Previous events

Visit to the Incorporated Trades of Edinburgh in Melville Street. October 2024

A group of members met for a delicious lunch in Le Di-Vin, Randolph Place where we were pleased to meet 2 new members. After a good bistro lunch a group of us left to walk ( in the rain!) along to Ashfield ,61 Melville Street ;the premises of the Incorporated Trades of Edinburgh, where we met several other members and our fellow member Katrina. Katrina is part of the convenory of the Incorporated Trades and she told us the history and purpose of the organisation then showed us around the several roooms of interesting artifacts regarding the Trades. The Blue Blanket (the standard for the Incorporated Trades) is on display, having been in existence since before 1516. Although it is not know if the current one on display was actually the original - it seems unlikely.

Interestingly Mary Erskine (of school fame) also set up a school for the daughters of the Trades in Edinburgh. Their several moves of accommodation are shown in the rooms and Ashfield was the last property used for this purpose. Several pieces of work by the pupils are on display and a particularily clever one is the Hologram. This was made by 13 year old Mary McLeod in 18654.

A visit to Edinburgh botanical gardens May 2024

A stalwart party met at the East gate of the Botanical gardens in Edinburgh to enjoy a guided tour by Dr Kathy Munro. After indulging in coffee ( and cake) whilst all assembled we followed a route starting in the rock garden where the labels attached to plants were explained in terms of the data on them. A short walk into the seven Sequoia tree circle- now named after John Muir to gaze at these magnificant trees and wend our way through the flowering rhododendrons. Swathes of blue poppies followed then, after admiring the 'Handkerchief tree - Davidia Involucrata in full flush of bracts, we strooled around the Chinese garden. A colourful display of rhododendrons and azaleas finished up the tour and we ajourned to the restaurant for lunch.

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The Great Gatsby dinner - 26th March 2024

A fantastic evening of wonderful food, super company and fabulous decor was the order of the night on 26th March when we all attended the student cooked and served dinner at ENTCS. This yer's winning the was The Great Gatsby, and the students did a most imaginative and creative menu, along with some exciting decor.

Further excitment was added when a couple of ballons burst- making it sound like gun shots! which was appropriate given the theme. Those of us of a certain age were, of course, looking for the film shots of Robert Redford in his cream Oxford bags. However, this generation provided shotd of Leonardo DiCaprio instead. equally as easy on the eye but did make us feel our age slightly.

In order to create the atmosphere the students had raided their families

resources for feathers, gold vases and accoutrements which were used by attendees, who had embraced the theme with gusto, for a photo opportunity.

Sherlock Holmes dinner March 2023

The second dinner made and served by the students was held on the 30th March in ENTCS. The theme that won the presentations was that of Sherlock Holmes and the students did a marvellous job using the theme.

Table were decorated with riddles, wine bottle candle holders with items that Sherlock used as their labels and names - such as Magnifying glass, deer stalker etc and there were newspaper articles based around his mysteries, carefully aged using weak tea!

The menu was also inspired by the theme and consisted of

BOOK ONE : STARTERS

“221b Baker Street” - Tartlet

Individual baked pastry tart filled with a medley of roasted Mediterranean vegetable finished with pesto. (VEG)

“The Study in Scarlett” - Ravioli

Prawn and garlic ravioli served with a roasted red pepper, rose and lemon cream sauce.

“The Five Orange Pips” - Soup

Carrot and orange soup served with garlic ciabatta croutons. (VEG)

BOOK TWO : Main Course

“… is it one of your experiments again, Sherlock?” - Haddock

Smoked haddock fish cakes, with a Cullen skink sauce served with herbed new potatoes and a green salad. (GF)

“The Adventure of the Speckled Hen” – Chicken pie

Cock-a-leekie pie, served with herbed new potatoes and glazed carrots.

“The Sign of the Kaddu” – Curry

Butternut squash and chickpea (chana) curry served with zesty lemon rice and crispy chapati. (VEGAN/VEG)

BOOK THREE : DESSERTS

“It’s Apple Pie my Dear Watson”

Cinnamon swirl topped with a sharp apple puree, finished with maple syrup and served with a vanilla ice-cream. (VEGAN/VEG)

“Some Tea or Coffee, Mrs Hudson?”

Individual mocha cake topped with hazelnuts and served with a white chocolate and earl-grey cream infusion (VEG)

“Checkmate, Moriarty”

A light white chocolate mousse on a crumbly biscuit base served with a bitter dark chocolate sauce.

The meal was delightful, and the students all did excellent work serving and cooking the food. The shortbread biscuits served with coffee were in the shape of the magnifying glass used by Sherlock, and we all were presented with a keyring of his profile. Many of the objects and the key rings were made by the students using a 3D printer. It is somewhat awe inspiring how technologically clever the students have become. Sadly due to changes in the curriculum the cooking and serving of a meal will be reduced to one event a year as of 2023/24, however, we hope to remain part of that opportunity for the students.

Christmas lunch December 2 2022
We had a very well attended lunch on December 2nd at ENTCS, cooked and served by a small cohort of first year hospitality students. there were 6 servers and 6 chefs, with a lovely menu that was not overly Christmassy did have turkey as a choice for a main meal. All dietary requirement were carefully addressed and it was lovely to see many "ken't" faces and also some new ones joining us.
Do please consider joining us in March for our spring dinner, again cooked and served by the students. Watch out for the e-mail from Claire who manages the database as membership secretary.

Themed Dinner on 30th March 2022 by Hospitality students:
To follow on from their Christmas lunch in December, the hospitality students chose the Queen's platinum jubilee as their theme. We had another excellent turnout of members along with a family group and we were pleased to have Paul, the Principal, also attend. Several new members joined us for the evening and we had a lovely meal and social occasion. The menu reflected the Queen's travels and an explanation of each dish was given on the menu provided. It was an excellent evening, enjoyed by all and then we travelled home in the snow.

Coffee zoom tattie scone challenge: following a chat one coffee zoom day, when several Glasgow Cookery school recipe books appeared , it was suggested we had a tattie scone

challenge for the next coffee get together. Here are two of the results : firstly

Kathleen's using 4oz.mashed potato and adding half an ounce of butter. I added 2

oz.s.r.flour plus a good pinch of salt, gradually to the pan mixing with a wooden

spoon then poured 1 fluid oz.milk in to make the dough soft elastic just as in

scone mix. I rolled it out quite thinly then cooked on the girdle about 5mins.

turning half way.

Now Jonathan's - who started this whole ball rolling! His recipe is from the Traditional

Scottish Cookery book - Potato scones - 1lb mashed potatoes, 4oz approximately plain

flour, salt. Mash potatoes until quite smooth, adding a little salt. Knead with flour to

required thickness. Cut into triangles. Brown both sides on a girdle or frying pan, pricking

with a fork to prevent blistering. Serve hot, spread with butter.