This highly inventive garden is open to the public for only one day a year. Your small window to view the Garden of Cosmic Speculation near Dumfries is this Sunday, 3 May from noon until 5pm. The 30-acre area was designed by Charles Jencks and his late wife Maggie Keswick Jencks. Entry to the garden is £6 with all proceeds going to Maggie’s Centres. The centres are based on principles of
At over eight acres Gordon Castle’s walled garden in Fochabers, near Elgin, is one of the largest and oldest walled gardens in Scotland. Owners Angus Gordon Lennox and his wife Zara have commissioned award-winning garden designer, Arne Maynard to recapture the former beauty of the garden and create a major visitor attraction in the north east of Scotland. The plans, pictured above, certainly show an elegant and handsome garden for
The Scottish Homebuilding & Renovating Show, Scotland’s largest consumer exhibition for self-builders and home renovators is back at the SECC, Glasgow on May 16 – 17 2015. Avocado Sweet has 3 pairs of tickets to be won. The show, sponsored by Anglian Home Improvements, will help visitors bring their project to life whether they are building from scratch, undertaking a major extension, converting or renovating their home or just keen
Welcome to our new series of seafood and fish recipes on Avocado Sweet by Elaine Hardie from Fyfe Smokery, Dunfermline. Here Elaine tells us about Arctic Char – worth considering as an alternative to salmon or trout. Arctic Char The Arctic Char is a fish native to Britain, and is now farmed as a result of ongoing developments in aquaculture since the 1970s. Now that it is being farmed could
Paul Rudge, Reuben’s Wine Store recommends some reds for this summer’s barbecues. Struth, the barbeque season is nearly upon us so it`s time to get the Barbie out of the shed, give it a good clean, get the shorts on, dig out your loudest Hawaiian shirt and you’re ready to go. Whether it is steak, venison sausages or Chilli burgers, those big smoky flavours call for big juicy wines. Many
Air hostess uniforms these days may be less sexist but seem very dull compared with these vintage numbers from the 60s and 70s.
Masterchef has a lot to answer for. Try getting a table at a restaurant where the chef has made it to the semi-finals. Despite Head Chef Brian McLeish’s celebrity status, a table was booked at Moonfish Cafe in Aberdeen. For an aperitif there’s a long list of gins to choose from and the Caorunn Gin, served with apple, distilled at the Belmenach Distillery at the foot of the Cromdale Hills
A metaphorical two fingers to the healthy eating mafia or a side swipe at the popular trends in food art? German artist Rebecca Rutten, aka Becky Fuchs, leaves it open to interpretation. She simply notes that junk food is generally cheaper and more accessible than healthy food.
Mimi, aka Michelle Phillips, wanted to create a cafe and bakery where customers felt like they were being given a big hug. That may sound sugary but the pretty retro decor, designed by Eskimo, does indeed feel comforting and the huge old-fashioned shop counter of generously portioned strawberry cup cakes, rocky roads and millionaire shortbreads is a sight for sore eyes. If none of that works then Scott Clearie, son-in-law
Elaine Hardie was cooking oxcheeks when the gas engineer who was fixing her gas asked her if she’d like to manage the Fyfe Smokery with him. Peter Murphy realised that the oxcheeks were a clue to someone who was obsessed with cooking and food in general and could bring that passion to the independent fish retailer & smokery in Dunfermline, Fife. That was in 2013 after Murphy’s long career as