St. Patrick's Day in Dublin

We had a fantastic time in Dublin! Dublin is a really beautiful city. It's small and easy to move around but what a great time! It's what I always thought a typical small European town would be like, especially in the UK, or as this would be, Ireland.

So we arrived on Sunday evening, which by the way was Mum's Day here. And we settled in to our hotel. Then we ventured out and found a nice little Italian place to have dinner at. The food was fabulous and I had one of the best tiramisu's I've ever had for dessert. Tiramisu is my favorite so I was very happy for that!

Monday we sat out kind of early on foot to visit St Patrick's Cathedral and to tour the Guinness Storehouse. Dublin is super easy to get around on foot, especially if you are staying in city centre. So we walked everywhere. Guinness Storehouse was great to visit!! We had a lot of fun and toured the whole facility. As part of the tour you get a pint of Guinness to enjoy at their fabulous Zero Gravity Bar. It's at the very top of their building and it is surrounded by glass and overlooks all of Dublin. It's really neat to see! Unfortunately the walk back down the steps is not so much fun after having a pint of Guinness. :) And Guinness taste different on this side of the world. It's really very tasty.........at least to me it is! I don't like it in the states, but love it here.

St Patrick's Cathedral

Guinness Storehouse

One of the several great views from Zero Gravity Bar at the Guinness Storehouse

Monday night we found a great little place that had Mexican food. Now let me just say that finding Mexican food on this side of the world is not near as hard as finding GOOD Mexican food on this side of the world. But it was really tasty and the salsa was the best I've had on this side of the world. In talking to the waitress I found out that the owner is from Mexico. He lived in Mexico until he was 17 and then he moved to New York and met a nice Irish girl and they got married and eventually moved to Ireland. So he opened up a restaurant in Dublin. Kudos to him because it satisfied this Texas girls need for some good Mexican food.

We saw this guy while we were out and about on Monday. He was accepting 1 Euro to let you take your picture with him.

Tuesday we set out on foot again and hit the river for a river boat cruise along the Liffey River (the main river that runs through Dublin). It was very overcast that day and a bit chilly but the boat was covered and heated and it was really nice to see the city from the river boat. We went through a really old lock gate they have there. It works kind of like the Panama Canal in that you enter into the lock gate and it closes behind the boat and the water rushes in and raises the boat to the level of the water through the next gate. Then that gate opens and you move through it. Normally the boat tour doesn't go through the gates like that but on that particular day the river was high and it was kind of hard to make the tour through some of the lower bridges along the river. The tour was really fab and we had a nice time. Tour guide was super nice and talked about everything along the river and even showed us where U2's recording studios are in Dublin. By the way, the lock gate was engineered and began operations in the late 1700's and it's still operational to this day!

The River Liffey close to O'Connell St (the main street in Dublin)

The lock gate as we were going through it

After the boat tour we set out to the famous Temple Bar in the Temple Bar area and had a Guinness there at the bar. They had live Irish music and it was busy but not near as wall to wall with people as in the evening. We couldn't get in there the night before, so we thought going in the early afternoon would at least get us in the door. It's a neat old place and really quite big, compared to how it looks on the outside.

The Temple Bar

We also hit Trinity College and seen the fabulous Book of Kells. Unfortunately you aren't allowed to take any pictures of the book or inside their really fabulous old library, where the book is kept. But I will say that if you ever get to Dublin, see the library and see the book........the library is really a site to see with their long hallway and all the really old books.

We also walked through the National Wax Museum there in Dublin. It as okay. It was mainly about Ireland history so a lot of the wax figures were different people through Dublin's history. They did have a room with people, figures and inspiration from Ireland. They had U2 and David Bowie, which I thought was kind of funny. They also had Pierce Bronson. I tried to get pictures in this room but it was poor lighting conditions and no matter how I tried to set the camera I couldn't get a great picture.

At the wax museum. She was creepy........I don't care what anyone says!

So a few of the locals we had struck up conversation with kept telling us that we needed to get to the parade early and find a good spot has the crowds would be thick! They kept saying to look for high ground, though Dublin is flat, so there was no high ground. So we set out early to the parade, leaving around 10am and the parade was to start at noon. When we got to the main street there was hardly no one there. But as the hours went by it was crowded! Every bit of 7 to 15 people deep where you could fit that many people. Since we had gotten there so early we were right at the gate that blocked off the roads and so we had a front row seat. But let me tell you, we were pinned in up against the gate with little elbow room. Made it difficult at times to get some good shots of the parade. After the parade it was terrible trying to get out of the area. It reminded me of being at Mardi Gras with the crowds of people and just not being able to walk anywhere without nearly being elbow to elbow in people. We did finally manage to get through the crowds and found our way to a little pizza place that my friend Sarah told me about, Steps of Rome. We got some fantastic pizza for take away and headed back to the hotel to sit and rest our tired feet and enjoy some pizza with some beer! After that we went down to the hotel bar, had some beer and listened to the really great Irish band they had for the St. Patrick's Day festivities.

