Robby Burns Supper

Malcolm (Steven's friend bag pipe teacher) got Steven and I tickets to the 'Robby Burns Supper' that is held yearly here, for Christmas. It was quite the experience! Steven was pretty excited to wear his kilt though. Addie came downstairs and saw Steven in his kilt before we left, and she ran up stairs to get Landon. Then they both sat on the stairs, peeking at Steven, and laughing their heads off! I asked Addie what she was laughing at and she said 'DAD'S WEARING A SKIRT!!!!' They got quite the kick out of it!We were served a traditional Scottish dinner. First we were presented with Cockaleekie soup (*I don't want Cockaleekie, I don't like Cockaleekie, I want CREST!* Name that movie). It was probably the best thing that was served. It's a soup, with a chicken broth base and had leeks, chicken, mushrooms and beets in it. Interesting, but pretty tasty.

Next was the 'Presenting of the Haggis'. Malcolm had the privilege of presenting the haggis. The marched it around the room, then presented it to a lady who read a poem, written by Robby Burns, about Haggis. It was kind of odd. I was coerced to try the haggis, and can I just tell you it was even worse than I thought it was going to be!?! And I was expecting it to be REALLY bad! It was all I could do to muffle the huge heaving gags. I grabbed my water and started chugging to try to keep the haggis down. But it got to a point where I couldn't swallow because I was gagging so bad, but I just kept the cup to my lips to make it a bit less noticeable. It was TERRIBLE! For those who don't know, haggis is made with the sheep's liver and heart, onions, and oatmeal. Then traditionally it's cooked in the sheep's stomach. Luckily, in America they tend to cook it in a sausage casing or muslin bag. Oh, it was just awful! It really ruined my appetite for the rest of the evening!Malcolm looks a bit like a deer caught in headlights in this next one!After the Haggis, we received our main course. Lamb, potatoes and peas. I thought the Lamb would be better, but I couldn't tell if it wasn't very good, or if the haggis had truly just spoiled appetite. Dessert was a traditional Scottish Trifle, which wasn't too bad, but I only could get down about half of it.

We were able to enjoy some awesome bag pipe music and watch some Scottish dancing.Steven and I were even able to participate and learn two different dances. It was pretty fun!! I had to include this last picture, even though it's the WORST picture in many ways. We asked Malcolm to take a picture of us, and he put my digital camera up to his eye, but he had it backwards. So the lens was pointed at his eye, not us. We showed him how to turn it around and he pushed the button, but then started lowering the camera just as the flash went off and took the picture. Hence the dark heads. I laughed all the way home about him using the camera. It cracked me up!