Shopping Local

This has been the first month of a little experiment. We have taken our monthly food budget and split it into two. One half is limited to use in supermarkets whilst the rest is to be used to shop locally.

It was prompted by a trip to a Musselburgh - Transition Town meeting where there were discussions about how to shop locally and retain some of the shopper pound in the vicinity.

Well we tried - and it took some work to do it. We have discovered the delights of our local butcher - particularly for his bacon but the most difficult thing has been access to fresh fruit and vegetables. There is one greengrocer here in Musselburgh and in some aspects it is fine - though it has meant we have to shop more frequently. There are some small greengrocers in Leith which I can visit on the way home from work.

With regard to the supermarket - we have had to be very careful about what to buy - looking for the things which are on a deal - bogof deals etc - and things which are reduced.

The only supermarket that we are using on the local side is the Co-Op - though we don't have a local one and have to use the one in Portobello.

Though we did manage it - and will see how we get on over the next few months.

Straiton no chaser

Am not a regular visitor to Straiton Retail Park. Though the Park is on the bus route 141 from East Lothian - it takes for ever as it meanders through the highways and byways of East and Mid Lothian. It has the usual range of retail park type of shops which only have a limited appeal to me generally.

But a colleague excitedly told me about the delights of Home Bargains - indeed she was going back there to collect some bits and bobs for her mum. I recognised it from the hometown of my bargain hunter chums from Morley in West Yorkshire.

So, the opportunity came for a quick troll round last Friday when I cadged a lift from her. I wouldn't go out there specifically to pick up the range of household and food products that it sells. But if you are out there it's worth a trip round - but a shame that the shop at Straiton doesn't sell booze.

Hmmm

Not much happened this week - very quiet on the value front.

Nearest got to was a call to a friend in San Francisco on skype - which cost nothing - so that's a result.

Art for Art's Sake

There can only be one real post this week.

For the princely sum of zilch - the Guardian is offering a three month trial of the National Art Pass - obtainable from the link below.

https://www.artfund.org/join/landing/guardian

And I've checked - and there are approximately 18 or so galleries in Scotland that are part of the scheme.

So get in there quick to avoid disappointment.

You know - I think I should get out more

I was round at my mums the other day and while she was chomping on a kitkat, I noticed that there were 233 calories in the 4-finger variety. This isn't world shattering news I grant you - but I had used the 2-finger version as my calorie offsetting benchmark - and that is only 107 calories - so where did the other 19 come from in the 4-finger version???

There is a VFM reason for this - honest!!

It seems that two of the 2-finger variety are smaller than one of the 4-finger type - and to complicate matters they are both smaller than the chunky version.....jings!!!

With multipacks generally coming in at the same price - you are getting more bangs for your kitkat buck with the chunky one.

So - when there is a choice of kitkat multipacks - the chunky one is the choice for the value conscious.

Currying favour

Saturday was a grim day in Edinburgh - light rain almost constantly until late in the afternoon.

There were two positives from the day. A trip to the Bethany charity shop on Duke Street, Leith led to the purchase of some Prestonpans pottery and a lunchtime curry at Punjab'n de Rasoi on Leith Walk.

We went for fish pakora between us followed by a thali - a dish of two curries, rice, salad, yogurt, poppadom and chapati. The dish also comes with a free drink - we went for salt lassis. The thali was £6.95 and despite being a little on the cool side - it was very tasty and filling.

As a social enterprise company and a training cafe you can give them some latitude - and I'll hopefully get back there again.

Mr Mojo returning

Apologies dear reader - yes, I am aware that someone reads this - as I have not posted recently.

I was having moments of self doubt as I was concerned that my value mojo was on the wane. This wasn't helped by two things - a purchase of tickets to see Morrissey in Dunfermline and a trip to a shop in Record Store Day - they may have been exclusive discs - but they weren't aimed at a value conscious market.

So now I am trying to get back on the wagon - which isn't easy to do. Though a trip to my local Tescos was a help.

Brewdog - Beer for Punks - has opened up a bar on the Cowgate in Edinburgh. It has a post-industrial / Centre Pompidou feel about it. Now, Brewdog isn't really session beer - the flavours are too gig - but that they have an excellent range of other beers such as Sierra Nevada's Anchor Steam - and what has this to do with Tesco.??

Well at 4 for a fiver, they are offering three of the Brewdog beers but also an excellent selection of other Scottish beer - brewed by the Williams Bros in Alloa and Harviestoun's Bitter and Twisted.

So on the wagon in one sense - but not the other.

Bet your bottom dollar

One of my earliest memories is of family gatherings on a Saturday at my grandparents where we would have a chippy dinner and my grandma would spend her afternoon concentrating on the ITV Seven. My favourite was chips and curry - but the favourite of my aunts was fish, chips, peas and curry.

It really was an afternoon of gambling - with me being sent off to put on the bets at the local bookies - and afterwards waiting for them all to check the pools - in what was a vain hope of getting eight score draws.

I had never been to a race meeting before moving to Musselburgh. One of the early visits of my mum and dad was punctuated by a trip to the races - where they would both be confiding in us about their extra secret bets.

We have friends who now come up on a regular basis and we go racing with them - we take a picnic and sit in the sun (sometimes) shooting the breeze and enjoying the day. We have never really won much - though I did win a stuffed horse which I gave to a chum for her daughter - for some reason she called him Trevor!!!

Well on 1 April - there is free racing at Musselburgh - so hopefully the sun will shine, the horses will run true and I come away with fond memories of the Musselburgh seven.

http://www.musselburgh-racecourse.co.uk/

West Highland Wey-Hey

We were away walking at the weekend - out near Tyndrum on the West Highland Way.

We had the intention of popping to the local hotel for some Saturday night scran. But at the last minute one of our crew suggested the Real Food Cafe - basically a posh chip shop - a great chip shop it was.

