Fiction: Derelict

Tags

creative writing, fiction, horror, stories

Occasionally I find that I completely forget about a story I’ve written, until someone else mentions it. That’s what happened with this particular piece of fiction – it’s something I wrote for a horror stories under 100 words competition I entered.

If you like your horror short and stabby, pick up the ebook by Popcorn Horror, where you can read the other story I submitted.

Derelict

“Leave her.”

I’ll never leave her.

I wrap myself tightly around her frail body.

He places various implements across the bedside table, one after another.

She shakes and judders violently.

“Leave her.”

Never. I barely recognise my voice.

I hold on tight, clinging to her pale forearms. I can’t let go.

He murmurs low inaudible words. But I won’t let go.

My claws scrape her arms, legs and cheeks. Drawing thick red lines of viscous blood.

He thrusts the crucifix in my face and I collide with the ceiling.

Then falling, falling.

Alone again in the black abyss. All alone.

7 reasons I’d totally bum Bruges

Tags

beer, belgium, bruges, craft beer

1. It’s full of amazing beer. Belgium is known for its trappist beers, which are made by monks and taste like a little sip of heaven. In Bruges you’ll find the Halve Maan Brewery, finely crafting local tipples Brugse Zot and Straffe Hendrik – the tripel is a potent treat.

2. It’s full of people who love amazing beer. The best kind of people.

3. It’s full of people who love drinking amazing beer in amazing pubs. Must see pubs are the lovely and old Staminee De Garre (try the house brew, mysteriously served with cheese…), the incredibly friendly ‘t Brugs Beertje, Bruges’ oldest drinking den Herberg Vlissinghe, the cavernous and candlelit Poatersgat, and the smoochy, romantic Cafe Rose Red.

4. It has canals. You can take boats on the canals and the tour guide will speak any language you fancy.

5. People live in houses like this.

6. They take chocolate and waffles extremely seriously. As do I.

7. They are also very keen on chips.

A flash fiction horror story

Tags

creative writing, flash fiction, horror, story, writing

First draft of a little horror flash fiction snippet…it’s been a long time since I’ve written any fiction and I’ve only recently merged my writing blog with this here food blog. 

 

The ink black waters of the loch lashed violently at its bank on that bleak October night. The sharp air stung with cold and the teeth of freezing children chattered in their mothers’ arms. Yet not one fire was lit in the village that night, not one candle burned. No one wanted him to come thundering at their door. The village stood in a dark, sombre silence, as if it might almost disappear completely.

They’d snatched the young boy, on the orders of the wicked one. A bastard, an orphan, a lost soul, they were all the same; the children no one would miss. They’d have befriended him and made him feel safe, laughed and joked all the way there. Until they reached the cottage, where they’d turn on him like a pack of rabid dogs. Who knew what terrible things had happened to that boy, you’d try to stop your mind from thinking about it too hard, but the things you heard whispered on the wind in the village were impossible to forget.

I’d imagine the boy screaming, begging for mercy, until I’d pull my youngest close and pray for God to forgive all our damned souls. They would have offered him a chance, a glimmer of hope, by opening the door and exposing the blackness of night. He’d stand there blinking, naked and bleeding, disbelieving that they might actually let him live. They’d give him a head start. Off he’d run like a wild thing, running through the dark as the silent hills of the valley watched. The wicked one would never be far behind.

He liked the chase almost as much as he liked the kill. And the village held its collective breath, waiting for the distant cries to crack the silence. When they came we covered our wee ones’ ears.

When the stillness returned, we crawled into our icy beds, assuring ourselves that for another evening the wicked one was satisfied. That the unspeakable evil that lurked in the cottage was satiated. And, for now, our own were safe.

It’s up to you New York, New York (Cheesecake)

Tags

baking, cake, cheese, cheesecake, new york cheesecake

If one thing in life is certain, writing about cheesecake leads to craving cheesecake. So when I had to write a little bit on the history of the New York Cheesecake at work, I knew it was only going to end one way. Namely, me – covered in sugar, my walls – splattered with sour cream, and my first ever New York Cheesecake attempt…

I had to pull out a little turbo baking action on my super busy Saturday, but somehow managed to pull off a convincing New York Cheesecake.

