to gen:

trip for two

we are here:

Culloden House

Inverness, Scotland

(in case anyone was missing us.)

we miss you ivy!!!

mind your manners and be sweet to your cousins.

see you in a few days!

we love you to the blue blue sky.

day trip!

We've had the best time (and the best weather!) this week with my parents here. The guys have played about 50 rounds of golf and are still going strong. So us girls have stuck together (just the way we like it). We had my girlfriends over for lunch, went to Ivy's playgroup, had a picnic at the park, and shopped around town. But I wanted Mom to see a little more of Scotland while she is here besides our tiny town, so we headed out west and explored some amazing sights and gorgeous scenery. We felt like we were on Honey I Shrunk the Kids among the huge castle and giant trees...

BLAIR CASTLE

a little more info here.

DUNKELD CATHEDRAL

a little more info here.

picnic

curried carrot soup

image: marthastewart.com

I've made this a few times for lunch over the past couple weeks and it is so simple, tasty and healthy, and uses about 5 ingredients so I just wanted to share!

Curried Carrot Soup

adapted from martha stewart's everyday food

Serves 2

• 2 T butter
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3 large or 5 small carrots, peeled and chopped to 1 inch chunks
• 1 tsp curry powder (I use hot madras curry powder so I only use 1/2 tsp)
• 2-3 cups chicken or veggie stock
• lemon and cilantro for garnish

1. Melt butter in medium pot over moderate heat. Add onion, curry powder and a dash of salt and pepper. Cook about 5 minutes until onion is tender, stirring occasionally.

2. Add stock and carrots and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until carrots are soft, about 15 minutes.

3. Puree soup in blender and return back to the pot.

Garnish with a squeeze of lemon and chopped cilantro (this is a must). Serve with naan or pita chips and hummus.

Enjoy!

happy st. patrick's day!

the hays threw a little irish bash to celebrate st. patrick's day. as usual, we all pitched in a thing or two and before you know it - we're ready to party!

kate, ivy, aed and amelie



thanks hays!

irish soda bread recipe: HERE.

it's the easiest and quickest bread ever.

rainy sunday

flight please!

4 month old esther

if i didn't have a child, i'd be eating peanuts right about now.

fun in pitscottie/corn pudding

last sunday, the buchanans graciously had some of us over to their house in pitscottie, just outside of st. andrews. it was a beautiful day, i even wore flip flops (which was probably a stretch.) the kiddos played outside in their amazing backyard. we all pitched in a dish, travis grilled our meats, jess baked chocolate cupcakes and i was in heaven. (that's the only cheeseburger i've had here!) once again, i wish i had more pics but i'm doing the best i can (have i mentioned i'm fat and lazy?) thanks buchanans!

TEXAS CORN PUDDING

from Junior League of Houston's Peacemeals cookbook

• 5 T butter
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 jalapeno (I couldn't find one)
• 1 T minced garlic
• 6 cups corn
• 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/4 cup flour
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 T sugar
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 cup shredded swiss or cheddar
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions

Preheat to 350. Lightly butter a 9x13. Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Cook the onions, jalapeno and garlic for 5 minutes or until tender. Add the corn, thyme, salt and cayenne. Stir in the flour and mix well. Remove from heat and separate into two equal portions. Puree one portion in a food processor or blender, then mix the two portions back together. Set aside to cool. Combine The eggs, cream, sugar, pepper, cheese and green onions in a large bowl, whisking to combine. Add the corn mixture to the egg mixture and combine well. Pour into prepared dish and bake 50 minutes to 1 hour or until the center is set.

Serves 8.

Notes: If you aren't trying to feed a crowd, divide the recipe into smaller casseroles and freeze. I made 1 large casserole (served 8) and 1 small (serves 2) that I froze.

Definitely will make this again!

enjoy!

farmer's market

i recently heard about the little bitty farmer's market in st. andrews that happens once a month, so ivy and i checked it out this morning. there wasn't much to it, as i was warned, but it was fun to walk around, let ivy pet strangers' dogs, and browse all the goodies. i was pleasantly surprised! there was a variety of meats and cheeses, homemade chocolates, fresh breads and jams, etc. we scooped up some homemade cinnamon fudge, sausages, a beautiful "white cob" bread loaf (never heard that name but can't wait to try it!) and a chocolate krispy bar. i brought my camera but the batteries died after one picture. bummer! maybe i'll get some more next month.

fyi:

Cob, the name used in reference to a round bread roll, often crusty, in parts of the Midlands and North West, England.^[1] A cob more usually refers to a loaf^[2] of bread so called due to the shape, from the Anglo Saxon for "head". An alternative source of the term cob in reference to a bread roll is the similarity in shape and size to a cobblestone.

there you have it!

uh-oh!

a few weeks ago ivy and i went out and bought her some coloring supplies! we got a box of big wooden crayon pencils (they are so cute) and a huge white coloring pad. she loves to "trace" our hands which actually kills because she basically just stabs them! ha. anyway she was coloring the other day and colored about 1/2 a centimeter onto the cardboard part of the pad - "UH-OH!" she said, dropped her crayon and disappeared around the corner. a minute later, she came back with a cleaning wipe in her hand haha and started wiping it off! i was trying not to laugh because she was being so serious about it!

ok well i can tell this is totally one of those stories that just the mom thinks is funny and cute. sorry!

homemade breadsticks

I've never successfully baked with yeast in the past, but I've been trying to lately and realized it's really not that hard. (I'm convinced my pack of yeast was expired or something in SA.) Anyway, you just need the right recipes and a little time. This is a great beginner recipe to try because you don't even have to let the yeast rise. Hope you like it!

RECIPE:

1-½ cup Warm Water

1 Tablespoon Sugar

1 teaspoon Salt

1 Tablespoon Dry Active Yeast

3-½ cups Flour

½ cups Melted Butter

1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, mix together warm water, sugar, salt and yeast. Allow yeast to activate (about 10 minutes). Add flour and stir in with a fork until dough holds together. Turn out onto floured board.

Knead lightly into a ball. Pinch off a small handful. On floured board, roll out into bread stick (like a snake!). Brush with melted butter and then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (or whatever you want). Place onto greased cookie sheet.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. This gives the bread sticks about 10 minutes to begin to rise. Cook at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Try not to over-bake or they get a little tough (not that I would know.)

May be made in the morning and kept in the refrigerator unbaked. Remove from the refrigerator about 30 – 45 minutes (depending on how warm your house is) before baking.

ENJOY!

Next I want to master pizza dough and cinnamon rolls!!!!!!!!!!! sorry I just got real excited. (Does anyone have a good cinnamon roll recipe??)

PS. Sorry this has kinda become a food blog. It's kinda cold outside and I'm kinda fat and lazy these days. I'm going to give a better effort to make it more about St. Andrews, especially since our time here is running out!

happy 4 months e!