Caiplie House Goings On

Seeing as I do actually run a B&B I should really write about my real area of expertise no?

People ask me if I get bored cooking breakfast for people every morning. The simple answer is no because  I love trying to get the perfect dishes out every time. Simply put you don’t always manage it but there is always the next day….

So here is the first of my breakfast recipes:

Caiplie House Porridge

As with all my cooking I strive to start with top class ingredients. For porridge I use SPOFF Oats….they even sound good eh? All the way from Invergordon, Ross-shire  www.spoff.co.uk

I actually get mine from the butchers but you can order on-line. I get a bag of the standard oats and a bag of the jumbo oats and mix them 50/50 in a big tupperware container.

Sorry I am not terrible precise when it comes to measuring and so on but play about with it and see what you like. (Jamie Oliver gets away with it so why can’t I??)

I use a cupped handful of oats per portion (Finlay size portion which is a double portion) I operate on the principle that hands and bellies are proportionately large or small here!!

Place your oats in a pan and cover with water then add the same amount of water again, small pinch of salt per portion. Note even if you prefer sweet porridge add some salt here!

Bring the porridge up to  hot mud pool bubbling, not spitting bubbles but popping. Stir with a wooden spoon or even better a spurtle. Now turn down the heat and be patient. You want to let the porridge simmer for as long as you can wait. With the mixture of oats the smaller oats turn to cream quicker and the jumbo oats maintain a bit more body.

Keep adding water to keep the porridge to the correct consistency, you can keep serving until the last ones get out of bed at 10 o’clock!

Now the big question what do you put in your porridge?

When I am serving up porridge I add a wee dash of double cream and swirl that through before serving. If people have asked for sweet porridge I will sprinkle a nice demerara sugar on trying to get a lovely marbled effect as it melts

My English guests who have porridge always seem embarrassed if they add jam or ask for syrup or honey. I think they feel it is an attack on the Scottish nation and may result in uprisings or even worse surcharges to their bill!

Do what you want to my porridge! I am delighted you are having porridge….enjoy it how you like it. I usually get assurances that people aren’t driving if they go for the whisky addition and probably will talk about surcharges if people start naming their preferred malts to be added!

Personally I prefer the salty side of neutral with a chopped banana on top and a splash of milk. If I am treating myself I will have a dollop of creme fraiche, a sprinkle of cinnamon, the sports pages and the Saturday Sixties Show on the radio!! No uprisings!!

For great porridge and other breakfasts book in at Caiplie House

Duckies fae Nae Limits

Duckies (or Adventure Kayaks) provide the ultimate thrill for people looking for a cross between White Water Rafting and Kayaking. Paddled by two people along the same stretch of white water as a raft, the aim is to keep in control and in a straight line…sounds easy doesn’t it? Thats the blurb on the website was the reality that much different?

Due to the very heavy rain…….(we will soon take it that this has had a bearing in all activities in summer 2008)  we had been told that the adventure tubing had been cancelled but the duckies could still go out on he river…woop woop?

I was intiriged as I had heard reports that ‘The Big Man who is in charge’ was meant to be putting in a visit too, no not Sean he is too busy promoting his new book….Alex…First Minister and outdoor adventurer??? Adventure tubing I cant see it….big fat tube? Well not on this blog….but some might say it.

I had got my wires crossed the Big Man was just doing some flesh pressing, I had to do the same to get into that wetsuit! Never be too afraid to ask for XL when it comes to neoprene!!  (tip #47) There is only so long you can hold your breath then it all has to go somewhere and its not pretty.

Shock horror, AS found something else to do and didn’t show, Ms Angelini Fabiiii …aye her, the culture and vulture secretary came instead, I think it’s her department anyway and helped visitscotland launch a new adventure passport thing….anyway about these ducks???

Maybe it was the name but I wasn’t totally convined about this river trip, sounded a bit more like boating pond than white water but on the drive up river we saw the Grandtully rapids fairly frothing and bubbling away. This was to be the end of the trip and it certainly looked like there could be a few thrills in store! The biggest worry was the amount of traffic down there, not only did it look like a right acquatic rollercoaster but there was every type of river craft being paddled about through slalom poles hanging from wires, whats the priority system here? inflatable punter canoe give way to Olympic hopeful kayakers?

The best part about a trip like this is always the people, thrown together half an hour ago the twelve of us plus two guides were now going to spend two hours together getting to know each other just a little bit better. Not quite as intimate as a raft when the team has to gel we were one big team but in twos in our little duckies….yes twos, couples, boyfriends and girlfriends, husbands and wives working as one unit, communicating and paddling and steering in unison, fluid like the great Tay river herself??? Oh man I love the drama!

