Happy New Year!

Lang May Yer Lum Reek

The absolutely terrible...but only...picture we took on Hogmanay

We had a very traditional Hogmanay; the day was spent sweeping out the old, i.e. ensuring the house was spotless before the bells...'out with the old, in with the new' and 'start as you mean to go on' the old adages I remember hearing ever since I was but a wee lass.

Steak pie is the meal of choice on this night or the next; we prefer to have it on the 1st as a good start to the year soakin' up the hangover food more like and had a light supper before heading over to our friends Val and Ian's for a party and a late dinner. We brought shortbread as it has became the new year equivalent to 'black bun', the traditional offering...along with whisky or wine of course.

Having settled in really quite comfortably, we reluctantly had to shift ourselves to do a few rounds of houses before settling at another friend's house for the bells and to see in the new year. Every house we went to, kilts were in full flow and it was lovely to see the Englishmen who were visiting also donning the tartan and loving every minute of it.

The host Ken had to go and wait outside just before the bells so that he could 'first foot' ; first footing is the first foot in the house after midnight. To ensure good luck, the first foot should be a tall, dark (and preferably handsome) man. A blonde man meant trouble; in the days of the Vikings, a blond stranger arriving on your doorstep was no good thing! The first foot should bring a lump of coal or shortbread, salt, black bun and whisky or one of these things.

A hearty rendition of Auld Lang Syne was sung and haggis, neeps and tatties were put on for the late night snackers.

The kids were in their element, being allowed to stay up so late but by 12.30 I could see Fraser struggling to stay awake and so we bundled them up to walk home in the freezing weather; the streets were paved with ice and it was treacherous but also quite good fun with people calling out "Happy New Year!" as we passed them.

I had promised the kids anything they wanted for breakfast and when Brian tried to offer them a paltry bowl of cereal this morning, they retaliated; my morning was spent making pancakes with various fillings including chocolate chips, marshmallows, raisins and scooty cream! We always go for a big walk on New Years Day (Ne'er Day) and when our friends called about the trip to Mugdock, we just couldn't bring ourselves to hike in -7 degree weather so for the first time in a long time, we're staying in.

I hope you all have a wonderful new year and I wish you the very best to come.

A Lovely Christmas

Carrot for Rudolph, milk and cookies for Santa

Christmas was lovely; the kids woke me at 4.45am and despite trying to get them back to sleep, they continued to check the time with me every 10 minutes or so, leaving me exhausted and I eventually succumbed to their excited whispers of "is it time YET?". Lucy wasn't feeling entirely well but they were all excited and decidedly happy with their gifts. We made dough for Schnecken buns and rested collapsed into a coma like state with hot mugs of tea whilst watching the kids play happily with their toys.

The Schnecken are prepared

And separated into nutty ones and nut free. Mmmm.

My sis arrived with her kids, to help us eat the cinammony, pecan topped delights which are Schnecken and bacon sandwiches to follow. Once they left, I began to prepare dinner, roasting the ham, which had been boiled the night before with a maple syrup and honey glaze, slicing the turkey crown, also made the night before, to heat in gravy later and preparing the turkey by stuffing it and rubbing it with lashings of herb flavoured butter and topping it with fatty bacon slices.

Roasting the Ham with Honey, Cloves and Maple Syrup

Lemon rind, sage and thyme to be mixed into the butter

Inbetween cooking, we watched The Polar Express and had our Scotch Broth. When dinner was ready, we sat at the table and opened the champagne, toasting another year and the year ahead. When we had finished and tidied, we were just in time for The Gruffalo and Doctor Who!

Scotch Broth


Christmas Dinner

The new 3d Monopoly was brought out; whoever said games brought families together were wrong but it was a great laugh nonetheless.

Grandpa, my husband's dad, had me in stitches throughout the day with his interpretation of certain things he'd overheard, for example, whilst watching the news... "...Pope has been knocked over", grandpa exclaimed "the Pope wasn't sober??".

Boxing Day saw us all sledging before heading to Ann's house for curry and conversation. It was a lovely day although in hindsight, the 3pm start of drinking champagne doesn't entirely agree with me, when not heading home until late....

Sledging

Monday evening, we went to Di Maggios restaurant for pizza and pasta with our friends and their family, followed by a pantomime at the Pavilion Theatre. Today, I'm being forced to see Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 and then it's Hogmanay tomorrow! Party time.

A Happy New Year to you all.