Burns Night! I went on a quest for anything authentically Scottish other than Ewan Magregor here in Los Angeles. I found a guild known as St. Andrews, I found Highland games for later in the year, and I found BURNS NIGHT!
What is Burns Night?
Burns Night is a delightful celebration of the Scottish poet Robert Burns, or Robbie Burns, or if you’ve had a few whiskeys, Rabbie Burns. They are all accepted as correct in Scottish circles. Every year on January 25th, Scots and Scot officianatos gather together to listen to Robert Burns poetry being recited and eat a spectacular Scottish meal that consists of, among other things, neets and tatties, haggis, and cranachen. When the haggis comes out the bagpipes are played and there is an Ode to the Haggis! Then everyone delights in a toast to the lassies and the lassies in kind respond, usually with something bawdy. The night is culminated with everyone signing Auld Lang Syne which was penned by ol’ Robert and everyone goes home with full bellies and sore cheeks from laughing and a renewed sense of pride in being Scottish. THIS I thought, is something I absolutely must participate in!
Where to Celebrate
I found an excellent Burns night dinner that consisted of a three course meal, whiskey tasting, and other wonders and delights. It was within walking distance of my home which was very exciting! That meant I didn’t have to deal with parking and I could enjoy a guilt free nip of whisky! But my joy was soon crushed with the realization that it was $110 per plate and my husband wasn’t even going to be in town. My eldest daughter, Madison was working so it was up to Sage and I to begin the tradition for our household. And I have never tried haggis but I have not heard favorable reviews so $110 for a possibility that I’d be making us a second dinner afterwards seemed a fools errand.
Now, I have since learned that Burns dinners can run the gamut. I’ve seen them advertised for $30- $500 a plate. It all depends where you are, if it’s a fundraising endeavor, etc. etc. I found a couple on line Scottish calendars and there are Burns Night suppers informal to formal nationwide. You get haggis! You get haggis! You get haggis! You get haggis!
A New Tradition
We made chicken cord en bleu (because that was what was in the freezer and easy-yeah, I’m like that). And we set to making cranachen. Let me just take a moment to introduce you to the Gift from the Gods that is Cranachen.
Originally it was made at the celebration of the raspberry harvest. It’s the King of all Scottish desserts and it is layers of fresh raspberries, fresh whipped cream, Scottish oats and of course, whisky. I did not realize that raspberries and oatmeal were decidedly Scottish. (I knew whiskey was). Cranachen is Gaelic for ‘churn’ and in some places it is still known as Cream Crowdie as many a recipe has called for the inclusion of crowdie cheese.
The Actual Making of Cranachen
Sage and I took over the kitchen. (If you read the About Us you know this is dangerous. Josh is the main cook for This Family and I am normally a culinary disaster but we needed to celebrate!!!). Thankfully just Sage and I were home to bear witness if anything went awry and I already swore her to secrecy.
We whipped the heavy cream and added the flavor (vanilla because apparently my husband finished off the whisky before he left town) and honey. Here’s an excerpt from our conversation:
Honey, where is the whiskey I can’t find it.
You don’t really drink. What are you doing?
Yeah I know but I need some.
Why?! Everything OK?
Yes, I’m just cooking.
Dead silence…..
I actually thought he fainted for a moment. To his credit he put on his super happy voice and wished us luck on cooking. I think he would have preferred I was going to drink that evening. I ended up sending ‘Proof of Life’ Photos when we were finished to prove that not only were Sage and I in tact, but also his kitchen.
Diverting from the Recipe
We muddled the raspberries and we toasted the oats and nothing burned down! It is now I should probably admit the only oats I could find in our cupboard were those little instant oatmeal packs so I had to sift out the powdered milk and whatever else was in there. So if you’re keeping score, no whiskey, addition of vanilla, and oat like substitute…
We added some cheapy crumbled shortbread I picked up for good measure and it was ….
FANTASTIC!
We ate our cranachan, listened to bagpipe music, and we recited a poem each! Sage’s was particularly awesome because she did it in a Scottish accent that she had practiced for two weeks. Then we called Grandma King and sang Auld Lang Syne all together on speaker phone. Yes!! I thought, this year is going to be great!
