:00:28. > :00:32.Hello and a very warm welcome to Landward. I will be trying a new
:00:32. > :00:36.sport which is like water skiing, but with a horse!
:00:36. > :00:43.Also on the programme, I will be finding out why certain plants such
:00:43. > :00:50.as hol ci and identify -- holly and ivy are synonymous with Christmas.
:00:50. > :00:55.We will attend a carol concert in a cave.
:00:55. > :00:58.And I will be making my very own cheese. Many of us would like to
:00:58. > :01:04.spend the holidays on the ski slopes, but what if you are bored
:01:04. > :01:13.with traditional skiing or snowboarding? You might want to try
:01:13. > :01:19.an alternative winter sport - joring.
:01:19. > :01:24.You have mastered skiing and you like a cheeky spot of sledging. But
:01:25. > :01:34.that's so last year! There must be another way of utilising this white
:01:35. > :01:40.
:01:40. > :01:45.This is ski jorring and you can try it at Newtonmore Riding Centre.
:01:45. > :01:47.Conditions aren't ideal today, but good enough to have a go.
:01:48. > :01:53.It is something that the Scandinavians have done for
:01:53. > :01:55.Scandinavians have done for hundreds of years. They They get
:01:55. > :02:00.towed behind reindeer, it was a means of transport.
:02:00. > :02:05.Tell me how skilled you must be as a skier to do it? It is easier than
:02:05. > :02:08.it looks and if you can ski downhill, skiing behind a horse is
:02:08. > :02:16.no problem at all and I suppose it is a cross between downhill skiing
:02:16. > :02:21.and water skiing. In Switzerland, they have ski
:02:21. > :02:27.jorring races every winter on a frozen race. The skiers steer the
:02:27. > :02:30.horses at the same time as being towed along at break neck speed.
:02:30. > :02:34.Thankfully in Scotland the rider controls the horse.
:02:34. > :02:42.Before we have a go, what are the things I should be thinking about
:02:42. > :02:45.as I I have my firs shot at it? Although the horses are good, it
:02:46. > :02:53.does spook them. You have got to be careful.
:02:53. > :02:57.So it is my turn to go. Hopefully he will be gentle because this is
:02:57. > :03:03.my my first time. Any advice? If you fall over, let
:03:03. > :03:09.go. Don't worry if you you get hurt, we have the First Aid kit in the
:03:09. > :03:19.Land Rover. He is off!
:03:19. > :03:33.
:03:33. > :03:38.Well, it is gentle which is nice. I spent most of my time stepping over
:03:38. > :03:48.rock. This time I would like to go faster. That's probably not a bad
:03:48. > :04:02.
:04:02. > :04:07.It is great fun, but you didn't tell me about the mud that kicks up
:04:07. > :04:13.by the horse. Look at me, I'm a mess. Like me, it is Ian's first
:04:13. > :04:16.try of it too. It is completely different. I have
:04:16. > :04:20.done a fair bit of skiing up on the done a fair bit of skiing up on the
:04:20. > :04:28.mountains. It is the most adrenalin I have had
:04:28. > :04:33.on the flat before. We were doing jumps last year when
:04:33. > :04:36.we had good snow. The better the snow, the faster you can go. They
:04:36. > :04:40.do international competition and racing and jumping and I can take
:04:40. > :04:45.it as far as you like. It is the North America that they
:04:45. > :04:49.have perhaps taken it to the highest level. In Colorado, they
:04:49. > :04:53.have competitions where they blast down the main high street, clearing
:04:53. > :04:57.huge jumps and picking up rings along the way, maybe that's
:04:57. > :05:05.something to work up to! In the meantime, I will stick with
:05:05. > :05:09.the more sedate pace. You can imagine on a day going with
:05:09. > :05:13.your pal, taking a picnic and backpack, it would be amazing.
