Time to back track to late November when I left you on the
edge of your seats due to my excitement of working at Scottish Rugby Union. Before I even get into what happened there
and what I have been cooking, I must first explain to you how unbelievably
happy I was to see my travel buddy return from her trip to Aus but more
importantly what came back with her.
Anyone who knows me, should be able to guess the first thing I would
want from home, but for those of you who are trying to think of something to post
me as a present..hint hint.. I will happily share with you that a caramello
koala is the way to go!
Sadly my time at SRU came to an end just over a month of working there as the autumn test series wrapped up. To say a little thank you for all of the opportunities I was given there I decided what better way than turn up with some food. I stuck to the Aussie theme and made one of my favourite slices as a kid, hedgehog. A huge hit in our family, possibly my sisters all time favourite thing to eat ever, and if there is not hedgehog in the fridge or freezer at any given time there is a serious problem. A simple simple simple slice that requires crushed sweet biscuits combined with melted butter, cocoa, eggs & sugar left to set in the fridge overnight was as tasty as I remember it. After the serious sugar hit I needed to work off some calories and we headed to an Elvis cabaret night organised by one of the ladies I worked with. Something I would never have considered doing unless I was perhaps in Las Vegas but it turned out to be a fun filled night and something I would definitely consider doing again.
Sadly my time at SRU came to an end just over a month of working there as the autumn test series wrapped up. To say a little thank you for all of the opportunities I was given there I decided what better way than turn up with some food. I stuck to the Aussie theme and made one of my favourite slices as a kid, hedgehog. A huge hit in our family, possibly my sisters all time favourite thing to eat ever, and if there is not hedgehog in the fridge or freezer at any given time there is a serious problem. A simple simple simple slice that requires crushed sweet biscuits combined with melted butter, cocoa, eggs & sugar left to set in the fridge overnight was as tasty as I remember it. After the serious sugar hit I needed to work off some calories and we headed to an Elvis cabaret night organised by one of the ladies I worked with. Something I would never have considered doing unless I was perhaps in Las Vegas but it turned out to be a fun filled night and something I would definitely consider doing again.
After finishing up at SRU on Friday I was lucky enough to
have a new administration job at Energy Saving Trust on the following Monday. Not really knowing what I was walking in to,
in typical Chloe tradition I decided to get organised to at least have my lunch
for the week. I decided to bake a very simple cheese and
bacon quiche, simple seems to be a theme recently! Another dish that was a regular in our house
for lunch as a kid was our version of egg and bacon pie consisting of bacon,
eggs, cheese, carrot, milk, salada biscuits, spring onions and seasonings. Lacking on a few ingredients at the time I
made an adapted version of this, admittedly not as delicious as normal but a
fairly healthy lunch with some salad on the side.
I am now over a month into this role where I am processing government grants for energy saving schemes and its going along rather well. My contract is until the end of March so will just see how things go over the next few months but I think that will bring me to the end of my time in Edinburgh.
I am now over a month into this role where I am processing government grants for energy saving schemes and its going along rather well. My contract is until the end of March so will just see how things go over the next few months but I think that will bring me to the end of my time in Edinburgh.
As Christmas was fast approaching, Edinburgh seems to come
to life at this time of year. The town
gardens transform into a winter wonderland including an outdoor skating rink
and a huge daily market. We decided to
head down to check it out on a Friday night and taste some mulled wine,
apparently a tradition that is loved by all. I on the other hand, can’t say
that it was love! I think the best way
to describe the taste is to imagine a nice big batch of sangria and imagine it
hot. I probably wouldn’t have it again but
glad I can say that I have tried it at least once and sticking to my plan of
trying the local cuisine and beverages.
Haggis definitely wins this battle as the better of the traditions in my
opinion!
As Christmas time is a time to embrace traditions, I was invited to a pantomime, something I had never even heard of before, which is apparently an annual performance best described as musical comedy where each year a different fairytale theme is used. This year was Mother Goose and I admit I really had no idea what to expect as it is aimed at families with younger children and relies on audience interaction. It was surprisingly good but there were a lot of little Scottish jokes I did not understand making it somewhat harder to join in! It was a fun way to spend Christmas Eve though and certainly helped get in the spirit to prepare for over indulging on food the following day. I was invited to spend Christmas lunch with some friends I worked with at SRU and indulge we did on a roast turkey with all the trimmings. It was certainly a different Christmas to what I am used to, instead of being outdoors in shorts and singlet or inside under the air conditioner I was wrapped up in a jacket and scarf! I did take some time to make sure I had a little taste of home and I made my sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce for dessert. So light and fluffy but packed full of flavour, I regret not taking photos of this one as I am still to this day wishing there was more left over to eat as it was so so so good. I think it won’t be long before this reappears on my blog, I may even make the excuse that I need some photos to share with you so I can cook and eat it again!
Christmas seemed to come and go and before I knew it I was
back at work! Not for long though as the
build up to Hogmany was very exciting.
Something that is a ‘must do’ according to all the travel books so we
booked our tickets months ago and New Years at the street party here we
come! We first met up with a bunch of
Aussies that we have become close friends with for a few celebratory beverages
with dinner. Now one way to know you are
with a bunch of Aussies is when they spot something that looks like a choc
ripple cake and come running into the lounge room and ask “are they REAL choc
ripple biscuits!?” Sometimes we are such
a sad bunch but the excitement that we were having a real choc ripple cake with
some biscuits that were from the Aussie shop in London possibly, in fact did,
make the night that much better! Heading down to the street party we, and the
other 80 thousand people that were there, were so lucky with the weather that
it stopped raining the night before making it a perfect night to be outside. To see the fireworks so close was certainly worth
it as I have never see anything like it before and was an enjoyable way to
bring in the New Year.
Like I am sure most of you are, I am back into the swing of
things at work now and spending some time indoors to try and save some money
over the next few months. I hope you
have all had an enjoyable start to the New Year and I look forward to what 2013
will bring for me, hopefully more adventures to share with you but more
importantly if all goes to plan, not too long before I see you all back in the
land of Aus! Take care, keep smiling and
I will do my best not to leave you waiting on the edge of your seats for so
long for an update in the future xx
