My Macaroon Disaster!

Last time I left you I had just gotten the news that I would be starting a job the following day but was yet to find out where.  Well I couldn’t have been more excited when I found out it was at Scottish Rugby Union, hello dream workplace!! I have been working at reception for the last two weeks and have been given some amazing opportunities including meeting the players, checking out the change rooms before the game, watching the pre-game and kick off from the tunnel and greeting a few celebs including Gerard Butler and Princess Anne.  WOW, I couldn’t be happier at this workplace and I am not looking forward to the end of the placement that is for sure.

In preparation for my first day I decided it was time to get back into baking some healthy snacks and first on the list were zucchini muffins.  One of my favourite snacks to have mid morning I try and keep these more like mini quiches than a muffin using at least 4 eggs mixed with milk and just a little self raising flour, around two tablespoons, to add to the grated zucchini, carrot, cheese and bacon that makes this a flavour sensation.   These managed to last less than a week and I have sadly been too exhausted, maybe a little lazy haha, to make another batch so it has been carrot and celery sticks for my snacks since then.

 

Two weeks in and I still cannot believe that I have been able to work for a national sporting team with athletes that are representing their country at the highest possible level.  Even though I don’t know who any of the players are (and let me tell you that has led to a few embarrassing moments!) I jumped at the opportunity to check out the change rooms prior to the first game of the series against New Zealand.  The work that goes into getting the rooms ready for a game is amazing! 
To say a little thank you the following week and perhaps to try and avoid some afternoon boredom I decided to give macaroons a try.  Wow never again will I attempt to cook something without the correct equipment.  Who would have though a piping bag makes such a difference but they turned out to be massive plus I am not sure I made them properly in the first place.  They tasted ok and I still took them into work and reports were that they tasted great, but if I ever attempt these again there will need to be a few extra purchases prior to attempt number two.  Maybe I am a little hard on myself but I am still going to call these my macaroon disaster as I thought they were an epic fail!

My second week flew and after working 11 days straight I was so exciting to not only have a sleep in but also have the opportunity to go to the South Africa game. Lucky for me one of my friends from home who is currently living and working in London also had the weekend off and decided to come visit.  Probably not Maree’s idea of an ideal girls weekend, although she did prove me wrong with her barracking skills, we were both so excited to be having a weekend together.   Apart from spending our Sat at the game we also ventured to a farmers market that is a about a 20minute walk from my flat.  It was a great little market with lots of cheeses, vegies and fresh meats, I think I will be heading back there again one weekend to try some cooking with some fresh local produce. Our weekend sadly came to an end but not before she helped me out in the kitchen cooking a delicious dinner.  After testing out a lot of salmon recipes I couldn’t let her leave without giving her a taste of oven baked salmon on a bed of sweet potato with a tomato and avocado salsa.  I must say I am now perfecting the cooking time of the salmon and have discovered that it is always best to undercook the salmon that overcook it, not more than 12minutes in the oven and it’s a winner.

As I am settling into my routine and life here I have just signed up for a netball team and hopefully will be playing my first game tomorrow night which I am very excited about.  Until next time, have a wonderful day and keep smiling xx

Autumn appreciation..with a little salmon

I was lucky enough to have a week with one of my best friends from home who made the huge trip over to visit, so we took the opportunity to head up into the highlands and check out some more of this magical country.  I was shocked that the 6 weeks between my last trip can make such a difference to the scenic views.  I have never appreciated autumn, to me it’s a sad reminder that the sun is disappearing and the rain and cold nights are about to set in.  It’s amazing how a small three day trip can change my views on an entire season.  I was blown away by the landscape and how the colours of the trees can change something from looking kinda cool into one of the most spectacular views. 

 

Our trip couldn’t have started off better when we picked up our hire car and we were upgraded to a BMW, oh yeah!  Our first day and we headed off around the coast to St Andrews and then continued up to Inverness.  We saw some amazing views on the way including the ruins of St Andrews castle not to mention some beautiful landscape.  Time for dinner and wine at a very upper class pub looking out over Loch Ness just incase we saw any monsters pop their heads out, lucky for you we were safe.  I decided to give a fish tasting plate a try and might I say wow.  All of the fish was amazingly cooked (if only I could remember what they all were), although to my surprise it was served cold, but it was all fresh and local and I would love to go back up just to have some more.  

Next morning we were up early for a beautifully cooked full English breakfast before heading further north to Ullapool and then looping around the coast back down to the bottom of Loch Ness.  This is where my appreciation for autumn began.  We decided we would stop at a few random places on the way as the weather was being very kind to us with the sun shining and no rain at all.  First stop was a fast flowing river waterfall, it was amazing.  But the most spectacular scenery came later in the day when we found a mirror like lake with such amazing trees lining the banks, not to mention to snow covered peaks of the mountains in the background.  A spectacular day driving with a few quick stops for food, including lunch at a little cafe where I had some local smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich from the cutest little locals.
Heading back to Edinburgh we were much less fortunate with the weather and could hardly see in front of ourselves for most of the day due to either rain or fog, so we decided to do some indoor activities and go on a tour through the Ben Nevis whisky distillery.  Although similar to the distillery that I saw on the last tour I did, it was interesting to hear the differences that make each whisky unique.  One thing we could not possibly leave without doing was heading to the mountain tops to get a look of the view, it’s a shame we saw nothing at all except rain haha but it was worth going up in the cable cars just for the experience. 

 

Our week was coming to an end quicker than I had hoped but we made sure we squeezed a few more things in, including Halloween.  Never have I celebrated this holiday in Australia but it seemed to be all the rage over here so why not get on board and give myself an excuse to eat some chocolate and lollies.  We had an interesting mix of a witch, a pirate and me being a vampire in our household and headed out to meet up with some friends.  A fun night and I think I would be willing to celebrate this again when I get home.

I seem to be lacking some food reviews for you here so I have saved the best for last.  Jamie Oliver has a restaurant in Edinburgh so as a little treat we headed off there for lunch on our last day together.   The place is huge, I could not get over the size of the restaurant and that it was full of people, we literally got the last table in the building.  It is an Italian themed restaurant so what better way to start than with an antipasto sharing plate.  A unique way of serving it, the waitress brought two tined cans of tomatoes and rested the chopping board on top of them.  It was rather impressive with an array of meats and cheeses.   It was a great start but my main of salmon was superb.   Yep I cannot seem to escape salmon, it tastes amazing and is a much healthier option than some of the other foods out there that I just can’t seem to say no to it at the moment.  This was served on a bed of ricotta with a garnish of beetroot and rocket, a combination I would never have put together but it seemed to work, although perhaps a little too much ricotta than what I needed.

 

Sadly our week together ended and back to job hunting but I did say that by the next time I update you all on my adventures that I would hopefully have some job news.  Well while writing this, I have had a call from my temping agency and starting a reception job tomorrow for the rest of the week and possibly next week, eek! Wish me luck x