:05:13. > :05:21.We can take three or four horses and two skiers behind each horse
:05:21. > :05:24.and there is great trails at Newtonmore Riding Centre. There are
:05:24. > :05:27.fantastic places to go and do the ski touring.
:05:27. > :05:35.I think I'm on to something with that touring idea and I guess if
:05:35. > :05:45.the reindeer ever need a rest, ski jorring could come in handy for a
:05:45. > :05:54.
:05:54. > :05:58.That really was brilliant fun. Skiing without the need of a hill,
:05:58. > :06:01.wonderful idea. How over the past few weeks Nick has been deacon
:06:01. > :06:07.strughting a turkey so that -- deconstructing a turkey so that
:06:07. > :06:15.nothing is wasted. This week he is cooking one of my favourite dishes,
:06:15. > :06:19.With household budgets under more pressure than before, it has never
:06:19. > :06:22.been more important to minimise food waste and over the last three
:06:22. > :06:23.weeks I have been showing you how to get the most out of the
:06:24. > :06:28.to get the most out of the Christmas turkey.
:06:28. > :06:32.This week I'm going use the last of the turkey leftovers to make that
:06:32. > :06:36.Boxing Day favourite turkey curry with flat bread.
:06:36. > :06:42.We are going to make this curry from scratch. We are going to make
:06:42. > :06:49.our own spice mix. There is a lot of ingredients. You can get the
:06:49. > :06:57.full recipe on the Landward web page. The first thing to go into a
:06:57. > :07:06.warm frying pan are coriander seeds, fennel seeds, black pepper corns,
:07:06. > :07:10.cloves, cinnamon stick and ground nutmeg.
:07:10. > :07:15.Tumeric and you toast these until you can smell that aromatic flavour
:07:15. > :07:20.and we're going to take these off the heat and grind them down in a
:07:20. > :07:25.spice grinder. Now the base for a really great
:07:25. > :07:32.curry is a paste and I'm going to make this in a blender using onions,
:07:32. > :07:39.chilli, garlic, fresh ginger, lemongrass, ground almonds and
:07:39. > :07:49.paprika. I need to add liquid and I have got turkey stock so I will add
:07:49. > :07:52.
:07:52. > :07:57.two or three ladlefuls of that. And then whiz in the blender.
:07:57. > :08:04.So into a large wok I am going to add a generous amount of vegetable
:08:04. > :08:08.oil and very quickly fry my spice mix in here and straightaway I'm
:08:08. > :08:13.going to add the paste from the blender.
:08:13. > :08:17.And I'm going to cook this out for about five minutes until we get the
:08:17. > :08:22.rawness out of the onion and the garlic and the chillies and the
:08:22. > :08:26.lemongrass and this is the base for the curry. Now the spice paste is
:08:26. > :08:31.cooked out and it is time to add the veg. I will start with the
:08:31. > :08:36.carrots, the aubergine and finally, the butternut squash.
:08:36. > :08:41.And then I'm going to to adjust enough stock to cover and bring
:08:41. > :08:46.that up to the boil again, turn it down to a simmer and leave it to
:08:46. > :08:51.cook uncovered for 20 minutes. Whilst the curry is bubbling away,
:08:51. > :08:55.I'm going to make the flat breads and they are simple to make using
:08:55. > :09:02.store cupboard ingredients. I have ordinary plain flour and I'm going
:09:02. > :09:07.to add, salt, pepper, oil and water and bring it together to form a
:09:07. > :09:11.dough. I am I am looking for a dough that comes cleanly away from
:09:11. > :09:16.the bowl and I can get my hands in there and give it a knead and then
:09:16. > :09:24.we will roll these out into little flatbreads. We will take this and
:09:24. > :09:29.chuck it into a hot frying pan and then a blow lamp on top to re-
:09:29. > :09:34.create the heat from the top and bottom. I almost like mine to be
:09:34. > :09:39.almost burnt on the outside. OK, so that's the flatbreads out of the
:09:39. > :09:44.way. You can see how much this curry paste has reduced down and
:09:44. > :09:54.darkened. It has cooked all the raw spices out of it so at this stage
:09:54. > :09:55.
