A weekend without haggis
Mar. 11th, 2008 09:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fenchurchWell, you saw my impassioned whine at the loss of Sowerby's (my only semi-local source for haggis). And the whole haggis adventure just gets better! We did have a really fun weekend in Portland... I love spending time with my family and, despite most of them living in Northwestern Oregon, I don't get to do it nearly enough.
It still just amazes me that I've ended up with so much family in my life, considering I grew up as an only child (even worse, my dad was in the Air Force, so we never even lived close to extended family). Both of my parents remarried, although my mom is the only one who has stayed married to the same person... and all three of his kids were still well under 18 when they got together. In fact, my mom was basically the one who ended up raising my youngest step-sister (and, oddly, we have a whole lot in common... including a love for a very specific subgenre of punk music). Which is probably that's why we ended up actually being relatively close. Even though I was on my own by the time they came along, I visited often and even stayed with my folks a few times while I was in college. Anyway, it makes for a pretty decent sized group when we get together... me and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rackham, my mom and step-dad, step-brother and his wife and their three kids (who are such wonderful fun!) over from Tillamook, my step-sister and her husband and their new twins, my youngest step-sister, plus my grandparents who flew up from Sacramento.
When we arrived on Saturday, it turned out that my step-dad, brother-in-law and grandfather had run down to the Scottish Country Shop, a place I had no idea even existed! (I wasn't surprised they'd gone there, though... since that branch of my family is mostly Scottish, and my step-dad's family are Scottish and Irish (by comparing family history stories, I'm actually pretty convinced that my step-dad andspeakr2customrs share some common ancestors)). When they got back, I asked if the place sold haggis (because I'd really been looking forward to having some) and it turned out they do! Frozen haggis (not the canned stuff I hear is pretty unappetizing). It was getting late by that point, so we figured we'd stop by the next day before heading home.
So, the next day we drive down to the Scottish store... only to discover it's closed on Sundays. No worries, though! Because bothprime_meridian and corellian_sugar had mentioned the Rose and Thistle Pub, which supposedly served haggis. After a bit of getting lost navigating the streets of Portland and circling the block a few times until we finally found a place to park, we discovered that, unfortunately, they don't serve haggis after all. Gah!
I can't help but think that there's got to be someplace in the Seattle area that serves or sells haggis... but if not, at least I know that next time we go to Portland, we'll be sure to take a cooler with us to buy a few of the frozen variety!
It still just amazes me that I've ended up with so much family in my life, considering I grew up as an only child (even worse, my dad was in the Air Force, so we never even lived close to extended family). Both of my parents remarried, although my mom is the only one who has stayed married to the same person... and all three of his kids were still well under 18 when they got together. In fact, my mom was basically the one who ended up raising my youngest step-sister (and, oddly, we have a whole lot in common... including a love for a very specific subgenre of punk music). Which is probably that's why we ended up actually being relatively close. Even though I was on my own by the time they came along, I visited often and even stayed with my folks a few times while I was in college. Anyway, it makes for a pretty decent sized group when we get together... me and
rackham, my mom and step-dad, step-brother and his wife and their three kids (who are such wonderful fun!) over from Tillamook, my step-sister and her husband and their new twins, my youngest step-sister, plus my grandparents who flew up from Sacramento.When we arrived on Saturday, it turned out that my step-dad, brother-in-law and grandfather had run down to the Scottish Country Shop, a place I had no idea even existed! (I wasn't surprised they'd gone there, though... since that branch of my family is mostly Scottish, and my step-dad's family are Scottish and Irish (by comparing family history stories, I'm actually pretty convinced that my step-dad and
speakr2customrs share some common ancestors)). When they got back, I asked if the place sold haggis (because I'd really been looking forward to having some) and it turned out they do! Frozen haggis (not the canned stuff I hear is pretty unappetizing). It was getting late by that point, so we figured we'd stop by the next day before heading home. So, the next day we drive down to the Scottish store... only to discover it's closed on Sundays. No worries, though! Because both
prime_meridian and corellian_sugar had mentioned the Rose and Thistle Pub, which supposedly served haggis. After a bit of getting lost navigating the streets of Portland and circling the block a few times until we finally found a place to park, we discovered that, unfortunately, they don't serve haggis after all. Gah!I can't help but think that there's got to be someplace in the Seattle area that serves or sells haggis... but if not, at least I know that next time we go to Portland, we'll be sure to take a cooler with us to buy a few of the frozen variety!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-03-12 06:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-12 06:34 am (UTC)With that said, there's got to be a few possibilities in or near the area. I wouldn't be surprised if Don & Joe's Meats or some other local specialty butcher shop were willing to make haggis for you. Barring that, there are some Scottish pubs around here that claim to sell the stuff (though it might end up being canned). The wee Scots at Microsoft might be able to point you the right way for getting local haggis. Vancouver, BC isn't that far away, and I'm willing to bet those wily Canucks have fresh haggis hiding somewhere up there.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-12 09:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-12 08:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-12 04:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-12 06:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-12 07:13 pm (UTC)If his family name is Johnston or Johnson then it's quite possible; if it's one of the other Border names, such as Armstrong, Robson, Charlton or Graham then it's more likely his ancestors and mine stole each other's sheep and cattle; if it's Maxwell then his ancestors and mine were deadly enemies who tried for a hundred and thirty years to wipe each other from the face of the Earth.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-12 07:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-13 01:39 am (UTC)