Everyone  had turned up in pairs apart from two singles who were thrown together after a brief introduction, they seemed to be using English to communicate however Russian seemed to be getting used as well though even those pairings who had met before seemed to be communicating in languages that the other had never heard before!!

Mark the guide explained that the guy at the back does the steering, he is the captain, the guy at the front is the labourer he does what the captain says….simple? Comedy classic or what? Laurel and Hardy, Morecambe and Wise they couldn’t do this justice. Happy smiling couples with a future in front of them arrived at this river, full of hope and excitement, WHY? Cant you see what is going to happen?

Of course all the guys get in the back and start to steer. The excuses for duckies charging into the bank, into other duckies, backwards, sideways, were amazing. From wind, current, tide?? The girls snapping and snarling and answering the captain back nd finally mutiny…a few red faced males relegated to front paddler, muttering about old rugby injuries and this shoulder being better for paddling on the left and…..yeah yeah.

We too were there as a couple of course. We are a little amazed ourselves that we seem to cruise through all sorts of experiences and activities without falling out or arguing. There has to be a big row waiting to erupt soon! We have put the tent up at dusk, tired and hungry…no problem. We managed two weeks on a yacht crewing and helming…no problem OK my attempts at golf instruction have not always been 100% welcome, maybe that is the trick to know the warning signs? The gathering of the brows or the change of tone?

I think actually it may have been that we were both intrigued by the other duckies and the social dramas within each one that we managed to focus on getting down the river, smooth, calm and collected. Oh yeah and I paddled when I was told to !!

                 No Ducks were harmed during this adventure!

Go and have an adventure with Nae Limits, they are good!

Summer Music Sunday!

 Family music day on the green! Full day of live music from local bands!

That’s how this little festival was billed and it didn’t disapoint!

Blink and you could miss Pitcairngreen tucked away in rolling countryside just North of Perth. The green itself is vast for the size of the village and the pub is really the only commercial outlet.

Owned by Nigel and Beverley who also own The Taybank in Dunkeld the Pitcairngreen pub is the hub for this cracking little summer festival, the pub was the venue for later sessions and those not well enough organised to bring the garden gazibo to shelter from the all too familiar rain.

Tunna

I don’t think I have ever been early for an event like this but we surprised ourselves by arriving in time to catch the first act, Tunna . It was a little sureal to see a dozen or so early birds scattered across the green all jiggling away to the funky Scottish sounds of fiddle, mandolin and guitar. Karys the fiddler has pulled this little three piece band together, they are good musicians who work well together, if they spend more time together they could become pretty special, watch this space.

Tunna Clip

I spotted two girls a little way off who seemed to be doing more than the accepted jiggling, really going for it for 1pm on a Sunday then I realised that strange way they were holding their drinks away from their bodies and shaking their heads was actually wasp avoidance ….pests.

The music was about as changeable as the weather and strangely they seemed to coincide! The sweet tones of the clarinet managed to pull the sun out as everyone settled down after lunch and had a little doze. Only to be awoken by a heavy shower and a dose of harder rock!

We didn’t hang about for Southpaw , but they are meant to be good. The dose of summery clarinet had got me in the mood for the Sunday papers and a search for last minute holiday deals!!

By guest writer Josephine de Lucca

A Music-free Festival

Managed to blag a free ticket to Belladrum Festival for the Saturday so set off clad in waterproofs and wellies expecting to get wet but luckily the skies were blue.  I was helping at a stall so didn’t get to listen to much music all day – but that was ok because it was free – right?  I was helping kids paint and decorate recycled cups (why??!!) so that we could decorate a ‘house’ with them.  I only seemed to manage to paint my hands but hey orange and green hands can look cool at a festival.  It was fun to watch the kids concentrating on pink paint and fluff but it was even more fun to watch the parents get all serious about their creations.

Anyway I was free at 4pm so went off to a debate about Green Energy – so glad I purchased a big chocolate muffin and a coffee to keep me going throughout although I must say it was pretty interesting.  Then it was off for a free spiritual reading where I was told that I had to get some direction in life (yeah I knew that one) but that they couldn’t help me with that – great – glad it was free and I hadn’t just spent £10 to get a fairy reading (yes really there was a fairy card reading stall! Do they just say dance more?!).  Then I went off to a creative dance class where you just express yourself through movement – man!  It was pretty cool actually.  My friend Lesley finally found me frolicking about on the dance floor but she couldn’t laugh as she had for some reason decided to dress up as Pippy Long-stocking and her freckles had rubbed off.  We then lost each other again and after a lot of frantic mobile phoning were reunited so we went off to their van to munch.  Lesley had got herself lost the night before and had to beg a bed in a wigwam for the night – as you do!!

