Haggis

Younger daughter recently returned from a trip to Scotland (where I am supposed to be RIGHT NOW by the way) and told us that Haggis was on most of the menus in places she ate.  I had thought that no one in the 21st century would still be eating it because 1. Yuck and 2. The Scots aren't down to the bare bones of the animals they eat and therefore didn't have to resort to eating sheep's lungs.  

However, Sarah said that judging from the accents of the diners eating Haggis, it was the locals, not curious tourists, who ordered it.

From A Classic Scottish Cookbook, originally published in 1907 as a fundraiser for the Highland Association, comes the recipe for Haggis:

What is "pluck" I asked myself.  Myself didn't know, so I asked the Googles:

So, it's the stuff "plucked" out of the poor sheep?  I guess so.

I don't know what the "lights" are and I don't want to know.  Eyeballs come to mind.

You don't see Haggis on menus here because  1. Yuck and 2.

Considering the pluck is legal, I don't understand why the sheep lung isn't, but that's ok, I'm not interested in eating any of the ingredients.

At least one Scott I came across on an internet discussion of Haggis is not a fan:

I Have the Best Friends!

As some of you know, I was supposed to be, AT THIS VERY MINUTE, in Scotland.  I was supposed to arrive there a week ago today, but due to confusing travel mishaps, I am home. 

So, no souvenirs you say?  

Hah! I do have souvenirs thanks to my knitting friends who gave me:

The shirt says:  Whatever is meant to happen to you will happen to you.  

Aha! That explains why I didn't end up in Scotland.  I must not have been meant to go there.

I wish I knew WHY!!!

My daughter just came back from a trip to Scotland, where for breakfast on an overnight train trip, she was served Black Pudding.  And she tried it, ick.

My new Scottish cookbook has the recipe for Black Pudding, and as I've mentioned in the past, I'm nothing if not generous, so here it is (you're welcome):

Two questions---where do I buy sheep's blood, and doesn't this get cooked at some point?

Ummm....

Before I didn't go to Scotland, I had decided to clean out our closets. 

So today, now that we are home from our not-Scotland trip, I started with the closet in the bedroom over the garage, the one that gets HOT in the summer. We have a closet in the basement that is almost empty, and is climate controlled like the rest of the house.  

My husband and I went through the clothes, put some in the car for Goodwill, and the rest went to the basement closet.  But when I finished cleaning the closet out, I realized that I had found multiple zippered plastic storage bags, the kind you get when you buy sheets and comforters.  I had put them in another plastic zippered storage container:

They were empty when I found them, and they still are, and I'm storing them?  

I think I've missed the point of cleaning a closet out.  

Does anyone need these?

This is Me Today

Don't judge.

Have YOU ever flown to Newark and back in 24 hours for absolutely no good reason?

I have.  

Home Again. Home Again.

Wow. It feels as if it was just yesterday that we left home go on vacation in Scotland.

Wait! It was just yesterday.

Our luggage isn't here. But that fits in with the rest of the trip.

We shall not speak of this again.