Two wonderfully vibrant Food Blogs

I'm not someone who hoards other blogs. I like to share. I like people having information at their fingertips and I think when someone puts out a beautiful, vibrant piece of work, that work should be celebrated and spread about.

Heather Christo is one such blog. Her recipes look stunning and taste even better. I found her via Yummly.com and her Spicy Thai Curry Noodle Soup - which was vegan friendly and gluten free. My sister has to avoid all dairy and gluten, so this recipe was perfect timing.

This blog isn't vegan/gluten free but it does have a lot of recipes that are free from (these and other things) - and she lets you know on the side of the recipe page what its free from, which is exceptionally useful. I will say that these recipes look so good that the fact that some of them are free from doesn't matter one bit to me, and I thankfully don't have to have a gluten or dairy free diet. Heather Christo has a collection of recipes that are suitable for anyone and everyone, and they look truly tasty, something that is rarer than it should be.

There are some wonderfully indulgent recipes here and the range of foods is wickedly good!

The other fab wee site I found was the Minimalist Baker, which has some stunning recipes as well!!

This blog is full of lots of wonderful vegan/gluten free recipes too. gain, some of them look so sumptuous that my mouth waters juts looking at them! How about trying a Super Chunky Coconut Granola?

These food looks and sounds stunning and I cannot wait to try more of these recipes.

And a wee plug for something completely un-food related - Faolmoon, a shop on Etsy. Some lovely little items on here, worth the look.

Is Taste of Scotland still on the go and a review

I recently went onto the Taste of Scotland website and noted that many of the listed eateries seemed to be out of date. The blogs were all from 2014 and earlier and other than a twitter account, there doesn't seem to be anything up to date. I hope this doesn't mean that they have stopped travelling Scotland looking for the best foods and establishments. I was surprised when looking on their website that they have listings under Argyll which should be in the Highlands - Lochaber is part of the Highlands, not Argyll. If anyone knows anything re Taste of Scotland, please get in touch.

There seems to be a lacking here when it comes to maintaining lists like this. Its like we simply give up (I'm talking about the UK as a whole, not just Scotland). People journeying here want information. They want to know where the decent places to eat are.

I am so happy to announce that Lochgilphead, Argyll, once again has somewhere wonderful to eat. The Smiddy, which was for a long time an excellent bistro, which then lapsed quite a bit, has now been taken on by a wonderful chef by the name of John Fisher. I went there on Friday, 12th February, with my husband and had a sublime meal. The flavours he incorporates into his dishes are so wonderful I simply don't have the words to do them justice. I had Cullen Skink, which is a delicious Scottish haddock, potato and leek soup, followed by a simple scampi and chips - also excellent. Dessert (which I don't normally have but I'm 8 months pregnant so treated myself) was a chocolate brownie with salted caramel ice cream. Utterly divine!! This food is some of the best I've had in a long time, second only to the Three Chimneys on the Isle of Skye.



On another note, I have written 3 books. 2 are part of a series set in Scotland about the Sidhe, fairy folk. Available on kindle and in paperback: The Island of the Mist is book 2 The Stone in the Sword is book 1 The 3rd book is an adult, sexy witchy werewolf/vampire story set in New York and featuring a strong female lead character, again available in kindle and paperback formats: The Wolf, the Witch and the Coffin