:09:55. > :10:03.I'm going to add chopped tomatoes, the cock co nut milk -- coconut
:10:03. > :10:08.milk and we will cook for another 15 minutes. A nice big dollop of
:10:08. > :10:13.curry with the beautiful sauce m we will take the -- we will take the
:10:13. > :10:20.flatbreads and tear them up. A wedge of lime. A sprig of coriander
:10:20. > :10:27.and there it is, the perfect spicy anti-dote to those post-Christmas
:10:27. > :10:30.turkey blues and all remains for me to do is wish you all a very merry
:10:30. > :10:40.Christmas and this year let's make sure none of the turkey goes in the
:10:40. > :10:51.
:10:51. > :11:00.Still to come Euan gets to work on his Christmas cheese.
:11:00. > :11:05.And the caves echoing to the sounds of Christmas carols.
:11:05. > :11:11.At this time of year, Christmas decoration are everywhere. Have you
:11:11. > :11:17.ever taken time to wonder why we decorate our houses with ivory and
:11:17. > :11:27.mistletoe. I have been finding out about the legends behind some of
:11:27. > :11:30.
:11:30. > :11:35.our most popular Christmas plants. The religious and symbolic meanings
:11:35. > :11:42.of the plants we use to decorate our homes has been passed down
:11:42. > :11:45.through the ages. The symbolism associated with these
:11:45. > :11:52.plants goes back for many hundreds, probably thousands of years, at
:11:52. > :11:58.least the time of the druids. Mistletoe is very important. In
:11:58. > :12:03.Gaelic, its name translates as all heal and it was used to help
:12:03. > :12:09.domestic animals if they were having problems with fertility and
:12:09. > :12:13.with people as well and I guess that that led eventually to the
:12:13. > :12:19.Victorian custom of kissing beneath the mistletoe.
:12:19. > :12:23.The roots of this plant penetrate right into the plumbing system of
:12:23. > :12:28.the tree that's its host. It is easy for anybody to grow. If you
:12:28. > :12:33.can buy a peace of mistletoe and when you are finished with it, you
:12:33. > :12:39.can take a seed and crush it and get the seeds out and just find a
:12:39. > :12:45.crack on the surface of the tree. Best to choose soft barked trees.
:12:45. > :12:52.It is common on populars and it is growing on a horse chestnut.
:12:52. > :12:57.The Royal boa botanic garden was founded over 300 years and has
:12:57. > :13:01.collected plants from all over the world. The glasshouses contain many
:13:01. > :13:07.exotic plants from the Middle East and among them are two precious
:13:07. > :13:13.Christmas trees. These are to me, two of the most wonderful trees.
:13:13. > :13:18.This is Boswellia sacra and this is Commiphora myrrha. This is known as
:13:18. > :13:23.the frankincense tree. This is myrrh. Frankincense, this one will
:13:24. > :13:30.grow to a tree, probably the height of this room so maybe five or six
:13:30. > :13:36.meters long, has beautiful yellow flowers, the wonderful aroma of
:13:36. > :13:41.frankincense. The myrrh trees tend to be associated with these.
:13:41. > :13:46.What are they associated with Christmas? It goes back to the
:13:46. > :13:51.Three Kings. They brought gifts to the baby Jesus and at the time they
:13:51. > :13:56.were probably the most precious gifts they could have given. This
:13:56. > :14:02.is frankincense. The droplets cop out of the tree -- come out of the
:14:02. > :14:07.tree. This is good quality, it is a white colour. This one is, this is
:14:07. > :14:16.myrrh. Again that doesn't smell so much and where frankincense was
:14:16. > :14:20.used because of its smell, myrrh was mainly a me disnational plant
:14:20. > :14:24.and tends to be a reddish colour. Growing exotic trees is best left
:14:24. > :14:32.to the experts, but for you and me, the plants that we're going to use
:14:32. > :14:40.in our Christmas decorations can be found much closer to home.