At the start of the parade. Look at all the people and this is a VERY small area of the long parade route!

It wasn't a Macy's Day Parade by any means but it was pretty interesting!

There were people from all over the world there! Even a Lafayette La High school band and the University of South Carolina marching band was there from the U.S.

The little girl in the basket was on the news that night and she was saying how much fun she had but how hard riding in the basket was on her bum! lol

So let me clear up two myths that we had heard that we did not see on St. Patrick's Day. First they did not dye the River Liffey green! Second we did not see green beer! I'm not saying they didn't have green beer anywhere but I am saying that we did not see any while we were out and about and they weren't offering it at the bar either. lol

So Thursday morning we headed back home. Dublin was fantastic! We were there long enough to see a lot and still have time to rest. We had some really wonderful food there and even had some sushi there that was pretty good! We really enjoyed Dublin and came home feeling great and not like we were running around the whole time like we did when we were in Paris. Grant you I was sick most of the time we were there but I didn't let it slow me down. So if you ever get a chance to go to Dublin I highly recommend it. Even if it's not during St. Patrick's day, it's worth a visit!

Lots to do but nothing to post

I'm still alive and kicking! I know it's been a while since I've posted and my apologizes to the wonderful friends and family that read my blog! A few of you have emailed me to ask me where I've been since I hadn't posted anything recently.
I've been here.........just been busy and busy with stuff that isn't exactly the kind of things that people would find interest in reading about. :)

I've had the challenge of trying to get the car in for an oil change and the tires (they spell it tyres) balanced and rotated. Along with we got a little chip in the windshield (they call it a windscreen here) and it's been quite the task to try and schedule a time that they can repair it and it will be here at the house for them to come out and repair it. So it's been a constant frustration to try and get the vehicle repaired and worked on. The good news is that we finally got the oil change and tires balanced and rotated and while I've had to reschedule the windshield being repaired several times, I am hoping to finally get it repaired week after next. You wouldn't believe the standard price of getting an oil change around here. It's not because it's an import either...........it's pretty standard on most cars for an oil change to cost somewhere between 60 pounds and 100 pounds! Can you believe that? Amazing the cost.

And aside from dealing with the car stuff I've been getting more and more involved with the American Women Association and have been ask to be on the board this next year. I'll be a 3rd Vice President on the board and my role will consist primarily of organizing and lending support in the groups efforts to raise money for charities and non-profit organizations. I've been told it's one of the harder jobs on the board but they elect two people to do the job and so I'll have some help. I think it'll be right up my alley though since I have lead the efforts in the past to do things for the company I worked for in the states.

Also I've been getting more involved in the group by just getting out and doing things with other Americans and some other people too from other countries. I've met some great women from New Zealand, Germany, Austria and Holland. And of course some Americans and some Canadians. At times it's easy to forget that I'm not in America anymore and I've really enjoyed being around other Americans, but at the same time I have really enjoyed meeting people from other countries and still making new friends from Scotland and England.

I've also had to do a little shopping and get out and buy Mother's Day cards this month. Mother's Day in the UK is this Sunday, the 14th of March. And since our Mother's Day in the US isn't until May I had to get the cards now and put them up for later. I've been trying desperately to start shopping for some spring clothes as well but it's been really difficult for me to find clothes here that I like and that fit me the way I like them to fit. It's been a battle. I did find some jeans, finally, at the Gap (of all places) here. Still on the lookout for shirts and such though.

Okay so we are off to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day. I'll have some pictures to post and will blog about our experience there, when we return. We are really looking forward to it. We've heard that Dublin is really expensive right now but we are looking forward to the opportunity to spend a St. Patrick's Day in Ireland. It's suppose to be a great time and Dublin is suppose to be a really fantastic city. I've arranged for us to take a tour at the Guinness Storehouse and I've been told that Guinness there is really fab and is not like any other place in the world. They say it has a really short shelf life there, like 7 days, because it's made with dairy products in Dublin. I've also made arrangements for us to take a boat cruise/ride down the Laffey River. It's just a little 45 minute boat ride but takes you along the river and there is someone on board that acts as a tour guide and tells you some history of Dublin while you take the ride. We have reservations at a sushi place along the Quays (pronounced Keys) and this is the area up and down the river in the city centre. So lots to see and do and I am sure it will be a big time! So look for a blog update after St. Paddy's Day week. I hope you all have a nice week and wear a little green on St. Patrick's Day!

Our first anniversary

I can hardly believe it's already been a year since Jeff and I got married. Sunday, the 28th we celebrated our first anniversary. It also has been almost a year since we got to Scotland. This past year, while has been a bit crazy at times, has really gone by relatively quickly! It's been full of ups and downs, but all about living and adjusting to Scotland. The marriage part has been wonderful and we've truly been blessed.

