Meet Report
1st to 3rd 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.
Keith Bevan