Oh hey there #Outlander fans! Have you missed me, cuz I've sure missed you all. Due to the Rona and the crappiest year known to man and womankind, #Doughtlander has continued to go on for far too long. But guess what wee lads and lassies? Our #Outlander hero Sam Heughan who plays kilt-hunk Jamie Fraser may have been as bored as us but instead of gaining 19 pounds and then losing 10 like I did, he put his time to much better use.
Sam has produced a tv show and accompanying book with Outlander co-star Graham McTavish who played the devious Dougal MacKenzie called #MenInKilts, A Road-trip With Sam & Graham. I discovered this show one Sunday afternoon while trying to escape the sporting event that my husband was blasting on one of the TVs. I giggled my way through Episode 1 and am now watching and recapping for your viewing pleasure! So glad to be back with you all and if you're new to my blog, welcome, I'm so happy you're here! Check out the #Outlander re-caps when you have a chance.
Let us begin! Sam and Graham have hit the road in a new adventure that I've more accurately re-named below. Most of us would give anything to be crammed into the back seat of that cute van bumping along the road with these sometimes kilted hunks while laughing our brains out. Sadly we can't, so this is the next best thing.
This visual delight is a love story to Scotland. Our queen, Diana Gabaldon, has written such beautifully descriptive words about this country and I hope one day I'll finally be able to visit. Prior to reading the #Outlander series, I was enthralled by Scottish author Rosamunde Pilcher's books, her best known novel being The Shellseekers. Through both writers, I pictured this land as green, cold and majestic and it appears I was not wrong.
We open with Sam and Graham driving through the gorgeous countryside while Graham attempts to wax poetic about the beauty of the land while Sam pokes fun at him like an annoying younger brother.
The guys reminisce about their Outlander days and there are clips of their characters eating lots and lots of food. They remind us that Scotland is an island so naturally that means seafood. They head to Edinburgh where Sam shares that he lived during his teen years, then they arrive at The Kitchin a restaurant owned by a blue-eyed, curly haired chef named 'Tom Kitchin.' They moan their way through lots of deliciousness and I vow to cook more seafood.
Next they head to the seaport town of Fife looking quite dapper in their new sweaters and I wonder if this is a product endorsement!
The guys are on Captain Kirk's fishing boat pretending to be fishermen when they pull in a net brimming with shellfish along with a thing that looks like a disembodied brain. Naturally Sam tortures Graham with it. Captain Kirk appears to be second guessing whether he should've let these guys on his boat. Fun fact: My Uncle Doug was a lobsterman off the coast of Cundy's Harbor, Maine and he never let me go out with him because it was too dangerous. Still a wee bit mad about it. ;)
They take their uncooked shellfish to Chef Tony Singh who cooks the food on a stove that's been set up overlooking the sea and I swear I can smell the ocean from my home even though I'm an hour from the shoreline. Chef Singh seems like a nice guy other than when he murders the lobster with his bare hands, and he has our heroes dissociating while he does his thing.
Next they head to Laphroaig Distillery and my husband who has come into the family room to see what the laughing is all about, stands straight up and shouts WTF because this is like heaven to him. Since Covid, we've been social distancing like lonely woodland creatures, but once a week (EVEN IN THE SNOW) my husband joins 3 other men and they sit 6' apart around a stone fire pit in the Connecticut countryside and drink whisky and shoot the breeze. In his wildest dreams, he cannot imagine touring this place, yet here it is in front of him.
These two management dudes from Laphroaig, John Campbell and Arthur Holyoke attempt to teach Sam and Graham how to dig the peat, but Sam can't stop making naughty innuendos and personally I've never loved him more. Question. Are all Scottish men attractive?
Back inside where an actual worker is doing something useful to the barley, Sam and Graham decided to jump and roll in it. I decide not to report them to OSHA but laugh along with them instead. They head back outside and sit beside the ocean sipping Laphroaig and if you can describe a better day (especially to my husband), I'll wait.
I'm thrilled to have discovered this Scottish visual feast for the eyes and am now hurrying to binge watch the rest. I hope you'll join me!
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