We finally decided to venture back out at about 8 to watch the Lemon Heads but only lasted about 5 minutes until the food hall called.  There was so much to choose from but having turned veggie again that morning I chose some delicious veggie stovies.  Yum.  Then of course we promptly lost everyone and spent the next hour at the bar (good place to be) in a flurry  of texts trying to find people again – how hard could it be – very hard since some of the party were a bit tipsy and probably forgot that they had even been with us in the first place!  Anyway by the time we got over to the Waterboys they were playing there last chord and suddenly it was time to get the last bus home – oops – all the way to a music festival to listen to 5 minutes of music – oh well there’s always next year.  There’s just so much to do at Belladrum that you really can spend a day there without needing to resort to mere music listening although next year I’ll be hanging out in a few more music tents and trying not to lose so many people!  Definitely recommend it especially for those of you with a family.

My annual visit to the Edinburgh Fringe was more of a fleeting visit than usual but the day out was almost extended!

I arranged to meet friends and friends of friends, then a few other people who had once been on a bus with them just for good measure! Trying to make things as simple as possible I was happy to go with the flow or put another way let someone else do all the hard work of organising.

However that meant that Fiona and I were tagged on to a group of eleven for shows and meals. I got a bit panicky when Alastair actually sent me an Excel document with names, numbers and times of shows.   

This group was serious and had obviously experienced the humiliation of walking into a dozen restaurants and asking for a table of ten ‘when for?’ …’eh now please’ The looks you get range from pity to rage through complete disbelief. Then there is the walk of shame back to the door passing smug festival goers who booked years ago and emailed their orders directly to the chef days ago!

However I had to admit turning up at a restaurant and being almost welcome was a pleasant experience. We had managed to shoehorn a friend of ours onto this other group…you know how it is if you are only in the big smoke a few times a year, you have to maximise your window of friendship maintenance! This meant I was practically sat in the gents on a table that is usually used for veg. prep in the kitchen but hey we were going to eat before the next show!

Prior to this we had spent a sweaty fifty minutes in the company of Isy Sutty at the Pleasance. The fact I had actually run through the Southside of the city didn’t help the temperature issue. I have a terrible habit of working half days and scheduling events in the second half of the day. the best made plans and all that….this one was dependant on wind and tide as I was waiting for my lobster delivery.

As I was having Saturday night off I manfully offered to prepare the lobsters before I left for Edinburgh. Now lets face it two things you cant rush…a Crail lobster fisherman and preparing lobster!

My vision of a relaxing train journey from Leuchars with the paper and too much coffee turned into a frantic slalom on the city bypass, an education in  ludicrous parking restrictions and a run…ok trot to the venue while fielding phone calls from girlfriend (who is also trying to juggle friendship windows in another part of the city )

So Isy Suttie, I was pretty pleased with myself that I sat down before the show started ok I didnt smell too fresh what with the exercise and a faint shellfish whiff!! Then the pleasant glow faded as Isy insisted we instantly joined in with an ice breaking song from her guide camp days. Holy cow I hadn’t had a drink yet!

To be fair she did it well and quickly moved into a very slick show in which she entertained us and didn’t ask for too much input from the audience save for a couple of surrogate parents.

Isy took us on a journey through her childhood dreams and introduced us to a few interesting characters she has met through the years. These were zany personas she has dreamt up and performs songs and stories through them.

Personally I found the characters a bit too far fetched and contrived although well crafted. a high point was Isy playing Amy Winehouse’s posh cousin playing her absent husband, Adam, being a wolf…yeah it’s a bit like that! Some of her stories of her dreams or rather aspirations were funny, telling us how she had hoped to become an albino princess, soldier…for all the wrong reasons.

