Scots have no sense of humour if we are to believe Canon
Sydney Smith (1771-1845) who said of our forebears –
‘It requires a surgical operation to get a joke into a Scotch
understanding.’
The Englishman lived for a number of years in Edinburgh,
indeed he was the first editor of The Edinburgh review in 1802, and
perhaps he did find his Edinburgh companions to be dour and douce!
Glasgow on the other hand has always had a reputation for humour and
laughter will be very much to the fore over the 17 days. The Dear Green
Place kicked off the 4th Glasgow International Comedy
Festival yesterday (Thursday 9 march 2006) and it will run till Saturday
25 March 2006. A staggering 70,000 tickets are available for the shows
featuring over 230 performers. Top Scottish comedians Ronnie Corbert,
Karen Dunbar, Elaine C Smith, Arnold Brown and Bruce Morton will rub
shoulders with stars such as Jimmy Carr and Paul Merton from England and
Ireland’s Dara O’Briain.Visit
www.glasgowcomedyfestival.com for full details of the 17 days of
fun.
The comedy festival should ensure a smile on the face of
Glaswegians and this week’s recipe for Toffee Yoghurt Cake should ensure
a smile in your tummy! Our grateful thanks to Caroline Graham for
supplying this delicious recipe to The Flag.
Toffee Yoghurt Cake
Ingredients: 125 ml pot toffee yoghurt; 150 g brown
sugar; 40 g desiccated coconut; 1 med egg; 125 g self-raising flour; 2
tabs olive oil; large pinch baking powder
Method: Place all ingredients in bowl, stir together
with wooden spoon as quickly as possible. Tip into 500 g loaf tin,
buttered and lined on base, Bake in pre-heated oven at Gas Mark 4,
180°C, 350°F
for
35-40 minutes. Leave to cool completely before removing from tin. Cut in
thick slices.