Inspired by this nifty little recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, but with a few tweaks, here is my New York Cheesecake recipe –

What you’ll need

The base

85g butter

180g digestive biscuits

1tbsp caster sugar

A pinch of salt

The filling

900g full fat soft cheese

200ml sour cream

200g caster sugar

3tbsp plain flour

3 large eggs and a yolk

2 tsp vanilla extract

Dash of lemon juice

A pinch of salt

The topping

200ml sour cream

1 tbsp caster sugar

Dash of lemon juice

1.)    Heat the oven to 190C. Grease the sides of a springform cake tin with butter.

2.)    Take out all your pent up aggression on the digestive biscuits. In other words smash them into crumbs with a rolling pin. Then add the sugar and salt, and finally mix in the melted butter.

3.)    Press the mixture into the base of the cake tin and bake for 10 minutes, then set aside to cool.

4.)    Turn oven down to 170C. Mix sugar, flour and salt.

5.)    Beat the soft cheese until light and fluffy, then add a third of the sugar mixture, then half of the sour cream. Repeat, then add the final third of sugar mixture and beat. Stir in vanilla and lemon. Add the eggs one by one, then the yolk, beating until creamy.

6.)    Butter the cake tin again, then pour the in mixture and cook for an hour and a half. Keep an eye on the cheesecake to make sure it doesn’t burn and don’t be surprised if it rises – mine did, a lot!

7.)    Make the topping by combining sour cream, sugar and lemon. Spread on the cheesecake as soon as it comes out the oven. Pop in the fridge overnight or as long as you can – mine was in for a few hours.

8.)    Share with friends, whilst listening to Frank Sinatra, preferably. 

Gluten-free Italian stuffed chicken and chocolate pecan brownie

Tags

chicken, chocolate, chocolate brownie, dessert, dinner, Gluten Free, italian chicken, pudding

It must be pretty difficult being gluten intolerant, watching everyone else tuck into whatever they fancy and missing out on tasty grub all the time. Which is why I decided to restore some balance when I cooked dinner for the first time in my new weasel den.

The trick was to find something everyone would enjoy, but that was also gluten free for my gluten-intolerant Mammy.

I decided a chicken dish would be most likely to please everyone’s palette and picked up this nifty little recipe from BBC Good Food, which I tweaked a bit to suit my own tastes.

Gluten-free Italian Stuffed Chicken (for five)

Ingredients

200g full-fat soft cheese

Handful chopped black olives

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 teaspoon of Oregano

Some chopped sun-dried tomatoes

5 ripe tomatoes

Olive oil

Recipe

1.)    First of all, mix the soft cheese, olives, sundried tomatoes, garlic and oregano in a bowl.

2.)    Next, use a sharp knife to cut a slit along the side of each chicken breast, then stuff with the soft cheese mix.

3.)    Pop on a baking tray and season the chicken. Top with sliced tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil.

4.)    Roast for 20 minutes at 220C, or until the chicken is cooked through entirely.

I served the Italian chicken with roast potatoes, side salad and some crusty bread, plus a bottle of my Portuguese favourite Vinho Verde. The trick with the roast potatoes is too cover in olive oil and season, then cook on a low heat for 2 hours until they are crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle.

Think making a gluten-free dessert is a bit of a challenge? Try this super easy recipe for a chocolate brownie from Delicious and you’ll see how easy it is.

Gluten-free Chocolate Brownie Dessert (makes 6 portions)

Ingredients

100g good quality dark chocolate

3 medium free-range eggs

70g caster sugar

75g ground almonds

25g pecans

1 teaspoon of ground coffee (I used Sainsbury’s Fairtrade Colombian Coffee)

Crème fraiche and raspberries for serving

Recipe

1.)    Use the vegetable oil to grease an 18cm square cake tin.

2.)    Melt the chocolate over a bowl of simmering water, stirring gently.

3.)    Separate the eggs, whisking yolks and sugar until pale.

4.)    Add melted chocolate, almonds, coffee and pecans and stir.

