Finzean Estate

The past two weeks in Aberdeen has been cold, icy, snowy, rainy, windy, and everything you can associate with bad, miserable weather. Lucky for me, I had lots to do at home (aka house chores) that kept me from wanting to get out. However, after 2 weeks, I was itching to see something other than grey buildings and grey skies. Thank goodness the weather gods heard me, because this past Saturday we had the most beautiful winter day.



Gerald and I decided to take a drive out to Finzean Estate and have lunch at the Farmhouse and Tearoom. It's about a 45 minute drive from Aberdeen, just south of Banchory. The sun was out in full force and skies were blue as blue can be; I had to wear my sunglasses! On the way there, we got beautiful views of the mountains and untouched snow on some of the farmland.



We had a simple lunch of soup and sammies and then walked around the estate for a little bit so I can get these gorgeous photos.









Afterwards, we saw a sign for the Butterworth Gallery, a local artist that the AWA works with during our Annual Craft Fair, and decided to pop in for a visit. The artist's daughter, Sarah, and I have exchanged many telephone conversations and emails trying to settle some craft fair stuff just before the holidays so it was nice to meet her. We browsed through the gallery and fell in love with 3 of their prints. These things don't come cheap, but I guess we'll be supporting a local artist and have something nice to take back with us to the States. Below are our top 3, but we're really leaning towards the 1st one, called Source of Power. I haven't ordered it, but think I've made up my mind after looking at this picture =) You should definitely stop by and check out their gallery if you're ever in their vicinity.



Even though we couldn't get out to walk much because of the snow, it was still a refreshing day out to see the beautiful scenery and breathe in some fresh air. The snow is pretty much melted around here so hopefully it doesn't come back and we can make more beautiful day trips like this to other nearby towns.

Burns Night - Casa de Pena

One of the major holidays celebrated in Scotland is Burns Night, which falls on the 25th of January, every year. Here's a little video about Robert Burns, aka Rabbie, the famous poet and songwriter. 

For those of you that don't know, he wrote the oh so famous "Auld Lang Syne," which is typically associated with New Years.  This year, Burns Night,  happened to fall on a Friday, and since we didn't haven anything planned, we thought it would be fun to host a Burns Supper. 

Since I don't really know how to cook Scottish food, our friends from Wales, James and Tash, volunteered to come over and prepare the meal. Come to find out, it wasn't that hard, since you could just microwave the haggis and boil all the vegetables =P Okay, I admit, I was just lazy...hehe. Anyhow, they did a great job and the food came out delicious. Who said haggis was bad? I quite like it, especially with the whisky gravy I made from McCormick's brown gravy mix and Gerald's whisky...hehe. Along with the haggis, we had neeps (mashed turnips mixed with carrots) and tatties (mashed potatoes) to have the traditional Burns Supper meal: Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties =)  

Everyone enjoyed the meal, but of course, my picky husband had to grill some chicken wings to mess up the tradition. I guess he made up for it in the amount of whisky he drank with the boys. We didn't "address the haggis" or recite any poems, but I guess we'll continue on with the celebration this Friday when we attend the Chevron Burns Night dinner at the Ardoe House. We've gone the past 2 years and it's usually great fun, so hopefully this year will be the same. Gerald is excited to wear a kilt again, he loves that thing!

Bartender for a Day

You've probably heard Gerald talk about Brew Dog before, as it's his favorite bar and beer in Aberdeen, considering he's part owner and all...haha. Anyhow, a few of my girlfriends and I took a beer cocktail class there on Sunday and it was so much fun! Who knew beer would make nice cocktails?

 

We started the class learning about bar tools, how to measure, pour, shake and stir! I've always secretly wanted to be a bartender so this was right up my alley. The instructor showed us how to make 4 different cocktails first, and then each pair got to choose their favorite to make for the group. Here's the four cocktails we sampled, Jill and I made "Saint's Delight" and Kristin and Falane made "Hardcore Pornography." At the time, I thought it was going to be easy to remember what was in each, but I'm afraid it wasn't. The recipes below should be close enough though, except for "Orange Psycho," it was the last one we made so I didn't pay attention...oops =) I'll update the recipe if we can get it from Brew Dog.