Happy First Anniversary!

So our celebration was a little low key. We didn't really want to do much, especially since our Dublin trip is just around the corner. But we did the typical thing of exchanging gifts and we had a really nice dinner out on Saturday night. Jeff did something incredibley sweet and completely took me by surprise. He ordered a cake from the local bakery that was similar to our wedding topper cake from the wedding. Considering he did it from memory alone, he did great! And the cake was pretty tasty and made the occasion even more special. We couldn't bring our topper over here........for obvious reasons.

The weather has been really cold, windy and overcast the past week. But yesterday, Monday the sun was shining and the wind was pretty mild, so Jeff and I decided to get out and about and find something to do. We really had NO idea where we were headed or what we were doing, but we did some browsing on the Tom Tom and headed toward the Highlands. I knew the Highlands had some snow and had some bad snow a couple of weeks ago, but had no idea some of the roadways were still closed. But we drove around and stumbled across a few things and just enjoyed the view!

The narrow roads and steep inclines we came across. This road was a 12% incline, as signs indicated.

Just along the roadway while we were driving up

One thing we stumbling upon was a little tea shop. Cute little place that had a fantastic view! We stopped in and had some coffee and a snack to warm up. They had a few things for sale in their gift shop area and I got the neatest serving dish made of a recycled wine bottle. It is made up toward the Highlands in a village (town) called Tomintoul. The picture on the label shows using it for either cheese, crackers, fruit............or something like that. I thought it was pretty neat and think it will make a great holder for a small serving of cheese and crackers.

The view from the tea shop

My recycled wine bottle aka serving dish!

A church we stumbled across while out

And a castle nearby the church. We are thinking it's a residence at this time so we didn't get to close

The castle overlooked this frozen loch (lake)

The back of the church, heading back down the road

We were out and about driving around and exploring for a few hours. Decided to head home before it got dark since there was snow up in the mountains but not down by the house. On our way home we stopped to get a shot of the area we had been. It's a little park/rest stop and we've stopped there several times since we've been here to just enjoy the view. What we didn't realize when pulling in there was that the snow was over a foot deep! And we got stuck! So needless to say after 2 hours and some very kind Canadians stopping to help us with their 4x4.......we finally got out! Note to self................the Yukon, no matter how big and tough she might seem.............is NOT a 4x4 and does NOT like the snow! :)
I would also like to say that we must have had 4o cars and trucks pass by us in the nearly 2 hours that we were stuck and not a single person stopped to see if we were okay or could use some help except a Canadian! Well that's not entirely true..........we did have a Scot stop and help us when we were finally almost out.....but we came to the conclusion that it was only because we were in the way of him stopping and getting a photo himself. :)

Taken moments before we realized we were stuck!

The snowy mountains in the background is the area we had been exploring

So that was our adventurous weekend!

Lots of untouched snow!

Typical narrow roads in the area and not fun when you have to get over in the snow to let someone pass!

New Day, New Week!

Man, I have been super crabby this past week. I have no good reason other than it just seem to be a particularly stressful week! I haven't had a really stressful week in a while, so I guess it all just came upon me and got the better of me. I refuse to let it conquer this week too though! Too much to look forward to this week and really no good reason to be crabby...............and I know this!

So what were the crabby paddy's all about? It included the negativity radiating from the adoption agency folks I spoke to last week, the lorrie (big rig) that drove by us (going the opposite direction no doubt) and some how managed to throw a rock up and chip the windshield, the hiccup in the plans for this week with both Jeff and I needing the car at the same time, the stress of car shopping since we have virtually no credit on this side of the world, the hassle the insurance companies want to give us and the huge rate they want us to pay because we are American (like we can't drive or something), and then the astronomical quote we got to change the oil in the Yukon (even when we have everything other than the oil). It's not that any one of these things is bad.............it's that they all come bombarding down all in the same week. Thankfully we got through most of them and hopefully we are well on our way to owning a second car here. We'll find out more about that later today or tomorrow. Either way, a second car is really starting to be an evil necessity. We managed okay for a year, but it's time to get that second car.

I've come to learn that we will be given a harder time because we are American and that some people will even discriminate against us and at times be very upfront and forward that they are being rude to us or making it more difficult for us because we are American. Those things I am trying to just let roll off my back and develop a thick skin for. Please don't get me wrong, there are a lot of really nice and welcoming people around us. We just know that when we start a new process or look for something different that we might run across some people that aren't so warm and welcoming. But we've also learned that if we look around the next corner and try a little harder, we might find that person that's a little more welcoming and understanding........and willing to show us a different way or offer a better alternative to getting that task accomplished.

