Daisy Chains and Picnics

Today was my 57th birthday and dad made an appearance to help me celebrate 🌈🌈 I got some gorgeous Megan Hess gifts from her Audrey Hepburn collection from Scott. And also a set of vintage kitchen canisters. A Golden Girls book from the kids and a bottle of wine from Blake. Scott made Surf and Turf with sparkling mussels for tea. He also made my Sunday breakfast.

  Mum bought me this book a few years ago, I absolutely love The Broons and Oor Wullie, I got their annuals every Christmas and had them read before hogmany!. I decided to add Maw Broon's tattie soup recipe in our Scottish Christmas in July weekend. The recipe calls for bone broth, so I bought some bones to make it the day before making the soup, so I have added her recipe for bone stock also.     Ingredients 8-10 tatties 1-2 onions  2 carrots, grated bone stock salt & pepper Method Wash, peel and slice tatties. Wash, scrape and grate the carrots. Peel and cut up the onion. In a large pot, add these vegetables to the already made bone stock, and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Once cooked, give the soup a little mash to help break up the tatties, season to taste. Enjoy.

You need this to make Maw Broon's tattie soup. Ingredients raw or cooked bones 4 pints cold water salt 1 carrot, chopped 1 small turnip, chopped 1 onion, chopped 2 sticks celery, chopped Method Wash the bones and cover with cold water. Add 1 tsp salt to each 2 pints of water. Bring slowly to the boil, and spoon off the scum. Add chopped vegetables when stock is half cooked. Bone stock should boil steadily for 5 hours. Strain and use.

Pigs in blankets, known as Kilted soldiers in Scotland. Ingredients chipolata sausages streaky bacon Glaze ingredients 1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp mustard of choice 1 tbsp brown sugar 2 tbsp honey Method 1.  Preheat oven to 180°C.  2.  Put all the glaze ingredients in a pan and heat slowly until combined. 3.  Place one slice of bacon on a chopping board, brush with a little glaze, place sausage at one end and wrap around sausage like a blanket. 4.  Continue this step until all sausages are wrapped in the glazed bacon. 5.  Place on a baking tray lined with foil, place the end of the bacon under the sausages to prevent them unrolling. 6.  Brush some more glaze over the sausages and cook according to sausage packet directions, remove from oven half way through cooking time and brush with remaining glaze, return to oven for remainder of cooking time. Serve and enjoy.

  Lorne sausage, sometimes also called square sausage is a traditional Scottish food usually served up as part of a cooked breakfast or in a bap with brown sauce. Ingredients 680g pork mince 220g beef mince 200g dried breadcrumbs 1 tsp ground nutmeg 1 tsp salt 1 tsp ground black pepper 2 tsp dried mixed herbs 150ml water Method 1.  Place breadcrumbs, nutmeg, salt and pepper in a bowl, mix to combine. 2.  Put both minces in another bowl and mix together. Add seasoned breadcrumbs and mix through. 3.  Add water and mix until thoroughly combined. 4.  Line a loaf tin with cling wrap, leaving enough to cover the meat. 5.. Add mixture and press down to make sure it is compressed and even. cover the top of the meat with the remaining cling wrap. Refrigerate over night. 6.  Cut into slices. Cook in a frying pan over a medium heat for approx 3 minutes each side or until cooked through.

This year for our Christmas in July dinner, we decided to do a Scottish food theme, so we are incorporating a few Scottish food recipes into our Christmas in July weekend. I have added a few Scottish recipes to the blog over the years but would definitely like to add more. It was a busy weekend of cooking and washing copious amounts of dishes. We made tattie soup. Mealie pudding. Haggis bon bons. Lorne sausage. Kilted soldiers with honey mustard glaze. Tattie scones. Fruit pudding. And Whisky sauce. Merry Scottish Christmas in July.