even said that she plans to completely ignore Scotland and its government … brilliant! The population of Dalwhinnie is around 80. That’s just slightly less than the number of people who will decide who the next Prime Minister will be … brilliant again!

PH19 1AG         01528 522331        Loch Ericht Hotel

///presides.dude.gathering

Scones, Top

Murrayshall House

3 Comments

After our disastrous non-scone in our previous post from Patricia’s Coffee Bar in Glasgow we thought we should try and do something to redeem ourselves. So, what better way on a scone blog than to come to Scone itself. Welcome to Scone signNow a word of warning to those unaware of the nuances of Scottish pronunciation. When you see ‘scone’ as in ‘scone blog’ it is pronounced ‘scone,’ as in ‘gone’. However when you see ‘Scone’ as in the village of ‘Scone’, it is pronounced ‘skoon’ as in ‘soon’. Murrayshall House is on the outskirts of the village.

No mean feat!

Just to the west is the village of Old Scone where all the Kings of Scotland used to be crowned. They would sit on the Stone of Scone, a large rectangular block of sandstone carved with a Celtic cross. It is perhaps better known as the Stone of Destiny. In 1296 Edward I stole it and placed it in Westminster Abbey as a throne for English Kings … how very dare they!! However, in 1950 a group of plucky Scottish students ‘repatriated’ it back to Scotland and created a right royal rumpus in the process. It weighs 152kg so no mean feat.

A year or so later the police found it in Arbroath and replaced in Westminster Abbey. However, there are doubts regarding its authenticity. Some think a copy had  been made and deliberately left in Arbroath to be found. The real stone, of course, still being at large. If it isn’t authentic does that make any coronation created on it, null and void? Interesting!

Borrowers

The last monarch to use the real one was Elizabeth I of Scotland, sometimes known outside of Scotland as Elizabeth II. After much protest In Scotland, the UK government grudgingly agreed that the stone should be located back to where it belonged. There was a proviso, however, that they get it back for future coronations. It currently resides in Edinburgh Castle alongside the Scottish Crown Jewels. Next year it’s supposed to be moved again. This time to Perth … almost back in Scone. 

Enough about stones, what about the scones at Murrayshall House. Hopefully they would not bear any resemblance to the Stone of Scone.

The house is certainly rather grand and has views over the Perthsire countryside to match .View from Murrayshall House

27?

It was built in 1664 and was home to numerous Lords, Barons, Earls, Viscounts and other chinless wonders until the 1970s when it was turned into a hotel. The previous owners, poor dears, had to move to nearby Scone Palace. Nowadays, riffraff like us are allowed over the doorstep. The grounds at Murrayshall are lovely and extensive enough to easily accommodate a 27 hole golf course…is that not too many holes?Internal view of Murrayshall House

Our room came complete with a grand piano, though with everyone experiencing staff shortages due to Brexit, there was no one playing it. The young girl looking after us was very pleasant and soon had us sorted with a fandangled contraption bearing our afternoon tea.Afternoon tea at Murrayshall House There was plenty of sandwiches, quiches  and cakes alongside a separate plate bearing four scones. Often, in places like this you get a tea menu but not here. It was just plain ordinary tea, take it or leave it … and that’s just fine by us. Needless to say there was much more food than our tiny tummies could accommodate. We had to pace ourselves on the sandwiches in order to leave room for the scones. Scones at Murrayshall House

They were really nice and came with little pots of Scottish jam … yegh! The clotted cream, however, was made by a Dutch company in England?? There were a few downsides to this afternoon tea but we eventually decided that the scones just scraped into the topscone category. Well done Murrayshall House.

The library at Murrayshall House
the library
Rwanda and Eurovision

The Commonwealth Games have started amidst great celebration in Birmingham. We were more than a little surprised, however, to learn that Rwanda is competing. Especially since that country has never had the pleasure of being part of the great British Empire. Seems on a par with Australia competing in the Eurovision Song Contest. Maybe Rwanda will be able to take part in that too? Since the cornerstone of Commonwealth membership is human rights, Rwanda’s inclusion is even more puzzling. Could it be linked in any way to Westminster’s decision to send refugees and asylum seekers to Rwanda just to get rid of them? Perish the thought!