So I leave you with this.................maybe we'll have a second car as early as tomorrow, but if not we have a back up plan, we've found a more reasonable price for the oil change (thanks to one of those warm and welcoming friends we've made here), I'll continue looking at different adoption agencies another time (when things aren't so stressful), and I'll have a busier week to make room to get the windshield repaired and the oil changed. All in a weeks work!

New day, new week...............................no more crabbies, I refuse!

Totally off the subject.............but THIS is my favorite part of Scotland.......the landscape around the North Sea. Just a beautiful part of the country!

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

"Laissez les bon temps rouler".........(Let the good times roll)!
We had a fab weekend! Saturday night we attended a Mardi Gras party with some fellow Americans living here in Aberdeen. It was a lot of fun. The night started out with hurricane cocktails, recipe courtesy of Pat O'Briens! They were really good. Maybe not as strong as the ones in New Orleans.........but pretty darn tasty for this side of the world!
We had a buffet with crawfish skink (basically a soup with crawfish and diced potatoes) and shrimp etouffee, smothered pork chops, corn choux, green beans with smoked bacon and even some roasted duck. It was fab! Good food, good drinks, good company.
We had a Mardi Gras royal court and even threw out beads, did a "conga" line around the room and did some dancing. Good times were had by all!
We had a fab king cake too.........complete with babies! Good times............good times. Looking forward to it next year if we are still here! My Mardi Gras pictures didn't turn out so good. It was really dark in the room and hard to get a good shot. Sorry!

Great decorations and look at all those beads!

We sat at the Jefferson St table..........the king cake was FAB!

The court throwing beads and getting everyone ready for the line!

Sunday we decided to take a bottle of wine and a picnic out to Dunnattor castle and do a little hiking as well. The weather was nice. It was a little over cast but wasn't to terribly cold or windy and it was nice to just sit out on the cliff overlooking the North Sea and the castle and just enjoy some lunch and wine. The hike was nice.............we didn't go to terribly far but I got a couple shots of the castle I hadn't been able to get before.
We had a nice bottle of red wine and I made some grilled veggies on a baguette with some feta cheese. It was yummy!!!

My fav waterfall.........we have to walk over it to get to your picnic spot at Dunnattor

Dunnattor Castle and the Monument from a hiking spot

The weekend was great! It was mine and Jeff's first valentine's that we actually got to spend it together. Couldn't think of a better way to spend it...........especially being in Scotland!

Toto, we're not in Scotland anymore!

Relax...........just a figure of speech! Rest assure, we are still in Scotland. But man we have had some really fantastic sunny days lately and it makes me wonder if we are still in Scotland. Just a couple of days ago I stood outside and looked up at the bright sky! It is amazing how much good a little sunshine can do ya! I spent Wednesday out and about running errands and enjoying the sun. I had on a sweater and long sleeve shirt underneath, but I didn't need a jacket for a good portion of the day!

So tomorrow night we've been invited to a Mardi Gras party being put on by the Americans Women's group that I've actively been part of lately. The whole thing is being put on by a lady from Louisiana, Lafayette to be exact! They do this every year and I hear it's a big time. So we are really looking forward to it. I'll have to try and snap a few pictures and post them with how the party went, next week.

And of course Sunday is Valentine's Day. Jeff and I have no big plans. We've never spent a Valentine's Day together, so we just figured this year would be no exception. But turns out he'll be home. So since we waited to late to make dinner plans I'll make us some homemade chicken alfredo and some molten chocolate cake for dessert.

You know it was just a little over a year ago that we found out that we were being transferred to Scotland. Prior to that we'd been thinking that Jeff would probably be sent to Saudi Arabia on a rotational shift and we'd base home out of Houston. That was the idea........anyway. And when we were thinking he'd be transferred to Saudi I was thinking that if I didn't find a job right away in Houston that I'd volunteer my time to a good cause. And while moving here was a bit of a surprise I really had no idea what I was suppose to do while I was here. I've looked for a job and nothing has really come through and I've picked up hobbies and even made a few lousy attempts at writing a book. It never occurred to me that maybe I could still donate my time to a good cause here. Until now! So we'll see how it goes but I think I am going to sign off on someone wanting to nominate me to be on a board that does fundraising for a local charity here in Aberdeen. Should be something to keep me busy and it's something I enjoy doing. I don't know if I will be elected by the group but I figure I won't ever know until I try. And if I don't get elected for the board, well I can still be part of the fundraising events that the group puts on.
Elections won't be until April I think....................but I'll keep you posted!

I hope everyone has a nice Valentine's weekend. My peeps in North East Texas got a lot of snow over night! Hope everyone is safe but enjoys the snow. Such a rare thing for Texas!

XOXO

Poldino's Italian Restaurant

Jeff and I had dinner at Poldino's last night with a group of people from the American Women's Association of Aberdeen. Wonderful food! It's right off Union Street in city centre. And it's a nice little place. We parked a couple of blocks away at a parking garage since there is no place around the restaurant to park. And it was drizzling, so walking in the rain wasn't the most desirable thing. But man..........it was well worth it! We had some great food and visited with other American's and just had a good time.

