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Showing posts from September, 2008

More England/Scotland Tasty Bits

So you heard from my better-traveled half about our England and Scotland adventure, but he left a few bits and pieces out, so here you go. When in Great Britain, be on the lookout for: 1) Boost candy bar. "Charged with Glucose" the shiny blue and red wrapper proclaims. No kidding - the wafer cookie with a soft, pliable caramel center, covered in chocolate, is so major , as Victoria Beckham would say, that is if she ever ate food. It's like a caramel stuffed Kit-Kat. Who can pass that up? I managed to scrounge up 60 pence from our remnants of currency to feed an Edinburgh Airport vending machine for a Boost bar. It wasn't easy and for a minute there I thought I might have to go begging for 20 pence, but it worked out. Thanks to A.E. for her suggestion to seek out the Boost. 2) The Bacon and Cheese Bubble Bap in Borough Market. Don't know what a Bubble Bap is? I ventured into a food stall and a sign for the food item caught my eye. It just sounded...fun! Well, if y

Tasty Times at Tayst

My sweet husband, per my request, made reservations at a Nashville Originals restaurant for my birthday last Friday. I “put in an order” for either Mambu (love the art, the house environs and the diverse menu), Rumba (caparhinas and tapas = good times) or Tayst (hadn’t eaten there yet, but its Green-certification and the rumored Krispy Kreme bread pudding lured me). Scott initially wanted to blindfold me on our car ride to the restaurant, but my fear of disorientation plus the jitters of running on fumes to get there (Hello, Nashville Gas Crisis Freak Out of 2008!Happy Damn Birthday!) put that idea to rest. Imagine my delight when we turned onto 21st Ave/Hillsboro Pike and pulled into Tayst’s parking lot. After perusing the blackboard at the hostess station that tells where the produce comes from, we nestled into our little two-top table in a corner and let the server (also named Scott – the one with glasses, if you want to request his services, b/c apparently Tayst employs two Scotts

Wee Scotland is big on taste

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Scottish food is great, so here's some highlights. Haggis. Yes, it's sheep lungs, etc. but damn is it tasty, especially if you've been walking around in cold, windy weather on top of Edinburgh Castle. I had some and really good local beer at a cafe there. Erin enjoyed a hot pot of Earl Grey tea to warm her up. If you go to Isle of Arran, check out the brewery, distillery and cheese, mmm. And pick it all up in an eco-friendly wee green poke. If you're Edinburgh or Glasgow, check out The Mussell Inn and get King Scallops, from the west coast of Scotland near Oban. And there's always this fun bakery on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow, wee pigs and bathtubs, whatever you fancy.

Trip to England

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I had the chance to visit England with Erin and Margaret (my mother-in-law) the first week of September, and one of the first places we went in London was food related. The Borough Market is part farmer's market, part food hall, part pub and all GOOD. I can't remember its fillings, but Pieminister had only local ingredients, including tender beef. I also stopped by a cider place and had lukewarm, "medium" cider, not quite dry (re: bitter), but not sweet either. We also stopped in Neal's Yard Diary, where it's a cheese blitz of heaven. Oh, and speaking of heaven, a traditional English breakfast will set you right for a day of exploring (or after a night of heavy drinking). Here I am at our hotel near King's Cross, where things were served up fresh every morning. Baked beans and tomatoes with eggs and fatty English bacon (more like country ham to a Southern palette) are just wonderful. The night before we flew up to Edinburgh, we made our way to Sheba