Never mind all that, we just feel sorry for the poor sods who, on reaching the 18th  hole here, find they still have another nine to go. And … talk about destiny, England have just won the football at the Women’s EURO 2022, so there’s something to talk about for the next fifty years. Well done England! You can have the Stone back  for Charles’s coronation but only if you ask nicely!

PH2 7PH         01738 55 11 71     Murrayshall House Hotel

///fault.pheasants.scam

Scones, Uncategorized

Patricia’s Coffee Bar

3 Comments

What a DISASTER! No we’re not talking about the Sunak/Truss clash last night on telly. The only thing they seemed to agree on was that the last few years of government (of which they were part) was a disaster.  No we are talking about our 501th scone. Let us explain.

Explosive stuff

For several years we have had the Canary Girls Café in Glasgow in our sights. The story was one we thought would interest our readers. They also made empire biscuits with the icing in the form of a Scottish saltire! Had to get one of those. The Canary Girls were the women who were employed in munitions, manufacturing TNT shells during WWI. The chemicals reacted with melanin to turn their skin yellow. … not good. They even had Canary Babies with the same yellow skin … even more not good! The lady who owned the café named it in honour of her grandmother who had actually been a Canary Girl. What with COVID and everything, we never managed to visit … but today we did. Guess what? They were in the process of dismantling the place as it’s closing for good … disaster!

Internal View of Patricia's Coffee BarThey said the nearest café was only a short walk away and it was called Patricia’s. Obviously, with a name like that we had to go. Patricia’s is a nice plan but when we asked for a scone she just shook her head … disaster! Not wanting to walk any further we decided to stay and have something anyway. But first, a question:

Q: what cheese would you use to hide a horse?

A: Mascarpone, of course!

Mascarpone cake at Patricia's Coffee BarYes, we decided to have coffee and a mascarpone cake. They said it was the closest thing to a scone they had. We asked for their wifi. No wifi … disaster! Also no telephone and their website is also a disaster so we haven’t added it. On the plus side the mascarpone cake was delicious and the coffee was excellent.

If that wasn’t enough disasters for one day we have just heard that Boris, who for some unfathomably reason is still PM, is threatening not to go after all. We’re doomed!!

Q: what cheese would you use to tempt a bear out of a tree?

A: Camembert, of course!

Okay, the jokes are a disaster as well!

G42 7RP

///tamed.sweat.poet

Scones, Top

Prestonfield House

7 Comments
A table at Prestonfield HouseThis place is described as opulent, eccentric, flamboyant, cosseted, and decadent, does that sound like our kind of place? Of course it does! Obviously, these are all words that could easily be ascribed to ourselves never mind Prestonfield House! We’ve been here several times before. It’s not exactly our ‘local’ but if we were as wealthy as an Arab sheik or a Tory politician, it might be.Logo at Prestonfield House
 
Now we have the last two contenders left in the race to ruin the UK … Sunak and Truss. Both ardent Thatcherites and Brexiteers. Internal view of Prestonfield HouseNot that they would care, but that’s not going to get them very far in Scotland. Here, the word  “Thatcher” is usually expressed like some sort of swear word and Brexit is regarded as an unmitigated disaster. Did you know that the nickname ‘Tories’ originated in the 16th century in Ireland and derives from the Gaelic word ‘toraidhe’ meaning plunderer, robber, thief, barbarian and yobbo. Just saying!
 
As “Priestfield” its history dates back to the 12th century but in 1681 it was burned to the ground by anti-Catholic rioters who objected to the name. What are folk like? It was rebuilt six years later and the name changed to “Prestonfield.” It became a hotel in the 1960s and in 2003 it was bought by restaurateur, James Thomson. He owns the atmospheric Witchery by the Castle restaurant and much of the sumptuousness of Prestonfield is largely due to him.
External view of Prestonfield House
one half of the Rhubarb restaurant
It started with a post
This is the quintessential Edinburgh place to indulge and celebrate. So what are you two doing there you’re wondering?
Rhubarb logo
Rhubarb was introduced to Scotland here and now adornes their plates
Well, we can hardly believe it ourselves, but this is our 500th post on allabouttthescones.com. How mad is that? Perhaps, even madder, is that so many of you have been with us as budding bloggers right from the start. That was at Palmerston’s Coffee Shop in Dunkeld back in early 2015 … incredible! We are sure you would agree that such an auspicious occasion deserves to be marked  in some way. Why not a scone at Prestonfield House eased down with some Billecart Salmon champagne? We can do decadent!
 