Jeff had veal (one of his all times favs) and I had a combination of lasagna and a crepe filled with spinach and ricotta, covered in a tomato cream sauce. We had some nice red wine and share a tiramisu after dinner with coffee. We met some really nice people that we'd not had the pleasure of meeting before and just laughing and talked about home and what we like or don't like about Aberdeen. We met a couple from California and they actually love Aberdeen more because they said we get real weather here. lol
And we met another lady that is moving back to the states this summer. She's originally from Ohio but her company is transferring her back to Houston. So she's looking forward to it and at the same time gonna miss Aberdeen. Amazing to me that someone would miss Aberdeen over going back to America. lol Just kidding............but it is nice to hear a different spin on how some of the members see Aberdeen.

So we had a fab time and looking forward to doing it again next month if we can make the dinner.
This weekend we have Mardi Gras. Looking forward to it too! Can't wait to meet some more people, have a hurricane and enjoy some Cajun food. I've been told I won't be disappointed.
I'll keep you posted! :)

The Weather Station

Okay so we got Jeff this fancy weather station last weekend. He's been wanting one for a long time and we came across one that was battery operated and so we got it. He was so excited..........it's really something he's been wanting for a long time. In fact, I had been looking at them online to buy him one for a present or a surprise.

It reads the inside temperature, the outside temperature and it has all kinds of readings like if its cloudy outside, if there is snow, if it's going to snow, if it's going to rain.........if it has rained.........it even has a rain gauge on it. Frankly...........I find it more accurate than the meteorologist here! It's really pretty neat. It's got a set up that you place outside and you just point it to the North......it's the only requirement, along with it has to be within 100 meters of it's base (the display you leave inside). And it's all battery operated, so we know when we return to the states it will work there too!

So here's the only problem. It works on a low frequency and is constantly sending information to the base (to give you up to date information). Sounds great.........not a problem at all.........right? Well................our doorbell is wireless and also runs on a low frequency. And it just so happens it's on the same low frequency as the weather station! AND it seems that the weather station is a bit stronger, so it over powers the doorbell frequency. So what's the result of all this.............the doorbell going off every time the weather station sends information to the base. Remember I said it's sending information constantly?!!? Yeah! And.......the doorbell doesn't work (the actual pushing the button outside to make it "ding") because the signal is so strong from the weather station. So what do we do?!?! We can't possibly go without a doorbell because this house has an atrium in the front, and so there is two doors to go through before you get inside. There is no way to hear someone knocking at the door. Any one have any suggestions? He loves the weather station and I really hate for him to box it up and not use it until we return to the states! We looked for a new doorbell but they are all ran on the same frequency. And running a hard wire doorbell isn't really an option since this is a rental house and it's not our property to do so.

So I feel really bad because he took it down last night because it was interfering with the doorbell. So if you have any suggestions or good ideas..............that allow us to keep the weather station up and also keep the doorbell working properly............PLEASE comment or email me and give them to me. I really want him to have his weather station but we really need the doorbell to work properly too!

A mill & the swan!

Since Jeff and I were sick (and are still sick...........yes going on a week now) we decided going to Stirling over the weekend would not be the best idea. It's two hours away and we were wanting to take the train. And when you don't feel good, the last thing you want to do is travel two hours away and be "stuck on someone else's schedule" for the return. So we'll try again another weekend..........

The days seem to be okay though. It's when it starts getting dark and we laid down to go to sleep that we both have relapses and feel like we aren't getting any better. And Friday it snowed, so of course we are having some chilly weather. But we had some great sunshine on Saturday and Sunday. So taking advantage of the few hours we did feel good on Saturday, we decided to get out and see the Benholm Mill, by our house. It's not a working mill anymore, but it was up until the 1980's. It's right down the road from our house and we have never been down there to walk around, so we thought we'd check it out. During the spring and summer they are open a few days a week to the public. They have a little museum, as well as a tea room. It's closed right now, but still, it's pretty neat to see the old mill.

The sign in the car park (parking lot) of The Mill

The Mill is kind of down in a Valley, so this is a view as we were walking down the path from the parking lot

A better view of the stream. This same stream runs under the bridge next to our house

This is the view from the other side, the way you walk down to the mill

We walked around there for a bit and I snapped a few pictures. We are going to try and go back in the spring or summer, when the weather is better and they are open! So if we do, I'll follow up on this story.

After we left the mill we headed to Montrose to hit the hardware store for a few items. On the way we were thinking we might see if we can find a place to have lunch. You have to keep in mind that finding a place to have lunch around here isn't an easy task. You can't just drive down a road and find a ton of restaurants and half of them aren't well advertised or easy to locate. So we were driving around Montrose looking for a place to eat and we came across a duck pond on the back side of one of the links (golf) courses. We had to stop and check it out because I seen the biggest swan I have ever seen in my life! There were two of them but one of them was really just pretty and had the biggest wings! There were a couple of kids out there feeding them and one of the girls even dared to try and pet the swan. It kind of just ran off and got back in the water. So pretty and was a nice surprise to see something like that just driving around.

