May 23
Haggis

The Alma, Michigan, Highland Festival and Games runs today through May 25 (2003). It is hard to imagine that 60,000 people will willingly go someplace knowing there will be a man in a skirt marching around with a stuffed sheep stomach on a platter while other men in skirts are playing bagpipes and still more are attempting to recite Bobby Burns' poetry in terrible accents (all vital components to my own personal hell).

In case you have managed to avoid such events, you might need a little more information on that sheep's stomach thing. It is called "haggis" and as favorite national dishes go, it is right up there with lutefisk and blood sausage. It is the heart, lungs, and kidneys of a sheep mixed with oatmeal, boiled in the sheep's stomach and proudly served in the same. I believe the recipe was developed by the most frugal of frugal Scots, attempting to utilize what was left of a sheep after the wolves got it. Personally, I would rather eat the wool.

How to Make Haggis

1 C liver
1 C heart
1 C lung (or 1lb lamb)
2 C chopped onion
2 C steel-cut oats
2 t salt
2 T black pepper
1 t nutmeg
3/4 C oil
3 T lemon juice
2 C stock

Cover the raw organ meats with cold water. Boil for 1 hour. Drain, keeping the stock. Cool, then coarsely chop the meat. Refrigerate the stock and discard any fat. Put liver and heart in a small Reynolds Oven Cooking Bag. Add onions, oats, and other dry ingredients. Mix well. If using lamb, break into warmed stock. Bring to a slow boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice and oil to lamb/stock mixture. Add to bag and mix well. Close off the bag allowing 4" for expansion. Pierce top of bag with a knife. Immerse in a large pot with a plate or rack on the bottom. Add water until almost covers the bag. Maintain a slow boil for 1-1/2 hours, add hot water as necessary.

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Saints celebrating feast days on May 23 include William of Rochester, Montanus, Lucius, Alexander Nevski, Desiderius of Vienne (patron of childbirth, invoked against false witness), Desiderius of Langres, Guibert, and Florentius.

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Born on this day were Rosemary Clooney (1928), Artie Shaw (1910)(still alive!), and Douglas Fairbanks (1883).

Bonnie and Clyde were killed in a shootout with police on this day in 1934.

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