:14:40. > :14:44.Holly is always thought of as the male plan and in the carol it is
:14:44. > :14:54.the holly that wears the crown. It is the female plant that has the
:14:54. > :14:55.
:14:55. > :15:00.berries. Ewe, it is always associated with the winter solstice
:15:00. > :15:10.and so that's appropriate plant to bring into the house for wreath-
:15:10. > :15:24.
:15:24. > :15:34.Yew is an ancient plant. It is poisonous, but believed to be very
:15:34. > :15:47.
:15:47. > :15:51.spiritual, to fend-off evil spirits. I know whaur' know -- what you're
:15:51. > :16:01.thinking, it is not going to win any prizes. It is lovely to make
:16:01. > :16:04.your own wreath and it is green and This you have a comment about
:16:04. > :16:13.anything you see on the programme or have a wonderful story to share
:16:13. > :16:18.with us, please drop us an e-mail The weather here in Aberdeenshire
:16:18. > :16:26.is crisp, fresh and beautiful. But what about the prospects for the
:16:26. > :16:34.festive season? To find out here is Christopher Blanchett with the
:16:34. > :16:40.As we head towards the festive week, the weather is looking unsettled,
:16:40. > :16:46.very wet and windy. It is thanks to these two weather systems pushing
:16:46. > :16:51.in on Christmas Eve. So for Christmas Eve, as we go
:16:51. > :16:55.through the day, the rain will be making its way across Scotland,
:16:55. > :17:01.down the East Coast, staying dry and brightness towards the north-
:17:01. > :17:06.east corner. Mild conditions so come 3pm, taking a closer look,
:17:06. > :17:15.temperatures, 7, 8 or 9 Celsius, but the winds strong to gale force.
:17:15. > :17:19.A lot of heavy rain. But the further east you are, some places
:17:19. > :17:23.staying bright. If you are thinking about going
:17:23. > :17:28.into the hills, hill walking or climbing tomorrow, well it will
:17:28. > :17:35.abwet day -- be a wet day. Temperatures mild, 4 or 5 Celsius
:17:35. > :17:42.at the summits. One or two areas of brightness
:17:42. > :17:46.across the northern Cairngorms and the Angus Hills if we're lucky. If
:17:46. > :17:50.you are thinking about going skiing, we have seen a lot of mild weather
:17:50. > :17:55.so a lot of snow melt. This weekend will see more heavy rain and gales
:17:55. > :17:58.so not the best weather to be going skiing. Into Christmas Eve night
:17:58. > :18:03.and that rain stays with us for a time. It eases and comes back again
:18:03. > :18:09.as we head towards the early hours on Christmas Day. Again with the
:18:09. > :18:15.mild air, so staying mild with the overnight lose, temperatures 7 or 8
:18:15. > :18:19.Celsius. For Christmas Day, we have an early
:18:19. > :18:23.early warning from the Met Office for rain. It is yell yellow which
:18:23. > :18:27.means to be aware. That is because of this weather front. The heaviest
:18:28. > :18:33.of the rain will be focused through the north-west. That's where the
:18:33. > :18:38.yellow warning is in force. Further south, there will be some some
:18:38. > :18:43.drier conditions, cloudy and drizzle and light rain. Highs of 13
:18:43. > :18:48.or 14 Celsius, but song to gale force winds. For Boxing Day, more
:18:48. > :18:54.of the same. More winds. The cold front will sink across the country.
:18:54. > :18:58.So if you start out dry, you will get the rain later on. If you start
:18:58. > :19:02.out with the rain, it will turn milder later on.