5.)    Whisk the egg whites until they form peaks, then gradually add to the mixture.

6.)    Pop in the oven for 18 minutes at 180C, keeping watch to make sure it doesn’t burn.

7.)    Leave to cool in the tin, then cut into squares and spoon some crème fraiche and raspberries on top to serve.

Let me know if you try out either of the recipes? Enjoy!

A fine day for Foodies

Tags

candy, churros, cider, food festival, foodies festival, jerk chicken, mark greenaway, oyster, oysters, seafood

The sun shone on Inverleith Park for this year’s Foodies Festival. After an initial wander around the labyrinth of stalls, which offered everything from Arbroath smokies to homemade lemonade, I decided to pay a visit to Mark Greenaway’s stand for a spot of lunch.

The choices were lightly smoked pan seared hake fillet, pea salad and tarragon dressing OR 11 hour slow roasted pork belly puffed crackling pomme puree and toffee apple jus. I opted for the latter and happily devoured it whilst lounging on one of the deck chairs in the sun. My friends tucked into some deep fried chocolate yumminess thanks to our old pals Churrio.

To cleanse the palate I treated myself to an award winning Black Dragon cider, courtesy of the Natural Cider Company. Although the tipple wasn’t to everyone’s taste, I enjoyed the aromatic, strong oaky flavour. With 16 different types of cider to choose from, it would have been rude not to, so I followed this up with a Pheasant Plucker, which was cloudy, bubbly and sweet.

I spotted an old chum Emma, who I used to work with at a retro sweetie shop many light years ago. Turns out Emma’s taken the helm at Love Candy, and if you fancy a Refresher Bar, Sherbet Dib Dab or some blueberry liquorice, get yourself down to her cutesy little shop on Hanover Street.

As someone who a) writes a food blog and b) loves all forms of seafood, I probably shouldn’t be admitting this. But I will – I’d never had an oyster before. So I jumped at the chance when I spotted the Caledonian Oyster Co. Farmed in Loch Creran, I don’t think I could have found a better one to lose my oyster virginity too. It tasted exactly as I’d imagined – salty – but the consistency was much softer, and the aftertaste was truly exquisite.

We finished the day with some Jerk Chicken from the Backyard Company, whose stall pumped infectious reggae beats into the late afternoon.

Compared to the Foodies I’d visited a few years ago, the festival really seems to be coming from strength to strength – with more stalls, more variety and more people visiting.

An Easter treat…

Tags

chocolate, creme egg, cuckoo's bakery, easter, treats

A happy hungry weasel Easter to you! If you fancy a little Easter treat get yourself down to the lovely Cuckoo’s Bakery on Dundas Street and indulge in one of these creme egg cupcakes. Even the ganache is creme egg inspired – delicious. Bit sad I have to wait a whole year to enjoy one of these again, but in the meantime I’ll be working my way through some of the other tasty offerings from Cuckoo’s Bakery – Eton mess, caramel shortcake and raspberry ripple cupcakes – oh my!

For Starters

If someone were to ask me where my delight in all things edible came from, I’d probably tell them I have no idea.

But a first blog post that does not maketh. So let’s speculate…

When I was a kid my dad would go on a lot of business trips. Upon his return he wouldn’t bore us with what he’d done, which sights he had seen nor what the hotel was like he’d stayed in. To my dad such things were minor details – it was what he had eaten that mattered.

From the first breakfast to the final supper, he’d give us an in depth run down of everything that had passed his lips. And I can’t help but think that his enthusiasm for food must have passed on to me, a foodie gene if you will.

During my teenage years, my interest in food grew further, but for a very different reason. Five years of illness completely changed the way I thought about health, suddenly the importance of what I put into my body became vitally important.

A little bit of what you fancy does you good, a try anything attitude makes life interesting and giving your body healthy, nutritious food keeps you happy.

I love food mostly because it’s so rooted in our experience of living – we share food with our friends, lovers and neighbours, and a taste can evoke memories of feeling, place or time. We need food to live, but we are also lucky enough to live to love food.

So savour every bite.

And as you savour, don’t forget to take a wee peek at my blog now and then. This hungry weasel’s on the trail of something tasty…