Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary
cooking up a storm at the edge of the world
“This was the best birthday party I’ve ever been to!” – 8 year old party guest. This month saw my beautiful, clever and incredibly talented daughter turn eight years old. She doesn’t get a big birthday party celebration every year, but when she does I like to try and make it a little bit extra …
A vegan post workout protein smoothie. Dear Reader, I have a confession to make. I’ve become fat. I’d always been one of those skinny people. When I left high school I weighed just over 7 stone. I was very active: swimming, cycling, skateboarding, horseback riding, climbing (and falling out of) trees in the summer, skiiing, …
Celebrating Shetland food. Cookbooks are a dime a dozen these days. As a food blogger I get sent cookbook after cookbook for review. Many get a cursory look through, a quick write up and then get banished to the bookshelf to rarely see the light of day again. Some I may make a recipe or …
For a leisurely late morning breakfast. Nothing beats a leisurely late morning breakfast when you’ve got all the time in the world to enjoy it. Good coffee, home bakes, quality preserves and a cheeky glass of… Prosecco?! This is what my husband and I indulged in the other day.
Eat one… if you dare! I love Halloween. I mean, I seriously love Halloween. Unfortunately, Halloween in Shetland isn’t nearly on the same scale as the Halloween of my rural Canadian childhood, where houses would be decorated up inside and out (with some teenage twerp invariably blowing up our carefully carved jack o’lanterns with fire crackers). …
A gluten-free Autumnal skillet breakfast crumble. I have a confession to make. I love cold fruit crumble for breakfast in the morning. When the days begin to grow colder I start craving warm puddings like saucy hot fudge pudding, sticky toffee pudding or fruit crumbles. I will often scoff any leftover fruit crumble, cold, straight …
A vegan, all natural, refined sugar free frozen dessert. My ice cream machine died last year. It was a gruesome, horrible death with a cracked bowl and bright blue coolant oozing all over the contents of my freezer. This was the second time this happened (same model) and I haven’t replaced it yet. I’ve had …
The pursuit of unique and memorable eating and drinking experiences, both near and far. The term ‘culinary tourism’ was first coined by Lucy Long in 1999 and was used to describe the increasing use of food as “a subject and medium, destination and vehicle, for tourism. It is about individuals exploring foods new to them …
ideal for sipping from a tin cup on the rocky sea shore Hot soup sipped from a tin cup while sitting on the rocky shore watching the waves dance. What can be better than that? There are nine years between my eldest child and my youngest. This means it can be difficult to find something …
I am in love with this machine! It’s got curves reminiscent of a 1950’s classic car. Its deep metallic red colour is so alluring that I want to get out the wax and start buffing it while Frank Sinatra croons in the background. The knobs and switches remind me of a vintage radio, as if, …
Deliciously dark chocolates with a secret ingredient, or two! You should make these and sell them at the shop! – two veggie phobic boys, age 6 & 8
We’ve had some pretty glorious weather up here in Shetland this summer. Temperatures have regularly been hitting the 20’s, which, in Shetland, is considered a heat wave! On one fine sunny day, we decided to go rock pooling at Leebitton, a place we’d never been before, but a nature-loving friend told us that it was …
After several months of nagging from my two older children, I finally caved in and started making them packed lunches for school. I figured if I was going to have to make them packed lunches every day I was going to have a bit of fun with it and I started making them Bento lunches. …
I’ve only ever been to Italy once; back when I was younger and thinner. I spent a whirlwind of a weekend on the island of Sardinia at an all expenses paid car launch (I didn’t even have a driving license back then!). There was a red carpet laid out upon our arrival on a private …
Aimee Ryan is the incredibly talented food blogger over at Wallflower Girl and she absolutely loves coconut milk ice cream. I’ve been following her blog for at least a year now and every single one of her posts are beautifully photographed and positively mouthwatering. She’s one of those bloggers who just gets it right every …
I had a friend ask me the other day if I ever just eat junk for dinner. I do! It’s not unknown for me to pop a frozen pizza in the oven, or serve oven chips with baked beans, sausages and a poached egg. One of my favourite quick meals just now is a poached …
Well the wee man is another year older. Five years old means “big boy” and much closer to the wise old age of his big sister than the age of four was. She is seven and is held in great esteem with regards to her vast knowledge of the world.
We’re a family of avid readers. From a very young age I was eagerly devouring the contents of my mother’s book shelf and I am delighted to have passed this trait onto my own children. We can never get enough!
I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the latest addition to my cookery bookshelf: Sharon Salloum’s first publication: Almond Bar.
Shetland is not renowned for its foraging opportunities. There is plenty to be obtained from the sea, but there are no hedgerows, no apple trees, no wild garlic growing… er… where ever it is wild garlic grows,