:19:02. > :19:06.For Tuesday, a brief res respite. Drier and brighter conditions
:19:06. > :19:12.around, but cast your eye out to the Atlantic, this area of low
:19:12. > :19:16.pressure heading our way. Tuesday a lot of sunshine on the cards. A lot
:19:16. > :19:22.of sunshine on the map. Some drizzle in the south, Wednesday we
:19:22. > :19:27.think the low pressure will be with us, strong winds and and heavy rain.
:19:27. > :19:37.Temperatures 8 or 9 Celsius. That's the weather forecast. Happy
:19:37. > :19:38.
:19:38. > :19:48.Over the past couple of weeks I visited caves. This week I'm in
:19:48. > :19:55.
:19:55. > :20:00.Fife, home to a cave that is alive # O little town of Bethlehem #
:20:00. > :20:05.With modern day commercialism everywhere, the meaning of
:20:05. > :20:09.Christmas often gets overlooked. Well, I am in in Pittenweem to
:20:09. > :20:13.visit this cave where the Christmas message is not forgotten.
:20:13. > :20:18.Pittenweem is actually the place of the cave. We would love to know
:20:18. > :20:24.more of the history of it because I'm sure lots went on and it was
:20:24. > :20:28.important enough for this place to be called Pittenweem.
:20:28. > :20:37.The cave is associated with St Fillan who is believed to have used
:20:37. > :20:41.it to convert the local pictish community.
:20:41. > :20:47.St Fillan was an Irish monk who came across to Scotland and
:20:47. > :20:52.travelled around a lot of Scotland. He came to Pittenweem and he was
:20:52. > :20:58.very much somebody who served the community. He was very keen to
:20:58. > :21:04.support those who were struggling and had a particular help for
:21:04. > :21:14.people with mental health problems. So he is the patron saint of mental
:21:14. > :21:20.health. Presumably, St Fillan lived in the
:21:20. > :21:26.cave. It was very dark, but he had this power that somehow his left
:21:26. > :21:32.arm gave him light to continue writing and doing all his studying.
:21:32. > :21:42.The cave was used by Christians for centuries, but after the remember
:21:42. > :21:47.formation, it fell into disrepair. But in the 1930s, the cave was
:21:47. > :21:51.reconsecrated. This passage way was reopened and St Fillan's cave
:21:51. > :21:56.became a place of worship once again.
:21:56. > :22:05.From the 1930s, services were held. It tend to have fallen away, but
:22:05. > :22:08.this year, we're very happy to revive the crib service.
:22:08. > :22:12.Placing the figures in the stable is very exciting for the children.
:22:12. > :22:21.It is very tactile. They just love to handle the donkey and the sheep
:22:21. > :22:24.and the little baby. It is magic and I hope that it will sparkle
:22:24. > :22:28.especially as it is in a special place. The children love to be
:22:28. > :22:38.involved in a little bit of mystery and to bring the wonderful message
:22:38. > :22:49.
:22:49. > :22:54.of Christmas and the mystery of There is no better to round off a
:22:54. > :22:58.Christmas lunch than a glass of fine port and cheese, but this year
:22:58. > :23:08.I have decided to go one better and make my own Christmas cheese and
:23:08. > :23:12.
:23:12. > :23:21.for that I headed up to Shetland to get expert tuition.
:23:21. > :23:27.I'm heading to Skeld. Jay Hawkins gave up his career as an accountant,
:23:27. > :23:32.hed north from London and set-up Shetland Cheese.
:23:32. > :23:39.This is our Sooth Mooth. It is like a Caerphilly. It takes a day to
:23:39. > :23:45.make. We got the name because there is a joke locally, they use the
:23:45. > :23:50.phrase Sooth Mooth somebody who has come from outside Shetland.
:23:50. > :23:57.It is very, very strongment you would grate it on pasta.
:23:57. > :24:01.This is our number one cheese. We have named it after where we are
:24:01. > :24:08.located in Skeld. Can I make that for Christmas? If we make a small
:24:08. > :24:12.one, it will be just right come Christmas time.
