Monday: Dinner with friends. I went and shared some bubbles with friends celebrating the new job. We had Chinese food from imperial palace. Amazing food. Now, I can't say everything that I ate was gluten free, however I have eaten there in person before and they were very easy to deal with. My favorite thing ever was the salty tofu.. um yeah, I just said that- salty tofu. I think my world was rocked with the best bite of goodness ever. I have always liked tofu.. but if this was the only tofu around then I would actually LOVE tofu. Not only was the food great, but so was the company. Interesting conversations, good laughs and a singing dog. What else could you ask for?
Tuesday: Dinner with friends. Two nights in a row! Different friends. Starting to get a rhythm- I quite enjoy dinner with friends, it sure beats having dinner alone! Anyway, off to another friend's house and whoa- the house is absolutely stunning. AND the coolest feature was this clothes rack that hangs from the ceiling? I am going to have to get my landlord/aka Mr. Tyke's brother (because there is no way that Mr. Tyke could do it) to build one of these things and help me install it! This website, Pulley Maid shows what they can look. What a great way to get clothes to hang and out of the way. In my small flat it would be a perfect addition some where. Anyway, dinner was amazing- she made Chicken Biryani out of Easy Meals with Rachel Allen- this was delicious. And my friend let me borrow the cook book! So I did an online shop to make three of the meals from it. I made one. There is just a calmness about my friend and know that I can just learn a lot from her about life. She has good advice and great perspective.
Wednesday: I have lived here for two years. The first year I arrived after the Fringe and last year I didn't do anything with it. It was overwhelming, too many options and so many people. Plus I was sick and stressed as I continued to prepare my major review report. Anyway, this past week I went to my first Fringe events! I saw a comedian David O'Doherty during the preview show. He is at the Fringe this year AGAIN so make sure you grab a ticket. The preview show was sold out! Good times! We then ate Thai Food @padBKKFOOD ( I sure hope I am tagging the correct place) and I ordered Chicken Pad Thai- it was really nice! Over in the George Square area! I am very thankful for my friend who got all of the tickets! Wahoo.. maybe this is why it was my first fringe event- I didn't want to stand in line! BUT she got them for me and sent me the invoice. Anyone else prepared to go broke during fringe?
Thursday: Three days of being a socialite, I stayed home in the evening! I made Parsnip Porcini oil soup from the Easy Meals with Rachel Allen cookbook and it turned out amazing! I am so excited to eat the left overs for lunch today! MMMM Such an easy meal and super delicious. And so when Winter comes around, I am super excited to add this to my soup list. Mr. Tyke won't be thrilled because he isn't a Parsnip fan. Oh well, the cook picks what the cook likes!
Friday: Food Festival Edinburgh. After a week of work and play today was only a little work in the AM and all play. I met another friend at this festival and got to try so many delicious foods and listen to some .. interesting and at times good music. Interesting foods I recommend (and probably purchased)
That Hungry Chef- Chef Pratrap Chahel makes some really interesting pickled meats and relishes. I purchased the Achari Beef Curious Pickle. I never thought I would like meat in a can or meat in a jar but this stuff is amazing. Its beef cooked with spices and vinegar. You can eat it as a dip or turn it into a meal. I have not decided what I will do with it. Check them out @thathungrychef
I also really enjoyed Mike's Homemade (@Mikeshomemade) - first of all if it was Mike standing at the stand (which I think it was) he was quite a character and great person. So you are not only supporting a good yummy business but a great businessman as well. You can order all of the yummy chutneys and relishes on his website- I bought a jar of Carrot and Cumin, although his mango was some of the best I had ever had. The Carrot and Cumin is described as "One of our more unusal Chutneys & one to avoid if you don't like Cumin, but the Shredded Carrot laced with Cumin creates a distinct palate freshing Chutney."- I found it really good and can't wait to have it with some cheese.
Cheese? Did someone say Cheese? Oh my gosh did I have some of the best Cheese? Yes I did and I brought a bunch of it home. The Great British Cheese Company is where its at! Sticky Toffee Tastic- yes, Sticky Toffee cheese! Lets say it #OMG #OMG AMAZING. Although all of the cheeses I tried were pretty outstanding these are the ones I decided to bring home:
Whiskey Mac
The Drunken Monk
Sticky Tastic
Smokey Peppadew Garlic
I highly recommend this cheese. We tried another cheese guy at the foodies festival and although there was one cheese I really liked there, the Great British Cheese Company I could eat about all of them! The guy was really nice that was working there as well! Meeting people is great fun!
My friend and I met a ton of people that day- having fun with the local venders is definitely the way to be. We met Abbishek Banik a distiler and production manager at Ogilvy Spirits. He was fantastic! Super social fun guy who also a Heriot-Watter, I would love to take some distilling classes at Heriot-Watt while I am there.. but not sure if you can just walk in and say, hey.. i work here, can i learn how to make whiskey? Ogily is where they make Scottish Potato Vodka, yup potato vodka in Scotland. All in all I am not a fan of Vodka- or well.. it is usually not a fan of me! It loves to make me think I have already had like 20 drinks if you know what I mean. Anyway I liked the potato vodka- but they also make a ginger liquor and I really liked that. So I had a cocktail with it and it was really nice. Abbishek (who I like to call Abby Shake-it Shake it.. probably totally rude thing to do but I really just don't know how to say his name) was chatting with people from Stewarts Brewing (I think with a guy named Tim) and he introduced us to a beer they have Radical Road- What is super cool, is I didn't realize until just now that I brought one of their beers to my friend Justin when I was visiting in February. So apparently I have been a supporter of this Edinburgh brewery all along!
I am super excited about David and Michelle's SaladWorxs dressing and marinade. I bought the Lemon Dill dressing and I want to use it on some nice white fish. I really liked all of their flavours, but can't buy them all! So if you are looking for something good and different for salads and marinades check them out.
By the end of the day I had tried so many different dips, relishes, hot sauces and chutneys.. but there is one special hot sauce that takes the cake. Mr. Vikkis king Naga.. no idea what it is and what you do with it.. I assume just add it to anything and everything and make things amazing. I am actually looking forward to seeing what some people think of this! You know the people who think they can handle all hot things and be cool as a cucumber? Those people. But I really think I will bring it down south with me to share with the Curry Masters of Yorkshire.
One other exciting thing to try is my gluten free pizza base that I picked up from Steven O'Brien @donmarcofoodco Dough it yourself! I am really excited to try the gluten free pizza base and the sauce that i picked up. The regular base that I tried was really good so dinner this week will def be a pizza! Wahooo!
Ok I am going to bed now! I hope you are not super hungry after reading this
Saturday: Will get its own post tomorrow :) Deaf Gain or Hearing Loss! Fringe event number 2!