Brand identity designer | Specialising in branding for lifestyle businesses

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Erin Hanson

Tranquilo Creative

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Wow, I can’t quite believe it - it’s the final

Wow, I can’t quite believe it - it’s the final day of @thegfw #thegfw2021 #30DaysDelicious - that calls for #celebration indeed! I have thoroughly enjoyed doing the research, delving back into old memories and working on my writing, not to mention the connection and interaction that taking part in the The Guild of Food Writers challenge has brought.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Today’s prompt #celebration is also quite fitting, as today is St Andrew’s Day - the patron saint of Scotland. Coincidentally, St Andrew (or San Andreu) is also the patron saint of Santanyí, the Mallorcan municipality in which I live.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Although it not as well known as St Patrick’s Day, St Andrew’s Day is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate all things Scottish - the culture, the food, the drink, the songs and the dancing. Traditionally, it would be haggis that we would be tucking into, but as haggis is difficult to get here on Mallorca (thank you Brexit), we’re going to settle for some stovies (the tatties here are perfect for making them!), homemade oatcakes, pickled beetroot, all washed down with a cheeky wee @cardhuwhisky dram of course! Slàinte mhath!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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In the meantime, I’ll leave you with the words of The Selkirk Grace, which is attributed to Robert Burns. I think they are quite fitting for the occasion:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Some hae meat and canna eat,⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
And some wad eat that want it,⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
But we hae meat and we can eat,⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Sae let the Lord be thankit!

Mention #potatoes #tatties to any of my old school

Mention #potatoes #tatties to any of my old school friends, and it’ll most certainly bring back vivid memories of the Tattie Holidays (half term break to those south of the border). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Tattie picking is a rite of passage for many a Scottish teenager. Each October, we would be dropped off at a local farm. We’d be kitted out in about a hundred layers of our warmest old clothes, gloves (usually two pairs: one woollen, one rubber) and our wellies. We’d be given a “scull” - the plastic basket for gathering tatties - a quick demonstration of what was expected of us, then we got to work, only stopping briefly for your fly cups, and a sandwich lunch. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Yes, the work was cold, hard and backbreaking, but it was also good fun* - I suppose these days, it could be classed as a team building exercise! 😂 We didn’t get paid a huge amount for our endeavours, but being handed your wage packet at the end of the day gave you such a sense of pride and achievement, and (almost) made you forget how hard you had worked!��*we were teenagers after all, and it’s safe to say there was a fair amount of capering about, especially during our lunch breaks - I once came home once with a black eye 🙈, but that’s a story for another day . . .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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#thegfw2021 #30DaysDelicious⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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📷 @scottishagriculturalimplementmakers

As a treat, my grandparents often used to take us

As a treat, my grandparents often used to take us out for something to eat at #teatime and more often than not, this would be a High Tea.

Now, a traditional Scottish High Tea was quite a substantial meal! It would include a hot first dish - perhaps a gammon steak with a pineapple ring on top, a plate of scampi, or even an “exotic” chicken Maryland, complete with deep fried banana fritter. This would then be followed by a cake stand piled high with scones and “funcy pieces” (tray bakes and cakes), all washed down with a pot of tea. No booze, fancy teas or herbal infusions back in the day either - we’re talking “you only get an “ooh” with Typhoo” type black tea! I don’t think High Teas are quite as popular these days, being superseded but the more popular Afternoon Teas.

And this brings me neatly onto todays photos - exactly two years ago today, my husband and I were sitting down to a Festive Afternoon Tea @claridgeshotel London.

The food, as you would expect was fabulous. The festive setting at the hotel was gorgeous, the staff were so kind and courteous - even surprising my husband with a wee birthday cake. And no, once again, we didn’t quite manage to eat everything that was put in front of us! 😂

#thegfw2021 #30DaysDelicious

The prompt for todays #thegfw2021 #30DaysDelicious

The prompt for todays #thegfw2021 #30DaysDelicious challenge is #corn⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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We eat quite a lot of corn in some way, shape or form, but the most unusual were these blue corn tortilla chips at the restaurant of our friends, Andrea and Donal. They opened their new restaurant @gra_byfoodjuicepassion in Santanyí last year, and have fast become one of the go-to place for plant-based food on the island of Mallorca. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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The word Grá means love in Irish, and that love and passion shines through everything that Andrea and Donal do. So much so, that people travel from all over the island (and beyond!) to sample their wares, along with partaking of some good old-fashioned Irish hospitality.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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My husband is a true carnivore, but he absolutely loves the fabulous flavours and gorgeous presentation of Andrea’s food - saying “it’s so flavourful, that you don’t actually notice that it’s meat free!” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Coming from him, that is high praise indeed!

I don’t have a garden where I live at the moment

I don’t have a garden where I live at the moment, but if I did I would want it to look just like this one! 😍 #growyourown⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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My Dad loved his gardens (we had two), one directly in front of our farmhouse - a large flat lawn, which had been laid by previous tenants as a croquet green, bordered on all sides by shrubs and flowers. The other was the vegetable garden - in it he grew potatoes, onions, carrots, cauliflower, cabbages, brussels, beetroot, peas, lettuce, parsley, chives, rhubarb and strawberries. All the basics for a good, hearty home-cooked meal.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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My sister and I also had our own little plots, where we’d plant, tend and grow a few bits just for ourselves. I loved being able to just pick something and eat it straight from the garden - you can’t get fresher (or sweeter) than that!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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#thegfw2021 #30DaysDelicious⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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📷 @familyfoodgarden

I’ve eaten many things in my life, but as far as

I’ve eaten many things in my life, but as far as I was aware, I have never eaten a #plantain which is todays prompt for the #thegfw2021 #30DaysDelicious challenge.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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According to Wikipedia, the term "plantain" refers to all the banana cultivars which are normally eaten after cooking, rather than eaten raw. Plantains contain more starch than banana are they are rated as the tenth most important staple food in the world. The best way to cook them is to treat them in the same way as potatoes, ie steam, boil or fry.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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How about you? Have any of you tried them?

📷 sarangib from Pixabay

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