The Cutest Little Girl in Scotland

This past weekend was incredibly nice, so on Sunday I made the executive decision to pack up a picnic lunch gleaned from the morning market, grab the dogs and husby and head for Inverleith Park, where we all happily settled down in the sun (well, most of us. Molly spotted another dog and tried to follow it home at one point). As the lazy afternoon headed for evening, we began to think about going home, but then we saw what I have decided is one of the cutest children on the planet. She was climbing the hill with her grandfather (I think), and the minute she spotted the dogs, her little face lit up and over she came. She was maybe three years old, with red hair, a lovely little face, wearing a flowered sundress. And she had the Scottish accent, which is wonderful enough in an adult, but in an already adorable kid? Man. It's like that Dana Carvey bit where he talks about his kids suddenly coming out with something so cute you're completely disarmed, like Superman on kriptonite.

"Helloooo," she said to my dogs. "Are you nice?" She barely waited for an answer before marching up to Molly, kissing her on the head, taking her leash, and attempting to walk off with her. And I was so disarmed by the wave of cute I nearly let her. Fortunately, her grandfather has AdorImmunity, so he stepped in and she contented herself with patting the dogs, observing that Molly's bigger than Missy, and ordering Molly to take care of "That doggy, and that man, and that lady." Dear God. I guess you had to be there, but man, did I want one of those.

And then I realized that, if my husband and I have any kids here, they'll sound exactly like that, and I will be completely and utterly hopeless.

Supernature Oils

Image courtesy Supernature.uk.com

One of the things I love about the Sunday Stockbridge market is that you never quite know what the vendors are going to offer up, or even what vendors are going to be there. There are certainly some that are there every week (we got some outstanding scallops from the fish vendor, for instance) but others swap in every once in a while. This week, we discovered a (to us) newcomer: Supernature cold-pressed rapeseed oil. The unfortunately named stuff is big over here (and, for those who are curious, takes its name from the Latin for turnip: rapa or rapum) and having tasted it, I can see why. It's got a wonderful clean flavor, and apparently it's not too shabby on the health side, containing those omega-3s everyone says we should be eating.

Supernature grows, processes, and bottles their oils at Carrington Barns Farm, a family-run farm located in Midlothian just eight miles from the city. It doesn't get much more fresh and local than that. For those concerned about chemicals, they don't use any herbicides or fungicides on their plants.

You can buy plain oil from them, or try one of their excellent flavored oils: garlic, ginger, lemon, and chili. We picked up garlic and chili and I've been using them ever since in our dinners--chili has an excellent slow burn that managed to stand up to the fairly aggressive flavors in last night's stir fry--not something I can say about many supposedly "hot chili" oils. Garlic is great drizzled over potatoes or a homemade pizza, or in a salad. We tried all of them at the market and I have to say, as much as I love olive oil, I really preferred these flavored oils to any flavored olive oil I've ever had. The olive-y flavor of OO is always going to get in the way of any flavoring, but this oil just delivered a nice, clean flavor burst.

Supernature oils are available at various farmers' markets throughout Scotland or online at realfoods.co.uk.

Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties

Oh, haggis. Robert Burns loved you; most Americans hear about your ingredients and can barely finish their breakfast sausage. But you're a really beautiful, brilliant, delicious thing, and I'm a lucky girl because one of the excellent butchers near my flat makes it in-house and it's fabulous.

For the past few days, my husby's been waxing rhapsodic about haggis, neeps, and tatties--a traditional (I believe) Scottish supper dish, and what Honey wants Honey gets. The dish is typically made with a steamed or baked haggis and mashed root vegetables, but I thought that might be a bit too much soft on the plate, so I opted to make a root vegetable hash. The result: fantastically delicious and wholly satisfying. I paired it with a really lovely, slightly spicy Spanish wine I picked up at Waitrose for the princely sum of 4 pounds. Livin' large, here.

The necessaries

Haggis: Hard to find in the U.S., everywhere over here. Many balk at the idea of eating a food that's mainly offal, forgetting entirely that that's basically what all sausages are. Haggis is a type of sausage and mostly tastes like the spices that are used in it. Be bold and give it a try--you might surprise yourself.