Good company
Drawing room at Prestonfield House
one of the drawing rooms
We decided to have our afternoon tea in one of the drawing rooms rather than the famous Rhubarb restaurant.  A good decision as it happens because we had the company of three lovely Scandinavian girls on their first trip to Scotland … talk about doing it in style!
Eating rotten things
We don’t normally like the sort of formal subservient service you can sometimes get in places such as this however the young chap who was looking after us was delighfult. Afternoon tea at Prestonfield HouseHe was Spanish and had been here six years. He explained everything we were getting in great detail but with such  a strong accent that we really didn’t catch much of it. No matter it all looked fantabulous, the sight of it was quite enough, . One three tier stand with sandwiches on the bottom, cakes on top and scones in the middle. In addition there was a separate plate of savoury goods which included some haggis treats. Only one of our new found Scandinavian friends dared take a little nibble. Goodness, did they not know the celebrated status of haggis in Scotland … and these Viking types eat rotten fish, don’t they?
 
Scones at Prestonfield HouseAnyway it probably will come as no surprise to all you sconeys to learn that this was a topscone. We weren’t able to eat all of them because we felt they were a bit on the large side for an afternoon tea, but that was our only criticism. They were beautifully soft with that crunchy exterior we love. lots of jam and clotted cream as well.
 
Barefoot
We didn’t think we would ever mention Thatcher twice in one post but she dined here, as did Churchill and a host of other celebrities. More importantly perhaps, Sandie Shaw once strode barefoot across these marble floors.
 
Deluded as Trump

Boris says that he will be back as PM within a year … we’ll have a pint of whatever he’s drinking! Folks who worked alongside him when he was with the Telegraph say he just made stuff up for his column. Who would have thought it? And although they knew what he was writing was completely false, the newspaper never once offered a retraction. Says it all about British politicians and media. 

Colin for PM
The last time we were here they had a lot of peacocks roosting in the trees however we were told there is only one left now … Colin. We went to look for Colin to tell him that we would rather see him running the country than any of the current contenders. We couldn’t find him…opportunity missed!
path leading to stables at Prestonfield House
The path leading to the Stables … no horses these days, it’s an events venue

Can we do another 500 scones? We’ll see!

 

EH16 5UT       tel: 0131 225 7800       Prestonfield House

///lance.civil.notice

Ordinary, Scones

Coorie

7 Comments

A lot has happened since our last post from Gleneagles. We suppose the biggest news is that Boris has gone … though he is still here? He’s resigned but is still Prime Minister. Don’t worry if you don’t understand, confusion is a kind of Boris speciality. He’ll be absolutely gone soon but not before he has given out honours to all his equally inept buddies. We shouldn’t be thinking about this here in Coorie on a lovely day in beautiful Limekilns View of Limekilnsbut it’s almost impossible to ignore. His long overdue departure would be cause for much merriment and dancing in the streets if it wasn’t for the fact that all the contenders to replace him are equally inadequate. We could easily have a situation where the country ends up being run by someone 95% of the public have never heard of.  That’s democracy, UKstyle.Street in Limekilns

Scorchio

The other big news is that Scotland has become subtropical with temperatures today in Limekilns topping 32C. The government has told us that if we dare to venture out between the hours of 11 and 3 we will probably die a painful shrivelled up death. Turns out the UK is not prepared for anything. It’s either too cold, too hot, too dry or too wet. Whatever it is, prices always have to go up because of it … or is that just too cynical? However, it does make us wonder how other countries, where temperatures like this are perfectly normal, manage. 

Internal view of Coories, LimekilnsAnyway, we only had a brief walk from our lovely cool air conditioned car and were quite happy to be ushered towards a table in the nether regions of Coorie, as far away from the windows as possible. Only a few brave souls were sitting outside melting.

The Art of Coorie

 As it happens, this place is almost next door to the Sundial Cafe we reviewed back in 2018.

