Straight to the Bar

All Things Strength

HELPING YOU GET STRONGER SINCE 2004

Chung Ying
Posted By Scott Bird

SpicesDespite having been in Glasgow for a few months now, I left it until today to begin the quest for a decent Chinese supermarket. I think the final straw came the other night when I grabbed a few things for my first batch of Glögi (a Scandinavian mulled wine), and found myself buying tiny amounts of cloves, cinnamon sticks, almonds etc (if anyone wants to knock up a batch, the recipe is below) from a nearby – large – supermarket.
I was directed to the Chung Ying near Glasgow’s Caledonian University (which happens to be just far enough from the main shopping area to be largely tourist-free) – an excellent find. Stocking up on spices turned out to be much cheaper than attempting the same thing in any of the larger chains; not to mention the fact that the quantities of each item had increased enormously.
It still seems as though the more I eat, the better and cheaper the food becomes. Perfect.
Now, a recipe for Glögi:
1.5 cups water
1.5 cups sugar
4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
.5 cup raisins
1 bottle red wine
2 lemons, juiced
1 orange, juiced
.25 cup sliced almonds
In a large pot, mix water, sugar, cinnamon, cloves and raisins. Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and stir in the remaining ingredients. Gradually heat through (but don’t bring it back to the boil). Ladel into cups (avoiding the larger items) and add a few of the boiled raisins and the almonds. Enjoy.
NB : This was first suggested by a Finnish friend of mine, who was mildly surprised that I’d boiled the raisins. If any Finns out there (not mentioning any names) have an opinion on boiling/not boiling the raisins, I’d love to hear it. Either way, it’s great on these slightly cool winter evenings.

Incidentally, if this has got you thinking about your own diet, you might like to swing by Examine.com. Fantastic site.

Over to you. Drop us a line on X/Twitter ( @scottbird ), or add a comment below.

Cheers.

 

NB : if you love talking about strength-training as much as I do, you might also like to check out the weekly newsletter. A regular dose of fitness-focussed discussions, absolutely free.

And if you'd like to check out any of the stuff mentioned above (or in the comments), swing by Amazon. Huge assortment of fitness gear.

0 Comments

What's This?

Straight to the Bar is the online home of fitness enthusiast Scott Bird, and looks at the many training approaches, essential techniques, uncommon exercises and superb equipment to help you become as strong as humanly possible. In short, this site is the home of all things strength.

images of strength

Strong.

Want to see (and learn) more Feats of Strength like this? Dive in.

Ever Tried Kettlebells?

If you’ve seen people using them but never taken the plunge yourself, here are the ones I use personally. You can also pick up a book/DVD/course if you want to learn how to put them to work.

Just Joined Us? Try These.

There are some incredible writers on the team here. To give you an idea, check these out :

If you enjoyed these, check out the complete ‘Best Of Straight to the Bar‘ list. Fantastic.

Logan's 'Quarantine Sale' Courses

As much as I love training with free weights (and the occasional machine, for specific things) I'm partial to the occasional dose of bodyweight goodness. Particularly when travelling.

If you're keen to dive into this training approach even deeper, you may wish to check out Logan's 'Quarantine Sale' Courses.

Various courses looking at the world of bodyweight training from many angles, perfect for when you're housebound for a little while.

Wherever You Are, We Are.

In addition to the main site, you can share your strength-training passion with a like-minded community on :

Wherever you like to hang out, get your regular dose of strength. Straight to the Bar.

Written By Scott Bird
Scott is a long-time fitness enthusiast (Jan 2004!), writer and photographer living in Sydney, Australia. If you share the passion for spending a bit of time under a bar, welcome. Love hearing how everyone else trains. You can connect via X (Formerly Twitter), Facebook and the various networks listed in the sidebar.
Drawing of Scott Andrew Bird performing a deadlift. Artwork by Vince Palko.