This weekend I was invited by Ian's family to join them in Gleneagles for his mum's birthday celebration. We popped up there by plane from Heathrow, and after a couple of hours we were arriving in our own private lodge, to settle in for a cosy weekend of walking and eating.
The lodge itself was hugely spacious and fitted with homely luxury.
Each of the three double bedrooms had an ensuite bathroom, complete with rain shower.
As well as this ridiculous shared bathroom with a bath made for two...
After settling in and relaxing by the fire for an hour or so, we bundled back into the car to find a cosy pub on the moor, where I tried my first taste of Haggis, Neeps and Tatties! I'm a fan...
After dinner we crashed back at the lodge and sunk into our sumptuous bed, warm and cosy.
The next morning we woke early, peeped through the shutters and I got a first look at Gleneagles in the daylight. The ground was covered in a light dusting of snow, and the sky was very, very grey!
There are three full golf courses as part of the resort, so we decided to kick off with a walk on the Queen's.
Unfortunately it was so cold we very quickly dipped into the clubhouse for a real hot chocolate to warm us up.
Luckily it started to brighten up in the afternoon, so we walked the ground and took to the King's Course for some more exploring and ooh-ing and ahh-ing as the mist lifted and the stunning landscape revealed itself.
Of course I then saw this slope and got a bit over-excited. I just couldn't resist the urge to roll down it!
I was joined quickly by Ian's mum! Well it's only your birthday once a year!
Covered in snow, and pretty freezing by this point we decided to grow up and hit the spa.
Ian, his brother and I all had massages, and robed up we took advantage of the indoor, and heated outdoor pools, tropical and ice showers and relaxation rooms before heading back to the lodge and getting glammed up for the star event of the weekend: dinner at the Strathearn.
This is one of three restuarants in the main hotel; the others being Deseo; a Mediterranean themed restaurant, more for casual dining, and Tom Fairlie's restaurant for the more fancy moments. The Strathearn has two rosettes, so I was pretty excited to get down to the serious business of eating here.
We were seated in the conservatory at the back, which was candle-lit and had a lovely glow to it. We could hear the tinkling of a live pianist in the background, but had space to chat in private.
Just look at this menu...I could have closed my eyes and chosen blindly and would have been delighted with anything I was given.
As it happens, I didn't do that. There is no way I was passing up the chance for some real foie gras to start. I lived in Guadeloupe (in the French Caribbean) for 9 months and one of my very good friends out there was from the Gers region of France; the home of foie gras. He introduced me to it and I have never had it since....this did not disappoint!
It was served with little poached pears, and port jus.
I was very tempted by the wild Scottish Smoked Salmon, which the others went for, which was carved beautifully at our table.
I followed this with sea bass with cauliflower risotto...with a crispy skin left on, and soft flaky flesh...perfection! Ian and his mum went for Beef Wellington from the roast trolley...again carved at the table, while it was steaks all round for the other boys.
For dessert it was more table action as Ian's dad plumped for crepe suzette.
It was chocolate heaven for John, Ian and I. 65% "Alto el Sol" marquise with coconut brittle and lychee purée...
Lactee caramel Nameleka with cinnamon speculoos and salted caramel ice cream
And of course, chocolate fondant with candied cherries and coffee foam...
Every single morsel of food on our table was perfect; my mouth wanted to go round again, but my body seemed to collapse into the mother of all food comas very shortly after the final mouthful. Filled with a warm glow only good food and wine can achieve we trudged back to the lodge to pass out.