A sign in Coories
No problem with any of these and I am the best at staying humble

Then we told you that Limekilns featured in Robert Louis Stevenson’s book Kidnapped. He chose the village as the point of escape for Alan Breck and David Balfour when they were being pursued by dastardly redcoats. Exciting stuff. but back to today. The word Coorie derives from Gaelic and means to snuggle. Its kind of onomatopoeic .. it sounds warm and snuggly. A recent book called ‘The Art of Coorie‘ teaches us to enjoy life the Scottish way through simple pleasures. That’s certainly the feeling we got here. Nothing particularly fancy or ostentatious … just a warm welcome, good food and cheery service. What more could you ask for? 

Magnets

We ordered some lunch and a fruit scone to share. A scone at Coories, LimekilnsThe lunch was perfect and so would our scone have been had there been cream … but no cream! Not to worry we thoroughly enjoyed what we had … loads of fruit and the strawberry jam was great.

Afterwards we took a wee walk along the beach but it wasn’t long before the air conditioned car was acting like a very powerful magnet. We returned home via Port Edgar where we watched loads of kids being taught kitesurfing and paddle boarding … great day for it.

Forth Road and Rail bridge
The Forth Road Bridge from Port Edgar. Built in 1958 it is currently closed. The rail Bridge in the distance was built in 1889 and is still going strong

Great day for us as well. Coorie by the Coast was really enjoyable. It’s only been going a couple of years but it seems to be getting things right. We wonder if we will be able to say the same of the next incumbent in 10 Downing Street … probably not! Someone new to complain about! And we shouldn’t really complain about the weather!

Queensferry Crossing from Port Edgar
The Queensferry Crossing looking towards Limekilns

KY11 3HL     tel: 01383 872999        Coorie by the Coast

///stocked.fruits.socket

 

 

Scones, Top

Gleneagles

7 Comments

Gosh, it’s a month since our last post about the Platinum Jubilee. Apologies to those who have been patiently waiting … and to those who have been enjoying the peace and quiet. We thought we should start again in style so we’ve come to Gleneagles.

View from Gleneagles Hotel
View over Glendevon from the Glendevon Room
A Highland Playground

Gleneagles is one of these places, like the Connaught and Claridges, that doesn’t need to bother putting ‘hotel’ after its name. You’re just supposed to know. It’s the playground of the rich and famous. So what on earth are you doing there, we hear you ask? Okay, did you know that Gleneagles has three Championship golf courses and one nine hole course. Surely that’s way more than enough? Did you know that it has a Shooting & Fishing School an Equestrian Centre and the British School of Falconry. Did you know that it hosted the G8 summit in 2005 with the likes of Blair, Putin, Berlusconi, Bush and Chirac? All largely forgotten, apart from one, of course. That was before G8 became G7 after Russia was suspended in 2014 for being a bad boy and invading Crimea. Goodness, that seems like a relatively minor misdemeanour now!

The Glendevon at the Gleneagles Hotel
The Glendevon Room, the scene of the G8 dinner hosted y the Queen  …. and now our scone

Of course, none of that is of any interest to us, we are only here for the scones. Having said that, we also have a very special Canadian  with us (Pat’s brother) who we are determined to introduce the genteel  refining intricacies of taking afternoon tea. You know what those Canadians are like … bit rough around the edges! What better place to do it than this? If they can’t do a decent afternoon tea here then there is precious little hope left for the world. Okay, he only wanted to be out on one of the golf courses rather than doing this but, much to his dismay, we stuck to our guns.

Friendly service

There are over 1000 staff servicing the 232 rooms so expectations were high in terms of service. We were not to be disappointed. In fact, in many ways our expectations were exceeded.

Cakes at Gleneagles Hotel
top tier of the sweet stand

The staff looking after us, of which there were many, were all great. Not only did they take the time to explain all the sandwiches and other delicacies we were getting but also took the time to answer our questions about the hotel and all the people who have stayed there. Some, even more famous than us! As you can imagine, a stay at Gleneagles is not exactly cheap, quite the reverse. So the staff were impressed to hear that my dad had been a guest here for six months. Eventually I had to divulge that it was when the hotel had been turned into a hospital during WWII. He was recuperating after a bad motorcycle accident.

