Stripping

For once I’ve been singing the praises of previous tradesmen at the Spread. I’m very grateful to the people who decorated the old breakfast room on the ground floor. I’m very grateful to the person who stuck the wallpaper on top of the grain varnish, to the person who painted the grain varnish on top of the white paint and the person who applied the white paint without bothering to sand off the shiny varnish on the wooden panelling.
A quick scrape with a chisel and the whole lot comes off at once - right back to the bare wood.

We also got a redundant heating pipe cut out yesterday. It wasn’t taken out when the new heating system was put in because it was deemed too difficult. It was difficult, but not impossibly so. We’re going to paint the room white and yellow same as the front hall. And we’re going to put up new curtains, re-cover the chairs and use the room for bar lunches.

Miss Frances appears completely unconcerned with all this activity…

Flattened

I’ve probably mentioned the Crook Inn before. Along with the Kings House Hotel in Glencoe and some place in Jedburgh, it was licensed in 1604 - the year licenses were introduced in Scotland. Now it’s in the news for all the wrong reasons: it’s closed and there are plans to convert it into flats.

Which will probably make the owner a good deal more money than it would as an inn. When we bought the Spread Eagle, the public bar didn’t open at all on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. We can see why - takings range from £40 (a good day) to £0 (a wet Tuesday in January last year). Although we have bar staff from 12 - 3, her primary job - one that she’s very good at.- is as receptionist. The introduction of bar lunches (around Easter) will bring in more customers and give her something more to do.

Backup

It’s nice living in the country. We have mains electricity. Sometimes. Yesterday evening we were treated to a series of computer-threatening mains dips which prompted me to haul the emergency generator out of the old boiler shed and test it.

You’re supposed to test these generators once a month to check that they will start when needed. So when did we last test the generator? Err, February last year. Never mind, it’s a Honda - it’ll start…

…on the fortieth/fiftieth pull of the starting cord. That’s my new year workout then. In the event the generator wasn’t needed although a restart of both our wireless access points was. Oh and the little tv relay at the end of the valley decided to lie down and die (metaphorically) so the guests have no tv in their rooms.

Guests? Yes! we have guests. One of the local shops (for local people) is being renovated so we have some joiners staying with us. We don’t see much of them since they’re working nights. There are four other folk staying tonight two of whom want early breakfasts hence the unsociable time of this post.

Thanks for your comment Duncan - yes, I see what you mean. Fortunately it doesn’t taste like baked beans and cream! Your company continues to provide us with business - thank you! Meanwhile we have parted company with visitscotland.

Twas a dark and stormy night…

at least here in Jed it was, and that’s unusual. Because the Jed valley is very deep most of the weather goes whistling over the top. The only time we’re likely to get strong winds here is if the wind is in the North…

…or the South which is where it was last night and gusting up to 80Kph according to accuweather. I’ll be surprised if daylight doesn’t reveal the odd fallen tree.

We’re almost full - with five people. Five singles, three of whom are joiners working locally. They’re with us for four weeks. That’s welcome since after the New Year period we had no bookings at all until May. We’ve put a reduced rate on our double and twin rooms (£55 Fri - Sun and £50 through the week) and that’s already brought in several bookings. Sadly we’re not doing dinners just now. Looking after young Frances is taking all the free time we have and trying to chop vegetables after four hours sleep is a recipe for missing fingers. We hope to recommence evening meals in March.

New Year Recipe

Here’s a recipe for Sticky Toffee Sauce, principally for the benefit of Miss Williams. Please be advised that it continues my reputation for precision cooking:

Ingredients

Demerara sugar - Quite a lot
Butter - a bit
Brandy - a splash
Cream - some. And possibly then some more.

Method:
Get a heavy bottomed pan - this one will do

Put the sugar into the pan

and place over a high heat until it just begins to melt (the sugar, not the pan)
Turn the heat down a bit and stir gently until the sugar is liquid. If it’s a little granular at this point it doesn’t matter too much.

Turn the heat low and add some brandy.

Though possibly not like this. Bear in mind the sugar will bubble furiously when the brandy hits it.

Take the pan off the heat and add some butter

You might have to put it back on the heat if it’s getting too solid at this point.
Now add some cream

in a carefully controlled manner

The sauce may still be very slightly granular but that will usually have disappeared by the time it’s cooled.
If the sauce is too thick when cold, reheat and add a bit more cream. Keeps pretty well indefinitely and can be reheated as often as you like.

Recipes that involve heating dry sugar don’t feature in domestic cookery books much because everything happens rather quickly and you go from caramelised to black and smoking in double quick time. If you are of a nervous disposition you can mix the sugar with a bit of water before heating.