TLT Cooking School Now Open for Business!

Yes, you read that right.

As part of my Creative Endeavor Year of 2012, I am pursuing my passions for teaching, guiding, cooking and travel... by offering cooking courses!

 

I have been ever so excited about this since January, but managed to keep mum as I planned, prepared, and conducted two trial runs, one with friends, one with friends-of-friends whom I didn't know (I hosted strangers!).

Both trial runs went very well, and my lovely guinea pigs gave me great feedback for how to tweak this or that aspect, which I have incorporated into my menu and planning process. I am SO READY.

The theme, and the way I incorporated the passion for travel into this activity, was Scotland. Ah yes, you do remember, I was a little obsessed with it last year? Well, it didn't go away. Apparently I'm marked for life.
And it's not just Scotland. While I had a marvelous time pouring over books of Scottish cultural history and traditional receipt-books, I am just as excited to do the same for other locales I have visited and have some connection with, such as Turkey, Ireland, France, and let's not forget... Italy! (coming soon)
But for now, it's Scotland. The menu reflected traditional peasant cuisine, with some shortcuts for practicality and taste.

Menu:

Hors d'oeuvre: Oatcakes with Cheese, Preserves, & Honey 

Vegetable Accompaniments: 'Neeps and Tatties,' Fresh Green Salad

Main Course: Herring Sauteed in Oatmeal 

Dessert: Millionaire's Shortbread

The shortcuts, you will observe, involve the toppings for the oatcakes, and the millionaire's shortbread (a bit of an anachronism when considered in context with the other dishes, but I didn't hear anyone complaining).
I was aiming for good, peasant food that used some different ingredients and techniques than the ones we are used to here in the U.S.
I searched out local, seasonal, organic ingredients, and got most of the way there on most of the dishes (let me know when the eastern U.S. gets back in the sugar business, though). All in all, it's been a thrilling and rewarding experience to be able to pass on some knowledge learned about a place I love and a cuisine I am very much interested in. Win-Win, all the way.


And so, I am putting out the good vibes to all you who may stop to read here from time to time. Do you know people who live in D.C. that are interested in cooking and travel? Do you live in D.C? Are you looking for something to do on a weeknight other than go out to eat or get Thai take-out?



I would love to host you and your friends, or you and your soon-to-be friends, for an evening of cooking, baking, learning, and of course... EATING! Because let's not forget the primacy of the eating experience, and that it is what brings us together so often, in so many ways. Mangia!

And to finish, the gallery of pictures of Millionaire's Shortbread, the rich man's Twix Bar (shortbread, caramel, and chocolate)... how can you NOT want to gobble it all up??
If you're interested, email me at Margaret's email or twitterpate me at @tastelifetwice where I like to pass on others' great content on food, life, and travel as well.


See you here (subscribe by feed / email) & there (Twitter)!

NOMNOMNOMNOM

Oatcakes and Orange Flower Water

Greetings, Friends.

The ship may no longer be going Full Steam Ahead, BUT it is not idling away in dry-dock, either.

For all you non-nautical types out there (including me), please refer to my disclaimer about overworked metaphors. While I do have a broken right arm, I'm planning on sneaking my way around that obstacle at least a few times over the course of the next 3-5 weeks. Probably with the help of my friends.

As for my two main goals for the beginning of 2012- training for the 10-miler and increased pace of writing- they will both be put on hold. Tuesday I get fitted for my cast, and I plan to pepper the orthopedic surgeon with questions about what I can do to promote healing and what I shouldn't do to prevent further problems. I dunno, team, do we think I can ramp from nothing to 10 miles in 5 weeks?

Since I am right-handed, typing cack-handed severely slows down the flow of words. I suppose I could still invest the same amount of time and just get half the anticipated output, but I kind of don't want to slog through that. Or am I really just scared that nothing will come if the spigot isn't all the way open? Could be.

I guess we'll find out in the coming weeks!

But now to think back to a time when I had two working arms, when I could multitask like nobody's business, when I could pump out three recipes a night... 

That's right, more Scottish food! I actually made these the week before Christmas, as a balance to all the Cookie Swap sweetness. I found a link to the Leftover Queen's recipe, and found that she was quite the blogging queen, coming much belatedly to that party. The dough was quick to come together, easy to manage, simple to scale. The oatcakes' texture was nubbly, toast-y. The flavor was mild and wheat-y and heartland-y, if that makes sense. Pretty great! It made me think more on what a culture's food says about its people... fascinating speculative exercise...

