Scottish things, foraging, and a haircut

Elizabeth in her highland dance outfit

Where did the weekend go? It's nearly November and autumn is in full bloom. I wish I'd taken some photos today as Aberdeen is looking very pretty in its autumn clothes. My tomatoes are just about dead but there are still a few fruits ripening. Two weekends ago I picked this from the greenhouse. And… Continue reading Scottish things, foraging, and a haircut

Homemade haggis

I made my own haggis last night for the first time ever and it was delicious, better than the supermarket version. I got the recipe from the Scottish Vegan Cookbook by Jackie Jones. It's a wonderful book and I do recommend it. Scottish food is renowned for being fatty, meaty, and generally unhealthy but Jackie… Continue reading Homemade haggis

Burns supper 2021

It was Robert Burns' birthday on January 25th and Scots celebrate it with a Burns supper. This is fast becoming one of my favourite annual events, perhaps because it doesn't have the same heavy expectations that come with Christmas. We celebrated it a bit late because the 25th fell on Monday this year and we're… Continue reading Burns supper 2021

I finally got my husband to wear a skirt

It's Burns Night tonight which is an annual celebration of the Scottish poet, Robert Burns. I think it's traditionally called a Burns Supper but we've never been to one before so we were not 100% sure what's meant to happen. However, we have an Australian visitor joining us for the weekend so we did some… Continue reading I finally got my husband to wear a skirt

The hungry gap, vegan haggis, and cast iron cookware

I heard a new word recently - well, two words - hungry gap. It has come, once again, into popular parlance thanks to Brexit. Britain imports more food than it produces and there are fears that without a trade deal on 29th March 2019, Britain will run low on food. Before Britain became a net… Continue reading The hungry gap, vegan haggis, and cast iron cookware

Vegan haggis with whisky sauce

After our visit to Glenfiddich last weekend I was inspired to make a vegan whisky sauce to go with vegan haggis. All the supermarkets here sell vegetarian haggis and there are two main brands to choose from - Simon Howie and Macsween. Both are very good. Last night we had Simon Howie's haggis which contains… Continue reading Vegan haggis with whisky sauce

Ode to a Vegetarian Haggis

Fossilcycle posted this wonderful poem to the comments on my post about vegetarian haggis. It's a re-writing of a Robert Burns poem and I liked it so much I thought it deserved its own post. Ode To A Vegetarian Haggis Tim Dalling January 1993 Oh vegetarian haggis whit a view Thou glorious, steaming bag of veggie… Continue reading Ode to a Vegetarian Haggis

Vegetarian haggis

I do all my grocery shopping online and I'll sometimes search for "vegetarian" or "vegan" just to see what comes up. This week I discovered vegetarian haggis. Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish made from sheep's heart, liver, and lungs and the whole lot is encased in the sheep's stomach. Then it is cooked and eaten.… Continue reading Vegetarian haggis