Start from the Beginning: Clan MacGregor Adventures
February Adventures
Discover YOUR Scottish roots and more with me and the AWESOME folks at the Genealogy Jamboree this year! Seriously… you have questions and they have the resources to answer them! We had an absolute blast last year and look forward to learning and sharing more this year! Seriously… excellent!!!
I love learning something new! This is fascinating. I love how you are learning more about your ancestry and putting things into play. Thank you for sharing pieces of this celebration with us.
Thank you for coming along for the ride!!
What a fun tradition! I love celebrating as many things as I possibly can 🙂
You and me both!
That’s such a cool tradition. Never heard of it before, so thanks for sharing!
There is always a reason to celebrate!
This sounds like so much fun! I’m not Scottish but I would participate anyway!
I mean there is whiskey and whipped cream! Yeah you can participate!!
This is such a fun celebration! I am part Scottish so we might have to add this to our list of yearly celebrations!
DO it!
How cool to learn the traditions of your hertitage. I think it’s even sweeter that you were able to spend this time alone with your daughter. That’s building memories and legacies!
It ended up being very special. 🙂
I’ve never heard of this! Looks like y’all had a great time! Nice post!
Thank you for the kind words Dennis! It’s fun!
This looks so much fun! I think it’s exciting that you’re exploring your Scottish roots.
Thank you! It is a fun adventure
What a cute story. It’s always great to engage our kids in fun, cultural experiences.
haha glad you enjoyed it! I agree.. culture is always a good choice, even if you have no idea what you are doing 🙂
That sounds like fun tradition and I would totally divert from the recipe as well.
Oh I’m glad to know I’m in good company LOL
What a super cool event!! I really enjoyed reading this!
Thank you! I hope you enjoy our other installments of this epic twelve month adventure!
What a great tradition! Hope you had a lot of fun! Thanks for sharing this!
oh we did!!! Glad you enjoyed it!
How fun! It seems like you guys had a lot of fun. The raspberries look amazing ?
oh my gosh yes! So much fun!
Awesome Burns Night! Im of Scottish descent and I’ve celebrated Burns Night the last few years. I’ve never made the cranachan but I must now. I’m from Clan Maitland. We are having a Clan Gathering in Scotland this July. I’m so excited to attend!!
OOOOO I am so excited for you! Tell me all about it after you go! We are headed to the Queen Mary Games next weekend and I am so excited!!
This sounds like a fun tradition. I’ve never heard of it before.
I am learning so much I didn’t know. It’s great!
What a fun way to spend your evening. I love that you’re discovering your heritage.
It’s a rather epic adventure! SO much to learn!
Sounds so fun! I had never heard of Burns night before.
yeah it’s pretty great! Next year we’ll hope to go to a formal one. how’s the cooking adventure going?
What a great tradition!! Thanks for sharing
so much fun!!!
Wow! I had no idea this celebration existed. Sounds so fun!
you learn something new each day … LOL it’s all pretty new to us too
What an interesting article. And love how you celebrated! Thanks for all the info
Glad you enjoyed!
What an amazingly funny post! Looks like you had a ball and a great night celebrating one of the greatest Scottish poets! THanks for the laughs and the food looks awesome too!
Oh I’m glad you enjoyed it! We are rather ridiculous but I suppose that’s half the fun!
This totally had me laughing!! Like the entire post seriously funny and the missing whiskey, you’re killing me! LOL I think it’s great you’ve started your own tradition your raspberry dessert looks like a surefire winner to me! Thanks for brightening my night! 🙂
HA! Glad you had fun! Approval of my half assed weird raspberry dessert (not sure if it qualifies as Cranachan) is high praise coming from you and your amazingness you cook up!
How fun and delicious!
Looks like so much fun. Thanks for sharing!
I would love to go to one of Burns Nights! It sounds very exciting. And those raspberries… yummy!
Me too! I hope to go next year!
That’s a really cool tradition, and the raspberries look delicious!
you can’t really go wrong with raspberries can you?
How fun is this and I love planning events now my brain is running with ideas.
oooo let me know what you come up with!!!
This sounds like a fun tradition! Thanks for sharing!
it totally is!!!
I love raspberries! That looks delicious!
It was!!!