 

Pretty in Punk

75 ml Punk IPA beer

25 ml gin

half measure of 25 ml of elderflower liquor

dash of dandelion bitter

stir together with ice and serve with a slice of apple

 

Saint's Delight

75 ml 5am Saint beer

50 ml berry reduction

25 ml red wine

25 ml gin

25 ml cranberry

25 ml grapefruit

shaken with ice and serve with some berries

 

Hardcore Pornography

75 ml of Hardcore IPA beer

25 ml of Sailor Jerry's Spiced Rum

1/2 measure of caramel syrup

25 ml of pinapple juice

shaken with ice and serve

 

Orange Psycho

25 ml of Cocoa Psycho reduction (beer with a punch of demera sugar)

25 ml of Remy Martin Conag

25 ml of orange juice

shaken with ice and serve with orange peel slice (run the oils on the rim and stem of the glass)

All of the cocktails were delicious, I'd have to say that thinking back, "Pretty in Punk" was my favorite because of the elderflower liquor. It gave it a very flowery, citrusy taste that was super refreshing. So now, go out and support Brew Dog and whip yourself up one of these cocktails. You won't be sorry. 

Experimenting in the Kitchen

With the washing machine running twice a day, every day for the past 2 weeks, I've been making use of my time with Pinterest, as I wait for each load to be done, hang dried, folded and put away, only to start on the next. With my laundry, Gerald's laundry, bed sheets, and towels, that washing machine has been working overtime. How I miss American washers and dryers! I think that's my #1 at this moment...hehe.

Anyhow, this week, I've tried out a few Pinterest recipes, that have turned out pretty successful, so I shall share.

For some reason, I can't seem to make proper red velvet cupcakes here in the UK. I think it has something to do with their food coloring, so I've resorted to the box red velvet, which is always a hit straight out of the box.  However, I found a pin on how to make it even better: http://www.bronzebudgetbride.com//magazine/read/recipe-for-making-a-box-cake-taste-homemade_2715.html. I found it to be more dense and moist. I made this in celebration of one of our fellow AWA board member's birthday =)



We went to Costco this past weekend and got a pack of pork tenderloin. I haven't cooked pork tenderloin in quite a while so searched Pinterest for some recipes and found this one:  http://kneadtocook.com/?p=1017. Since it was snowing out, we couldn't use the grill, so I pulled out my handy cast iron grill pan and made the best tenderloin I've had in quite a while! I love how you can sear the meat on the stove and then pop it into the oven to cook through. Super handy, but boy can it get smokey in the house. We had this with some roasted sweet potatoes.





In celebration of Burns Day/Night tomorrow, I made some Sticky Toffee Pudding cupcakes with salted caramel buttercream icing.  I actually used two Pinterest recipes for this:
Cupcakes: http://cafelula.com/2011/10/15/sticky-toffee-cupcakes/

chop the dates


soak it in boiling water for 20 minutes


mix it with the rest of the ingredients and you get this, which was pretty good on its own.


Icing: http://alwayswithbutter.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/lovely-salted-caramel-sauce.html

heating the sugar and water until it caramelizes; if you think this looks cool, you should see what happens when you add the heavy whipping cream. be careful!


The final product:



The cupcakes came out pretty darn good, but the caramel didn't turn out how it was suppose to. I burned it the first time and then the second time, I didn't cook it long enough so there's bits of sugar still in it. Anyhow, it still tasted alright so I used it anyways. I hope it'll be good for our Mahjong group in the morning.

And finally, I haven't made this recipe yet, but will do so in the morning. We love the Four Seasons so hopefully this one won't disappoint:  http://blogs.babycenter.com/life_and_home/four-seasons-secret-guacamole-ole/

Oh and as I was doing all this, I've been catching up on Downtown Abbey. I started the series last Friday and a week into it, I've finished Season 1 and 2 on Netflix and am now watching Season 3 via the ipad + project free tv + apple tv! it's been great and i love it because it's so Fabulously British!!
Gotta get back to my show so check you later =)

Mini Vegas Getaway

To end our 3 week trip to the States, we decided to head to Vegas for a little getaway. It's been a good while since the both of us have gone to Vegas together so I was excited. The new city center has been open for a while now and we have yet to see it.  Our trips to Vegas usually run 20 deep, which includes long nights of drinking, gambling, clubbing, and the likes. This time, there was only 6 of us and we did not have hangovers the next day, nor did we have to get in heels and wait in lines to get into a club. It was actually a pretty low key trip, and we were the ones watching others act a fool. Been there, done that! I kind of envied some of the people though- getting all glammed up to go out; reminded me of the days we did that and how much fun we had! I'm ready for another bachelorette party if any of my recently engaged friends are reading ;)

1st time in Vegas for my 21st Bday!!! 

