Confessions of a haggis smuggler

Shortbread success at last

Today I made shortbread without burning it!  It was only a bit damaged when I loosened it from the pan with a knife.

Shortbread!

It’s a good thing, too, because lately I have been wondering if being half-Scottish means I’m literally only half Scottish, like a hermaphrodite (in which case, which of my arms is Scottish?  Which of my legs?  etc.) or if Scottishness is sufficiently pungent to permeate my being even though it only came from one parent.

Since the final success of the shortbread, I’m leaning more towards the permeating-my-being theory.

The thistle design didn’t come out that crisply detailed, but I suspect this is because I put corn meal in to add texture and it made those coarse holes.  With rice flour I bet it would take the design better, but rice flour is hard to get here while corn meal couldn’t be easier.

Here’s my Shortbread recipe:

• 150 grams butter, room temperature (I hacked off slightly more than half of a 250 gram brick)
• 100 grams caster sugar (I used American measuring cups – 1/2 cup)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 50 grams ( 1/4 cup) corn meal or rice flour
• 250 grams (1 cup) flour

Cream the caster sugar and salt into the butter.  Slowly add the corn flour while mixing with a spoon and then the flour, slowly, mix and mix until it goes through the stage of looking like crumbly pie crust and starts to stick together.   The corn meal or rice flour and the salt are optional but make a big difference to texture and flavor.

You can chill it before you press it into the mold.  Some say this makes the design come out better.

If you haven’t used the pan before, OIL IT!  Or the shortbread will stick.

Glob it into the pan and hammer it down with your hands as firm as you can for the best design.  When it’s smooth and even, prick it all over with a fork then bake in a 150 degree oven for about 30 minutes.  I had to use the bottom rack to keep the top from overbrowning.

Remove the pan from the oven, let cool 3-5 minutes, then loosen the sides with a knife and turn out the pan over a cutting board.  If the shortbread doesn’t pop out, tap it firmly against the side of the board.  Cut into wedges with a big sharp knife while still warm.

Tastes even better the next day.

Makes 8 wedges.

Shortbread woes

Today I made some shortbread, ruining it in the process.

Stuck to the pan when I tried to turn it out.

What happened? I’m not entirely sure, but I think it’s undercooked. I took it out of the oven early, because the top of it was getting brown and I was afraid of burning it, like I did last time.

Looking a bit brown there

I used a lower oven temp than last time, 150 C instead of 180, but that didn’t stop the top from overbrowning.

The recipe said put it in on a rack in the middle of the oven, so I did, but maybe I should put it nearer the bottom, or cover it with some foil while it’s baking. Looking at the other side, it’s clear that the exposed side is getting too dark while the side covered by the pan isn’t cooked all the way through.

It cut up into pieces OK and it tastes OK, even if slightly undercooked, it just LOOKS bad.

Who knew there were so many ways to ruin shortbread?
And what kind of a (half) Scot am I if I can’t even make a decent pan of shortbread?

I really should be painting, anyway.

Artwork of the Day: Lily McDougall

The Headscarf by Lily McDougall.  Source

Lily Martha Maud McDOUGALL 1875 – 1958

Born in Glasgow in 1875, Lily Martha Maud McDougall studied in Edinburgh and Antwerp, and later lived in Paris from 1900-4. She exhibited with the Society of Scottish Artists, as one of the first women to be permitted entry, and at the Glasgow Institute. She was best known for her still-life and flower studies in oil and watercolour.
From ExploreArt at Gracefield Arts Centre.

 

I feature art made by women on the Twitter hashtag #womenartists.

Artwork of the Day: Joan Eardley

Catterline in Winter by Joan Eardley.

Joan Eardley (1921-1963)  was a lesbian Scottish artist.  More about her life in this newspaper story and this video below:

Quote of the Day: The Trashcan Sinatras on Scottish independence

Like you needed another reason to love the Trashcan Sinatras:

It has always been a source of frustration to me that the generally socially conscious, community based, fair minded voting patterns of Scotland have been relatively futile in impact. In fact, for the majority of my life, Scotland has been governed by non socially conscious governments. It felt awful and frustrating to live through, still does, and now there is a chance, one chance, to take what will always be, to some degree, a leap in the dark and take hold of complete autonomy for ourselves.

John Douglas from the Trashcan Sinatras

Please read the rest of John’s eloquent statement at the Eddi Reader, here.

And here’s one of my favorite songs by the Trashcan Sinatras.  Brilliant, brilliant band.

Sunday Scottish reading

Beautiful Scottish shortbread. Source

If you’ve followed me on Twitter you’ll know I support Scottish independence.  I for one have had it with Scots people being treated like second-class citizens, discriminated against for their origin and their accents.

I’m not interested in giving a platform to Unionists on my blog.  Why should I, when they have the whole UK mainstream media on their side, clamoring about how everyone’s Bitter Together?  There are people who actually believe the Scottish Clearances were a humanitarian effort, too, but that doesn’t make it true.

Britain is busy dismantling the NHS, slashing benefits,  and otherwise running the UK into the ground;  Scotland’s best chance is to jump that sinking ship and strike out on its own.

Go read this link.  It has stories about Scottish independence and is free to read.

Yes Scotland has a website here.

The recipe for this beautiful Scottish shortbread pictured above, plus the thistle-patterned pan used to make it, can be found here.  Enjoy.

Artwork of the Day: Keith Salmon

Snow Shower on the Slopes of Ben Loyal, Sutherland, by Keith Salmon.   Source

I’ve been experimenting with acrylic and pastel myself lately, so I was pleased to find this lovely atmospheric work on my twitter timeline yesterday.  I love the sense of movement and the flickering effect of the snow.

It is by Keith Salmon, a British artist who is legally blind.

Happy birthday, Richard Jobson

Happy birthday to Richard Jobson, punk hero of my childhood, who was born on this day in 1960.   Please join me in wishing him many happy returns.

And for your enjoyment, here is my personal favorite Armoury Show video.  It’s from a show called The Tube in 1985.

The gold lame!  The hat!  The GUM!

You have not lived until you have seen this.

.

Wayland’s encore

This just in!!

Richard Jobson looking very serious

Wayland’s Song, the new film by punk turned film director Richard Jobson is already wrapped.  But I’ve just heard from Jobson that he is still shooting more footage on a train today – he explained it was for more “nourish effect”.  I asked him why he is still shooting, and he breezily answered, “Never finished”.

The man is obsessed.  I can respect that.  I may never know what “nourish effect” means, though.

Update #2!! (July 27th)

Richard just told me that the character of Wayland,  played by Michael Nardone, is an epileptic.

Here you can read about what I know about Wayland’s Song up to today.

Jobson has two websites that I know of:  No Bad Films and RichardJobson.com.

– Signing off as M.K. Hajdin,  Richard Jobson’s unofficial publicist.