The same day, I thought I'd better get my mojo going on the cookie swap recipes I'd bookmarked. Two that I was closest to having all the ingredients for shot to the top of the list: HungrySquirrelCakes' Chocolate Orange Chunk Cookies and Mrs. Galvan's Dark Chocolate Cafenelas. Here I've got the first one, which got more oooh's and ahhh's from the officemates (even though they were both fab, I think this one was more unique).

Standard mix-and-drop cookie, with one out-of-the-ordinary ingredient (orange flower water, which can be found in Middle Eastern/ Lebanese groceries or near syrups and jams in a Whole Foods), and the need to keep a close eye on the oven exposure- you want to nab these guys before they're fully cooked to avoid going to the Crispy Side.

**Helpful Note for Americans looking to convert this recipe from metric measurements: 225g = ~3/4c butter; 200g = 1 1/4c sugar; 175g = 5/6c sugar; 350g = 3c flour; 175g = ~5/6c dark chocolate; 170 deg C = ~338 deg F ** I think.
Yum. Next up: Cafenelas and what to do with Black Radishes!

Tartan Spirit

By a generous move from friends, I was invited to the Annual Tartan Ball here in Washington, DC.

They correctly assumed that in my current craze for Scottishness, I would be so pleased at all the pageantry and traditions on display that I would fill up my personal Happiness Tank for several days following.

It was held at the Mayflower, that iconic Warshington landmark. Recent political hijinks aside, it is a beautiful space. I had never been inside, so experiencing the cavernous depths of its entryway was pretty impressive. Even the carpets were exciting! There were a lot of people, and they fit pretty well in the area with the silent auction, and of course everyone got a seat for dinner (pictured above).

It was a prefect time to try a new whiskey. With the Ardbeg under my belt (but not conquered by any means), I calmly and rationally analyzed the dram of Lagavulin gifted to the table, hosted by my friends. It was suuuper-fragrant, as in, I could smell it without trying to. But it was surprisingly ... tolerable.

Here was my brilliant idea for a Scottish-themed yet fancy dress outfit: see arisaid for inspiration. I took a strapless black dress for the fancy part, then took a large shawl as a modern arisaid, letting it go from shoulder to belted waist to back of the calf-length dress. And I used a brooch that I have from back in my lilt days (Clan Logan) to secure it and give me some extra strapless confidence! Haha. That's always a bit nerve-wracking.

A lovely party.

Bittman, Baking, and The Best Dishes

Today, I bring you three recipes tried and news of some fun to come.

The first recipe is for "Autumn Millet Bake," the sound of which is something quite atrocious, but turned out pretty well, even with my typical tweaking tendency. I first saw the recipe at Heidi's site here, and was inspired to try something with millet: how pioneer-like! how quaint! how self-reliant! (You see how I like to get carried away with evocation)

Here were my changes:

• scaled it down by half
• used cooked squash
• didn't have sage
• added roasted corn kernels
• didn't use nuts
• added different seasoning (a disadvantage of losing my notes on this one is I can't remember which)

I don't think I managed to fully cook the millet, and I'm not sure why, but it was quite crunchy, and quite tart from the (frozen-fresh) cranberries. I had it in the morning as a whole-foods pick-me-up at work and it worked out well, providing about 4 servings (so I gather they were estimating for hungrier people in the original recipe!).

It certainly looked pretty with the colors that pop, and satisfied the belly, being made with plain foods and low in fat. If and when I try this recipe again, I would stick closer to the original and maybe cook it longer so that the cranberries had more of a chance to stew.

This next one has only one picture, because it wasn't very photogenic and it wasn't very flavorful. Strike Two (bringing the count to 1 and 2) for the Traditional Scottish Recipes book I bought in Scotland.

Third and final recipe: Italian Apple Cake, from FrenchieTBD, which stands for The Best Dishes in the title of this post. As far as I can tell, it is a defunct blog, and I often find a broken link, but some industrious fishing gets me back to the actual site and recipes. I really liked the writer's style of posting a life anecdote with a dish, so I'm bummed that she hasn't posted in a year, but what can you do: life goes on- thank goodness!

I brought this one for coworkers, and boy, was it good! Moist, as the photo shows, good browning, rich and airy crumb, and with the intoxicating scent of rum mixed in with the fresh, local apples. Ah, life is good.

And now for the news to come: I am excited to participate in the Food Blogger's Cookie Swap 2011!