:24:12. > :24:17.So this is a vat. This is strictly for professionals.
:24:17. > :24:23.We will be using the baby one over there!
:24:23. > :24:28.Right, here we are Euan, let's get the lids off. The first thing you
:24:28. > :24:31.need to do is get your sleeves rolled up. We need to test the curd.
:24:32. > :24:36.Put your finger in at an angle, nice and deep and lift it straight
:24:36. > :24:40.up and you see the curd is breaking. That means it is ready to be cut.
:24:40. > :24:46.We have been making the cheese for about two-and-a-half hours to get
:24:46. > :24:51.to this stage. We would have heated the milk up to 30 degrees. We added
:24:51. > :24:54.in the bacteria. We let it stand for about an hour and we added in
:24:54. > :24:59.the rennet which is a product that's been used for 100 years, we
:24:59. > :25:09.use a vegetarian rennet and that helps the cheese split into the
:25:09. > :25:20.
:25:20. > :25:25.solids and the liquids. It is like a soft blancmange.
:25:25. > :25:34.Put your hand in nice and gently and start caressing the Kurds. It
:25:34. > :25:38.feels like you're stirring blancmange.
:25:38. > :25:45.It is a strange sensation. It is very tactile.
:25:45. > :25:48.It is very calming. It gives you time to reflect on the world.
:25:48. > :25:52.In caressing the Kurds, you are taking the whey out of the solids
:25:52. > :25:56.which is going to make them firmer and firmer and that will be the
:25:56. > :26:00.basis of the cheese that we will be pressing later. You got it easy
:26:00. > :26:06.today because this is just a 20 minute stir. Some cheese are a two-
:26:06. > :26:16.and-a-half hour stir and that gives you lots of time to reflect on life.
:26:16. > :26:17.
:26:17. > :26:24.It is a strange experience. What's happening? At the moment we
:26:24. > :26:31.are draining off the whey. You can begin to see the Kurds that we were
:26:31. > :26:37.making earlier, poking through and I will begin Cheddaring. What is is
:26:37. > :26:42.Cheddaring? The Cheddaring process is when we cut the curds into block
:26:42. > :26:47.and each time we turn them over the curd is getting more and more
:26:47. > :26:53.acidic. That's the flavour that you are used to when you eat a Cheddar.
:26:53. > :27:00.Now you need to mix it like you're making a cake.
:27:00. > :27:05.So the final stage. Now it is time to pack the mould. I was going to
:27:05. > :27:09.say bung it in. Real care and attention. Is that enough? Some
:27:09. > :27:11.more. Just tease the cloth, pull it
:27:12. > :27:17.gently upwards, get rid of any wrinkles.
:27:17. > :27:21.Over the top?, push it down? Yes, that's fine. As far as I'm
:27:21. > :27:29.concerned, that's all the hard work done and I'm going to give that to
:27:29. > :27:34.you to look after for four weeks. And here it is, a lot of love went
:27:34. > :27:36.into this. It looks sensational. I was worried it was going to be too
:27:36. > :27:42.young and not mature, but look at that.
:27:42. > :27:47.Thank you very much. Are we supposed to sniff and just
:27:47. > :27:51.go for it? Savour. Very good.
:27:51. > :27:54.Surprisingly so. So am I surprised.
:27:54. > :27:58.The end of the series, we have travelled thousands of miles. What
:27:58. > :28:03.would you say has been your highlight? Well, my highlight has
:28:03. > :28:07.to be when I was at a damsel in distress and I was rescued from a
:28:07. > :28:11.cave. Euan, what about you? Mine wasn't a
:28:11. > :28:21.highlight, but something I won't forget, hitting a rock that wasn't
:28:21. > :28:22.
:28:22. > :28:26.there on the the West Coast. We are take ago break for Christmas
:28:26. > :28:29.and we are going to be back on the road in the New Year.
:28:29. > :28:38.If you have got a great story, get in touch.