The Dinner:
As y'all know, I rarely eat meat, but for Burns Night I'm happy to indulge in a little haggis. Stephanie has been making a veggie version for years, but last year Wendy brought the real deal. She brought it again this year, & I loved it. It didn't last long, & I feel that it's gotten a bad rap in culinary circles. I get the fact that it sounds nasty... sheep hearts, lungs, & livers ground up & mixed w/ oats & potatoes & then stuffed into the sheep's stomach... but it's delicious.
Stephanie's veggie haggis consists of red & brown lentils, mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, & peanuts. It's awesome. We had it again last night & there are leftovers so I'll be having it again today or tomorrow... if it makes it that long.
I made Brussels sprouts w/ chestnuts. I sauteed the chestnuts in ghee w/ apple & red onion while boiling the Brussels sprouts. They then go into a casserole dish & slipped into the oven w/ more ghee. Brussels sprouts, along w/ haggis, get hated almost universally, & I don't get it. They're really good.
Rachel brought the neeps & tatties... mashed potatoes w/ turnips. Along w/ the haggis, it's the other traditional half of the Burns Night dinner.
Stacey brought oranges (orange & blood) steeped in Drambuie... they were a big hit... & as it turns out, Drambuie is pretty damn good.
Once the other food was gone, Dawn showed up w/ awesome bridies & pasties from Ackroyd's Scotch Bakery in Redford.
The Desserts:
Stephanie made Honey Creams. They're homemade ice cream w/ honey, scotch, whipped cream, egg whites & sugar... they're delicious.
Mary brought fantastic scones w/ whipped cream & fancy homemade jams.
Of course, there was also cheese, chocolate, & spotted dick... & lots & lots of Scotch.
The Scotch:
Dewars... This was mainly for the Honey Creams, but a couple pulls helped the readings go smoothly.
Abelour... I wrote about this a couple weeks ago & decided another bottle was in order.
Laphroaig... I picked this up last week. It's a nice peety Islay. It goes down smooth.
Glenfiddich... I called my dad a couple weeks ago & he was @ the duty free shop on his way to Windsor. I asked what kind of Scotch they had, & he said the Glenfiddich was 35 bucks. I said, "That's not much better than retail. He said, "For a 5th?" I said, "Yeah." He said, "These are liters." I said, "Hook us up!"
Oban... Pete brought this one. It's a nice mixture of the Islay smokiness & the Highland sweetness... It went down smooth.
Caol Ila... Andy brought this one. A fantastic Islay. Everyone loved it.
The Entertainment:
Aiden read "The Selkirk Grace" before the meal. It's the traditional Burns night grace. He practiced the pronunciation for quite a while & did great.
I read "Address to a Haggis" after the grace but before the dinner.
Jim read "To a Mouse" during dinner. He was great. no one could understand a word he said, but he was great.
Andy & Matt both read poems, but I don't recall what they're called, but Andy's was about brothers-in-law & Matt's had something to do w/ the deflowering of a young girl... I think.
I then read about 1/2 of "To a Louse" before it faded away as people lost interest... it was too late in the evening for another reading.
Jim & Joe also played some music... some Mayflys originals, plus some Beatles, GD, & RA covers. Isaiah loved watching them, & so did I.
The Photos:
Here is a link to Stephanie's Facebook album from the party.
Here is a link to Rachel's Facebook album from the party.
All in all, a good time seemed to be had by all. I can't wait until next year. Maybe we'll have to have something sooner like a Tartan Day party or Bloomsday in June. That might be good.
Showing posts with label scotch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scotch. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Burns' Night Post #2: Iron Your Kilts!
Here are some links to get everyone ready for the big drinking game that is Burns' Night. This Saturday @ our place... bring your appetite for scotch & your appetite for good, good food.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Tartan Day & 2 Woody Allen Movies
Tartan Day, the little known Scottish cousin of St. Patrick's Day, is today. It seems like St. Andrew's Day would be more apropos for this type of holiday than today, but April 6th is the anniversary of The Declaration of Arbroath, the date of Scottish Independence in 1320. A strange date to celebrate considering Scottish independence came & went more times than I could ever count since then, but it's the day none-the-less. To celebrate, I wore my McPherson tie to class this morning... & you should do that too. And then maybe eat some Haggis or have a wee nip of the single malt. In other celebratory news, Braveheart was on last night so we watched a few battles w/ Aiden before he went to bed. He claimed he was going to be bored to death, but as soon as limbs went a'flyin' he perked up & realized it might be a sweet movie. After they went to bed, we watched Vicky Christina Barcelona, the newest of the Woody Allen films. I don't think it was quite as good as his previous film, Cassandra's Dream, but it was good none-the-less, & neither the presence of Scarlet Johansson nor the presence of Penelope Cruz ruined it the way I feared. I don't know if Cruz deserved the Oscar, but it's definitely the best film I've ever seen her in. The other thing about the film is that it returns to a traditional Woody Allen feel that Cassandra's Dream lacks, namely the basic Woody Allen dialogue. Cassandra's Dream focuses instead on a darker weirdness that he uses less frequently (but is seen in Match Point, Interiors & September). And Woody Allen... WTF??? The dude has written & directed a film a year for going on 40 years. He's a prolific mother fucker.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Burns' Night: Saturday the 24th
Don't forget to start thinking about the poem you plan to read @ the Knapp/Dewees residence next week. You may also need to press your kilt & get a bottle of Scotch. Although, as always, if you need to choose between the ironing & the Scotch buying, choose the Scotch! I always do. I'm personally looking forward to both the kilt and the Scotch; in fact, I was thinking about going formal this year... we'll see if I really break out the flashers & dirk. To prepare for the festivities, you may also want to find a set of bagpipes (that actually have a hole all the way through the blowpipe & chanter). Another thing you could do would be to have yourself a merry little kilt-a-thon film fest by watching movies like Brigadoon, Rob Roy, Tunes of Glory, Braveheart, etc. A longer list of kilted films is available here. It's obviously not an exhaustive list, & some of the films mentioned are only peripherally kilted, but others are pretty damn good. The film on the list that I think I need to see soon is The Match... because along w/ a main character in a kilt, it's about the rivalry between a couple pub soccer teams.
Burns' Poetry Recipes Kilts Utilikilts Bag Pipes
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