Comfort Food: Scottish Style

(For Hannah)

It's been one of those weeks where every once in a while you just need a warm blanket, an episode of Twin Peaks, and a big bowl of popcorn. OK, that's true of almost every night this week - but the point is, sometimes the familiar is pretty awesome around here. Between my first long hours at Smarthinking, tons of talks and classes for Matt, a stubborn sore throat, and some news from the States that really puts the distance in perspective - there's been a serious need for comfort food around here. And when I want comfort food, there's only one meal that will suffice.



Steak. Tater Tots. Caesar Salad.

When we went to Tesco, it seemed like we were pretty focused. Finding peppered "grillsteaks" on sale, a bag of what appeared to be ginormous tater tots in the freezer section, some romaine, and a cheap bottle of dressing sealed our decision for dinner.

Of course, once we got home it appeared that in my quest for milk I had mislaid one package of steak and the caesar dressing somewhere in the dairy aisle. So, the salad was out. Next, we noticed that the "tater tots" were called croquettes. Whatever, seasoned chunks of potatoes are all the same - right? We started cooking.




Turns out, croquettes are NOT tater tots, romaine lettuce is pretty boring without caesar dressing, and grillsteaks aren't actually "steak," but rather some sort of ground beef-ish meat molded into a steak form. OK, Scotland.

On the upside, croquettes are actually a pretty perfect food because the outside is like a tot (crisp and seasoned) and the inside is...MASHED POTATOES! Oh yes, I am in love. But still...different. Not tots.

So, it seems that things are actually different here, who knew?



Maybe the fact that this view is pretty much down the street should have clued us in. Tots or no tots, this place is pretty incredible.