Both of the swans, and one of the girls feeding them....and all the ducks!

This might not seem like a big swan, but it's the biggest one I've ever seen!

Jeff said it was posing for me because it stopped and turned and looked straight at me after I took this picture. I think it was wanting to know if I had food!

A bigger picture of the duck pond. Montrose didn't get quite as much snow as we did but it was still pretty cold!

See.............so we didn't hit Stirling, but we did see a couple things we'd not seen before!
Oh and you know...........we never did find a place to eat.........so we just came back home after we hit the hardware store and heated up soup. lol

Rules of the "Resolution"

At what point do you consider that you have broken your New Years Resolution(s)? Are there rules on this? Do you have all year to resolve to do the things you said you were going to do? Just curious because..........correct me if I am wrong...........but wouldn't it be considered a "bad thing" if before the end of January you had to go back and look to see WHAT your New Years Resolutions were?!

And when, if ever is it okay to make excuses for why you've not started or completed or keep doing your New Years Resolutions?
Well, never mind..............the simple truth is..........I did have to go back and look to see what all three of my resolutions were. I could remember two of them, but not the third one. And while I started out strong and heavy into the New Year, I lost momentum by the time I got to mid January. I have a ton of excuses if you'd like to hear them?!

Okay, okay.............enough with excuses and putting them off. I'm getting back to all of them starting today. Okay..well maybe not today.......maybe tomorrow? I will........I promise! I want to accomplish all three of them, so I will!

On a side note, Jeff and I have both been sick. But..........if we are feeling better by tomorrow afternoon I am going to make arrangements for us to head down to Stirling on Saturday. It's about a two hour drive and a little less than that by train. So we thought it might be fun to take the train down and see Stirling Castle and the William Wallace Monument. You know.....Braveheart.........
If something happens and we aren't feeling better then I'll push it off, but not for long. We'll try again later in February. It's hard to find a good weekend to do that and plan it because Jeff's been working offshore a lot lately, but if we can't go this weekend then we'll hopefully find a good weekend in February to go. And when we do go, I'll post plenty of pictures and try and write something up to give you a good idea of what it's like and what all we did. So stay tuned!

The busy months ahead

Good news!!! I should have something fun to write about in the coming months! We got a busy couple of months ahead of us. So I'm hoping to see some new stuff, take some great pictures and write about some parts of Scotland and some experiences we haven't had yet.
It's been so cold and the daylight hours are so short it's hard to get out and about and see things and take pictures.
We had sleet last night and I am hearing that we might get some bad weather this weekend. So we'll see what the weekend holds. Regardless, its cold so I am thinking about putting on a pot of seafood stew this weekend for us to have for dinner one night.

So with spring right around the corner and a busy couple of months ahead, there should be lots to write about (crossing my fingers). I've been looking into a mystery murder dinner at a local hotel and restaurant for us to try and do in March. And we also have our trip to Dublin in March for St. Patrick's day! In February we have a couple of outings planned to a nice local Italian restaurant and we are also going to try and attend a Mardi Gras party being hosted by some Louisiana folks that are living and working here in Aberdeen too! Jeff and I will also be celebrating our one year anniversary at the end of February. I mention this because we are planning to have dinner at an Art Deco restaurant in Stonehaven. We've heard great things about this place and think it will be fun to go check it out for our anniversary dinner.
And before we know it spring will be upon us! I personally am looking forward to the longer days of daylight and hoping to really get out and see some more places as the spring trees and flowers start to bloom. I hear that the roadsides and hills are gorgeous right at the beginning of spring and are covered with flowers. I'll be sure to get some good shots of this!

You'll notice off to the left that I put up a new poll. After the poll about our next holiday I thought it would be fun to just try and do something a little different and post different polls for fun. I'll try and change them up about once a month and I'll try and keep them related to Scotland or the "experience" here in some form or fashion.
Oh and Italy won.....by a landslide on the last poll. So I'm looking at some cruises that stop off at several places in Italy. I think it'll be the best way for us to really see a lot of Italy and hit some of the high points without us spending a great deal of time traveling by car. And hey......sitting on the deck of a cruise ship or chilling doing some fun things while in transport is NOT a bad way to travel! ;)

Off the beaten Path - Talking Sushi!

