We rapidly
near the time when once again we welcome the New Year and it is appropriate
to offer best wishes for 2007 to all visitors to The Flag and this feature
in particular –
A Guid New Year ti Ane an Aw
An monie mey ye see.
This
week we have a look at some Scottish Toasts which you might wish to use on
Tuesday 1 January, beginning with –
Here’s tae us, Wha’s like us.
To which
can be added the line –
Damn few and they’re aw deid.
Or you
could use the simple but effective –
Lang mey yir lum reek!
This
well-known toast simply means ‘long may your chimney smoke; and in spite of
living in an era when open fires in home get fewer and fewer, the toast
remains very popular,
The
Jacobites left us a toast that you might find very useful at Hogmanay –
Here’s a health to them that’s awa,
Here’s a health to them that’s awa,
Here’s a health to them that were here shortsyne,
An canna be here today.
Or you
might be tempted with the Shetlandic toast –
Yule gude an Yule gear
Follow da troo da year.
It looks as
if New Year 2007 will be snow free in Scotland but this week’s recipe gives
you a snowball for enjoyment and not throwing! Enjoy a Scottish Snowball as
you Hansel in 2007.
Scottish Snowball
Ingredients: 8oz self-raising flour; 8oz icing sugar; 3oz
margarine; 2-3oz desiccated coconut; 3oz caster sugar; pinch of salt; 1 egg
and 1 egg yolk
Method:
Preheat oven to 200 deg C/400 deg F/Gas 6. Stir the flour, sugar
and salt together, Rub in the margarine and mix to a stiff dough with the
egg and egg yolk. Turn on to a work surface and press into a flat cake. Cut
into quarters and divide each quarter into 5 pieces, rolling each piece into
a ball. Set 20 pieces on a greased baking tray. Bake for 15 minutes and
allow to cool. Sandwich the cakes in pairs using a stiff icing made by 1
dessertspoon water to 4oz of icing sugar. Make a thinner coating by adding 3
dessertspoons water to the remaining 4oz icing sugar. Dip the cakes in the
icing, removing the excess with a pastry brush. Roll in desiccated coconut
and leave icing to set. Makes 10.