The ballroom at Gleneagles Hotel
the Ballroom but no dancing today

Anyway, back to the scones. Forgive us if we go In to slightly more detail than usual. Before you get anything here they give you a little champagne glass into which they pour some iced tea … very nice. That’s followed by an amuse bouche of tomato consommé … very nice again. Then they bring the savoury three tier stand BOTTOM TIER Perthshire smoked salmon with sweet dill mayonnaise sandwich +  egg mayonnaise with mustard cress sandwich +  Tweed valley roast beef with nasturtium  butter sandwich. MIDDLE TIER vol-au-vent with red onion marmalade, goats cheese broad bean, radish, carrot and candied walnut + toasted pickelet with white crab meat and creme fraiche + Hardwick lamb sausage roll with lovage emulsion and choucroute. TOP TIER pea, cabbage and potato croquette + toasted charcoal baguette with pickled cucumber smoked trout and golden beetroot. No scones!

Peachy

Then, only then, when you have stuffed yourself with all this deliciousness do they bring out the next three tier sweet stand. Argh! Afternoon tea at GleneaglesBut at last we caught our first sight of the “soft and fluffy” buttermilk scones. Would we have room for them let alone everything else? The scones were indeed soft and fluffy as described but with a slight crunchiness as well … perfect. They came with loads of jam and clotted cream, all beautifully presented. A very easy topscone. Sitting here in our secluded little alcove gazing out across the croquet lawn to the sunlit hills of Glendevon you could easily think that everything is absolutely peachy with the world. You would be completely wrong, of course,  but just for a moment … 

Doggy bag at Gleneagles HotelNeedless to say we could not get near finishing everything that we had been presented with … even when it was washed down with copious quantities of Glendevon blend tea. And this being Gleneagles, even our ‘doggy bags’ were posh. A custom made handbag style box in which we could transport our leftovers back home. Did our Canadian feel enlightened by this experience? Of course he did … a “soft and fluffy” scone at Gleneagles … who wouldn’t be?

PH3 1NF        tel: 01764 662231         Gleneagles Hotel

///claim.facing.showcases

ps: if there is anywhere in Scotland that can rival Gleneagles for culinary expertise and originality it is the Oystercatcher restaurant in the lovely little village of Portmahomack. And guess what, our Trossachs correspondents are on the loose again and that’s exactly where they are. As well as a fabulous dinner the previous evening they sent us a picture of their breakfast … Scallops-o-Scone.

Scallops-O-Scone at the Oystercatcher, Portmahomack
Scallops-O-Scone at the Oystercatcher

They also reported on a scone they enjoyed in the company of members of the Portmahomack Salsa Drumming Band in the Carnegie Hall Cafe. The last time we reviewed this place was back in 2016 … too long ago. 

Salsa Drumming, Portmahomack 2016

Our correspondents sound like they are having a brilliant time … we need to go back.

Scones, Uncategorized

Platinum Jubilee

5 Comments

Don’t think you could ever call us Royalists. That system of privilege and patronage seems better suited to a bygone era and totally at odds with modern day life. Odd as it may seem, we have actually met most of the Royal family (all except Andrew … phew!) and they all seem like really nice people. We’re pretty sure they do not want to spend their lives under the microscope of public and media scrutiny so why oh why are we allowed to do it to them? The fact that the Queen is celebrating her Platinum Jubilee is, of course, a personal triumph for her but given that all other news has apparently been cancelled we’re glad it only happens once every seventy years.

We’ll do anything!

Not wanting to appear too curmudgeonly, however, we ordered a Platinum Jubilee box from Haar At Home in St Andrews. Haar is a restaurant run by Masterchef Finalist, Dean Banks and we use it from time to time. You order it online and then it just appears at the door. It’s a kind of magic! The box had all sorts of stuff – smoked trout, a variety of cheeses, olives, chutney, pickle salad, chorizo, cheese and leek bread, caviar  … and, wait for it, scones with jam and clotted cream. Okay, okay, it’s pathetic, we’ll do anything for a scone.

