The Big Day
Part 1
I land back in Stornoway after some work away on the 30th of October, looking forward to the new ‘Niseach Bakes’ getting its grand opening for Halloween after being closed for 3 months while the new shed was being designed and constructed, the time frame was perfect as it had to open there, then and ready to sell some delicious bakes and treats, that was the target. I wanted this shed to be long lasting and fit for purpose, looking at it from a business point of view as a double-glazed door and finished with UPVC, specifically made around my design but, it does not come cheap, so had to begin getting some returns, now business hat off.
So, I am not long off the plane and now in the supermarket, still trying to decide whether to purchase a pumpkin to carve but soon came to the solid conclusion that time was not a factor in this nostalgic idea, the reminiscing of child food fantasies and that pumpkin would be best dispersed with in some kind of ravioli with Amaretti biscuits or a nutritious comforting soup. The fact that we were used to carving the humble snepe when we were kids, snepes grown on the croft, no safety scissors or carving knives, very little parental control, trying to hack away at one of them solid spheres.
Very quickly I am startled with a different kind of winter seasoning, a mixed festive seasoning in the shape of selection boxes (noooooooooo!) we haven’t got to the 30th of November yet. This American tradition which has really made its way across the pond is now a big thing here and is enjoyed by many which includes the Halloween trail in Ness where people go out of there way to decorate and have some spooky treats, where the kids have a chance to follow a Halloween trail/map across Ness’s 16 villages (I await correction on that number of villages. I manage to snap out of this fragmented moment in what appears to be a glitch in the space time continuum and now back to the 30th of October in Stornoway
The Big Day
Part 2
’25 days to go, 15 days to go, 10 days to go, 5 days to go…’ is whats being pumped out of the radio. Fair enough, they had there grand opening to the festivities on the 1st of December with Christmas songs, but then the up front and personal yet innocent question come from people that you meet, “Are you organised for the big day?” Through gritted teeth comes a feeble response of yes, getting there, we only and still have to buy for everyone and there dog but still have to make time for visiting people that I haven’t had the chance to see the rest of the year and try and pack them visits into one day.
I sound ungrateful but the fact is that The Niseach Chef and the business has really taken off to the extent that its very much full on, not just the weekends or the events themselves but the menus, planning and preparation involved, it is intense, hard, full on, exhausting and I love it.
We all live and work hard, everything has to happen now, everyone has their phone on them, strapped on them, regardless of where they are, if you don’t answer on peoples first attempt, they ask where you were, is everything ok, everyone is just a moment, no sorry a glitch away from each other and that is the norm.
Not one Christmas card through the post. I began thinking that the posties must have shoved them in the post box at the bottom of the drive, but to be fair, our posties are not like that they deliver up the drive to the door and are actually very goods along with every delivery drivers, ok an OVO energy and postcode lottery letter in the box I can turn a blind eye to. Besides, social media has everyone’s Christmas and New years advertising for them, including me and my posts.
My reasoning in writing this post is many. Firstly, I would like to be writing more of them and getting back to the videos through requests of people I meet, although time is the major factor in this. Having said that, even 20 minutes a day would yield results.
As much as I enjoy Christmas, the build up, the magic of it, ok we say its all about the kids but secretly we love it. The switching on of the lights when people and families come together, the putting up of the Christmas tree and decorations, the arguing over what lights are best to purchase, perhaps warm glow, super bright, twinkling, flashing. Me personally I like the coloured lights, seen as common compared to the white lights and be more in the way of tradition in comparing to the stars in the night sky, but me being common, I shall stick to what I believe.
Gifts this year were kept simple and really for our nieces. Secret Santa worked perfectly, it works well in the way of that one’s energy is really focused on a gift that is practical and means that more to someone rather than diluting one’s ideas and thoughts with meaningless crap. The other reason in being a bit more frugal this year is that we have a couple of projects in the pipeline and rather than being frivolous, we think a bit smarter where we still meet up as a family, enjoy simple food done well, nice wine, a bloody good laugh and reminisce on days gone by.
The Big Day
Part 3
Why do people go mad at this time of year. Is it the festive feel, being full of festive cheer and excitement. I understand that a lot of people perhaps don’t get the chance to get into the town often or perhaps leave things to the last minute. As I try to navigate around the car park of a well-known supermarket, round, round and around I go and once more while being careful of the clowns that come around the corners at a rapid speed, the ones that ignore or perhaps unaware of the pedestrian crossing, idiots!
Then on entry, the rush, chaos, madness, greed, gluttony . Trolleys filled over the legal requirement for what they are built for. One person pushing and trying to navigate two trolleys on there own, the ones who have perhaps forgot a couple of things, the Ferrero Rochers, cranberry sauce maybe.
My advice would be to, on the lead up, make your lists early, put your menu together, make a list of who you are buying for, write down a feeble note of remembrance through the year and then when your doing your shopping in November or even earlier, add one or two items that you know you’re going to need and tick it of the list. I will let you into a little secret, they sell cranberry sauce and Ferrero Rochers all year round, plus most other things that people go crazy for.
The good thing about this time of year is when people really move into the town and the local shops get that well deserved burst. The way that our little town deserves to keep it going, our little Metropolis.
As I sat waiting in the car park off to the side on Christmas Eve as there were no parking bays available, seeing the same cars going round multiple times was painful but balanced out with the fact they were going off to support our little high street compared to the ones who order things through a well known Forestry Business that most presents ordered online are making no appearance on time.
