GLASGOW 2014: Highs and Lows

GLASGOW 2014: Highs and Lows

Did you manage to watch any of the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony?

What did you think?

I LOVED it! It was very self-depreciating, tongue in cheek, and just shows that we don’t always take ourselves too seriously 🙂

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I loved the dancing Tunnock’s teacakes! I’d love one that size!

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More importantly, I thought the UNICEF appeal was a fantastic idea, I wonder if that will now set a trend?

There seemed to be a lot of debate on Facebook and Twitter: lots of people loved it, others hated it, I thought it was great fun! Except Susan Boyle singing Mull of Kintyre (and unfortunately fogetting the words). I could have done without that!

I also loved Sir Chris Hoy saving the day, by opening up the Queen’s Baton.

And the Scotland team uniform is growing on me. A little. Except the socks. Yuk!

So, for me, the Opening has been a high. Lots of fun.

Now for the low: Mo Farah has pulled out. Boo! 😦 He hasn’t recovered sufficiently from illness, so I have no doubt he’s done the right thing. I guess it just reminds me that pulling out of a race can be a sign of strength, not weakness. He’s talked before about wanting to add a Commonwealth Gold to his collection, and I’m sure he’ll be disappointed.

Oh, well, I’ll still see Usain Bolt ‘flash’ past! 🙂

Great British Menu

Great British Menu

Are any of my fellow UK-based bloggers (or BBCWorldwide watchers)  fans of the Great British Menu?

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You all know how much I love to eat. I love to watch programmes about delish food too! I watch loads: Masterchef in all its forms, Hells’ Kitchen. The Great British Bake Off, Saturday Kitchen…. I could go on and on……

Well, this week is the Scottish heat of GBM, and I’m fully supporting Jacqueline O’Donnell 🙂

I LOVE her pink apron:

source: jacquelineodonnell.co.uk
source: jacquelineodonnell.co.uk

You may remember that back in January I wrote this post about The Sisters Restaurant? I had the sea bass in a lobster cream sauce:

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It was absolutely delish!

Well, Jacqueline runs The Sisters along side her sister, Pauline. I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed for Jacqueline, and all will be revealed tonight in some areas, and tomorrow in Scotland.

What’s your favourite foodie show?

The Sisters

The Sisters

No, not MY sisters. THE sisters!

It’s the restaurant we visited for my mum’s birthday on Saturday night.

Jacqueline and Pauline O’Donnell are the sisters behind these two Glasgow restaurants, and we visited their Glasgow Kelvingrove restaurant.

The venue is quite small, but very comfortable, and it was very busy when we arrived. The menu was amazing: all freshly prepared, locally sourced ingredients, and it was cooked so well. I’d love to make a return visit!

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To start, I had brioche topped with mushrooms and a port and red onion chutney. The portion was very generous. I then had the fish of the day, which was a fillet of sea bass in a lobster cream sauce, with some chive mash and queenie scallops. Wow. It was amazing.

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While everyone else tucked into dessert, I had a coffee, as I couldn’t fit one in!

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The service from our waitress, Kirsty, was fantastic.

I also found out that Jacqueline, who is head chef, will be one of the chefs representing Scotland on the 2014 Great British Menu, which is great! It’s the first time that a chef from Glasgow will be competing, and the first Scottish woman to compete. She will be following in the footsteps of other Scottish competitors, like Tom Kitchin, Alan Murchison and Tony Singh.

I’m looking forward to seeing how she does!

For more information, visit The Sisters Website.

Did you eat well this weekend?

Almost St. Andrew’s

Almost St. Andrew’s

On our drive home today, I was thinking about the coming week: with Thanksgiving, followed by St. Andrew’s day on Saturday. As @TheWelshWookie and I will be in Coventry this weekend, I thought we’d better have haggis at some point this week, since we won’t have it on Saturday.
And so, we stopped off at the George Hotel in Inveraray for dinner. And what did I have? Oh, there was only one thing on my mind: haggis, neeps ‘n’ tatties, with a green peppercorn sauce. Yummy. Very winter-warming!

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In keeping with foods with an ‘n’ in the name, @TheWelshWookie has fish ‘n’ chips:

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We’re now home. And I’m road testing my new slipper socks…

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I hope you’re having a comfy, cozy Sunday. Did you have a busy weekend or a quiet one?