As it was 6pm on a Saturday night it was rammed with folks filling their hiking boots with freshly cooked fish and tasty chips. Despite this the service was quick and efficient. I would have preferred bigger chips but the venison sausage with red cabbage relish was excellent. Seemingly the sausage was made by a butcher in Crieff. My partner had one of their home made pies - again venison and packed with an excellent vegetable selection.

The two dishes came in at around £12.

http://www.therealfoodcafe.com/

Birthday Birdcage Bonanza

This weekend was the birthday of her nibs - so we popped out for Saturday lunch at the Birdcage at Eskmills in Musselburgh.

The Birdcage was new to us - though we had been to The Glasshouse when it was in the same venue. It started well with smiling, pleasant staff who showed us to out table. We began with a glass of Prosecco with starters of Thai fishcakes and crispy pork with a poached egg. My only comment would be that the leaves were a little over seasoned - but that would be a little churlish as a complaint.

Her nibs loved her main course of sea bream with fennel. My pork with pan fried gnocchi went down very well. For dessert, a good sign was that the waitress knew which Scottish cheeses were available which were accompanied by a fruity and flavoursome chutney. The meal was accompanied by a bottle of Chilean Pinot Noir.

At three courses for £12.95 with a range of decent wines at less than £20, it was a very pleasant lunch and great value.

Tynemouth wanderings

Away in the Toon this weekend for fun and frolics with friends.

They are great fans of the market out at Tynemouth. It's on both Saturday and Sunday but as they are all collectors of the kitsch and the kooky - they tend to take us there on the Saturday.

The market can be found on the platforms of the Tynemouth metro station - one one side is a mixture of a food market and junk shop whilst the other side of the platform focusses almost wholly on collectables. We got a mixture of things - a nice Hornsea pot and kitsch mug of the Queen's Jubilee - all for £1. We supplemented this with a Belgian fudge cake for the friends we were staying with.

Our chums don't like this move towards the food side - and as long as it stays in the "artisan" I think it offers an excellent outlet.

I do wish Edinburgh had more of a market culture - maybe when it starts, the tram stops may form impromptu opportunities for off-beat market stalls.

Cummins closer to coffee nirvana

i took Friday off work in part to head down to Avalanche records on Edinburgh's Grassmarket to see Kevin Cummins and get a copy of his book of Joy Division photographs. He was a very engaging chap and signed a copy for me (see above) at the princely sum of £15.

I was aware that Avalanche - as well as selling CDs etc - has begun a little sideline in coffee. So while waiting for my book to be signed I decided to have a latte. The coffee was excellent, strong yet subtle - and because of the event there was a wonderful free chocolate cake - mmm. The woman preparing the coffee advised me that the coffee comes from Artisan roast on Broughton Street - I have posted about them before as they sell excellent coffee.

The coffee came in at £2 - the only improvement would have been somewhere to sit and hopefully that will be put in place soon.

Oh, and it's a record shop as well - I bought CDs by Edwyn Collins and The Social Services - not bad for £9.

Move along now, nothing to see hear

Last summer, a colleague told me about a little gem of a park off Edinburgh's Royal Mile which didn't appear to be regularly frequented and was an oasis of calm during what can be a hectic summer in Edinburgh.

As you do, I googled the name of the park (a picture of which you can see here) and one of the sites which popped up was Nothing To See Here - which offers an eclectic mix of little known but ultimately rewarding places to visit.

I was reminded of the site today by a visit to the Co-Op store on Leith Walk. I was down there on a hunt for other stuff and fancied a drink and a snack. As you can imagine with Burns Night upon us, there is a lot of Scottish produce being promoted for the Burns Supper on Tuesday. My eye was caught by that Scottish staple - the Tunnock's Caramel Wafer - at £1 for a pack of eight - now that is a bargain.

When a friend was 48 a couple of years ago we bought him one for every year of his life as he was a notorious fan. I thought they would last him a year at one a week - with a break for his summer holidays - no chance.

So if you can't get them at this price - here is a link to the Nothing to See Here site about visiting the factory in Uddingston.

http://www.nothingtoseehere.net/2008/01/the_tunnocks_factory_uddingsto_1.html

Bon Appetit.

More tea Vicar??

Ahh - the sales - like Xmas itself, they seem to start earlier every year We bought next year's Xmas cards in a sale before Christmas this year.

Our main sales shopping was over in Glasgow and focussed on walking / hiking gear And having trolled along around Glasgow's bijoux boutiquettes - we needed a feed.

Glasgow has some pleasant places for tea - and we stopped off at Bradford's on Sauchiehall Street which I understand is a Glasgow institution. And for the same price as a Mochafrappachocochino grande with extra pistachio syrup, we had a sandwich, scone with fresh cream and jam plus lashings (am I sounding a bit jolly hockey sticks here) of tea. All in a very pleasant atmosphere of Glasgow gentility.

£3.50 well spent.

Fit and Working Again

Well - one of them anyway.

Yes 2011 is now hitting us between the eyes. I went back to work last week but with the number of "Out of Office" replies to e- mails - it looks like many are taking the opportunity to carry on the festivities until tomorrow.

So what to do about the extra pounds. Edinburgh Leisure has a nice idea - and one designed to get more punters through the doors. They are offering - and available from the link below - a free gym / swim visit during January. With a swim now knocking on for near £4, that's quite a saving should there be a family visit.

We have been going swimming with friends for a few months - and it's a great relaxation after a working day - with a satisfying mix of exercise and social interaction.

http://www.getyoursparkback.co.uk/

The link looks now to be fixed as originally it offered a free swim in September - this was only accepted after a little friendly discussion with the staff.

Anyhow - enjoy- and help say goodbye to those Xmas excesses.