Our new young Silver Sussex hen, Agnus is, like all of our hens, is named after a plant...but we think "Eleagnus Quicksilver" is a bit of a mouthful!
Talking about a mouthful, though she has just started laying eggs Agnus is already our best laying hen. She has even produced some HUGE eggs with double yolks and they are absolutely delicious, especially when fried.
Mmmmmm......anyone hungry?????
"These are so sweet, like sugar!" - exclaimed one of our guests recently when she ate Gordon's delicious home-grown tomatoes with her breakfast. These little beauties are indeed super tasty eaten straight from the plant and even more so when roasted in a little local rapeseed oil. Just as well we have plenty of them as our guests love them!
Just finished making the first batch the year of of Seville orange marmalade. These little bitter oranges are too sharp to eat uncooked but they do make amazing marmalades!
The batches I made today include Seville and Ginger, Seville and Demerara and our own very special recipe, Whisky Mac which has a good measure of Laphroig Scotch Malt whisky.
As you can see I like to use recycled glass jars.
Our guests will have plenty of delicious marmalades to choose from, ...
Phew, here are some of the jars of marmalade I made this week for guests' breakfasts at The Dulaig!
For just a few short weeks in January Seville oranges become available in the shops. These special fruits are perfect for using to make mamalade. Bitter to taste when fresh, with the addition of sugar and lemon juice (and plenty elbow-grease to chop and slice them) they are transformed by cooking into zingy gorgeousness! Adding demerara instead of refined sugar gives the marmalade...
We had a lovely surprise in the henhouse today, the first egg of the season from our flock of free-range hens.....and it is a blue-shelled one, laid by Hyacinth, a our Crested Cream Legbars.
Our 17 girls have been moulting over the past few months and because of this, and the shortest days of winter, they have not been laying eggs. It is always a great treat to see the first egg of the New Year as this means we - and our guests - can now look forward to lots of wonderful eggs once again...
It has been our absolute pleasure to share our home, garden, love of Scotland and of food, with guests over the past 14 years. The experience of running our B&B exceeded our wildest dreams however we - Carol, Gordon (& The Cake Fairy) - have hung up our aprons for the last time.
Thank you to the wonderful guests from all over the world who have stayed with us. You have given us so many special memories which we will always treasure. Thank you too, everyone else who has supported us: your confidence in us was appreciated more than words can say.
Warmest Wishes to All, Carol, Gordon..and The Cake Fairy x
