Robert Burns and the Address to a Haggis

Hola from Houston! It’s been a long and emotional week, one that I’m not ready to talk about just yet. Instead, I wanted to tell y’all about some things that were going on in Scotland right before we left. 

I mentioned that one of the things on my UK Bucket List was attending a Burns Dinner event. We were all set to attend one on February 1^st, but unfortunately were pulled away from Scotland prematurely. A Burns Dinner celebrates the life and poetry of Robert Burns, and in doing so, nods to quite a few Scottish traditions. Everyone dresses up in their Sunday Best (which means Kilts for the boys) eats haggis, drinks whisky, and dances ceilidh style.   

I was majorly bummed that I didn’t get a photo of Jonathan in a kilt, but fortunately I snapped some candid shots while he was getting his fitting. 

I fall into the camp that finds kilt-wearing terribly handsome and romantic. I thought about getting Jonathan one custom made while we are living in Scotland, especially since his family has a tartan and everything. Then I found out that a custom made kilt costs about 1000 pounds (about $1600). While Jonathan was stoked about wearing one in Aberdeen, I doubt he’d show the same enthusiasm if we were attending a formal event stateside, so I sadly cannot justify the splurge. 

Anyhoo, luckily Jillian and Ryan got to put our  tickets to good use, and here are some pictures they snapped throughout the night. All pictures courtesy of Nary.

We were so sad to miss the festivities, but fortunately we were there for January 25^th, the actual ‘Burns Day’ and got to partake in some authentic traditions all the same. The Friday morning started out with our weekly Mahjong group in which our hostess,Vicki, and various others prepared Scottish delicacies. True to both her Scottish life and also her Texan roots, Vicki made Haggis Tacos which was food fusion at its finest.   

Yummy! It was my second time trying haggis and honestly, I don’t know why everyone is so grossed out by it. A little sheep lung never hurt anybody. Top it with some salsa, wrap it in a burrito, and you got yourself a perfect lunchtime snack.

The Burns celebration didn’t end at Mahjong. Our Welsh friends James and Tash wanted to cook us up all the traditional fixings so we gathered at Nary and Gerald’s house for Haggis, Tatties (Potatoes), Neeps (Turnips), Whisky, and Sticky Toffee Pudding cupcakes….seriously. 

It was a great day full of all sorts of Scottish heritage learnin’. I’m so glad that Jonathan and I got to partake in a bit of the festivities before heading stateside. 

Stay tuned and hopefully I will have some time to update the blog this week in between shopping, beauty appointments, and eating my way through Houston.