People show up at the little grocery tents to pick up the Scottish delights that are so difficult to find around here throughout the rest of the year.
Some of the foods don’t surprise me in the least, such as the canned haggis (and vegetarian haggis), shortbread cookies, marmite, and Irn-Bru (like orange soda but a little less sweet).
Some things just leave me shaking my head.
I don’t do canned peas to start with, “mushy” canned peas is just a little too much.
Salad cream – looks like straight miracle whip.
and of course, no meal is complete without eating spotted dick (surely there’s a pill for that).
UPDATE: We went grocery shopping today and found the salad cream (which still sounds to me like something you would put in your hair) and the spotted dick at our store. Who knew? At least we’ve been spared the mushy peas. I’m sure you’re all relieved to know you can get spotted dick in Seattle.
Part of the ritual of the Highland games is the massing of the bands.
At moment’s like these, it is not difficult to understand why the bagpipes were considered weapons of war.
The piper in the blue and green kilt below is Tyrone. He is the Pipe Major for the Elliot Bay Pipe Band and he played at our wedding. It was at our wedding that my husband decided to start playing the bagpipes and two weeks later he was well on his way in that endeavor. Tyrone was one of his teachers.
Once the bands march in field, they announce the winners of the days competitions and retire the colors
then the bands turn around and march their way back off the field
It’s a deafening, goosebumpy kind of experience.
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Tricia at Shout brought this story to my attention and I want to repeat it here to do my part in helping spread the word.
Gina of Lattes and Lipstick (which I’m adding to my rss reader right now) is raising money to pay for her husband’s cancer treatment by compiling and selling an eBook of recipes.
I know I have a lot of foodie friends out there, a lot of friends whose lives have been touched by cancer, and a lot of friends with really big hearts. I hope together we can make a difference for this family.
Their Story:
Our names are George & Gina Williamson. We have been married for nearly 17 years. When George turned 50 he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. After radical surgery and painful radiation failed to cure his cancer, George opted to take an alternative route using diet and supplementation. His health greatly improved and he has felt better than he has in years. As he puts it, he is a “specimen of health” outside of cancer. However, his PSA levels did still continue to rise over the next several years.
In 2007 we victoriously enjoyed a Cancer Survivor Day Cruise. George was in his 6th year of survivorship at this point, surprising the doctors that he had made it this far, with no symptoms- and no metastasis. But still that pesky PSA rising…
In spite of uncertainties we have opted to enjoy life to its fullest- because none of us have tomorrow guaranteed, anyway! George just had a birthday- he is now 57.
He also just had some scans done after a pretty substantial PSA jump. For the first time, there is visible metastasis in his hip bone.
Why am I telling you all this??
Because of our belief in following a more natural path toward healing (and because of the lack of any curative options from the medical world), we have determined that George will be treated at an alternative treatment center in California- www.issels.com.
However, because it is alternative, insurance will NOT pay for it, and payment is required up front, in full. We are not wealthy people- as aren’t most people!
Therefore, we have realized that if this is going to be a reality, we need to be CREATIVE.
An idea occurred to me one day while I was brushing my teeth…
If I were to sell SOMETHING of SOME VALUE for only $1.00 and I sold 20,000 of it that would be $20,000-and that would be just about enough to send my husband to this treatment center.
BUT WHAT???
And then it hit me-
RECIPES!!
Everyone loves to share recipes. So I have chosen to compile a collection of recipes from “Friends of George” and sell them for only $1.00. And every penny goes directly into a fund solely created to send my husband to this treatment center. Hey… It might sound crazy. But it might be crazy enough to work. And I’m crazy enough about this guy to do anything to keep him around-for a very long time.
This weekend Mr. H, The Outlaw Baker (my little brother, Timmy), and I attended the PNW Highland Games. Mr. H was not competing this year so our presence at the games was entirely for the purpose of listening to some loud music
eating a lot of food (no haggis this year, we couldn’t handle the 40 minute wait)
and then engaging in the most cherished of Scottish traditions
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