Fun Extras

"There is no sunlight in the poetry of exile. There is only mist, wind, rain, the cry of the curlew and the slow clouds above damp moorland. That is the real Scotland; that is the Scotland whose memory rings the withers of the far-from-home; and, in some way that is mysterious, that is the Scotland that even a stranger learns to love". H V Morton, English travel writer, in his classic book "In Search of Scotland" written in 1929. "Do try to sound the "r" although not with the exaggerated trill usually given to it by so-called Scots comedians. But, again this to my English readers, don't even attempt to get the guttural sounds of "ach" and "loch". You will only strangle yourselves. To say "ach!" correctly you need generations of Scots blood behind you and you must have been born with the peat-reek in your nostrils and the sight of the hills as the first thing ever you clapped your eyes on." ~Ronald MacDonald Douglas Glencoe "For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul." ~Judy Garland "Thou art to me a delicious torment." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Urquhart Castle

Here is a treat for you... my own version of a traditional Scottish recipe...

Apple Scones

Ingredients:
One medium cooking apple
2 cups self-rising flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ stick butter or margarine (1/4 cup)
1/3 cup fine granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
up to ½ cup milk

Ingredients for glaze:
A little milk
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
dash cinnamon

Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F
Peel and core the apple and then finely chop. Sift together the flour, salt, cinnamon and baking powder. Then rub in the butter followed by the sugar and chopped apple and mix. Add milk until you have a soft but not sticky dough. Roll out on a floured surface to about ¼" thick and 8" round and mark into 8 wedges. (Or use biscuit cutter.) Place on a greased baking sheet, brush the top with milk and sprinkle with the light brown sugar and dash cinnamon. Bake in the pre-heated oven at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. Serve warm with butter.

Gardens at Dunvegan Castle