THE DUST SETTLES

Since my last post on Wednesday 27 August a grand total of 57 days have passed. I should point out that:

7 were spent moving house;
7 were spent launching the new season collection at work (a fashion company);
7 were spent working away in various locations around Scotland;
2 were spent in London;
3 were spent in the Scottish Highlands;
4 were spent being severely hungover;
5 were spent writing features for local magazines;
2 were spent in Glasgow;
1 was spent attending a funeral;
4 were spent being unwell and bedridden...

...respectively.

This leaves 15 days. Realistically I think three posts a week is pretty good going so technically that leaves 9 days. I therefore hereby acknowledge the fact that I have not posted in over a week (it does make sense...). Shame on me. Adapting to a new kitchen with the bulk of my culinary utensils still stuck in transit has been the main source of difficulty but I am taking steps to rectify this matter. My intention was never to be absent for so long, please consider my blogging mojo to be no longer lost.

The three days spent in the highlands was probably the highlight of my absent period. Four friends and I spent a couple of nights in a gorgeous cottage in Taynuilt near Oban. Long walks, cosy wood-burning fires and longer dinners with copius amounts of wine were the order of the day(s) and we had a brilliant time. So much so that we've already got our next mini break in the diary and booked for the end of November.

On the way back we drove through Callander where we stopped for fish and chips at Mhor Fish. This brilliant place won Best Newcomer in this year's prestigious Observer Food Monthly awards:

The accidental chippie. How a very ordinary greasy spoon in a sleepy Perthshire town became the country's finest fish-and-chip shop, the peerless Mhor Fish - complete with sparkling water in the batter and beef dripping in the deep-fat fryer. (OFM March 2008).

This is without a doubt the best 'accidental chippie' I have ever encountered and by far the most stylish. The floor is tiled in classic black and white and the walls washed with muted grey paint and adorned with antlers. A huge fish counter is piled high with seafood freshly caught off the north coast of Scotland and you can choose your preffered method of cooking - grilled, seared, baked or fried.

Fish teas complete with freshly baked buttered bread and the proverbial mug of piping hot liquid were ordered, my haddock steamed beautifully and moist inside it's batter shell and the chips deep fried in beef dripping. It is without exaggeration that I say these chips were simply perfect: golden, crispy and soft and fluffy inside.We ate greedily and in silence punctuated only by vows to return. I heart Mhor Fish.