8 years later with the other Twin =)

We stayed with Gi for free at the Wynn, since she was there on a work event.  I was sad Gi had to work most of the time, but we got to see her for dinners at least.

room with a view

We checked out a new buffet at the Cosmopolitan Hotel called Wicked Spoon, where everything was served in the cutest little cast iron dishes, little fryers, bowls, cups, etc. It was a different take on a buffet because everything was already portioned out for you like tapas, so you didn't get too much of one thing. All dishes were delish! We also tried a few new restaurants: Hash House A-Go -Go, where Man vs. Food has dined, Wazuzu, yummy Asian food and the home of the Swarovski Dragon, Holsteins - Shakes and Burgers, and Bouchon Bakery. I could seriously just go to Vegas to eat, they have so many good restaurants.

largest Chandelier at the Cosmo Hotel

Chicken and Waffles for 1!!!

Korean Hot Dogs

My girlfriend Frances, who lives in Vegas, had her baby boy 11 weeks early, so lucky for me, I got to meet him. If he was born on time, I was probably going to miss his arrival. Anyhow, he was born at 3 lbs 3 ozs, and is now a whooping 8 lbs on his actual due date, which was a few days ago! Go Beckham! He was such a good baby and allowed us to catch up and even eat out without making a fuss. Frances said a funny thing to me when I told her I'm probably not ready to be a mom yet: "If a 15 year old can do it, so can you!" Definitely true, what am I scared of?? haha





The rest of the trip was spent at the tables playing blackjack, roulette, and my new favorite Sex and The City slots!! Whenever you hit the bonus round on the SATC slots, you can choose games such as picking out an outfit for one the characters, picking out rings, choosing shoes, hitting the town, etc. They were so much fun and allowed you to get bonus points to win more money. I had a lot of fun playing, but wasn't quite so lucky. Gerald on the other hand was up and down the entire trip until the last hour before we had to head off to the airport. I told him he wasn't leaving Vegas even, so he went for it and ended up coming home with over $1000 bucks! I guess it was worth staying up all night before we had to jet out on our journey back to the 'Deen. Win or lose, Vegas will always be one of my favorite places to visit. Adult playground to the max! Until next time Sin City!

Powder Monkeys

A week into January 2013 and I'm still trying to catch up with December 2012....ahhh

Gerald and I spent the week after Christmas and New Year 2013 in the beautiful city of Park City, Utah with 9 of our dearest friends. We did this trip a few years back and I was miserable because silly me decided to try snowboarding. I spent most of that trip on my buttocks and in pain. This time was completely different because I skied! We had fresh powder, nice groomed trails, and a few awesome skiers to challenge me to the point of doing a simple black run. The more experienced skiers called it a harder blue, but it was a black in my book...haha. We skied for 3 days and just hung out the rest of the time in the village and in our room. We played a new game called, dirty Catch Phrase, Phase 10, reintroduced Mah Jong to some people, and even made up our own drinking game, "Dice Boxing," 4 players, each player rolls the dice over a threshold (if it doesn't pass or falls on the floor, you must drink), whichever player gets the highest number is safe, the rest have to drink a shot of beer. Continue playing until you have been the highest roller for 3 turns and then you can call someone to replace you. Yah, we had 90 beers to last us a few days and we ended up drinking 40 during this game with 9 people playing in an hours time. Good times. 

We spent New Year's Eve at a local bar called Sidecar and got table service. I wouldn't call it service though because they were so busy that it took forever for our waitress to pour us drinks and get us mixers and stuff. Per Utah law, you are not allowed to pour your own drinks, so once you finish your one serving, the waitress has to unlock the cage to pour you another. Also in Utah, you are not allowed to be served doubles, and it takes 2 ID's to order a pitcher of beer. They are really trying to control the alcohol consumption, which I guess helps control people from getting too drunk...NOT! We have videos to prove it...haha

On New Year's day, we all went out and did some tubing. The weather was amazing our entire trip; awesome blue skies, and crisp cold air. We couldn't ask for a better week to spend with friends. Cheerios!