Neeps: We thought the neeps were parsnips, but they're actually turnips. By the time we realised, the parsnips (a root veg that looks like an anemic carrot) had already been purchased, so I threw them in as well and found they added a welcome sweetness to the dish.

Tatties: Potatoes. Get some nice firm ones that stand up to roasting.

Haggis with Neeps and Tatties Hash
Serves 4

1 small haggis, traditional or vegetarian
2 medium-sized potatoes, diced large
1 medium swede (the vegetable, not a tourist) or 2 turnips, diced large
2-3 parsnips, sliced chunky
1 small onion, sliced crosswise
3 slices or rashers of bacon or cubed smoked pork
Brussels sprouts, split lengthwise
Olive oil
Fresh herbs

Bring a pot of water to the boil on the hob. Add the swede/turnips and boil for about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and parsnips and boil another 3-5 minutes, until just starting to get slightly fork tender. Drain and cool slightly.

In a frying pan, saute the bacon until it starts to color or render fat (if you're using streaky bacon). Add the onion and saute together for about 2-3 minutes, until the onion takes on a creamy color.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius/350 farenheit.

Put the parboiled root vegetables and brussels sprouts in a bowl and toss with olive oil and herbs (I used thyme and rosemary). Add the bacon and onion and toss.

If the haggis is in an outer packaging, remove it. Prick the haggis all over with a fork and wrap it in aluminum foil. Set it in the middle of a baking dish and arrange the roasting vegetables around it. Roast for 40 mins to an hour, until the vegetables are browned and the haggis is steaming. Split the casing around the haggis  and scoop out the insides to serve with the veg.

Weather Wise

I've been here two weeks, and I feel like I've experienced every season. Granted, this has been a freaky year for weather everywhere (a couple of locals have told me that this May has been more like January), but Edinburgh tends to have rather odd weather at the best of times, and you have to be prepared for that.

Take today, for instance. When I woke up and looked out the window, this is what I saw:

Two hours later, this is what that looked like:

Last week, it was about 40 degrees, windy, and rainy. Yesterday it was 70, not a cloud in the sky. The weather is changeable up here, so if you're visiting or coming to live, keep a few things in mind:

1. On any given day, there's about a 90% chance of rain, no matter what the forecast says. It might just be a light mist, like we had this morning, or a brief shower from a single passing cloud, but there's a decent chance you're going to run into some precipitation, so bring a raincoat and an umbrella along.

2. Temps are variable. Like I said, 40 one day, 70 another. You can't predict it. When I first got here, I was coming from Atlanta, Georgia, where it was fairly reliably about 80 degrees every single day. The clothes I brought along were woefully inadequate and I found myself making an emergency trip to the shops for a coat, hat, and gloves. Luckily I found them. Don't get caught the way I did--bring clothing for every weather type or risk either freezing or sweating through your day. Neither is pleasant.

3. Be adaptable. Don't complain about the weather here. You've been fairly warned, and there are plenty of glorious, sunny days (like yesterday and, now, today!). Put your umbrella up, slap on some gloves, and take refuge in a cool shop, free museum, or funky coffeeshop if you get caught in a gale or a downpour. They happen, adjust accordingly and put it down as an adventure.

Now, I'm off to enjoy the afternoon!

Becoming an Expat: Part I

After many years of longing to live in the UK, I finally got my wish, thanks to my husband, who landed a job in Edinburgh, Scotland. We were both happy and excited at the idea of moving abroad, because back then we had no idea what lay ahead of us. Moving abroad is hell, even when you're fairly young and relatively unencumbered, as we are. Turns out countries don't want just anyone moving in from overseas (and we can't really blame them for that, can we?) so they make it hard to get there in the first place. Now that we're both here and happily settled in, I thought it might be a good chance to share some of my hard-won expertise in the art of becoming an expat. Back when I was moving, I wished I'd had somewhere I could go and get my questions answered and fears assuaged. If that place exists, I didn't find it. So now I'm writing it myself.

