Food and drink

Bankhead Farm Shop, Crombie, near Dunfermline, Fife

The Bankhead Farm Shop is popular with men according to the owner, Nancy Wishart. There’s no cafe, no gift shop and no supermarket crowds and no temptation for impulse buys, so, as Nancy points out, ‘you can’t overspend’. That’s because Bankhead, near the villages of Crombie and Cairneyhill in Fife, is very much a working farm, that just happens to have a shop, not a destination cafe or lifestyle shop

Win tickets to the Good Food Show Scotland!!!

We have a pair of tickets to the Good Food Show Scotland to give away in our tasty, free-to-enter competition. The show is on at the SECC Glasgow from 6-8 November and tickets normally cost over £20 each. There’s lots for the food lover to do at the show: you can see your favourite celebrity chef cooking live  – Paul Hollywood, Mary Berry, Michel Roux Jr, James Martin and Tom Kitchin

The Court House, Kinross; coffee bar and restaurant

The Court House Coffee Bar & Restaurant in Kinross, Perthshire opened in Spring 2015.  The two local entrepreneurs, Jamie Fraser and Gerry Alexander, who started the restaurant, have created a lovely interior from the former Court House. Although it’s a long time since it was a court house – the last case was in 1977 – the history does provide a good back story. For instance, the room now used

Easy peasy lemon squeezy; simple lemon sauce for fish

Our latest fish recipe from Elaine Hardie at Fyfe Smokery, Dunfermline could not be easier. Here is a wee recipe that will go well with sole or plaice. Plaice is plentiful just now, so the price is good. The fillets should be dusted with seasoned flour, then pan fried in butter till flaking. Keep the fillets warm till you make the lemon butter sauce: Whisk together 50g unsalted butter, 1.5

The low down on Beaujolais

Beaujolais by Paul Rudge, Reubens Wine Store, Dunfermline, Fife Geographically, Beaujolais is part of Burgundy, but from the wine point of view there seems little logic in the association between the Côte d`Or and the pretty, hilly, granite band of Beaujolais vineyards that run along the west bank of the Saone towards Lyon. With annual production sitting at 133 million bottles you’d think the region would be dominated by factory

Ryder Cup, T in the Park and now Corbie & Cheip, Auchterarder

Ryder Cup, Gleneagles, T in the Park and there is now another reason to pay a visit to Auchterarder in Perthshire. Corbie & Cheip is a new deli and cafe opening on the 16th of September. From November onwards the deli will also open in the evenings serving  wine, charcuterie and cheese platters. Corbie & Cheip is the brainchild of German born Anne Schaeflein who has lived in Scotland for

Orange Crumb Salmon by Fyfe Smokery

Today, Elaine Hardie from Fyfe Smokery in Dunfermline brings Avocado Sweet readers her latest recipe. This really simple dish works well for both salmon and trout.  Salmon is mostly farmed nowadays, and therefore it is sustainable and has no impact on wild fish stocks. It is more affordable than ever, so is ideal for a dinner party when feeding a crowd. Try doing this recipe in one whole side of

Innis & Gunn opens first pub in Edinburgh

Innis & Gunn opened their first pub on Lothian Road in Edinburgh on Friday 24 July. Fans will be able to buy their beer fresh from the brewery along with pub grub at The Beer Kitchen, a welcome addition to Lothian Road. In years gone by the area was never viewed as a going out destination but, with the opening of Red Squirrel and The Hanging Bat, and now The Beer Kitchen,

Classic Italian recipe from Fyfe Smokery, Dunfermline

If you’ve just been on holiday to Italy you might want to re-capture some of that holiday spirit by making Spaghetti alle vongole at home. Here Elaine Hardie from the Fyfe Smokery, Dunfermline, tells us how. Spaghetti alle vongole. Clams are very popular the length and breadth of Italy, and simple recipes allow the main ingredient to shine, the lovely little bi-cuspid clams. They would generally choose pallourde clams, with

Strapping sheep shearers plus food and drink! It’s the Royal Highland Show

Strapping sheep shearers, horsemen and women wearing impossibly fitted clothes, and quack commandos rounded up by a blind sheep dog, are some of the eclectic combination of attractions at the 2015 Royal Highland Show running until Sunday 21 June. Here at Avocado Sweet however, we try not to be too undignified in our rush to the food hall, now known as Scotland’s Larder Live.   The event hosts over 100 food and