Battle of the puddings

So I have come to the realisation that birthday week, or weeks in my case, is now well and truly over and it’s time to start eating a little better before I give myself the excuse to eat more rubbish, eg Easter!  But before you get a blog of healthy suggestions and meals I have been eating (well hopefully, let see how well that goes) here is another round of delicious treats.

You may recall at Christmas I mentioned that I made sticky date pudding for our Christmas lunch dessert and promised to make it again with photos to come, well what better excuse than to make myself a belated birthday ‘cake’!  I cannot explain how amazingly successful this recipe is, I think it’s impossible to screw it up and it is just the most delicious yet light pudding, a nice surprise as often puddings are so dense.   The recipe is as simple as boiling the dates, adding some bi-carb soda and letting them cool before blending smooth.  While the dates are doing their thing you just need to cream the butter and sugar before adding eggs, and finally fold in the flour and date mixture.  I also make a butterscotch sauce to serve which I could just eat on its own spoonful after spoonful, it’s so delightful.

 

Little did I know I would be getting my chance to compare my pudding later in the week.  I was invited along to a food club where the group, made up by a number of Aussie and Kiwis, meet once a month and basically try out a new restaurant in Edinburgh. It was a fun thing to get out and about and meet some new people but it will sadly be my one and only appearance as I will be off before the next one.  Who can say no to dessert when you see sticky toffee pudding on the menu served with ice-cream, yum yum.  Kudos to the restaurant for making their presentation much better than mine haha but, they were both delicious, perhaps I shouldn’t compare as I am a touch bias.  I think the restaurant wins one the basis that it was served with ice cream.

The fun weekend continued with amazing weather.  I feel like it’s the first time I have seen some decent sun in months so I had to take advantage of it by spending as time outside as possible.  The botanical gardens are only a short walk away from our house so I wandered over for a Saturday afternoon and ended up at some local parks watching some very basic standard rugby.  But to sit outside on the grass and actually feel the sun warming me up (even though I was wearing a scarf, gloves and jacket) was a very welcome change. Saturday certainly impressed and Sunday was just as good so I decided to head on out to walk up Calton Hill, a smaller ‘hill’ than Arthur’s Seat but has some really cool monuments to look at.

Unfortunately the great weather came to an end and this week has been rain and snow.  You all know how much I love watching snow out the window, but having to walk to work and attempt to stay on my feet and not break a bone was a challenge.  I have always refused to be ‘that girl’ who walks to work in stockings but wearing runners and bring a change to work, sadly I gave in to that and wore what I like to call my loser shoes but did manage to stay upright.  The good weather last weekend made me crave some delicious fish and chips by the beach, so I decided to give my own batter a go with a simple flour, milk and water.  Another success but needs a little tweaking, probably would be a winner with some calamari which I will try again one day I am sure.

 

The countdown is now on for my time in Scotland to end, less than a month and I am off.  I am very much looking forward to catching up with a family friend who is travelling up from the Scottish Borders to visit and have a girls weekend.  Hope you all have amazing weekends and that the sun is shining somewhere. Take care xx