A Mess in the Ness 2014 recap (September – December)

To finish 2014, I thought I’d do a round up of the year and what I’ve got up to. Looking back,  I can’t believe all the fun stuff I was able to do this year! Here’s a recap from September to December (see a post here for Jan-April and here for May-August)

September was a busy month! I had a fab reunion weekend with ex-work colleagues in London complete with literary walking tour, which was lots of fun, I felt like a real tourist for a change (which was strange considering I lived in London for 8 years!). I also had a absolutely fabulous meal at Honey & Co which I daydream about every so often – it was that good!

I co-organised the first Let’s Bake Inverness event with Kirsty, and got stressed out making macaroons using mashed potato!

The end of the year actually really did have a bit of a foodie theme, as there was lots of baking. One afternoon in September I assisted Elizabeth (from Capability Browns/The Wee Croft Shop) in wrapping close to 500 plum duffs ready for a food show in Glasgow. It was a very fun afternoon and only this week did we get a taste of a plum duff as we ordered one in place of our usual Christmas pudding. At the beginning of September I was very lucky to see a kitchen demo from Victor and Carina Contini over in Nairn, which was part of the Nairn Book & Arts Festival. And in November I went to the Highland & Moray Food and Drink Festival which included three demos from local highland chefs, and quite a few new purchases of local food and drink items.

However, the biggest trip of the autumn (and of the year) was to the USA! Celebrating my 30th birthday in style, we went to Chicago, Boston, New York and Washington. It was a very special birthday holiday! (See all of the blog posts from the trip by searching for ‘Our Big US trip’ in the search bar above).

The end of the year was understandably a little quieter, but I still packed in some preparations for Christmas – a very quick glitter craft, a chocolate gift that can be whizzed up in minutes, and some festive bundt baking for the second meeting of Let’s Bake Inverness.

So, there you have it  – I’ve had some brilliant experiences and met some equally brilliant people in 2014. Bring on 2015!