So I'm gonna get off the beaten path here a bit and talk about something that's not really all about Scotland. I mentioned on my Facebook page the other night that Jeff and I were making sushi. A few people send me messages in one form or another asking how to make sushi. So I thought I would write a little "How To" for those that are interested in making sushi at home. It's really a lot of fun if you enjoy time in the kitchen and once you get all the stuff prepped, it's fun to do as a family or a couple or even a date night type thing! Honest......it's fun! The best part about making sushi is that you can really make whatever you want in it. It doesn't have to be raw fish. For those that don't like raw fish............sushi can be made with all ingredients that are cooked or okay to eat raw.
Jeff and I are no sushi chefs, by no means. We both just really love sushi and a few years ago we got a book on how to make it and just thought it would be fun. Then we moved to Scotland and it's not easy to find here. For the longest time there was only one sushi restaurant here and now there is two in Aberdeen. But still, making it at home can be so much fun!

Okay so lets get started. I'll start with the things you will need to make it.
The most important part of making sushi is rice! It's key! And the rice must be sticky to really hold it all together. A lot of grocery stores carry sushi rice now. You can usually find it on either the Asian aisle or you can find it on the rice aisle.



But don't worry, if your local supermarket doesn't carry sushi rice, just look for either short grain or medium grain rice. Long grain rice will work in a pinch but not near as well as short or medium grain.

You'll also need Nori. This is the dark green seaweed paper. Don't freak out if you think seaweed is gross. It's very mild in flavor and honestly............it doesn't taste bad. You can find Nori on the Asian aisle as well. If you can't find it at your local supermarket then maybe look at a speciality store like World Market or some place like that. (Doug if you are reading this........I'm almost certain you guys can find it at Brookshire Bros on Rice Road. Plus they usually have a pretty good selection of fish to put in your sushi.)

Nori aka seaweed paper

You'll also need some rice wine vinegar and some saki. It's hard to say where you'll find the rice wine vinegar, but look on either the Asian aisle again or maybe with the other vinegars. You can get a small bottle of saki and it will last you a while since the recipe I am going to give you only calls for 1/4 cup. And you'll need some regular old sugar.

Rice wine vinegar, sugar and Saki

On a side note.....if making sticky rice isn't your thing........a lot of times if there is a sushi restaurant in the area, you can call them up and just get some sticky rice to go. But to me, it's fun to make the sticky rice at home and it's easy to work with when it's warm.

Okay........aside from those things you will need ingredients for the inside of your rolls. Pick the things you like and slice them thin and long. We used things like avocado, cucumber, cream cheese, smoked salmon, toasted sesame seeds (for the outside of a few of the rolls), tuna (if you can find it, yellow fin tuna is the best.......especially if it's fresh), jalapenos, crab meat and spicy mayo. Spicy mayo is really simple to make if you can't find it and it's key to spicy tuna rolls. All you need is some real mayo (Hellman's) and some of the red rooster red chili sauce you find in the Asian section of your store and a little lemon juice. Put a couple good tablespoons of mayo in a bowl, then squeeze a little lemon in it (about 1/4 of a lemon) and add chili sauce to taste. Remember the red chili sauce is pretty spicy and a little goes a long ways. So add a little, mix it and then taste, then add a little more if you like it hotter.

We had a lot of extras, but here is all our fillers for the rolls
(remember to keep thin long slices of what you put inside)

Also you'll need a sushi rolling mat. And you'll want to cover this mat with cling wrap to keep from getting the rice in between the parts of the mat. We didn't have any cling wrap and I didn't realize it, so we used wax paper, and it worked okay, but cling wrap works better.

Sushi rolling mat

Okay..........so we have all of our ingredients and now we want to make the rice. I've heard that sushi rice is really best when cooked in a rice cooker. I have no idea if that is really true or not but we use a rice cooker because...........well Jeff really wanted one a few years ago and bought one. lol But if you don't have one, I don't think it's a problem to cook it on the stovetop. With sushi rice though, cook it in 1 to 1 portions. I cook 4 cups of rice to 4 cups of water. Sounds like a lot but depending on how much sushi you want will depend on how much to make. It takes roughly half a cup, or a little more to make one sushi roll. Rinse your rice really well before cooking it. Rinse it several times and try and get the water running off of it as clear as you can. People thing you are cleaning off the starch that makes it sticky but you aren't, trust me, it will be plenty sticky! Especially if you use actual sushi rice.
Get your rice cooking. Rice cookers usually tell you when the rice is done and on the stovetop you'll just have to monitor it. I think once you bring it to a boil and simmer it, probably only take about 20 to 30 minutes to absorb all the water.


In the mean time, while your rice is cooking, add to a pot 1 cup of rice wine vinegar, 1/4 cup of saki and 1/2 cup of sugar. Stir and dissolve sugar over a low heat. You don't want it to boil but you just want it to dissolve. Keep in mind this recipe is for the 4 cups of rice you are cooking. So if you make more or less rice you'll need to adjust this recipe. Once your sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature.
While it's cooling I usually use this time to start slicing my ingredients that I am going to use inside the sushi roll. And remember, a little goes a long ways. So if you cut up to much you'll have lots left over.

