Salaric Cooking

I have just hosted my second ever Creativi Tea – an event were people come to our house for a day of creative pursuits – we make things, bake things, and create things. I was a little out of practice with cakes but made some lemon rose cakes, plant pot cakes which were plain vanillia with flower toppers and last but not least my improvised mini banana bread with red currents, in berry cases from Lakeland – these were the vegan option.

I put out my one remaining butterfly food tray with crisps and did my standard plates of sandwiches – a couple of people have asked if we can do cake decorating at the next Creativi Tea which might be fun 🙂

Last year for Halloween we put our red Christmas table cloth on the table with a spider web black table cover we picked up in the Pound Shop. I then laid out the merangues me and my four year old had made – they were supposed to be ghouls, ghosts and witches in green, white and purple but where generally splodges with more icing splotches on them!

We also had biscuits with spider webs and bats on that she had decorated as well.

We had two different punches, one in a skull bowl and one in a hollowed out pumpkin!

We also had a pumpkin pasty and a pumpkin pie to add to the party!

One of our friends has invented this glorious desert full of Cointreau and well chocolate – want to know more? You’ll have to watch this weeks GMTV’s Chiefs at Sea competition. I think her’s is appearing on Wednesday morning and you can vote on which dish you like best!

The only trouble with this desert is my little girl is dying to eat one! (Or ten if she got the chance!)

• this week means the 19th-22nd July 2010

My little girl had an easter egg hunt for her friends and so we decided to put out a spread of food as well – I don’t have any specific easter table cloths so had to go with the brown and orange stripped one which has mostly been used to dress her daddy up as Joseph in a play (don’t ask). I put out the four little easter egg candles I had, these have pictures of butterflies and flowers on them embossed in white on the blue, green, pink and yellow of the candles.

I put these around the minature red rose I was given as a thankyou for hosting another party!

I then made a plater of cheese sandwitches – cut into triangles – the right size for small children – I grate the cheese as it goes furthur!

I also had platters of Easter egg biscuits, easter bunny biscuits and nutty choc cornflake nests that my little girl had helped creat!

We had bowls of grapes, carrot sticks, crisps and vegitable crisps – I’m afraid I cheated and just bought a bag of pre-chopped carrots!

Then i put out a plater of really bad colouring full marshmellow animals – all blue rabbits, yellow chicks in their eggs etc… and little minni chocolate swiss roll catipillars with white chocolate faces. The colouring full easter pals came from the Pound shop and the catipillars where bought by a friend at Marks & Sparks I think.

For the actual hunt there were egg shaped lollys as well as chocolate eggs! Oh and plastic toy eggs to try and reduce the number of sick children at the end off it all! We ended up rationing the amount of found chocolate the kids could eat. Sorry about the wonk on the photo!

Some of Jean’s easter decorations are on the table too – she made the invites for the events as well (ok with lots of help!).

The perants seemed to enjoy themselves as well as the kids 🙂 The easter bunny even appeared!

Robert Burns was a big litrature dude (he wrote Auld Lang Syne)and my husbands aunt always dissappears off for Burns night in January.

I decided this warrented a post as this is a dinner to celebrate the poets life and works and is held around his birthday the 25th of January. This year it is the 250th anniversary and there are year long events going on. Furthure info on this can be found at Home Coming Scoutland.

What has this got to do with food and drink I here you cry!

Well they have the address to the Haggis. If you don’t know what a haggis is and are a bit squimish you may not want to read on!

It is minced sheeps lungs, heart and liver (known as sheep’s pluck) mixed with onion, oatmeal, suet, salt, spices and stock – this is then all boiled up in an animals stomache.

There are now vegitarian versions avalible and I shall be researching these as I think it would be a good event to hold with my Scouts!

At the Burns Night the haggis is a central part and they have the address at a specific point in the poem they cut the haggis. Here is the address:

Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o’ the puddin-race! Aboon them a’ ye tak your place, Painch, tripe, or thairm: Weel are ye wordy o’ a grace As lang’s my arm

The groaning trencher there ye fill, Your hurdies like a distant hill, Your pin wad help to mend a mill In time o’ need, While thro’ your pores the dews distil Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic Labour dicht, An’ cut you up wi’ ready slicht, Trenching your gushing entrails bricht, Like ony ditch; And then, O what a glorious sicht, Warm-reekin, rich!

Then, horn for horn, they stretch an’ strive: Deil tak the hindmaist! on they drive, Till a’ their weel-swall’d kytes belyve, Are bent like drums; Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive, “Bethankit” hums.

Is there that o’re his French ragout Or olio that wad staw a sow, Or fricassee wad mak her spew Wi’ perfect scunner, Looks down wi’ sneering, scornfu’ view On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him ower his trash, As feckless as a wither’d rash, His spindle shank, a guid whip-lash, His nieve a nit; Thro’ bloody flood or field to dash, O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis fed, The trembling earth resounds his tread. Clap in his wallie nieve a blade, He’ll mak it whistle; An’ legs an’ arms, an’ heads will sned, Like taps o’ thristle.

Ye Pow’rs wha mak mankind your care, And dish them out their bill o’ fare, Auld Scotland wants nae skinkin ware That jaups in luggies; But, if ye wish her gratefu’ prayer, Gie her a haggis!

There is then a whisky toast and it is served with mash potato and swedes (tatties and neeps).

If anyone has traditional Scoutish recipies I could try/add here let me know.

Thanks.