Tuesday 13 January 2015

Neeps, Tatties and a Broken? Nose.

Neeps and Tatties
On Friday I spent most of the day in the kitchen of the Presbyterian Church preparing Neeps and Tatties for the next day's Robbie Burns supper. You don't need pictures, I've done this many times before. When I arrived, there was already an army of volunteers peeling the Neeps (turnips) and the Tatties (spuds, potatoes) so I set to by chopping green onions. By the time that job was finished, some of the cooked turnips were ready to mash. Just add a large dollop of butter, a couple of beaten eggs, salt and pepper, and bake in the oven with some grated cheese on top... yummy!

Then in the afternoon it was the turn of the Tatties. Add generous dollops of sour cream, butter, cream cheese, chopped green onion, some salt and pepper and some milk, and mash like mad!

Altogether we prepared 18 large turnips and 70 pounds of potatoes. Enough to feed 160 people. Phew!

A Broken? Nose
I think it might be broken but there's nothing I can do about it.
I was looking after TessaDog while YoungerSon and family had a weekend winter adventure. We were playing chase the ball in the snow. I bent down to get the ball, and Tessa jumped up at the same time, and I heard a mighty CRUNCH! Her hard head and my vulnerable nose collided. Lots of blood dripping onto the snow, but I finally managed to staunch the flow with a crumpled kleenex, while desperately trying not to get blood on my new Olympic mitts, and at the same time Tessa jumping up and down trying to get me to throw the ball again.... total chaos! And did I mention that it was -14C at the time? Brrrr.
Now I have a cute nose bump that wasn't there before. Oh well. Thanks for the nose job, Tessa!

Robbie Burns Night
Burns Night is usually celebrated on Rabbie's birthday, 25 January, but ours was a couple of weeks early, as usual. There was the Address to the Haggis, accompanied by a bagpiper, and followed by a toast to Rabbie Burns. There was Scottish Country dancing, singing of Scottish songs, and quoting Burns poetry. And the best dinner you can get for $20.00. Here's mine......


On looking back at previous Burns blog posts (just click on the Burns label at the end of this post), I see I've taken a pic of my dinner every year. Probably because it's always SOOOO GOOOOD!

10 comments:

  1. Oh ouchies on the nose. Those exuberant doggie heads! I hope you're on the mend before too long. And good for you for helping out with the dinner again.

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  2. First time I ever heard potatoes or turnip being called that---cute. Lots of work for you volunteers!!! Yay You for helping!

    Ooouuuch on the nose though--hope it heals well.

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  3. I actually felt the head collision - I have had that sort of thing so many times - I guess a nose like mine is hard to miss - not nice!

    The dinner IS nice, though. Looks wonderful, in fact! Perfect cold weather food!

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  4. Oh! I hope your nose heals well and soon.
    The dinner looks delicious!

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  5. Sorry about your nose!

    I can't imagine peeling and mashing enough potatoes for 160 people!

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  6. Ouch! Sounds like it was a lot of chaos, bumpy broken nose in the freezing temps! No fun.

    Isn't it kinda fun looking back at a series of photos? I do the same with fireworks. They always look the same every New Year's Eve, but I still love taking hundreds of snapshots.

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  7. I am so sorry about your poor nose. What a freak accident! Does it still hurt? Your meal looks delicious. What is the country of origin for Neeps & Tatties? I have never heard of them. They sound so good! Especially the rich mashed potatoes. Thanks for visiting me and playing my game!

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  8. That plate looks delicious.

    But oh, I'm sorry to hear about your nose. I hope it heals well. I broke mine playing hockey in '79. It was not a bad break, in fact, it's barely visible. But whenever I buy sunglasses, I have to bend the nose pads for the glasses to sit square on my face.

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  9. Sorry about your nose. Here's to a full heal with no problems.

    As much as I love my turnip, the one thing I abhor is peeling the damn things. They're so good, though, that it must be done!

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  10. Thanks for your visit and comment. There is much, much more in Duxford these days. A broken nose sounds painful. Just read through some of your posts. The neeps did sound tast to me. Something my husband remembers from when a child in the North East.

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