Boneless Buffalo Wings

I love hot wings! The hotter the better! The only place that does them well here is Hard Rock Cafe. Sometimes if Nathan and I are out in town during the day we will pop in for hot chicken tenders (hot chicken fillets are slightly better for you than the wings!) and a drink.... but I crave hot sauce!!

Nando's has opened up near us but by the time you get a meal for two- even just take away it is so expensive!

So I was delighted to find this recipe on my friend Heidi's new recipe blog.

I made them for Nathan and I's dinner the other night- since hot sauce isn't readily available here it was Nando's sauce that I used from the supermarket.

They were delicious!! I used a cup of oil in the bottom of a wok as I don't have a deep fat fryer and my le creuset was being used for soup. It worked well and cooked the chicken right the way through. Actually I was shocked at how tender and juicy the chicken was.

So next time I have a hot sauce craving I know what to make!! Delicious! Thanks Heidi!

Boneless Buffalo Wings – Natalie Copeland
1 C. flour
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika

1 egg
1 cup milk

2 chicken breast fillets
4-6 cups vegetable oil
1/4 cup Crystal or Frank's Louisiana hot sauce
1 TBSP margarine

Directions:

• Combine dry ingredients in bowl in another bowl, whisk egg and milk slice each chicken into 6 pieces
  

• preheat oil to 375

• dip chicken into egg mixture then breading blend, repeat so each piece is double coated when all pieces have been breaded, chill for 15 minutes
  

• when chicken is done resting, drop each piece into hot oil and fry for 5-6 minutes or until browned

• as chicken fries, combine hot sauce and margarine and microwave until margarine is melted (I used a ban marie on the hob as our microwave is broken)
  

• when chicken is done frying remove them to a plate line with paper towel place chicken into covered container, pour sauce over chicken, cover with lid and shake gently

• once chicken is coated with sauce, pour onto play and serve with blue cheese dressing and celery

Eteaket Tea Room

I have a new favourite cafe or should I say tea room- Eteaket! It's only been open for 4 weeks and is fantastic! We drove past it at the beginning of the Christmas holidays so I thought I must try it- most of you know that I LOVE my cups of tea!

There are days when I have about 10 cups a day. Personally I blame my Grandma who introduced us to tea at a young age. When we stayed with her we would always wake early and make a cup of tea and sit by the fire. We'd each get a rich tea biscuit (cookie) to dip into our cuppa and my Grandma would dip hers in and then feed it to her 'lassie' dog who would sit at her feet on the sheepskin rug.

There is nothing better than tea out of a china cup and at eteaket they serve you a large boden teapot with milk jug, china cups and also a timer- so your tea is brewed just right!

I met Hannah there for an afternoon cup of tea... which was so reasonably priced or is it just that I am used to the price of coffee when I'm out and about?

I loved their decor as it was so fresh and different. So if you are in Edinburgh and looking for somewhere new to go I couldn't recommend it enough! I'm going back this Sunday to met my friend Julie from school- a fellow tea lover.

I loved this ball of holly, ribbons, baubles and flowers in their window- so striking!
The tea room is on fredrick street just underneath Charlie Miller's Hairdresser.

My mum joined Hannah and I after about an hour and she caught up with Hannah and then Mum and I went to the final day of the Gerhard Richter exhibition at the Mound.

I was really glad that I saw the exhibition as I enjoy a lot of his work. I prefer the more figurative photo-paintings but I even liked the abstract work- much to my surprise!

New Year's Resolutions!

Saturday 3rd January 2009!

Well I was so pleased about my Saturday as I managed to achieve 4 resolutions in one day!

1. Actually use my gym membership!
Nathan and I spent the morning in the gym. I didn't push myself too much but it was good!

2. Have more lovely dates with Nathan
We spent the whole day together doing fun activities!

3. Visit Museums and Art Galleries
We went to the National Museum of Scotland which was really interesting and had beautiful views of the castle and the city from their rooftop.

4. Try new restaurants/ cafes
After the museum we went to Peter's Yard a new artisan bread and pastry cafe (I mentioned it in my blog the other day) Yum!
The view of the castle at sunset from the roof of the National Museum of ScotlandNathan on the roof of the museum looking onto the castle.

After we had been to Peter's Yard we walked down the Mound to see if the German Market was still there but it had already been packed up. The Highland Market was still up as was the ice rink but since Nathan missed training due to his bad knee we didn't think his coach would appreciate him ice skating! Princes Street Gardens looked so beautiful with all the lights in the trees!

A passer by took this photo of us and felt the need to take a full length photo (which isn't easy with Nathan!) but hey this way you can see my new Christmas gifts- Hobbs cords and peeping out are my new brown boots from LKBennet (thank you Mum and Dad!!)
Cheesy grins for the camera! Looking into Princes Street Gardens and onto the Balmoral.

I love when we make the most of the amazing city that we live in! It's hard to make time but when you do it's so worth it! Millions of people come here to visit every year and I want to make sure we don't miss out on the wonder that is on our doorstep!

So here's to keeping up with these and my other new years resolutions!

Girlie Dinner!

Friday the 2nd of January!

I had a lovely evening with the Dundee girlies. Lynne and her husband Rhys were across from Ireland to stay with his family for Christmas so came down for the day to visit the girlies. Emma B was also up from London to stay with her family and came to Edinburgh on the way back again.

I hadn't seen Emma G since before I'd had the flu so we had a good catch up and Hillary and I got to exchange Christmas gifts- she gave me the best recipe book on cupcakes- they are so creative so watch this space!!