First off, a little advice.

1. Think very carefully about what you're about to do. You've just been offered a job overseas--congratulations! Before you jump on that offer, though, take a little while to really sit down and think about it. This is a long, hard, stressful, expensive process. If you're in a relationship, sit down with your partner and talk about it. This is going to put an immense strain on you both. The only real knock-down, shouting-at-each-other fight my husband and I have ever had was over this move. We got over it, but if your relationship is fragile, you may want to reconsider the relocation. Think moving to a different state is hard? You have no idea.

2. Do your research. This is a no-brainer, but there are some things that might not occur to you. Find out what others in your position are being offered for your job so you don't inadvertantly lowball yourself. Push for coverage of all or at least some of your moving expenses. If a company wants you so badly they're willing to sponsor you, you're probably in a pretty good negotiating position. Ask family members and friends if they know anyone in the city you'll be moving to (you'd be surprised at what they turn up) so you can pump them for information on neighborhoods, etc. This is not something you want to be wandering into blind. Work up a budget that takes into account things like council tax and TV license; know your extra fees so you don't end up being unpleasantly surprised.

3. Get lots of movers' quotes. Even if you've moved before, this is a whole other ballgame. We didn't know what to expect, but even so, the first quote we received seemed outrageously high. Turns out, our instincts were correct, but we wouldn't have known that if we hadn't reached out to a lot of other international moving companies and gotten quotes from them. Since all those quotes tended to be pretty similar, we guessed company #1 was trying to take us for a ride. Don't be shy about getting quotes and asking for someone to actually come out and take a look at the stuff you're taking in order to give you a more accurate estimate. I tended not to really trust the companies that just guessed how much space I'd need based on my descriptions over the phone. Really reputable companies should come to your house or apartment and provide an estimate.

4. Figure out what you absolutely must keep, and get rid of the rest. Moving overseas is very, very expensive. In some cases (like ours), it'll be cheaper to get rid of a lot of furniture and things and buy new once you get to your destination than it will be to take everything with you. Keep the heirlooms and the nicer stuff; list the rest on Freecycle or Craigslist or donate it so it does some good.

5. If you're moving with pets, start getting your paperwork in order early. The UK is famous for making it hard to bring pets. It's because they're terrified of rabies. I'll cover this in a later post, but you need to have a number of steps completed in a very particular order by a USDA-certified vet. Step one: ask your vet if he or she is USDA certified, and if not, find one in your area who is. Step 2: if your pet's not microchipped, get it done early, and get documentation that lists the date the pet was chipped. This has to be done at least 21 days before you go, so get it done early so there's one less thing to worry about.

6. Make sure your own paperwork's in order. Order extra copies of important documents like marriage licenses, birth certificates, etc., just in case. Double-check that your passport's up-to-date and not about to expire. If it's anywhere within six months of expiration, get a new one before you apply for your visa.

7. Find a way to relax. As I mentioned, this process is stressful. I lost eight pounds in under two months, and my blood pressure spiked so high my doctor put me on two different medications (and just for the record, I'm in decent shape and under age 30, so yeah, that's a pretty big deal). My normally fairly easygoing husband started having full-blown panic attacks and had to be medicated too. Don't become us--find a way to escape the pressures of this move and all it entails, even if it's just for a little while. Do yoga, play tennis, walk the dog, watch stupid movies, bake (seriously, pounding the hell out of bread dough is a great way to relieve stress), whatever it takes, just give yourself a break and remember: someday, this will all be over and done with. Cling to that.

8. Start saving. If you've got money in the bank, great, you'll need it. This process is not cheap. Just applying for the visa costs $700...each. And if your application is rejected, you have to do it all over again, and pay for it all over again. You're going to need seed money to get a place to live and pay for groceries and such until paychecks start coming in, not to mention you'll have to pay movers and buy plane or ship tickets for yourself and everyone you're bringing along with you. And it never hurts to have a little extra just in case. Start saving those pennies, folks, it's a rainy day.