The Paper Mill

My husband's mum is visiting us this week and after a long illness we decided to treat her by taking her out for a family lunch to newly opened The Paper Mill brasserie in picturesque village of Lasswade.

The Paper Mill is somewhere that locals and visitors alike can pop in throughout the day to enjoy a fresh coffee and some home baked cakes, Sunday brunch with the papers, or a leisurely carafe of wine out on the terrace. Although we decided to dine in the view was wonderful.

With over two decades of experience, owners David Johnston and Karen Calvert have built up strong links with acclaimed artisan producers. Vegetables are sourced locally, and they are committed to buying free range and organic produce wherever possible.

We were welcomed by a lovely looking and great tasting "bread basket"

So what we ate? With price-friendly menu we didn't hold back and ordered three courses starting with Roast tomato soup, mascarpone, basil.

The soup was made with fresh organic tomatoes and was sweet and full of flavour. Loved it!

The staff was very attentive and even when busy they were always there to bring us sauces, toys to entertain our hyper offspring or check us out.

Next we decided to go two different ways. Me and my husband we ordered Glazed smoked Scrabster haddock, poached egg, mixed salad leaves

and my mum-in-law had Beer battered coley & chips, mushy peas, home made tartare sauce.

The haddock was very well seasoned, the salad was fabulously dressed and the beef was crumbling at a slightest touch.

We finished off with Chocolate & orange torte, crème fraîche which was well balanced, a perfect end to this trio!

The Paper Mill 

T — 0131 663 1412

E — info@thepapermill@lasswade.co.uk

THEPAPERMILL-LASSWADE.COM

The Paper Mill At Night

In addition to our first visit, we decided to walk the 2.5 miles there and back to enjoy cold bear in a nice atmosphere. What we didn't expect was the place to be so charming and warm the way it was at night. Magic even. I will let the photos speak for themselves ...

Strawberry Dumplings

One summer's day we went to Cragie's farm to pick our own berries. As a result we've arrived home with nearly 4 pounds of strawberries! We froze some, made jam and a lunch in form of dumplings filled with the strawberries and a strawberry sauce on side! Yummy

http://www.craigies.co.uk/

Scottish Mussels

Spring It Up

I feel the spring coming, my depression retrieving and excitement taking it's place. I love spending time outdoors, that's why spring is my favorite time of the year. I flicked this spring photo on my iPhone for you. Enjoy!

Musselburgh Beach in the Winter

It was early Sunday morning on the Musselburgh beach we strolled through the low tide soggy sand gazing at the mist surfing lazily on the nearly nonexistent waves. The beach was serene without a slightest breeze and merely warm air, unusual for mid February. Boys got all wet from running into the the see but it didn't matter somehow.

Vogrie Country Park

Although the pond had a light crust of ice, we enjoyed the day very much.

Yes, only frantically watching my son bend over the edge to touch the ice and hover my hands over him in case he slipped and fell in - I didn't feel like swimming today I thought.

The minute we've arrived, kids were excited and headed down the path in their wellies wobbling on their feet. It felt relaxing letting them loose like that here, not like other times when it usually meant trouble. Also the air didn't feel as cold and the grounds weren't frozen anymore. Until the moment the boys reached another group with kids and golden retriever and joined forces running down the stone patch towards the manor, well they really headed for the playground. I had my heart on my tongue when my two year old was bouncing down the trail, clearly behind the other kids, waiting for him to fall and scream. I managed to make my feet move again although still a bit numb with fear and grab a handful of his jacket before he fell. Seriously, where is the self-preservation instinct?

Playground was fun. Puddles of mud were more fun than swings and slides in the end though. And then there was the damned pond which was my initial brag to get them away from the playground before they were too tired to walk back to the car. So once I managed to get them away from it I took unfamiliar path right down to another pond. Which, I told them, didn't have any ice and they believed me. Phew! We admired the beautiful old trees, swirling their branches down to the ground covered in jade green. We pretended there's a princess sleeping in the tree and my older son sang her Twinkle Twinkle to wake her.
Then he pretended to be a werewolf in the silver spruce forest. There were couple of spruces lying on the ground, presumably pulled out during the wind storm because their roots were sticking out of the ground. He made a house in the crown of the fallen tree, filling it with pine cones and peaking out to scare off anyone who'd like to come in. My younger son was holding tight onto my hand, maybe a bit scared and wobbly too as the roots didn't make it easier for him to walk either. In the end we were leaving the park with a scream initially and then broken resignation after I promised a sweetie when he gets quietly in the car.

It seems like a lot of trouble to go through for hour and half but made it so much easier at the bedtime!

Scottish seafood