Burns Day

 I haven't gone this long without posts in a long while.  Sunday I had nothing to say, and after watching some "band of Brothers" I decided to turn it up a notch.  Monday I met a friend for coffee and to discuss some of his problems (he asked for help!) and then I had other stuff to do.  Yesterday I did some new and completely different:  I attended a Burns Day dinner (Robert Burns, the Scottish poet) at Bottlehouse in the People's Socialist Republic of Cleveland Heights.  I've always wanted to try haggis, and as it was on the menu...well, I reserved a spot and off I went.

Mapquest suggested I take the Opportunity Corridor, and I did.  It's pretty awesome, actually; no more going to, say, 30th and turning right and hitting all the lights and bus lanes and skeeball neighborhoods.  Only a few lights (main intersections), lots of lanes, decent speeds; I think it saved 10 minutes and immense aggravation.  This was good, because when I got to the PSRCH...well, the streets were plowed and salted, but certainly not the parking lots or the sidewalks.  Or, for that matter, the street parking.  I almost fell twice, plus I stopped to help someone who got stuck in the parking by pushing them out. (Hard to believe no one there stopped to help, given the progressive nature of the community.  Or not.)  That ordeal over, off to the event....

And it was pretty nice; no assigned seating (had to wear masks save for at the table, which is not pleasant, and certainly not a thing on the West Side, thank God).  They started with a hard cider (local apples, local brew) which was ok; a bit dry for my taste but not terribly so.  Then course one, the Scotch egg -- hard-boiled egg coated with sausage (think Jimmy Dean) and fried.  It was pretty good; never had one, and I rather liked it!  This was served with a glass of scotch, which tasted like peaty rat piss -- ugh.  Then soup; cockaleekie (chicken and leeks), which they boiled into a consomme and topped with fried leaks.  Also very good -- a bit salty, but it was a rich broth.  More scotch, which I offered to the table, becoming fast friends.  Also some more poetry (but not "Ode to a Haggis") and some bagpipe music, the awesomeness of which needs no words to describe.

Next was the haggis, or haggish, because it was not true haggis; no sheep here (hard to find) or heart; this was a mix of pork and beef hearts and lungs, blended with oats and spices.   Basically, you boil the hell out of it for days...weeks, even (easier to do back then, when the cooking fire was a 24/7 thing). Also this was in a pastry crust, served with neeps and tatties (including sweet potatoes) and brussels sprouts (admittedly not Scottish).  And...you know, it was pretty good!  I made the comment that if you didn't know what it was, you'd think it was a sausage stuffing.  

Then, dessert -- a Cranachan trifle, which consists of cream (whipping), berries, oats, and, of course, more Scotch.  It was also quite good -- I snarfed an extra one -- but I think I could have done without the scotch, honestly.  Actually, I decided these people are alcoholics, to put it nicely.  Hell, considering Burns and his...proclivities.. well, enough said about that.

Anyways, it was nice and fun; tried new things, got out of the house, etc.  Would I go again?  Maybe; it was $60 (half of it for booze, I am sure), so that's not something I want to drop all the time... on the other hand, it was fun, and I did enjoy myself, to say nothing of trying something new... so we will see.