A quiet one

Not much to report this week - we’ve had a fairly quiet weekend to make up for the rest of the year looking pretty busy! I’m looking forward to all the busyness, though I’ve yet to work out when I’m fitting in Christmas shopping 😏
No cycling this week, just a couple of beers and a cafe trip. On Friday night I enjoyed a bottle of Campfire Porter by Box Social, a sweet, coffee porter that was delicious but didn’t quite hit the toasted marshmallow it promised. They have pretty much the most hipster branding I’ve seen (in a crowded field) but I’ll let them off since they’re based in Newburn 😉

I fancied something lighter on Saturday night to go with tea, so picked up a bottle of Good Times by Williams Brothers, who are one of the bigger, more established independent breweries I know of, with a pretty wide range of beers available in supermarkets and decent pubs you wouldn’t associate with ‘craft beer’ as such. Their Heather ale, Fraoch, is one of my favourites, even if I’m never confident on the pronunciation! I hadn’t tried this one before, but it turned out to be a good choice. A lightly floral pale golden ale, it complemented the spinach and ricotta cannelloni we had very well. I do like their label designs:

As an aside, even this supermarket purchase worked out at (I think) about 75p per unit, so well above the Scottish Government’s minimum unit price of 50p, and that was despite being on a price offer. It’s obviously a controversial policy but one I fully support, probably more robustly than was really necessary on social media to be honest. It is baffling to see dyed in the wool lefties making the same arguments against it as the Adam Smith Institute, and Rod Liddell on Question Time, but I think it shows how entrenched heavy drinking is in certain quarters.  Unsurprisingly, I have a reputation for being a beer lover, but the actual amount I drink is well within what’s considered healthy limits, so it’s been eye opening realising what some people think of as moderate alcohol intake...

Today we wandered into town for coffee and cake. Empire State Coffee must have been open a couple of years now, but this was our first visit. I’ve bought takeaway coffee from their new cafe in Broughty Ferry, so had an idea what to expect, plus I suspect it’s run by the same folk as the ‘secret’ bar! Downstairs was busy so we ordered and found a table upstairs. I’ve never been to the States, so I couldn’t say whether they succeed at creating a New York vibe, but the carrot cake was decent enough, and I enjoyed my chai latte. It was certainly busy. We might have to back for pizza, which they serve in the evening.

Winter cycling

Just been looking at photos and realised I didn't post last week, so this will be a two weeks for the price of one post.
It's definitely turned cold, but we've been lucky to have two consecutive weekends of the kind of crisp, sunny November weather that make you want to wrap up warm and get outside - or is that just me? Dave was full of cold last weekend, so on Saturday afternoon I took myself off for a wander into Broughty Ferry for a nosy round the shops. I did take a couple of photos for the black and white photo challenge that's currently doing the rounds:

Sunday looked promising weatherwise so I decided to get the bike out and do a ride I've not done in a while - Carrot Hill. It's a bit of a killer but figured it would be worth it to get some nice autumnal photos. I hadn't really accounted for the bitingly cold north wind, which certainly added to the challenge! I bumped into a friend from work in the car park at the top - she'd been for a walk with the family so good to know I wasn't the only one braving the cold! I considered stopping for a coffee at Dobbies but by the time I got there it was so close to lunch time I just headed sraight home.

Curried spinach and egg with pitta bread from the Hairy Dieters veggie cook book - I'll defintely be making this again as it was really tasty! I stood for ages at the junction of the road down to Dobbies watching a flock of geese flying around and making a right old racket. You can probably just make them out in the first picture, in front of Dundee Law. I've had a cold all week, but I think I would have caught it off Dave whether or not I'd gone out cycling in the cold!
Sunday was 5th November so we headed along to Baxter Park for the fireworks:

Dave was feeling better today so we cycled over to Fife for lunch at a new cafe that's opened up just near Tentsmuir Forest. Dave had been before with the bike club, but I missed that ride so it was my first visit. It's in a converted barn, and they've kept it pretty rustic looking. It was lovely and cosy, and busy with walkers and cyclists when we arrived. I had a tasty sausage and egg roll, followed by a slice of coffee cake, and my first gingerbread latte of the season!

We'd opted for a circular route, going through Newport and Wormit then on to St Michaels and Leuchars, but we hadn't factored in the Remembrance Sunday ceremony in Newport, which meant we were diverted up a bit of a steep hill - good job I've had my bike serviced and the gears are working well! The wind had picked up by the time we set off back through Tayport, so the ride back over the Tay road bridge was a bit of a slog - I was definitely glad to get home for a cuppa and a hot shower!

On the beer front, I've reached that time of year when I mostly drink porters and other dark beers, and I've had some good ones from the stash I picked up last time we were in Newcastle.

The top one's a salted caramel porter and the Sublime Chaos is a coffee laden breakfast stout. Both quite sweet and creamy. I should say I drank them a week apart - I think  they'd be a bit much to drink in one sitting!