Tag Archives: Scottish Borders

Scottish baking, Seasonal, Things to do

(Scotch) Pancake Day!

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It’s Pancake Day tomorrow all across the UK (also known as Shrove Tuesday) and I for one am looking forward to the excuse to cook an old favourite.  As a child, I used to be thrilled at the thought of returning home from school to the warm farmhouse kitchen where my mother would be making Scotch pancakes on the Aga.  Also known as Drop Scones, my mother would cook the pancakes directly on the simmering plate of the Aga, but in the rather less traditional kitchen of my hilltop cottage, I now use a normal frying pan to produce just as scrumptious results.

Scotch Pancakes in comparison to normal pancakes are smaller, thicker and (in my humble opinion) much more tasty and satisfying!  If you fancy a change from normal pancakes this year I strongly recommend the following recipe, which only requires four easy to source ingredients, to bring a bit of traditional Scottish cooking to your home.

To make approximately 20 yummy Scotch Pancakes you will need:

100g/4oz Self-Raising Flour

25g/1oz Caster Sugar

1 (medium size) Egg

150ml/1/4 pint Milk

1)      Mix the sugar and flour together in a bowl and then make a well in the centre.

2)      Beat the egg and pour it into the well, along with half the milk.

3)      Mix to form a thick batter, then add the remainder of the milk and mix again (you should now have a runny batter and be ready to cook the first batch!)

4)      Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and once hot spread with a little lard or oil (I use a piece of kitchen towel to do this, as it avoids putting too much on).

5)      When the fat is hazy (but not smoking), spoon the mixture into the pan using a tablespoon (one spoonful for each pancake) making sure they are spaced well apart.

6)      Bubbles should rise to the surface of the half-cooked pancakes and at this point turn them over.

7)      Cook for a further 30 seconds (or until golden brown) then remove and place between a clean tea towel to keep warm and moist and until you are ready to eat them.

8)      You may need to re-grease the pan between batches to avoid the pancakes sticking.

You can enjoy Scotch Pancakes on their own, buttered, with jam or even chocolate spread (very popular with the kids)!  You don’t have to eat the pancakes straight away, indeed, once cooled you can put them in an air tight container and store them for up to 3 days – heat them up or eat them cold, whatever your preference.

If you fancy trying this, or any other traditional recipe, Aga or Rayburn cooker then you’ll be please to hear that a number of our unique cottages do have them (in a lot of cases as well as a standard cooker ) so why not get in touch and let us help you find your ideal cottage?

From all of us here at Unique Cottages have a delicious and enjoyable (Scotch) Pancake Day!

Things to do, Things to see, Wildlife

A Scottish Safari

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A trip out of the office this week taught me that you don’t need to go to Africa to embark on an expedition which surrounds you with fascinatingly diverse habitats and puts you in to close proximity with an assortment of rare and fascinating wildlife!

Just as the game reserves of Kenya and the Serengeti aim to protect and conserve the area’s indigenous species in their natural habitats, increasingly Scottish farmers are endeavouring to ensure that the land they tend promotes the prosperity of our native ecosystems. One particular estate in the heart of the Scottish Borders has demonstrated its commitment to the conservation of local wildlife by ensuring all its land is used with the benefit of nature as a primary concern.

Whitmuir Estate, not far from the town of Selkirk, illustrates definitively that modern farming methods need not infringe on the resident plants and animals with which it shares it soil. In fact, over 170 different species of animal have been found on Whitmuir Estate in the last 10 years! Large areas of the lands are now scattered with wild flowers where numerous varieties of butterflies, moths and ladybirds are clearly in seventh heaven!

Among the exceptional provisions which have been made are special ‘beetle banks’ created in the estate’s arable fields, ensuring that when the ground is ploughed insects have a safe and undisturbed sanctuary close by in to which they can scuttle. There are quite a few ponds, wooded areas, hedges and fields which have been specifically set aside for native fauna and flora to thrive. And although the word ‘safari’ is actually Swahili, it literally means ‘journey’ –

Whitmuir Estate offers you the opportunity for a journey which takes you through a hidden wonderland of Scottish natural treasures, one that even most locals are unaware exists! Because of the need to preserve the delicate plant life that makes up the rare habitats as well as protect its inhabitants from too much human interference, Whitmuir Estate is not open to the public, but Unique Cottages clients who choose to book one of the 3 properties on the estate will find themselves right in the middle of this wildlife haven.

Place to stay on the Whitmuir Estate:

Scottish folklore, Things to see, Tips, Travel

Danger Valley

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The fact that grew up in “the most dangerous valley in Scotland” was brought to my attention this week!  Why was I not aware of this before now you may ask?  And how did I survive?

It seems that the key to my continued existence, and my obliviousness to my home’s worrying reputation, is simply the century in which I was born.  Had I entered the world 450 years earlier things could have been very different, and the location where I was given life would most likely been responsible for my early demise!

Brutality, violence and conflict were the way of life in the Liddesdale valley throughout the middle ages, and it was this ferocious culture that earned the stretch of land its forbidding reputation.  The land through which the Liddel waters flow straddles the England-Scotland border, making it the front line for battles between the two opposing countries long before the concept of a ‘united kingdom’ was ever suggested.  However, it was not just warring between nations that bloodied the ground.  Neighbouring clans would raid each other’s land to steal livestock (and even women) from their fellow countrymen.

If you wander through this beautiful valley now it is so peaceful and unspoilt it can be difficult to believe that it has been witness to such treachery and betrayal, although there are a few ancient buildings and stone built memorials dotted around the landscape that remind you of times long past.  Hermitage Castle, which sits about 6 miles from the village of Newcastleton, is one such relic.

Sinister, stark, and somehow almost threatening, it stands ominously amongst the hills.  Unlike many historic attractions, it is a building that I think is best to visit on a day when the sky is dark and the air is cool, making sure you get a real appreciation of just how menacing and intimidating this castle can feel!  Complimenting the building’s haunting ambience is the tale of ‘Bad Lord Soulis’ who apparently lived in the castle and was eventually wrapped in lead and boiled to death by the Liddesdale clans – and if you believe the story it was one of the more justifiable murders they committed!

I have to admit that I am rather glad I was not quite so aware of the valley’s terrifying history when, in my youth, I had a very overactive imagination.  But I’m glad that I watched the first programme in the BBC series ‘Scotland Clans’ (which was shown on BBC Scotland this Wednesday) from which I gained this increased knowledge about the significant blood-shed which once took place so close to my childhood home.

Those who missed it (or are out with the catchment area for BBC Scotland) can catch it on BBC iplayer until Wednesday 16th February.   If it inspires you to explore the area for yourself and indulge in the rich history and traditions of the Border country, my personal recommendation for a place to stay is Braehead Cottage, just 11 miles from Hermitage Castle itself.