Okay, so once your rice is done you want to turn it into a large mixing bowl. It'll be very sticky already and it sticks to everything! Try and use either a wooden or glass mixing bowl, not a metal one. I've read that the rice vinegar can sometimes have a reaction to the metal bowl. And you'll want to use a wooden spoon as well. Pour the rice vinegar mixture over the rice and fold it in. Try not to be to rough with the rice and try not to mash it. Just fold it in gently and then let it set for about 10 minutes while you finish prepping. After ten minutes all the liquid should be absorbed and your rice should be super sticky. Give it one more good fold and you are ready.

Work with your rice while it's hot and use it while it's warm
(Pouring the vinegar mixture over the rice)

Okay so here we go with the fun. Lay your mat out on a nice flat surface with room to work. Lay down a piece of Nori on the mat. You'll want to leave the smooth side facing down and the more rough part facing up. Then spread some rice over the nori with the wooden spoon. Leave a nice edge at the top with no rice, about 1/2 and inch or so.

This was my first roll and I forgot to leave my top edge with no rice......so as a result I had rice squeezing out of the top on this roll.
(this picture is from the side because I couldn't get good lighting)

Then closest to you put your ingredients in one nice long strip, and beside each other and on top, trying to kind of keep it compact. Don't put to much because if you do then your rolls will be really big and fat, and harder to use with chop sticks, plus harder to eat in one easy bite.

Again, I had to take the picture from the side. The top of the roll is actually to the left and the bottom of which you roll is from the right.

This is just another roll, that Jeff was making with spicy mayo
(he made the same mistake I did on the first roll, not leaving an edge with no rice)

Once you have your ingredients in there then pick up the edge of the mat closest to you, then nice and tight (but not to firm) start rolling it away from you. Make one nice roll over and then pull the edge of it up a bit so that you can continue rolling without the mat getting in the way. Kind of like this.

You want to kind of keep it firm and roll it tight, but not to tight that the ingredients pop out the sides.

If you pull your mat back, this is what your roll should look like at this point.

But keep rolling it over!

Once you have it nice and rolled up, you can roll the mat back out and seal the seam of your roll with a little water on your finger tips. The water on the fingertips and running it along the seam is the key to keeping the roll intact so it doesn't fall open on you will you are cutting it.

This is what it should look like all rolled up and sealed

So when you are ready to slice it you take a nice sharp knife and you dip it in a cup of water.

Use a tall cup to get your knife in there good and get the blade wet!

Then slice the ends off. You'll want to dip your knife before each cut. Don't worry about the water, just kind of shake the blade off a little but you need the moisture to keep a clean cut. Now we rarely keep the end pieces because they aren't pretty and usually lack ingredients. The next slices you make are the ones you want to keep.

See the end pieces aren't full of ingredients so they want to just sort of smash down

Make thin cuts so its easy to eat in one bite (this one could have stand to be a little thinner) but not to thin that they want to fall apart. Your ingredients will fall out if you make them to thin.

Okay, so lets talk about the rolls that have the rice on the outside. Same principal, lay the nori down and put a layer of rice on it. This time you'll want to cover all the nori, leaving very little free edges. Very carefully pick up the nori with the rice on it and flip it over. Putting the rice on the bottom and the nori on top. Okay, now back to the basics of placing your ingredients on the roll (just on top of the nori this time) and then roll. I toasted sesame seeds in a pan and sprinkled them on the roll when I was done. And on one of them I put slices of smoked salmon on top. Be creative and have some fun with it. That's the best thing about making sushi at home is that you can make it your own, experiment.

Here's the roll with the rice on the outside. Sorry I forgot to take a picture with the nori flipped over, but I think you get the idea.

This is the roll I put smoked salmon on the top of it, just kind of draped over the slices.

So there you have it! I know it sounds like a lot to do but trust me, once you get the hang of it you'll love it and it's really something Jeff and I have fun doing. Of course there's fun in going out and having someone else prepare it for you, but this is fun for families and date nights or having friends over, get the family or friends in the kitchen and everyone make some sushi.

This was 4 cups of rice and it made about 7 rolls. Plenty to feed about 4 people for a meal. Or appetizers for a party.

I hope I did a good job of trying to give a "How To" but if something isn't clear, or if you aren't sure about something, maybe I missed something, or it just doesn't sound right, send me a message or leave me a comment and I'll do my best to clarify.
I hope some of you will feel inspired and give it a try. It's pretty healthy and like I said before, you don't have to eat the raw fish to have sushi. Use some crab meat or shrimp (anything like this should be cooked.....just fyi) and add a little cucumber and cream cheese. One of my favorites is to add a little piece of sliced jalapenos (deseeded of course for those that like it mild). Next time we make it I want to try to add a little piece of slightly cooked and blanched asparagus to one as well.

Next post I promise will be about Scotland again. :)