I was entertained, amused and even laughed and sang!…in that way that you sing when you are totally being forced…but kind of enjoying it. Go and see her you would be entertained….but don’t mention your kids!!

http://www.edfringe.com/shows/detail.php?action=shows&id=1044

We strangely visited a city centre venue with a stage and a great sound system that was not a fringe venue…..yeah there is one! This was actually being used by those people I had once been on a bus with to host a private party where a Best Man was honing his DJ skills that he will be using at a wedding in October. Anyway this was part of the friends circuit before a dash to Assembly Rooms on George Street and a bit more comedy. (please no more singing)

We were off to see Neil Delamore who Fiona had recently met through work, and we had heard good reports about. I am always a bit dubious of Irish comics as there is this consensus that Irish people are funny just like the school of thought that says Welsh people are good singers……. but before I get into stereotypes and get accused of racism I will have a big slug of whisky and tell you all!!Neil Delamere is a classic cheeky chappie Irishman. This is a really great show where he displays his skills as a raconteur and quick witted thinker and an ability to connect with the audience in a charmingly offensive manner! Neil obviously has a great depth of material he works from, floating around Europe pulling out amusing stories of his drunken and sober and lucid escapades in Scandinavia, Ireland and the UK. In the way all the best realism comics, do he talks us through situations we have all been in but his take on them and anecdotes sets him apart from even the funniest pub story teller. I thought my girlfriend was going to wet herself as Neil hardly stopped for breath in the first 20 mins. However she went a little quiet when his tales of an un-inspiring rafting trip in Higland Perhshire was the focus of his attention ( you don’t want to be in the spotlight too much yourself) Anyway I guess it’s material he is working on and was really just a pause before he went back to drunken sexual exploits with tall Scandinavian girls. He felt the attention of the audience imrove somewhat and squeezed every drop out of this one!! My personal favourite, as is often the case, I found myself one of the few laughing; a drunken Neil is peeing at a urinal somewhere in Scandinavia and the big guy next to him says…’ever put your tracky bottoms on back to front and thought how big your arse is?’

Go and see him…..you may not laugh at that one but you will laugh!! www.neildelamere.com

The house on the rock

We are really lucky living in The East Neuk of Fife, there is always something going on. The East Neuk Festival is shaping into a great festival then the friendly and varied Crail festival takes over for two weeks. You just have time to catch your breath before Pittenweem is upon you!

I did a bit of terrible overlapping and managed two days at The Big Tent Festival,Scotland’s  Festival of Stewardship, as well! I was totally blown away by The Peatbog Faeries on the Sunday night. What a collage of sound, a pure funk brass and guitar section with awesome pipes and fiddles dueling it out over the top.

With so much on you have to make sure work doesn’t get in the way so you can gorge yourself on this artistic feast. So Pittenweem it was. Unless you have a few days it really is like standing, starving, in front of a huge buffet. Cram it in there.

Mother and Jo had managed a scouting party the day before so at least we knew where we were going to luch and coffee. As it turns out we had two visits to The Cocoa Tree on the High Street

www.thecocoatreeshop.com

A paradise for those of you with a sweet tooth. For those of us who prefer savoury you will not be disappointed.

Even with the rain coming down and the brollies making the narrow wyndes treacherous Pittenweem seemed bright and vibrant. We headed down to the harbour where the fishermen carried on their daily lives, fork lifts buzzing around dreamy art fans licking ice-creams in the rain . This is such a great concentration of varied art forms with the back drop of the Forth, the isle of May, the Bass Rock and Berwick Law. With a moody sky art was all around.

I re-visited a personal favourite on Midshore; Tim Cockburn. Tim paints with a great sense of humour, realistic scenes of Ceilidhs and  wedding receptions, after the whisky and champagne has been flowing for a while and the socks are down and the straps are hanging off! Everyone in their finery with their personalities starting to show through, great.

Quickly in next door to see Susie from Crail, business seemed good but I am sure the social scene attracts many artisits as old aquaintancies are renewed and new friends made.

So much of Pittenweem is about the venues….not just gleaming galleries here but old fishing net stores, garages, sheds, smart houses, summer houses and the telephone exchange! Carpets are lifted or protected, furniture is stored or covered and the doors are opened.

The debate goes on….a house on the front or on the terraces looking down? I am undecided but the house on the rock is outstanding also because the two artisits exhibiting here are outstanding.

Pat Kramek uses bright oils which if not so skillfully manipulated could be  termed garish but it works in mostly West Coast and Island scenes.

www.patkramek.com

Oh yes and they have a great sound system in this venue too….it all helps

Tucked into a corner of this house is Sara Mead. Sara paints what can only be called dream like scenes from an imaginery or psychadelic East Neuk. The local harbours all morph into one another and become fantastic uber-harbours

http://www.tcweb.co.uk/saramead/

 Please note these images have been borrowed form the artists websites or agents’ sites. Go visit and buy them!!