On Scottish/English Food, Part 2

ahh, the Crumpet.
Quite possibly my favourite British food. Introduced to me by my friend Andriana, who was horrified when I admitted I'd never eaten one before. Seriously, I thought crumpets were just those horn-shaped chippy-things that come in a red bag...know what I mean? Well, since she has introduced me, I have become maybe a bit addicted to them.
It's like when you make pancakes, and there are extras left over and you put them in the fridge and snack on them later and realize that leftover pancakes out of the fridge are pretty tasty. A crumpet has the consistency of a thick, hole-y, leftover pancake. Put it in the toaster, spread a bit of butter on top, it's amazing. (You really should click on the picture to get the whole idea.)
Oh yeah, and they're hella cheap too.


Also, I'd just like to point out, since bragging can be fun, that today it is 11 degrees and sunny outside. Yessss. I'm going outside to read!

old stone churches and pretty songs

occasionally, magical things happen in Edinburgh.

Last night my friend Tamsin and I discovered the Bowery, a semi-secret venue in the bowels of a centuries-old church. The arts/music/culture rag The Skinny were throwing a party with music from Edinburgh folk bands My Kappa Roots, Rob St. John and eagleowl and it was a pretty special night.

After peeping around the empty interior of the church (it was MASSIVE and all in stone, quite cool) we went down to the basement and found the room where the bands were playing. We eased our way up to the front and found Rob St. John and his band playing amongst the old lamps and dusty framed pictures of what may once have been the church's parlour...a couple old ladies knitting, drinking tea and eating biscuits and the scene would have been complete.
RSJ's set was beautiful and haunting and the setting really complemented it. His songs are long, drifting, layered melodies that make you think of the sea. Guitar, double-bass, ukelele, drums and most intriguingly, the harmonium, make up the band's instruments...sometimes they have someone playing the musical saw, which is amazing to watch.
When they finished their set, Tamsin and I explored the place a bit more. Other rooms we found included a bar, a smaller room filled with sofas and old chairs, and a red-lit lounge where all the ceiling pipes had been covered with aluminum foil, making it very space-like. There were strings of lights that looked like red ring-pops and silver hanging mobiles.
We went back into the music room for the next set from eagleowl, which seemed to be Rob St. John reshuffled and with a new double-bass player. They did quite well in their new positions though, and delivered a lovely, folky set that was mostly instrumental with occasional singing from the lady bassist and the bearded guitarist (who looks EXACTLY like the ginger drummer from Brent Randall and his Pinecones). They finished with a sweet, jaunty little tune called Will You Call Me Motherfucker, which left everyone feeling pretty happy.

We all had to leave at 11:30, because of the place doesn't have a license to be open any later, which is sad because I could have stayed there all night.
It felt like a bit of a eureka moment for me, as in, 'ohhh, this is where people go for good music; here is where you've all been hiding.'

On Scottish Food, Part 1

I present to you, Haggis.

Lovingly prepared by me and fellow Canadian friend Ben for a Burns supper a couple weeks ago.
Our friend Shaun put it best..."You get excited because it looks like stuffing and you put a big forkful in your mouth but then you realize that sadly, it is not stuffing."