I haven't decided yet what type of cookie to bake for my compatriots in the Food Blogging World, but I want it to be good! And I'd rather make an assortment of 2 or 3 types to mitigate the risk of disappointing, but we have been instructed to only use one recipe... so I guess I'll look over my recipients' blogs to see what they like!
Try this cake. You won't be disappointed.

Scottish Imitations

Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery...

 My first imitation was Millionaire Shortbread (top: mise-en-scene for the Compilation; bottom: one of several goodies on a dessert plate), but since I brought it to a party and for some reason didn't have my good blogger hat on (cell phone camera), it has gone largely uncatalogued, except in the memory of my tastebuds (and those of the party guests). But I will definitely try making it again for a gathering, just include more chocolate (the top layer swam a bit because it was too skimpy)!

For this second attempt, I went to the next favorite thing on my list of foods tried in Scotland for the first time: tattie scones. Now, I've linked both of these to the internet recipes I used for reference, but I sort of cross-referenced those with the versions in this book, which I got while I was in Inverness, but ... it has its own limitations. So I ended up doing a hybridized, as well as scaled-down, version of both these attempts, and they both came out all right: the caramel shortbread off on  some proportions, but tasting fantastic anyway, and the tattie scones lacking in shape, but tasting marvelously Scottish for a' that.

So anyway, how do ya make 'em? Basically, you boil potatoes, mash 'em up, let 'em cool, add some flour so it'll stick together, and then roll 'em out and play patty-cake. Since I am hopeless with a rolling pin, I gave it one 'old college try' then resorted to my hands and this nifty new kitchen tool that you see above: one of those slicer/scooper-up thingies. A name, anyone? I know I'm showing myself as the amateur I am, but Oh Well. I figure this tool will come in handy when another wave of bread-baking comes upon me, since dough and I have been through some interesting times...

Even with the dough slicer, the triangles I formed were less than happy to remain uniformly sized, and so it became a bit of a hodge-podge. It also took longer than the expected 5 minutes on each side to brown them up. Perhaps I should have added more flour? Or even, sacre bleu, an egg?

But here we are, with the finished product, a proper genealogy of tattie scones (you can trace it from the paleozoic era to the pliocene epoch, kids!), as, from left to right, top to bottom, I 'progressed.'

I put half away for later, stuffed myself with the other half (this girl is not used to eating a whole potato in one sitting), and happily fell asleep.

Fish Tea, Stravaigin, and a See's Candy look-alike

Scottish Food, Installment 3 of 3
And here I've got my final three food experiences, all in Glasgow, and all pretty positive (2 out of the 3 also had some annoyances associated).
These first couple pictures are of the "Fish Tea" I ordered at The People's Palace. And while it might sound like a bad Asian packaging description of tea, it actually meant 'tea' in the afternoon-meal sense, and an afternoon meal that included fish. With chips, of course.
I ordered a caramel shortbread along with the 'Tea' and boy, was I rewarded. The little annoyances here were that 1) the greenhouse felt like it had heat piped in from somewhere, and was uncomfortably warm, such that my shortbread got all melty (which was fine, but so did I), and 2) that they lost my ticket for the fish and chips part, and I had to go back up and reinstate my order. They felt bad for losing it and so gave me a free bottle of water (and I was already carrying one, so my backpack got pretty heavy, but I'm not looking any gift horses in the mouth). The caramel shortbread was dee-lish. And very worthy of being reproduced in the States- Go To!

The second experience catalogued here was undilutedly fantastic. I went to a restaurant called Stravaigin (the original, in the Kelvinbridge neighborhood, I think; there are two). If you visit their site, right now at least, they have a picture up of the very same entree- the hake fillet salad! But mine shows the architecture a bit better, I think...

 The restaurant, servers, lighting, other eaters... all was lovely and relaxing and amiable. I liked the iron stairs up with lights, the fun second story that overlooked the first, and the fun architectural finishes that made the place seem magical and whimsical, not modern or sleek or posed. It was a great place, and has a fitting name for one like me: 'Stravaig’ means ‘to wander’ and that is exactly what I enjoyed doing while in Scotland.

The final experience was part of an homage to Charles Rennie Macintosh, an architect famous in his hometown of Glasgow, and an artist well-known internationally for those interested in art history. I liked the part of his work that was all about an organic whole, form serving function (Arts & Crafts), natural forms being used (Art Nouveau), nothing thrown in for no reason (Modernism but not the Jetsons kind). It's like smart growth for buildings and furniture!
Anyway, he's famous for designing the Glasgow School of Art and the Willow Tea Rooms, which of course I had plunked on my list as a Must-See. Tea? Scones? Art Nouveau? Yes, please.

