What are your Valentine’s Day plans this year?! We usually keep it pretty low-key around here, but this year is different!
My favorite book series, Outlander is premiering as a television series on February 16th and I am ecstatic! The only thing I want for Valentines Day this year is one hour alone to snuggle up to my Clan Fraser blanket and dream about Jamie Fraser sitting next to me while I watch Outlander with ZERO interruptions. No pausing to discuss groceries, no toddler jumping on me or asking for milk... JUST ONE HOUR of pure, uninterrupted time with me and the TV.(mamas, can I get an amen?)
I’ve even teamed up with my friends AdoreMe to create quite the Outlander spread. Everything from bannocks to whiskey to berets and these cute AdoreMe PJs!
When choosing a cute PJ set I knew I wanted something cute and comfortable but just with a bit of sultry appeal to it. Sometimes a little but of lace can make you feel that much better. This is the Reign set from AdoreMe. I went with the Dark Green to mimic the lush greens of Scotland.
I am a beret enthusiast and picked up this dark green one from Amazon here. Ultimately wearing it in the traditional Scottish scrunched up to the side. It comes in so many different colors and it is only $9!
I got the cutest arm warmers from Etsy shop KnitPlayLove to complete the ensemble. She creates the most gorgeous knitted everything you can imagine with so many different Outlander/Scottish style pieces.
When creating the spread I wanted to include all the little details of the show that I could imagine. The inspiration of the picnic in bed came from season one after the wedding when Jamie and Claire are sitting on a high peak in Scotland and its just green gorgeous lush land surrounding them. They are sitting on a green blanket eating their bannocks and cheese and meat just the two of them savoring the moments they get to be alone together.
So my meat and cheese tray is in honor of the traditional Scottish pantry, A Scottish pantry before modern refrigeration focuses on the seasonal and the preserved. I wanted to highlight a couple of things listed in the books as well. Apples tend to last long after they’re picked, and we know that Claire Fraser keeps dried ones in her medicine chest for the winter months.
Blackberries grow in the herb gardens of Castle Leoch — and blackberry jam shows up in The Fiery Cross. Strawberries are the emblem of Clan Fraser and what they find in what is now Fraser's Ridge in America.
"It's a rare plant, he said, touching the sprig in my open hand. Flowers, fruit and leaves all together at one time. The white flowers are for honor, and red fruit for courage---and the green leaves are for constancy. My throat felt tight as I looked at him. They got that one right, I said. He caught my hand in his own, squeezing my fingers around the tiny stem. And the fruit is the shape of a heart, he said softly, and bent to kiss me." - Jamie Fraser, Drums of Autumn
I tried to gather all the Scottish cheeses could find in this small town of mine but ended up with some different types of British cheeses, Jamie Fraser would definitely be shaking his head at me.
The concept of eating meat and cheese between two slices of bread is nothing new. Called “bread and meat” or “bread and cheese”, this dish started as a meal reserved for late night gambling and drinking until it started entering polite society in the 19th century. So I got some meats and cheeses to make what would be considered our modern day sandwich.
I didn't have the ability to make Figgy Dowdy but I did include some fig drops to symbolize it.
What is a Scottish meal without Bannocks? I found this recipe from Gather Victoria for a rosemary oat Bannocks.
Scottish Whiskey always and a bare honey pot, because if you've read the books or seen the show you know, you know what a bare honey pot is.
This article was a great resource for what foods I wanted to include.
Are you a big Outlander fan? What are your plans for Valentines Day?