After drinks at Emma and Sean's (who have the warmest house ever- hence my warm cheeks in the photo!- or maybe it's just that Nathan and I live in an igloo so I'm not used to it!..) we went to my favourite restaurant in Edinburgh The Outsider- I love their 'Chunky Healthy Lines' (tasty food on skewers) they are so good! You can have them as a starter to share or as a main all to yourself! (that's what I did!) and it was good!!

We returned to the warmest house in Edinburgh after dinner for more glasses of vino but with an early dinner the evening came to an end about 10.30- what's with all these early nights!!?

The girlies are planning to go down to London for Emma B and Hillary's birthday's at the end of February so I am hoping I will have enough money to go too! (fingers crossed!)

New Years Day!

New Years Eve was very quiet this year. We took it easy and I made a tasty Haggis dinner for Hogmanny. Nathan's friends Ramen, who had a cold (so hot toddies all round!) and Kells, who was not drinking as he was playing in the Edinburgh vs Glasgow rugby game were with us for the evening but once we saw in the bells we weren't up much later. Makes a change from those 6am nights we've had in previous years!

Nathan's Mum and Dad arrived back on New Years Eve after a long flight from the far east. So we invited them for lunch on New Years Day to save Lily from cooking.
I loved laying the table for another dinner and this time my theme was winter frost! My centre piece was a white feather wreath around a silver pillar candle with glass beads wrapped around it. I also had matching silver tapered candles that Lily had gotten me from the Pier. The Ivy leaves which I scattered have silver glitter along their edges- I wasn't sure if they were a bit too much!! But they looked nice in the candle light.

Each place setting had a silver charger with our blue and white plates on top. I used chunky 'diamond' shapes as the frost! The napkins, which I bought at least 3 years ago but had never used had white, silver and blue in them and were wrapped with a silver snowflake napkin ring. The glasses even had silver snow flake charms on the stem- which I bought last year and had never used! (I loved that I got to use my tableware that has been stored for so long! It's great when you unpack boxes from storage- it's like buying all new items!!)
Lily and Neil were so generous to us this Christmas and I was therefore so surprised when they returned from their holiday with more lovely treats! My favourite was my stems of orchids all the way from Thailand! Lily must have brought back about 80 stems!! Gorgeous!

Nathan and I used the same tomato soup recipe that we'd had on Christmas Day and served Crombie's Steak Pie as the main accompanied by veg and more goosefat potatoes! Yum! Then I served up the second Christmas Pudding as dessert which was a big hit.

It was so nice to entertain Nathan's Parents as it's usually us who are being catered for!

Monday 29th December- After moving the final items out of my storage unit first thing in the morning Nathan and I joined my Mum, Dad, Becky and Dougie at the Musselburgh races New Years meet.

We did this 2 years ago as a family day out and it was a lot of fun. The first time we went together Nathan's Mum and Dad joined us but they were still on holiday in Thailand this year.

We had a great day and Nathan and I pretty much broke even. My mum was the only one who won anything of note- mind you Becky, Dougie, Nathan and I were only betting £2 each way for most races! Although Nathan and I had a good winning system going of betting exactly what we won spread over 2 horses- so the bookie was having to deal with bets of £2.27 each way- clearly I'm not a seasoned veteran of the horses!! But we had a good giggle!

Nathan and I all wrapped up from the bitter cold!

My Mum and DadBecky and Dougie

The boys analyzing the horses- Becky and I were picking the horse by the name we liked or the jockey's colours we preferred!
Family shot! - why Nathan, who is much taller than everyone anyway, felt the need to stand on the highest step is beyond me!! We are not really all that small! Although I'm liking that I don't look like the smallest for once!

After the races we drove down to Gullane for dinner. This was the view over the golf course. The old clubhouse where we had dinner.

I've been loving the log fires this holiday! It made it so cosy and festive!

A great day out and one that will hopefully continue as a fun tradition but with better luck next year!!

After Eight's in the Bailie!

Sunday 28th- We joined a big group of friends from the Rugby club for lunch at 1pm. There were about 15 of us there and lunch soon turned into an afternoon in the pub. We had loads of fun! The Bailie is a great pub in Stockbridge with a real log fire and they let dogs in so Dan and Emily were able to bring Murphy in to join in the fun! Now I am not questioning why, but just before Christmas Nathan bought new clothes consisting of: a pair of dungarees, 4 lumberjack shirts and big boots!!!! I don't know if there is an impending move to the country that I don't know about but he loves his new look so who am I to say anything!! But I have not had to as all the boys- his school friends that he saw on Christmas Eve and the rugby boys we were out to lunch with have made fun of his clothing choice! But he's a good sport and when everyone insisted that he wear his dungarees on the outside of his shirt he obliged- Emily even added a red napkin so he really did look like a train driver!! My hillbilly!

The best bit of our afternoon in the Bailie was Jamie's game which his family play every Christmas. You get an After Eight (square mint chocolate) and place it on your forehead. You have to move your face so it slides down (with control!) and into your mouth. It is pretty hard and you look like an idiot and end up with chocolate all done your face but I have never laughed so hard! .. and I managed to do it!! Hooray! Nathan was in the shop across the road whilst we were in the pub and a guy was buying a packet as he'd seen us playing in the pub!! (he also probably heard us as we were pretty loud!) So much fun!!

Jamie showing us how it's done!!

Jamie, Nathan and Dan- it's the face movements that crack me up! and the chocolate on the face!

Wendy and Lorna watching as Emily attempts to play the After 8 game!

Wendy, Kirsty, Ed and Nathan outside the Bailie- it was beautifully decorated for the holidays.