Meet Report

11th to 13th January 2002 - Glen Feshie

I knew the meet was going to be a good one when the meet list was full within 10 minutes of opening. The temptation of Jean's cooking was far too much to refuse. The message had obviously passed to some of the newer members of the club as there was a good representation of new members.

The Saturday passed off quietly enough, with three main groups. One group climbed Mullach Clach a'Bhlair with the age range spanning between 25 and 70. Alan showed the youngsters a thing or two as he marched his way up to the summit in fine time. A decision was made to try some navigation practice on the way down and ignore the obvious LandRover tracks. This decision probably added half an hour and an awful lot of bog hopping (and falling into snowy holes) to our descent. A much hardier group decided to try and find some snow in the Northern Corries. As expected there was a severe lack of the white stuff but they still managed to thrash their way up something. Lesley maintained her reputation of doing nice easy Corbetts and managed to persuade some fellow club members to join her on a couple of hours on a metalled road before climbing the hill.

Then came the main event of the weekend - Jean's cooking. Rather than 18 of us fight over the kitchen each heating up a bowl of pasta and sauce we all sat back and let the host cook. This was our fourth consecutive meal at the hostel and it certainly won't be the last. The only problem with the cooking is that the portions are designed for people with incredibly large appetites rather than the hungry walkers she was faced with. The first course was a fantastic Butternut Squash soup (recipe follows at end if you are interested). This was followed by huge venison pies and a massive aubergine and nut bake. Both were fantastic. The amount of food that arrived could easily have fed the other 6 club members who were turned away, but instead Jean's chickens were in seventh heaven for the next couple of days enjoying the leftovers (good to know where we are in the pecking order eh?). This was followed up by a fantastic looking chocolate and cream roulade. Only two of the three were eaten - the leftovers of the second one were eaten for breakfast. We all retired to the couches very full but very happy.

I'd love to say that Sunday dawned bright and clear. However, we awoke to the customary wind and rain. Hence a fair few of us returned to Edinburgh without getting out of our cars.

The reputation of this meet as one of the best has been maintained. Next year we might need to arrange two so that everyone can have a go. Roll on the Glen Feshie meet for 2003...

Butternut Squash Soup:

Ingredients - 1.5lb Butternut Squash, 1lb Sweet Potatoes, 1 medium red chilli, a chunk of root ginger, 2 cloves of garlic

Roast all of the above with some olive oil for about 40 mins at 200 (not sure what the gas alternative of this is).

Then liquidise with a can of coconut milk and 1 pint of vegetable stock.