There was far too much just for just the two of us so we had the pleasure of the company of our Trossachs correspondents to help us out. They did an excellent job though the meal was not without its difficulties. Do any of you have problems accessing your caviar? We did! caviar from Haar for the Platinum JubileeTry as we might we simply could not open the tin … imagine, so near yet so far. It became hilarious as the four of us came up with ever more incredulous ways of tackling it. Eventually the answer was to go to the garage and get a set of grips. The tin had to become pretty mangled before the top reluctantly popped off. Was it worth all the effort? Yes, everything was lovely and well worth the platinum amount of money we paid for it.

Uncategorised

Anyway we know that none of you are actually interested in our caviar traumas … just scones, right? scones for the Platinum JubileeWell, they came with a generous tub of strawberry gin jam (I wasn’t driving) and another of clotted cream. The scones were really nice but a little on the big side for our taste. The chances of Charles being on the throne for seventy years are slim to say the least so none of you will ever get to sample a Platinum Jubilee scone ever again. Devastating, we know! In these circumstances we didn’t think it appropriate to categorise them. Good fun though!

meal from Haar for the Platinum Jubilee
In case you are wondering, this is what our Platinum meal looked like

What comes after Platinum?

Ordinary, Scones

Caffe Barista

1 Comment

I regard Angus as my home county having spent my early childhood in Glen Isla. These days, however, I am only in Angus on rare occasions. That said, here we are today in Caffe Barista in Arbroath. Many a summer holiday was spent here in the caravan park but today we are just passing through.

Declarations

The town is well known for its smoked haddock … the famous Arbroath Smokie. Wonderful on its own in much the same way as you would eat a kipper or alternatively it could be used to make that soup of all soups, Cullen Skink … yum. Arbroath, of course, is also a great place to declare things. In 1320, in Arbroath Abbey, a group of Scottish nobles did just that.

The Declaration of Arbroath
Declaration of Arbroath ritten in Latin and sent to the Pope. They knew how to declare things back then

The intention was to assert Scotland’s status as an independent, sovereign state and defend Scotland’s right to use military action when unjustly attacked. Oooo, do we hear echoes of Ukraine?

Little did they know that a few hundred years later, in 1707, Scotland’s nobles would sell the country down the river in return for English bribes. Heyho, here we are, another couple of centuries on, still struggling to reverse that ludicrous decision.Internal view of Caffe Barista, Arbroath

Guys and Dolls

In Caffe Barista the declarations were of a different type “Hi guys, how are you today? What are you having guys? Was everything okay guys?” Pat, more of a doll than a guy, weathered the onslaught manfully! We just wanted a cuppa and a scone to share. The choice was plain, plain or plain, so plain it was!

It came with butter and jam from somewhere that couldn’t be determined. A scone at Caffe Barista, ArbroathThis being Angus, it was ironic that we had just driven through mile after mile of strawberry and raspberry fields and yet the jam here came prepackaged in plastic, probably from some foreign land. The scone itself was reasonable enough but a country mile away from a topscone. We left suitable refreshed with “Bye guys” ringing in our ears.

blackboard at Caffe Barista, Arbroath
A rare opportunity to combine scones and telephone boxes
Bailing out

It is also ironic, given that in 2014 we were told there was only a dribble of oil left, that the UK government is yet again being bailed out by Scotland. It’s late conversion to a windfall tax on energy companies will raise billions, 95% of which will come from Scotland. Things have got so bad for Boris we wouldn’t be at all surprised if, one day, he simply walked away. However, he could also be developing a Putinesque inability to foresee his own inevitable downfall. The latter is perhaps the most likely.

World records

We cannot leave Arbroath without mentioning the world record held by the local football club, affectionately known as the Red Lichties. In the Scottish Cup of 1885 they beat Bon Accord of Aberdeen 36-0. They had a further seven goals disallowed for offside. Of course that means that Bon Accord must also hold a world record but nobody seems to mention that?

Anyway must get back home and start planning our Platinum Jubilee celebrations??

DD11 1DP        tel: 01241 872664        Caffe Barista

///taken.voter.transit

Ordinary, Scones

Burrell Collection

3 Comments

We hear a lot about oligarchs these days but they are by no means a new phenomenon. In the 19th century, Glasgow had oodles of them but back then they were known as shipping magnates or tobacco barons. Sir William Burrell was one such shipping magnate and he is responsible for the place we are in  today, the Burrell Collection in Pollock Park, Glasgow.