This is where I will put it out there now, regardless of how busy we are, I think that we all can spare a little time to make our way in to the town to peruse in advance, perhaps have a little think, I believe that people would find not just what they are looking for but get further inspiration and hopefully make a little purchase in our little town. Rumour has it, when a little purchase is made in our town, hight street or local shop, an Angel gets its wings
The Big Day
Part 4
I am told I rabbit on a lot, yes, I probably do, especially when it comes to food, but this is different. This festive season has not only opened my eyes but changed things. My first draft was just putting thoughts down, the second reading was adding more thoughts, the third was deleting things that did not make sense and the fourth was putting it to my boss Kirsty, who tears it apart. (Fun fact, I didn’t tear it apart – I’m going to award 10 points to the person who can tell me how many commas Allan used in this blog!!)
The real reason for writing this blog is because of what I seen when I dropped off some items to the food bank in Stornoway. I’ve only heard some stories about the bank. Would you believe it also if I said that there have been negative comments. I’m sure like most things, people love to get their tuppence worth in and on the other side there maybe those who work the system, Regardless, me being unaware of what the food bank do I think these kind of comments come from who have not witnessed what I saw that day and no nothing more than excessive spoilage on there behalf.
I spent about half an hour talking to the volunteers and in that time there was already an excessive amount of needed volunteers there, putting together some Santa sacks for the children and all the other taskings they had on that day, then you add myself and Kirsty into the equation, it became apparent for those coming through the door, already overwhelmed with their countless thoughts and feelings of having to walk through that door can easily be overwhelmed.
Now having a better understanding of how the food bank could and is almost available to anyone regardless of where one is in life. Things can change very quickly regardless of how comfortable, and I mean comfortable most of us are, take financially secure we might be, if there is someone who suddenly takes ill and because of the systems ways and how things are, boom the life style that one has that was stable and not even lavish, really takes people not just to a cross roads but a one way street.
The world we live in is special; we are so lost in one little moment that it passes quickly. We must slow down at times to stop and smell the flowers.
Here’s an idea for the next festivities, there are many countries that enjoy their Christmas by having their meal on Christmas Eve, as that is the actual big day, that meaning the family can then enjoy the giving and receiving of presents together, peacefully on Christmas day. There isn’t someone left slaving away in the kitchen for countless hours , stressing and missing out, and any left overs on Christmas day can be consumed with perhaps the hard ship of reheating or even festive toasties and when I say toasties I mean proper toasties which are sealed in the triangular sense as opposed to the ones that are just made on a contact grill.
The Important thing is to keep it simple do it good and enjoy. Even though I tried to get this blog out on Boxing Day and now in the days of where no one knows what the date, where they actually stand, or when the bins go out.
The Big Day
Part 5
Christmas festivities still continue as they should and as we hurtle into the end of 2025 and as the clock strikes midnight, paving the way for 2026 the radio has ceased Christmas music , the TV is now blaring out the usual new year sales and there are lorries pushing Santa back to the North Pole making there way with the next farce with the Easter Eggs, True to effect, date stamped, Wednesday the 31st of December, there are Easter Eggs on the shelves as I type.
There are people who may just want to be left alone at this time of year and those that may just need looking in on. Perhaps the time saved on going out to buy pointless guff could be used to pop in and see someone. Even Kirsty’s Nana told the family to just leave her be until the festivities were over, yet when we went over for the afternoon on Christmas Eve, she had more presents wrapped up than actual Santa.
I will finish with this, I do hope I’ve given some inspiration over the last year to people, perhaps to cook, look up a recipe, get you thinking about food, reflect on a food memory and took back to life. All I can say is that for those who know me, food is my gospel, for those who don’t, I will continue to spread the word of food, I know I have important work to do when it involves The Niseach Chef and that today isn’t a dress rehearsal for tomorrow.
I was brought up in Cross, Ness, The Isle of Lewis. My up bringing I must say was fortunate. My inheritance was witnessing not just traditional ways, but what was modern from my mother at that time. To have been involved, side by side of the ways of cooking and trying to hold a large family together, which has allowed me to today admit that I am certainly owned by my environment and express that through food, and my skills.
Food is my life, when working on an event nothing else matters, I have created my own standard operating procedure. This stems from when we used to have our primary school prize giving. Where I wasn’t sure if Mam had made it to it that day for what ever reason, but of course she did, I saw her in the crowd, in the side lines. There was no prize for me that year, probably to do with the fact that I was a Meban (Gaelic for Brat). I didn’t know what to say when we were leaving, with a massive lump in my throat I uttered the words, “I didn’t win anything” like she didn’t already know. This is the moment I realised that its not about the winning , but is actually about what I do, how we present ourselves, the work we put in, always improving, to be better, never stop learning and that our emotions go into everything that we do, which has allowed me to draw up my standard operating procedures and continue my pursuit of perfection in delivering our service to people.
We are still working and will continue to improve. One private catering we had, not so long ago was in a home. I was told by them that the husband was telling his co workers that they had the Niseach Chef coming to their home to cook. The horror he was telling me, they asked” you have someone coming into your home to cook for you, that’s weird”. This set doubt in his mind. We do what we do, rock up, set up, cook, give them an experience, clear up and disappear into the night like we were never there.
What better way to be comfortable in a restaurant than in your own home. Needless to say, he and his party were won over. As we are saying our goodnights and getting walked to the door, as the door is closing behind us, if we hear the words of “Oh wow” it means we have left a couple of business cards, dimmed the kitchen lights and are now disappearing into the night like we were never there, job done.
Even though 2025 is coming to and end, we all have had some good times, sad times, laughs, arguments (A lot), loss, and gains. We can look forward to the beginning of a new year, fresh hope, but also remember that we must not restrict ourselves through security but also ask for adventure.
All the best everyone and for one last time a verry merry Christmas and a happy new year when it comes.
The Niseach Chef 