 

This is the dining room, accessible weirdly through a jewelry store on the ground floor...

 

And look! As I was leaving, this is the line that lined the whole stairwell! (Pays to be an early bird...)

I had the choice of the open-center room or the Room De Luxe, so guess what I chose? Why not, after all. It didn't cost any more. It had the windows out onto the street, which I thought would be nice, but... I was plagued my whole luncheon by a very bad saxophone player busking across the street. Grr. He had no rhythm, which made his rendition of Moon River very jarring. Ah well. After I exited, I got to hear a very talented bagpiper... and the tea was lovely: finger sandwiches (crustless!), a meringue tart, jam and double cream for a scone. Yum.

Why can't we get cream like that here??

Scottish dumpling, not your dim sum variety

Scottish Food, Installment 2 of 3
The last post was mostly food in Edinburgh, so here we'll progress on to other places and experiences.

First up (and making a grand impression) was the breakfast set-up at my B&B in Inverness. (highly recommended!)
Keep in mind, this was just the COLD breakfast. Gorgeous cereals, fruits, yogurt,etc. Add to that your choice of eggs, meats, and my favorite, tattie scones. They might be a bit of work for one who is not accustomed to having mashed, or in fact any, potatoes on hand, but they were tasty enough to give it a try nonetheless.

Next is the food at the cafeteria of the Culloden Battlefield Memorial site. Now I've heard that there is a fancy guest house and gourmet restaurant nearby, but you're off your rocker if you think I could afford to go there. As it was, I had to check at the bus station for where to pick up the city bus to visit the memorial site, as it was not obvious from their website. After an inside talk, a self-tour of the museum, and an outdoor guided tour, I scoured the gift shop and settled into the cafeteria to stave off a food-headache. I saw these crisps, which amused but did not entice!

I also tried Clootie Dumpling, a traditional fruitcake-type dessert, which turned out to be fabulous, 'smoored' as it was in custard. SO good, especially on the misty, rainy, chilly day that we had that day. But once again, there's a challenge to make it-- where on earth does one get suet in the States?
Third, we have the famous visit to Leakey's Bookshop & Cafe. I loved this bookshop, not least because it had a cafe upstairs where one could procure delectable baked treats and a warm beverage to best accompany the reading material at hand.
On my first visit, I had a pot of tea. And I didn't look closely at the menu because I was busy observing and then speaking with a young Swiss mother traveling with her young son (but not too young- he was old enough to talk excitedly about where they'd been and what they'd seen, about 11 or 12 years old). Did I mention we spoke in French? It was AWESOME!

 The second time I returned however, I tried a baked good (a caramel shortbread, I believe) with my tea. And perused the menu details, which included a historic bit.  I'll wait while you read.

Good bit of cheeky humor there, eh? And another connection back up to that Diana Gabaldon and her fictionalized version of the Culloden Battle- really fascinating!

Fourth and finally, we leave Inverness to include the day trip to Stirling Castle, in a metaphorical middle of Scotland: between the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow (E-W), and between the cultures of the lowlands and the highlands (S-N).
At Stirling, I had a very informative tour which encompassed different ages of the castle, famous architectural elements, rituals of life, changes for military needs, etc. But the one place the guide didn't take us to but strongly recommended was seeing the exhibit on the Renaissance kitchens.
There were very lifelike mannequins/models pictured at work, and everything looked so busy! There was sound piped in to mimic the hubbub of a feast in the making. It was really well done.

This shows a servant slowing down in the course of serving all the courses (hehe) at a typical 16th century banquet, which included:

• pottage (soup)
• roasts
• small pies and pastries
• tarts or fritters
• fresh or preserved fruit and sweetmeats

I guess they didn't go in for salads, hmm...

Here was my favorite- all raise a cheer for the bakers! Rough men's work at the time, because it took a lot of bread to feed the people, who didn't have much of a varied diet unless they were high-fallutin'.
Don't they look real? Better than a wax museum, though; those are just creepy.

The last photo from Stirling kitchens was an oven that was used before the expansion for the palace's guests, when it was more of a fort stronghold. These kids were around and I felt a strong urge to be the witch pushing them into the oven for getting in my shot...

Next up will be the final installment of Scotland food (Glasgow) and some preamble about the New England road trip, where Produce, and not Preparation, turned out to be King (a-ha-ha, we were just talking about the Castle, get it?)