He had enough money to buy anything that tickled his fancy and, in his case, it was art that did the tickling. Buying his first piece aged fifteen kick started a life obsessed with travelling the world and shipping artefacts back to his home town of Glasgow. Because he had lots of big ships he wasn’t put off by size … everything from paintings, stained glass, tapestries to huge chunks of ancient buildings. We were last here at the Burrell Collection many years ago as guests at a dinner laid on by Astra Zeneca for the Scottish Therapeutic Endoscopy Workshop. A great night but, typically you might say, we didn’t do culture … only eating and drinking. This time we have a few hours to look around at the exhibits. There are a lot!

French arch at the Burrell Collection
One of may doorways on display. This one was made in 1100 to form the entrance to a church at Montron in France. Shipped back stone by stone.
Wisdom and understanding

If this post contains more than the usual amount of illustrations it is simply because the building and the objects it contains just beg to be photographed. It is amazing.

Budah at the Burrell Collection
The Luohan that Came from Afar. A Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) statue from south east China. Luohan means ‘one who is worthy’ and developed wisdom and understanding. That could easily describe this blog?

External view of the Burrell Collection

We were here early in the morning when there were few people around but by the time we left it was very busy indeed.

Internal view of the Burrell Collection
the tearoom

It has just recently reopened after a major revamp with lots of things for kids to interact with and opportunities to  learn about other cultures. We are running the risk here of making this blog educational and interesting so perhaps we should just get on with the scones.

Catching up

We are not complete scone philistines though … that’s not the only reason for our visit. It was catching up with an old friend we hadn’t seen for many years that had actually brought us here. A scone at the Burrell CollectionThere were scones though … fruit and plain. They have a system. You have to find a table then give the table number when you order at the counter. Then they bring it over when it’s all ready.  Everything was nicely presented and the scone came with plenty jam and butter. It was nice and we thoroughly enjoyed it but it wasn’t a top scone … pity! 

Homeless
Child with rattle at the Burrell Collection
Child with rattle. Can you imagine getting your kids ready in the morning if they were all dressed like this?

Burrell believed in free education for all and in 1944 he gifted his entire collection to the City of Glasgow. It was so big, however, there wasn’t any where in the city capable of housing it. It needed its own building so a competition was launched that culminated in being opened by the Queen in 1983. The setting in the beautiful countryside of Pollock Park is perfect. Huge windows give a fantastic backdrop to many of the exhibits and it’s all completely free for anyone who wants to visit. Good old Sir William!.Internal view of the Burrell Collection For us the takeaway message from our visit was clear. Today we think of ourselves as being terribly advanced.

Warwick Vase at the Burrell Collection
The Warwick Vase. This is a replica of a Roman original made in the 1st century.

Smart phones and rockets to the moon and all that. But actually, we haven’t really come that far. A thousand years ago they were doing things that we’d find hard or impossible to replicate these days. The workmanship and scale of some of the artefacts is mind blowing. No idea what value would be put on the Collection … probably too vast to contemplate.

Islamic tile at the Burrell Collection
A wall tile featuring a gazelle and a mountain goat. Made in Iran in the 13th century
Messes

When you look at the mess the world is in today it is not difficult to agree that we haven’t progressed that much. The UK has been responsible for creating a lot of the global messes and with Boris at the helm it has ended up in one almighty mess itself. If we were being generous we would say that he has had a lot on his plate … but we’re not! We are all heartily sick of the goings on in 10 Downing Street during lockdown and  today the long awaited Sue Grey Report cames out. It hasn’t improved things. Boris, may have unwittingly discovered the holy grail on how to keep your job. Just make such a mess of it that no-one else wants it.External view of the Burrell Collection

We’ve only made a mess of our table at the Burrell Collection. But it was wonderful to catch up with an old friend and at the same time get ‘cultured’. Having said that, ‘culture vultures’ we are not but this is a fantastic place. You should all visit if you get a chance.

G43 1AT    tel: 0141 287 2550    The Burrell

///panels.films.shares