Today is the twelfth day of Christmas, the end of the season, the Epiphany, marking the arrival of the three Kings to the birth of Jesus. In Ireland, this day is known as ‘Little Christmas’ - also called Nollaig na mBan, which translates as Women’s Christmas. It used to be quite widely celebrated and apparently … Continue reading The Dead
What are you up to tonight? This evening, when the wind that is currently whipping through Edinburgh abates, might you head up Princes Street to see the fireworks going off by the Castle? Will you stop for a romantic kiss under the Balmoral Hotel clock at the stroke of midnight? Or will you just stay … Continue reading Auld Lang Syne
Cheeses: I’ve been researching all of the different types, in other words, I’ve been tasting them. You see, I’m off the hook for cooking dinner on Christmas Day and I’m in charge of the cheeseboard. I’m happy with my task. I reckoned it would be an easy job: one blue, one hard, one soft - … Continue reading Vacherin
‘Sweets for my sweet, sugar for my honey’, you know the old Drifters’ song? It could be the anthem for Christmas as we enter the annual sugar-fest, gearing-up our already sugar-laden diet to push ourselves beyond the limit of what we know to be good for us. It all looks so pretty though, the shelves … Continue reading Sugar and Spice
Are you - as they say in Irish drinking slang - going for ‘a few scoops’ this Christmas? Of course you are, most of us will be at some stage. The work-do, family meal out (or in), an annual girls or guys get-together; I’m sure there will be an offer, or an opportunity to let … Continue reading A Few Scoops
Yesterday, I was in the midst of magic as the children from Edinburgh’s Royal Blind School took me on an odyssey. Actually, they took me on ‘The Odyssey’, which was the basis for their annual Christmas Show. These young people live with visual impairments, many have additional support needs and complex multiple disabilities. Watching them, … Continue reading Odyssey
Remember Yazz? Back in the eighties? Tall, peroxide cropped hair? She sang the fabulous dance song, ‘The Only Way Is Up’? I had a kitchen disco for one yesterday when it came on the radio. I couldn’t stop myself, it’s just one of those songs. First I was chair-dancing, then I was up and wiggling … Continue reading Kitchen Disco
Someone I know well very well - it might even be a relation, of the sibling variety - has won a prize. It is officially a 'big deal' and I am cook-a-hoop on her behalf. M. is delighted, of course, but she's far too modest and grounded to be anything approaching cock-a-hoop. It is for … Continue reading Prize
My Edinburgh Press 