Ode to the lychee

My new favourite fruit is the lovely lychee. I used to hate them when I was little, but my adult tastebuds grew fond of the tasty, delicate, perfumed sweetness.

I took my boy out for a birthday lunch at Leven's in Tollcross. Leven's is a Thai fusion eatery - you'd recognise the funky lighting if you've ever passed it.

The food was seriously yummy, and these lychee smoothies were gorgeous! Almost makes a girl forget it's grey and wet outside.

Ham shank and cabbage winter soup

Christmas has come and gone and now is the time of year I try to make up for the excesses of Christmas feasts and Hogmanay partying.

2009 was a year of excess; roast duck in bed, potatoes sizzling in goose fat, everything au gratin and countless bottles of lush Cairn o Mohr wine. 2010 was healthier, as I was trying to lose a few pounds and even hitting the gym once or twice. 2011 will be a good year, I can just feel it.

I made this soup a few days ago and let me just say, it was just what I needed. Few things can beat a smoky, warming soup on a cold winters night, and you can't beat throwing in the odd ham shank either!

Ham shank and cabbage winter soup

3 tsp rapeseed oil
450 g smoked ham shank
1 head cabbage, shredded
2 carrots, roughly chopped
3 onions, chopped
5 large tomatoes, quartered
2 L water
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

Heat oil in pan. Brown the ham shank and remove.

Sautee onions until softened, then the cabbage and carrots. Return the ham shank to the pot and add water to cover.

Simmer for at least 1 hour, but preferably for as long as possible.

Add the tomatoes to the soup and simmer gently a further 15-20 minutes.

Mmmm...ribs!

I tried something new, I bought a rack of ribs from the Farmers Market last Saturday. I don't usually buy ribs as I never get them quite right - some say you need to pre-boil them and some say don't, and whichever way I've tried they always go a bit tough.

Well, not I know these other ribs must have been inferior ribs. Because I just spread some sauce on these ones and they came out tender and meaty, very tasty.

The magical ribs came from Sunnyside farm in Dumfries and Galloway. I believe there were 12 spare ribs to the rack, and I coated both sides with a mixture of 4 tablespoon Mrs Massey's barbecue sauce and 1 tablespoon dark agave syrup. They went in the oven for 45 minutes at about 170'C and came out perfectly.

It's cold outside...

Brrr!

The boyfriend and I just got back from town after a day of Christmas shopping and present hiding (his is under the bed in the spare room with a dressing gown chucked over it, and apparently I am banned from the bedside table on his side of the bed).

We hit the German Market for some tasty Grilled pork steaks, krautsalat and fried potatoes. Every winter I crave the German Market's fried potatoes, and they have never disappointed. We managed to do a little shopping but it was far too cold for too much browsing. We had a few glasses or mulled wine - or "Fire wine" as they call it.

We'd planned to go to Tiso to buy a pressie for his brother-in-law, but got a little distracted so never made it before closing. We'd bought some inexpensive gloves, socks, hats and blankets from Mountain Warehouse yesterday, and we'd planned to hand them out to homeless people - we tried last night but it was midnight by the time we got out and by then the streets were deserted. Found out today the soup van comes along at 9:00 pm and collects anyone found on the streets to take them to church shelters.

We spoke to a guy named Darren, who was chittering with cold and sitting under a plastic sheet - he's been sleeping in the cemetary at the West End and some guys had started on him, kicking him in and running off with his case. He was sitting with wrecked shoes that were soaked through, and his gloves were soaked as well. We gave him a new scarf, blanket, socks and hat, and I bought him a couple staek pies, a coffee and a slice of chocolate cake.

I don't think I will ever feel right complaining about my cold feet ever again.

Last day

It’s my very last day here, today is my last day at work. I’ve had a great time here…it’s been hectic at times, slightly stressful, and I certainly have not had enough sleep since starting back at uni. I’ve loved working here though, and I hope one day when I graduate, I might come back.

One girl, who I’ve worked with on a few occasions but who is not a regular in our office (she always stops to say hi to me however busy she may be) made a point of saying bye and good luck yesterday…and she emailed my team leader to contribute to my leaving present.

Another girl who I’ve worked with regularly over the past year (I even spoke to her a couple times on the phone in my previous incarnation as the Director’s PA) was stuck because of the snow and couldn’t make it into our office, but she phoned me yesterday to tell me how much she’s appreciated my help, and to tell me they couldn’t have done it without me. And how she’d wanted to say goodbye in person, but she hadn’t been able to get across town since the snow started.

My team leader yesterday said she’d give me a glowing reference for anything, and they’d love to have me back if I ever decided to. And she told me it would have all fallen apart without my organisational skills. I’ve enjoyed working for her, she doesn’t tolerate slacking and I’ve worked hard.

I’ve loved working here, and I’m really going to miss it. Next Monday I may even wake up at 6:00 am though I won’t have to.

Think happy thoughts

Take me to my happy place...

Mini rage

ALL Lothian buses are cancelled. No way to get home, no news except a stupid message on their site. It would take me at least an hour and a half to walk home in optimal conditions, so probably around 3 hours in the snow. This was supposed to be my last week at work, I was meaning to get so much done and leave a good impression of how efficient I can be. Now I’ll probably need to go home in the next hour and abandon everything, just so I can get home.

I still love snow, but I hate how unprepared we are in Scotland for it. I love this country, I moved here from the other side of the world and decided to stay, and it isn’t often I whinge and moan about it. But this is taking the biscuit. We have had extreme snow for the past few years, and still no one will admit it’s coming…and actually prepare for it. What’s wrong with sticking snow tyres on buses and providing adequate snowplough services? We used to get far more snow than this in Toronto when I was a wee kid, and the city never ground to a complete halt like this.

One year at Hogmanay, there was a blizzard – this was a white-out, the kind never seen in Scotland. I was in Toronto; me and my friend Pete had gone to a warehouse party downtown and we were pretty much stuck – you couldn’t see a foot in front of your face it was that bad. We still managed tog et a taxi, and there were night buses running (though not to where we wanted to go).

Why the hell is it so difficult to make provisions for snow in this country???