Hi Henri (and Joan) and welcome to Ron's wonderful Islay forum. It sounds like you had a fantastic trip... how long were you over here for? You certainly seem to have covered a lot of the country... and visited a lot of tea rooms! I'm now in the mood for a scone with jam and cream myself
I hope on your next trip you get a chance to see Iona, its certainly worth taking the time out to see. And Jura is a must in my opinion... hopefully the passenger ferry across to the island as reported on Ron's weblog will prove feasible and it won't be necessary to go to Jura via Islay! Not that there is anything wrong with Islay of course!
Anyway, I look forward to reading more of your comments and hearing from Joan too. And no doubt a meeting with Ron may happen one day, after all he is a regular visitor to Scotland and I can say that, having met him myself, he's a genuinely nice guy! ok the fact he loves Scotland helps!
Hi Henri, many thanks for your introduction and welcome to my Islay forum. You might be surprised that I'm not an Ileach myself although I try to spend as much time as possible on Islay. I am based in the Netherlands, for now, and perhaps sometime I can make the move to Scotland and preferrably Islay. For me it's the most wonderful place I know and I do my best to get that message across through the website. You will find here lots of like-minded people who all have great (Islay) stories to tell
I'm sorry that I can't send you a scone but perhaps a recipe will do the trick? Here it is:
Recipe for Scones
Ingredients:
8oz/250g or two cups of self raising flower (Or "all-purpose" flour with 3 teaspoons baking powder in North America)
1 oz/25g (¼ stick) of butter or margarine.
¼ pint (140ml or half to ¾ cup) sour cream
One beaten egg
Pinch of salt
Method:
Preheat the oven to 400F/200C/Gas Mark 6.
Sift the dry ingredients together and then rub in the butter. Pour in the sour cream and then the beaten egg in the centre of the mixture and mix to obtain a soft elastic dough. Turn out onto a floured surface and roll out to about ½ inch (1.2cm) thick. Prick over with a fork and cut into small rounds with a cutter about 1½ inches (3.8cm) in diameter. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes.
Have fun baking and enjoy eating (i'm a fan of them as well and they are relatively easy to make)
Now we are into scones!!!!!
I`ll challenge you with my scones but I just guess at quantities altho` I have rough guide. I often make them for friends but in the last 12 months have taken orders and donations for a family I sponsor in Albania. It has raised quite a substantial amount so they can`t be bad!!! Pity you are both not round the corner or I would have been round in 5 minutes!!!
@Ann,
Ooops Ann, one day too late. But anyway a very nice birthday to you of course.
I think we have a band because of we love Islay so much.
And I hope that your birthday on Islay is one of the unforgettable birthdays in your lifetime.
Theo
Quote by: magsPity you are both not round the corner or I would have been round in 5 minutes!!!
That is with fresh baken scones? If they are that good I might consider moving to Manchester
Maybe you like to post your recipe here as well Margaret, we could probably learn something from you
Hi, I am danny, and a Scotland/islay and Whisky lover. I live in Belgium with my wife and 2 kids . I was on slay 2 years ago, and next year i will visit islay again with 3 friends and one of my sons. I am looking forward to it, and hopefully I can meet some of you. Slainthe Math.
Quote by: Singlemalt-DannyHi, I am danny, and a Scotland/islay and Whisky lover. I live in Belgium with my wife and 2 kids . I was on slay 2 years ago, and next year i will visit islay again with 3 friends and one of my sons. I am looking forward to it, and hopefully I can meet some of you. Slainthe Math.
Hi Danny, thanks for signing up and a warm welcome to my wee Islay forum. Will you be visiting Islay during the festival in May next year?
Hi Ron,
Having been to Islay this June for 20 days, I'm happy to have found this site to talk about Islay with Islay-yers and whatever else about Scotland comes to mind. We live in Kelowna BC, Canada and I am a French-Canadian by birth. I'm sure that Joan will blog here also. So what is a 68 year old frenchie doing here? Well, my wife is a McDougall and her gt-gt grandfather and gt-grandfather were farmers on Islay on a farm named Torrodale near Ardbeg. While there, we visited the old stone house they occupied in the mid 19th century. It is but a ruin now.
In June, we spent 4 days on Islay, hardly enough time to really savour what the island has to offer. So we are planning a return next year. We also spent some time in Oban, land of the McDougalls. We saw Dunollie and Dunstaffnage Castles and visited the McDougall Collection in Connell. We also paid visits to other islands, Mull, Skye, Seil. Sadly, our trip to Iona did not work out because of bus and ferry schedules. Major cities were Inverness, Perth, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow. An important aspect of the trip for me was to visit as many tea rooms as possible and savour scones with butter, cream and jam. I'd kill for one right now. Ron, please send me a scone. Even had a scone at the Scone Palace. Totally enjoyed our three days in Glasgow at the end of our tour and went to tea rooms designed by MacIntosh the architect......for more scones. We hit golf balls at the St. Andrews driving range one misty morning, couldnt see 100 yards. Didn't have scone there, too much in a hurry.
Our favourite areas are the Inner Hebrides and Islay in particular. However, mysterious Jura was beckoning and wished we had the time to visit the land of the Paps. Next time..........
Well, that's all for now. Ron, your site is fantastic and its quality tells a lot of good things about you. Maybe some day we will meet.
Henri
Henri